Being Fitter Than Fit at Almost 60! With Clark Bartram

And then I also love being this age because now everybody listens to me. The young guys listen, the old guys listens, the billionaires listen. All of these people listen to me because there have been decades and decades and decades of consistency that nobody can argue with. Man, no one good.

So good. Today on midlife conversations, I have one of my favorite humans, my friend Clark Bartram. Now, if you're watching on video, video, you can see he does not look like the average 59 year old. If you're listening, you're just gonna take my word for it. This guy has an eight pack, like a full eight pack. He is, lives the work, he is as fit as they come. And he's also just the most amazing, authentic person. And I, and I was dying to have him on because I wanted a guy's perspective around aging, around midlife conversations. And women don't tune out because it's a guy. I think there's a lot we can learn here from him. And I also think this is going to be good information for people that you are in relations with. So thanks, Clark, so much for being here today.

I'm excited to be here because like, you feel about me, I feel the same way about you. And we have that kinship because we are both in alignment with how we believe midlife should look and how we see other people seeing it. And we're just pulling out our hair going, please. It's a simple shift of where you're currently at to where you could be and where you should be.

Yes. So I'm going to kind of start with a few like rapid fire things because I think when people look at you, especially because you, you don't look like a normal 59 year old, you know that, you know, you don't look like a normal 59 year old. We're trying to help other people level up to that, but there's questions that people automatically assume and I want to just speak into that right off the bat because I want to just dispel some of that. Like first things first. When people look at you and they say, oh, you're just a genetic, this is just genetics, what do you want to say to that?

I say, yes, I am genetically predisposed to look the way I will look. But had I taken a different course in life, I would not look the way I look because it's 20% genetics and 80% lifestyle or otherwise epigenetics. So it is my and your and anyone's genetics is only as good as the work that they continue to put.

In, oh, that's so good. And you actually were the face of a brand years ago where they actually needed you to gain weight for this ad. They wanted you to really. Can you share what you did? Because actually, what you did is kind of what just regular midlife women, men do every day. Like, it's what they do. What? Because you put on a lot of weight for this ad. But what did you do? Like, what happened there?

Yeah, so I was the original Fit to Fat to fit guy because I did this unknowingly before. So the company was EAS Experimental and Applied Sciences, and the man was Bill Phillips and the book was Body for Life. Everyone knows it. They're like, oh. So there was a really popular ad campaign, happens to be the biggest campaign ever in the history of fitness called the New Theory of Evolution. A brilliant marketer by the name of Joe Polish came up with it where if you've never seen it, it's the evolution. It's the CRO Magna man turning into a human. But what we did was we transferred it into the fat guy turning into a fit guy. Four unretouched photos that we took over a period of less than 12 weeks. And I was fit to begin with. I was shooting a magazine cover. The guy who originally, and we both know him, Mike Ryan, was supposed to do the ad and he backed out. He wanted more money. He said, there's no way I'm getting fat for this ad. I happened to be sitting there. The photographer, Cal Yee, said, clark, will you do this? And I said, sure. I was tied up on TV shows. I was in a contract with a magazine EAS at the time, Muscle Media. So I thought, what do I have to lose? I got all of this to gain. And it ended up being the largest campaign in the history. And you and I are going to experience something here in a few days that is absolutely going to shock the world as it relates to that ad specifically.

Oh, yeah, I know. I can't wait for that. More on that later. But what did you, like, how do you eat now? Like, how do you eat in daily life versus, like, what you did when you gained and became. Because you became like the average out of shape guy is what you really became. You became the dad bod when you did that. But I want people to know, like, really goes into this because it's not about, like, you just dial it in. Like, how do you. What is your lifestyle for eating?

It's very specific based upon what I have coming up in my life. So if I'm Just living my life without any goal that I have in mind. Like for Saturday, I'm pretty normal. You know, I eat clean food. And we assume that everyone knows what clean food means. So what that means to me is a quality protein, whether it's a piece of salmon or a nice grass fed chicken or something like that. I'll get quality meat for protein and then fill in the rest with some green vegetables. I love broccoli, I love spinach, I love asparagus and stuff like that. And then I'll have a very small amount of a carbohydrate, like a sweet potato or something. You know, God gave us a great measuring tool and a lot of people understand this. Protein, the amount of protein should be the size of the palm of your hand, carbohydrates the size of your fist, and fat the size of the tip of your thumb. The problem with most people is they eat too much. So I don't eat too much at any one sitting. I'm not trying to set a record for how many calories I can consume. So that's really how I eat. So this morning, for example, I got up and I had four ounces of oatmeal, which is this. I grab a. That's four ounces of oatmeal. And I water. I put a scoop of protein powder in there. Some. Some good protein powder that we have now, bone broth. And it's. It's great. There's a lot of benefits there. But I put that in there, mix it up. That's my breakfast. A few hours later, when I get hungry, you know, I'm drinking water along the way. Then I'll have one of those meals like I just described.

