Modern WisdomHow To Go Hard, Even When You Don’t Want To - Sam Sulek
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
105 min read · 21,418 words- 0:00 – 9:40
How Sam Keeps Raising the Bar
- CWChris Williamson
People of the UK and Ireland, I'm coming to you live. Imagine that, me on stage in your city. Dublin is completely sold out, but everywhere else has got limited tickets left, and you can get yours now at chriswilliamson.live. This is a custom-built live show. I absolutely adore it. I've spent over a year working on it. So if you're a fan of everything Modern Wisdom, come and see me on stage this October around the UK and Ireland, chriswilliamson.live. You have spent a lot of time training physically.
- SSSam Sulek
Hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
I'm interested in how you think about training mentally, how that comes into your development goals.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm. Who for? Like, for me or-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah
- SSSam Sulek
... 'cause, I mean, I feel like I end up splitting, like, what, how I'm thinking about training between myself, of course, 'cause I care about my own training. But with all the videos I make, I'm talking kind of to everybody, 'cause I wanna be able to give reasonable tips, at least from, like, my own experience. So I'm, like, half thinking, like, "Okay, what kind of bar do I want?" But also, like, what's semi-reasonable for someone else.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
Because for me, I'm gonna say, even when I go out to a steak dinner, like last night, "Okay, this Wellington's probably 50 grams of carbs, probably 20 grams of fat. I can tell. It's a little greasy." And however, like, super specific about all sorts of stuff. But I'm not gonna say, like, that is the bar-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... for somebody who just started working out.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
'Cause, like, you gotta creep your way up to it. So it's like, you know, I, uh, I always make this sort of analogy where it's not necessarily where you are specifically, right? I mean, we're about to see the Olympia this week. There's gonna be dudes who are... They wouldn't even-- They would fill the frame right here. Like, you wouldn't even-- They'd have to adjust the camera.
- CWChris Williamson
Have to zoom out quite a lot, yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Uh, and I don't look at that and think, "Oh my God, I'm so small."
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
All I'm really kind of proud of is like, man, I-- Or every time I see a picture of, like, younger me and I'm like, "I don't even know if you'd believe it," like where I'm at now. But it's like just gradually raising the bar for yourself, meeting it, but now you gotta raise it again, 'cause now you've met it and it's, like, normal.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
So it's, uh, that's probably the biggest thing I think about is, like, even now, like, I've been working out for, it's like eight years pretty much, I'm still thinking like, "Okay, I wanna raise my own bar." Like, there's no, th-there's no end to it either. Like, there's no end point where I'm like, "Okay, now I'm totally perfect and I know everything, and, like, everything I do is awesome."
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
It's like I'm always just trying to creep up, like, "What can I do a little better?" Or like, "What can I do a little bit harder?" And, like, the more you do that, going harder becomes more normal. And now I feel like I'm kind of spoiled, 'cause the dude who's at your gym, who's, like, the most jacked, just looks insane. He looks like he's going the hardest. He actually has it the easiest, 'cause now he has, like, adapted himself-
- CWChris Williamson
His baseline
- SSSam Sulek
... to doing that.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
For him, this is a normal day.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
If you think he's going crazy hard, it's just because you're not used to that level. But it's almost like I wanna... Like, I've got two sort of approaches. Like, I wanna bring it super hard.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
But I also wanna, like, be able to tell myself I could do this set as hard as possible, just like that, like nothing. Like, I want it to be seamless-
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... but still actually really bring it extra hard.
- 9:40 – 15:05
Why Mastering the Basics Beats Over-Optimisation
- CWChris Williamson
What do you make of the exercise science sort of optimal structure that's kind of a big boom at the moment?
- SSSam Sulek
I'm, I'm a little annoyed. Uh, not, not annoyed, but what kind of, like, peeves me is the people in these studies are not me, and they're not a lot of other people who wanna work out super hard either. I mean, they're based on, like, the regular dude, and what's the regular guy? Like, FDA based, what, five, nine, 180 pounds, 2,000 calories per day, 50 grams of protein per day. I mean, no activity. You know, what regular person has, like, cardio actually in their routine? Like, you sh- it, you know, you're just not normal. These studies aren't, um, it's just not necessarily directly related. So I'm not saying they're not, but you're gonna have more, or y- there's more to gain from just going into the gym and going harder than sitting at home reading a book about training-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... is how I feel about it.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
But again, that doesn't mean I'm not saying that this information isn't valuable. But there's, like, intellectual value, and there's practical value. You know, intellectually, guys are gonna be very interested to say, "Oh, well, we just came up with this new, with this new, like, life aceted fat for this protein bar." Uh, like, you know, the David bars-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm. Yeah
- SSSam Sulek
... where they have this thing where it's like-
- CWChris Williamson
APG. Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
I don't know. The, I don't know the specifics.
- CWChris Williamson
APG. Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But it's like, "Oh, we have this really crazy specific thing." And like, ooh, that's very interesting, and that probably does have benefits of you can eat something that makes you feel more full, but you don't actually break down the calories or whatever, or you just not eat as much, and they both result in the same end state. So I think it's, um, you know, guys are gonna look at that and say, "Oh, well, man, if I just eat 30 David bars every day, I guess I'm gonna get lean."
- CWChris Williamson
[laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
And it's, it's like, no, that's just not usually how it works.
- CWChris Williamson
I'm sure someone has tried that.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, yeah, it's interesting. There's a, a trend online at the moment which you might have been tracking, and it seems like you're talking about the same thing, but in health and fitness-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm
- CWChris Williamson
... which is a pushback against over-optimisation. So it's called grind slop in my world-
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs] Yeah
- CWChris Williamson
... which is, um, people sort of over-obsessing about always trying to optimize each different part of their day, the perfect morning routine, and then the perfect nutrition habits, and then ensuring that sleep and wake time is, is completely dialed and no room for resilience or redundancy that's in there. And it seems to me like that trend of people feeling like everything is homework- Um, I'm overwhelmed with this. This is too much. I'm a bit fatigued and exhausted. I do think that the volume of information people are consuming through social media and AI, plus uncertainty about whether I'm gonna have a job in future and whether the geopolitical climate is gonna cause me to, you know, is this country even gonna exist in the next 50 years? Who knows? All of that is just making people feel a bit burdened by things, and it feels a little bit like what you're saying here is, um, learning robust principles that work in a lot of different environments inside of the gym-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm
- CWChris Williamson
... is more useful than trying to just have individual tactics that you snipe each time.
