SS 144 – How Your Life Affects Your Training w/ Dynamic Duo Training

Grant and Heavey interview LA-based trainers Eric and Chris Martinez, owners of Dynamic Duo Training. They talk about life coaching and mentorship. They’re also authors of the book The New Era of Fitness: 8 Proven Habits to Double Your Strength, Sexiness, Energy, Health, and Live a Well-Balanced Dynamic Lifestyle.

 

This episode is brought to you by State and Liberty, makers of custom-fitted dress shirts for athlete-type physique.

 

[02:00] Bodybuilder Died of Too Much Protein???

 

Grant mentions an article about “This Bodybuilder’s Death Was Linked to Her High-Protein Diet in a Bizarre Way.” Meegan Hefford, 25 years old, Instagram model, and very fit individual suddenly died. After doing an investigation, it was found that she has been on a high-protein diet.

 

High-protein diets are not fatal unless there are pre-existing conditions. In Meegan’s case, she had a rare genetic disorder called Urea Cycle Disorder. The message here that as trainers or podcasters, everything we promote is backed by science and we want to steer people down the right path. But regardless of the expertise anyone has, there are things going on in our bodies that we’re not aware of.

 

[04:45] Just for the Clicks

 

The title of the article was actually misleading and Heavey thinks it’s total crap. They didn’t write a headline of a bodybuilder who died because of rare kidney condition from high protein diet. This wouldn’t obviously get any circulation and nobody would care about it. Heavey finds this whole media amplification of a subset of the facts to be really irritating. Seeing a headline like this and people having limited knowledge will just eat it up and freak out. They’re not going to eat protein again. How frustrating can this be?

 

[06:04] Get Yourself Checked

 

Although there is nonsense to the headline, Grant underscores the value this brings to athletes and people who are training to do a bit of self-investigation with their doctor. And in spite of everyone’s best intentions, everyone does have this unique genetic makeup.

 

Chris recommends that before even doing any kind of dieting phase or anything fitness-related it’s best to get some bloodwork done, at least a basic blood panel or the major hormones. This is another reason the dynamic duo considered bringing on a registered dietitian so they can dig deeper into this stuff.

 

[07:15] Balancing Their Dual Identities

 

Chris and Eric are not just partners in business, but they’re also brothers, identical twin at that. They almost have this dual identity, one is this independent individual, at the same time, they’re part of an unbreakable team. In balancing these two aspects of their life, Chris says it’s tough to do so.

 

[09:30] What is Dynamic Duo Training?

 

Chris and Eric were seventeen years old in high school when they lost their father, three days before Christmas due to a tragic accident. Three months later, they lost their grandmother. Like a ton of bricks that hit their family, Chris mentions they have never really fully gotten over it even though it happened thirteen years ago. Battling off the anger issues, not knowing how to deal with it as teens, and missing a father figure, their mom resorted to alcohol and anti-depressant pills. The twins came to a turning point where they realized they’re throwing their lives away. So they had to make a decision whether to turn their life around or go back down the dark road.

 

They came across an article by Dr. Layne Norton in a Muscular Development magazine they used to read back in college and reached out to him. Then they had the honor to be coached by him and be mentored under him for five years. They learned a lot of valuable skills in the context of training and nutrition which they were able to apply to their clients. They then hired Dr. Joe Klemczewski who mentored Layne Norton. And then learned under Eric Helms of 3D Muscle Journey. So they’re constantly seeking high-level coaches to master their craft.

 

Then the duo decided to build an online business and put their own twist to it and really build solid relationships with clients and even offer a lifestyle component. And everything just kind of took off. Since then, they’ve written a book and have been public speakers. They’ve joined different mastermind groups and are continuing to grow as people.

 

[12:20] The Pendulum Swing: Get in the Middle

 

Going from hell as they described it, they went to the gym day in and day out as their outlet to let all their anger out. They realized that when you look at it as a pendulum swing, you switch over to the left side of it, you’re in this black and white mindset. Switch it over to the right side and you’re this flexible, no structure type of person. So they tried to figure out how to get this pendulum swing right in the middle where the sweet spot is where they have both of the best worlds.

 

Chris and Eric were on this one side of the pendulum – two rigid, black and white thinking. They ruined a lot of relationships with friends and family members. They wouldn’t go out to social events or vacations. All they cared about was their body image and they put fitness on a pedestal. They realized it was unhealthy and decided to go to the other side of the pendulum. Then they gained 40 pounds, which is another unhealthy relationship with fitness.

 

It wasn’t until they hired Layne and figured out themselves to get into the middle and make it a lifestyle. This is what they preach to their clients now.

 

[14:10] Working with Layne

 

What enticed them to work with Layne is that they admired how he holds a PhD and he was a natural bodybuilder. They also liked everything he preached about flexible nutrition and making it into a lifestyle instead of just being so rigid and black-and-white-minded with it. Contrary to his Twitter persona who is angry all the time, Chris and Eric describe Layne as a chill, laid-back kind of guy.

