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Licensed psychologist Dr. Jen McWaters, and wellness coach Kaitlin Reed, join forces to help women create an abundant life through holistic wellness practices, mindset shifts, and fostering a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. Join us as we take a deep dive and uncover the raw truth about mental health, nutrition, fitness, and beyond, offering insights and strategies for transformative growth.
Dr. Jen McWaters is a licensed psychologist and a holistic wellness coach for women. She is a Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional and is passionate about helping high-achieving women overcome their mental blocks, find freedom from anxiety, and create an abundant life inside and out. Find out more about her work at: awakeningholistichealth.com
Kaitlin Reed is a fitness, nutrition, and mental wellness coach on a mission to help women build the body and life they deserve and desire. She has BAs in Health Promotion and Wellness & Fitness Management, MA in Performance Psychology, currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Health Psychology. Her goal is to help women finally understand the science and strategy of nutrition and exercise so they can achieve their goals and live an empowered life. Head over to kaitlinreedwellness.com to learn more.
DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with your personal physician if you have any personal medical questions.
Welcome to the Counter Culture Health podcast. I'm doctor Jen McWaters. And I'm coach Caitlin Reed. We're here to help high achieving women overcome mental blocks, find freedom from anxiety, create an abundant life, and build the body and life that they deserve and desire. In this weekly podcast, we'll uncover the raw truth about mental health, nutrition, fitness, and beyond.
Jen:Let's get to it.
Kaitlin:Hello, friends. Welcome back to Counter Culture Health, and thank you so much for joining us on another episode. Today, I have a special guest and good friend, Lincoln. And today, we are gonna talk about all things fitness, specifically his journey with fitness, how he got into bodybuilding, how that impacted his relationship with his body, food, training, how it impacted his mental health, body dysmorphia, steroid usage, how it ruined his hormones, and then kind of get into how his views and approach with fitness has changed and how he trains today and the approach that he takes with people today. So, Lincoln, thanks for joining us, and so happy to have you on today.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Thanks for having me. It is exciting to be here to discuss these topics.
Kaitlin:Yes. So I'm going to read your bio, and then we'll get right into it just so people kinda know who you are, where you came from, and what you do. So Lincoln is a navy veteran and has over 8 years of experience in the training industry. His journey began with a passion for bodybuilding, leading him to compete in over 10 competitions, including 2 national level appearances and has also had the privilege of training others to excel on the bodybuilding stage. His educational background is extensive and diverse.
Kaitlin:He holds a master's degree in performance psychology alongside certifications as a personal trainer, performance enhancement specialist, and a 200 hour yoga instructor certification, which he completed in India. As his experiences in education evolved, so has his approach to training. He transitioned from a bodybuilding specific focus to a unique blend that emphasizes energy management, habit regulation, and the training the body to enhance mobility and strength through a full range of motion. His programs are designed to develop a powerful foundation promoting overall functional strength. Given the advanced nature of this training style, he works exclusively with individuals who have already mastered the fundamental principles of strength and hypertrophy.
Kaitlin:His ultimate goal is to help his clients create sustainable lifestyles that enable them to live their best, most functional lives.
Lincoln Marti:Thank you for
Kaitlin:that. Yes. Welcome once again. And I first wanna start off with sharing your journey on how you got into fitness and what led you into bodybuilding.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. So fitness really started when I was 19. I was 2nd year in college. It was right before I joined the military, and I just kinda got addicted to weight training. Now I knew nothing about weight training, so everything I was doing was very bro science, just what I could find on the Internet.
Lincoln Marti:When I finally did join the Navy, I was reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's Cyclopedia. That was something that I studied extensively along with just, like, fitness magazines and, trying to learn what I could about supplements. And my only goal was really to get as big and strong as possible. I didn't do my first bodybuilding show until my, really my final year in the military. I did a natural bodybuilding show.
Lincoln Marti:At that point, I had not stepped into the steroid, world yet. So I did an all natural bodybuilding competition, and I had fun with it. And I I wasn't really planning on doing it again, and then a buddy of mine asked me to do another competition a couple years later. And I did that, and that's when I got really sucked in. And from there, I just kinda got obsessed with bodybuilding.
Lincoln Marti:Within my 1st year, I'd qualified to go to a, go to the national stage to try to earn my pro card, and that's when I started to get into the the steroid use. And from there, I spent probably 3 years just fully focused on bodybuilding. I think I do a competition almost every 3 months, which if there's anyone out there who has had friends or family who've done a competition or done it themselves, it's a very, stressful process, stressful on the body, stressful on the mind. You're really pushing yourself to for myself, a male, get down into the 4 to 5% body fat range, which you can maintain for a very short period of time, but that's not realistic. But as someone in my mid twenties, I would see myself, in a unhealthy shredded state, and I just wanted to be there all the time.
