Q&A 101

Jonny & Yusef from PropaneFitness.com are back again. This time we asked for questions from listeners at home, and oh boy did we get some interesting ones... We talk honestly about our relationships with each other, open up regarding our own mental health battles, and elucidate what is probably the best short-form life advice we can give you. Plus we work out what is the biggest animal we can single handedly cling film to a lamppost. Listen through until the end to find out what episodes and topics we have coming up and hear me begin to articulate "My Why". Also... This probably ranks as my favourite episode to record so far. The questions are so wide ranging and either interesting or ridiculous; both of which are fantastic to answer. It's a credit to the community who tune into these podcasts, so thank you. - Listen to all episodes online. Search "Modern Wisdom" on any Podcast App or click here: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/modern-wisdom/id1347973549 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XrOqvxlqQI6bmdYHuIVnr?si=iUpczE97SJqe1kNdYBipnw Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/modern-wisdom - I want to hear from you!! Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Email: modernwisdompodcast@gmail.com

Chris WilliamsonhostJonnyguestYusefguestGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)guest

Aug 13, 20181h 45mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

150 min read · 30,052 words

0:00 – 2:54
Setting up the first Modern Wisdom Q&A (and immediate chaos)
1. CWChris Williamson
  (wind blowing) So, hello again. Hi.
2. JOJonny
  Hello there.
3. YUYusef
  Hi.
4. CWChris Williamson
  Joined again by Johnny and Youssef from pro pain fitness dot com. And-
5. JOJonny
  Youssef and Johnny.
6. CWChris Williamson
  Youssef and Johnny indeed. And we are today doing our first ever Q&A episode.
7. YUYusef
  This wouldn't be possible without the valuable contributions from you guys, so...
8. CWChris Williamson
  Our listeners at home.
9. YUYusef
  Thank you for the, uh-
10. CWChris Williamson
  Our listeners at home. So yeah, I, I posted and so did you guys on our respective Instagrams asking for people to submit questions. And we got-
11. YUYusef
  Really sensible questions.
12. CWChris Williamson
  ... um, some unsensible ones, but interesting ones.
13. YUYusef
  Yeah.
14. CWChris Williamson
  They were all interesting. And we got-
15. YUYusef
  I was being slightly facetious, but...
16. CWChris Williamson
  ... 60.
17. YUYusef
  Were there any mentions of, uh, Johnny's legs?
18. JOJonny
  There weren't actually.
19. CWChris Williamson
  No.
20. YUYusef
  Surprising.
21. JOJonny
  Which is very refreshing.
22. CWChris Williamson
  I wanted to ask myself the question why are Johnny's legs so long, but I couldn't.
23. YUYusef
  To ask yourself that?
24. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
25. YUYusef
  I see.
26. JOJonny
  It's very introspective.
27. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah, I know. So we're going to do Q&A today. There's a couple that have been asked-
28. JOJonny
  Oh, there are.
29. CWChris Williamson
  ... a couple of questions that people have requested remain anonymous. Other than that, I think we can just-
30. JOJonny
  Can I know who, who's anonymous?
2:54 – 5:25
Do you track macros? When it helps, when it’s unnecessary, and why it’s hard
1. JOJonny
  Do you track macros?
2. CWChris Williamson
  That's for all of us, obviously.
3. YUYusef
  No. Not anymore.
4. JOJonny
  I do.
5. CWChris Williamson
  Do you?
6. YUYusef
  We discussed this on a live stream the other day that we, we don't.
7. CWChris Williamson
  Well, now I do.
8. YUYusef
  Because we graduated from needing to. Like, years of tracking means that you build enough momentum to not need to anymore.
9. CWChris Williamson
  I also don't track.
10. YUYusef
  You can do it by feel eventually.
11. JOJonny
  It's not fun for me to do them randomly. I'm gonna do them in order from top. I, I do track. Why don't you two track?
12. YUYusef
  So I've, I've explained.
13. CWChris Williamson
  Um, it's just too much effort for me. However, I'm about to start with, uh, Tim from We Dominate Nutrition.
14. JOJonny