- SSSam Sulek
Yep.
- CWChris Williamson
In the same way as I try to get enough sleep, and if I am tired, I go to bed. Understanding the principles of regularity, duration, it's cold, dark, quiet, stuff like that, uh, that is a better principle to follow than I will completely obsessively have this, the particular routine because that has fragility braked into the sys- baked into the system, 'cause if you break it, then it no longer works. Is that like a fair comparison, do you think?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. I think, I think it's definitely similar.
- CWChris Williamson
Yep.
- SSSam Sulek
Uh, it's like, oh, crap, my, my house is about to burn down. Well, I can't call 911. My phone has blue light.
- CWChris Williamson
[laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
I gotta go to sleep. I can't look at blue light right now. I guess I'm boned.
- 15:05 – 20:04
Is Boy Kibble Better Than It Looks?
- SSSam Sulek
of things like that.
- CWChris Williamson
What's that trend? Is it called boy kibble or, like, man kibble or something?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. It, it's, um... Oh, yeah. It's, like, just a guy bowl.
- CWChris Williamson
It's slop.
- SSSam Sulek
It's, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
It's eat, eat-
- SSSam Sulek
Boy slop
- CWChris Williamson
... eat, eat your slop.
- SSSam Sulek
Boy bowl slop.
- CWChris Williamson
Eat your slop. It's some form of meat with probably potatoes or rice-
- SSSam Sulek
And a sauce
- CWChris Williamson
... in a, in a large bowl-
- SSSam Sulek
Just mixed together
- CWChris Williamson
... with some sauce. And if there's vegetables, they're on, they're in a different location. They don't... There it is.
- SSSam Sulek
Viral social media trends.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, let's get trends. There it is. So it's this. It's that. It's all of those things.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
It's just-
- SSSam Sulek
You, you take a carb, a protein, and then some sort of vegetable or sauce. You just mix it all together. And look at that guy in the tank top.
- CWChris Williamson
There it is. Down, down one from the cursor on your left. Yeah, there it is.
- SSSam Sulek
Guarante-
- CWChris Williamson
What is boy kibble? All about the viral trend. Boy kibble to girl dinner. Yeah, exactly.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. He definitely knows how much protein and how many carbs and how many fats are in that bowl.
- CWChris Williamson
You know what I love? Every man, every gym bro has a favorite bowl in the house. I remember for a good while, I must have had, fuck, at least 50% of my life calories for probably about five years from-
- SSSam Sulek
Yep
- CWChris Williamson
... in one bowl.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And I couldn't get it again. It was discontinued in Ikea. I was treating it like a fucking Bitcoin.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
I'm like, "There's a limited supply. I can't... They're non-fungible."
- 20:04 – 23:07
The Art of Managing Your Exposure
- CWChris Williamson
You, uh, you jump scared people with your marriage announcement-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, right
- CWChris Williamson
... a couple of months ago.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, that's, uh, th- this is something I get sometimes. I, I get another comment. Not to just bring up all the comments, but it was essentially like, "You know, Sam, we see you all, like every day for the last like four years. There's so much we still don't know." [laughs] It's like-
- CWChris Williamson
Secret wife.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
Well, secret fiance-
- SSSam Sulek
Exactly, yeah
- CWChris Williamson
... turned wife.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, that's a, that was a long time in the making. But yeah, it's like I'll, I'll see dudes where it's not as though I think you're setting yourself up for, like failure.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
But what I think happens is they, they make videos. If you make videos about the gym, it's very repetitive. I mean, I've-- I don't know if I could even estimate how many chest days have been uploaded. It's in the hundreds.
- CWChris Williamson
See if you can ChatGPT how many chest days has Sam Sulek uploaded on his YouTube channel. That'd be hilarious.
- SSSam Sulek
It's probably about 250, 'cause there's like 1,200 videos, and it's usually chest every four days, so a quarter. So at least 250 of a chest day. And for me, I'm like, well, this is just what I'm doing. This is a thing to build over time, and it's just kinda fun for me to do, so I like it. But some guys, they get very view obsessed, and it's, uh-
- CWChris Williamson
Well over 200 videos.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, see?
- CWChris Williamson
That's it.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs] Yeah, exactly.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. We didn't need ChatGPT. We had SamGPT here.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, I already, I already knew the data. Um, but I think they... Th- this is just maybe something that's fitness centered. I'm sure it happens to people who post about everything else too, when it's just them.
- CWChris Williamson
They need to spice it up.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
They start adding different bits of their life and-
- SSSam Sulek
You spice it up every time because it's a little different. But they're like, "Oh, well, what can I talk about? Ooh, let's talk about drama."
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Which is usually step one. But then, "Ooh, let's talk about my own drama." I'm like, "Why are you... You guys are crazy."
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
Not like I'm saying I got, I got a bunch of drama I'm hiding. But it's like I've got a, there's like on the camera Sam, and then my normal day is just, like for me.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
So that's just how I go about it.
- 23:07 – 33:42
How Has Married Life Changed Sam?
- CWChris Williamson
How, from your side, how has married life changed your conception of, of you and the way that you sort of face the world? Has there been, like personal philosophy changes now that, that, that home base is fully, fully s- like cemented?
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think so. Maybe, um, I don't wanna compare marriage to the gym. It's a little... [laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
Go on.
- SSSam Sulek
But what I was, uh-
- CWChris Williamson
The most Sam Sulek answer ever. Tell me about how marriage is similar to the gym. Go on.
- SSSam Sulek
I know, right? But it's, uh, so th- this is just something I've thought forever, uh, about guys who've been... 'Cause now I've been, you know, I've been making these videos. They've been all kinda blown up for like years at this point. So I see guys who are in my position in different kinda areas, and I'm like, "Ooh, you're, you're 35, and you're, you're, like dating around? Woof. You should, you should be doing cooler stuff than that."