 

[15:33] The Left Side of the Pendulum: Masking the Pain

 

While building their business, they just put their heads down and worked. They went after the next goal and put their foot on the gas pedal and never stopped. Part of the reason was they were trying to mask the pain from their loss of a father and their mother turning to alcohol. All they knew was turn to academics, build their business, and level up with it. It wasn’t necessarily healthy but they admit they probably just didn’t know any better.

 

[16:30] The Right Side of the Pendulum: Unstructured

 

It wasn’t that there was no longer any element of fitness, but there was just no structure or game plan behind what they did. They just ate whatever they wanted. They started drinking three or four nights a week.

 

A decade after, they finally got the pendulum centered.

 

[17:40] Moderating Vacation Time

 

In terms of vacation time, Chris can’t go with an all or nothing approach (which Grant likely does). He has to have some sort of structure. But he would definitely raise the bar a bit and have more drinking days. Go for an intuitive eating approach and just enjoy it. It’s a nice mental de-load and break from everything.

 

To those having the trouble of being so extreme one way or another, like Grant and which Heavey finds challenging as he can’t make any headway with Grant on this, Eric and Chris preach flexible dieting. It’s basically calorie counting of your protein, carbs, and fat. Instead of them being black and white, you just sit there and count calories. Like if you’re eating four to five meals per day on a normal week, just cut down meal frequency to about two meals per day. When you’re on vacation, you’re probably going to eat about two to three meals since you’re busy. You’re doing a bunch of stuff and you’re drinking. It’s just teaching them these tools and habits to pick up and just being realistic about it. You can’t really pin them down to doing this and that since they’re not going to do that.

 

For Grant who would most likely get all the calories from booze, Chris would advise him to just have about two meals that are 30-50 grams of protein and then use the rest of it for alcohol. It’s just one week on alcohol so it’s not going to kill you.

 

[20:26] Mentors, Conferences, & Hiring a Life Coach

 

What’s impressive about the dynamic duo is the number of mentors they’ve met over time when they’re only as young as 32 years old. When they first started out the business, they wanted to go after the heavy-hitters and master the craft in the context of training and nutrition. So they went after all those mentors. After that, they’d go to different seminars and conferences related to training and nutrition. But it wasn’t until those got boring for them that they made a commitment to transition into lifestyle, personal development, and business marketing type of conferences.

 

At first, they found it a bit uncomfortable being seen as the fitness guys considering there’s not too many people in that space. But they just started going to so many that they were able to build relationships. They were genuinely givers and go the extra route to help them out. This resulted in a snowball effect.

 

Then they started joining local meetup groups and doing more coaching days with high level entrepreneurs and even masterminds such as Tai Lopez, Lewis Howes, Cole Hatter, Mark Lack. They just couldn’t get enough of it. At that point, they hired a life coach for a year and committed to that. He helped them develop a great amount of tools they can use for themselves and their clients.

 

[23:12] How Having a Life Coach Impacted Their Business

 

The biggest thing Chris and Eric got from having a life coach is the fact that they got to lay their guard down and just be vulnerable as coaches. You could be the most knowledgeable guy but if you can’t sit there and be real, authentic, and vulnerable with your clients and build a relationship, at the end of the day, those degrees and accomplishments are not going to mean anything. They’re not going to connect with you. They’re not going to listen to you. They want a real-life person that’s dealing with the shit they’re dealing with. So they became 100% vulnerable too and 100% real with them. After that, it changed everything.

 

Chris explains what a lot of coaches do out there is they shame and guilt their clients. This is not the healthiest way to approach it especially in this day and age. People are so sensitive these days so you have to establish a relationship and show them that they can be vulnerable with you. Otherwise, they’re just going to go somewhere else.

 

[24:57] Applying What They Learned

 

This is one of the things their life coach taught them and they have also incorporated this into their own business. They would have monthly assignments which they still do with clients now. For instance, everybody would just write down ideal destinations they wanted to go to around the world and another five local destinations. This is just a simple lifestyle exercise but it gets them thinking. Then let them share it with you. They would also do a monthly Zoom call to discuss this type of topics and just lay it all out to get to know one another. Basically, their life coach has taught them a lot of effective tools and they just put their twist into it and started using with their coaching. For Chris and Eric, having a life coach affected the way they coached their fitness clients as well.

 

[25:52] The Power of Life Coaching

 

Heavey adds that being better coaches and relating to your clients is so powerful in creating interventions in their lives. This is something he struggled with initially being a data-driven kind of guy. He’d do things people would not normally do. He admits he’s emotionally void. But being able to relate to people and connect with them and understand what’s the driver for why they want to make changes in their life and helping them see that and how it plays out in their future. That’s very powerful, whether you call it life coaching or just understanding the psychology of people better.

 

[27:45] How to Choose a Coach

 

Heavey says that it’s not as much about seeing their credentials as a lot of it comes out in the conversation you have with the trainer when interviewing them to see if they’re a good fit for you.

