This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2014.
Former American gladiator Steve Henneberry on the three C's that lead to success.
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What are the ingredients for real success in business and life?
On today's episode, you'll find out how former Mr America, Steve Henneberry, got to American Gladiators and a life of success in weightlifting, fitness as well as business, through discipline, commitment and consistency.
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Hello, Steve.
Welcome to All Ears English.
I'm so excited to have you here.
How are you today?
I'm wonderful.
Thanks for having me, Lindsay.
This is fantastic.
So for our listeners, I want to take a minute to introduce today's guest.
Very exciting.
Guys, today on the show, I have Former American gladiator Steve Henneberry.
So Steve grew up in Wisconsin and became a successful bodybuilder from a young age, winning the Mr America title in 1989.
Shortly after that, he moved to Los Angeles to start a modeling and acting career, landing on the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine and appearing in popular American TV shows like Married with Children and the WB sitcom Muscle.
However, it was his participation on American Gladiators as Tower that made Steve a true American household name.
And guys, one more fun fact here is that Steve also happens to be my father-in-law.
Welcome again, Steve.
How did you like that bio?
Oh, that was awesome, Lindsay.
Thank you so much.
And you made it sound like I was really important.
Well, you are, Steve.
We're excited to have you here.
So you know, one thing that I've always noticed about you Steve, is that Fitness is such a core value for you throughout your entire life.
Why is that?
And when did that start for you?
Like, when did you realize fitness was really, truly important in your life?
Well, I got to say Lindsay, you know, it's a lifestyle, as you know, and because you participate in health and fitness as well.
You know, I discovered fitness, you know, when I was, you know, 15, 16 years old.
And I knew that I wanted that path.
And I can remember buying a muscle and fitness magazine back in 1979.
And the Mr. America was undercover that month, that muscle fitness.
And I looked at that and I says, what would it be like to be Mr. America?
And I just visualized it.
And I said, I'm going to give myself 10 years.
I can be Mr. America.
And I didn't share that goal, Lindsay, with a lot of people.
I really didn't because it was really true right here for me.
I mean, I was that big around.
You know, if I told people I'm going to be this guy on the cover, they would have just laughed at me.
And, you know, as you know, our egos can't handle people laughing at you.
So I really didn't share that with a lot of people.
But I worked very diligently for 10 straight years.
And in 1989, like you said in my bio, you know, I won the Mr. America.
And, you know, so fitness... has always been a core value of my entire life.
And yeah, there's times when I'm not as intense with my training or my diet, but it's always out there.
There's not a day that doesn't go by where I don't do something to help improve my health and wellness.
Yeah, I love that idea that you just said, I'm giving myself 10 years.
And it's probably smart that you didn't necessarily share it with everyone, because you know, growing up in a small town, maybe people would have said oh, you'll never be able to do that.
And then you might have gotten distracted, but you kind of kept it for yourself.
But you knew what you were working towards.
Right, Steve?
Correct.
Correct.
I mean, I had to win certain contests along the way to qualify for the Mr. America.
And then ultimately, I knew I had to be in California.
Yes.
Accomplish that goal.
So you moved to L.A.
Yeah, absolutely.
That was a key piece.
Right.
So this couldn't have been done from anywhere but Los Angeles, I would imagine.
Yeah, it's the mecca, the mecca of the sport.
It really is.
I mean, that's where all the you know, the Arnold's, the Lou Ferrigno's, you know every, every one in the business that was anyone, was in LA.
And what a ride then eventually ending up on American gladiators and becoming really a household name.
You know a lot of some of my friends at my age in their late thirties and forties.
As they've met you, they've said oh my gosh, Steve is tower.
They couldn't believe it.
They know American gladiators.
And I think that some of our listeners may also know, and you do have a a Netflix documentary coming out.
Tell us for a minute, just about that documentary, Steve.
Yeah, thanks for asking, Lindsay.
So I'm part of the Netflix documentary that's called Muscles and Mayhem that's going to be released this coming June 28th.
And it's a six-part docu-series, you know, from the beginning of the American Gladiators to the end and everything in between.
And, you know, it was a lot of fun getting together with the team again.
You know, nine of us originals from the show got together for this documentary.
And I'm so excited because...
Like you said, it's been over 33 years since our show's been on the network.