Lincoln Marti:But then there'd be a rebound. You'd you because you're dieting for so long, so strict that after your show, you'd you eat a bunch of food. You start to gain some weight. You start to dislike what you see in the mirror. And then for myself, I didn't really recognize that I was in this kind of cycle of, body dysmorphia.
Lincoln Marti:I didn't realize I had that. I didn't realize that there is any style of, eating disorder happening, but I would continue to set show dates 3 to 4 months away from each other. So it forced me to get back onto a strict diet. It forced me to cut back down to that 4 or 5% body fat, And then I finished my competition, eat a bunch of food, gain weight, and then kinda keep going back to that repetitive cycle. And I did that I did that for 3 to 4 years.
Lincoln Marti:And after a period of time, I finally recognized kind of the mental toll I was taking, and I had to just step away completely. And it was really hard for me to to even stop using MyFitnessPal as a tracking app. Like, the first, like, 2 weeks that I chose not to use that and not to track every single calorie that I was eating, it was, it was hard. It was like trying to break an addiction. Like, every time I'd make a meal, the first thing I wanted to do was weigh my food, plug it into MyFitnessPal, track everything that that I was doing.
Lincoln Marti:So, yeah, I'm not sure if that fully answered your question, but that was kind of my what got me into bodybuilding and short answer of experiences.
Kaitlin:Mhmm. Yeah. I think that so a lot of people get into fitness for, say struggle with some sort of insecurity, whether they want to lose weight or whether they're, skinny and want to gain weight. Do you feel like that was kind of the motivator to get you into strength training and then kind of perpetuated into bodybuilding?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. For sure. So I was I was pretty small growing up, like freshman in high school. I was 4.11, £95. So out of my friend group, I was always by far the smallest.
Lincoln Marti:So I I would definitely say that lifting weights started to give me a self confidence that I never had. And then I was blessed with relatively decent genetics. So as I started lifting weights, I started to achieve a body that I could be proud of. And I did that. I was I was lifting heavy and just from kind of my own desire for it for 4 to 5 years before I got into bodybuilding.
Lincoln Marti:So I didn't jump straight into the bodybuilding world. But once I got into that is when I really became obsessed to, I would say, I would say it was a unhealthy state, but I also learned so much discipline through that. Like, you know, the military sets a disciplinary structure that is very, very good for us. But getting out of the military, I wanted to set my own structure, and I wanted to break away, and I was a little rebellious in many ways. And once I was out, bodybuilding gave me a structure and a discipline that I could build off of myself.
Lincoln Marti:And even still, I can I always can get back to those disciplined ways if I need to? I don't find it necessary because with bodybuilding, you know you know you're counting every calorie, weighing every food that you eat. And luckily over the years, I have been able to find a way to do that more intuitively. But I was will say that my years of utilizing my fitness pal gave me the knowledge that I kinda know what I'm putting into my body just by eyeballing it because I did weigh it for so long. I learned to look at the back of, like, ingredient lists.
Lincoln Marti:What's my protein intake, fat intake, carb intake? And as I progressed, I've gotten be cared more about beyond macronutrients, what's the micronutrients, what actual value am I am I getting from my food more than just protein, carbs, fat.
Kaitlin:Right. Yeah. And I'm glad you brought up that point, because I think packing is a touchy subject. You know? It can be very helpful and a very good tool to use, but it can also become an obsession and control everything about, your life and get obsessed with it.
Kaitlin:But it it it is a very helpful tool as well, and that's that is I'm gonna bring up that argument that it's not always a bad thing, because it does teach you a lot about food. It it is a tool to help you learn about food and portion sizes, and it doesn't have to be a forever thing. Like, you can use it for a period of time to learn the the skills that you need to, and then you're able to go off and do it on your own. But I think it's you know, can be helpful for a lot of people for a few weeks, few months as they're starting the journey until they kind of really get a good grip on what their plate should look like, what their meal should look like.
Lincoln Marti:Absolutely. Yeah. Even when I initially work with clients, I don't I don't I don't give nutrition, plans or anything like that. I I try to talk to them and figure out what what they can do realistically long term. But one of the things that a lot of times I'll recommend is to at least download MyFitnessPal and use it for, if nothing else, 2 to 3 weeks to just get an idea for, hey.
Lincoln Marti:What are you putting in your body? See like, be honest with yourself. Like, I don't I don't care what people eat. I don't judge people off of what they eat. I want them to get a real feel for what they're actually putting into their body.
