You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson.
For more, visit themodelhealthshow.com.
Welcome to the Model Health Show.
This is fitness and nutrition expert Sean Stevenson, and I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today.
The legendary Jim Rohn said to take care of your body because it's the only place you have to live.
We only get one and it is housing our spirit, it's housing our potential, it's determining our ability to move and to create throughout this incredible world.
Our bodies are very, very special.
It's a special gift.
Now, of course, we can have struggles with our bodies.
Our bodies can act up.
We can have expressions of pain and dis-ease and disorder and dysfunction.
But we have so much potential to craft our bodies, to change our bodies.
Even with that expression of pain, that can be changed.
If our heart is still beating, we have the capacity to get better.
And today's episode is about the intentionality required to build your body.
And we have one of the greatest examples today of what that really looks like and the vast array of the potential expression of our bodies.
Some of the bodies that we might see today in popular media, like Chris Hemsworth, for example.
AKA Thor.
This individual has had a major influence on the way that Chris Hemsworth trains and how he takes care of his body.
This individual has done this through a means that would seem to be impossible.
Now, one of the things that I really strive to do is to bring on a variety of voices and a variety of perspectives within a context of reason, of evidence-based application as well.
And one of the things that is often dismissed is the potential to build glorious and sustainable muscle on a plant-based diet.
We've had incredible athletes and professors and bodybuilders who've taken on an omnivore approach or even a carnivore approach on another extreme.
But what about doing this strictly plant-based?
Is that really possible?
Or a lot of times, one of the arguments is, well, they weren't plant-based very long.
They built that body using steak initially, and now they're using the tofu.
Now they're using the carrots and the broccoli.
All right.
But our special guest has taken on a plant-based lifestyle since the 90s.
Since Jodeci was popping.
All right.
Since H-Town was knocking the boots.
All right, and today to see what he just accomplished, and you're gonna hear about the details.
I'm gonna save them.
You're gonna hear them in the show, what he was able to accomplish on stage as an elite bodybuilder.
It's just extraordinary.
And to set the bar and a little glimpse into what you're going to hear.
This is a true testament to what's possible in the realm of longevity.
It's a true testament.
And so I hope that today's episode inspires you and reminds you of your true power and your capacity.
It's a wonderful story, but it's also filled with incredible nuggets of wisdom that we can take on and apply to our lives.
And so without further ado, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day.
Tory Washington is an IFBB pro bodybuilder, a NASM certified coach and one of the original pioneers of vegan athletic performance.
Raised vegetarian and vegan since the 90s, he has built a championship level physique entirely on a plant-based lifestyle, challenging conventional beliefs about strength and nutrition.
He's a multi-time professional champion and his accolades include first place at the 2025 IFBB Ben Weider Natural Pro, first place in the men's physique at the 2025 IFBB Las Vegas Natural Pro.
And first place at the 2018 Team Universe Men's Physique Championships, earning his IFBB Pro Card.
Today, Torrey is a highly sought-after coach and speaker, inspiring audiences worldwide to pursue peak performance, intentional living and a strength-focused lifestyle.
Let's dive into this conversation with the incredible Torrey Washington.
All right, the one and only Tory Washington.
Shoot.
Say less, man.
It's good to be here, man.
Man, it's great to have you.
Brother, it's been a long time coming, man.
I've just been seeing your journey, watching you, and just learning, like, man, this guy is...
He's up to something.
I'm so honored to be here, man.
This is a great opportunity.
And thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, I feel the same.
I feel the same.
We'll talk a little bit about our origin story shortly, but I want to start by sharing first and foremost.
Can you share with everybody what does bodybuilding mean to you?
You know, when it comes to bodybuilding, it's almost how it came into my life.
You know, I was raised in Alabama for like nine years and my mother was Seventh-day Adventist.
And so...
We were raised in sort of a very poor state of being, but not that we knew that, because you know, we're young, we're kids.
We're just enjoying the social aspect of being around different people who we knew within our church, and what have you?
Then my mom got into a situation financially where you know she couldn't manage two kids by herself because she needed to get herself right.
So her grandparents requested us to come to them in Jamaica.
So we moved to Jamaica.
And upon going to Jamaica.
This is where bodybuilding comes in, because I get there not recognizing that I'm different.
You don't know that until you get around kids who see you different and they start to pick on you.
They'll tell you.
And so...
We looked different.
We sounded different.
And because, you know, Alabama, you got an accent.
And I didn't know because I couldn't tell I had a country or southern accent.
In Jamaica, that was very evident.
And I was lighter skinned, you know, because not in the sun as much as they are in Jamaica.
And so.
I didn't know how to express this thing that was happening to me.
Cause I had never experienced someone always picking on me.
And so I started really getting into cartoons and comics.
And we started with me and my brother started watching like Superman and Wolverine.
And I wanted to be them because no one mess with them, you know what I mean?
And so I was like, huh.
So I started that and Arnold Schwarzenegger came in.
I started watching his movies and I understand his story.
And I started doing.
I don't even know why.
I started doing push-ups and crunches and sit-ups in Jamaica around 9 10 years old.
And my grandfather was an electrician.
He had this weight which you used to solder.
Like, it was an iron block.
He would solder things on it.
And I just started curling it.
And...
Then eventually we moved back to the States because my mother was prepared to have us come back.
Of course, my grandparents didn't want us to leave, because they wanted us to just continue our life there, go to school, continue going to school and just be in Jamaica.
But of course, we missed our mom.
So we went back to the States and we moved to South Florida.
So I went from Alabama to Jamaica to South Florida.
Once I got to South Florida, we started school.
I asked still into the Arnold Schwarzenegger aspect.
I asked my mom to purchase something and we got a bench and one dumbbell.
That's all she could afford at the time.
And so I started reading magazines, because back then it was all magazines.
So I'm reading magazine on how to work out.
Because I wanted to look like these characters and look like how Arnold Schwarzenegger looked in his days of bodybuilding.
And I saw that bodybuilding got him to a position of where he became this actor.
And I was looking at it as, okay, how do I become a superhero so nobody picks on me?
How do I become strong?
When I moved to Florida, I started getting picked on again, because now I sound like a Jamaican.
And they were like, oh, you come off the banana boat, you know, well, you know, dah, dah, dah, dah.
And I said, damn, all right, you can't win for lose.
So I started working out, reading magazines, and I eventually wanted to compete.
Middle school, high school, and I started going to Gold's Gym in South Florida, in Fort Lauderdale.
And I remember seeing some of the big time bodybuilders come through there because they were in the magazines.
But Gold's Gym was a Mecca, like it is out here in the Venice, but it was a Mecca in South Florida as well.
And so all the top bodybuilders would come down, you would see them in and out.
And it just really translated to bodybuilding, became my way of expressing my inner emotions of anger and putting it into a place to where I can turn it into a physique that I could appreciate, because I want it to look like those guys.
But I didn't want to do any of the drugs.
I didn't want to do any of the supplements.
Like I didn't know.
I didn't think creatine was natural.
I wanted to be natural.
And I said, no, I'm not going to take those things.
And I just kept working out, kept working out.
And eventually I got this physique that people were afraid of me.
