Kind: captions
Language: en
you know I hear people it's you know
kind of a popular thing to talk about
like self affirmations and saying you're
good enough and I believe in some of
that stuff to a certain extent I do
think there's a lot of power in positive
thought period I mean that's undeniable
right but at the same time you can't be
cheering for nobody but you don't have
to be the same person that you were
yesterday and if you made an agreement
with yourself in my opinion it's
cowardly to not work on to at least work
towards doing the things that you're
promising to yourself get rid of the
cans you know like if whiles that might
sound for somebody who's really
struggling you can build it up over time
willpower something you can build up
over time hey everybody welcome to hell
theory
today's guest is Mark Bell he's a former
pro wrestler and record holding power
lifter who created both power magazine
and the famous workout gear the
slingshot he's also the author of the
book war on carbs and the founder of the
notorious super training gym dude
what in the world draws you to
powerlifting I find it so interesting
it's so intense and demands so much of
you what was it that originally pulled
you in you know as a kid I got into it
mainly I mean my brothers were showing
me some stuff but was the real driver
was I was thrown around a football one
day and this guy yells to me my
brother's friend he told me to throw him
the ball I should have known better and
so I throw this guy the ball sure enough
he turns around punts the damn thing
into the woods never to be found again
my favorite football and I just kind of
thought at that point I don't want that
to ever happen to me I don't want ever
feel like someone can just do that to me
just take something from me and just you
know kick it into the woods like that
and so it was my goal kind of from that
point on you can kind of cut to a rocky
montage training in my garage and doing
curls and push-ups and all the other
stuff but that was enough fire just kind
of get me inspired even just through
that summer but I was kind of a chubby
kid I was kind of a fat kid and so when
I went in the gym and started lifting I
was naturally stronger than my friends
who were much smaller and I think I
ended up bench pressing around 235 or
240 pounds then
yeah my friends were like oh my god and
my cousin was like you know I don't know
what that's gonna turn into but you'll
probably do that the rest of your life
and Here I am on a show that is crazy
what I love about that story though is
is something that I don't think a lot of
people talk about certainly not a lot of
people that are sort of outside meathead
which I say lovingly circles is the
aggression of it and basically like
wanting to put on muscle to be able to
stand up for yourself right which for
sure 1,000% was what I use when I first
started lifting I used to imagine
somebody attacking my wife and I would
stare at her across the gym and think
what it would be like if I wouldn't if I
wasn't able to defend her and that that
was something that gave me the energy to
push and people always cringe a little
bit when I tell them that story but it
was like that's what I needed I was
telling you before we started filming
that I don't enjoy the process of
working out it isn't that I mind giving
it the energy it's that I resent giving
it the time but going in and putting
myself in that mental situation and
saying like I want to give in to the
aggression of it I want to think about
the strength the power that goes behind
it that was is is still very appealing
to me
I love the aggression side of it really
do I think a lot of men feel the way
that you're describing they maybe don't
feel like they're substantial enough
like they don't have enough might to may
be defend their territory defend what's
theirs or defend their woman or defend
their family or whatever I know a lot of
guys that feel that way and a lot of
guys are driven to get into the gym you
know for that reason but the aggression
side of things
you know I my best lifts are I squatted
a thousand 80 i benchpress eight hundred
and fifty four pounds and deadlift is
seven hundred and sixty-six pounds and
when you get underneath some of these
weights you really don't have any choice
but to be aggressive
even if you're not aggressive by nature
I mean I'm pretty like docile pretty
calm pretty normal I don't waver one way
or the other too much I try to stay a
little bit more even keel just in
general with my life but when it's time
to squat you know a thousand pounds and
get underneath the weight like that you
know I'm just thinking I want to break
this [ __ ] bar in half like I want to
show people that I made us something
different than what everybody else
made out of here I go this is my this is
my 32nd so I might hit the chalk bowl
and I might smack myself in the chest
it's not because I'm an [ __ ] it's not
because I'm an idiot it's just like
here's my time to shine I put a lot of
practice into this it's taken a lot of
patience it's taken a lot of years to be
able to do that just right be able to
execute it so like here I go this is
something that I don't think a lot of