Lincoln Marti:Sometimes for the first time, someone's looking at an ingredient list, and they're like, I didn't realize that this food had this much fat or this many carbs. So sometimes just using that, it allows for an awareness of what you're putting into your body that you might have just been pulling off the shelf and eating, without even a second thought before. So, yeah, same. I don't I never want anyone to feel like they have to use MyFitnessPal forever. Now if now I don't work with competitors anymore.
Lincoln Marti:I went down that road for a while. I've chosen that that's not my the path that I want. But for a competitor, they have to. Because they have to if you're trying to get down to a 4 to 5% body fat, you have to know every single macronutrient that's going into your body. And without it, it's impossible to get there.
Lincoln Marti:Yep. The majority of people just wanna live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. And for that, sometimes utilizing a MyFitnessPal is beneficial for a short period of time. But I I don't want anyone to be weighing every piece of food that they're eating forever.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Yeah. A very restrictive way to live, which and we can kinda talk about that. Like, how restrictive was well, first, let me back up. I wanna first point out that you can you can live a very healthy life and achieve a very, good physique, you know, build muscle, without having to take a bodybuilder style approach.
Kaitlin:And I think sometimes people think, like, oh, I wanna get fit, so I need to go down this bodybuilding route or I wanna look like that. So it's very possible to achieve that without having to go down that route, because as you will share with us how restrictive that lifestyle is, style is, you know, it it was detrimental to you how it impacted your mental health. So can you kinda share with us, that journey and the impact that it had on you?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. So I didn't I didn't recognize how poor it was for my mental health until I was kinda out of the world. I didn't recognize that I had body dysmorphia or that I, in a sense, had a eating disorder until I stepped away from it. Because I in my mind, I was just competing for my next show. I was just setting a deadline without really recognizing that part of the reason I was setting a deadline was because I was not pleased with how my figure had changed because I I could get off I could get off stage at 185, 190, and within a week be at 2:12.
Lincoln Marti:So there was a, like, a 20 to 25 pound weight fluctuation. And I know people who had gained £50 in 3 days after bodybuilding competition. So it's a very one of the unhealthy elements of the bodybuilding world is that people do they go from one extreme to another. They go from extreme, diet restrictions to just complete freedom, which, of course, your body then it just goes through these huge fluctuations. And when you start to look more into what that actually causes, you're throwing your body out of homeostasis, which means, emotionally, you're gonna be out of the loop.
Lincoln Marti:You can throw your hormones out of whack pretty dramatically. There are I know too many women who they did a bodybuilding show, and, it took them years to reregulate their hormones. They would lose their periods, wouldn't regain it, wouldn't gain regular periods for a long period of time, had extreme issues with weight gain. They couldn't couldn't lose weight. So so when done improperly, which the majority do, that's not to say everybody does that.
Lincoln Marti:There's always people who do things very well. They're, you know, checking their blood levels and and everything and making sure everything's healthy. But for the average bodybuilder, and myself as an example, I was going just through these massive fluctuations. And it wasn't until I stepped away from it and kind of worked on more of a, level playing field and started focusing more on finding just balance in life that I recognized the insane fluctuations I was going through. And not only that with food, then I added steroids into the mix.
Lincoln Marti:And I was taking very heavy doses for my bodybuilding competitions. So then, of course, then your hormones again are out of whack from that, plus the the weight weight gain and change and the diet restrictions and, binge binge eating.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Walk us through so I wanna touch on a couple different things of, body dysmorphia, how being too lean, is detrimental for our health for both, men and women, the impact steroids has on you, for both men and women, and then kind of how we can recover from all of that. So talk us talk to us about how being too lean and not having enough body fat, can impact our health as a male and and female?
Lincoln Marti:Well, certain levels of body fat are are healthy. I mean, I think sometimes in the fitness culture, we view fat as bad. But, you know, fat storage is when our body has a certain level of fat storage, it feels comfortable operating normally because it knows if we get into a situation to where we don't have food, we're gonna be safe. But when you start to whittle your body fat down to 5%, 6%. I mean, even anything below 8%, your body starts like, every every commercial that I watch for every food that I don't care about eating, my body my mind is, like, you must eat that.
Lincoln Marti:So your whole I I I would say I thought about food all day every day for months, and that's not healthy. You can't really focus on anything else. You become obsessed with food because that's what your body needs. Your body temperature decreases. You so it's harder to stay warm.
Lincoln Marti:I mean, luckily, I was living in California, so, you know, weather's good mostly year round. Well and I I guess I'd ask, do you have other do you have other things that you would add before I move on from the body fat, health health reasons? I mean, you more I'd say more specifically towards females, you probably know more about that than I do.