  Okay.
15. CWChris Williamson
  And I'm also going to be on warrior programming as of the next couple of weeks. And as a part of that, I will be-
16. YUYusef
  Tracking macros.
17. CWChris Williamson
  I will be, uh, accountable. And if I don't, I will get shouted at off, uh, a guy who looks like Hitler's wet dream.
18. YUYusef
  (laughs)
19. JOJonny
  (laughs)
20. YUYusef
  Oh, yeah. He is.
21. JOJonny
  I think if you aren't naturally abs lean like you two are-
22. CWChris Williamson
  Hmm.
23. JOJonny
  ... realistically, you should try macros if you want to change.
24. CWChris Williamson
  If you want to get lean.
25. JOJonny
  Yeah, ob- obv-
26. YUYusef
  Well, well, yes.
27. JOJonny
  I think there's an argument to do it regardless, to be honest.
28. YUYusef
  Well, nex- next time I diet, I am absolutely tracking macros if-
29. JOJonny
  Doing that little huh?
30. YUYusef
  Maybe not. Like, but, uh, yeah. Or, or if, if I start doing a, a 90 day push of focusing much more on physique, then yeah, like, once things start to stall out. The, I think we take the approach of if something is working, don't fix it.
5:25 – 10:29
Daily routines: morning light, meditation, hospital shifts, and evening struggles
1. JOJonny
  What do your daily routines look like at the moment?
2. CWChris Williamson
  Who's that from? You're not put, you're not doing the people it's from.
3. JOJonny
  You said don't read people out because I'm anonymous.
4. CWChris Williamson
  I said there's only a couple of people who asked us to be anonymous.
5. JOJonny
  How am I supposed to know who those are?
6. CWChris Williamson
  Because they say. Roger.
7. YUYusef
  Everyone else, Arab accent.
8. JOJonny
  Roger that. Jordan Ayers.
9. CWChris Williamson
  Jordan, by the way, is, uh, sending me reading lists on almost a weekly basis over email. And they're all fantastic, so thanks.
10. YUYusef
  Same.
11. CWChris Williamson
  Thanks a lot. But Jordan is.
12. YUYusef
  We've done the same thing, Jordan. Appreciate it.
13. CWChris Williamson
  Man, he's awesome. So, um-
14. JOJonny
  I've not seen any of these.
15. YUYusef
  (laughs)
16. CWChris Williamson
  Well, we'll, we'll link you in.
17. JOJonny
  How have you been sent them?
18. YUYusef
  Through propane inbox.
19. JOJonny
  Good lord.
20. CWChris Williamson
  It's because you're not checking social media enough.
21. YUYusef
  Yeah.
22. JOJonny
  Instagram.
23. YUYusef
  I respond to people on private messages.
24. JOJonny
  Ugh.
25. CWChris Williamson
  There we go. Ugh, lads, lads, lads.
26. JOJonny
  You respond to people so I don't have to.
27. CWChris Williamson
  So what do our daily routines look like at the moment? Bloody hell. Um, okay, I'll be as, uh-
28. JOJonny
  Concise. Brief.
29. CWChris Williamson
  I'll take, I'll take the headlines as, as much as I can. So wake up-... outside, so I'm doing, uh, sunlight exposure now even if it's raining. So I'm-
30. YUYusef
  You've read Aubrey Marcus, haven't you?
10:29 – 12:21
Optimizing the day: stop work at 3 PM, Parkinson’s Law, and training time experiments
1. JOJonny
  So, uh, actually, recently I've been tr- I've been trying training later in the day.
2. CWChris Williamson
  Okay.
3. JOJonny
  Um-
4. CWChris Williamson
  After only just beginning to try to, try training earlier in the day.
5. JOJonny
  So I did, I did training in the morning for six months, more or less.
6. CWChris Williamson
  Mm-hmm.
7. JOJonny
  And it is good, but the trouble was just the amount of my ... You get to this point. And I know it's you start work later and finish work later.
8. CWChris Williamson
  Mm-hmm.
9. JOJonny
  I have this natural kind of disruption to my day from a work perspective, 'cause my girlfriend gets home at a certain time, and, like, to continue working feels wrong.
10. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah, fair enough.
11. JOJonny
  So I've got this, like, window where I've got to get my work done.
12. CWChris Williamson
  Routinely.
13. JOJonny
  Um, and the later I start, the more-
14. CWChris Williamson
  What? So what you're saying is that if your girlfriend gets home when you're working, that's a problem. But if your girlfriend gets home and you're not at home because you're at the gym, it's fine.