But when people find out or remember that I'm Tower of American Gladiators, they're like, oh my gosh, can't believe it.
You know, i remember the joust, i remember powerball.
They start quoting events from the show lindsay.
It's just mind-blowing, it's incredible.
I love it.
I'm excited to see that documentary and check this out.
So i want to encourage our listeners.
So june 28th you said right, steve is when that comes out.
Yes okay, looking forward to that.
So steve, let's get into the main, the key point of today's episode, what i want our listeners to come away with today.
You know, charles duhigg, in the power of habits, coined the term keystone habits, and these are habits that really one thing that we do that change our lives for the better, they kind of have a ripple effect into everything else we do.
Right things like making our bed or cooking at home can affect other things, what we buy at the grocery store, for example.
I think exercise really falls into this category of a keystone habit.
So I would love to hear from you today Steve, since exercise and fitness have been such a key part of your life and your success.
I would love to know three ways in your life that you've seen that exercise has translated into life and business success.
Should we go into this now?
Love to, love to.
All right, let's go into it.
What a great topic.
First of all because so many people don't realize how everything kind of correlates in life with habits, you know.
And they just think, oh, he's a workoutaholic or this and that.
But I credit my success, Lindsay, quite frankly, to the three C's.
And I call the three C's commitment, consistency, which will give you ultimately the most amazing career.
Okay.
Okay.
Commitment, consistency and what would be the third C, your career, career.
Okay, got it, got it.
Should we go through each of these C's, the three C's that will start at the top?
Let's start with number one commitment.
Tell us about that and how that kind of translates over into life and business outside of the gym.
Yeah, first of all, for those of you listeners out there that you know are raising families and to have kids, if you don't have the commitment to, to be a great parent, Okay.
You know your kids are going to be.
You know basically they're going to be banshees, you know, so you've got to have commitment.
Same with marriages, our relationships.
If you don't have that ultimate commitment, you know, it's not going to work.
Okay.
If you don't have the commitment to eat healthy, you're never going to change your your your, your lifestyle or your body.
So commitment, I feel, is the key to everything in life, because if you can't commit to something, you're not going to be successful at it.
Quite frankly,
Yeah.
Do you think that human beings have this built in the ability to commit to things, to a schedule at the gym or to other things in life or do we learn it through setting up commitments and holding ourselves to it?
Well, I mean, if I could, you know, get paid for every time that question's been answered.
It's like how do you do it?
Or you know people want that fast quarter.
You know fast fast, fast.
Instant gratification Lindsay, And quite frankly, in anything in life, whether it's a career, raising kids fitness, there is no fast way.
There's no fast ticket.
If you have to, you have to follow the path.
Sometimes the path plateaus off and you got to stay at that path.
So I think when people start seeing results in their fitness is when they go, I can do this.
Okay.
Then they jump to the next level.
Okay, but when people don't see the results when they go to that plateau, that's where they fall off.
Yeah.
So you're saying that for success in life and business, you know, exercise can bring us there.
If we have a committed schedule committing to our exercise or committing to life and like whatever we're setting up or trying for in life, what does that look like literally on the calendar?
You know, what does that, what does that actually look like in action?
Well for, like Terry and I um, you know we got 500 AM cardio, fasted cardio, and that's just.
Alarm goes off at 4 45.
We know we're getting up at five right yes, and we're, you know, back in the house by uh, you know by 5 40, or you know 6 15, the latest, eating our first meal by 6 30.
So again, it's that commitment to our, our morning routine okay, and then, knowing that our afternoon workout, we would like to be in the gym by 5 30 and six o'clock at the latest.
Yes yes, calendar throughout the day doesn't get booked after that.
Now, unless it's a listing appointment or something for business, that's going to be money.
Okay.
We push our workout off later in the evening.
Okay.
But you don't do like social commitments at 9, 10 p.m.
You kind of keep your evening, if you can control it within these parameters, within these guardrails, so that you're fresh in the morning.
Correct, love it.
I mean, we don't.
We don't socialize late in the evening very much only because again, we're up at 5 45 and you know 4 45 in the morning, and then you know you're out to 11, 12 o'clock and you know at night um, that 4 45 alarm is awfully early.
Oh yeah, that's incredible.
Another thing that people fall off they fall off the plateau is the fact that they start feeling tired sluggish, their bodies run down because they're not refueling it, getting the proper amount of sleep.