people put a lot of energy into but
thinking about okay the neurochemical
response to the things that I think and
this so I'm working on a book now and
and basically what I'm trying to walk
people through is you can take control
of your neuro chemistry now a lot of it
is gonna be beforehand you're gonna have
to do the work a building in the value
system of beliefs of coming up with a
narrative things that allow you to to
think in a certain way
what is lifting mean to me what does it
mean to set this PR what what is the
narrative that I'm telling myself how do
you think about self narrative and are
the things you've been saying here is
that the actual dialogue that you're
saying is you're getting under the
weight like do you have things you
return to I'm not like other people that
kind of stuff the narrative is is always
it's always fake you know I think that I
don't maybe always know that it's fake
but I need to create it you know I hear
things that other people say about my
gym or about my teammates or about me
and I let it I let it build up you know
I let it build up over time I'm 42 now
and I you know stopped competitive
powerlifting or at least competitive as
far as I would describe it I fell with a
thousand 85 squat a few years ago and
that just wiped me out for a while I was
you know that three-month period was was
really rough in terms of you know
physically mentally you know I couldn't
even put on a shoe for three months I
just try to dig deep and I just try to
think like people have it a lot worse
and like you chose to do that thought
you know I there's all choices that's
just I chose to do that I'm privileged
to be able to lift the weight so I'm
able to lift and and you know I'm
thankful and I'm able to do those things
and every once in a while something
doesn't really go your way but what am I
going to do
sit around and cry about it you know I'd
rather I'd rather continue to figure out
a way to forge forward and build
momentum that's really interesting so I
want to give people a little more
context on you so obviously what you've
achieved in the world of the physical is
extraordinary you also have a very
successful business you've written a
book but it's like your self-identified
fat kid you're not able to physically go
where you want to go you're not learning
in the way that maybe society champions
so I'm guessing early we're feeling a
bit like an outsider you even said your
older brothers didn't want anything to
do with you so how do you begin to
construct the feeling powerful believing
you can do it channeling the aggression
like how do you turn everything on its
head and and end up accomplishing you
hold two patents it's like you've done
all this extraordinary stuff so how do
we start in this place it's very
atypical and end up where you end up you
just have to try to figure out a way so
like the way that I you know may come up
with a solution may look a lot different
than the way somebody else may come up
with a solution with myself I had a lot
of trouble reading I still have a lot of
trouble reading so I'm like okay not
learning is not an option I have to
learn I got to learn something every day
my my car is like a mobile classroom I'm
always listening to something he's
listening to a podcast or even sometimes
an audio book it just really depends on
the mood and depends on the day but I
still have to figure out ways of
learning I still have to figure out ways
to persevere so part of the biggest
block for me part of the thing that held
me down and it kept me back for so long
was buying into other people's ideas so
I think self-doubt is something that may
settle in on me because learning was a
little harder for me it was more
challenging and so I need to figure out
ways to work around it so what gave you
the belief that you could get good like
that like the notion that I could get
better at something I came to very late
in the game so to me like when I
remember when I first started lifting I
wasn't good at it and so I thought I
would always be bad at it I didn't think
it was something I thought it was like
some people can just add muscle and they
take to it and then other people don't
and
quite embarrassed because I was so bad
at it in terms of I couldn't lift heavy
so that made me feel badly about myself
so I always shied away from things like
that like what what's happening at this
point are you are you pushing back on
things like [ __ ] you guys nobody gets to
tell me who I am and what I can do or is
it something else did somebody say no
Marc you you can be something like what
gave you the belief that this would be
energy well-spent there's a few things
there I didn't figure things out till
really late in the game either I'm 42
and it's probably about 35 I didn't have
any points on the scoreboard when it
comes to like having an income or
anything like that and so you know it
took me a really long time but at those
younger ages what gave me confidence is
a few things I did lean into the
resistance of life I'm a big believer in
that I'm big believer in like what's
like pushing against me and then rather
than like straying off completely you
know people may tell you that you're not