So, Clark, one thing I know about you is you've never catered to trends like you've been really good about. You've been consistent. Like, what works for you, works for you. What works for you. How have you stayed that course? Because obviously things come and go. You hear about keto, you hear about intermittent fasting here. All these things. Like, how do you know, like, when you want to level up and try something else or what keeps you going on what you've just known for years?

My gut, I listen to myself. And we're talking to women. Women have that more than anyone else. We understand marketing. We're in the game of marketing. We see someone come online and we say, hey, you got to do this. It's the best thing. We can sniff it out. We know. And that's where we come in as coaches to the people that follow us. You're like, listen, man, that's not what it's cracked up to be. This has been around forever. Somebody marketed it better than the next person.

Yeah.

But for example, something that I just did recently, which seems off the beaten path for me as a Christian man, I did Ramadan. I did 36 days of fasting from sun up to sundown, only because I felt it in my gut. My buddies at the gym said, hey, we have Ramadan starting tomorrow. And I said, I've always been interested in doing that. And they said, do it. And I followed my gut. I did it. And it benefited me in a great way because I wasn't following a trend. I was following what I knew I wanted to do and what I needed to do. And it worked out great.

Oh, my God. I love. So it's. I like that. Because you did it because you wanted to, not because someone told you to, not because you saw an Instagram post that. Because that makes me cringe sometimes when someone. They know what works for them, they've been doing it and they're like, I'm just gonna go and try this whole other thing because I heard an episode. Episode about this. Or like, if it's working for you, don't, don't change it. Now. When I was at your house, we were filming some content recently in your fridge. You opened it up and you said, don't give me a hard time about some of the stuff. And I was like, what is he going to show me? And you had a few things that were like, I don't know, they were sugar free or something. And you're like, people give you a hard time. Can you speak into that? Because I think people also take that to a whole nother obsessive level of like, I can't do this. It's bad. But again, look how healthy you are. Look what's worked for you. Speak into that. And why did you feel you had to defend that?

Well, because we as influencers and people that are out there more than the people we're serving, because you and I are both servant leaders, we have a tendency to get beat up by people because people put this expectation on us. Oh, they just want to point out something that isn't perfect. We never said we were perfect.

Right.

Matter of fact, I think you and I really do this a lot better than most people. We're so real. Like, look at me. This is me without makeup. This is me. Not me. You speak. This is me. You know, I have this issue or that issue. I'm struggling with this. I'm figuring it out. When I do, I'm gonna let you know. You're not sitting back on a pedestal going, you know, I'm Natalie Jill, and I got it all together. You're going, no, follow me along this process. I happen to be around all of these great people who can help me, and that's going to trickle down to you. So when someone sees me open my refrigerator and this has happened in the past, I felt like I needed to defend it. Was someone on, you know, a troll, as we call them, said, oh, look at those protein shakes in the back. I. I did a. A post where I said, f keto, F. Intermittent fasting, F this, F that. Well, Anita had some keto shakes in there, and someone zoned in on him, oh, wow, forget all these diets. And he's got a keto shake back there. And I'm like, well, it wasn't for me. It was for my wife. Point. I wasn't saying that it doesn't work.

Yeah, you're not being, like, black and white, like, everything. And I. I don't think there's actually black and white. What I love about you is that you. You very much focus on perfection. Sorry, Progress, not perfection. It's not about being perfect. And I think that's actually what sets people off course. What is when they think they have to be perfect. Because if you think you have to be perfect, that's not possible. And then we do get into comparison and feel like we failed. So it's not about. It's not about perfection. It's about talk to us about what it really takes with workouts. Because I do think women miss this. They think, oh, I just put in my three sets of 12. I did my 20 minutes on the elliptical. But that's not. I know you might be quick in your workouts, but you're very intentional. Can you speak into. And you train people like, you know this? Like, what actually does it take for you to change a body and to. To be consistent and level up in midlife?