So I pretty much put on and developed that phenomenon that I was wanting to do with, wanting to be that superhero, and nobody wanted to mess with me anymore.
So bodybuilding was my outlet to become that personification of strength that I wanted people to see, physically man already.
So that that was your entry into it.
Yeah, and of course, we'll talk more about this.
It evolved into something much bigger and it evolved into service, right?
Because even that you know it's not sustainable, right?
But channeling that anger and that desire to be intimidating to be strong versus what it could have been.
You know what I'm saying.
Which happens for a lot of people that we might grow up with.
And so you know, this is one of the things that really jumped out about you when I first saw you and how we got connected.
Chris Hemsworth team reached out to me a few years back and you know everybody knows him from Thor.
Yes, they reached out to me about he was launching a new app, a fitness app, and for me to focus on a portion of the app related to like sleep wellness,
And they sent over.
It was like we're already working with you know.
They sent over a couple of people and I saw your name.
I was like, all right, let me check out Tory Washington.
And so I popped over and checked you out.
I'm like, oh my God, this guy's amazing.
And just your temperament.
It wasn't just the fact that you do have this incredible expression of strength and athleticism, but you know your temperament.
Your heart was really shining through and even how you were communicating.
I was like, oh, this is a good dude.
And so one thing led to another, we got connected.
We started chatting back and forth and we've stayed in touch for years now, of course.
And the crazy thing is this past weekend, I was on a date night with my wife.
We went to see Crime 101, Chris Hemsworth new movie.
And I thought about that experience back four or five years ago, whenever it was of almost coming on board to work with Chris Hemsworth and the team.
And I thought about you.
I come out the movie and I see a text from you.
And you're like, hey Sean, I'm here through Monday.
And I'm like, this Monday?
And so I moved the world around to make sure that I got to see you and to hang out and to have you on the show.
But we just been synchronicity after synchronicity after synchronicity.
And so that's how we initially got connected.
And I would love to talk a little bit about that.
I wanna talk about your influence, because you've helped to transform the health and the body of so many people, including again contributing with Chris Hemsworth.
People see him as a big part of his allure is his physique as well.
And so how do you go about that?
How do you go about training somebody to really express that kind of physical literacy?
You know it's interesting when you just when you started with the service part of it.
You know i've always had a service heart.
You know i've always wanted to help people and i just didn't really know to what capacity i could do that.
You know so Because I was that individual that would stop on the side of the road if someone's there to say hey, you need any help.
You know.
And then, as time changed, you couldn't do that anymore, because me, my luck.
The dreads that come out, they're like oh.
He's probably gonna rob me, you know, so that changed.
And so now I'm getting into fitness and cause I started engineering and I get into fitness and I started to be able to do that?
Because people would ask me how can you, can you help me?
And when Chris came around, you know, cause Chris contacted me directly through Instagram.
And I didn't know, because I don't pay attention to the actors and the people.
I may like the character they portray, but I don't necessarily follow them and their lifestyle.
So when he contacted me, I didn't even know who that was.
And I had to look and ask my friend, like, who's Chris Hemsworth?
And they were like, dude, that's Thor.
I was like, oh.
Okay, I know who Thor is.
And so that's when I contacted him and that meshed.
And so...
You know, a lot of times, because I do recognize that I'm unique.
You know, I get it all the time.
People are like, man, you could probably eat dirt and look like that.
And I know that's not true, but that's just how unique I am as an individual.
But I do understand that everybody's unique.
You can look the way you really want to look.
You just have to put in the effort.
And so I'm really on about mindset, because a lot of people I encounter their mindset is not there have the desire but they haven't switched their mind and to really fall in that journey or that path to get there.
And so when I work with people, I almost have to make sure that you're really serious about it and not just committed, but like the book you gave me.
This gentleman talks about ET being convicted.
You have to be convicted in order to really want to Express your physique in the best possible way.
And I recognized that with myself, because one of the things I had wanted to accomplish was being the top vegan bodybuilder in the world.
And I remember saying that.
And I didn't think, I just didn't know.
You know, you say it.
And then when it happens, you're like, I really did it.
I can't believe that that actually occurred.
And so I have to make sure that people are mentally available to be able to want to really truly express their physique in the way they need to.
One of the things that determines your diet more than anything else is your sleep quality at night.
Have you ever noticed that when you're sleep deprived and maybe even a little tired, you tend to want to eat a little bit more, a little bit more snacky?
Well, researchers at Stanford University found that insufficient sleep can reduce your levels of satiety hormones, namely leptin, and increase the levels of your hunger hormones, namely ghrelin, and directly increase your body mass index as a result.
So getting to the heart of our diet choices actually resides in laying down our head at night and getting a good night of sleep.
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So having some screen-free time before bed is going to help us to sleep better at night, But that's not always possible.
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And now back to the show.
Thank you for saying that, bro.
Because again, you're starting with the mindset and also you pointed to, we all have a greater self.
We have a genetic potential, right?
So you're giving, you're shouting out.
Of course, you've got some good genetics, but your body can look very differently based on your choices.
And so knowing about that coming into working with people because, of course, being young and getting into this field, it's just like you just follow these particular steps, but it's really paying attention to the person.
And so again, that's one of the things I saw in you.
And not only top vegan bodybuilder, Like that's, that's an understatement at this point.
You know, you recently took first place, 2025 IFBB, Ben Weider, natural pro in men's physique.
First place.
And I went, I did a little digging. you were going against the people like half of your age.
And this is like, bro, like everybody today there's this conversation about longevity.
And it's oftentimes being driven by people who haven't really achieved that or achieved it to the degree of like what's really possible.
Because you recently turned 50 and you're on stage and going against again people that are half your age and winning.
How is that possible?
I wanna talk about your training strategies, because you did mention to some people that you could eat dirt and look like this.
Okay, it's a little joke, but you know your genetic expression is an advantage, but there is a certain way that you go about things.
And so of course, for years I know it was the whole, how do you get your protein?
How do you get your protein conversation?
But it's so much deeper.
So I wanna talk about training and I wanna talk about nutrition.
Let's start off with the nutrition piece.
So you know, I really didn't start paying attention to nutrition.
I mean I did when I was in high school because I started reading the magazines and I see how these guys eat, you know.
And being vegan because honestly, I didn't know vegan was, you know?
Because raising my environment You don't hear that terminology.
You know, it's more like a white hippie thing.
Like, what the heck is that?
You know, in Seventh-day Adventist world, it was vegetarian.
You know.
So once I really got involved into the lifestyle of being a Rashta, Rasta is where I really started to research.
Okay, if I'm gonna call myself a Rastafarian, I'm not that type of individual that wants to say it and not truly live it.
And so I said, let me say what Rastaman do.
And Rasta is all about Aital, eating from the earth.
And they don't consume, a lot of them don't consume salt.
You know, they're very particular on how they don't use things.
They consider which is of the world Babylon they're called Babylon.
So, and so of the world would be, they don't need dishes and forks.
They will use.
This is like the real Bobadred in the in back in the, you know, in in the island of Jamaica, like really up in the woods and you know they're not really out in an apartment or a condo there off the land.
And they live just from the roots and the food from the earth.
So I was like, well, if I'm gonna say I'm Rasta, I wanna be a real Rasta.