good enough to do it or that might be
the only narrative that you build up for
yourself is that you're not good enough
to you don't deserve that and when it
came to school like the part of my brain
was like shut off like shut down because
I had so much self-doubt about my
capabilities like in a classroom and so
that door was was like locked it was
like no longer open to me but most of
the other doors I would try to push into
even something like track when we did
track and I was a big kid but I was like
long run you know and I did the hundred
meter and I did a four by 100 I leaned
into that and I got in better shape and
it was the first time in my life that I
got in good shape and so at that time
you're thinking wait I put energy into
this and I get a result whether people
want me to be good at it or not it
doesn't matter
did you fully understand that this is
repetition equals progress or like what
was the the realization that you had
there even though I felt bad that like I
wasn't good in school I always had
physical stuff so this physical stuff
and having good supportive parents were
things I could always hold onto there
were things that allowed me to grow like
if I didn't have that it would have been
really hard if I didn't have any sports
or any lifting or
didn't have you know these other areas
where I excelled that because he needs
something you know I'll hear people it's
you know kind of a popular thing to talk
about like self affirmations and saying
you're good enough and I believe in some
of that stuff to a certain extent I do
think there's a lot of power and
positive thought period I mean that's
undeniable right but at the same time
you can't be cheering for nobody you
can't kind of cheer for yourself when
there's no substance there there has to
be something there so I at least had
something that I was good at I at least
had something I could gravitate towards
and say you know what I might kind of
stink at some of these other things but
at least I'm pretty good at that and so
that allowed me to grow and allowed me
to be able to kind of continue onward
what do you say to somebody who really
believes that they don't have anything
there there's nothing they're good at or
not good at lifting they're not gonna
track they can't read well like they
just go through the list of things and
they're like there's there's nothing for
me so is it hopeless for them or is
there some path that you have for them
to walk no I definitely think that
everyone has something so how do they
find that well you just have to try a
lot of different things and you might
suck at those things I think it's easy
to kind of point out when somebody's
already good at something it's easy to
just say oh it's probably probably
genetics easy just to kind of bypass it
it's not genetic it's it's practice and
these people that are struggling that
are having a hard time a hard time
understanding like what gift do they
have they're gonna have to try some
different things out you know regardless
of how bad it breaks them down
regardless of how much it makes them cry
or how much it upsets them because the
practice is going to be something that's
going to move you ahead of everyone no
one gets a free pass I can't think of
anyone that gets anywhere without tons
and tons of practice yeah the notion of
practice to me is something I'm obsessed
with so I don't think of anything as
performance I think of everything is
practice partly because anxiety so if I
feel like this is my one shot and I have
to perform there's no way to redeem
myself then that really spikes my
[ __ ] anxiety but if I think of it hey
this is just practice it's an
opportunity to get better even if I find
myself behind the eight-ball there's no
reason to be anxious
about it it's a chance to practice
getting out from behind the eight-ball
so hey here we go
like I'm gonna take this time I'm gonna
practice and that to me is is really
really interesting
the reason I'm obsessed with the kid who
doesn't think they're good at anything
is because I think you're right about
you have to have some spark of something
that's real and I want to get back to
what you said about you can't cheer for
a nobody because I agree with you and
think it's playing with fire at the same
time and this is one of those what I
call advanced class things where it's
like it's so [ __ ] true people have to
come to grips with it because if you
want to have self-respect you have to
have a reason to respect yourself and
you can't just look in the mirror and
say I love you or respect you all that
because some part of your brain is gonna
be like [ __ ] dude you're not [ __ ]
doing anything so you're right I think
people just have to try a lot of [ __ ] to
find the thing that's gonna be that real
spark it's something they're interested
in maybe not necessarily something
they're great at something that they're
interested in
then they're gonna practice then they're
gonna see like if they get good at it or
at least if they have enough love to
pour themselves into that process to
grow and get better there's a moment in
your life that I want to drill down on
more though which is in the beginning
when you had no reason to believe in
