Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
Discussions on improving your BJJ, navigating mat-politics and all aspects of the jiu jitsu lifestyle. Multiple weekly episodes for grapplers of any level. Hosted by JT and Joey - Australian jiu jitsu black belts, strength coaches, and creators of Bulletproof For BJJ App. Based out of Sydney, Australia
Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
Steroids vs Natural -- Which Will JT Choose?
Can becoming Australia's strongest man be done without performance enhancing drugs? This is the question we go over today. Will JT be hopping on steroids, or will he continue his natural journey? Find out all in this episode.
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If you've been following the story of JT and myself, you would know that for some time now a considerable amount of time I've been urging JT to start using performance enhancing drugs and just take this strongman shit to the absolute limit. However, jt refuses, and so every now and again, at sort of regular intervals, I try and crack through the wall a bit and see a little bit if I can just have that influence to just one little taste, just the tip, just to see how it feels. In today's episode I'm picking up on a through line. Jt wasn't training much jujitsu. Towards the end of last year he made the claim he was going to start and I asked him where that's at. And JT is going to reveal which competition he's got, coming up only a few months after his impending wedding. Could this be the crack that we've been waiting to see, where JT finally tastes the nectar of the gods, or does JT's defense remain solid and remain Natty King status? There's only one way to find out let's get into the episode. Hey, do us a favor. You watch our show. This could be the first time. This could be the 300th time. Do us a solid Like, subscribe, give us a five-star review. Really helps Appreciate Better. Listen very carefully. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Essentially, at this point the fight is over. So you pretty much flow with the goal. Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? I'm ready. So what's up, bro? You still on that fucking pre-season grind, or what? The hustle never stops, joe, once you've got the grind set, it's fucking all over. Okay, okay, andy Elliott, the jiu-jitsu hustle. I just did 150 push-ups. The push-ups and the air squats you did didn't count. Yeah, the sales calls the tight shorts, not enough. Okay, you said we did that episode.
Speaker 1:I did say I wanted to do more jiu-jitsu. I'm back on the mats, fam, I've been missing it. I am, I am getting back to jiu-jitsu and this is the common problem I face is me wanting to commit 100% to everything, like not being able to choose. So I did say, right, this is the year I'm going to do more jujitsu. And I had been um reaching out to different folks like, oh, could I drop by your gym? Like you know, like, just like asking if you could train, as opposed to actually training. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just. I'm just.
Speaker 1:You know, I was feeling a bit political right now and I just got to fucking cut through the. What are you talking about? Political no, I it's one of those things that there's a couple of gyms I've been meaning to train at and I haven't, just because I'm like, oh, I don't want to just show up and and then be like, hang on, you need to fucking message me. But but generally everybody, no one's. I've never really had anyone say to me no, you can't come train people like, yeah, come at this time or do that or whatever, right, uh, but I just uh have agreed to do my first strongman comp, which is in june. Oh, wow, and it's uh, it's a qualifier for the state comp, which is also a qualifier for the national comp. And then, if you do that, you get to go the official strongman games, which I am.
Speaker 1:I have no real hope of doing real like I, of going to osg, because everyone there is on steroids. What's osg official strongman games? Okay? So sorry for those of us that don't know, no, it's not the world's strongest man, because you have to be a super heavyweight to do that. You've got to be sore or you've got to be. You know, you've got to be the biggest baddest motherfuckers in the world at, at least with OSG, you can be under 80 or under 90. They have weight categories. They have weight categories and I would compete under 90 kilos Right on. So I have committed to that, which may mean there's less time for jiu-jitsu. Fuck. Five times a week you make your choices. When's the comp? June, june, june. I've got time. I've got time to be good enough to do well.
Speaker 1:And you reckon you need to juice to go beyond that comp. No, I reckon you've got to juice to go to OSG, which is what? The pinnacle of that pathway? Yeah, it's like the ADCC of strongman. So you reckon you can get through. I think I could get to the national level, yeah, right, but I would say the top three are all geared to the Knights. I mean, you think about Jiu-Jitsu, right? Have you changed your thoughts on this? No, I haven't. I want to see how far I can go, natty, and I know that in a sport which doesn't have drug testing that sounds stupid, but it's like I don't know what my potential is. But didn't you already kind of do that last, when you were on your last? You like hit a point where you're like, oh, I can't go further here with that juice. No, no, I just.
Speaker 1:I had a disagreement with a high level person who shut me down and said, bro, you're a fucking idiot, what are you doing? And I was like, bro, anyway, it alienated me from wanting it because they have quite authoritative. But now I'm like, well, no, I don't, I'm fucking stronger than you can. Yeah, you're like fuck, you are Okay, it's true, you win. It's true, there are people stronger than me. Fuck, no, it's one of those things that you know.