15. JOJonny
  (laughs)
16. CWChris Williamson
  (laughs)
17. JOJonny
  Well, so what, what I've been trying to do recently ... Uh, we had a business coach probably a year ago. And when I was talking to him about this, I was like, "I always struggle to, like, arrange these pieces in my day so that it's just, kind of, I run into the fewest problems." He was just like, "Just stop work at 3:00 PM."
18. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
19. YUYusef
  Yeah.
20. JOJonny
  And I was like... And I told you about this.
21. YUYusef
  Parkinson's Law just means that you just work to a deadline.
22. JOJonny
  So I've, I've done it two days this week. I find it really, really difficult to do.
23. CWChris Williamson
  Mm-hmm.
24. JOJonny
  It's like, start, d- do all those habits. Start work, finish at 3:00 PM. And lo and behold, on those days, got more work done.
25. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
26. JOJonny
  And then go to the gym. But you go to the gym at that time and there's just loads of people at the gym.
27. CWChris Williamson
  More traffic. Busier gym.
28. JOJonny
  Yeah.
29. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
30. JOJonny
  So I'm still searching for-
12:21 – 18:14
Absurd hypotheticals: clingfilming animals and speaking to dogs
1. JOJonny
  Okay. What's the largest animal you could single-handedly cling film to a lamppost?
2. CWChris Williamson
  Who was that?
3. JOJonny
  ... sorry, Rob Ransom. Recognise that name?
4. YUYusef
  Horse because-
5. JOJonny
  No. Fuck off. A horse?
6. YUYusef
  B- Because-
7. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  (laughs)
8. JOJonny
  (laughs)
9. YUYusef
  Horse's, their, horse's brains are, like, this big. Like, they're not going to... Uh, I think if you can catch it in a-
10. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  Such a weird-
11. CWChris Williamson
  I think what you're talking, what we're talking about here is how docile is the animal. Exactly, yeah. Not-
12. JOJonny
  I'm, so I'm imagining it's off the ground.
13. YUYusef
  Oh, see, like-
14. JOJonny
  Well, yeah, 'cause there's a-
15. YUYusef
  ... around its back and it's-
16. JOJonny
  Otherwise, you just push anything up against a tree. (laughs)
17. CWChris Williamson
  Right, okay. So do that, do that to a leopard.
18. YUYusef
  Oh, God.
19. JOJonny
  A leopard?
20. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
21. YUYusef
  It's not even that large, a leopard. It's like-
22. CWChris Williamson
  Right, yeah, so try and do that to a leopard. Speaker 3: R.I.P.
23. JOJonny
  Oh, see what you mean.
24. CWChris Williamson
  It'll be dead.
25. YUYusef
  Yeah.
26. JOJonny
  I see.
27. CWChris Williamson
  Try and do that to an elephant, and it's gonna break through the clingfilm unless you can use, like, an industrial-sized roll.
28. YUYusef
  Elephants are, yeah.
29. JOJonny
  Got it.
30. YUYusef
  Like, I met one a few weeks ago, and it, like, realized how-
18:14 – 25:26
CrossFit mass gain + internet flirting + five-year visions
1. JOJonny
  Top tips for... Top... So Birch3107 has asked, "Top tips to get MASSIVE," falling caps, "doing CrossFit?"
2. CWChris Williamson
  Good question. Um-
3. YUYusef
  It's not a peck of birch, is it?
4. JOJonny
  No.
5. YUYusef
  (laughs)
6. JOJonny
  Not with a photo of a man holding a log?
7. YUYusef
  (laughs)
8. CWChris Williamson
  Um, I would say tips, tips for getting massive doing CrossFit-... just eat as you, e- eat as you feel that you need to because the output that you're going to be doing is so much greater than you're used to. Let's say that in a typical session, like a typical bodybuilding or fitness session, your total reps will be maybe 100, something like that, 100 or 120.
9. YUYusef
  Mm-hmm. Okay.
10. CWChris Williamson
  Like across all movements, across all reps.
11. YUYusef
  Three sets of 10 with four movements, yeah?
12. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
13. YUYusef
  So.
14. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah. There you go. Whereas, in m- a lot of CrossFit chippers, which is where you've got multiple movements, you're gonna be talking like upwards of 300 or 400. So yeah, it's gonna be at a lower... Uh, your output's gonna be high basically and you're gonna be potentially training higher intensities more frequently once or twice a day. So just eat as much as you can. If you want to get massive, and if you want to use it to put on mass, I would eat as much sorine as is possible.
15. YUYusef
  (laughs)
16. CWChris Williamson
  I would put-
17. YUYusef
  Sorine malt loaf.
18. CWChris Williamson
  ... maltodextrin in your post-workout shake, and I would have, um, I'd have a spoonful of honey with every meal.
19. YUYusef
  (laughs)
20. CWChris Williamson
  No, I wouldn't (clears throat) do that last one. That's a lie.
21. YUYusef
  (laughs)
22. CWChris Williamson
  Can you read the very bottom screenshot please? Very bottom one.
23. JOJonny
  By DJ Slacky 18... No.
24. CWChris Williamson
  Very bottom.
25. JOJonny
  The one about Tinder.
26. CWChris Williamson
  Yep.
27. JOJonny
  (laughs) Wish I was in close proximity so I could match him up on Tinder.
28. CWChris Williamson
  And that was a screenshot-
29. JOJonny
  Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes.
30. CWChris Williamson
  That was a screenshot of you, Johnny.
25:26 – 26:53
Love Island’s impact: identity, integrity, and whether he’d do it again
1. YUYusef
  "How would your life be different if you weren't on Love Island?" Chris.
2. CWChris Williamson
  I get asked this question quite a lot, actually. I think this is duplicated a number of times. Who was it?
3. YUYusef
  Vissan Asiri.
4. CWChris Williamson
  Nice.
5. YUYusef
  Mm-hmm.
6. CWChris Williamson
  Well-pronounced as well. Um, interesting question. Again, it'll probably be quite unsatisfactory compared with what you think I'm gonna answer. So it would be that I would be in a, uh, my exposure would have been increased or something like that. Like, uh, you know, it's propelled me towards stardom and stuff like that. Whereas, quite to the contrary, it, as we learnt on the Love Island Podcast, it was the beginning of a, a little bit of a journey towards virtue because there was a difference between what I realized I was pretending to be and publicly was being and what I was with regards to my own integrity and stuff like that. So, (coughs) yeah, I, um, I think I would have still arrived at this point of doing more introspective work and challenging my own assumptions and kind of turning over the rocks of your life, for want of a better term, and looking at what's underneath, whether it's sort of good or bad. But I don't think that it would have happened as quickly. So for that, I literally can't be any more grateful for the Love Island experience because it was the kick up the ass that I needed, I think.
7. YUYusef
  So you were on that trajectory, but it just catalyzed-
8. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
9. YUYusef
  ... the process?
10. CWChris Williamson
  100%.
11. JOJonny
  It was a real line in the sand for you, I think, wasn't it?
12. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah, very much so.
26:53 – 29:26
Drugs/PEDs in lifting: ethics, risks, and informed decision-making
1. YUYusef
  "Thoughts on drug use."
2. JOJonny
  So I'm trying to, I'm trying to pick, um, from different people. But we'll do that one.
3. CWChris Williamson
  I don't mind. Just-
4. YUYusef
  Oh, this is from the same person.
5. JOJonny
  Yeah, yeah. (laughs)
6. YUYusef
  "Thoughts on drug use and lifting at a strong level compared to the average gym-goer," from the same person. Depends what you define as strong, 'cause some people are like, "Oh-"
7. JOJonny
  Compared to the average gym-goer.
8. YUYusef
  "... I've, I've benched 100 kilos, time to get on the gear." And some would consider strong to be-
9. JOJonny
  I think they have to be separate questions.
10. YUYusef
  "Thoughts on drug use and lifting-"
11. JOJonny
  Just to maybe allow you to get into each concept a bit more.
12. YUYusef
  "... at a strong level."
13. JOJonny
  So what are your thoughts compared to the average gym-goer? What are your thoughts on drug use, steroid use? What are your thoughts?
14. YUYusef
  If it's n- if it's in a, if it's sanctioned in a sport, then-
15. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
16. YUYusef
  ... you can go crazy on it.