You just said it. Intention. You have to go in there with intention, not checking a box. Many people go into this checking a box, like, oh, I. I watched her video. And they feel satisfied because they did something that they thought could justify this need inside that we all have to improve. We all want to be better. Not that you're bad the way you are, but there should be a desire to improve, because as we age, that becomes a necessity because you're either moving forward or back. There's no in between. So intention is key. So when I show up to the gym, I set an intention of I might do a 20 minute workout, but every single rep, and I'm doing this because I did shoulders this morning, is thoughtful. I was training with Robbie Robinson, a famous bodybuilder, a while ago, and I asked him, why do you close your eyes? He said, because I see my muscle working and I can command it to do what I want it to do. Now, some people get that, but I do. You do, because we've been doing this for so long and. And I'm like, I love that. So if I did 12 repetitions like this and I picture my muscle and I actually command it to work instead of, you know, I got to do this, I got to do a workout, I got my 20 minutes in, it's a different thing because you have intention wrapped around it.

Wow, that's really good. Yeah, I love that intention and I love the. Does he actually close his eyes while he's doing the movement or like before or what? So while he's doing.

While he's doing it. And I sat there and that's why I did that video about proximity. I'm like, man, I'm in this energy dome of this man who is 77, looking like better than anyone I've ever seen. I need this to rub off on me.

For sure.

He and I connected. And that's why, you know, we do what we do because we want to bring people into our energy ball.

Yes.

And be affected, infected, and have great results because of it.

So one thing I want women to really hear from this too, because I think I see this with women all the time. They go into the gym and they think they are looking in the mirror, they're about to do their set and they focus on what they hate about themselves. I hate my arms, I hate my abs, I hate my this. And now they're intentionally doing a workout while hating themselves in the mirror. So what you just said is super powerful about envisioning who you want to become like or what you. What you want to work, because then you're working towards that. I believe that's also what works for you because you know what peak conditioning can be, you know what your body is capable of doing. So in my mind, even if you've ever felt off track, you're probably intentionally working to for what you know is possible for you.

Absolutely. And we'll go back to the statement of people not loving themselves, basically is what you said. I hate this means I Don't love that.

Sure.

So there's a great football player by the name of Terrell Owens who got a lot of ridicule before social media really became a thing when he was on the news and he said, I love me some me believe it. And I heard that statement and I love that statement. Because you know who I love more than anyone on planet Earth? You're looking at it right here. I love me some me believe it. And people hearing me right now that go, oh my God, that guy's so self centered. He's so. You are the person that needs to hear that more than anyone and adopt that to your life. Because it's an absolute slap in the face of God for you to look in the mirror and say you hate anything about yourself. Whether it's your hair, your teeth, your skin, any of it, man, as you are absolutely perfect the way you are. But we all should be working to improve. So a better way to approach that in a way to get more intention is by saying, man, I love myself. I am here because I want to continue to improve this blessing and this gift that I have that we call a human body.

I love that, Clark. And I really believe. No, when I look at people that are successful, and I don't just mean in physical their body, but anywhere like successful, financially successful in their business, successful in whatever they're doing, what I notice about them is they operate from vision, they operate from possibility versus problem, they operate from potential versus circumstance. Like I see this over and over again. And this is what I'm committed to with interviewing on here is people telling that in different ways too. Because I do think that's the missing link with people. I think if we stay stuck focusing and operating from problem, we stay stuck in problem. But when we can shift and focus on the possibility and potential, it brings all new possibilities to us. I mean, and I watch you living that all the time. How do you stay in possibility and potential? Because you're human. You've got bad days, you've got. I'm sure you've had a mood where you're like, oh, I don't like how I feel today. Or like, how do you shift out of that?

So first let me say, yes, I am human and I do experience those moments. And they are probably more frequent than someone who looks at me thinks they are. I wake up in the middle of the night with the scary thoughts and the fear and all of that. But what I do specifically is, and I said this yesterday on a live, I give myself a finite amount of time to go through those feelings and those emotions.

If.

