What’s up everyone, and welcome to the fit to fat to fit experience podcast. I’m your host, drew Manning and I’m your cohost Lynn Manning. Thanks guys for tuning in for another great episode here on the 55 to fit experience podcast with me and Lynn. Uh, we’re super excited for today’s episode. We have a special guest, uh, Aubrey Marcus. If you don’t know that name, just go look up on it.com. O and N I t.com. Very, very popular supplement industry. Joe Rogan is one of the owners and so you see a lot of UFC fighters promoted by this company. So I originally met Opry in Vegas, um, uh, at UFC 200. I really didn’t, I didn’t recognize this face, but once someone said Aubrey Marcus, I’m like, Oh my gosh. Yeah, I know him. And actually, uh, Sean Stevenson, who we’ve had on the podcast before, I knew it was good friends with him, so that was my connection to him and, uh, finally got ahold of them and, and uh, brought him on the podcast. So today’s episode is very interesting. Um, Opry Mark is a very unique guy, not your typical supplement industry
price to be. Yeah. Yeah. Which I mean that doesn’t happen that often. You guys know that. No. Yeah, no, I’m very impressed you guys. First of all, let me just say this is not a sponsored post on it didn’t pay to have Aubrey on our, on our episode. And actually I was even a little reluctant to want to do it just because he’s the owner of a supplement company. But I am very impressed with his philosophy, with his company’s philosophy, with learning about what they do. But more importantly him just talking about health and wellness and the mind body connection, which you guys all know. I am such a huge component of pushing in our health industry cause I feel like it’s not talked about enough. So this is one of my favorite podcasts. We’ve done. So
a lot about a lot of different things. How he created on it, how he’s grown it to where it’s at today. Uh, talk to a little bit about his background. We talk about him using psychedelics even and meditation. So we get into some very deep topics. Um, other than just here’s the stuff.
Yeah. And for those interested in supplements, I liked how we just talked about the difference in supplement companies, what sets them apart and what can set it. You know, he mentioned there’s other great quality supplements out there, but what to look for. So for those that get a little nervous like I have in the past about supplements, knowing what ones are good and what ones maybe aren’t we give a few pointers in this episode.
Exactly. So it’s a, it’s a really, really great listen. I think he has, will learn a lot from it. And if nothing else, you’ll just be impressed with Aubrey as a person. Um, he’s a great guy, so we’re very fortunate to have him on. Uh, before we jump into the show sponsors, you guys, just, you guys know, I recently launched my eight week Spartan race slash tough Mudder training program. If you want to check that out, just go to fit to fat to fit.com forward slash forward slash shop. So that’s fit to head to fit.com. Forward slash shop to check out my new eight week ebook, which is basically set up. It’s how I train for Spartan races or tough Mudders or these types of mud runs. But if you don’t want to use it for that, you can use it just to use from home and at home a fitness training program that will help you get leaner, stronger. Um, it’s a great, uh, very dynamic workout program that I put together, put a lot of energy and effort into. So you can check that out on my website fit to add to fit.com. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback so far about that. That’s actually my first ebook.
Awesome. So let’s get into our show sponsors. So our first show sponsor is
Everly will.com so Everly, well that’s Eve, R L Y w E L l.com. Uh, is a company that I have used and discovered for in-home, uh, uh, blood health testing. I don’t know if I said that right anyways, a couple of weeks ago. Testing you can do from home. Yes, there you go. That’s what I was trying to say. A couple of weeks ago, I had on dr [inaudible] who is the chief medical officer for this company talking about the future of blood testing and how convenient it is to have a company like Everly, well that sends you the kits to your house, right? So you don’t have to make a doctor’s appointment, you don’t have to wait around a doctor’s office, you know, for hours. Um, it’s not expensive. It’s, you know, most of the tests are, you know, under a hundred dollars. There’s some that are very intensive that are, you know, pretty, um, wide variety of, of, uh, things that they test for that are more expensive, but it’s so convenient.
They send it to you, you prick your finger or some of them are like a urine test. You put it in the package that they already have set up for you and then you go and drop it off at a ups store or you schedule pickup so you don’t have to go out of your way. It’s super convenient. I think it’s the future of, of um, blood panel testing. So very impressed with this company. If you guys want, you can go check out every well.com for slash fit two fat to fit for a 10% off your first order. So go check out the different tests that they provide and use my code fit two fat two fit for 10% off at [inaudible] dot com forward slash fit to fat to fit.
And our other show sponsor is quest nutrition. You guys have heard us talk about them a lot, but for those new to the show quest, nutrition.com you can check it out on the show notes. They make several different quality products now, but what they’re most famous for are their delicious protein bars, um, high in protein, high in fiber, low in sugar. They’re a great GoTo and I like to talk about this a lot. Of course eating real whole foods is always ideal, but the fact is is a lot of us are busy and on the go and quest nutrition is a great, great way to have a healthy snack nearby so that you don’t get hangry so that you don’t fall into the fast food trap. Um, I like to keep them in my purse, in my car. Um, when I used to go into the office I would keep some in there.
So I keep them everywhere I go to have them on hand. It was super hand you guys. I just got back from Europe as many of you know, and I brought quest bars with me and I had one every and it was like a lifesaver cause there’s so many times that as I’m lost or on a train that broke down or a bus that was two hours late, this happens often in Europe that I needed something and I was like, Oh, thank heaven for quest bar. So just check them out. Quest nutrition.com they also have protein. They also have keto products. They also have, um, delicious quest chips that I put my daughter’s lunch. So check it out.