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
Uh, like I think now probably the biggest flex that I see is when it's like Chris Hemsworth surfing with his kids. I'm like, "That is sweet." I, like I got a, I, uh, I got another question. It's like, "Sam, are you ever gonna have kids?" Totally. 'Cause, like that's, um, g- when I look at a guy like that or hear what they say, I mean, you'd probably trade Any material thing that he's gotten or whatever for that
- CWChris Williamson
I mean, look at-
- SSSam Sulek
Like he knows that that's the most valuable thing he's got
- CWChris Williamson
... look at Cbum. Cbum did trade everything that he'd worked for, for his wife and his kids.
- SSSam Sulek
Well, it helps that he got everything first as well.
- CWChris Williamson
Of course.
- SSSam Sulek
So a li- a little different. But yeah, it's like there's, um... So again, you got like social media you, where like, oh, you're super cool and like you're doing your, uh, your videos and you're going up on stage and whatever. But it's like, you know, you're also you for the rest of your life. There's things that you wanna kinda progress in-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah
- SSSam Sulek
... over time. So making like that gym comparison.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Like, well, what's the difference between like 20-year-old you versus 30-year-old you? Or like now 24 to, you know, like 30. Like there's things that, uh, that just take time, you know? Or like when guys are... And ag- this is probably different for younger guys now where it's, uh, everything's very career focused.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
Like, "Oh, well, you know, I don't, I don't have time for kids right now." Like, not that like I'm saying I'm gonna have a kid in like two months or anything, but the logic is like, "Oh, well, you know, I'm not ready." Or... And when I hear that, I'm like, "Well, when, when are you gonna be ready, man?" You know? Like time's kinda ticking. So I think if you ever get into a situation where you could see like, okay, there's actually a really long-term thing that we can build here and like it's super valuable, like you just love it, like literally, well, why wouldn't you wanna do that? But a, a lotta guys are very, um... I mean, you tell me what you think, but I think anti, or maybe not anti, but just like afraid of commitment like that.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
It's like, "Oh, I wanna keep, I gotta keep my options open."
- CWChris Williamson
I ask at the live show that I'm doing, I did one last night, and, um, uh, partway through the show I ask the women in the audience what are the problems that they're hearing from their girlfriends, uh, from when they're dating men, and one of the most common ones is won't commit.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And, uh, there's this weird situation that people get into, I think, where, like cynicism is a good defense against heartbreak and betrayal.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
It's very effective at doing that. But the trouble is that you get so good at it that you accidentally defend yourself from ever falling in love or ever being committed.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And yeah, look, to, you know, fly the flag for, uh, a generation of, of guys who certainly focused on the build first, there is, there is something to be said for working your own shit out and getting yourself set.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- 33:42 – 42:04
How to Boss Your Winter Arc
- CWChris Williamson
you-
- SSSam Sulek
It is six now
- CWChris Williamson
... you rarely seem dependent on perfect conditions.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
How should people get better at that, especially going into winter, which removes a lot of the external motivation?
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think there's, um... Well, you would know this. There's a little physiological angle. You got no vitamin D 'cause you're not getting out in the sun, however much that is really affecting people.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But I think more so, you know, it's just, ah, it's colder. I'm not going out and having as much fun, you know. 'Cause in the wintertime, the only stuff you can really do activity-wise would just be usually in your house or, like, you're going to a club or something. And, like, who actually is going to clubs for real? Like, who really goes to their, what, a badminton club or, or something? I'm not saying that wouldn't... Like, I'm saying that would be cool, but who's actually going out and doing it and making sure that they're still maintaining, like, this certain amount of, like, fun activity in the winter? It's, you just kinda end up getting a little more seclusive.
- CWChris Williamson
Uh-huh. [laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
But it's, um, for me at least, uh, this is kinda how I think it's more important to have this wiring in your head of like, "Okay, the harder I go, the more progress I'll make." Because if I'm wired like that, well then, if I wake up and, you know, maybe I'm not feeling as good or as, like, motivated to get after it. You know, I mean, for a while I was doing, I'd wake up, instantly sit on the bike for an hour, come back, go work out a couple hours later, come back, go to the bike again for an hour, come back. Like, it's very much just the same stuff over-
- CWChris Williamson
Ad nauseam
- SSSam Sulek
... and over again. Yeah. And it's like, where's the, where's the fun? Or at least for a bodybuilding show, the fun part is at the end.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
So it's like you're doing a lot of extra work with basically no fun until that later portion. And it's, um, you know, you could either look at that and think, "Oh my God, this freaking sucks," or you could, uh, in my head I like to imagine, like, maybe the fictional version of Sam where this version is like, "Oh man, Sam, it's extra hard today? All right, sweet. Good. Do it even harder than before."
- CWChris Williamson
Have you ever heard Tyson being asked about why he gets up at 4:00 a.m. to go for a run?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, 'cause everybody's still sleeping.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Can you find that, Mark?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
This is, like, the best winter arc justification ever. And look, I, I did five years of pretty aggressive monk mode. 1,000 days sober, 500 days without caffeine.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm.
- CWChris Williamson
They, they weren't, uh, crossed over. That would've been fucking miserable. They were two separate things, experiments.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And this really elaborate morning routine where I was, like, doing stretching and going for a walk and ROM WODs and fucking meditation and breathwork and journaling and all of this stuff, like this unnecessary cathedral of things, largely. But it was me trying to work out who the fuck I am and like locking in. And it wasn't for five years completely, but it was a good chunk of it.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And that took me from twenty-seven, twenty-eight to like thirty-two, thirty-three, and then I moved to America at thirty-four.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And the amount of progress that I made there-- Yeah, I sacrificed a lot of things. I wasn't going out as much, but then I'd spent a decade going out two nights a week and partying until three in the morning for, you know, a good bit of it, running nightclubs and doing all the social thing.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
I'm like, "Huh."