Unless it's like severe depression, I want people to hear what I'm saying right now. Because if you choose to get out of the wrong side of the bed to stay out of the wrong side of the bed, that's a choice that you made because you're just being grumpy and ugly to the world. But if you say, okay, I don't feel so great today, but it's 9 o' clock right now, I'm going to give myself till 9:15 or 9:30 to feel this way, and then I'm done with it.

Yeah.

What I do and what you do is we surround ourselves with people that make us level up. Like, I'm not. I talked about proximity a minute ago. Yesterday, I was with, with Jeff Fenster on his podcast. I was with some big influencers and some very successful people. And I was supposed to leave because my episode was done. I'm like, can I stay? I don't want to leave this energy. I want to. I want to be a fly on the wall and just listen so good. That's exactly what I did. But I ended up not being a fly on the wall after all. And that's a whole different story. Being around those people, man, and being.

Hungry for the information. Being hungry for the information.

As a coach, they need you as someone to speak in their life, man, because you provide that, like, right now, you added more value because of your relationship with me.

Yeah. Talk to me about spouse dynamic. And this is an interesting conversation because a lot of people listening right now, they've got a spouse, that maybe sometimes their spouse is in it with them, like their focus, and sometimes they're not. What do you advise your clients, like, if their wife is not feeling it or if they're. If it's the other way around. Like, I know that there's women listening right now, that it's either one or two situations. Either they are on a mission to better themselves and their husbands are not there and they feel, like, guilty about that, or it's the other way around. They're watching their husband level up, but they are not feeling. They're feeling like, their comparison mode. Any advice or wisdom into that, that conversation going on in people's minds.

It happens everywhere. I've seen it in gyms and I've. I've seen it heal relationships and ruin relationships. The first thing that I would say is it should be healing your relationship and not hurting it. But if your spouse is not involved, then you put on your own oxygen mask first. You don't worry about them. You don't ask them to do anything. You keep all their crap in the house that they want to eat. You make whatever that they want to eat if that's the situation. But you do your thing silently. Don't say a word. Don't ask anyone. Look, it took me 34 years to not say anything to my wife, Anita. When I'm about to do something, I just mind my business and. And I do my thing. And if we're at a family event and there's nothing there for me to eat, I don't eat or I bring it with me. I just made a choice intention to improve this gift that I have the privilege of walking around this earth with. And they have nothing to do with it. It's my life.

It's so good. It's. And I like that that's not a better than conversation because I think that's what goes wrong too, is that the husband or the wife will be saying, I'm doing this like, and make it guilting the other person. And that does not work. But I like you. Just be it. You do it. And that might be inspiring for them. And then you encourage from where they are, from where they're at. You also just said something interesting. And I do that same thing. And it's. It is not easy. I'm not going to. I don't want to fool people that it's easy. There's been many times I've had a dinner party or I'm somewhere and all there is is the stuff that I don't eat, like, and it's. It's tempting. So my workaround with that is I pretty much eat before I go out places now. Like if I like I know the day that we're recording this right now, I have something tonight. It's a dinner. I will be eating my dinner before I go because I don't even want to be tempted in a situation. Then if I feel like having a snack, they're amazing, but it's not like I'm walking in hungry. How do you do that? Do you literally carry your food? Do you eat beforehand? What's how, what is your planning around that and what do you advise people?

I do all of the above. I carry my food. I plan ahead. So the other day I was doing a photo shoot with Jason Ellis and a friend of ours showed up and they said, hey, we're going to have dinner in the restaurant. I knew from years of experience that there would be a Piece of salmon and some brussels sprouts. That fits my meal plan. Specifically, I ate that, had a nice salad and felt great while they had French fries. What was on their plates did not matter to me at all.

Yeah. Did you have any French fries, Clark? Did you even take one? I would have taken one.

I'm gonna tell you the truth. The brussels sprouts tasted better than any French fry could have.

I don't. I don't know about that, but I'll.

I'll go cook them. So good.

You convinced yourself so good. So I have had dinner with Clark many times. Me and Brooks. My husband always orders dessert. You know that now about him, right, Clark? So we'll go. It's. It's Clark and his wife and me, and we're all eating the same. And then Brooks orders dessert, too. Like, that's just his thing. But Clark literally does not. I will take bites. I still am a biter. Like, I'm like, you have fries. Let me have one. You don't even touch it. It doesn't even tempt you. Except unless you go to Ruth Chris with. With Clark. He will take handfuls of mints. Just so you know. Just, just, just. That's his. That's his secret. That's your secret. Cheat. You like those sugar mints?