Alright, you guys, let’s go hang out with Aubrey. Marcus from Onyx. All right. What’s up everyone? Uh, we want to welcome Alberry Marcus to the fit to fat to fit experience podcast. How are you doing today, Aubrey? I’m doing great, man. Good to be here. Yeah, thanks for coming on. And you are in Texas, is that right? I’m in Texas. Austin, Texas. Yeah, man. And so you, you grew up there, right? Or where did you grow up? I went to high school out here, but I grew up in Southern California. Okay. Okay. Yeah, me too.
Me too. Me three,
I guess. Good people come from Southern California, so, um, okay. Before
it’s true.
Um, okay, before we get started, first of all, how sick was a cowboy Cerrone’s knockout and the last UFC? I mean, that was awesome to watch.
Yeah, it’s ridiculous. You know, as many times as I watch a good friend step in the ring or the cage and fight, it’s still like the best, worst experience ever. You know what I mean? It’s, um, but it was great to see him in there. I know, you know, we’ve been talking a lot, uh, particularly since, um, you know, he started taking all the on stuff and we’ve been talking several times a week and he’s just feeling great and feeling better than he’s ever felt in his life. I’m sure the move up to one 70 has contributed to that, but he was the type of guy, he was pretty much Budweisers and you know, Snickers bars for most of his life. And then so getting some really good nutrients in his system and supporting his body is, um, has really allowed him to perform at his best. You know, cause he’s got so many skills and uh, and such a great head and heart for the game. It was just a real pleasure to watch. And that combination was just ridiculous.
No, man, it was beautiful. It really was, man. You taught them that, right?
[inaudible]
I mean, I can, I can get his body right, but that’s a little bit of magic that I have. I have no parts to contribute to.
Gotcha. So let’s back up a little bit man. Cause I know that you went to the university of Richmond for college, right? And then you started your own marketing company. Is that right? That’s correct. Okay. So kind of walk us through marketing to all of a sudden a supplement company. How did that come about? Well, marketing was, I was
really just kinda learning the, learning the trade, you know, trying to figure out how to build a company, build a brand and um, but you know, really you’re not creating anything, you’re just helping other people sell their things. So was always in my mind that I wanted to eventually build my own brand and create a company in. Um, there’s nothing that I’ve ever been more passionate about then optimizing human performance, whether it’s physical, spiritual, mental, emotional. I mean that’s what I’m most passionate about. So creating on it was really a natural extension of that. I just had to figure out how to run a company, how to market a company out of create and lead a company. And I was able to do that with my little marketing company. And then, um, you know, it all kind of came together with on it.
Yeah. So how, what did you see in the supplement industry that was missing and where did you feel you feel like, where did you find that niche for that there was a need for on it, for example?
Yeah, I mean supplements was a good, a natural place to start because I was used to, you know, feeling how different supplements affected my body. My stepmother was a N N D and she would, even when I was in high school, gave me a stack of supplements on a paper towel before a basketball game that would help me perform basketball and a different stack of supplements on a paper towel for a, um, like when I was taking the sat test or an important kind of mental task that I had to overcome. And so I got used to how different nutrients affected my performance. So that’s something I kind of carried with me. But what I found was that, you know, instead of just having one supplement for my brain, it was literally a stack of supplements on a paper towel that if I was having to do it myself, I just wasn’t doing, I had to find five, six, seven, eight, nine ingredients just for my brain just to get the mental focus to go take the test.
And you know, I thought, man, like that’s not the optimal way to do it. There should be one capsule that you can take and you just regulate your dose from there. But it has everything in the right quantities and the right balance that you need if you need mental acuity. And then if you need physical stamina performance, there should be one pill for that as well. Or like one formula for that as well. It doesn’t have to come in pill form obviously, but you know, so that’s really the concept that we created. And so out of that was birth alpha brain, our cognitive enhancer, and then Shroom tech sport or pre-workout stamina enhancer. And then, you know, we just kind of went down the line and said, all right, what, what are we trying to achieve? Okay. You know, focus, great alpha brain, you know, mental acuity and then, you know, uh, pre-workout, stamina, improvements, okay, this is the stream tech sport for me. Okay. Mood vote. He went there, this is the formula, new mood. So we just basically put all the best stuff together and um, you know, really high end premium ingredients backed by the best research and then taking those formulas and putting them through additional, uh, additional research and clinical trials just to make sure that we had it right. And, you know, now as we sit, you know, I’m very confident that we have some of the best supplements in the world.
Yeah. And it’s very refreshing to hear all that and very unique approach because, you know, most supplement companies are like, okay, here’s some bee BCAs, here’s some pre-workout, here’s some protein, let’s just, you know, package it differently. And then we’ll, we’ll make up a story about it or something and then just sell it to people is that the industry isn’t regulated. So I, if
I have to be really honest, I think the supplement industry has really, in a lot of ways a bad rap because it’s not regulated cause you’ve heard horror stories because products are oftentimes don’t have that type of uh, like scientific approach. The studies that the time that it takes to like go into it. And people also don’t realize that not all supplements are created equal. You know, like, like people will think, Oh one fish oil is the same as all fish oil. Or they might see something like, you know, Oh this is like a brain supplement and think like, Oh anything that says like a brain supplements going to be the exact same, but it’s not, you know, every supplement company is different. Their approach is different. Not all of them even do studies, you know, it’s not a controlled environment. So what do you think, do you think that’s what sets you guys apart the most? That you use? Higher quality ingredients that you go through, a more thorough testing that you know, you’ve have a team of scientists that have really done the research.