17. JOJonny
  I think as long as you are not competing in something that is ... that has a rule that says you shouldn't take drugs, and you're saying, "I'm not taking drugs," then it's fine.
18. YUYusef
  Like, yeah, my, my, my view is don't cheat in sports rather than-
19. JOJonny
  Yeah.
20. YUYusef
  ... do or don't take drugs.
21. JOJonny
  Yeah, that's a much better way of putting it.
22. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah, I would agree as well.
23. JOJonny
  Uh...
24. CWChris Williamson
  People can do ... People can put into their own bodies whatever they want. But-
25. YUYusef
  Yeah, you, you're gonna have to bear the consequence of that, and the more niche drugs you put into your body, the fewer endocrinologists are gonna be able to-
26. CWChris Williamson
  Work out what the fuck's going on with you, yeah.
27. YUYusef
  ... engage with, to, yeah (laughs) .
28. JOJonny
  I'd le- like, learn about what you're going to do before you do it, do it scientifically.
29. CWChris Williamson
  Or find someone who knows.
30. JOJonny
  Yeah, 'cause it's a different language.
29:26 – 43:12
Best recurring content: what they re-read, focus vs multitasking, and implementing advice
1. JOJonny
  What is the one book, article, podcast you've, do you f- what's the one, one book, article, podcast you find yourself returning to the most? By George McGill.
2. YUYusef
  It's, for me, it's Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson.
3. CWChris Williamson
  Thank you very much.
4. YUYusef
  Like, I've, I've been returning to this house to-
5. CWChris Williamson
  (laughs)
6. YUYusef
  ... record for all of these fucking podcasts over and over again.
7. CWChris Williamson
  (laughs)
8. YUYusef
  And then he brought this fan out, and he keeps feeding me caffeinated drinks.
9. JOJonny
  (laughs) Mine is a ... it's a Tim Ferriss article and podcast called, um, Productivity Advice for the Manic, Depressive, and Crazy Like Me. And it's, like, f- 10 minutes long, and it's basically just something that w- we talk about all the time, which is like, we ... Everyone focuses on pr- everyone thinks that the people that they follow online are these pictures of efficiency, productivity, and everything in their life is great. That's very rarely the case.
10. CWChris Williamson
  Paragon of virtue.
11. JOJonny
  Paragon of ... But the people who are getting loads of stuff done in their life typically are fantastic at prioritizing and just focusing on one thing at a time.
12. CWChris Williamson
  Mm-hmm.
13. JOJonny
  And so his advice is, like, pick one thing to do every day, and just do that for two or three hours. And that's-
14. CWChris Williamson
  As Dr., as Dr. Ewan Lawson said on, uh, Your Desk is Killing You, the podcast I did recently-... multitasking is for muppets.
15. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
16. YUYusef
  But it feels like you're being more productive.
17. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
18. YUYusef
  Like the, the sensation of time passing accelerates when you're switching between tabs and doing things. You go, "Oh, I'm blasting through this." But actually, total output is terrible-
19. CWChris Williamson
  Mm-hmm.
20. YUYusef
  ... if you're doing A, B, C, D, as opposed to just A, A, A, A, finish-
21. CWChris Williamson
  Exactly what-
22. YUYusef
  ... and then B.
23. CWChris Williamson
  ... exactly what Peter C. Browne says in Make It Stick on a recent podcast, which may or may not have been published before this one as well. (laughs)
24. JOJonny
  In the past or the future.
25. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah. Focus. How about you?
26. YUYusef
  I, I also like where this question's come from, that it's, what's the one thing that you find yourself returning to the most?
27. CWChris Williamson
  Yeah.
28. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
29. YUYusef
  'Cause I think it's very easy to read an article like the, the Manic Depressive Tim Ferriss article and be like, "Oh my God, that's such good advice. Great." And then two weeks later-
30. CWChris Williamson
  Forgot it.
43:12 – 54:37
Embarrassing stories + the blunt fat-loss answer everyone needs
1. JOJonny