I'm not gonna be this poser, like a actor.
I'm not an actor.
I'm not a poser.
I wanna make sure I'm doing it the way it's supposed to be done.
And so I took on that aspect and made sure that all the food that I consume had no eggs in it, no butter, no milk.
And then eventually people were like, well, you're vegan.
And I was like, what is that?
Because I had never really heard that before.
And So then I thought, okay, vegan is what I eat, but it turned out it was more than that, right?
So when I started to get into the truly the competition side of it because bodybuilding was just I was just lifting.
I was an avid lifter.
I went to school, got an engineering degree.
So the competitive part of it, was not there anymore because I was into engineering.
But I was still paying attention.
I was still a spectator of the sport.
I enjoyed it and talked about it and watched it.
And then one of my colleagues calls me while I was at work and says hey, one of our friends is competing in Atlanta.
And I was living in Alabama.
And I was like, I didn't even know he competes.
So I went there.
And saw him compete, but what struck me was how he looked.
He was so defined and you could see everything.
And I was thinking I looked good until I saw that.
I said I want to take it to that level because i wanted to do it once in my life at least, just to be able to say i did, because i didn't want to end my life saying man, i should have, i wish i did.
I didn't want to be one of those people.
And so when i told them, i said i want to compete.
Like you're vegan, i was like okay, i got this far.
There's something to my nutritional choice.
He was like all right.
So I was always consuming lots of carbs, you know potatoes rice beans tofu, here and there veggies, fruits.
You know, those were my mainstay because in the vegetarian lifestyle, that's how we ate.
And I didn't think anything of it.
I was very active.
I was a sprinter in high school, sprinter in college for a little bit until engineering took over.
And so I could sprint twice a week and be shredded.
And so I did my first competition in 2008.
And the only thing that changed at that time, because I wasn't really into the whole tracking my nutrition.
I was just, I would eat a certain amount of food.
And when I wanted to lose the weight, I would bring my portions down.
And my body would automatically respond.
Seems very logical.
Right?
And so, and I could eat almost the same thing, just less of it.
So I could eat bean chips, like Benitos, things like that.
I could eat, you know, I got into sweet potatoes, but I started eating Japanese sweet potatoes.
And that was, I have a, I love sweets, right?
So I enjoy sweets.
And so I would go Japanese sweet potatoes.
I would go into in Jamaica we eat yellow yum, we eat dumpling, we eat, you know, pumpkin and all those things.
I would eat those rice, brown rice, black rice, white rice, it didn't matter to me, you know.
And then i would just do tofu, because tofu was really the mainstay back then.
There was really there was no seitan, there was nothing, there was no fava bean tofu around, and so my first show with that, following that nutritional way of being, I got third place right.
And I said, okay, let's see if I can do second place on another show.
So I waited a couple months, did another show and I ended up winning that one.
And it's not until you know.
I'm going to fast forward the nutritional aspect, because I did the same thing.
I didn't really.
I just always had high carbs and I just lowered my portions down, but it was very.
My eating was pretty rigid.
I would just eat the same thing all the time.
I would do a lot of salad, a lot of greens, maybe put some hemp seeds on it and some nutritional yeast, because I would never use dressing.
I use, like apple cider vinegar and lemon.
Those are my things.
I would put on my salads right, and then i'll have my japanese sweet potato, i would have my tofu and i would do that almost the entire day and it was nothing to me.
It was easy for me to do that because i i knew the look i wanted to do fast forward to getting into 2017.
I actually hired a coach to help me with the just overall and he was also like I can give you macros, because macros became a popular remember that I don't know if you remember if it fits your.
Macros became a popular saying and I was like what is this about?
But once I learned that I it made a lot of sense to me because then that show that you don't necessarily have to be so rigid.
You can include a lot of variety of foods in order to get the same look, but now you're getting more micronutrients, and the micronutrients as well.
And he was having you have a target now with protein.
Correct.
Okay.
Because I didn't have a target.
I was able to do very well.
And I started looking at it, doing about 50 to 100 grams of protein.
Now I'm up to like 190.
And...
Which I do see a difference, because I was always shredded but I never was really full.
But I had such a great structure, my genetics, I had an elite athlete's look.
So I could get away with just being super lean and getting on stage and they're like man, this guy looks amazing.
And if he could just be a little bigger, that's what I would get all the time.
But they were associated with maybe need to eat some meat.
They didn't understand that.
I just didn't understand the concept of carb loading.
You know, bringing up the carbs in order to fill out the muscle bellies and fill out the muscle cells which, you know, when you do carbs and water, it brings in a little water to make the muscle look more full.
I didn't understand that concept.
So I didn't know that at the time and he did.
So once he introduced me to that, we were able to present an even more phenomenal physique.
And that's why, when I look at those pictures to now, I'm like man.
I am so much bigger now because nutrition changed.
I started to understand the nutrition more.
And so I ended up starting including protein shakes just to make up for the fact that a lot of the proteins within the vegan nutritional space had carbs in it.
And we still kept the carbs high, but I didn't.
We started to do the carb cycling, where we bring the carbs down lower and keep the protein where it needed to be in order to inhibit muscle loss.
Because, being natural, you're going to lose muscle a lot easier than someone who's taking say, Anabar or something like that, which holds onto the muscle as they lose weight.
But I really just started to pay attention to a variety of sources just to make sure I'm getting everything I need.
And to me, it's easy.
And when it comes to nutrition, because I think a lot of times we complicate it because there can be so much misinformation out there, so much noise that causes people to get confused.
And so they're like, well, I'm listening to this person.
I'm listening to this person.
Well, I don't know what I'm doing here.
I don't know what I'm doing here.
And I think it goes down to what works for you and also understanding.
You know your microbiome, your gut, you know how your body is absorbing it.
Your body might not be absorbing what you're putting in, so therefore, you feel deficient because of a certain nutritional way you're eating.
But that might not be the problem, it might be deeper than that.
And now you're changing it up so much because you're looking for a way based on what someone else is saying.
So I've always kept it simple with how I eat and I've never been that one to tell someone hey, this nutrition works for me, it will work for you, you know?
So that's, that's wisdom right there in of itself, and it takes a lot of self-work to be able to have that perception.
Because I know again we mean well coming into it and a lot of practitioners.
They feel like, if this works for me, this is gonna work for you.
And so you being aware again that everybody's different, we all have different needs, and also that, but we need a different times can change.
And you know, one of the most remarkable things for us to all acknowledge truly is like you achieving what you did physically getting in 50 to a hundred grams of protein and literally competing.
You know like that is proof positive that it's possible.
It's not just this one isolated way of looking at this macronutrient protein and fracturing foods, because we evolved eating foods, not macronutrient parts right right, right.
And so there's something remarkable about food itself and being able to fuel your body to achieve what your goals are.
And for you, you were working to be stronger.
You were placing that stimulus on your body.
But the thing is, the results are not gonna be the same necessarily for a lot of other people.
This fit you at that time and it should just open the door in our minds.
Like maybe I don't need as much protein as I think I do to achieve fill in the blank goal.
With that said, when you focused on getting in more protein, you noticed that you got bigger.
And so we do know obviously, that protein is a building block for making that muscle, but it's not the only building block.