- SSSam Sulek
And you're ahead from that time-
- 42:04 – 48:25
Why Changing Direction Is a Superpower
- CWChris Williamson
I, I wrote this thing this weekend which is kind of interesting. Um, I was talking about emotional redundancy, but the same thing is true with resilience generally. Engineers build systems with spare capacity because systems operating permanently at one hundred percent are fragile. Bridges aren't engineered to withstand precisely the weight that they carry on an average Tuesday. They're built with a safety margin, and you probably want the psychological equivalent. If your emotional life requires ninety-five percent of your available capacity merely to remain operational, anything unexpected becomes catastrophic. And that's the same as we're talking about here, that If your baseline capacity is way more than you need to operate, that's redundancy in the system.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
I've done-- When things are good, I've pushed myself really hard so that when things are bad, I have so much momentum and so many good habits. And I-- look, I'm speaking from personal experience 'cause I've been kicked in the nuts a lot over the last couple of years from a routine perspective, like an energy perspective. And you can see why there's this idea called the Matthew principle. It's from the Bible, and it says, uh, "To those who have nothing, more will be taken. To those who have everything, more will be given." And it kind of explains why, uh, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Good habits compound, but so do bad habits. Some stuff spirals up, some stuff spirals down. That's why people end up being bankrupt and addicted to drugs and out on the street and with no relationship to their family, and other people end up being smart and in f- shape and with a great partner and having... Both of these things can occur in that way. And sure, the external environment's going to throw insults at you a lot.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
But the core driving force, the core momentum is, is largely your sense of hope and agency over what you're gonna be able to do. And, uh, yeah, the ability to go... like, to wake up one morning and just b- say, "Okay, that's enough of that. I'm going to go in a different direction," is kind of a superpower.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And I wish I could, I don't know, bestow it onto someone that feels like that's not something that's accessible to them.
- SSSam Sulek
Right. I, uh, I guess I never, I never say the downward spiral of the gym as much.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
In the car, I'm gonna say I, I, I've probably said this 20 times by now. I'm talking about this upward spiral where, okay, work out really hard. Obv-- When you first start working out, you don't even notice till like, what? Maybe two months in. But like if you, let's say you're a high school dude, you start working out one year. You visit your grandma again the next year-
- CWChris Williamson
[laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
... she'll, she will notice. And like that's super validating to see that-
- CWChris Williamson
There is no compliment-
- SSSam Sulek
... from the outside
- CWChris Williamson
... more validating than the grandma compliment. You're right.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, exactly.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But, uh, but just anything like that. But so once you're in a groove of like you're making steady progress, well, how I look at it, getting back in like the mental wiring thing, is like, okay, I go really hard. I come home. I eat more food 'cause I'm maybe hungrier from going hard 'cause I actually trained hard. I'm gonna sleep better because I trained hard and, uh, now I'm tired. I'm probably thirstier, so I'm gonna drink more water. And then I'm gonna wake up, and because I was hungry and thirsty and sleepy, I drank, ate, and slept well.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
I'll be able to train hard again the next day. And then over time, that just keeps moving forward. And once you start actually seeing yourself a little bigger, like at least in like a size-gaining phase, well, now you got this extra angle of motivation, like, "Holy shit, what I'm doing is working."
- CWChris Williamson
Even the pump, like chasing-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, chasing the pump. You're slightly bigger-
- CWChris Williamson
In the gym and you're like-
- SSSam Sulek
... in the gym
- CWChris Williamson
... "Dude, if I keep going, in four months I'll look like I do pumped flat."
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And then, but then when I get there, what I look like pumped will be in another four months what I look like flat, and then you're just permanently chasing. It, it would be like if, if learning a language, like if learning Italian meant that during your Italian lesson you were somehow four months better at Italian.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
But that's not the way that it works. It's one of the reasons I think that the gym is particularly addicting, and that's a good thing because it's something that's good to, to get stuck into. One of the reasons that the gym's so addicting is that you get a preview of where you will be if you keep going during the process, as opposed to learning fucking Italian-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah
- 48:25 – 52:40
The Best Way to Enter 2027 With Momentum
- CWChris Williamson
if someone wants to enter January with as much momentum as possible, what do you think they should start doing now?
- SSSam Sulek
Well, I think they should just start, uh... Well, I guess you'd say or at least what you did was you did your homework first. So if you're thinking, I mean, every January that shows up, and now I've been through, I think this will be the ninth one- Obviously for the first one, that was m- a year into the gym for me, so I'm still the beginner. But at this point, depending on how much of a regular you are at a gym, you know who the real regulars are and who the guys who just showed up today are. And I'm not dogging on them for showing up, but it's like in a, you know, the, uh, you know that little marble toy where you flip it upside down-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... and it always ends up in the same distribution, like, no matter what. Like, "Look, I'm glad you're here, but I know a bunch of you guys are just gonna flake out and be done." So yeah, I mean, if he could just start easing into it, which is not a cool thing to say. What's cool about the gym is, you know, bring it, just go totally nuts. Uh, but in reality, it's like, well, you should probably just ease into it. When I'm talking to guys, uh, or just, you know, getting into, like, what you should do when you start working out, like, "What, what's your level at right now? Are you at zero gym days per week?" Well, guess what? One is more than zero, and one, after you've actually done it, it's not that bad. And so now two is probably a little bit easier, three, or even just getting a membership in general. I think a lot of these guys, they might even fail to launch in that sense because it's like, "All right, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go in at 6:00 and get my membership." Well, you're setting yourself up for failure, man. Why didn't you get it before? Why didn't you do all the, the, just do a little bit before?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But yeah, just easing into it, 'cause that whole, you know, if right now my bar is like, "Well, I wanna get to the point where I can just go 100% all the time without fail, and like, you know, I know I didn't just give up on that rep because it was hard," well, that's just my bar where I'm at. But way down is the bar of, "I got my membership today," and, "I went to the gym three days a week today."