  Great answer. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you? Kiss hug, kiss hug, by Jessica Tyler, Taylor?
2. CWChris Williamson
  Taylor.
3. JOJonny
  Fine.
4. CWChris Williamson
  Um, during intercourse with a lady, she began to say the sentence, "Spit on m-" and got to the M in 'muh'. I thought that she meant me, as in her, spit on me. At which point, like a loaded gun, I unloaded a full mouth of saliva onto her face. She quietly wiped it off and said, "I meant my fingers." I apologized, laughed, and then continued. That's, that's up there.
5. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  Mm-hmm.
6. YUYusef
  Spit, spit on muh.
7. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  Spit on muh. (laughing)
8. YUYusef
  I'm really excited -
9. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  There was some velocity as well.
10. YUYusef
  You guys know this already, which is dropping, losing 23 grand in a period of about 10 minutes. The, the full story of that is on another podcast.
11. JOJonny
  No, we never recorded it.
12. CWChris Williamson
  We will do. We'll do live, we did live.
13. YUYusef
  We do.
14. CWChris Williamson
  Live, live fails- Never went live. Yeah, live fails, we'll come back, um, but-
15. YUYusef
  Why didn't it go live?
16. CWChris Williamson
  'Cause we didn't finish it.
17. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  We never finished it.
18. CWChris Williamson
  It got cut off.
19. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  Oh, okay, fine. We've gotta, we've gotta-
20. CWChris Williamson
  We lost 23 grand trading about-
21. JOJonny
  We'll have to restart.
22. CWChris Williamson
  In how long?
23. JOJonny
  We'll have to re-, we'll have to record it.
24. CWChris Williamson
  In about a ten minute period.
25. JOJonny
  What? No.
26. CWChris Williamson
  (laughing)
27. GIGuest (Jonny or Yusef, minor interjection)
  We were just trying to press one button.
28. YUYusef
  (laughing) It loses, you lose about six, six weeks off your life every time you realize that story.
29. JOJonny
  It's the prospect of like something that's been done, not being used is absolutely unacceptable.
30. YUYusef
  (laughing)
54:37 – 59:20
Training goals and CrossFit development: endurance, competitions, and rehab
1. CWChris Williamson
  That's cool, man. Um, pretty cool one here. "What is everyone's short-term training goals? What total regional competition? Just a physique goal?" Question marks. All from Anabolic OD.
2. YUYusef
  Great username.
3. JOJonny
  Whoa. Anabolic OD.
4. YUYusef
  (coughs)
5. JOJonny
  700 kilo total in the 105 kilo class at Nationals 2018, weighing 100 kilos or less.
6. CWChris Williamson
  But you're in the 105s.
7. JOJonny
  Yeah, but I want to... If I'm 100 kilos or less, I'll hit PB wilks.
8. CWChris Williamson
  Nice.
9. YUYusef
  Yep. Disk herniation rehab, um, tumbeling and handstand goals, like get cork, or cork to cork. Um-
10. CWChris Williamson
  That's the one-legged spinny flip.
11. YUYusef
  Yeah.
12. CWChris Williamson
  Spinny flip.
13. YUYusef
  Well remembered. Yeah.
14. CWChris Williamson
  Cork to cork is woo-woo-woo-bang, woo-woo-woo-bang.
15. YUYusef
  Yeah, just like a clap.
16. CWChris Williamson
  That's really fucking cool.
17. YUYusef
  Yeah.
18. CWChris Williamson
  That's cool.
19. YUYusef
  Oh, God. Um, but, yeah, at the moment, just hypertrophy. ... The foot.
20. JOJonny
  What's the thing? Is there like a ... I'd love to deadlift 700 pounds. Is there a, like an all-time-
21. YUYusef
  Pinnacle that people-
22. JOJonny
  Like, gymnastics version?
23. YUYusef
  The 700 pounds equivalent is probably-
24. JOJonny
  Iron cross?
25. YUYusef
  ... double cork. Oh, well yeah, j- yeah, gymnastics is, yeah, the r- iron cross. Like a strength, strength goal or something like that.
26. JOJonny
  Okay. I just mean, like a, in the community, what's like, "Fuck," like w- w- what's that?
27. YUYusef
  720? Double back tucks, um, s- yeah. So something like a 720. Like, where the more spins and then like only a few people on Earth have ever done a triple cork. And then, like one guy's done a quadruple. But he, he's like tiny. He's like s- 55 kilos and just the perfect-
28. JOJonny
  All in one.
29. YUYusef