So everything has to kind of work together Lindsay, to be successful.
Okay, I love it.
So for our listeners guys, you know, your takeaway from this first C is it doesn't have to be a 4 am wake up if that's not right for you, but what you do have to do is make some kind of a commitment to a schedule and then adjust everything accordingly if we really want to achieve these big dreams for life, business or physical fitness.
Steve, what would be the second C?
Tell us that second C here that our listeners can learn from.
The consistency.
Okay.
Tell me about that one.
Well, consistency, anything in life, okay?
Whether, again, I'm going to go back to raising kids or being in a marriage or relationship.
If you're not consistent, good partner or good husband, your partner, you know it's not going to be successful.
You've got Have that consistency, okay?
You just can't take other people, your kids for granted, okay?
I mean, we were in Denver just last week and we're helping out with our grandbabies.
And Gary and I weren't consistent with our little two-year-old Aiden on his schedule and changing up his diapers and his feeding schedule.
I mean, he would have been so off schedule.
It starts at a really young age.
Yes, i mean children learn consistency.
Yeah, i like this, and so how has this so in the gym?
How have you seen this in your physical workout life?
Is it a number of reps you're doing physically in the gym?
What is it?
What is the cons, or the number of times, the fact that you're getting up every morning at 4 am?
Where's the consistency showing up for you at the gym?
I think the first consistency is yes, getting up, getting our bed, our butts out of bed at 4 45 and getting doing the cardio.
Okay.
That's the first part of the day.
And then quite frankly, it's our eating throughout the day, consistent eating.
Interesting.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Well, when we're we're pre-contest prepping or we're prepping for a contest, I mean we're eating every two hours throughout the day.
So we're eating between six and eight times throughout the day.
Okay.
So it's teaching our body.
It's basically, it's training your body to absorb the food.
People think, oh my God, I'd be so heavy, I'd be so overweight if I did that.
But if you think about the number of calories that we're burning throughout the day our cardio, our fasted cardio and then our workouts okay,
So that's the consistency right there in our food.
Then our workouts on top of that are what help you breaking down the muscle tissue and you are refueling it with food, and then you go back into the gym the next day and break it down again.
So it's a cycle, you know, and where again, where people fail at this Lindsay, is that oh, I'm too sore to go in today.
You know, oh, it hurts.
You know, you have to work beyond that threshold.
Now I'm not saying that you know, if you've got sharpshooting pains in your knee or your lower back okay, I don't want you to push through it.
Go get checked out by a doctor.
But muscle soreness is a normal thing, normal daily thing for myself.
You know, training in training for a contest, you just gotta, you just gotta plunge through it.
Yeah, it sounds like.
So what's really coming out for me here for our first two points so far, steve is discipline is all over this.
It is everywhere and this is going to translate really well for our listeners.
Whether you guys work out or not, discipline is a key factor for success like no one has really become successful in any aspect of life without discipline.
Steve, I want to take just a minute to give a shout out to our amazing sponsor lululemon, before we go into step three.
So lululemon is really in touch with our topic today of Fitness.
Steve, you tried the pace breaker shorts and what did you think of those shorts?
You had a chance to take them into the gym, give them a test run.
What do you think of those?
I love them.
I mean, you know, I never, never thought in a million years that I'd be working out in a gym with Lululemon, but I, it's like my wardrobe today.
I love it.
You know, it's my, it's my go-to wardrobe.
And not only did they feel comfortable, they didn't bind up on me.
A lot of shorts because as big as I am, because I'm, I'm six, four, 305 pounds.
Yes.
Yes.
You're a big guy.
A lot of apparel does not fit me well.
Okay.
So, but these, these pace breakers, I mean, in the double XL fit like a, just fit phenomenal.
And they didn't up on me.
And I mean, I even, they're so comfortable.
I even wore them home on the plane when I was flying because they're just so comfortable.
They got pockets to be able to accommodate in my phone, my wallet, everything.
That is so good to know.
I know that together as a family, we've visited Lululemon stores all over the world, right?
In Germany.
It's like a running joke.
We're in Germany, we love it, we love the brand.
So guys, i you know you guys have heard about lululemon on this show a few times so far, but now would be a great time to go check out these pace breaker shorts or the hottie hot shorts, or the wonder train shorts for women.