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
"I did 10 minutes of cardio today." Like, it, to start from zero is half the hardest part but also half the easiest part, because the smallest incremental changes are percentage-wise huge.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Relatively massive, absolutely small.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, but they might feel small. So it's like if you have this perception of, "Ah, well, I don't wanna be the three gym a... I don't wanna be the three-day-a-week gym guy," well, fuck, man. You're the zero-gym-a-day-a-week [chuckles] guy. Like, you gotta get to three. You know, you're not better than three. Everybody came in to get their one membership for the first time-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah
- SSSam Sulek
... and they didn't know what they're doing, and they were kinda anxious. I mean, I remember I'm on vacation. I went to the, the YMCA in Florida, and I'm, uh, I'm, like, two years in at this point. I'm shoulder pressing the 50s. I'm maybe 170, and I'm thinking, "Are these guys looking at me?" [sighs] Like, like, just v- very self-conscious a little bit.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Uh, uh, well, relative to now. Now I don't think like that. But it's, um, yeah, it's like you can't, you can't be above the small steps because I think so many people are in their head. They think, "All right, well, you know, if I..." I mean, I'm sure you hear this: "Well, you know, if I dieted, I could get shredded." Guys are gonna show up to the Olympia, "Oh, you know, if I really bodybuild, I could get that big, bro." Like, okay, well, you're not even doing any of it right now. You're doing totally zero.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
So it's like, could you really, actually? And it's this idea that it's like, "If I can't be perfect, it's not even worth trying." But that's combined with the pretentiousness of, "I totally could do it."
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
"I could do it, for sure."
- CWChris Williamson
If it wasn't for-
- SSSam Sulek
I'm just not, dude
- CWChris Williamson
... the skill gap and the consistency and the ability and the hard work and the time and the duration and-
- SSSam Sulek
'Cause it, it's easy to tell yourself, "I just don't wanna do it," because it's just a preference thing for me. I don't really want to. It's not very fun to say, "Yeah, I'm just... I don't, I don't wanna go that har- I don't wanna actually work out."
- CWChris Williamson
I don't want it that hard.
- SSSam Sulek
"I'm n- I'm nervous about it."
- CWChris Williamson
I don't want it that hard. I don't want... You don't... Fucking kid yourself, dude.
- SSSam Sulek
No.
- CWChris Williamson
"I could do it if" is "I don't do it."
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm. Yeah, every I, every "I could do it if" is more of a, "I don't wanna do it because."
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But you're lying to yourself by saying, "Well, it's, it's because of 10 other things."
- 52:40 – 57:31
How to Escape a Downward Spiral
- CWChris Williamson
What would you say to the guy who is currently going through that downward spiral? They don't think that they've got the capacity to do what they want to or what they used to.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
They've talked themselves into a rut.
- SSSam Sulek
[sighs] I think they would just have to... I mean, I think the best example to get good at anything, or not even just get good but get, like, inspired to do anything, is just to watch people who have done it. Like, when I'm training legs and thinking squats, it's like if I see a Tom Platz workout added on my phone-
- CWChris Williamson
Right
- SSSam Sulek
... like, holy crap. And, like, it's so basic. "Oh, I'm watching this guy do this thing that I'm about to do. Ooh, that's making me excited about it."
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
Like, just monkey see, monkey do. But, like, if you're, um... You know, I, I pretty much say this to everybody. It's like, "What's your beginning state right now? Where are you at?" If you can find someone who has been there, documented it, and showed it off from where they were to now where they are-
- CWChris Williamson
Right
- SSSam Sulek
... like, the guy who goes 500 to 200, well, I mean, I can t- I can tell you the basics of, like, you know, do your cardio and, like, diet and everything, but I haven't lived that exact, like, scenario. Like, I can tell you tips that I think would apply. But if you wanna hear from someone who's really done it, then you gotta find someone who has, and hopefully they've been posting stuff about it.
- CWChris Williamson
Can we find, uh, Tom Platz leg training motivation? I'd try and find a short. There'll be some unreal edits of this.
- SSSam Sulek
It's crazy. But just seeing something, seeing someone do what you wanna do, I think is probably the most motivating thing you can, because now not only are you seeing somebody do it, but you're just getting it proven in your own head like, "This is totally doable."
- CWChris Williamson
Bro, I remember watching-
- SSSam Sulek
This is also another guy. I'm a guy.
- CWChris Williamson
He's just some dude.
- SSSam Sulek
And he's doing this.
- CWChris Williamson
I remember watching Greg Plitt-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm
- CWChris Williamson
... as a early 20s guy, and he used to do videos outside of the gym in the parking lot, the-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah
- CWChris Williamson
... middle of the night, like 3:00 in the morning. And, uh, that guy was just so fucking positive and so... I often think this is kind of a weird fork to imagine in reality, but if Greg Plitt and Zyzz hadn't passed away I think that we would have a markedly different gym culture today. I think that they were so formative and at the time, like think about where Zyzz would have been. He was in 2012, he was probably 23 or 24 something.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
So he's like similar, similar age to me. So he would have been absolutely rip it. When Instagram comes along would have been like peak-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, it was a kill
- CWChris Williamson
... peak shape. He wouldn't have stopped that whole culture, which was... Would it have survived MeToo? Maybe. It would have had to have been sanitized a little bit.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
But it wasn't like he was super toxic.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
He was more like his whole line of disregard women, acquire dance moves was like kind of proto lux maxing incel, but without any of the toxic-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm
- 57:31 – 1:05:41
The Trailblazers of Bodybuilding Culture
- CWChris Williamson
Wasn't there a thing that Tom Platz, was he chewing tennis balls or something? Didn't he say he was like working his mandible jaw with... Maybe he was using mastic gum or some early version of mastic gum or something? I s-
- SSSam Sulek
I didn't, I didn't hear it, but maybe.
- CWChris Williamson
I swear that he was saying... I mean, there was an era... This is, this is something for me to mansplain to you or generation-splain to you-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm
- CWChris Williamson
... uh, for a second. There was a beautiful era in the world of bodybuilding where we didn't know the truth about lots of things, and it meant that you wasted shit tons of time and effort and money on stuff that was completely pointless, but fuck, it was exciting. Like is this new blueberry extract perhaps the reason why maybe it is better than steroids, and then you have to go on this weird Russian website and order blueberry extract.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
And like is it just you're on the misc forums of bodybuilding.com like desperately trolling trying to find the guy that's got the secret to big delts.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And like now it's m- bodybuilding is largely a solved problem, and at the time it felt much closer to like the frontier. Like we knew enough to know that some stuff worked, but there was still enough unknowns to be able to be super experimental.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Like fucking Rich Piana's eight-hour arms workout was something that people were like, "That might be the answer. That might actually be the answer."