  Yeah, just run (grunting) big run up. I think he does a couple of like pre-things and just, yeah.
30. JOJonny
  Goals.
59:20 – 1:22:04
Mindfulness origins: Buddhism, depression, and friends who hold you to standards
1. CWChris Williamson
  ... you would be fine. Um, here's a, here's a pretty cool one. When did you first get into mindfulness and looking after your mental state and why?
2. JOJonny
  It was something that Youcef said to me, which was that you ... it was the idea of, um, having no attachments, having no external attachments was the path to, like no suffering and being at, at peace.
3. CWChris Williamson
  It's what Sam Harris says, isn't it? That for years and years-
4. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
5. CWChris Williamson
  ... con- contemplatives have used isolation as a route to discover whether or not happiness can be found in isolation of external factors.
6. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
7. CWChris Williamson
  And for most people solitary confinement is considered the worst punishment in the world, but these people have f- found solace in that.
8. JOJonny
  Yeah.
9. CWChris Williamson
  Um-
10. JOJonny
  I mean, is that right? Have I, have I blended that-
11. YUYusef
  No, you're right, yeah. Like n- no attachments, no aversions means that you've got ultimate freedom to-
12. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
13. YUYusef
  Like there's no suffering.
14. CWChris Williamson
  You're not, you're not at the mercy of anything.
15. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
16. YUYusef
  Yeah. Like if, i- if you equate ... It's, it's the idea that if you have this circuit of desire, f- chase the desire, fulfill the desire, happy for a moment because the mind quiets on the fulfillment of that desire-
17. CWChris Williamson
  Get that, get that.
18. YUYusef
  ... and then a n- new design comes up, and then you repeat that cycle. Whereas if you were to short-circuit that whole process, eliminate the desire, which you can do consciously through repetition, then you've got the quieting of the mind without having to go through that big loop and chase the desire and fulfill it.
19. JOJonny
  Mm-hmm.
20. YUYusef
  And then you've just got that from the beginning.
21. CWChris Williamson
  Comp in fulfillment.
22. YUYusef
  On tap.
23. JOJonny
  What were the things you said about feelings of, from your retreat? Un-satisfactoriness?
24. YUYusef
  Oh, so the, the, yeah, the, the Buddhist approach is, um, everything is anicca, anatta, and s- su- sukka? I think so impermanence-E- everything is impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self in its qualities. And so the sooner that you can teach your nervous system that, not just consciously but, like, at a deep level, then you don't attach to anything, and you can just let experiences flow through you without having to grasp or push away.
25. CWChris Williamson
  So it's everything, both good and bad, is temporary and never enough.
26. YUYusef
  Yeah.
27. CWChris Williamson
  And as long as you... 'Cause, so it was, it was-
28. YUYusef
  So the reps of that are just, like allowing-
29. CWChris Williamson
  ... reinforced that.
30. YUYusef
  ... those things to flow through you.

Episode duration: 1:45:52

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Setting up the first Modern Wisdom Q&A (and immediate chaos)

Do you track macros? When it helps, when it’s unnecessary, and why it’s hard

Daily routines: morning light, meditation, hospital shifts, and evening struggles

Optimizing the day: stop work at 3 PM, Parkinson’s Law, and training time experiments

Absurd hypotheticals: clingfilming animals and speaking to dogs

CrossFit mass gain + internet flirting + five-year visions

Love Island’s impact: identity, integrity, and whether he’d do it again

Drugs/PEDs in lifting: ethics, risks, and informed decision-making

Best recurring content: what they re-read, focus vs multitasking, and implementing advice

Embarrassing stories + the blunt fat-loss answer everyone needs

Training goals and CrossFit development: endurance, competitions, and rehab

Mindfulness origins: Buddhism, depression, and friends who hold you to standards

Get more out of YouTube videos.