And so with that being said, when you were, basically doubling the protein intake.
How did you do that?
Because again, a lot of as you know vegan sources of protein are gonna come along with a lot of carbs.
And so it might kind of crowd out even the desire to eat the amount of protein that you need to get.
So what are some of those protein dense sources that you would go to to hit those macros, to put on the size you wanted to put on and eventually again winning, you know, most recently,
So what were some of those foods?
So when I started out, like I said, I was doing the tofu only.
And then I would add in, you know, texturized vegetable protein, which is called TVP, which is which is also soy protein.
And then eventually, with a lot of hesitation, I ended up doing protein powders, because I also looked at protein powders like creatine as a that's not natural because it was, you know created, it wasn't, you know, brought from the ground, and things like that.
So that's how I looked at it.
But then I had to understand that everything has its place.
And it's a supplement, it's not a necessity.
I think this is what people miss.
They think supplement is synonymous with necessity.
That doesn't necessarily mean that.
You supplement when you, For me, it was more for convenience.
You know, I could be flying somewhere and I'm not able to eat.
So I have this protein shake to kind of help me make sure I can get in the protein that I need.
And so I started supplementing.
And then, of course, companies once they see your supplement, they're like hey, we would love to send you some protein.
So I would just get protein from all types of places.
It just I had it all.
I had all these different types, hemp proteins, soy protein, pea protein.
And that was so it turned out to be.
That was my only other way, not only other way, my way to add in extra protein.
And then once seitan became popular, seitan is just vital wheat gluten.
It is way more protein than it is carbohydrates, but it has zero fat.
And so I started utilizing that.
And then now fast forward to now.
There's another protein source called fava bean protein, which is just protein.
There's no carbs, there's no fats.
So with that, it makes it so much easier now to not actually have to do protein powders.
But I still do them every once in a while. to make sure that I'm getting it if I'm not able to eat.
I would rather prefer eating.
And so with competing, you know, I remember I started competing at about 35.
And at that time, when I was 35, I didn't do any master's classes, which master's classes were 35 and over, because I didn't consider myself a master.
And I remember once I got into my 40s and I decided to do one, people were a lot of the other competitors were like what are you doing, a master's?
You're not, there's no way.
They thought I was like 25, you know, and...
Even I look back at those pictures, I look like 24, 23, at 35.
That's just falsified in that paperwork.
Right.
So I even feel like sometimes, is my birth certificate right?
Because I don't feel it.
I see people that are my age and I'm like, they look it or they look more like it.
And I know it goes down to how I've eaten, take care of myself, my mindset.
And I've started working out at an early age, which we now are seeing as the fountain of youth.
I was getting up there at 35, facing guys 18, 20, 22, beating these guys.
And not only that.
Once they found out that I didn't consume any chicken, beef or fish, they were so intrigued.
They couldn't believe it.
They're like, how do you look like that?
And you don't eat, you don't even eat eggs?
I'm like no, and they would just couldn't fathom how it was possible, because you understand that in the world of bodybuilding it has to be animal flesh.
There's no other way to get the muscle that you need, you know, to get your amino acids.
That's the the misconception out there and i was breaking those myths because i was on stage beating the best of the best, and so When I started doing the Bend Weeder which is, of course, you know, it's all natural, you test it and everything.
And I think a lot of times people automatically assume that if I'm vegan, there's no way I'm looking like that.
I have to be taking something.
There's no way possible.
And because I never really discussed my age.
So they automatically assumed I was just their age.
But being vegan, there's no way I look like that.
And so once I started to discuss my age, I didn't realize Sean, that it was gonna really make a big statement, because I was afraid to discuss my age, you know.
Full transparency, I just felt like it would pigeonhole me.
It would limit me to reach a larger audience because I'm like, oh, this old guy, you know?
And, you know, I made women younger than me.
So when they think I'm older, they're like, oh, he's old.
So I didn't want to talk about it, but I had to embrace it.
And so once I embraced it and made a post about it, I didn't realize it was gonna reach.
It was gonna get that much love and support, because people could not believe that I was that age and that successful in this world.
And so it was like, vegan, okay, that's crazy.
But then when I said, you're 50?
There's no way.
How?
And you said something longevity, because I started doing online coaching and they were like you need to lead with longevity because you are really showing that that is who you are and that is possible.
Anything is possible.
And it's me recognizing that I owe me.
And I owe it to help. other people recognize that they can be anything they want.
I'm here showing you that it's possible.
And so when the win happened because I've been doing this since 2009 and I didn't know how it would, how it would end
Because I remember in 2024 I was like well, I might as well just go to the Masters Olympia for the older guys.
And it didn't open.
That door didn't open.
I applied.
When they first brought it back, no.
People were like, oh, you're a shoe-in.
You're like successful.
You're going to be there.
They didn't accept me.
I won a couple of shows, but they were saying that the caveat was you had to win 40 and over.
The 40 and over guys are still using and they look good.
45 and older.
Now they don't look like me because they're it's tearing their bodies down and I can beat them easy, but you couldn't qualify for the matches winning an over 45 show.
You had to only win 40 and over.
And I would place, but not win.
And so I was like, well, Guess that's it.
And when one door is closed, another is open.
And I was able to take that Ben Weider and kill that show and make it to the biggest one of them all.
So Masters Olympia didn't happen, but I'm going to the even bigger stage, the one that's world, known worldwide and globally.
And it was crazy to, like you said, to beat guys half my age because they all were like, what?
There's no way.
And it just shows dedication, desire, mindset.
And you know, of course, it was all coupled with my mom's passing, giving me that extra strength to say you know what?
Now it's my time to shine.
Since she wasn't able to see me on stage due to her religious beliefs, she can now watch me anytime she wants Yeah.
Yeah.
You're represented, man.
Yeah.
Wow.
That's so powerful.
So powerful on so many levels, you know and I'm grateful somebody tapped in with you to you know really lead with that longevity piece, you know because again, this is something that's very aspirational for a lot of people today.
And you know we want to not.
But here's the thing with the longevity piece it's not just living longer, but it's the quality of life.
And to see what's possible in the example that you're setting.
Like you said, a lot of people to say that they don't look like you is like again, that's an understatement.
We've got people that are struggling And it doesn't have to be like this.
And so being able to just take some of these nuggets of wisdom and to start to apply them, because you've inspired me,
You have no idea.
Even today, when I was training, Thinking about you and talking to you today, it was different.
It was different.
And even you know, just knowing what's possible on the food side, and We opened that door already.
But I wanna take a pivot right now and talk about training, because we need that stimulus as well.
And again, to get these insights from somebody who really knows how to build a body.
So Again, I know you have your personal experience and I don't know what that looks like with the clients that you've worked with over the years, but let's just start with yourself.
What have you found to be the most effective types of workouts?
Is this like a bodybuilding split?
How many days are you training?
What is the mentality while training?
Talk about all that.
You know, when I first started training, I was in.
But I think one thing that really...
I paid attention to was the biomechanics.
I was so into making sure form was proper because a lot of times people just lift and they don't pay attention to how they're lifting and they could be damaging themselves beyond repair and causing arthritic joints and what have you later on in life.
And so I actually didn't, I started out where I didn't really do deadlifts.