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs] I'm a, I guess I'm actually... If you asked me like a year into the YouTube videos when they were actually taking off-
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... I probably would've said that I would definitely have done the eight-hour arm day by now. I haven't done it yet. I guess I probably should sometime.
- CWChris Williamson
That would be a huge request.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. I wouldn't, I wouldn't be opposed to it just for the fun of it.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But yeah, it's, um, yeah, it's definitely different now. I think the, one of the bigger changes bodybuilding wise is, uh, just the, the performance angle of it. Because when I look, when I think bodybuilding character or like someone who, uh, maybe not even that, but someone who actually gets me like excited about it, just the gym in general, you know, 'cause that's kind of the precursor to even getting onto the stage-
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm
- SSSam Sulek
... is the training part. Like that's, that's the part I really get excited about. But it's like watching a Tom Platz or back in pumping iron, like everybody had a lot of personality or I mean, even Dorian Yates, which compared to like an Arnold, a, a person with a personality from a completely different side of the universe.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
But they still were able to like portray what they did and how they did it in just like such a cool way.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
And I think it was, um, you know, maybe a combination of just the fact that you, you would... Now I would kind of call that social media, but that was like CDs and just documentation.
- CWChris Williamson
DVDs, yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
And like since it was so new, they maybe didn't have this like mental construct of, "Okay, I should put on an act in a certain kind of way."
- CWChris Williamson
What is, what is up with that? Because I would, I would agree even the last era of bodybuilding, bodybuilding that I think people really obsessed over the competition itself and the characters that were inside of it was Jay, Ronnie, like that-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm
- CWChris Williamson
... run, uh, Branch Warren, um, like that era, and then, I don't know, something just ha- obviously like Cbum is a phenom, but it was about him. It wasn't really about the competition, and there's other guys that have got great physiques, but I don't think anybody cares about the, the personality in quite the same way, and I don't know. I know that Hadi Choopan's like a absolute turbo freak, like massive jacked guy- I don't know anything about him
- SSSam Sulek
Exactly
- 1:05:41 – 1:16:27
What Has Sam Learnt From Chris Bumstead?
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, you got to spend a good bit of time with CBum. What did you learn from hanging out with him?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. No, it's, um... Oh, I, I tell you this. I don't know if I've told this story before. So, I'm at, uh, we're at the Olympia. This was maybe two Olympias ago. This was, I think, the first one they did in Vegas, so this would be two ago. Maybe, maybe one, I don't remember. But this was one of the Olympias where, uh, they do this little press conference with a lot of the classic guys first. So, Chris is up there, Urs, everything. And I remember just walking backstage and, you know, I'm just, like, chatting with everybody, and I see Chris from, like, a distance. And this was pre-comp. Like, I think he, he was competing the next day or maybe the day after that. But just, like, he was standing with so much aura. It was nuts. Like, I think it was, uh, it wasn't necessarily how he was standing, but you could kind of sense how everyone standing around him and, like, in the outskirts of where he was, like, was acting.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
And, uh, like, he was just super intense focused. Like, I, I've seen, the only time I've seen something with that much, like, just... It's, it's, you know what's called stopping power of, like, people around, was, uh, I get to do a little back workout with Arnold at Gold's Gym, which was nuts 'cause he just rolled up on an e-bike, and it was just him [chuckles] coming in-
- CWChris Williamson
I've seen that video
- SSSam Sulek
... coming to hit a workout.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
And, um, but when he walked in, just looking across the gym was like Like somebody's holding, uh, like s- somebody's holding, like, launch codes or something
- CWChris Williamson
It's a reality distortion field-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. Like it-
- CWChris Williamson
... that's around this one person
- SSSam Sulek
Like in a, in a positive way, but just like, "That's Arnold right there." Like it was just crazy.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
But, uh, but yeah, I mean, getting to talk to him like normal, I'm not, uh, I haven't been spamming all the CBum videos. But just from all the different back and forths, it's crazy how just kind of casual he is. But I'm not always, um, like prying, like for, for tips and everything.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
And maybe half of that is just because I'm like, I kinda wanna figure it out on my own. Like that's part of the fun part of it. But no, every time, usually with all the Gymshark stuff, like anytime we're at a different shoot or different events or things, I'll try to-
- CWChris Williamson
You trained a good bit with him, right?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, with David.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. Yeah, it's just kinda cool being around those-
- CWChris Williamson
David got sho- shouted at for being on his phone.
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
A little bit. But no, he's a-- Yeah, it's crazy to see somebody who's done so much like that.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, he's a unique guy. I think [clears throat] Chris is a very, uh, unusual candidate for someone that goes on to be as well known as he is.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm.
- CWChris Williamson
Like he's not got the construction or desire for much of the notoriety that he's ended up being afflicted with. It almost does feel a little bit sometimes like maybe a, not quite an affliction, but so maybe somewhat closer to a burden.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Like, fuck, like the guy that kind of is-
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- 1:16:27 – 1:24:44
The Benefits of Coaching Yourself
- CWChris Williamson
You talked about sort of doing it yourself. How come you chose to coach yourself for your prep?
- SSSam Sulek
Um, by then, the social media was really big, and I've seen guys where, uh, they're, like, my demographic of, like, an, an influencer bodybuilder type dude. And, uh, they always just get drama when they get a coach.
- CWChris Williamson
Really?
- SSSam Sulek
Well, it's, not always-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah
- SSSam Sulek
... of course. But it's, um, but o- I mean, this, it was like, in the first year of the bodybuilding channel or, like, my workout videos, it was, like, zero to, like, 1.8 million on YouTube, where like, just nuts. So that was two years before the first bodybuilding show.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
So by then, there, like, the, the infamy of, like, Sam... Like, Sam was, like, a character, uh, in the space. And it's, um, for one, I just think I could handle doing it on my own because it's, like, that's how I do all the other stuff about the gym. Like, one of the best parts about it is just the fact that, like, it's my thing. Like, that's my version of, like, the sanctuary where, like, the point almost isn't to try to push the envelope to the absolute maximum with, like, 10 different coaches and with the bodybuilding. You know, there's now, like, 10 different pharmaceutical, like, charac-- you know, like, guys like a, like a Hadi Choopan, like, who these, the Olympia bodybuilders. Like, everything that they do is this regimented... Like, it's just, that's just not even the point for me. But the fact that I do it, for me, makes it more fun.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
Because if you gave me a piece of paper that had the workout for the day and my meals for the day, for me, I would feel like, ugh, this just, this guy just gave me a bunch of homework to do. Even if it was-
- CWChris Williamson
But if you have to design the homework for yourself, it feels different
- SSSam Sulek
But if I make the homework for me, it's better.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
It doesn't feel like work. Like, if I had a listed workout, I think I wouldn't... It just wouldn't feel the same, kinda. And that's just maybe a me thing.