Yeah, I think it’s a combination of a lot of things really. I mean, I think first of all, choosing natural earth grow nutrient ingredients, that’s, that’s like a key staple for us. And there’s other companies that do that as well, so that on its own isn’t the differentiator. But then taking those formulas based around earth grown natural nutrients and then putting them through rigorous clinical trial research with like top end academic institutions like Florida state university, the Boston center for memory and really legitimate clinical trials, um, you know, to prove the efficacy of these products. That combination is something that you don’t find. You’ll see some companies doing some clinical trials, but they’re using a lot of synthetics and it’s more of the nutraceutical, um, nutraceutical approach, which is kind of like the natural way to do pharmaceuticals, you know, with different extracts and things. Or you’ll find a very kind of herbal focus, very natural organic company that doesn’t do any research at all. But there’s really nobody in the middle space that’s using the natural ingredients, combining it with the clinical research. Um, because you know, there’s a lot of potent nutrients out there. And if you just use the right ingredients and the right combinations, as we’ve shown, you can prove that efficacy with double blind clinical trials.
Yeah. And I think what’s really important if, if there’s a way that, uh, or at least a somewhat simple way to kind of explain to those that are listening. You know, a lot of people have become a little bit more aware and some people even hyper aware about all the synthetics that are in supplements and because of that or feel fearful of taking any of them. Um, but there are companies like yours that, that obviously try to focus on natural, more natural ingredients. What can somebody do to make sure that the supplements they’re taking are, you know, safer that they’re from natural sources versus loading themselves with synthetic ingredients?
Yeah, just buy honest stuff. It’s easy. [inaudible] yeah, exactly. I mean, um, you know, I say that obviously a little bit tongue in cheek. There are some other good supplement companies out there. I don’t exclusively take our stuff, although eventually that is my plan. If I find anything else out there in the market that that’s better than ours, then you know,
I’ll, I’ll take that for now until we can find a way to make a, make something even better. But, you know, I think without really going too deep into the specific things to look at, just take a look at the other ingredients. You know, if there’s a, a ton of stuff on there that doesn’t make sense, that’s a separate section in the panel of the supplement facts. Obviously things like magnesium stearate you want to stay away from, um, any of the kind of artificial colors and artificial flavors and, and then, um, you know, beyond that it’s a little bit tricky. It requires, you know, some knowledge of, of what ingredients you should be looking for and what ingredients you should stay away from. Um, you know, it’s difficult to say, so really getting to know what the brand that you’re shopping stands for and you know, what kind of, uh, research gets goes into it. What kind of standards they hold their products to. I mean that’s really key is to combine, you know, your knowledge level with um, understanding of the brand that you’re working with.
Yeah. And that’s what I think sets you guys apart honestly, is you, I heard you give, talk about, you know, telling the truth as a company and what that does to build a relationship with you and your customers. And I think you guys have, you guys stand out with that and you have a couple of stories. I think, uh, one was, you know, someone hacked into your guys’ system. You could probably tell a story better than me, but I thought that was a great example of just how open you are as a company so that your customers really do trust you and you kind of see, you know, companies try and hide things from their customers and then it just becomes kind of shady. So maybe you could kind of talk to that, cause I know that you, you guys have are a great example of that.
Yeah. It’s not even just with supplement companies. It’s companies in general. I mean, they have a very parasitic approach to their customer. You know, they create games that are designed to optimize their revenue at their customer’s expense. And it’s all a, this kind of show of smoke and mirrors and, um, and it’s really this parasitic relationship where they’re almost playing a game of gotcha. You know, and, um, you know, I wanted to create a system of true reciprocity, whatever anyone buys and gets from us, they’re receiving goods and services equal or greater than, than what they paid so that we’re maintaining this balance. That’s the only real way that I would ever feel comfortable even doing business. You know, I don’t want to run this negative, negative karmic balance where I’m taking advantage of everybody and taking their money, you know, and not giving them products and services worthy of that or trying to trick them into doing it.
So it was just a fundamental approach. In order to have that and not be parasitic, you have to be open and transparent and honest. And there’s been multiple times I tell different stories. One of which was an embarrassing security hack that came from, uh, a developer who gained access to our site and, um, sold some credit card information and we discovered it immediately. They, you know, he wasn’t able to actually do anything with the cards that he, that he captured. Um, but nonetheless, you know, whereas most companies without any damage being done with no customers, you know, really contacting them, a lot of companies would have just buried that. Um, but we just came out and told everybody, we’re like, Hey, this is exactly what happened. We discovered this internal situation where some credit card data was compromised. We’re so sorry. You know, we’re going to do our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
And just being out there in the forefront, people were actually pretty shocked. They’re like, Whoa, like you’re telling us of some internal leak that you had no obligation or most companies wouldn’t have said anything. Um, and you just came right out and told us. And it actually probably brought our fan base and our customer base even closer rather than alienating them. Because, you know, in a, in a world where everybody’s kind of playing an angle and being a bit deceptive, you know, honesty is a really powerful force. So, um, you know, we’ve always tried to keep that as a GuideStar.
Yeah. And really people nowadays, because they’re so inundated with opportunities on all fronts, especially something like the supplement industry, which is over-saturated, they’re going to be buying off of relationships and trust more than they’re going to be buying off of a price point. And that’s just, that’s just fact. Yeah.
