Mike Salemi: The Truth About Kettlebells, Strength, & Spiritual Growth | Wellness Force #Podcast

So you can look at it from that. And what I would encourage people to do with, with all their movement practice, whether it's training hard in the gym, which will be a little bit more challenging to do this, but when you're unloaded and your focus is energizing the body, put intention to it, make it be a ritual. So many things in my life now, I've got so much more richness from simply by adding an intention practice before. So again, if you're doing a body weight or even just an energy push, pushing forward, pulling back, you're exhaling, working with your breath, letting go of what you don't need right now, bringing in gratitude, bringing in what you want energized, filling the body. You do that for literally, even if it's just one to five minutes.

Yeah.

Game changer, Sam.

Well, Mike Salemi, welcome to Wellness Force, man. Welcome back. Welcome back to Texas. Right. The last time we did this show, we were in a different part of Austin. We're in the country right now thanks to Ta and Cole, who do biointegration. So thanks for letting us use your home. But, Mike, tell people, man, what have you been up to in about a year and a half since we recorded? We're gonna talk about all things kettlebell and really how movement is medicine, because it truly is. And you're, I think, one of the world class experts in kettlebell lifestyle and just the kettlebell in general, like, what it means to use the kettlebell so you can actually be healthy. But give us the skinny, man. What's. What's been going on with you? You have a new woman in your life and you may be moving to Texas. Just like it seems like 90% of everyone else is moving to Texas.

Everybody's coming out here, man. You know, and I understand, like, the community out here. Like, I have to say, like, there's a really cool community. Like, we were talking earlier before the podcast.

Yeah.

A really dope community in SoCal and NorCal, and I love those areas. And most of those people are moving to Texas. And I just like, every time I have another conversation, it's like, oh, did you know this person's moving here? Did you know this person's moving here?

It's insane.

It's tough to beat this community. But I mean, man, so much has happened since the last time we podcasted, to be honest. But like, some of the biggest things, I mean, I think since the beginning of COVID as an example, professionally, when we were talking last, I was on the road two to three Weeks a month. So solid. Solid with holidays, all that stuff. Like, six months a year, I was on the road teaching certs and teaching workshops and in person. Deal. Within one week, the first week of COVID nine months of my seminar workshop calendar wiped out.

Yeah.

And so it's been, you know, not. I'm sure there's other people in that boat as well, but it's been this massive pivot and a massive test and adaptability and running with, like, what's given to me. And so now. Now I'm basically 100% online, which is actually. It's provided me way more freedom and space in my schedule than I ever would have imagined. And as much as I love traveling and love connecting in person, I'll always love that. I will say this has been the first time in probably three and a half years that I started training again myself at a level that I, like, always hope for and dreamed of. Because, look, when you're on the road, bro, and you're traveling as, you know, like, it's draining.

It's very draining.

It's.

Yeah. And plus, you're flying through the air at 300 miles an hour in a steel tube, and we're being forced to wear a mask. And there's all the. We are in a time right now where I think more people need movement as medicine than ever. And that's not just some social media meme, like, legitimately. I think most people are at home. Most people that even go to the gym probably don't even want to go there because they're being forced to wear a mask right now. That's why I was like, this is perfect timing for your program and the offerings that you bring to the world. Since a year and a half ago. You probably started developing this online program way back then. Yes. This has been, like, actually 10 years in the making for you.

Well, this has been, like, I would say the culmination of 15 years plus of experience, for sure. And then we actually started producing the program and I started designing the workouts and everything that's in it because, well, like, it's. It's pretty rad. It's something I'm super proud about for 11 months. So, like, when that was the cool thing, when Covid first started, you know, I was already four to five months in the production process and outlining and doing all that stuff and shooting. So it's now finally become available, which is really cool. We've already run two beta groups. We've got over 20 countries in it, over 200 students, and the results have just been incredible because it is so much like it's as much it is a kettlebell program as it is a lifestyle improvement program.

So you put the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, you, you blocked it all in there and then share with us too man. Cause I don't think too many people know this about you. Maybe if they're just seeing you or hearing you for the first time. You train with Paul Check, who's a mentor friend for maybe three years. I think you've trained with him.

Yes, yeah, I've been, you know, I mean I would say if it's one thing that I really have done since I was a kid is I've been blessed and also fortunate enough to really seek out masters of their craft. So as a gymnast when I was a young kid, like my coach was a two time Bulgarian Olympian, Kraz Mirdunov. Worked with Jim Schmitz for a year who was three time US Olympic coach in Olympic weightlifting. Trained at Westside Barbell for a month under Louis Simmons. Three years with Paul Check. And like each one of those it's, I mean it's fascinating. Like as much as I learned from working with Paul about everything that it has to do with mental, emotional, physical, spiritual health and improvement and etc, some of the biggest things that I took away from like didn't have to do with program design and all this stuff. It just had to do with being in the presence of someone just like a child. Like a child learns by what they see and what they feel first and foremost from their parents maybe for sure what they say, but what they feel and what they observe. So I was going down once a month to work with Paul for two and a half years and we'd spend between half a day to two days together. And in that time when you start seeing just how he, how he moves, how he lives, how he talks, how he man it's really, for me it's the biggest learning is like what's not said and what's felt and what's observed. And so he's been a massive mentor, massive inspiration for a lot of what is in kettlebell lifestyle and actually he's in it too. So I brought in like I think it's like 10 experts from different fields to also contribute. So he lectures on working in and sleep and then a lot of the internal check ins that actually guide the movement practice. Because one of the things that I've learned in terms of working with all these coaches, they were all phenomenal in their own right. And I learned a lot but what happened is, is like my personality is like, if you lay down a program for me, bro, I'm gonna do it to the T and just like stick with it. And I will override or try to override my own internal mechanisms just to execute the program as it was designed. And what happened was, is I was getting results. You know, I was, you know, I won world championships as a teenager in powerlifting and then in 2017 won the world championships in one organization in kettlebell sport. But what I was finding around those journeys is it wasn't sustainable. I had a lot of little injuries, I didn't quite know how to manage myself. And then with Paul, what he really showed me, I'd say the most valuable lesson is irregardless of what program I perform with these check ins and learning how to modify a program, it's like it became from fixed to flexible. And so that's what kettlebell lifestyle does. It asks you five simple questions on every training day. And your training volume modifies based off of how you're feeling. And then if you're too stressed, for example, if you're not sleeping, if you're not physically recovered, if you're not motivated, etc. Then it'll send you to a working in day, which is like an active meditation day, or like a stretching day or a recovery day. So really the program can go as long as it needs to go. It's written each beginner or any intermediate level to be nine weeks apiece, but you could spend 36 weeks on it. And that's really what I learned from Paul. And that's how at the end of the 2017 World Championships, I can honestly say before that it would take me three to four weeks plus to recover from a competition. Thousands of reps in the competition training cycle in the three to four months, certainly, you know, it'd be tons in the competition itself. We do. So I was competing in basically the two most classic events, but the one that I would say is like the one that I really thrived was called long cycle. So we take. I was competing actually with two 32 kilo kettlebells. So 72 ish pounds each.