I did squats and I did pull-ups, but I didn't do deadlifts because I think it was just.
I had this idea that it was bad for the back.
I think it's also because I just didn't understand it too.
So I didn't start incorporating deadlifts until way later on but I didn't immediately notice density in the back and the overall muscle building that it does.
That it causes, with the boost in the testosterone, the growth that happens as well.
And so my body, I was doing two days, two a days.
I would do two body parts in the morning and two body parts in the evening.
And I enjoyed it because I was just enjoying training.
You know, I've always wanted, I always was very much into Kaizen.
You know, continuous improvement, always improving, always improving, getting better, getting better.
And so now my routine or my regimen when it comes to body, it's really sculpting.
And I'm very much into sculpting people.
I like to work with people who already have an idea of how to lift. they just need that extra tweak.
They need that control because a lot of times people just lift mindless, not mindful.
And I like to be connected to my muscle when I'm training.
And I think a lot of times We talk about, we hear my muscle mind connection but a lot of people really don't understand how to really control that.
And so when I'm working with people, I want them to understand that concept like seriously, because it's so important.
When you connect with that muscle, you can develop it more, because it's just like manifesting your thoughts, you know.
So you can manifest that muscle to grow by connecting with it because it's you, it's part of your body.
And so I train now at a split more of, I do legs about twice a week because I'm in Men's Physique.
Men's Physique is really was in the beginning, it really was nothing about legs.
And so that's what they could wear.
They could get it with the board shorts.
It was more of a beach body look.
And I didn't like it because I started out bodybuilding with the.
They call it the banana hammocks or however you want to call it, some people call it manpanti and so i started out there.
You know, and i love the art form of posing and really presenting your physique in the best light, showing all your strengths, hiding your weaknesses, because it's all an illusion, it's just how you present it.
You know You can have a better physique than me, but if I know how to present mine better, I beat you because I know how to showcase it better than you do.
And that's why it's such an art form that I think people don't recognize.
And a lot of times the guys on stage don't even know it.
They don't even know how.
I'm looking at them like, man, you have such a great physique.
You're just not presenting it well.
And so.
Posing became really a part of it.
And once this men physique came out, it changed up my training to where now you wanted more recovery to train your shoulders more, your chest more, your back more and your abs, because those are the body parts that really create this symmetry that you're looking to have wide shoulders, small waist, and your legs don't need to be too pronounced.
But that's changed now.
They now want legs to have some look to it, to complete it, because I've always had a physique that was balanced.
And so that's how I would win over someone else because I didn't have a standout body part.
I was complete.
Everything was symmetrical and proportionate to one another.
And so That also happened with my training.
I would train very symmetrically.
You know I would do.
Let's say, if I did back, I would do back and shoulders, you know, with some abs, just because I wanted to get at least two to three body parts in a day to allow myself to do it again sometime later on in the week.
Because I know, when it comes to muscle building and growth, two to three times a week to allow it to grow, especially if it's a lagging body part.
And for me, I always looked at my back as being a lagging body part because I wanted it to have more depth, not width.
When I was younger I wanted it to be very wide, so I can.
I used to envision myself jumping off a cliff and just over my lats and gliding.
And that's how I was able to get it wide.
And it's crazy because people used to be like, man, your lats are wide.
But it was all visualization.
I was focusing on it and mentally connecting with wanting to be wide.
So now I focus on wanting it to be thicker, because in men's physique you only turn around to the back and to the front.
You don't do the posing, which I loved in bodybuilding.
And but with IFBB, you know, 99.8% of them are using enhance, enhancements.
So, and I'm not doing that.
So of course their body's gonna grow muscle, but the protein synthesis is gonna be a lot faster.
And so it's gonna take time with me.
Now I train back about two to three times a week and legs two times a week.
I do chest about two times a week, shoulders.
Shoulders get hit almost with everything.
You're doing chest you do back.
You're getting your front delts, you're getting your rear delts.
Medial maybe not so much at all, depending on the movement.
I do shoulders as much as possible.
I train abs about three.
I used to train abs every day.
Now I do it almost every day.
And I do... glutes, which men used to not train glutes because they were like, why?
We can do that with squats.
But now, when it comes to bodybuilding, you're very much focused on isolation, because you want to develop that muscle so that it can really pop on stage.
You know.
So it has and it sometimes evolves, it changes, but it pretty much is very simple basic movements that I stick to.
I don't really go into the fancy training methodologies that are out there because people get bored.
And I think they'll recognize that linear progression is where it's at.
But they want to do all these crazy things just to stimulate themselves, because they don't have the pure love for just the growth of it.
Because if you're not training with the intensity... you're not going to really get the results.
And I've seen people train where, once they work out with me, they're like man, I don't do this on my own.
And I think it's because they may not have as much of a love for it.
But when they do get it, they get it because that intensity is what really helps you get the most out of your workout.
And it doesn't necessarily have to be where you are crawling out of the gym every day, because you're still stimulating the muscle.
And when I work with people who are looking for There are changes.
It's all about changing the stimuli in order to get the result.
You know, it could be from the nutritional aspect, the training aspect, the cardio aspect.
And cardio for me is another thing that is not a necessity.
I think people automatically assume it's a necessity because to lose weight.
For the VO, the heart, that's different.
But when it comes to as far as it being used to burn fat, it's a tool that we incorporate later on because we want to focus on the workout and your nutrition in order to get the result before we start to add the cardio in.
Amazing.
Amazing.
Again, it's too simple.
That's the thing.
Yeah.
And I think that's the scary part is that it is so simple that people...
They're just complicated, man.
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You know what i'm really hearing as well is for us to be be very intentional and to be mindful of our purpose.
Yeah, if it is to build your body right bodybuilding and to get the most we can with hypertrophy, that mind muscle connection is so important, of course, just that manifestation piece, but even just the technical piece of the muscle doing the movement, because our bodies are very good at hiding and sneaking in and compensating as well.
And so, and that's okay if you're just wanting to move the weight.
Right and to get through and you just focus on strength and being able to do a certain thing.
But you can get both, of course.
You can get the bodybuilding and the strength piece if you have that mind muscle connection and actually use the muscle that you are targeting.
And so, but with that being said, you know, again with bodybuilding and you mentioned this as well, this is people don't think about how much of an art form it is and also the competitive piece to it and how you guys are going at each other, essentially on stage.
And there's a big mindset piece backstage as well.
And you know what you have is so unique because you have the physique and you have the wisdom as well.
And so being able to see, oh, he's really developed very well, but he doesn't know how to use it.
He doesn't know how to pose to really accentuate his gifts.
And so, you know, you have, that's dangerous.
It's a dangerous combination, man.
And I saw actually, I heard you say this.
I was looking at one of your interviews.
You said, once I turned 50, I felt like I turned 20.
Bro, I felt like I just started.
Like I did.
Because it's like everything started happening when I turned 50.
Once I embraced it and recognized that it's okay, because when you think, whatever you think becomes your reality.
Because you give it enough attention, it becomes truly your reality.
And when you think of it as being old, oh, you'll be old because that's your mindset.
And so once I saw so many doors open at turning 50, I was like Oh man this, and I feel like I just started everything.
And so it's it's you never know when is your time.