yourself before you find weightlifting
why did you start if you really break
down why anybody starts lifting right if
you break down why anyone starts lifting
it's always for chicks right it's always
for chicks I know a couple guys are
listening around I'm like no dude not me
it's always for to attract somebody
right you're always trying to feel
better about yourself to attract someone
and for me that was definitely the case
I mean I was a heavier kid I wanted to
be in better shape I was watching the
wrestlers I like those guys are jacked
maybe that's a way to get chicks I don't
know I don't know how to go about doing
all this and so I just knew I wanted to
be in better shape and so I used always
use football as an excuse to lift but
really I was really I was obsessed with
lifting the entire time it was really
the lifting that I that I loved and I
gravitated towards mm-hmm so I imagine
on the journey that you've been on to
change your physique so radically you've
done dumb things you've done smart
things and sort of figured out the
difference what are some big mistakes
that people make when they're first
getting into this if somebody wanted to
rat
we transform their physique you know
what how much is diet how much is
exercise like what does all that look
like and and what are some ways you can
shave that learning curve down for
people it's a huge story and I need to
know a lot of details I need to know
like where you're at
I think everyone's always kind of
looking for this kind of
one-size-fits-all thing and I do believe
that if we put America on like a chicken
breast diet that everyone would lose
weight but I do believe the second that
that levy was lifted to be on a chicken
breast diet I do believe everyone would
gain their weight back probably and then
some and so reduction of calories
unfortunately it can really help you but
it can also really hurt you because if
that's all that you focus on it's just
eating less where what are you gonna
become over the next couple months or
weeks or even years like what it's gonna
look like what is it gonna look like two
years down the road that's something
that really keep in mind with weight
loss is that losing weight is not a
problem in America a lot of Americans I
think some astronomical percentage like
eighty percent of Americans that tried
diets to lose weight so losing weight is
not the issue and then we got to figure
out okay what is the issue the issue is
keeping it off you know how do we figure
out a way to keep it off and if we start
out with eating less then we're gonna be
able to perform less and it's like those
two things don't sound very good what if
we dropped down the food and we try to
exercise a lot like that's not going to
feel great so you can either start one
of two ways you can start with some
exercise or you can start with nutrition
if you're able to do both at the same
time that would be cool but I think you
could just start with one or the other
you know figure out figure out the form
of exercise figure out a way that you
are gonna reduce calories whether it's
through burning them or whether it's
through eating less of them figure out
some sort of system where that is
actually manageable for you people
utilize intermittent fasting it's a way
to partition off calories and say I'm
gonna eat less here and I'm gonna eat I
don't know maybe like 75 percent of my
normal caloric intake but I'm gonna eat
it in a latter part of the day I mean
you know from the research done at quest
nutrition look carbohydrates aren't bad
right but we just
as a society we tend to over consume
them there's a lot of companies that
profit they make if there's a lot of
money to be made on making these hyper
palatable foods that were that will kind
of override our natural system of being
able to taste some of these different
flavors got all these crazy flavors
going on and we tend to eat too much of
them you know so an easy message is just
to tell people to you know cut back or
try to cut out carbohydrates or cut out
processed foods I think people are
frustrated because they're oftentimes
being lied to there's a lot of fake
health out there everybody just assumes
everything that Whole Foods is healthy
or everything that's packaged that has
green or has this clean label that it's
really a healthy option it's not so you
have to if they really watch out for
there's a lot of fake health out there
there's a lot of just practices that
aren't great but if you're just trying
to figure out somewhere to start in my
opinion there's no better place to start
than just just to walk just walk because
what it does for your body and what it
does for your brain I think exercise is
something that's kind of misunderstood
in the sense of like what it actually
does for our brain it's probably way
more powerful than anything it will
actually do for our body all you need is
some shoes throw on some shoes get
outside
walk up maybe a little bit faster than
he used to or maybe try to walk faster
each time you go out for a 10-minute
walk try to figure out how many
10-minute walks you can do in a day or
how many 10-minute walks you can do in a
week how often are you just sitting
there just mindlessly doing nothing I