Speaker 1:We've talked about this before, about choosing, choosing what you do, right, and I do love jujitsu. But I had thought, oh, could I compete? Because, fuck, you know, like. I heard this chat where this guy's like don't talk to me about competition if you don't compete. And I was like go fuck yourself, cunt, we should just roll, I'll still kill you. This guy's also another guy who advocates for not lifting weights because he's like no, you should just do jiu-jitsu Straight away, you're a fuckhead, I'll crush you because I do weights, don't worry about the jiu-jitsu element. But it made me think. You know what that process of competing is, something I enjoy.
Speaker 1:But actually it's way more labor-intensive to compete in jiu-jitsu than to compete in say strongman, yeah, Like you've only got to go to the gym four times a week for 90 minutes to be a strength athlete, yeah, and you don't have to strategize game plan. No, you just got to show up and do your exercise. You sort of as best you can. There is a degree of strategy. With strong men it's slightly more complicated because they'll do events that maybe there might be a surprise event, and then you got to do some shit you never did before and you can't. You're like, fuck, I don't know, guess we'll find out. Fuck, fuck.
Speaker 1:It's a pizza-eating competition right in the middle between squat and deadlift. Oh, I am fucking winning that. I am winning that, but Strongman does but the pizza's covered in magnesium. Oh, I lose. I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do the burpees.
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Speaker 1:One of the things about this time of information abundance that we live in podcasts, social media, et cetera is that we've just got access to so much information, and it's excellent. We're big supporters of that. We put out information regularly, but one of the downsides of this is that it can make things really confusing about which information is correct or is right for you, and so JT and I see ourselves as aggregators of information when it comes to strength and flexibility and building a durable body for jujitsu, and this is why we designed our app. It's to help people like you cut through the bullshit and follow simple, easy to use programs that are going to make you as strong as possible and as flexible as possible in the shortest amount of time each week. If you jump onto the app, you can access various programs that are suited to whatever training situation you're in. So if you're a total beginner or if you've got plenty of strength experience, you'll find it suited to you, and if you don't have any equipment or you've got access to a full gym, you will find a program to match your needs. You can take a two-week free trial right away. All you got to do is go to the app store, search Bulletproof for BJJ, download the app and sign up today for your free trial. And the best part about it is JT and I are going to coach you there. And you know what? If you don't love it, we offer a 100% money back guarantee. Send us an email, say I don't like the app and we'll flick your money back.
Speaker 1:So jump on the App Store, get the app, let's train, let's get strong for BJJ. So then? So strongman comp next month. So what you're saying is in june, but I am preparing now. So then, what you're saying is the pre-season is coming to an end? No, I'm still doing. I'm still trying to get to jets at least twice a week, which is about as much as you're doing, joseph. It's more than me, pre-season or no, it's more than me. All right, well, fucking, I just didn't declare anything publicly so I can do whatever the fuck I want. I'm a private citizen. I have no public accountability. This is my preseason, y'all. It starts now. I miss jiu-jitsu. I'm coming back, yeah, and the thing is I, oh, fuck, no, I think it's one of those things that it's like you forget I love JD. Well, joe's like, can we do an episode where I just fucking get you irate? Let's just call it back and enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Couchside accountability. Let's talk about your accountability, joe. What are you doing this year? Oh, nothing. What am I doing this year? Surprise, I did something that I didn't talk about. Now you're all surprised. I'm doing a bunch of things.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, how's guitar going? Yeah, good you getting that practice in? Yeah, I had to drop. I've been, I actually have. I've had a few days over the last couple of weeks where I just haven't practiced and I really regret it. So I'm like five minutes a day, which when I do five minutes it usually becomes 20. Good, but even five is just enough to practice um, jingle bells or some shit, just enough to break the calcifications off your knuckles. Yeah, I can't imagine. It's the idea. And, don't get me wrong, I think it's great because I haven't signed up for a flamenco competition. Though this is the difference between you and I was like you know, I'm just fucking. I'm a super beginner, I'm just playing the guitar, whereas jd's like I'm to fucking win this world championship next month. Mark my words.
Speaker 1:I have been lifting weights the majority. I've been lifting weights longer than I haven't been lifting weights. I've been lifting weights since I was 11 years old. I'm 41. I'm one of the strongest cunts ever. I'm going to be the strongest cunt ever within brackets. So it's not like oh, I picked up the guitar, I'm going in a flamenco competition. Get fucked, cunt. You're not even a white belt. Step the fuck off.
Speaker 1:I have held myself back through training martial arts. This is the thing. I've realized that the reason why I have not been a full-time strength athlete is because I love martial arts. You can't do it all, bro. Yeah, that's right, you can't do it all. So which one you want to be most right now?
Speaker 1:If I was like gun to your head, you got to choose strength or jujitsu. Oh, strengths, because it's. It sounds crazy. You get less injuries. Yeah, it's got that's. I mean, it's more control. This is wild, because power lifters and strong men are always injured, but they are less injured than jujitsu folks, which is fucking insane.