And also 72 pounds in each hand.

Yep, and also 40 kilos in each hand. So 88 pounds in each hand. And I would enter the 10 minute category. So 10 minute unbroken. You cannot stop, you cannot rest. Your only rest is really when the bells are at your chest or when the arms are locked out overhead, which is not a rest.

Yeah, that doesn't sound very Restful.

And we would go for 5 or 10 minutes non stop. And after those competitions, like, I mean, actually not long after, I did two competitions in one day, in the morning I did double 40 kilos for five minutes, clean and jerk, so swinging to the chest and jerking overhead with the arm straight. And then I came back a few hours later and did 10 minutes with the double 30 twos. And then we have rankings based off of weight class and repetitions, etc. But, you know, after that, you know, I was for sure tired for a few days, three days. But within a week I could bounce back. And I could never have said that had I not learned a lot of what you know, the principles of how to govern my own body and utilize, like what you said, movement as medicine.

How do you take that and put it to the every person's life? Because I would assume that most people are aspirational in their, like, move goals, right? They want to look good, they want to be able to lift a bunch of weight if they're a man, maybe if they're a woman, they just want to have a healthy physique. Whatever your goals are. Like, I think sometimes for me at least, and for most people, our mind can completely trump what our body is capable of. You know, like I did the, the 20x3 years ago with Mark Divine. It's like this 14 hour crucible where you overnight, you're running in wet clothes, it's darkness, they're screaming at you, they're kicking sand in your face, you're doing Murph, which is 300 air squats, 200 push ups and 100 pull up. And you're doing that in the middle of the night. And I did that because I wanted to feel what it was like when I pushed myself that hard. I wanted to see where my mind would go. And I learned a lot about myself in doing that. So if people don't have that awareness, like, how do you integrate that in the beginning of this program, you know, how do you, how do you put body awareness and what someone's actually capable of when they start it? Because I think a lot of people when they're doing kettlebells, they're like, oh my gosh, I don't even know where to begin.

Yeah, no, I think that's such a good, such a good point. So at least in my experience, most programs out there really are focused on punishing the body, right? And there's a time and a place for that. Like what I heard you say and what I experienced you say in My own experience too is what we don't have in Western society or specifically in the US Very much our rites of passage. And so like, unless you really go looking, looking for them like you did or me for competition. And I feel there's so much value in doing that. You learn so much about yourself. You test yourself, you, you really figure out not only what you're made of, but really that like, you are a lot stronger than you think you are. And when you pull in those internal reserves, you can apply those life lessons in every fucking area in your life. And so, but what I will say is most people in my experience stay in really what I would consider the competition phase. They stay in a phase for whatever they are. They're going to whatever gym, they're going to a CrossFit gym, their home workouts, P90X whatever, those are all high, high volume, high intensity, kick your butt workouts. Time and a place. But you got to ramp up to that. So kettlebell lifestyle is actually broken down into four phases. The first phase is an on ramp phase, which takes depending. Again, it can take as long as it needs to based off of how you're feeling, but between seven days to 10 days, and that is all focused on building the reserves, building the yin energy, building your life force so that you can create the potential to work out. So we focus on an individualized stretching program. I teach people how to identify what do they need to stretch in under 15 minutes. What is the priority of what to focus on? Teach people active meditation. Every different phase of the four phases has active meditation and a different one. Also teach people how to basically perform some of the most foundational movements. Not very many, but just literally it's almost optional. The movement part with a kettlebell in the on ramp phase or in the beginning is not the priority. Right. So it's like if you got time, if you want to get a little movement and you can, but we're really building that. And then we move into what I call general conditioning or base conditioning. Then from there, so it goes actually it goes on ramp corrective and base conditioning, and then we move into high performance. So by the end of it, not only do you have you learned really the lifestyle components of what it takes to sustain high performance training, but you could. It was a program more than any other thing that I ever designed that has been designed to be gone through multiple times. Because every single time you can improve in load, you can improve in. Really the main factor is hopefully every time you go through it, you take better care of yourself and you do the program, you're able to perform more of the workouts, more of the sets, more of the reps. And so every time you take it, you could say, man, my, like my level of potential and vitality and performance continually started increasing, as opposed to, man, I just wrecked myself. And now it's going to take me 1, 2, 3 months to recover from something that should have been building my vitality in the first place.

So if somebody's never touched a kettlebell in their life, you're able to give them. It sounds like somewhat of an assessment. Yes, absolutely. Beginning of the program. So, like, where they're tight, where they're loose, and then these foundational movements like this swing, Most people are kyphotic. Like right now I'm, I'm real in kyphosis. This is back in my training days is when you're sloping forward and your thoracic spine is going backwards. So I'm always, constantly, throughout the day, I'm always going like this. Just. It's like a half inch movement where I'm just. That's it. Even right now, I feel it. And it's interesting energetically. I don't know if you do this in your assessment. I'm curious how this looks. Maybe we can go deeper into that. When people are kyphotic, which is driving the car on the cell phone, like just life in general, it's like a very sagittal thing where we're just always sloping forward. How do you deal with people that have kyphosis? Most. Most people, I think that maybe have a sedentary job, they just kind of naturally have kyphosis because gravity takes its toll. So how do you address that? With the kettlebell swing?

So with the kettlebell swing. So here's the thing. So kettlebell swing, for those of you who aren't familiar, Most people I'm imagining, who are listening are familiar with it. It's one of the key movements that most people identify. I would say the swing and the get up are probably the two most iconic movements that someone might do with a kettlebell. Kettlebell swing. Fantastic ballistic movement, explosive movement. It's a hip hinging pattern. And as great of a movement as it is, right, as wonderful of a movement it is, it's not right for everybody at any given time.

Yeah.

And so one of the things that I have to do as a coach is really ground people in the level of awareness of where they are right now. Not saying that if that's part of the goal or part of the program. We won't get to that. But before you load a movement through, honestly, even though the kettlebell swing is considered a foundational kettlebell movement. It's not foundational, bro. You're doing repetitive high speed movements. And especially if you're talking about a two handed kettlebell swinging, think about this. One of my old coaches, 6 foot ish, 7ft tall, maybe 6 foot 6, just under 400 pounds, huge. Like a strongman competitor. His shoulders were like a brick house, bro. If you try to get him to do a two handed kettlebell swing, especially a cast iron one which is like typically depending on the weight, the size changes. Dude, there's no way he could even grab the bell without being in a. In a rounded back posture.

Yes.

Right. So just the body structure of someone can make it challenging. But a kettlebell swing is not by any means the first place I would start someone. So oftentimes I've got to tell someone like, hey, this is where you are. Let's reestablish some good positioning. The number one thing, honestly, that as it relates to coaching movement in the gym and outside, you said it perfectly. So I would say micro movements create macro movements. Okay. The ability to just make these small fine tunements and in awareness. Awareness is the biggest thing in and out of the gym that is going to create the prerequisites for change anywhere. So just having the awareness of how you're holding yourself as if you want to think about. Yes. You want to roll the shoulders back and down. You want to get, most importantly get as tall as you can as if someone was pulling a string from the crown of your head up right from the ceiling like a dancer might be. That is the type of posture we want to be in on a day to day basis. But also you take that posture and you can apply to anything in the gym. So I would say awareness is the most important. And then depending on that posture, if we want to focus on the physical aspect, like you mentioned, you know briefly, like just how someone's feeling.