Um, so kind of shifting gears here a little bit, I listened to some of your podcasts, the, uh, the RB Marcus podcast and, um, you talked a lot about psychedelics and, uh, first of all, you know, for our, our audience, they probably might not even know what that is. But the reason I bring that up is because I remember you said that you have used that which has helped you create an, um, helped on it progress. Right. And so maybe you could talk a little bit about how, uh, first of all, what psychedelics are and how you’ve used them and how that’s helped on it grow, like with the vision of, of where you wanted to bring on it.
Yeah. You know, it’s, um, the, there’s kind of two, uh, two parallel paths in my life that have certainly supported each other and so psychedelic, um, psychedelic medicine, you know, uh, as I like to call it because truly as the science is proving out now, um, there is great medicinal benefit to a lot of these plants, uh, whether it’s silicide and bearing mushrooms or, um, marijuana or there’s some great research on PTSD, um, done by the maps institution on, uh, on MTMA research. Um, and it’s just coming out across the board that these have incredible benefits. And I’ve definitely been an individual that’s received these incredible benefits. And, um, really to me it’s just an opportunity to hold, uh, the best and clearest mirror up to yourself. So you see where you see, where your ego is, you see where, um, where your heart is.
You align yourself with what your highest mission can be and it just allows you to, to think about things in the best way possible. And I wouldn’t be who I am without, uh, the psychedelics and you know, as an extension of that on, it wouldn’t be what it is. Um, without the psychedelics as well because I wouldn’t be the same person, you know. And, and really the, the company ethos and everything that we stand for is an extension. A lot of, you know, my own personal beliefs around that and you know, these ideas of reciprocity and mutual altruism and, and truly caring for each other as if every individual was yourself living a different life. You know, those principles are really ingrained in hammered home, um, during these, you know, the ceremonial use of these psychedelics.
Wow. That’s so beautiful. I, I, you know, in drew, drew told me before the podcast a little bit about this topic and of course I, I actually run in a crowd that is very much in line with that and also has had a lot of experiences with that. Um, and we’ll be really direct cause this is a podcast and we have tens of thousands of years. You know, we’re not saying, we’re not promoting saying, Oh everybody should be using psychedelics. That’s not not what, why we brought this topic up. I was more enthralled with this because I believe that focusing more on that mind body connection is crucial in overall health instead of in our health industry, it’s often just about doing an exercise, taking a supplement and maybe, you know, eating a certain type of food or avoiding certain types of food. Oh, you have to eat paly or not. But really I think true health comes from that connection, from that mind body, soul connection, which as you were mentioning, psychedelic, psychedelic kind of bring you a little bit closer to your source, to your, you’re true to your path. And so can like things like meditation, you know, a meditation practice can really, really help with that.
There’s a lot of ways to that path. And you know, I actually wrote an article recently talking about all the different ways. There’s meditation, there’s floating, there’s yoga, there’s ecstatic dance, there’s holotropic breathwork. I mean there’s a lot of different ways to get there besides the plants. And that’s an important point. And, and the plant medicines aren’t for everybody. Psychedelics aren’t for everybody for sure. And it’s something that, you know, you should do the research and only approach if you’re really called to it and, and really find that that’s a path that works for you. I’m not one to go out there like Timothy Leary and encourage everybody to just drop some acid and figure,
yeah,
not the way to do it. And it’s also really important to have the right set and setting the right intent. You know, you can take mushrooms and watch cartoons or you can take mushrooms and you know, be in a drum circle and you know, travel to a, to a different place and with a different intention. I mean there’s, it’s just so varied, you know, the different ways that you can approach it and all of that really contributes. But yeah, you’re absolutely right. I mean, people underestimate the power of the mind and healing everything. I mean, you look, you know, if you think about what is the one thing that’s cured every single disease, ailment or condition in the world, there’s only one thing that’s cured everything. And that’s the placebo effect, right? That’s cured. That’s actually had an effect on absolutely every disease. And what is that?
That’s the mind. That’s the mind believing that it’s going to get better. So to ignore the mind and trying to improve yourself is just ridiculous. You know, I mean it’s, it’s clearly been shown we have to account for it in every single scientific study. You have to account for the power of the mind, except nobody focuses on the mind. It’s the, it’s one of the most ludicrous aspects of, of medicine today. And I think dr Joe Dispenza in his book, you are the placebo does a great job, uh, kind of elucidating that mind body connection and gives over a hundred different clinical trials showing the power of the mind for even things that aren’t diseases. Even things like, um, working out, you know, the, he has studies in there where they had people imagining lifting heavy weights with their biceps. And their biceps get 14% stronger. You know, it’s like, like there’s so many different applications and the power of the mind being shown in clinical application, it’s really overwhelming.
Yeah, I love that. No, I was just going to say Andrew and I have talked about that before on different podcasts and I know sometimes people think it sounds so woo woo. Especially cause you know, the last program and the one that I present the most called love yourself to greater health is all about that. It’s all about all about mind body connection instead of, instead of it being about working out, which is not as sexy. You know, people think, Oh, you know, doing affirmations and meditating and um, using your, your mind to clear your space, things like that. They’re like, Oh that doesn’t work. But the fact is is there’s really studies and scientific evidence that shows, it does. It’s just, it’s, it’s starting to become, I think it’s starting to become a little bit more acceptable because those are coming out and being shared more, but people just aren’t aware of them. Can you re can you repeat that book again one more time?