Oh, I love those. Those are great. But, you know, you have to be prepared. You have to understand where you're going and what the situation is going to be. I can't stand it when one of my people tells me why. Didn't know. Well, yeah, you did. You know, you got to do a family function. You've been doing it your entire life. You know, your mom makes the best lasagna. You know, your auntie makes the best pizza or whatever it is that's going to be there. So then you would take Tupperware, because if it's in a situation where culturally it would be disrespectful if you didn't eat, then you have your thing. You owe nobody any explanation. You could take a bite here and there. Of the. I've been in situations where culturally it's been disrespectful. If you don't eat in China, I've been there. And Hispanic homes and different places where it's like, no, you eat it, man. Get over yourself. So I'll do it, and I won't feel guilty because of it, because one meal is not going to ruin it. So there's a lot of ways to look at this, and I don't want anyone to Say, well, he doesn't understand this. No, I totally do because I've been in every situation.

Ever think of you're nicer than me? Because I would say, well, culturally, I don't think it's nice of me to have a heart attack eating this. So I'm not going to do it. But. No, but my weakness is definitely, like, chocolate or something like that. So for. Do you have any weaknesses like that? Like, is it, like, do you let yourself. Do you call it a cheat meal? Do you just, like, if you really want something, you have it, or do you just never want any of it? It.

I want it. I don't like cheat meal. I think that's kind of a negative way to put it. I like a free meal. Or Michael Hearn refers to it as a high day where it's high calories. Yeah, cheesecake is my thing. Anita was at an event the other night. My son's girlfriend just got her master's degree. They had a party. I didn't go. They brought home a plate, and there were three little cheesecake bites, which in anyone's mind, it's like, oh, it's a little bite. It's not a whole piece. But Anita brought them to me, said, I know you love cheesecake. Here, these are for you. I said, thank you. Mitch can have them. I'm not going to eat them because I knew they were not serving the purpose that I'm going for right now, personally.

Got it. Makes sense. Clark is a little more evolved than me. I probably would have had the cheesecake bites, but I don't have an eight pack anymore, and I'm okay with it. But. But you. But Clark does have an eight pack. He's. He. You are rigorous, Clark, and I love that about you. What do you want to say about. Because there's another thing with women. They'll say, well, I am dealing with menopause and hormone shifts. And I know that's a trigger for you because you're like, well, wait a minute. We guys have this going on, too. Can you speak a little into that?

Yeah, well, I empathize. I understand it. Right. And I'm not suggesting that it's not hard and hot flashes and all of what you go through. And hormonal changes affect the way you respond to the food that you're putting your body. And it is a puzzle that you need to put together. Some women have it harder than others, but men go through a similar process called andropause. And we have hormonal shifts, we have mood shifts. We have all of that, but we just don't talk about it. We don't have open forum. We're a little bit ashamed, but I think more men are coming to grips with the fact that, yes, we also need to take a look at this and balance our hormones and find that place where we can now find the new normal. Like the word that came around with the, you know, what we went through here recently. What is the new normal for us as we reach midlife? And that is our conversation. Midlife conversations. So for me with my guys, I help them manage all of those things by not, like, pushing the fitness so much and making them work harder. Working harder is not the answer. Figuring out what you need to do now is really the answer. And sometimes that takes time.

Yeah, that's so good. Help us with your non negotiables. Like, what are your. Like, how do you lead a consistent life? Again, you're not perfect. You've admitted that you said I'm not perfect. But how. What are you? Like, if I just think these things or do these things, like, what are some non negotiables that people can borrow from you?

So some of the non negotiables for me are being in a state of less than thankfulness. I couldn't find the word. But I wake up every day so grateful because it's like this. You know, I'm feeling. I'm feeling life going like this. And the narrow it becomes for me, the more focused I get on, look at what I have. And I need to be respectful of this gift that I get to walk around. So a non negotiable for me is complaining about anything for any length of time. I shut it down right away. I'm like, there's no room in my life for that. There are no room in my life for people who put that in my direction. I'm starting to shut it out. So if there's anyone in my circle, which is getting smaller and smaller as my life goes like this, they're. They're booted out with love and respect. It's like, I'm done. Yeah, that chapter of my life is closed. Thank you for being a part of it, but good luck and move on. So that goes with my own conversations and anyone else. Man, I will not put up with that.