Yes.

Will impact their posture. So honestly, there may be no amount of rows or static wall leans for the neck posture. If you're not dealing with some of the things in your life or not aware of them, it's going to be very that are closing down your heart center. It's going to be hard to open up or at least maintain that position when you're unconscious. So I would say awareness as a whole, I would say looking at the emotional components and then from there it's really about opening up a Lot of everything that's on the front of the body and starting to strengthen from an endurance perspective. Everything that's on the back. Okay. Because when you look at posture, you're looking at endurance muscles of the body. Long duration. We're meant to stand for hours on end. So if you just do five heavy rows, yes, that'll start strengthening the back, but you typically will not be able to maintain it unless you train for longer durations.

I just feel like pulling is such a important thing that honestly, most people don't do. Like, pulling develops all those, like the posterior muscles that hold us upright. And gravity's always trying to beat us down. Like right now, if we were to not be aware, gravity would just put us on the ground, you know, And I think most people, because of the incessant monkey mind, life's responsibilities, just things that are really loading them both emotionally and physically without knowing it, they can just maybe an inch or two slope forward. So doing this type of training, like, how does this emotionally impact people? Because I know physically, physically, we all want to look good because it's nice to look good. But from like a longevity and health standpoint, you know, how does this type of training impact people's emotional health?

What, what do they call it? The power posture. The power position, when you stand tall and you put your hands on your hip, like, just like that. Like just.

Or like Jordan. Peter Peterson says, stand, stand up tall with your shoulders back. You know, it's in 12 rules for life. It's one of his postures. It's a reason it's in there, right? He talks about it in his work.

I mean, what can you do from that posture? Not only does it truly embody like, like a superhero type posture so you can step into the, the identity of the person that you're trying to be, but also too. I mean, one of the beautiful things that I admire and appreciate about you is we just did some. You created, you gave me an invitation to do seven minutes of your breath work program, which was not only awesome, but also it allowed me to not only get more grounded, tune into my body, get more clear. And it's very hard when you look at posturally. So when you're in this exaggerated kyphotic position, when your ribcage collapses down here, it's very hard to get a full diaphragmatic breath. So when you open up the body, you can actually get that full diaphragmatic breath. And that is one of the biggest, at least in my experience, anchors to being grounded, being more in your body feeling more confident. And so whether it's from that identity, that power position of the person you want to be and step into, or simply just the biomechanics of getting a full breath, that'll change the game on someone's emotional. Just intelligence.

Yeah. And the way that they can fill. I learned from Dr. Belisa Vranich. She wrote breathing for warriors to breathe into the back of the kidneys. Actually, she calls it vertical breathing versus horizontal breathing. So most people breathe like this, right. And then they're just tensioning their scalenes and they're more kyphotic and they're more forward flexed. So I'm curious to go through your program because I know that there's like a stretch protocol, but is there also breath awareness in the program as well? Like, how did you integrate that in there?

Oh, dude, you get me all excited, bro. You got me all excited. Yeah. I mean, this is a reflection of not only how I teach, but of my life. And so every single morning, there's every phase. You have a new morning routine that's under 10 minutes long that incorporates what I call a core temperature warmup. So warming up the fascia, warming up the nervous system, and then we move directly into a few mobility exercises, primarily focused on the spine. For me, the spine is priority over everything when it comes to training. Then from there, then we do typically between two to four breathing exercises and you're done. So breathing is incorporated even, honestly, depending on where someone's at, like, they don't have to do the entire workout program or whatever. If someone, and so many people have commented on this, just doing the ten minute morning routine. Change the game for somebody. Change the game. So there's a morning routine again, there's individualized stretching, active meditations, and intelligently programmed kettlebell workouts for both level one beginner people who, let's say either have zero kettlebell experience or even little to no resistance training experience. And then a level two, which is going to be more your intermediate, maybe with some fitness experience and or a little ket kettlebell experience. But they really want to take their performance, their athleticism to a whole nother level. That's what it's perfect for.

Okay, while you're watching this, just click a new window open. Or if you're in the car, just tell your wife or your husband. Just go to wellnessforce.com kettlebell you can learn about Mike's program right there. Oh, yeah. I'm curious about from a emotional perspective. Again, I know we're talking about physical Intelligence today. But so much of the request for the show, it's just like, how do I get out of stress? How do I get out of overwhelm? How do I get out of anxiety? How do I get rid of panic? And so I think about this concept of movement as medicine and what are the things that we can't see about movement and what is the medicine that we can't see about movement? What does that really mean? How are we healing ourselves through movement? But it's not just how big our biceps are or our body. Like what's the healing part of movement as medicine?

I mean there's so much there but like one of the biggest thing is movement is pumping. You're pumping the lymphatic system. But the other thing is you're pumping energy and stagnant energy. And that's also why. And even, you know, I was just thinking when I was back at Saltara, which is an ayahuasca medicine center, you know, I brought a large group down there myself and Connor Moore and I didn't have anything to do with the medicine work other than just bringing people down. But what I did contribute was movement workshops. So body weight from stretching to movement. And what I did is even though like we could look at the biomechanics of like a psoas stretch or whatever it is, or an dough, which is incredible, but when you look at movement via energy centers in the body, you know you can do. And that's what working in is. Essentially you're utilizing movement to create not only awareness, breath pumping and an like getting stagnant energy to move. And that is like when we're sitting down all day, like you're, you're A lot of times specifically if our posture is poor, you're physically and emotionally going to be more likely to be stagnant.

I just got a visual of like a dead end lake where all this sediment sits. It's kind of what happens in our body. Yeah. 100 blood perspective. It's like our sediment gets stuck and then we emotionally are just bathing in our own.

Yeah, you're just.

It's not funny. But it is funny because it's like, well, here's how to fix it.

Well, think dude. I love that. I mean you got that stagnant lake versus a stream or a river. And that's why you don't want to be drinking even if it's clean, you know, if it's non, let's say contaminated, whatever water you don't want to be drinking out of a stagnant lake. But you can drink out of that mountain water, that Shasta water all day, bro. And that will energize, vitalize. So, you know, you can take, you know, exercises, any exercise. Any exercise is medicine. Right. And I don't believe, and maybe people have heard this, but there really is no. With good technique or more or less, there's no bad exercise. There's only a wrongly prescribed exercise. Right. So if you understand some movement principles, any movement can be an energizing activity. So as an example, if you're to do a pushing exercise or a pressing exercise with the upper body, we can look at it from two perspectives. Pressing exercise for the upper body, you're going to get energy and flow to the chest, to the upper back. You're going to open up the heart center. The other thing too is you can look at it from, like, from the perspective if you really want to exercise your boundaries in life, you're having trouble saying no. Pushing away is exerting. That's, that's like you're, you're, you're saying no to things. When you're pulling, you're opening, you're receiving. So you can look at it from that. And what I would encourage people to do with, with all their movement practice, whether it's training hard in the gym, which will be a little bit more challenging to do this, but when you're unloaded and your focus is energizing the body, put intention to it, make it be a ritual. So many things in my life now, I've got so much more richness from simply by adding an intention practice before. So again, if you're doing a body weight or even just an energy push, pushing forward, pulling back, you're exhaling, working with your breath, letting go of what you don't need right now, bringing in gratitude, bringing in what you want, energized, filling the body, you do that for literally, even if it's just one to five minutes.