Yeah. It’s a, you are the placebo by dr Joe Dispenza. Okay. Send it to the list. Yeah. It’s an outstanding, truly outstanding book. And, and for those people who, who are sensitive to these things, it sound woo. There’s literally over a hundred clinical trials in this book. I mean, it’s very scientific how it’s approached and you know, there’s really no arguing with the evidence and that’s one of the beautiful things I think you can get lost in that we will land of, yeah. Just believe it. Just believe it and it’ll happen, you know, set your intent and the law of attraction will bring it to you. Like, yeah, there’s some truth to that, but there’s also nice to back it up with the mechanism of action, creating that and really understand why that’s happening and put it to the test. Yeah. I think both aspects are important. Very important. I think it’s just part of our Western
culture, the way we grew up. Like we grew up in a very conservative kind of Christian religion and, and just, uh, you know, the Western American culture is, you know, so different. And so these kinds of things like meditation or positive affirmations does seem weird or out there, but it is becoming more mainstream, right? With people like you, people like Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss, you know, pushing these kinds of practices out there. And then now it’s just slowly starting to, uh, you know, take place here in middle America. But it’s, you know, it is kind of an uphill battle because we just are so ingrained in this Western culture that we live in. So it’s cool. It’s refreshing to hear it from you. You know, the owner of a supplement company, I didn’t know we’d be talking about you. All these types of things was, are great.
And I think people need to understand that there’s more to health than supplements and working out and eating healthy. Um, and that’s what I love about Ana, is you have this honor Academy that kind of, uh, brings all of that together and you as the leader I think is, it’s awesome to, to kind of, um, uh, put those things into place. Um, rather than just saying, here’s the supplements by them, there’s, there’s so much more to it. So that’s what I think sets you guys apart. But I’m talking from an outside perspective. Well, I appreciate it.
No, absolutely. I think, you know, are we talk about total human optimization and that’s really what we’re about. We’re about, you know, optimizing all aspects of a human being and there’s more to the human than just the body. And so, you know, we would be doing a disservice to total human optimization if all we focused on was, you know, supplements and kettlebells, which are a great part of it, you know, but, but you need a lot more than that as well.
Yeah, that’s true. So, um, so what was the connection, uh, to MMA, UFC, Joe Rogan? How did all of that get started? Cause that’s kind of like a big part of your sponsorship is a lot of, you’ll see a lot of UFC athletes sponsored by you guys. What was the connection there?
Well, Joe was a friend and, um, I went to Joe and I said, Joe, what kind of, what kind of supplement would you like to take the most? And he said, I’d like to take a nootropic. So that was really the impetus to formulate the alpha brain, um, was to make the best formula possible for myself and Joe to enjoy it. And, uh, and we succeeded in doing that. The first batch of alpha brain was so strong that it was just ridiculous. Um, and uh, definitely not definitely too much for the market at that point. Um, but, uh, but we knew we had something special when we first tried it. And you know, that was kind of how we came together and the business relationship just developed from there. But truly I couldn’t ask for a better business partner than Joe. I mean, we have, you know, absolutely just a hundred percent straight, a hundred percent honesty in everything that we do. You don’t have to strategize or think about what you’re going to tell the other person. You just start talking and tell the truth, you know? And that’s really an ideal relationship to have with anybody, but especially someone in business or in romance.
Yeah. And I love the, you were telling a story of when you met Joe and you guys were talking, you were negotiating the contract, right, of how you, you brought up your kids. So maybe you can, maybe you can share that story. Well, that was,
you know, you’re used, everybody’s kind of used to playing it at about 95 if you’re an even an honest person, right? You know, where you’re just kind of hedging a little bit. You’re phrasing things a certain way. You’re using some negotiation tactics and we’re talking big money, you know, huge chunks of this company that was already proving successful. And I say, well, you know, I’m going to hold this Mount prob back and probably put it in a trust for my kids. And he stops me right there. And he goes, I don’t give a fuck about your imaginary kids. And I just started, I just started laughing and I was like, yeah, man, you’re right. Fuck it. I don’t have any fucking kids. Alright, here’s what we’re talking about. It just like, it was a good reminder, like, you know, that wasn’t totally dishonest. I wasn’t lying.
I mean, definitely do want to hold back a percentage for my kids, but it wasn’t the most important fact there. There was some element of me kind of negotiating at that point and he just called that out right there, which is a beautiful thing that he does. Anytime he smells even the slightest with a bullshit, even the slightest fart that might come out that smells a little off, he’ll call you out on it. And um, you know, and that was great and I really learned the lesson from there. I was like, all right, straight hundred, like, I like this, this is, this is awesome. So, and it’s really been that way ever since.
Yeah, that’s really cool. That’s really cool to hear. Uh, that kind of a relationship that you guys have. Um, and, uh, I bet it helps, you know, as a bringing on a business partner, which can be challenging. Right. Um, but just being open, honest, and having good communication. And it sounds like you guys do so, um, w where do you see on it going from here, from here on out, and how does Onnit stay relevant? What are the biggest challenges that you guys foresee coming in the supplement industry in general? Sorry, that was a lot of questions.