Do you struggle at all with aging? Like, Like, I'm. I'd be real, like, with people listening right now. Like, I struggle with it. And that's probably why I am so dedicated to create this podcast and a community around midlife and like, because I struggle with it and I'm walking through it, so I want to feel empowered and excited and level up. So I feel like I look for those interviews. I look for that guidance and then I share with others. I. I feel personally, it's not truthful to say, like, oh, I never think about it for me. So I'm just wondering from your perspective if you ever struggle with it or think about it.

So I'm going to really, really, really open up to your listeners right now because I want you to hear this. You. This is the best question so far, and here's the best answer I can give you. Absolutely. I struggle with it. I want you to think about something for a second with what I've done for a career and what you've done.

Yeah.

People have paid me money to look good. I've made my entire living off of my physical prowess. My face, my smile, my looks. That's what I identified with forever. When that slowly starts to go away, I'm hanging on really well. I'm. I'm doing a better job than most men do at 60 years old. But someday it's going to be a different version of what I was used to my entire life and what people paid me for. Putting me on magazine covers, making a big deal about me. Anyone that says that they're not affected by that, I think is lying to themselves. It's like the NFL quarterback who made his living for decades throwing a football, making people scream and yell, being that guy. And then suddenly, that is no longer part of your identity. It's a struggle for anyone. And that is why, like you, I am doing my best to. To maintain. I had this epiphany yesterday when someone saw me in the grocery store. She grabbed me on the shoulder. She said, don't you ever change? Oh, my God. So she started going into that thing. And my immediate response was, I have to. For my business. I need. Listen to this. I need to be an anomaly in order for people to come to me if I don't stick out and I'm just like anyone else and I have no value. I can't make money. I can't do.

Yeah, I so relate to that, Clark. And it's not talked about enough, but I. And I. Even if someone listening, you're like, you are not a fitness model or whatever, there's a lot of people that rely on their appearance and their looks. And society does teach that. Like it. That it teaches that. So I do think it's like you're kind of, you know, Wrong. If you do wrong. If you don't, like, there's no winning there. Because if you did, you know, use that as an advantage. And I think a lot of people do, then they really struggle with this. And then it's like. And then when they admit that they're struggling with it, it's like they get braided for caring, you know, but they also, it's like you can't win either way. Like, you either don't care or you care either way you're going to get judged. And there's, there's wrong. And I think it's not talked about enough. And we are set up in society to really value youth and looks. So I think it is really a struggle with people. And I completely relate to what you're saying because not only do I compare to other people, I'll compare to myself. It's like I'll see a magazine cover that I did and it's like, well, that's not me now. Like, that was me. I'm aging. I'm getting older and it is scary. So I think it's a real thing to talk about. And I think there, we do need help with. There's. We add more to this world than an appearance. I mean, I know you know that, I know that. It's just that we've been conditioned for so long, that appearance has so much value.

Yeah. And something I did that I wanted to make sure when your assistant messaged me and said, hey, we need some photos. I think a lot of people, myself included, might go back in time and grab some photos where it's like, these are the best. But I purposely got the most recent photos. I had raw, unedited images because I wanted your audience who deserves to see the truth of what 59 could look like and go, wow, right? And be inspired by that. So I took my time to get those and it was very thoughtful and I really wanted.

I love that. Versus taking the 45 year old image. Exactly right.

And it was like, when was that picture taken, Clark? I love this week.

It was so good.

And then I also love being this age because now everybody listens to me. The young guys listen, the old guys listens, the billionaires listen. All of these people listen to me. Because there have been decades and decades and decades of consistency that nobody can argue with. Man, no one so good.

Now you handle haters very uniquely and very well. You, you had a comment thread the other day and you get. Clark gets accused a lot. It's, it's always somebody that's Jealous, insecure, whatever. They'll be like, oh, you're on steroids, or whatever. And it's like, he's so not on steroids. He's not doing. And he would. Clark would tell us if he was, because he's an open book. He tells us everything. And. But when someone does that to you, can you share how you handle that? Because that was what. You turned a guy. I saw you. I watched you personally turn somebody completely around. And I don't know if you saw. I defended you on the post. And he even messaged me.