Go to lululemoncom, that's l u l u l e m o n dot com.
So steve, let's get right into our third c.
I'm excited for this one because i feel like it's all going to come together now.
What would be the third c?
Well, I think the third C is the thing that everyone, especially younger generation, are seeking towards, and that's our career.
Yes.
Tell me about that.
So how does this kind of discipline translate into more career success?
Well, the biggest thing in life is we all.
You know, you think you know what you want to do and you're doing it and you're not happy.
You know, I'm doing what I just, my entire life, I never had a regimen or game plan.
I kind of winged it.
And maybe it worked for me, which it did work for me.
Maybe it doesn't work for other people.
So I just kind of through my commitment, my consistency.
It's allowed me to live the most amazing life and have an amazing career.
I remember growing up, my father back in Wisconsin told me why are you wasting your time in the gym?
He goes, you'll never make a dime with your body.
Boy, he was wrong.
Well, and that's, I think that was the driving force, Lindsay, quite frankly, to keep me motivated.
I was not going to fail.
You know I was.
There was no way in heck that I was going to come back with my tail between my legs and say dad, you were right.
Now I respect my dad for his opinions, 110%, but that one thing he was wrong on.
And sometimes we can be very motivated when someone says we can't do it.
That can also almost be more motivating than someone saying we can because we want to prove them wrong.
We want to prove to ourselves, yes, we're worth it.
Right.
I love it.
And so when you have a life of discipline like this, you can be a little spontaneous and you can leave life up to chance.
What are you doing now in your career?
What has this turned into in terms of a career, Steve?
Well I've I've um, you know, kind of gave up the entertainment industry field just because I was, I was done with it.
You know, it's like in this type of life, you're able to choose what you want to do.
And I've got the most amazing career now in selling real estate in Los Angeles.
And you know, the real estate market, as you know, across the country is super hot and I've been doing it now for six years.
I've been in the real estate industry for over 20, but selling now for about six years and I'm just absolutely loving it.
And so cool that you have a chance to interact with some well-known people out in LA and you have a chance to really be out there in the world helping them find their homes, their dream homes.
It sounds like a very rewarding career.
That again, maybe you could have only gotten to that through the incredible discipline and commitment that started your career in terms of bodybuilding and fitness.
Yeah.
Correct.
Correct.
You know, and quite frankly you know my, my whole real estate business has been kind of built around what I've done in my past.
You know it's like My listing presentation is built around my 30 years in the entertainment industry.
My booklet, it's a picture booklet that has all kinds of pictures on it.
When I walk in with it, people look at that.
They look at me and they go, I know we knew you from somewhere.
Oh my gosh.
So now they've already welcomed me in their house watching on TV.
Now they feel even more comfortable with me sitting there across on a table trying to sell the largest asset that they have.
Right, it must be a little weird.
They must have to pinch themselves like they've seen this person on tv and now you're in their home right talking real estate with them.
I just have to ask, as we close out today steve for our listeners, because i think they all watch hollywood, they watch tv.
What is it like to be on tv?
Well, you know, i don't look at myself any different, lindsay.
I mean, i'm still a good old boy from wisconsin.
That uh, you know.
That uh, you know i was.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to be on TV.
It just so happened I got paid to be on TV, just like someone's paid to put shingles on a roof.
And it just so happens that I've had that opportunity and it was great.
And I just had the most amazing opportunities because of that in life.
Yeah, yeah.
So one thing kind of leads into the other, but again, it all starts with the discipline.
And that's what I want our listeners, you guys, to take away from this today is, Any goal of becoming a CEO of a company or becoming fluent in a language like English or another one starts with this humble commitment. that steve made back in wisconsin from the early days that took him to la that took him on tv to gladiators to mr america and eventually to a really thriving career in real estate and just being satisfied in life so that's what i want our listeners to take away steve can you let our listeners know where they can find you online maybe instagram or an account that you have that we get on social yeah absolutely it's real simple you can find me at big h homes that's b-i-g H-H-O-M-E-S.
You can DM me on there.
If you have any questions about workout diet, feel free just to private message me.
Oh, very cool.
Thank you for coming on the show today.
Super inspiring and really cool to see a glimpse into your journey along the way, Steve.
I really appreciate your time today.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
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