I mean, I think the, the future is, is extremely broad. I mean, we have such a broad category. I mean, we really catering to anybody who wants to improve any aspect of their performance or any aspect of their life, get the most out of their life. You know, I don’t think there’s any threat to that becoming non-relevant, you know, as long as we don’t get complacent and always look to improve our offerings, improve our products, stay current with the times. But I feel really confident in that because we don’t have any particular position. We’re trying to defend, you know, so many other people in this space, you know, whether they’re paleo or this thing or that thing, they have this fixed set of beliefs that they’re attached to and they’re attached to defending those beliefs because they built their platform upon them. You know, so if other science or other information comes out, you know, they’ll, you know, they’re, they’re not going to adapt to that.
They’re going to kind of get defensive and hold their ground and they’re going to play this play, this game. No, my way is better. And everybody’s just starts bickering about this. We have nothing like that. We’re just dedicated to human optimization. However, the research and whatever science says is the best way to do that. We’re going to flow with that. And that goes from our training methodology, from everything we’re doing unconventionally to traditional barbell. You know, we’re not like staking a claim and saying this is the only way saying these are all the ways. What do you want? What’s going to be best for you? And, and by having that approach, I don’t really feel like we have any risk of becoming outdated or some new information coming out. We’ll just flow with the truth, you know, as best we can find it. So, you know, that’s really encouraging looking forward to the future. And um, you know, I see only things, you know, everybody, everybody that we work with loves how they feel and loves the experience of working with on it internally. Um, the employees are happy, I’m happy. Uh, our customers are happy. I mean it’s, it’s really, it’s really a beautiful thing and I see it only getting bigger and you know, magnifying an intensity and amplification from here.
Man, I love this. I love that philosophy. I’m like smiling over here. Yeah, it’s very, I always surprised. I’m always surprised. It’s always the joke. The people that follow us know being drew are very different and people probably think that I’m like the weird woo one. And I don’t believe in any specific training, routine or diet. I believe in intuitive eating and intuitive exercise and all of the things that you’re talking about. And I have never heard a supplement company talk about this. And now like the truth is, I’ve never tried on it. I want to try it now just because of your, just because of how it feels of the company, the philosophy and of course also because of how you guys regulate your, your business and your products and the quality behind it of course, because of that too. But honestly, if I’m being completely honest, because I’m not a huge supplement person because of your philosophy, like that is such a beautiful approach because there isn’t one right rate for everybody. Everybody’s different. Everyone’s body’s different. And it’s so arrogant for anybody in this industry to come and approach it in a way that boxes everybody into a box. You know, we don’t all fit into that same box.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, and I, and I appreciate that and I look forward to having you try our stuff for sure. But that’s exactly how we feel. You know, when we work with even our, we do a lot of our, um, marketing through podcast advertising and the way that we approach that is we don’t, you know, tell them this is what you need to talk about. This is your read. We send them a box of our stuff and we say, Hey, whatever you find in here that works best for you, because there’s a bunch of tools in his tool shed, you’re going to find something that really resonates with you. Some of this stuff won’t just talk about the stuff that you love. And inevitably, you know, we don’t, we never know exactly what that’ll be. We have some ideas, you know, but um, you know, sometimes we get totally surprised.
Like with Adam Corolla, he decided he wanted to talk about our jump rope, like the sentiment box of all this stuff. And he’s like, man, you guys have the best jump rope. Cool. I talked about that. You know, I love that. It’s really, it’s really, we really try to keep it, we keep try to keep it real all the way through, you know, so that no matter how deeply you cut into this company, um, you know, you’ll continue to see consistently the same thing. You know, it’s, it’s all the way through to the bone for myself to the people who work here and, and it’s all really real.
Yeah. And I think people can feel that people are listening to this I think are just going to feel your energy and connect with that. And my opinion, like honestly we didn’t bring you on here to, to promote on it to be honest with you. I just wanted to talk to you cause I know you’re a cool guy and I met you in Vegas one time and I’m like, you know Sean Stevenson talks to the world of you. And so that’s the reason I brought you on as, this isn’t a promotion for on it to be honest with you. But I think even Lynn sold,
well, it’s funny if we’re being really, if we’re being really honest, I almost didn’t even come to do this one. Drew does some of the policy due to some of the podcasts on his own. And then I jumped. I do, I would say I do 75% with him, but there’s a 25% where sometimes it’s just the scheduling and honestly sometimes it’s that he’ll tell me who we’re interviewing and I’m like, I’m not interested. And so he was like, he told me what the one was today and I did have actually have some crazy backstory of a cat I’m fostering that kept me up all night. And so I had a migraine and I was really tired and I was like, Oh, talking to somebody that owns a supplement company pass. So I almost didn’t come today and I’m so glad I did. This was completely not what I expected. And so refreshing. And really one of the best conversations I’ve talked to to dozens and dozens of supplement companies. They approach us all the time asking us to promote their product or to sponsor them. And I’m, I’m never interested in you. This is really interesting.
Well, I’m glad. Well you got one fan too. I was already a fan, but okay. Um, we’re running out of time, but really quick, I kind of want to talk to you about your meditation practice and I noticed like on your website you have these binaural beats, um, and I can’t remember the guy’s name from Brazil that you brought on that has this, yes, yes. Can you talk about that and what the benefits of that type of meditation are?