Yeah.

Game changer.

Yeah. And, and like literally a switch because, you know, respiration, breath work, it's the only autonomic lever we can pull that'll actually help us with our stress. There's nothing else we can do that's automatic. Like, you're not digesting your own food, you're not beating your own heart. Right. There's like divine intelligence that's doing all this for us. But I feel like breath is this beautiful bridge where we actually get to be in communion and I'll take away the woo speak connected to something that we all don't understand, but yet we all know we can feel depending on our level of awareness and spiritual growth. So there is this piece where by cycling our breath and like you had said, just even intentional breathing, like visualizing an orb or maybe just visualizing all the stuff you don't want to hold on to anymore. I think this is really like the thing we can't see. We look at movement as medicine. And with all your training across the world, like, I would, I would assume, and please tell me that I'm wrong, but I would assume that most people, when they start a kettlebell program in general, they want to be a badass. They want to like look good and look ripped. And I'm not saying that's bad. Like there's nothing wrong with that. But what's deeper about this program and what's deeper than just looking good that you really have heard from people that have taken it? You said there's 20 countries that have been up in this kettlebell program. So what's, what's the feedback about, like emotional health that you've gotten from people? Like, real time feedback?

I mean, I was so pleasantly surprised at how many people enjoyed, like I was sharing earlier briefly, just like everything that wasn't even about kettlebells, that not only gave them, I mean, just that morning routine, like we were talking about the breath work, the awareness, the spine. Everybody in the program, if they're following the program as it was designed, is hopefully a little taller. You know, like, not actually like their bones are growing by any means, but they're actually carrying themselves different. And when they carry themselves in, they feel different about themselves. Not only how they relate to themselves, but how they relate to their kids, to their wives. And so I've heard so many times, like, man, I just, I feel like, you know, without sounding weird, like a better person around my family. And so I think that's, you know, some of the biggest things and even like the stretches. So with the stretches, I think it's really important. Like, it's not just important to stretch. Like, stretching can be very, very helpful. Can be energizing, it can be opening, expanding, which is beautiful. But the key thing about kettlebell lifestyle or just in any program you do is you want to make it individualized for you and where you are in this moment. And then so with the stretches so many times, like I'll use, some of them are classic stretches, some of them are non classical stretches, but I add a perspective of so much more fine tune awareness that has helped me in my journey. So like what you were saying, just how to do these micro movements and cues to actually just get a millimeter of change to create a little bit more tension, a little bit more intention into the stretch and just watch how that changes. So some of the people have been like, man, I recognize a few of these stretches from high school football, but now I know exactly what to feel.

Yeah. Instead of being forced to do something, they're being pulled into it. Yeah. There. There is this reciprocity that I feel like, with energy sometimes. Like you had talked about healthy boundaries when you push. And sometimes pulling, I feel like, can be the most cathartic thing, because if someone is feeling depressed, then they can pull themselves up. But if they're feeling like they need boundaries and they can push away the people or the things that are stressing them out. So I'm. I'm thinking now just in real time with you, like the. The medicine that comes with movement. I was a trainer, and I based all my looks and. And the way that my body was on my value. And I think this is, like, a core differentiator of, like, your work. Because most people might look at you and they're like, wow, this guy's probably. At first glance, he's probably a jock. He probably doesn't know anything about anything besides being in the gym. And it's just completely not true. Like, you're integrated. You know about all these things. The mental, the physical, the emotional, the spiritual.

So what.

What is it about you that really, really flavored this program? Like, what. What. What did you put in here? What did you put in here? You take from all these quadrants. What is it about you that wants you. That. That makes you keep on doing this work and doing it with, like, such curiosity? You're playful when you talk about it.

You want to know the truth, man?

Yeah.

You know, it's cool. So. So this is my second program that I've created. The first program was called Mastering the Kettlebell. It's a great program. It's more like multiple certifications of information and knowledge for the kettlebell. The big difference in terms of, like, just this will paint the picture. So I love rap. Like, I love Tupac. I love all that stuff, and I'll still listen to that stuff from time to time. But when I look at what I was doing, when we talk about ritual. So before I would film or shoot or whatever it was for the last program, it was basically me listening to, like, Tupac, Biggie, just getting a little dance, getting in my zone right now. Before I was Filming this program. I had video guys there and I was. There was about a three year difference between when that one first one was filmed to this one. And I'd be saging the entire space. I was filming at Mindful. I was saging the entire space. I had medicine music playing. Yeah, Pachamama music. And I was just jamming to that. And Eli knows me, who's. Who you've met, who's a great, great guy. But he had his video team there and they don't know me. So I had a sage in the space. I was listening to medicine music, which is so awesome. I was doing a little breath work. And then after it. What's his name? Doctor. I think his name is Dr. Nick. Don't quote me, but he's got essential oil wizardry.

Yeah, yeah. So Dr. Nick, man. We'll leave the link in the. In the show notes. That's an amazing guy.

Amazing.

His products are so beautiful. They're all hand selected anyways.

So much love and intention put into him, right?

Yes.

Have you seen his vaporizer?

Not yet.

Okay, so it kind of honestly looks like what I would have met, like a crack pipe kind of deal. So. But you can vaporize essential oils. So as before, I'm filming, I'm vaporizing like peppermint oil or whatever it was. I don't recall. And so I've got this thing with a glass thing, and I'm lighting it, I'm inhaling, and I'm offering it to all the film guys. And they're just like, I'm good, bro.

We don't want your drugs, hippie.

But it was just like, you know, I really do feel like, like, how do I say this? You've got so much knowledge, life experience inside you. So when you hop on this podcast or you hop on camera, it's not about what you. You already know, it's.

It's.

How do you get yourself in the energetic state, the energetic vibration, to tap into that before, I used to be so much more about reading my notes. I need to hit this bullet. This bullet. Now I know it's inside of me. The only thing I got to do is, is get myself into a zone and into feeling the most mic that I can feel. And then whatever comes out will be what's meant to come out. And it'll have the energetic vibration of that note. And so when someone's watching whatever it is now, creating a ritual before, whether it's through music, which is beautiful, essential oils, whatever it is, for anybody. And you can do this before any practice, man, that is really that. That it's truly a reflection of my heart and what I want people to feel when they're performing the program.