Yeah. That I love. I get chills thinking about that, because every single time I called it, I knew exactly what was going to happen. And people tell me, clark, don't waste your time. Don't do this. I know exactly what I'm doing when I do it. I'm very, very thoughtful in understanding that this guy's having a bad day. He's just having a bad day.

So feeling bad about himself, they feel bad about themselves.

Yes. His girlfriend broke up. So this guy said, hey, look at. This guy's a liar. He's on trt, which is testosterone replacement therapy. You don't know. And. And it bothered. First thing in the morning, I saw it. I'm like, nope, I'm not taking this. So I dm. The guy said, call me. Here's my number. And then I did a reel about it. And I said. I didn't say his name to embarrass him or anything. I just said, you know who you are. The guy called me. Long story short, by the time I drove from my house to the gym, he ended up being in love with me. And in the sense that, wow, you really are a good guy. Do you have time to talk? I was just having a bad day, and he ended up giving me money to co chair.

Okay, how did you even start that conversation? When he called you, did he come at you, or was he just genuine? How did that conversation even go?

So I saw the phone ring. I'm on the 78, I'm driving across. I'm like, let's go. Here he is. Hey, what's up, buddy? He goes, you gave me your phone number and you told me to call. I said, yeah, you have an opinion about me, and I really want you to tell me to my face, virtual, you know, on the phone. He goes, well, you know, I just have a hard time believing that anyone your age can look the way you do without the use of that. I said, I completely understand how you feel, and this is how I How I prefer we do it. I get it. I understand. So you just have a disbelief, right? He goes, yeah. And then we go on. He goes, well, I just think you took it too personal. I said, okay, now you're being dumb. You called me a liar. It was personal, so let's not pretend it wasn't what it was. So we go through that. I get to the gym, and he now believes me. And he's like, man, do you have time to talk? And I knew as soon as I heard that that he was going into why.

Yeah.

What he did. And it was because his girlfriend broke up. He moved back home with his parents. He's 33. He had no money. And what money he had left, he gave to me to coach him. Now he's getting results.

That's amazing. I love that. And then he even commented to my comment, like, hey, I had a great talk with Clark. I apologize. I was having a bad morning. Like, I was like, wow, talk about a turnaround. And you handled that so maturely because I would have just deleted and blocked. And now you have me evolving and thinking that's a very different approach. And I love that because you truly stood for transformation and helping somebody there. And that was amazing.

Yeah, that's really.

Love it.

People who don't feel good about themselves will often lash out about people who do feel good about themselves. So that guy hears me saying, I love me some me. Believe it. He's like, yeah, because you're on steroids, because you got genetics, because you've been in it. All of these reasons other than the fact that I got up at 4:30 this morning and did what I tell everybody else. Yeah, I'm no different.

Yeah. Clark is determined. I get up early. I'm not quite as early as him. Like, Clark does everything in next level than me. Like, for sure. Like, we both go to bed early, we get up early. But I. The other day I was. I think I was in bed and I was looking at my phone and he was like, like, get it? He's like, I'm getting in my cardio right now. Hopefully you are too. For our shoot. I was like, oh, gosh, I'm in bed. Like, literally still in bed. But it motivated me and I got out of bed and I went and did my cardio. So, yeah. So it's super aspirational. Clark, thank you so much for being a stand for what this could look, what 60s can look like, what aging could look like. You fully represent, like, what I know so many people strive to be you're the real deal. How can people find you? How can they work with you if they want to learn more?

So if any women out there have a man who they know needs this, I have a. A website I wanted to go to. Go to maximized man elite.com and watch the video there and really ask yourself the question, do I want to do this? Am I ready to commit? Am I ready to take the step financially, physically, emotionally, relationally, all of that, because I don't want to waste anyone's time. I don't want to waste my time. I'm ready to help men who are ready to make a change. So that's Maximize man elite dot com.

You can help them virtually, right? They don't have to be.

Yeah. None of these guys are in. In my area, everybody is virtually.

It's all so real deal. And then women and men, you can all follow him on his social. Where's the best place for him to follow you? Instagram. TikTok. Where do you want him to go?

Instagram at Clark Bartram. It's fun in that way. You know, you see all the fun videos and just for, you know, so people.

You might have a 12 pack.

They're real.

Eight pack. Yeah, they're real. They're not Photoshopped. That's the real deal. Thanks. Yes. Thank you, Clark, so much. You're awesome. Thank you.