I know beets are interesting. It’s really a category of brainwave entrainment. And this isn’t a really a new concept. I mean, you can even think about bringing war drums to battle or helping you March, you know, there’s certain ways that certain patterns of sound can help entrain, you know, kind of brainwave and, and, and get you in certain a certain type of trance state and binaural beats or just a particular type of this technology in which you have slightly sinked audio between left and right ear. That creates a, a phenomenon called beating, which is basically this pulsing of the sound and the pulsing of the sound helps to entrain your brain waves to regulate, to modulate in a certain particular direction. Um, and I find it incredibly effective. For me, it’s very similar. I liken it to, I do a lot of sensory deprivation tanks and floating and I liken it to a way to, to float, but just being dry at the same time, you know, it really helps drop from, you know, traditionally most of the time we’re in, we’re in beta brainwave state.
That’s what we’re in almost all the time. We’re doing things. And then when you get more in flow state, whether you’re writing something or performing or surfing or whatever, you know, you, you tend to fall more into alpha state. And they actually have shown research that like a basketball player who’s shooting free throws is if he shoots a brick and just bounces it off the rim clang, he gets a spike in beta activity. So beta is associated with stress, anxiety, fear, you know, kind of alertness in a certain level. Um, and what the binaural beats do is they just kind of help train the brain to relax into those, uh, alpha States and potentially even those data States. You know, it’s a really interesting phenomenon. I have one particular track that I’ll lie down and within 10 minutes, um, everybody around me insists that I’m snoring, but I’m swear that I’m fully conscious.
So that’s a good sign to know that you’re in those kinds of feta, uh, data brainwave States. So, um, I really liked that and I think it’s just a cool tool to have and I don’t suppose that it would work for everybody. And you know, people’s brains are different. But for me, um, it’s just a really cool thing to have in my shed. And I do it a couple of times a week. I wouldn’t call it exactly the same as meditation, although it can certainly foster, you know, kind of a meditative brainwave state. Um, but for actual meditation, you know, I like a variety of different other methods and actually have a guided meditation up on my site as well, which, uh, which borrows from a few different practices.
Yeah, I was actually going to let people know about that. They can, I think, sign up for your newsletter and get a free download, right? Yup. Yup. Okay. So that’s our Brie marcus.com. Right? Yeah, yeah. We’ll put that in the show notes and stuff. But no, Lynn and I are big into meditation and you know, I’m always looking for new ways to meditate. Um, you know, cause I, for me it’s just, it’s so new. Well, a couple of years that I’m, you know, just getting started and so I’m always looking for new things to help out with that. So, um, yeah, thanks for talking about that. I appreciate that. Okay. Yep. Before you go, cause we know you got to go, we have a few quick kinda questions.
Oh you know. Oh dang. I like when people aren’t prepared I guess. Okay. Yeah. So obviously you’re already aware, we like to just do a few quick questions, basically answer as quickly and honestly as possible. And I, I’m going to be switching them up now that I actually talked to him because I’m going to ask him more interesting questions. Okay. Do you want to start first? Do you want me to do it? I’ll go first. Okay, go ahead.
Okay. This one isn’t really funny or anything like that, but okay. Arbery what’s one body image issue you’ve had overcome in your life or maybe you’re still working on overcoming?
I have a tiny block.
It’s not like a big deal, but you know, I definitely noticed, especially like if I go out to the jungle or something or if I’m, you know, fasting for a while, it’s like my tiny but gets even smaller and I’m like, man, what the hell is going on over here? But I would say that would be it. Yeah.
If it makes you feel better. I feel like most men have small bumps just to make you feel better. I don’t know if it makes you feel better, I just tell Ben. Yeah. Okay. All right. If you had to pick an animal that you feel like is like your spirit animal, what would it be?
A bear. Yeah. I’ve had a connection with, uh, with bears for a long time. And, um, I don’t know. You know, I, I see them in some of my visions and I’ve gone out and seen him in the woods, hung with them, and, um, really, really cool. They’re very kind of humanlike and you know, they’ve taught me a lot of lessons just being out there and hanging out with the bears.
Gotcha. You’ve seen the revenue, right? Grizzly bears, the people who’ve hung with grizzly bears, they get a much different vibe. But the black bears, black bears were mostly curious and it’s as long as you, I felt really comfortable kind of sinking into their vibe, but apparently Grizzlies are just looking at you and trying to decide whether they want to eat you or fuck you. Like that’s the only decision. Okay. Do you have any tattoos?
I do have a bunch. Yeah. I have a samurai and a cherry blossom tree on my ribs. Big piece. Um, and then I have my grandmother’s portrait and a Raven and actually a bear claw necklace that my mother gave me on a half sleeve on my arm. And on the inside is a rattlesnake with two tails.
Cool man. Your grandma sounds like she was really cool providing you with supplements and a bear Klein necklace. You got different parts of the family that my grandmother to my mother gave me the bear claw necklace and my stepmother provided me the supplement. So I’ve been very blessed with a lot of amazing women in my life.
Awesome. Okay. Well is the most influential book that you’ve ever read? I know that might be a hard one, but if you had to pick one or you can pick two if you have to.
Yeah. You know, I’d have to say probably the mastery of love by Don Miguel Ruiz. Um, that book, you know, and his Toltec philosophy in general has been probably the most impactful of anything that I’ve read. You know, love is such an important force in our life. The most important. Yeah. So, and, and really understanding that. And, uh, and as he said, practice makes the master, but it’s practicing it in the right way and understanding what it is. You know, I think we have a lot of concepts of love that are mixed with a lot of other emotions, attachment, ego, desire, you know, all of these things and really understanding what clean love is and, and really being able to practice that. I mean, that’s, that’s my life’s work really is to just becoming, you know, a master of love. I mean, what, what else is there? The rest is play, you know, and that’s play too. But, um, but that’s probably the most important book.