Man, it's crazy. There were so many visuals I was having when you were talking. I was thinking about, like, the ultimate hero's journey, where we don't really have initiations in this world and people that. I'll speak specifically for men because I don't know what it's like to be in a woman's body. But I'm sure women have their own initiations as well. When you were talking about, like, you know, the events that you used to do where you would go really hard and I mentioned the seal Fit piece, I think that's the sole wanting to grow. It's the soul wanting to experience what life is like on, like, a different plane, different dimension. And we can get there through the physical, right? Through breath and through movement. But I think about your journey, and it's just so inspiring to watch because, man, most. Most men at your juncture, at your journey, like, they're just not this aware of what's really going on. And I think a lot of it came from your. Your teachings with Paul. But there has to have been something else that. That helped you and fueled you with this too. Because although Paul is an extremely powerful teacher and mentor, there's got to be something about your soul contract here on planet Earth that's making you do this work, that's. That's pulling you into this work, not pushing you. Because pulling is such a different energy, isn't it? So if you were to. If you were to put a finger on this, was there a time in your life where you didn't feel pulled by this work? And then when did you start to feel the strong pull to actually do it?

It. The first thing that comes up is, like, with some people, like, what's interesting, right? People. People make. And I do this myself too, and we all do this, but you see someone on social media, you see what someone puts out, and then you create a label form and you think that's what they are. So most people think of me at first glance, maybe as a kettlebell guy or a Bulgarian bad guy, and then. Or depending on where an Aldoa stretching guy, I don't know, you know, combo practitioner, but. But, you know, we're all people. We're all a combination of life experiences and so many different things. And what I honestly get for, like, Joy Adam, when people, like, start taking my programs or start talking to me, they're like or listening to this podcast, which is a great. Just I'm super grateful to be here and get this message out. It's just like, you know, just people are so much more than what they put out on social media, you know, and there's so much more to it. So I've been into holistic health since I was 18, into this stuff. So I was a strength and conditioning coach.

Do you know how rare that is? I've been into holistic health since I was 18. Like that's not on most 18 year olds minds.

Yeah, I was, I was working at a holistic lifestyle center. It was the only. It was actually Paul's, it was run by Paul's first student, I believe it was from the Bay Area. And so a guy named Brian Champ. And so he was, you know, he had a hypnotherapist, he had functional medicine practitioners, spiritual workers in there. And so like at a young age I had exposure to all this stuff, which I feel so blessed. So it's always, I would say it's always been on the path, but it's continually evolved. So where someone saw me, maybe how I was eating or training or whatever at 18, it's not the same mic that I was at 20, at 22, 25, 33. And where I'm going to go forward, it's like if it's anything, you know, we're all constantly evolving, specifically if we act as best as we can in alignment with what our heart's saying, what our spirit's guiding us to. And if it's one thing that I've always done since since really a kid is I've been, I would say, very connected to my heart. And so if I'm doing things that aren't in alignment with that, I can just, it just wrecks me. And I can do it, but it'll literally make me physically sick and ill. So I've kind of had this compass, but one of the things that I would say has been such a, how do I say, has really catapulted or really accelerated this process has been when I started getting into serving combo and the role of serving and how much reverence and respect I have to not only carry that medicine and serve that medicine, but also to be able to sit, witness, support and hold space for someone has literally blown my heart wide open and given me such a humiliation like humbleness for the human experience. And that same humbleness I truly feel because there is truly no separation, as you super well know, between all the aspects of physical, mental, Emotional, spiritual. It's hundred percent carried over and spilled over to what people see when they see me post a kettlebell swing or whatever it is, because I'm the same person who's also on the weekend or whatever, doing a meditation circle or whatever, whether people know it or not. And it just feels different. It feels more. Feels more me.

Yeah, well, you've. We've all heard this phrase, like, your vibe attracts your tribe. And so, like, what is your tribe like? What's the vibe you're putting out? I mean, I can feel it. I know what it is. To me, it feels like integration. You know, we talk about this curve of intelligence on the show, whether it is physical or emotional. And I feel like it's. We gather info for a long time. We'll listen to all the podcasts, we'll do all the certifications, we'll do all the things, and then we actually have to do it, you know, like, do the movements, do the exercise, do the meditation, do the breathing. And then at the end of that arc of intelligence, there's like the embodiment, and we're all. We're all like either running, walking, or crawling to embodiment, you know. And so there is this phase, I think, that most people get stuck in where they just gather. And have you ever found yourself in that phase early in the journey where you thought by having a bunch of different certifications and a bunch of different things that might somehow make you feel embodied? Because to me, I experience you as an embodied teacher, you know, someone that really lives and walks and breathes the pillars. But there has to have been a time when it wasn't like that.

Oh, dude, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And like, yeah, man. I mean, I think so much of what I'm learning, like, I have the pattern of and have had, and I have to be just aware of it, of putting mentors on a pedestal. Right. And just like wanting to be them. We're also thinking I'm less than. I'm never enough. Now there's a. The light in the shadow side to everything. So the light side is maybe what, you know, some. Some of the competitions I've won or something. Like, it's forced me to, you know, really grind and want to learn all this stuff. But then the shadow side is just that feeling of emptiness that there's never enough that's going to fill the cup. And so it's still something that I have to be very aware of. And then I continually work on. But absolutely, man. That's why, you know, as an example I mean, I've taken darn near, you know, I've been using kettlebells for, Well, I think 17 years. I've taken, I don't even know almost every single type of kettlebell certification out there. Probably like seven or eight of them of the major ones.

Yeah.

And then multiple levels, whether it's one level one, level two, level three. And then I've retaken all those courses one, because I fucking love learning. And even the same information prevent. Presented by a different instructor with a different vibe and different life experience, different examples I learned from. But part of that, if I'm being honest, is like, it'll never be enough. And then I got to a point where I was like, yo, you could hold all this stuff to yourself or maybe now. And that for me was when I was 30 and I transitioned out of my family business and really went full time into this dream. I was like, now it's time to share. And you'll always be learning, you'll always be growing. But, man, I would say for most of my life and still, it's still a, you know, a pattern. I got to be aware of that. Yeah. Like, you hold yourself. And I think that's why comparison can be such a toxic thing. You compare yourself to people out there, and when it's really like, man, the. The message for me is focus on you. Get it out, get some feedback. Tweak and go. Tweak and go.

I love that you said that. The comparison. I've heard, like, comparison is the thief of joy, which seems pretty true on all fronts. People that start a program of any kind, whether it's body weight or kettlebell, they may fall into the trap of, like, being motivated by self hatred or motivated by comparing themselves to someone else who looks better or performs better or something like that. Is this program for anyone? Like, literally, is it for anyone? Or is there. Is there, Realistically, truthfully, are there people that shouldn't swing a bell? Are there people that shouldn't do kettlebell? Who's it really designed for? What's the niche?

So I'll give. I'll give the example. So it's really two different populations. And the way I did this was when I was filming, I had like a giant cue card, like, or whatever it was. And I would just write Flynn and Patrick, two cue cards. Okay. So I could envision and really just feel who I was speaking to, because not very hard. I could do it, but it just feels mechanical and doesn't feel like my heart. If I'm just speaking to A small lens. Right. But if I can envision who exactly I'm speaking to there, adds that feeling component. Right. And that more relatability. And then I think of some stories and I think of all this stuff. So Flynn was actually my developer. He's in Pakistan and so he doesn't, man, we did, I just had him one day just do some just, just basic body weight squats and he was out of breath. Now we've worked on his fitness too.