think a great opportunity for to hit up
some of those walks and to keep your
body rejuvenated to keep yourself
burning calories at the end of the day
when you sit down
and you're about to totally plop down
and just completely relax in front of
your TV and scroll through Instagram I
think that's a great time before you
actually fully relax to go oh that
should be your cue right there to go
into a 10-minute walk so just I mean the
simple things people need to sleep more
you need to drink more water every time
that you drink anything that's
caffeinated which is a huge thing in
America right all the coffee anytime
that you drink any car
feed drink some water don't be afraid of
salt and figuring out some sort of sleep
schedule figure out an eating schedule
like how how crazy and how asinine is
this right
you're gonna elite you're gonna leave
your house at 7:00 in the morning you
know exactly where you need to be for
the day you know all the different
people that you're gonna run into for
the day there's some things that might
come up but you basically have a good
idea of your schedule that's why people
have a day planner and their day planner
is hooked to their computer and their
phone and there we have all the
information that we need and then what's
missing from that there's no your your
exercise probably isn't on there you
probably didn't write down like when you
wanted to Train and so therefore it's
just up in the air just might happen am
I not I'm gonna go to the gym at 5:00
a.m. tomorrow anyway yeah and didn't
write it down so you just skip it and
then what about our food we never write
down our food what if you were to write
down your food for the next week and say
this is what I'm gonna eat I want to see
if I have the balls to eat when I'm
gonna write down right now how hard
would that be on a scale of one to ten
it shouldn't be that hard that should
actually be kind of easy right if you
were to write it down and say I just
want a stronger discipline I'm gonna
even write down some foods that I like
or they can all be foods that you like I
mean you can you can pick some really
good options but if you if you plan
ahead then you'll be ahead if you plan
ahead you'll be in a position where you
can eat these foods that taste good
that aren't packing the same punches you
just randomly eating out somewhere don't
be a dumbass don't leave your house
without any plan for your food you know
leave your house with no food prepped or
nothing or no idea where you're gonna
eat and then what are you gonna do you
didn't you didn't prep anything on your
way out so you you've mixed up a coffee
and threw that down on your way to work
and your whole day is behind the entire
day's behind and you're like oh my god I
didn't even eat then you go get some
crap food at lunch and when you come
back from lunch you're super tired you
feel like [ __ ] your boss yells at you
you're on your way home and you're like
I am [ __ ] starving so you roll
through McDonald's you get a Big Mac and
you get some french fries and you get a
chocolate shake to wash it all down and
and
you just alright we'll just take all
that we're just gonna sweep all that
right underneath the road conveniently
we won't ever talk about that and we'll
just repeat for tomorrow what do you
tell people though cuz when I hear that
story a it's true no question but I know
that moment like before I sort of built
the mindset that I have now the hard
thing about not eating the french fries
is it is exactly like a drug it will
have a very predictable and [ __ ]
wonderful neuro chemical response to eat
the french fries the hard thing about
french fries isn't that they're just
convenient which is already wonderful
it's not even that they're cheap which
again is fantastic it's that it's it's
like taking a drug and you you have that
shitty day your boss is yelling at you
you're just in a really gnarly mental
state and the fries will fix the problem
that that's and I think that's the real
problem it actually works
I agree and I remember when I first went
low-carb and I had these [ __ ]
crushing headaches and I just felt like
ass and I went to my wife and I said if
I just ate this [ __ ] cookie I would
feel better and the problem was that was
true and of course there's you get on
the other side of it now but what do you
tell people knowing that it's a very
real psychological issue that they're
dealing with the French frys solved that
problem it's a it's a tough it's a tough
thing to kind of deconstruct on people
because like you said the food tastes
good I was a food addict as well I'd
wake up in the middle of night and raid
my pantry I mean it looked like a bear
came through I was like what the hell
happened there's you know Ben and
Jerry's and peanut butter cups and
there's all these wrappers everywhere
and just like you know I just I was in
that habit of doing that for a long time
but you don't have to be the same person
that you were yesterday and if you made
an agreement with yourself in my opinion
it's cowardly to not work on to at least
work towards doing the things that
you're promising to yourself get rid of
the cans you know like if whiles that