- CWChris Williamson
Is there a level that you think you would get to where you would consider a coach more seriously?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, I think it, it, like if, um, if somehow it turned where I'm like, "Okay, you know what? Now we're, we're switching gears. We're gonna aim for an Olympia debut." So that'd mean I'd have to get big enough to win a pro show. Or you can kinda cheat it. You could do a bun-- you could schedule a bunch of pro shows that are, like, in, um, you know, South Mexico or Ireland or just do all this-
- CWChris Williamson
Are you saying that the South Mexicans and the Irish are not that jacked?
- SSSam Sulek
Well, more so you could do a bodybuilding show that is somewhere that not a lot of people will be.
- CWChris Williamson
Yes. Yes, yes.
- SSSam Sulek
So the difficulty of the show is only how difficult are the competitors there.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
So typically, everyone goes to, like, the New York Pro or the, uh, the Pittsburgh Pro, like these... But some guys will go to, like, the tiniest-
- CWChris Williamson
Niche
- SSSam Sulek
... corny corner of the world show.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
And maybe they're not at the biggest level they could be at, but since they won it, they would qualify.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
So you can kinda game it. But yeah, if that were the point Then that would kind of demand like a team. But, uh, but e- for my first shows, it's like half I just want to do it on my own because that's fun for me, and for me, that's like this mental flex of like, ooh, if I do it for real, that means I did it.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
It was my... And this whole thing has kind of been my thing like from the beginning. But also, here's what would happen if I had a, going, getting a coach for the second pro show or the second show that was like the pro debut at the Arnold earlier this year. Like, if I look decent, which I did, "Ah, well, he got a coach this year. He got a coach this year. I guess the coach reeled him in. This, uh, this is the dumbest dude ever, but the coach figured it out for him."
- 1:24:44 – 1:26:36
Whose Bodybuilding Advice Would Sam Trust?
- CWChris Williamson
there." Do you think there's anyone whose bodybuilding advice you would accept without questioning it at all?
- SSSam Sulek
Mm. Uh, I mean, uh, so it's not like I don't... Uh, I guess it's more so I just don't wanna be, uh, what would you say? I guess, I guess, uh, the only word I can think of is, like, commanded.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
'Cause if you have your coach, now you're essentially giving this coach-
- CWChris Williamson
A certain thing
- SSSam Sulek
... like, this control, right? Like, that's kind of the nature of it.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But I want to t- I'm taking advice from everybody.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
So it's like I wanna be constantly open to what this guy's saying or what this guy's talking about. Okay, this makes logical sense in my head, like, things like that. 'Cause also, this was just a regular person, and he just learned all this knowledge. It is not as though he is just magically knowledgeable.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
The knowledge is out there. So in my head, that's almost its own challenge of gathering it for yourself.
- CWChris Williamson
So I could find it
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. Or he found it and he just told it to me, now I got it [laughs] .
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now I stole it from him, so thank you for that.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah [laughs] .
- CWChris Williamson
But that's why people use... Go to experts, right?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Like when you think about, think about this from a book perspective. Somebody goes and writes a book, and they have spent decades, decades, and decades of their life looking at this one particular area of this one particular part of the world.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm.
- CWChris Williamson
And you now get to look at this entire life synthesized down into a single, single 60,000 words, like bit of paper-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm
- CWChris Williamson
... this. You go, "Okay, how long did it take this person to get to this stage?" And I just get to read it and, like, draw out, like sucking water out of a sponge, I get all of the concentrated information.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, you get the good stuff.
- CWChris Williamson
And that's why you go to experts. That's why you go to the Chris Bumsteads or the Phil Heaths or the Jay Cutlers, because you go-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, exactly
- CWChris Williamson
... you've got all of this stuff-
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm
- CWChris Williamson
... in there.
- SSSam Sulek
So it's not as though I'm saying, "Do not get a coach." It's more like, for whatever reason, I just don't want one right now.
- 1:26:36 – 1:36:39
Why Sam is Invested in Peptides
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, you talked about co-owning a peptide company.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
What's that been like?
- SSSam Sulek
Yes. Well, it's, um... Oh, certainly not bad on my end in terms of, like, actually how they're moving forward.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
We've got a, uh, kind of a bigger, not even call it a release, but they're just changing the, uh, the nature of it to more of like an actual telehealth, like doctor-prescribed thing October 1st. But yeah, peptides are very... I mean, it's not like they're new, but it's, uh, quite the topic now because they're the thing. Remember when ashwagandha was the thing-
- CWChris Williamson
[laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
... and turkesterone was the thing?
- CWChris Williamson
[laughs]
- SSSam Sulek
Um-
- CWChris Williamson
I lived through the turkesterone era, yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah. So it, it's just the thing, but it's like, you know, every time I, um... Like I've just got BPC and TB 500, like, just at all times.
- CWChris Williamson
What's your experience with peptides? What, what, what do you, what have you found to be useful?
- SSSam Sulek
Definitely those two, for sure, and then as of late, uh, you ever hear of GHK?
- CWChris Williamson
That's the copper thing people use-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, exactly
- CWChris Williamson
... for skin and hair?
- SSSam Sulek
Yep. Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, I've been doing some of that. I feel like that's been kinda clearing me up a little.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
More so it's like a more of an inflammation reduction kinda thing, and then that extra collagen upregulation. So I haven't noticed, like, I'm not sprouting hair everywhere. But I can definitely tell my skin's looking a little better from that one.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
Like every time I would actually tweak something, or like when guys... Uh, so, so far I haven't, I don't talk about it as much in the videos, because for one, once everything's, like, fully regulated, there's a huge percentage of people that are just waiting for that. They're not thinking, they're not thinking for themselves, per se. It's, "There's a green light, now it's f- now I'm fine with it."