Yeah.

Because it's important for me that anyone who's involved in the program also, again, it's, it's so much less about the outcome and it's more about the process. So I don't care really, really where anybody is in their journey. My goal is to help them find where to start and then guide them slowly along the process. And that's where the gold is, that's where the lessons are. But Flynn has very little to no resistance training experience. Literally sits at a desk all day and programs all day. So, you know, and again it's going to, you're going to fill out a five question questionnaire on the workout days. So if you're not able to do or whatever it is, you're super stressed or you're sore, whatever it is, you're not sleeping, like he wasn't sleeping. It's going to either drop you to the bottom end of the volume reps and sets or it's going to say, yo, today, skip the workout day or push it forward or push it back, whatever, and then do your active meditation. So it's for someone who has little to no kettlebell experience and little resistance training, even if that, it can take as long as it needs to take. And then the second person is Patrick. Now Patrick, he's I love this guy. So Patrick is the type of guy who doesn't know if there's a gas pedal. He goes from 0 to 120 with nothing in between. And so when I work with Patrick, I've been working with him for over a year now. My main goal, he's a black belt in jiu jitsu, but has had six, I think it's six hip surgeries and seven knee surgeries.

His body's been talking to him.

His body's been, well, his body's been.

Talking to him, but screaming.

He's the screaming. He's had a difficult time listening. And so granted, he's a high level competitor. Respected that. Very knowledgeable, very skilled in movement. Right. Didn't have much kettlebell experience. But I mean he's been training his whole life. He's in his 50s, but his body's shot. And it's because he hasn't known or hasn't. He's basically hired me to help teach him everything that's in between that 0 to 150 and how and when, how hard to push, how much. Because him, like many people, myself included, all I've known is the grind. All I've known is I have to push myself to get to this level. And I love the book Essentialism, because the message, really, I would say, of kettlebell lifestyle is less but better or finding the right amount. And if what I found is, if you do the right amount, what you'll find is you have to do way less strategically.

Yeah.

And the results are way more. And there's a longevity focus. So for Patrick, as an example, I mean, he had a little kettlebell experience. He's, I would say, fairly fit, but he basically hasn't been able to do what he loves. He hasn't been able to do any jiu jitsu because he cannot sit with his butt on his heels as if he's in a position on the floor. He can't get to that position without extreme knee pain. So for him, it's been about restoring movement, quality, teaching him this system and this structure. So, you know, it's someone maybe with some resistance training could be a trainer, but wants to learn the kettlebell, wants to get back to what they love doing. So those are the two populations that I had in mind as I was sharing Flynn and Patrick.

That's cool. It's like, we've all heard of, like, the avatar. And if you're an entrepreneur, if you're in business, there's a phrase called who's your avatar? You know, who's the person or people that you really want to serve? And when I hear you speak about that, I think it's almost everyone. Like, even if somebody has an injury, there's a way. Is there accountability? Is there nuance exploration? Like, how do you take people that maybe have some special physical consideration? Is there a group or is there something where they can message you? Because it's kind of delicate when people start a new program, maybe they've had an identity to an injury. You know, I know, like, I pulled my calf muscle, my gastroc, that was actually my soleus two years ago, and I'm like, I don't really enjoy running anymore, you know, so that's an identity that I'm working through, is like, I'm not a runner, but Like I can actually go and run as long as I have the right biomechanics. So how do you address that for people that have had injuries and they're identifying with those injuries? Unfortunately, yeah, it's interesting.

So I would say it is definitely a program fit for anybody. But what I will say is they're going to have to be. I always said, like, there's no, like you don't. The only prerequisite to work with me or to take any of my programs, the only thing is to keep an open mind. And so you have to be open minded enough to challenge some of like, you know, how you thought was the quote, right way to train, which I don't believe there is any right way to train. There's many ways to the top of the mountain and it's more about the journey than anything else. But as long as you have an open mind and you're open to some of this stuff, damn, you'll get a lot out of it. And a lot. Most likely more than one would think. And so when I discussed earlier, well, one, there's a forum. So anyone who gets the program gets into the Kettlebell lifestyle community so they can ask questions and vibe with all the people from around the world, which everybody in there carries this vibe. Like I think honestly, just being in that group and just connecting with, you know, people from around the world that you can relate to. Like, it's beautiful. From South Korea to Venezuela to Germany to France. It's rad.

How did all these people find you?

Man, I don't know, you know, I mean, I have my Instagram channel. I mean like, yeah, 20 countries and it's been so cool to see people from the Philippines. You know, when I will do sometimes like a Q and A call like at midnight or 2am Like I've got a more advanced, I call it Kettlebell Lifestyles Masters Group, which is more of a mentorship program as well. And man, Mike, I got one guy in the Philippines, one guy in Germany. There the Filipino guy gets, his name is Denzel. He wakes up at midnight for our calls and he shows up and he is stoked.

Yes.

And I'm like, those are the people that I want in it. The people that are like, you know, ready for this information, willing, hungry if they're. If you're ready and you want to create some positive change and you got an open mind, I would love to support you. And so you got the forum. And then as I mentioned earlier, there's approximately 10 different contributors. So I brought in two physical therapists Joey Salgado and Joss Morieli of the Bay Area. Great dudes, very high level. And so when you first come in, you have an intake questionnaire. Approximately, I believe it's like 15 to 20 questions. And it's asking you questions that you probably never would have thought. Like from mental, emotional questions, like, how do you feel? Like, what. I forget what the words were, but, like, are you able to sit with yourself alone for one hour? Something like that. And basically it's looking at, can you. Are you comfortable being alone with yourself? Right. Which is something that nobody ever asks, right?

They're like, what does it have to do with kettlebells?

What does it have to do with kettlebells? Everything to do with kettlebells, right? It has everything to do with how you approach movement, how you approach just again, do you need external stimulus, external validation to keep you going, or do you have the intrinsic motivation to be solid with yourself? If you can't sit in a position and breathe for five minutes, that's way more important than being in the gym for 60, 100%. 10 out of 10. So questions on that, Questions on if you've had any shoulder restrictions, hip restrictions, how's your sleep, the quality of sleep, all these questions. And then based off of what you fill out, depending on what route you go in the program, it will send you content from Joey on what can you do to assess, treat shoulder restrictions and hip restrictions. So I've brought in people that are way more skilled than me in their areas to help support people again, where they are in their process. And that's really, like, if it's. If it's one thing that I'm very blessed is I've developed a great network over the years. And I know, like, truly, it's all about. If you really. If there's a personal trainer listening to this, one of the biggest things that I. That I feel like any trainer or any practitioner can do is develop a solid team, know what you do very well in, what you love doing, what excites you, what lights you up, and then bring in these. These people that, like, when you have a client as an example that has something like a shoulder issue, if that's not your specialty, but you refer them to someone who is a Jedi for the shoulder, and you tell them for right now, that's the priority. Go see him. When you're ready, you come back to me. Or maybe we work together, dude, that you've got a lifelong client there. And that's truly how you help people. So I tried to bring in people like Paul and Jitter Pierre, who's a faculty member for Paul, specializes in mental emotional health. He talks about moving beyond self sabotage. He talks about the parts of self. And so people are going to get sprinkles from many more people than just myself. So it's not just about me. It's about, you know, raising the collective vibration. So that's kind of how that stuff.