might sound for somebody who's really
struggling you can build it up over time
willpower something you can build up
over time how well you're gonna have to
chip away at it you're gonna have to
find something you're good at we'll have
to go back to kind of the beginning of
everything you'll have
find something that maybe you're not
amazing at right away but you're a
little bit better at that than you are
at a couple other things you don't suck
is bad at that one thing maybe as as
much as you suck at everything else and
you hold on to that with everything that
you got and you're gonna be able to
build strength and willpower through
that the willpower will help make you
feel better it will help keep that
momentum going for you but I thought I
had these like blocks right and then
because I built up willpower over a
period of time like [ __ ] all these
blocks I'll call these road blocks I was
getting a three-point stance and knock
I'm all over I can figure this out yeah
that that part of your personality is
what I'm super super drawn to the I
don't know if the mission statement of
your company is something that you think
about a lot but if it is I'd love for
you to talk about that I think that
whole notion which to me anyway it'll be
interesting to see if it's tied for you
the the mission statement of your
company and [ __ ] your elbow like those
to me are connected and so powerful walk
us through what's the mission statement
of your company my goal and you know the
big goal with the social media stuff
that I pump out all the different videos
that I have the podcasts all the
different things that I do are in an
effort to try to make the world a better
place to lift and what I really mean by
that because I want to try to lower the
barrier of entry into exercise things
don't have to be so hard they they will
be hard at some point they will get more
difficult if you want to bench 400
pounds yes shit's gonna get to be really
hard if you want to be 5% body fat
you're not naturally gifted to be 5%
body fat things are gonna get a little
dicey things are gonna get to be really
really tough but in the beginning just
to make some just to have some small
changes some small changes will lead to
big-time progress over a period of time
and I'd like to kind of lower that
barrier of entry into training and I
feel the exercise my gym my gym is free
a lot of the seminars that I do is free
a lot of seminars I do are free but the
reason that it's free is because I want
to try to trick everybody that's lure
people in let's give them a good time
and let's trick them and then while we
have them there it's grab ahold of and
tie them up
make them keep training there as much as
we can I have a hypothesis about you
about your gym and it goes like this
you talk about heart and determination I
think that's the real juice and I think
what makes lifting so powerful and so
transformative certainly was for me was
that it is hard and the only way to
really make progress is to lean into the
resistance that you're talking about to
push yourself to show yourself that
you're capable of more to get beyond the
how little can I get away with and get
into how much can I bear and how much
weight can I get under and to see
yourself begin to develop and change and
when you realize that through focus and
determination you're able to make a
radical change in your body and then you
tap into whatever the [ __ ] hardwiring
is about human beings the the intrinsic
desire that we have to be strong and to
look good is so [ __ ] powerful and
then to do it under your own free will
when it was difficult and you push
through there really isn't anything more
transformative that I could prescribe to
somebody if somebody is feeling badly
about themselves the first [ __ ] thing
they should do go work out it isn't fun
but Jesus the the I can't think of
anything literally nothing that will
have the kind of impact on your
self-esteem than getting your body right
and it's it's this twofold thing that
ties into heart and determination and
I'm obsessed with you because of [ __ ]
your elbow what what is [ __ ] your elbow
what was that whole thing like and why
is it so rad you know I I think in this
world the greatest respect that you ever
gonna earn comes from yourself it's
called self-respect I think that is the
most important thing I think that's
really what we're all after everybody
wants to be substantial everybody wants
to be recognized everybody wants to be
noticed I mean it's part of the reason
why social media is so popular
everyone's you know got these big lights
on their head saying recognize me
basically they people want to be
recognized and you know from having
employees when you do rec
nice somebody especially when there's a
whole group around that means more to
them than you sitting down with them
saying hey man you know you're doing so
well we're gonna give you a raise like
yeah the RIT they're pumped about the
raise of course but it doesn't last as
long as that time that you complimented
and said you know what
you've been [ __ ] kicking ass for me
and you're doing a great job and we all
appreciate you that's like way different
right it's like a launches you into a