You think man, if I just started back when I because that's when I first left corporate America I think I should have done it earlier, but it wasn't time.
It was that time was that time that happened.
I was.
I meant I was meant to do that for 14 years to learn something from it and move on to the next level, because You know we always want it to come fast.
We want it to just happen right away, you know, and when it doesn't, sometimes we feel like we failed in accomplishing it, because when things aren't happening the way you expect them to happen, you think you're just you're not doing it right.
And so when I hit 50 and all that started happening for me, I was like, oh man, okay.
And now it's just, I'm here with you, you know?
So it's just like you know, once you start to understand that you have to be intentional and deliberate.
You know, and I learned that from Eric Thomas too
And so that was, that's powerful, you know, so it's just stay in that course.
Man, incredible.
So obviously again, we're talking about the basics, right?
Squatting, chest press, lat pull down.
So we know the exercises and to target these particular body parts, but is there some secret sauce in here?
Like, if you want to get the most out of the time outside of the typical stuff, is there anything else that you would add to the mix with the client, for example, or with yourself?
Maybe some eccentric focus, maybe some drop sets, maybe some supersets.
Like give me some secret sauce here of like something that you would like utilize.
You know, so I like, failure a lot, going to failure.
And drop sets, I think are very effective because drop sets, you know, a lot of times people ask the question and I'll be honest, sometimes when I'm training, people don't ask no questions.
Let's just work, because I just want them to get the work done.
But then they're like, why are we doing that?
But when it comes to drop set, it's fatiguing the muscle and every fiber, all the fibers.
Share what drop sets are.
So a drop set is let's say you start very heavy.
For example, let's say you're doing bench press and you're doing 315 right,
And you're doing 315 and you can only max out six reps and maybe the six rep you're having a slight you know spotter to help you.
And so that's you just fatigue the major muscle group because that big muscle had to come into play to help you.
Of course you have your auxiliary muscles helping with your shoulders and your triceps and your back to a certain extent.
So you Get that weight to six reps, you rack it, you take off.
Sometimes you can take off 10 or more and then you go and do as many reps as you can higher than what you just did.
So if you just did six, your goal is to go from eight to ten.
And so then you get that 8 to 10, you drop the weight again.
10 to 12, you drop the weight again.
15 to 20, you drop the weight again and you go as many as you can.
And what you're doing is you're fatiguing every muscle fiber to the last point of failure.
And you have really just trained that muscle all around.
And I think a lot of times you see it, especially with people that are working out to that capacity.
You can see it in their development, because you see the difference between someone who's just powerless and someone who's really paying attention to their design, the sculpting of the body.
They look different.
You know, a powerlifter will just be big and massive and strong.
But a bodybuilder, we're not powerlifting.
We're sculpting our physique to make sure every sinew, every tendon, every fiber is able to be visible to the naked eye when you're on that stage.
That's great, man.
So with the drop set and when you mentioned, we're hitting all these different muscle fibers.
So of course people know the general slow twitch fibers, the fast twitch fibers, but we have a range of intermediate fibers as well.
So you're tagging all of these bad boys.
It's basically recruitment.
Correct.
It's strategic recruitment And it's a very efficient, but very difficult in the mindset piece.
You know, you've said this a couple of times in the intensity, right?
And even you said, you opened this up by saying, I like failure.
And that's something that we shy away from in all areas of our lives.
And so it's symbolic.
But we have the reps and reserve paradigm, but also going past that to where your muscle actually is, just like this can be a great catalyst for growth.
But you've gotta be mindful of what's right for you and also your recovery right.
So all of these pieces, it's an equation, but the best way to find out what's gonna work for you is to give it a try.
And so big fan of drop sets.
I haven't done them in, I don't know, a couple of years.
But just even bringing this up and you jumping on that particular one, because actually I was doing some eccentric stuff today, right?
Which I have, you know, I do from time to time.
I've really been heavy in ISOs because for me yeah, the physique piece is important and cool for me, but for me I'm training more for like performance, for athleticism, for competing, for hooping with my son.
You know what I'm saying.
And just, you know, getting out there and dominating like I did.
The other day this true story my wife.
So I went to the park just to shoot around and do some drills or whatever.
And, you know, a couple of guys, it was like three guys.
I'm pretty sure they were Slovenian.
And they was like, hey, you wanna, you know, run teams?
And, you know, I was like, it's cool.
And one of them, he was built like Luka.
He was just a little short.
He's probably like 6'1", 6'2".
And, but I saw, and I saw him just kind of just whooping the other two guys asses.
And, you know, so I, I was like, so out of you two, who's the best?
You know, the other two guys.
Because I wanted him to be with me, right?
Because I see baby Luke over here cooking.
And I wasn't even there for that.
And, you know, they agreed that the guy, which he never took his hoodie off.
It was hot.
All right.
This is already a warning sign for me.
All right.
So, but anyway.
So he went with me and the other guy had a cigarette first before he got on the court.
I was like, oh, that's a good sign.
It's going to be even.
And so you know, before you know it man, I came out, you know we're playing basketball, you know the 15 ones and twos, but I hit four shots really quickly.
And I knew Baby Luca did not like that.
Because at first I hit the first two, he's like, oh, he was still kind of bubbly.
Now he like locked in his face change.
And so like, we're really competing out there, man.
But just being able to, at the drop of a hat, to do something like that and to perform and, you know, to compete and to have fun.
And me training, because life you have to qualify yourself to be able to do certain things.
And you know, it's my point being with even with the story was they had no idea that I'm twice their age.
They had no idea.
All right.
And when I got back home, my wife asked, she was like, how was the park?
I was like, yeah, you know, some guys asked me to run, you know, two on two.
And of course, you know, I, you know, give them a little spanky.
But she was like, did you get their number?
Like, cause she's like, guys are gonna hang out and talk.
She can't understand that just going and playing a pickup game is just like, does guys do that?
Because, you know, for her, it's just like, you gotta have all this other stuff.
Hey, do you wanna play with me?
You know, they're like this kind of energy, you know?
And I think it's so cute.
But you know, it's really important for us to understand why we're doing what we're doing and to create that unique formula for us.
And I'm so grateful to bring you on, because a lot of us, and myself included, we want to express beauty and the potential with our physique.
We want to feel good in our bodies and we have so much potential.
Like our bodies, are designed to adapt and to grow when we give it the stimulus and also the recovery piece.
So that's my next question. what is your secret sauce when it comes to the recovery piece?
Because I know you love to train.
You're about that life.
And obviously your nutrition is just like, it's a world class, very intentional.
What about any other recovery protocols that you have?
You know, it's interesting.
So maybe about three, four weeks ago, I don't know what I did, but I was training back, right?
And I was doing little shoulders.
And then I was doing other movements, extracurricular activities that kind of impacted my shoulder.
And my shoulder was like stuck.
It was like hard to do this and do this.
And I don't know what was going on.
It felt like I had fluid in it.
Like you know, when a knee gets inflamed and it gets like that feel, because I had ACL injury and I had ACL surgery back in 2010
And because I, you know, ran track and I attempted to do american football, because in jamaica we call football, soccer is called football, so they're like yo come out for the team and you're fast.