Shows up in the program you guys saw. If you're watching this on YouTube, you saw some of the clips of Mike swinging the bell and some of the interesting B roll from athleticism, where, you know, anybo. Anybody can swing a bell, truly, as long as they have the foundation. They have to have the foundation. What are some of the things that people get wrong, like, fundamentally wrong about training body weight or training with the kettlebell? Let's just go into that for a moment, because I think if they saw Jillian Michaels swing a kettlebell, they probably got the wrong idea. And this is not to dog on Jillian Michaels. Like, I'm sure she's helped a lot of people, but I think, like, the road to hell is paved with good intentions sometimes. And that's why it's super important to work with somebody like yourself who is looking at the whole holistic picture of what it means to do a movement or what it means to have movement as medicine. So what are the things that people, like, tend to get wrong? Maybe even men and women, specifically, when they actually look at a kettlebell, it can be a bit challenging to the psyche, right? Because it's not a machine. They can't just sit down and push away. So what are the things they get wrong?

Man? You know, I would say, well, there's. There's a lot there. But in terms of, like, let's just. I'll take a few examples. But, like, the first thing as it comes to. And we're going to use the kettlebell as an example, but you can relate this to anything, you know, like, and maybe this is just my approach. So for everyone who's listening, this is just what. What I feel resonates with me. But it's like, even how you approach the weight is significant to me. So when I approach the way, maybe this is my competitive background. I've been competing my whole life in different sports. Or maybe it's the ritual and the medicine work. But even before I step up to the kettlebell, I've got a ritual. Step a few steps back, shake it out. I'll take a few breaths, and then only when I'M ready. Do I approach the kettlebell? And for me, one of the most important things is the setup. So no matter what lift it is, the swing, the clean, the snatch, the overhead press, whatever it is, if your setup is jacked 100%, the execution phase, what you do when you're actually moving, the dynamic portion of it is going to be impacted. On a kettlebell swing, if you start with the bell three feet out in front, like, you'll see. I think it was Jillian Michaels or anyone on YouTube, you know, that's going to put you at a disadvantage when you start, no matter how good your technique is when you swing. So the first thing I would say is most people don't typically have an approach, right? They just literally don't grab the weight and go. There's no respect.

Yeah, respect the weight.

Respect the weight, right? Like, it's when I'm grabbing a barbell or anything or what. No matter what it is, there's a level of respect there. And it's like, it's usually when injuries happen or whatever happens, it's. It's a moment either of lost presence or when your mind drifts and. Or just a lack of honoring what's in front of you. So no matter what weights in front of me, I treat it, whether it's 8 kilos or 48 kilos or double 40 kilos, no matter what weight it is. I try and always have the first rep or the last rep look as good as the first rep, have my setup reproduced, and then have my approach and that level of respect every time. So then what's happening is, is no matter what weight you do, what lift you do, no matter what, all that stuff is like driving a car becomes automatic, and it takes less and less energy, and then it taps you in. Like, we were talking about the presenting or on camera. It's like when you know the proper setup, when you know how to hip hinge, have the awareness of the spine, then it's literally, you can be more present in the intention of the lift and you can tap into really like this. This is also why, like, music can be helpful or even lifting around buddies. I think Paul did an experiment with. In one of his courses where he took one of the female students. And I think it was. He had a guy deadlifting and he brought a female close to him. And just the energetic carryover it motivated, it made him stronger. And it's like. But those are all. Those are, like, nuances and stuff like that. But you can focus more on, like, every time I Step in the gym. Specifically when I'm training for a competition or even outside of it. And people, no matter what your focus is in life, this can be. This is one of the most valuable things I ever learned from Paul. Even if you took all the. The bio, the aura ring, or even my program out of the equation, if you step in the gym, and every single time you step in the gym, you can honestly ask yourself, I can and will exceed my last performance by 1 to 3%, then you belong in the gym. If you don't, it's either modify the training or get your butt out of there. If you show up, just that question, a check in, take a few breaths. Can I meet or exceed my Last performance by 1 to 3%? If you can answer that, let's go. And so that's all. It's like, so much about what you do before the lift, man, because it just makes everything so much easier. So, you know, that's what I would say is most people miss is what happens before.

That was quite the deep answer on the setup. I mean, I. I love that because, gosh, like, look at how I prepared for this show. We breathed, we. We talked, we grounded, we made sure everything was set up properly. Like, there's respect in that. And I. And I love how you said that. And see, this is what just blows me away about where you are in your life as far as age and your awareness, like, your ability to really get to the heart of the matter, you know? Because most people look at physical like it's separate from emotional. They just do. And I don't know why that is. I think it's because we are driven by a logical mind, and we have a society where it's like, hey, cross your T dot your I. This goes in this box, this goes in that one. And there's no awareness that everything is truly connected. And we're learning more and more about this. The science and spirituality quotient of this, too, is awesome. And I love how you bring in all these experts and people like Paul and like Jator that talk about the emotional side of it. Because quite frankly, man, if you could just speak to this person right now. There is someone watching or listening right now, and I'm talking to you. Maybe you're in your mid-40s or 50s, and you kind of given up. Like, you've literally told yourself none of the other stuff worked for me. And why would this work? You know, what would you say to them?

I would say one of the things that I've learned is one of the biggest things in anything specifically in my program is to trust the process. And so I've literally spent my whole life putting life experience in this and hiring the best coaches for my own journey, and then that which I want to share with others. Having been broken in multiple sports, what sent me to Paul was an injury that no one could figure out. I went through every practitioner for almost two years. No one was. It was the injury, man. I had a lot going on, but one of the biggest. One of the biggest. I mean, yeah, the list is long, but I mean, I've had fungal and parasite infections. H. Pylori. I've had very bad atlas, axis subluxation. I have an anatomical short leg. That's considered significant. But what I went to Paul for was called a compartment syndrome in my left forearm. Now, most people, let's say runners, tend to get it. I believe in the calves. I think that's where they get it. But motocross racers will get it in the forearms. And so what happens is my forearm, on any attempt in the gym, hard, easy, heavy, whatever it was, my forearm would just pool. It would swell with blood, pool and be super painful. So I'd be forced to let go. I would get within one to five repetitions of, like, let's say, the black belt level equivalent in kettlebell sport. But for years, I'd be forced to put the bell down and no one could figure it out. And that's really what Paul helped me with. So what I would say is, you know, one of the most important things when you're starting a program, and like I said, this is just the pool of my life experience, from the greatest successes to the lowest of lows, and what it takes to truly reach high performance in every aspect of your life and do so for the long term, longevity. You got to trust the process. And if you fully, fully trust the process and you give it your all and you take your time and you're patient and you have an open mind, it's truly for everybody. That's. That's, that's like. Here's the thing, too, right? And I say this all the time. I've gone through the program so many times, and oftentimes I go through the level one beginner level, because. What's the beginner level? It's literally just regressions. It's. It's the deadlift. Right. Just because the deadlift is a. Is a regression to a swing clean or whatever it is.