whole different level so the [ __ ] your
elbow thing came from somebody was they
made a comment on my youtube channel and
they said you teach people to ignore
pain and you teach people to push beyond
their limits and I think it's
irresponsible and you're you're trying
to say that the central nervous system
doesn't get fatigued and that it doesn't
matter and you know he's saying all this
kind of stuff like this and so I I said
you know what I was like [ __ ] this guy
so I shoot this video and I say you know
you're using the central nervous system
as an excuse not to exercise hard you're
using it as an excuse not to get after
it and I said people need to get after
it they need this is this [ __ ] is
supposed to be hard this stuff is
supposed to hurt and there's no way to
really cushion it it's going to be
painful and let's not try to make a
bunch of roadblocks and excuses on why
we're not getting into the gym because
we can think of millions of excuses on
why we're not going we don't need any
help from the outside world so I in this
video I say I'm talking about my own
elbow pain I'm like you know I'm talking
about the training through elbow pain
and and I'm still gonna push and I'm
still gonna aim towards benching 600
pounds and I don't care you know how bad
my elbow is and I said you know what
[ __ ] you and [ __ ] your elbow and so
that's something that has resonated with
a lot of fans that get excited me they
want me to write it on stuff when I sign
things and they want me to say it you
know and videos and different things
like that but it's really just just a
message of you know don't worry about
the horse being blind just load the
wagon me just go like don't you don't
read instructions you just go for it
just yeah I I have sort of the business
equivalent of that I think that what I
talked about creating momentum go
after everyday like everything has to be
done this day working long hard and
smart which is the feedback that I get
the most pushback on which to me is is
startling it's one of those they've been
a few times where I've given advice it's
like so bulletproof there's nothing to
go after and those ends up being the
ones that like really [ __ ] set people
off and I'm like it doesn't make sense
but there is there there is an air of
irresponsible Nassif that's a word to
telling people to train through pain
there is but at the same time I would
much rather be in a position where I
went so hard in my life
over something I cared about by the way
this isn't just like to chase money or
do something stupid it's like something
you really [ __ ] believe in that fills
you up that gives you energy that makes
you feel alive that you're serving not
only yourself but other people like that
[ __ ] like there's something innate to
the human condition that will reward you
mentally in a way even if there are
times where you're like I have to tap
out for a minute I've got to sit down
I've pushed too hard I've gone too far
but I would so much rather be in the
position of like yeah I went too far
then a place where I lived for so many
[ __ ] years I can speak with
experience then being in a place where
you know you're not doing enough and
there's this voice in your head
screaming that you're capable of doing
more and that is that is a ring of hell
unto itself whereas going too hard and
and hitting a roadblock and having to
slow down because you did push too hard
that's not a ring of hell it's pain it's
suffering there's no question it's not a
ring of Hell whereas the other under
valuing yourself not demanding enough of
yourself not holding yourself to a high
enough standard the the nervous
aggression that that gives you which is
why this guy was commenting on your
thing because if you're right he has to
reflect on himself about living a life
less than he could that's the [ __ ]
ring of hell and so what I would say to
I can on the topic of pain though is
that we're all gonna be in pain we're
all gonna die we're all gonna end up in
a hospital bed or in a wheelchair or
like we're all gonna end up being in
more pain than you are today
it's it's inevitable yeah there's more
joy that's coming our way but there's
also a lot more pain so pain is like who
cares like it's gonna be part of what
you do it's part of it's part of
exercising it's part of growth like I
don't think you can even figure out ways
of growing without going through some
sort of pain you know though there's a
lot of people who say like on the other
side of pain there's promise I believe
in that I think that's very true
speaking of pain that has promise talked
to me about the death of your brother
seemed to have a pretty big impact on
you what happened and then how did that
change you you know there was just a you
know pivot points that you have in your
life and that certainly was was one of
them
my oldest brother Mike he had drug
addiction problems from the time he was
some time he was very young he was
always attracted to danger he was always
attracted to you know doing things that
work on it that were extreme and so you
know we I kind of always knew that day
would come that there would be you know
either call that he's in jail again or a