I was like, all right, but i didn't know how to play football and so i got injured in scrimmage.
I didn't make it to a game.
I probably could have been, you know, amazing at it because of my size and speed, and so I got that done.
And so when this happened to my shoulder, it felt like my knee like when it's inflamed, it's harder to move it.
And so I started getting a little more body work done because I have a guy that I would go to that would you know really work on getting everything, because training is so heavy, everything gets tight.
But sometimes in bodybuilding, we like that tight feel because we feel like we're looking good.
We don't understand that we should be flexible, because then when you come up to bring the muscles together, they actually will look bigger, because now the muscles have been stretched.
So then when they do contract, they look better.
And a lot of times we don't understand that because...
We spend more time training than we do with recovery and the stretching and the nuances of working on your hip flexors, your hip joints and your knee joints.
And so those things are now are important to me the eccentric movements.
You talk about isometric holding.
All these things help to develop the tendons that we need to be healthy, because the tendons are attached to the muscle bellies and attached to the joints, I mean to the skeletal frame.
And so, once this happened, I started doing that work and I decided to incorporate more co-plunging, just to kind of see.
Man, after the second day, it was gone.
And the third day, totally no problems anymore because I was worried.
Like, I got an Olympia coming up.
I got to be ready.
I need to train intensely.
So that really opened my eyes to.
You need to take care of that more, you know, because you can't just be in the gym constantly all the time banging banging, banging and not recovering more than just rest and nutrition.
But you still need to work on like recovery protocols.
You know the cold plunging, the body work and things like that nature that really plays into keeping you healthy and being able to, at the drop of a dime, take a jump if you have to, because A lot of things.
I'm also an athlete.
I like to be able to just spring into something, catch the hoop if I want to just catch the hoop.
I mean, I'm short, I can't slam, but I can grab the hoop just from my jump.
And I'm a sprinter, so I love to sprint.
So I'm competitive in that.
I taught that game was like we can go and get that 100 meters real quick if you want to do that, you know, because I like to be able to run fast and I was racing my son and I said when you can beat me, you'll be fast.
Nevertheless, he can beat me now.
And you know so and I know he was so excited to be able to do that, you know, because it's to smoke them all the time.
All the way up to he was about 17.
And once he got past the 17 to 20, he can take off now.
So I relate to when you're talking about playing ball with your son too.
So it is... Now I'm... making sure that that's there because I also have a client and a friend.
They have a cold plunge in their home and they live very close to me.
So they're like, you know, come whenever you want.
And understanding that.
You know I like to do it prior to a workout, not necessarily after, because I'm so much more focused on the inflammation being a process of increasing muscle size and that information is necessary after a workout.
And so you know, seeing the research is coming out more about cold plunging after workout is not as beneficial depending on what you're looking to do, you know, especially when it comes to hypertrophy.
So It changed my once my shoulder healed up that quick, because I understand once you get in there your body's like heal because it's under such an attack of that frigid water that it I love it.
I love it now.
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing that, man.
That's great because again, There's so many different tools to utilize and your body responded to that particular tool.
We've had on Dr Kelly Starrett, who's really to say he's a pioneer in physical therapy, is again he's like a superstar in the space and he's very much performance driven.
And, like a lot of incredible physical therapists that are listening to the show right now, they are likely to have his book or one of his books, like Becoming a Supple Leopard.
It's like one of the Bibles of physical therapy, right?
And he's one of the first people, because in school they're taught rice.
Rest, ice, you know, compression, elevate.
He's like, no, we're changing that.
The ice piece after, we don't do that anymore.
We're blunting, we're interrupting these pathways.
Yes, you might get some relief, but we want the body to heal.
And so the icing in particular, and he's a cold plunge guy, but he puts it in a pocket.
He doesn't do it after training.
And also this isn't looked at as a means of trying to heal a blatant injury per se.
It's the response that your body is getting.
It's like an adaptation to a stressor.
And so it's stimulating all of these kind of immune factors, because it's the immune system that's gonna heal the body.
And just looking at it like that, whether it's cold plunging, whether it's a sauna, whether it's the body work, But these are those inputs, that our nervous system, these are things that we missed out on in our culture today because everything's so climate controlled.
But we evolved having temperature stress too.
You know what I mean?
And so it's just like tapping into these innate healing factors.
And so sharing that is very special, man.
You know, just being able to talk to you. is incredible in and of itself.
And thank you for sharing about your approach to training and also your nutrition.
I wanna ask you about this because you reached out to me around this time, because you knew I shared about my father passing and the impact that it had on me.
And it was right before the release of my family cookbook, the Smarter Family Cookbook.
And he's a chef.
So he was a big inspiration, like unconsciously for me to, to focus on this and to focus on family.
And I come from a very dysfunctional family, you know.
But I wanted to use my experience and to take the beauty from the pieces that I did have because, you know, he made something out of nothing so often in the kitchen and it was beautiful.
And also, even though you know drugs, alcohol was a big part of my experience with him.
He also had this very childlike nature as well, and so he was the dad that was out there hooping with the kids nobody else's dad was out there, but mine was right and so his work, really His work in life, carries on through me and my ability to impact people and to just strive to do a little bit better.
And you mentioned your experience with your son as well.
And you know, there's this wonderful sentiment that your father's the only man who's going to want you to be better than him.
Yep.
And I know that holds true for our parents in general and what your mom wanted for you.
And so when you competed recently in the show and mentioning she hadn't gone to any of the shows before and being the seventh day and being on a Saturday, a lot of these shows, but being there with you now, so What does that mean for you in having your mom with you in this different capacity and showing up and showing out and showing what's possible?
How do you feel right now knowing that your mom is with you and watching what you're doing?
You know, I was very much like a loner when I was younger, you know, and I really got into the school of thought where, you know, death is just It's inevitable.
It's going to happen.
It's almost selfish for us to miss that person because we just want them physically back.
But now their time is up and it's for them to go on to the next phase of their being.
I had always lived with that.
Like, yeah, that's nothing.
That'd be easy, you know, whatever.
And so when it finally gave down to that actual moment, to where my mom passed away, I was like Hmm, this is interesting.
I never thought I would feel like this.
And so it really didn't hit me until I had to go do the eulogy for her funeral.
And when I was on the plane, me and my cousin had rode it together.
And I was editing it and I lost it.
I didn't think I would do that, but I lost it on the plane.
And I was like, wow, I didn't think this would happen.
And so...
Then I get to the funeral and I had to do the eulogy.
And man, that was probably the toughest thing I could ever do.
I had to get up there and walk on stage.
And my whole family, like her siblings, had to come and hold me so that I could actually get through that process.
And I'll never forget my cousin.
She was like, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.
I could hear her.
And it was just like, wow.
And so I said, with that, you know what I'm gonna make you proud, because I know of how much you struggled to get me to where I am today.
And, you know, you don't think about it at the time because you're just going through life.
And she was working her butt off to get there.
And so I know that she probably wanted to be there, but she couldn't be there because she was very strict about her religious beliefs.
And I know I'm strict about certain things, too.
So that comes from her as well.
And she was very much a person that loved to give her all to other people then and not take care of herself.
And I do that to a certain capacity as well.
And so Now, you know, I had to really recognize that now she can actually see me on stage.