Gotcha. Okay. So really quick, last couple of questions. In one of your talks, you talked about this, this girl from theater class, Sally James. Do you know whatever happened to her? Do you keep in touch with her? Cause I know you had a crush on her and you were trying to, that’s the reason you joined theater, right? Because of Sally James. Totally. Totally. Yeah.
I w I was, I was, I felt for that girl hard. Like I was really into her. Um, and that was when I was at university of Richmond and she was dating this like rockstar boyfriend at the time. And we hung out a little bit, but nothing ever happened. And I wrote so much poetry about, about that girl. I mean, probably the most prolific writing period of my life. And you know, she reached out. Um, she’s reached out a couple times actually within the last five years. And, um, you know, I thought, I always thought in my head maybe I’d have that kind of Toby Keith song when she ever reached out.
God, you like me now,
calm. I was just like, Oh, Hey Sally, how are you doing? And I just really wasn’t compelled at all, you know, it was, you know, such a such a chapter so long ago. And I was a different person then and she was a different person that it didn’t really even trigger anything. But, uh, now I’m just settled low and wished her well and, and that’s pretty much it. But I think she’s a lawyer somewhere and I’m sure she’s killing it.
I got ya. That’s no, I just had to bring that out. So that was funny. Um, okay, last question. Pretty good. Pretty good. Lightening round questions. Like you’re doing a good job. I’m like, I don’t know anything about you to be honest, but you do a little bit now. I did some research and I’m like, wow, okay. Have you ever, this is the last question. Have you ever been overweight? And if not, would you ever consider doing a fit to fat to fit experiment? Because that’s what my brand is, right? You know, I gained and lost the 75 pounds. So have you ever been overweight? And if not, would you ever consider doing this?
No, I haven’t. And, um, I think for me it’s actually a struggle to keep weight on. And I know that might be something that a lot of people don’t like hearing, but it’s, it’s an, it’s an interesting factor. And I think one of the issues that I’ve had is that I’ve really struggled with my gut biome since I was young. I had chronic strep throat for many, many years, and I think I really just depleted, um, my ability to absorb nutrients and that’s something that I’ve been working on. And as that’s gotten better, I’ve been able to kind of, um, you know, get the nutrients out of my, out of the food that I was eating and really keep a little bit of weight on, but still, nonetheless, most things just kind of pass through me. So that’s been, uh, that’s been my challenge. And, you know, even if I wanted to try that experiment, I certainly wouldn’t.
I know, you know, how, how, what I would have to do and what the effects would have on my body, uh, to do that. But I, I applaud, you know, I applaud in the, in the name of science, um, your efforts to do that and to show people that it is possible, um, to do whatever you want to do. You know, there are no fixed limitations. You can, you can do what you can do whatever you want, if you really put the effort and the dedication and the diligence behind it. Um, so not for me, I don’t even know if I could, if I wanted to. Um, but, uh, but you know, definitely applaud the effort.
Well, thanks man. I appreciate that. And dang, man, we’re, we’re out of time, Robert. I want people to just be able to know where to find him and actually, I’m going to find you, I’m gonna follow you on Instagram if you have an Instagram.
I do. Yeah. It’s just at Aubrey Marcus, um, pretty much everything. Is that at Aubrey Marcus on Twitter, Instagram? Um, I think even Facebook. Is that so pretty, pretty consistent there. It’s um, one of the benefits. Yeah,
I’m following. Wow, that’s
unusual name. Yeah. Yeah. I put a lot of stuff out on my Facebook page and my Instagram page, different workout stuff and a lot of kind of short, um, philosophical ramblings and things like that. So if anybody’s interested, check that out.
Yeah, I know you’re a great writer by the way too, man. We’ll have to, we’re going to have to have you back on the future. There’s so much stuff we couldn’t cover, but, well that’s for another time. My, my pleasure guys. This was great. Okay. Thank you so much Albert for coming on and we appreciate it.
Absolutely. Sounds good.
Thank you guys so much for listening to today’s podcast episode with Aubrey Marcus. We hope you enjoyed it. We hope you found a few gyms, um, from this episode that you can apply in your life. If you guys are fans of the podcast, please support us if you want to as to keep this podcast going, there is a donate button on the podcast page on our website. If you want to help contribute to seeing this podcast thrive. Also other ways you can support, you know, if you don’t have any, if you’re not able to, um, you know, put down a donation, that’s totally fine. You can go to iTunes and subscribe to our podcast. You can talk to your friends and family about it, share it on social media, leave us a review on iTunes, those kinds of things. Also help, you know, with our reviews and that helps boost our podcast. So we appreciate all you guys’ support in any way possible. Uh, reach out to us on social media. If you guys want to get ahold of us, I’m at fit to fat to fit on everything. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, my website fit to [inaudible] dot com and you check out my book fits fit to fit, um, to keep in touch with me. I do have a newsletter as well that’ll keep you in the know. Um, so you can receive weekly updates of, you know, new podcast episodes and new upcoming events that I’ll be at.
Yeah, my Instagram and Facebook is the number to fit@homeandmywebsiteisthenumbertofitathome.com and I also have a newsletter sign up on my page that you can put your email in it if you want to subscribe. And I tried to send out at least a newsletter once a month, sometimes more if I can fit it in.
Yeah. Thank you guys so much for listening. We hope you’ll be back here with us next week for another great episode here on the fit defense fit experience podcast. Have a great day. You guys.