 

If the first thing they talk to you about is sets and reps, there’s a good chance they’re not going to have that deeper level of knowledge. If they’re talking to you about your why’s and your life and all these other elements, then they can understand how sets and reps may affect you down the road.

 

So it’s hard to say if having all these credentials make them a better choice. But it’s just about the conversation you have with the person upfront.

 

[28:43] Chris’ First Conversation with a Potential Client

 

First, Chris finds out their why and the purpose behind what their goal is. Say, a female wants to lose an x amount of pounds and get in a bikini. He knows that the underlying reason is they want to be in a bikini but there’s something way deeper that’s causing that drive. He gets down deeper with them by further asking why and what is the purpose behind it. He would have her take out a white piece of paper and split it in half and put why on the left side and the purpose on the right side. Once they get it all out there and they understand what that why and purpose is, the clarity is so huge within the goal. Then they just put in micro, little tangible steps in there to make that goal much easier.

 

[29:50] What is Their Why?

 

Eric explains their why that led them and got them into fitness. He was very guarded at first and wasn’t ready to let go just yet. A lot of clients hold that barrier which he calls “survival mode.” This could be from past experiences, past traumas, past belief systems, the way people are raised. And they still carry it over to the present. So there’s a huge barrier for them going forward to unlock their true gifts in life and just be vulnerable. That was part of his problem.

 

So he told their life coach his problem that he wanted to let go of the loss of his father. He wanted to be able to move forward and serve others more. He decided to be more open and more vulnerable. He committed to a year and after that he no longer felt the need of having a life coach. He felt confident and he was still committed to practicing those things he taught them including morning routines, self-guided education and personal development. Still to this day, he practices every single thing and he preaches to other clients too.

 

[31:15] Their Quest for Personal Development Continues…

 

Even after they had a life coach, Chris and Eric went to Mexico for a retreat to give back and help out some of the orphanages for three days. It was an incredible experience for them which transitioned into them serving their clients. Then they also did a five-day transformational retreat in Los Angeles called MITT. There were a hundred people with all kinds of problems. They realized their shit is not even close to theirs and this allowed them to be grounded and humbled.

 

[32:37] Mentor – Mentee Responsibility

 

All of the clients they’ve worked with have genuinely thanked them for changing their lives which is huge and gratifying. Sure, they helped them change their physique. But at the end of the day, the bigger picture was the fact that they were able to help change their life. They feel empowered now and they’re happy their mentorship was able to guide them through it.

 

Sure there is that fear that they could possibly be stirring them the wrong way but that’s how the cookie crumbles at times. They will live with that result and there are times it does go that way. And it’s for this reason they don’t really want to push things on them. They make it known that it’s optional. It’s all open and they just let them know they’re there to help them as much as they can. Heavey adds that a lot of times, coaches are just showing them their own conclusion. They help them uncover things but they’re not actually pushing the direction at all.

 

Chris adds that he doesn’t hide behind the keyboard. Instead, he does his updates through video because he likes to connect to them almost like it’s face-to-face.

 

[35:04] Their Reading Mix and Grant’s Wisdom

 

Chris and Eric love reading too and they want to keep it all mixed and not just focus on one genre. Now Grant challenges the three if they read anything just for fun.

 

Now Grant stresses the fact that they also need to find time for themselves. And he goes further and reads a piece of art he’s got, “The time you enjoy wasting time is not time wasted.”

 

[36:54] Internal versus External Wisdom

 

Chris totally agrees with this. He suggests doing a mental de-load for a week or two. Don’t read anything. Don’t listen to a podcast. Don’t watch a video. This way, you’re processing all the stuff that you’ve read.

 

Eric explains the internal versus external wisdom. The external wisdom is all the stuff on the outside, the podcast, the books, videos, etc. And the internal wisdom is what actually sinks in. Just sit down and think how you can apply this for yourself and how this can really help you.

 

[38:20] Heavey’s De-loading Practice (And Grant’s Too!)

 

Heavey has a daily practice that accounts for this. Everyday, he wakes up and goes out for a row in his garage. Then he meditates for twenty minutes or so. Then on the evenings when he’s done working, he goes out in a hot tub and that’s how he shuts down for the day. After that, no more work. So it’s like a startup process and a cool down process. That’s how he has been able to bookend his days and keep his brain from running all the time.

 

Heavey has actually convinced Grant to go ahead and put in earphones and listen to music at work. This has enabled him to be more productive. He found this to be very beneficial because he felt like he had completely tuned everything else out yet he was able to get more done. Grant adds that just by focusing on ourselves a little bit, we’re able to do more for everyone else.

 

[39:50] Have a Morning Routine

 

Chris and Eric are great advocates of having a morning routine, emphasizing that you have to take control of yourself first so you can then go out and serve others.

 

Finally, check out Dynamic Duo Training to learn more about what Chris and Eric have to offer.

Links:

This Bodybuilder’s Death Was Linked to Her High-Protein Diet in a Bizarre Way

Dynamic Duo Training

The New Era of Fitness book by Chris and Eric Martinez

State and Liberty

3D Muscle Journey