Speaker 1:But I push back on that as a, as a reason for choosing that, because, like, oh, you get less here, I don't. Is that the? Is that the? Yeah, it's function. But is it not like enjoyment, or like the like where the conquest is? For you, there is no enjoyment in injury, joe, if I can't fucking get up and move around, no.
Speaker 1:But if avoiding injury is your number one priority, then, like, play lawn balls. No, it's not about avoiding injury Like you're doing. They're both extreme activities, they're intense activities. I wouldn't say it's extreme. One is considered extreme because you can take it there. But there's plenty of people, recreationally, who pick up weights and they're fine. No, but you don't do it at that level. No, I do not. This is true. So I think. So, yeah, I'm like, well, avoiding injury, or is it more like? Is that just more like the fire in you? The chance of injury is lower and it's lower maintenance.
Speaker 1:No-transcript. Yeah, can I do it twice a week if I push it, but that's not my life right now. So you're gonna keep the two for a while. You're gonna take a little break to? No? No, no, it's just that I might have to do five days a week, like at the moment I'm doing four for lifting. I might. It might there might have to be a fifth event, day of like carrying and stones and other shit. So so that's the commitment question. I think it's like anything you get yourself into it, you're like, fuck, I don't know if I want to commit to this, and then the commitments grow. You're like I definitely don't want to, and then you've got to make a plan B. So, yeah, I feel confident that I can get better at this thing and I'm going to try for the next five months to push it as hard as I can.
Speaker 1:I love jujitsu, but there are downsides, cramps, getting mad, dehydrated and sleepless nights, and for me they all go together. I am a sweaty guy, but there is a solution Now. I've messed around with lots of different things Gatorade, hydrolyte, all these things that didn't quite do the job, but I'll tell you what gets the job done. Sodi Sodi is the sponsor of today's episode. Sodicomau have got you covered Delicious hydration salts, potassium, sodium, magnesium everything you need so you don't suffer muscle cramps. You are going to feel energetic on the mats and you're not going to have that dried out, husk feeling when you go to bed. You're going to feel nice, calm and replenished. When you go to sodycomau, use the code bulletproof15, you get 15% off and you're going to feel better. Well, when you win this comp and you're ready to become enhanced, that's when I'll step in and mentor you to get to that next level.
Speaker 1:Thank you, joe. You got to tell me it's all about mindset, jt Mindset, strength of mind, strength of body and supplements. That's right and the right. Bang this in your butt cheek. No, I think that's and there's a misconception. Right, like because I mean, I've had this discussion with people before the enhancement in steroids allows people to work harder, like it's not that it's a solution in terms of, oh shit's easy now. It's like. Well, no, now you can train twice a day, every fucking day. Well, that's fucking brutal. Like, get that in your head, you know.
Speaker 1:I think what people probably don't really appreciate about it is that those people who are taking steroids are working really fucking hard. It's not the hard work goes away, it doesn't gift you the results, no, it's just it's given you greater capacity. Yeah, so if you're the kind of person who's inclined to use it, then you can fucking do it which is full on. But you're the kind of person who's inclined to use it, then you can fucking do it which is full-on. But as you know, joe, as I know of you, um, people who you previously looked up to, who are now abusing said performance enhancing drugs. You appear to have lost respect for them, joe, yeah, it's not that I lose respect for juices. I got no like, I got no problem. It's how you it's.
Speaker 1:But if you're someone who hasn't and advocated against, well, yeah, if you're, if you are influencing the world and you have one message, but then you are also taking performance enhancing sounds in order to have a particular look and level of performance, yeah, I think that's really misleading and, from a values point of view, I'm like, yeah, hypocritical. But if you're like josh saunders. Oh, if you're like, I want to be the best grappler in the world. Yeah, I take steroids and I fucking train really hard. And you know, I'm not saying I, I absolutely adore josh. I don't know him, yes, but I really respect that. I'm like, you're super open about it. Good for you. The honesty, yeah, you know. So. It's just, it's how people go about sharing such things. Um, I mean, fucking, more and more people are doing it right, so it's like it seems like it's more of a norm now than it's ever been. It's actually just popular. I think the internet and Instagrams popularize it, but what I would like to do is popularize being natty. That's what I'd like to do and that's why I just I don't want to go down that path.
Speaker 1:Also, I'm a broke ass motherfucker. I have got no money. This is true when I was 14, as it was true when I was 25. I have no budget for steroids. We'll start a GoFundMe through Bulletproof For Merrick Health Guys. All you got to do is chip in a few bucks each to get JT on the gear and let's just see how far he can push this thing. No, no, no, no, no, no stress bro. We got you. I'll be using that money for creatine and steak and then, yes, I might get bigger and stronger. There it is stay tuned for the next Couchside Accountability, couchside Accountability nonsense.