And that's why it's like at 50, I'm doing this like, wow, I'm doing this now.
And she was so excited when I became an engineer.
But, you know, it means so much more that my mom can be there and see.
You know and we say that because we truly don't know, but it's that sense of Well, I feel like she can, you know, she's there with me and able to witness me make history.
You know, because when I recognize that I've made history, it's like wow, you know, this actually happened.
So it means, More than I can almost put in words that my mom can be there too.
Because your mother is that person who no matter what you've done, she's always going to love you.
You know it's like unconditional, and your parents in general, because a lot of times we feel like our fathers don't, but they do.
And they just have that hardcore exterior that sometimes on their upbringing they don't know how to express that.
I have to tell my son that too, because I was my mom.
I was always at work, so you know that, and my father wasn't there so I didn't, I didn't even know how to be that father figure.
You know, you just kind of go with the motion, and so it means a lot and I'm just going to continue to shine for as long as possible.
You know that I can, while I'm able to exist here and help as many people as I possibly can, because It was also a fear of mine to help people, because you don't want to fail.
Like you said, like I was just talking before, I love failure.
It's it's being able to apply bodybuilding and what I do to life.
And that's where I'm working on as well too.
So.
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing that.
No, no, thank you.
I almost, I almost lost it.
So I was coming.
You know um, just being able to.
You know, because it's a choice.
You know what we choose to believe and you know that, choosing that, your mom is with you.
And you know, I share that, I share that sentiment And I know, and you know it too, that she is very proud of you.
And, you know, you are a history maker.
Like, you've changed the world.
You've done exceptional things that haven't been done before.
Like, that's not...
That's extraordinary.
And I just wanna acknowledge you for that, man, to truly just give you your flowers, man.
Like for real, it's special, man.
And I knew that from the moment I saw you and we connected the first time, like oh, you're different, you're different.
And despite your circumstances, despite what you went through, you just kept taking that step forward and finding a way to turn the hurt and the anger into something positive.
And we can all learn from that.
So I appreciate you bro.
No, thank you.
And you know you had said something earlier when you said you were inspired on your training, and I sometimes you hear people say they're inspired by you, but sometimes you don't.
It doesn't really click.
And I have people that say, Hey, I want to compete now.
And I'm like, why?
And that's because they see what I've been able to accomplish and they're like, I could do it too.
And it's a great thing.
And it's also like, okay, Wow.
I didn't think that that was going to cause that.
But it's it's it's acknowledges that we all can inspire someone.
Your story, your journey inspires someone.
Someone needs to hear your story.
Your story is just as important as anyone else's.
Yeah, that part.
Where can people connect with you, get more information, just stay in touch with you?
Tory Washington, T-O-R-E, Washington on every platform.
And, you know, my next thing, we talked about this before, it's like, got to get this book out, man.
I was so afraid to put a book out before.
And now that I've sort of gotten 30% of the process done, it's just getting the rest done.
And I know it'll get done.
You know, just like we talked about is, it's that time will happen when the time is supposed to happen.
You know, so and you know, Vegas.
You got to come to Vegas, man.
September 24th through 27th.
That's the Mr. Olympia.
It's going to be at the Palms Hotel.
You know, from here, it's like a 45 minute flight.
Probably not even 50 bucks.
Not even.
And it's it's a historic moment for me, man, to really.
I don't even know if I'm.
I keep saying to myself that it's probably going to be a cry fest for me on that stage, because right now I realize it's going to be.
I probably will have the most people who are close to me as in the audience than anyone else, because everybody has fans, but I'm going to have family and friends that are, and vegan family who I've met throughout the year that it can't wait to see the first vegan athlete on this huge stage.
It's a prestigious event that it's.
You know.
It's been around for ever and Arnold Schwarzenegger and all these guys have won it.
And so I'm actually going to be on that stage.
And so it's, it's exciting to so anyone, I can talk to him.
It's like Hey, just come, just come in.
And the main part i'm looking for is to get in that jacket and to finally say that i'm an olympian.
And so, and i'm you know, they also give you like, your own table where you can meet the olympian.
So i know it's gonna be fun.
It's gonna be fun amazing, amazing.
I mean 1000 bro, like My wife has been looking for an excuse to come to Vegas.
Man, thank you so much for sharing your heart, sharing your wisdom.
And we already know, man, much continued success.
It's already done.
Yes.
And, you know, I got your back when it comes to this book as well.
So I got you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
For sure.
The one and only Tory Washington, everybody.
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today.
I hope that you got a lot of value out of this.
If you did, you already know what to do.
Share this conversation.
This is paradigm shifting stuff here.
All right.
My man, Tory Washington, is over 50 years old and competing at the highest level of bodybuilding with people decades younger, on paper or even saying it out loud
It shouldn't even be possible, but it's not just possible.
It's experientially lived.
And dare I say it's probable by applying certain principles on what's possible for us in terms of longevity, in terms of fitness and remembering it is never too late to say yes, to say yes to yourself, to start to invest in you and to start to change the way that you're thinking because truly, all of these outer examples or expression that you're seeing with Torrey is a result of his thinking.
If we keep thinking what we're thinking, we're gonna keep getting what we're getting.
We've got to change our mindset when it comes to our own health and fitness.
And also just taking on some of these principles that he shared as well, adding in a few more plants, all right.
He expressed, and I caught it, just a little bit of his love for the Japanese sweet potato.
All right.
He said it.
He's a sweet tooth.
He's a sweetie, you know, guy that likes to go after the sweets.
And those Japanese sweet potatoes are fantastic.
I think that I helped to kind of popularize them because I was talking about them, you know, over a decade ago on the Model Health Show, because they start to show up more prominently on store shelves but just delicious foods that we can add in, you know, in targeting variety when it comes to these inputs, with these different foods, because they're going to be another Key word that he used today.
He talked about the microbiome.
They're going to be feeding our microbiome and giving these data points and just experimenting more, adding in more diversity when it comes to our foods, eating a little bit more seasonally, just picking up these little nuggets and just trying things.
And also when it comes to our training.
If what you've been doing is just getting the same old same, let's switch it up.
Let's switch it up.
Let's do something different.
Let's add in some drop sets.
Let's do some more eccentric training.
Let's add in some isometrics.
Let's, instead of training one body part once a week, let's reduce the volume that you're doing.
In one day, do a couple of body parts and do that multiple times a week, at least two times a week training a body part, so it can keep getting that, that stimulus to respond, to grow, to adapt, because our bodies are adaptation machines.
Getting that input once a week can get you a significant amount of the way.
But what if we made an adjustment?
What if we did something different?
What if we gave more action points for our body to respond to?
Based on the data, you're gonna get better results.
So again, I hope that this was encouraging.
I definitely encourage you to check out Torrey's work, follow him on social media and all that good stuff.
And again, share this out on social media.
Take a screenshot of this episode Tag Tori and tag me.
I'm at Sean Model on Instagram.
I know that he would love he'd be blown away to see the love that can come from the Model Health Show community.
So I appreciate you so much for that.
We've got some incredible masterclasses and world-leading experts coming your way very, very soon.
So make sure to stay tuned.
Take care, have an amazing day, and I'll talk with you soon.