call that he was you know gonna be dead
my dad called me up one day and you know
his voice was trembling and stuff and he
says your brother's dead and like I'll
never forget you know hearing my mom in
the background screaming it's not true
it's not true that was really a crazy
thing for me because it's not like me
and my brothers are very very close all
three of us were always very close my
oldest brother was like if someone
picked on me or so I mean that wasn't
gonna happen you know it was hard hard
for me to get picked on even with the
guy who punted my football in the woods
my brother straighten that guy out my
brother was always like the equalizer
you know and he was kind of like known
and in the town you know as funny as
that might sound but he was known as
like the town badass he was our
childhood you know Idol that's who we
looked up to some people had Bo Jackson
and Michael Jordan and we had Mad Dog
Mike Bell that we were looking up to
yeah that's uh that's pretty rough I I
hear you mention him a lot in interviews
about just sort of you say it almost in
passing but like that it is this anchor
point for you that my brother tried a
life
that I could see just didn't work out
and so it's informed how you live what
would you say is that it's obviously not
just don't do drugs like what is the
thing that you see that he sort of
tested and it failed is it a hedonistic
life like what what is it and what did
you take away specifically so you know
when he died you know like I said it's
really hard to try to figure out how to
make any sense of it and I was like you
know not you know what do i what do I do
sort of thing and how do I handle this
and how do I be strong for my family and
you know what are some things I can do
to try to take you know such a horrible
thing how do I make this a little bit
more positive you know and when I went
to my brother's funeral I ended up
getting my answer because as complicated
as my brother was and as hard as he was
to deal with everyone [ __ ] loved him
they absolutely loved him you know you
and I met and I was up there kind of in
your waiting room I shook your hand and
it's like I'm pretty quiet I'm pretty
reserved right it's probably pretty
normal but every once in a while you
probably run into someone who's like
super loud they're hyped up you know Tom
what's up and they give you a big bear
hug my brother was like that you know he
was like he was over-the-top so you
weren't gonna ever forget who he was and
so I tried to take at least some of that
aspect you know of him I don't have the
same outward personality but like he
wouldn't let anybody run him over he
wouldn't let anybody do him wrong he was
really big on like protecting himself
and protecting the things that he
believed in so I'm like maybe I can just
take little chunks of some of those
things some of those good really good
qualities he had and maybe I can carry
those things out in my life maybe I can
carry those things out in my business
and when he died it wasn't too long
after that that I created the slingshot
and that that was for my big brother my
big brother you know he's somebody that
in the movie bigger stronger faster he
says that he has something inside him
that he wants to share with the world
and he's like didn't know what it was
well I feel like my brother Chris and I
are still here to be able to deliver
that message and be able to help you
know deliver his message which which was
he loved to lift weights he loved he
loves strength training he loved getting
after in the
and that's what we're here to do we're
here to make sure that his dream does
come true and that we do make the world
a better place to lift I like it if
people are gonna make one change that
would have the biggest impact on their
health what change would you have them
make start picking around a way to move
start figuring out a way to move if it's
if it looks like walking to you that
would be a great start if you're already
walking you're already moving around a
little bit then try to pick away at one
thing with your diet don't really worry
about a ketogenic diet don't really
prick your fingers and worry about
ketones and all these different things
don't make things too complicated maybe
just say I want to do a little bit
better than I did yesterday so maybe
I'll just try to eat less carbs or maybe
I'll try to eat less sugar but I'd say
walking is number one and if there's any
sort of diet recommendation I can give
you this just to really try to cut back
on carbohydrates because not that carbs
are bad but just we have a tendency to
overeat on them mmm
I hear that where can people find you
you can find me at Marks milli Bell on
Instagram I've a YouTube channel which
is Mark Bell slingshot you want to check
out the slingshot it's a supportive
upper-body device for benchpress
push-ups and dips we make nice leaves we
make something called a hip circle it's
been ripped off by everybody in the
fitness community we make wrist wraps we
make clothing we got all kinds of stuff
over at Mark Bell slingshot calm nice I
like it
mark thank you thank you so much man
this is a lot of fun guys if you haven't
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