- CWChris Williamson
Yep.
- SSSam Sulek
Which is just kind of unfortunate. And then the 10% who are knowledgeable and have done them know this is just a thing. My shoulder's out of whack and I hurt my rotator cuff, and my golf swing hasn't been the same.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
I started doing BPC for two weeks, and now I'm back. And, like, that's kinda the extent of it. But it just gets overhyped, you know, 'cause now, I mean, you get all the, all the TikTok kids, and, like, literally kids. These guys are, like, teenagers, and they're on, like, a TikTok live hyping up like, "Oh, you need to get 10 vials of so and so" that they're just ordering.
- CWChris Williamson
Shouting about teseamorelin or-
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, exactly
- 1:36:39 – 1:40:21
Would Sam Ever Try GLP-1s?
- SSSam Sulek
thing"?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Have you tried any of the GLPs?
- SSSam Sulek
Not yet.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay. Would you maybe consider it if, like, oh, I'm, I need a bit more help in, in my diet? Or it seems like you're pretty locked in as it is.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, it's, I'm kind of right in the, I d- I call it a sweet spot of diet, um, let's call it appetite, where it's like for me to eat more food than necessary or to eat slightly less food than necessary isn't too wild.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- SSSam Sulek
But for somebody who's just constantly starving all the time, and it's hard for them to even get any, like, ab definition from dieting down, well, it's like, that's kinda just luck of the draw. Some guys are gonna walk around, like, bone dry shredded 'cause their appetite is at zero. So they just kinda have this natural predisposition of, like, the, I don't know, I had, like, a couple chips this morning, and that was it.
- CWChris Williamson
No, it's fine.
- SSSam Sulek
And I had a coffee.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Uh, Robert Plomin, who is I think the fifth most cited psychologist in the world in the 20th century. He's the guy that founded the field of behavioral genetics, or he's one of the guys that really, really sort of pushed it and popularized it, twin studies, environment versus, uh, nature versus nurture. And he was giving me this example about there's many ways to get fat, he was saying, and he used the example of himself where he said he wasn't a massive fan of exercise, just exercise doesn't make him feel all that good. Uh, but also if he walks past a bakery that's baking bread, his desire to eat is fucking massive.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And also apparently he can put away quite a bit of food, and also, and also, and also. So the fact that he's a pretty in-shape guy, he's got, you know, this stack of Five different comorbidities that are contributing to him supposedly being a fat guy.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Right? And he has to work super hard. But you can imagine a world in which the total opposite exists.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
I enjoy training and exercising, and so do you. It makes me feel good, and I, like I, it's... I started doing it when I was young, but I almost don't choose to do it. Like, I feel worse if I don't than if I do, and for a lot of people, they might feel worse if they do than if they don't. And well, I'm, I'm not really that fussed about eating that much food. And, and, and you go, okay, that, the, the same species, right?
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
But two completely different worlds when it comes to training and diet, which are the big levers when it comes to your body composition. So yeah, it's not... Blanket advice is right, like calories in, calories out, progressive overload over time, train regularly, right? Okay, there we... And sleep, right? Okay, there we go. There's like most of it. There's 90% of training.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Like, or progress. But each person, you can't just throw that at Robert Plomin with his bread fetish and-
- SSSam Sulek
[laughs]
- CWChris Williamson
... say that he's going to take the same advice in the same way that you might do.
- SSSam Sulek
Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I think it's, uh, so when I talk about guys like that, and it's like, all right, man, if you're trying to cut down and you just don't have an appetite, I guess you're spoiled.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
If you're the guy with the huge appetite, uh, you're kinda just boned. But that's just how it is. So you can accept, or not accept, but like understand these core principles and then know, based on like your own situation, what you should do or how you should like act going forward.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
You know, you could teach me how to like replace a, a tire on like a, a NASCAR car and like put the bolts in or something, but if there was an actual problem and maybe something was off-kilter or whatever, since I don't know any of the core basics, all I know is you told me to bolt this thing in.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
I can now do nothing, and I'm like totally useless.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- 1:40:21 – 1:41:30
Where to Find Sam
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Heck yeah. Dudes, I appreciate you. Where should people go to check out everything that you got going on?
- SSSam Sulek
I guess it depends, you know? I, uh, I throw an Instagram up every so often. I think it's, it's Sam underscore Sulek. I don't know-
- CWChris Williamson
Fucking Sam Sulek was taken?
- SSSam Sulek
Oh, let me check. Let me, let me actually check to make sure. I'm not certain. But either way, if you look up Sam Sulek, it's definitely the first one.
- CWChris Williamson
If you're not the most followed Sam Sulek on the planet, I'll be very surprised.
- SSSam Sulek
Yeah, Sam, [laughs] Sam underscore Sulek.
- CWChris Williamson
Cool.
- SSSam Sulek
And then a YouTube account, Sam Sulek. That's every day. So I'll post one today, and then the next day. You know, there's 1,200 so far, and it's probably gonna be... It'll... I'm sure that'll be a day where I'm like, "Oh, 2,500."
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- SSSam Sulek
It's crazy.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, yeah.
- SSSam Sulek
But yeah, just everywhere like that if you wanna see a good workout, that's for sure.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay. Appreciate you, man.
- SSSam Sulek
Of course.
- CWChris Williamson
All right, man, until next time.
- SSSam Sulek
That's right.
- CWChris Williamson
Goodbye, my beauties. Dude. So good.
- SSSam Sulek
It was sweet.
- CWChris Williamson
Man. A quick note: lots of people tell us that YouTube unsubscribes them from the channel even though they already pressed it. So just check down there and see if the subscribe button is pressed. You get access to episodes before anybody else if you do. Supports me and the show, helps me to bring you bigger and better guests, uh, and it makes me very happy, so just go and give it a tap for me. I thank you. [blows kiss]
Episode duration: 1:41:30
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