Yeah.

Doesn't mean the deadlift is not a phenomenal exercise. So I'VE gone through even the beginner level three times almost. And my, my, my co head coach who helps teach with me some of the, the masters group, he's gone through both levels two to three times. He's got over 10 years experience. And I get benefit from the beginner level. I go back. That's like one of the things that, that gets, you know, gets me most excited because it comes down to awareness.

Yeah.

So when I approach the movement, approach the deadlift, I'm trying to check in, like, what's the head and neck position, what's my posture doing, what's the integration doing? And every time I do that, it sets a more powerful and more solid foundation from which to build levels on the house or level on the building. So that's, I mean, even someone with an advanced lifter, if they have an open mind and understand, like when you look at, you know, some of the best athletes in the world, from basketball to whatever. To be honest, in my experience, very few of them do a lot of the sexy stuff outside of Instagram. Most of them know that you got to practice your free throw shot a million times. That's where they focus their energy. So it just becomes automatic. And so, you know, falling in love with the process of mastering your body and mastering movement has really been the greatest medicine for me.

I would say, wow, what a beautiful answer. I think about how many times in life I specifically have like, been like humbled and not wanted to start over again. And look at this moment, I'll just be straight up. I'm usually 210. Like, that's my good weight and I feel great there. My body fat's awesome. I can perform well. But quarantine 20 set on man, like this year. And it's not all fat. Like, I know I'm also just naturally. Like, I have a propensity to gain muscle. I haven't done a DEXA scan or anything, but without shame, without judgment, like, this is just where I am. And I think the universe brings us to spaces on a consistent basis. So we can always approach life with the eyes of a child. Right. You can have the heart of a warrior, of a man, of an educated human. But just to have that consistent reminder that, like, we don't have it all figured out, things always change. No matter what age you are, you'll be forced at times to start over. But there's such a blessing in that. There really is. Like, there's such a beautiful space to just start over again because it's like a clean slate so if someone is feeling right now, inspiration, obviously, we talked about, go to wellnessforce.com kettlebell. Mike gave you, actually, a really cool discount there, and we'll link everything in the notes. But if somebody is on that phase where they're starting over, like, enjoy it. Enjoy the do over. Enjoy the clean slate, because, gosh, I'm in it myself, you know, and by the time this comes out, my life's gonna be way different, which I shared with you. I can't share that detail yet. But, Mike, thank you so much for sharing this gift with the world. You know, like, we. We explore so much of the emotional in the show, but your ability to share what the physical really means and. And how to tie in the emotion to the physical. We covered a lot of ground, dude. What did we miss, though? Like, what did we miss when it comes to the kettlebell and to this program and really how this integrates for everyone as long as they can keep the open mind. Like, what did we not cover today, man?

We. We went through so much, man. I would say we. I mean, we nailed, you know, most of the. The most important parts. I mean, to be honest, I'm just. I'm so. I'm so grateful, honored, and excited that this program's finally coming out. You know, it's been a long time coming, and. And it's. It's a reflection of my heart and how I want to serve and support the world. My three greatest, I would say, core values in life that are my. My is freedom, health, and service. And so, you know, through this program, the intention is to create more freedom in people's body and everything that we talked about, mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual, to create more sovereignty, to make people feel more comfortable and in their body and solid. This is, you know, the way in which I feel most alive, serving. And hopefully through this program, people will be able to serve their families, their communities at a greater and higher vibration and level. And then health. And the whole program, as I mentioned, it's equally as much a Kettlebell program as it is a health, wellness, longevity program. And so it's in direct alignment with what makes me feel more on purpose, more aligned with my heart, with my mind, with my spirit, and then taking action, moving forward. So I truly, truly hope that anybody who follows the program gets it, whether it's just the morning routine or just the stretching or just the working, whatever it is that. That. That meets you where you are right now. I mean, right now during COVID everything is so backwards that, you know, it's got Something for everybody. And I truly, truly hope that people enjoy it. And even if anything, just finding a community of like minded, light hearted people. I was so blown away at how heart centered everyone is and the conversation that you can have in the community is something that I haven't experienced too many other places. So whatever feels, you know, right for you, if someone is inspired to step, step forward, it would be an honor, I mean that from my heart, to support people out there with it.

Well, I think we can feel that from you, man. And I've always felt that from you ever since I first heard about your work. I think I saw you on Instagram too. If people don't know your IG handle, what's your Instagram handle?

Just my name. Mike Salemi.

Mike Salemi. What a joy, what a joy to talk with you again after so much time has passed. A year and a half. Like, think about how many things have changed on the planet since we spoke. I mean it's, it's utterly fascinating how much God gives us grace and how much the universe consistently surprises us all the time. And, and since we talked last, I mean, you, you feel almost even more mature and even more grounded and I'm in a new phase in my life and a lot of changes coming and the, the show has progressed since we spoke last time and I really feel like, you know, like today I didn't have a lot of things prepared, I had certain things I wanted to cover, but I just let it be what it is, you know, And I think that's the true mark of embodying somewhat of skill or intelligence is not always needing an external framework to guide me as we say goodbye to everyone and as people are feeling inspired. Like, what is that internal framework for you and how does that translate into your wellness? Like, how do you define wellness now?

Oh, well, first off, man, I just want to say thank you so much for having me, man. Like, the ability to come here, to connect with you, to share, it's like, like what I heard you say, honestly, and what I experienced you say is like, that's the medicine. That's the medicine. That is Josh Trent and that is the medicine that is coming through right now in our connection and in our conversation. And that's where the gold is. And so, man, wellness looks so much more today than it ever has as alignment. Alignment for me, of heart, first and foremost. Because that for me is my guiding post. The way how I operate and just like feel most alive and most loved and most loving. Heart, mind, spirit, and then taking whatever action that feels in alignment with that. So for me, wellness is the alignment and the integration of those three aspects. And then how it looks is. Is however it's meant to look.

Now, you live your life from that lens. Like, I can see it. And if you are having a desire, if you're watching and listening to live your life through your own authentic lens movements, a part of that. It's a huge part of that. I would say, like, what brought me into the world of wellness and why we're even having this conversation was because I was 280 pounds. Like, I wanted to feel well within myself, and I didn't know how to get there. And I just trusted at certain times, and then other times, I used anger as a fuel source. But one of the things I appreciate so much about you and that I love about our audience and the men and women that are here with us is that we're just really all on the same path. We're all just seeking this human optimization. Like, how do we live life well? What are the tools and resources and ingredients that we can do to do that? And so as long as we can approach this from, like, humility and not like, we have it all figured out, I want to challenge anybody watching or listening. Like, if you think you know about the kettlebell, take his program, and then you will see. Are you approaching the world with the eyes and curiosity of a child? So go to wellnessforce.com forward/kettlebell. Mike, thanks so much for coming. Thank you, brother. On the podcast, until Mike and I see you again, we are both wishing you love and wellness.

Sam.