Kaitlin:Right. Yeah. Well, that's you know, you brought up the menstrual cycle earlier and how a lot of females lose that when they get too lean or they're overtraining or not fueling themselves properly. And that is that is the first sign of health for us, you know, if if we have our cycle and everything is functioning properly. And so if that's not regular or if you lose it, there's definitely something going on, and that often happens when women try to get too lean.
Kaitlin:And so I would say for females, get even getting under, like, 20% body fat is pushing it, and and questionable too. And so just knowing that it's okay to have body fat, it's healthy for us to have body fat, and then it will set us it it allows our body to feel safe so it can function properly.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And for men, I know a lot of times athletes sit in, like, the 12% range.
Kaitlin:Mhmm.
Lincoln Marti:That's just that's a good range for men, like, peak athletes to be in. Women obviously carry around a higher percentage of body fat on a regular basis. So, I think a big thing is to not get, you know, don't get so focused on the numbers of it. I mean and you can tell by just looking at someone.
Kaitlin:Right.
Lincoln Marti:What may be healthy, what might not be. But then I'll transition into the steroid use and abuse. So I used I used a lot while I was, bodybuilding. I will say the one thing that I was always very smart about was I would never run a cycle longer than 12 to 14 weeks, and then I would always get off. I'd run the proper post cycle support to, get my natural test levels back to normal, and I would typically take off 6 to 8 months before I do get on another cycle.
Lincoln Marti:Now there were some instances where I took off less time. That being said, I am blessed because I do not require testosterone at this point to function normally. With all the use and abuse, I actually didn't permanently destroy my hormones. Now I do expect at a certain age, I will be on it long term. The last cycle I did was year and a half ago, 2 years ago, and I did one for 3 months, got off almost regulated back to normal.
Lincoln Marti:I'll probably actually get back on for another one here in the next 4 to 5 months for a longer period of time. Sometimes I just like to experiment and see how the body reacts and responds to things. I find the more I've done with myself and the more that I experiment, the more I know and I can talk with clients. Because there are there are a significant amount of people within the fitness industry that are using some type of performance enhancement. I would say upwards of 85 to 90% of people have used or are going to use.
Lincoln Marti:And that and maybe that number is a little high, but I have worked in the in the fitness world for a little under 10 years. And within the majority of the gyms I've worked within, there is a high number of people who have have used it, are using it, or are interested in using it. So I found that at least with my experiences, I can if someone has the desire, I have the ability to, talk them through some safety things they wanna keep in consideration.
Kaitlin:Mhmm.
Lincoln Marti:Of course, I'll never prescribe anything to anybody. But but when someone makes a decision that they wanna do something, you can't stop them. So I'd rather be educated and be able to, provide some information and guidance of where they can learn the proper ways to use, versus just just telling people not to use at all, because that's that's not related. Someone makes a decision, they're gonna do something, they're gonna do it. Yep.
Lincoln Marti:Mhmm. But luckily luckily, I didn't destroy my hormones from it.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Well, what drove you to start using? Was it did body dysmorphia play a role? Like, you felt like you always wanted to get bigger? Or,
Lincoln Marti:Honestly, the first time, I just wanted to see what it was gonna do. I was just curious about what my what my body would feel like, what changes could be made. So the first time I did it, I actually was not bodybuilding. The second time I did it, I was in the bodybuilding world. The first time I just did it for it's really just to see what it was gonna do.
Lincoln Marti:But I did it. I think I gained, like, 20, £25 of muscle within, like, 2 to 3 months. So it was it was cool. It was a great experience. But after that, I decided I was like, that was cool, but I don't think I need to do it again.
Kaitlin:Mhmm. But then
Lincoln Marti:I got to the bodybuilding world where it was very it was almost required because I was competing in the NPC, which leads to the IFBB, which is the highest level of professional bodybuilding, and they don't test. So when an organization doesn't test, basically, if you're not using a steroid cycle, you're not trying. You're not giving yourself a fair chance to compete because everybody else is using, and everybody knows that everybody else is using. So, really, what you're trying to do is just use that as one of the elements of your your training. Your training obviously still has to be there.
Lincoln Marti:Your diet still has to be there. The steroids just adds an extra level of muscle density that remains, cuts and striations. So it allows you to be as big and as lean as possible when you step onto the bodybuilding stage. Because, obviously, when you're dropping down into the low body fat percentage, your body's gonna start eating that muscle tissue. So part of the steroid use was to try to hang on to muscle tissue while in that, extreme deficit.
Kaitlin:What are some negative effects that you experienced from, using the steroids. And maybe you can talk on the female aspect of it too, some negative side effects that females could experience from that too.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. So, the females there's a lot of females that use. That is also very common. If I am working with a female who is interested in utilizing steroids, I just tell them to be aware of, your voice might start to lower. Pay attention to your female parts to see if there's any changes, because that is something when testosterone is added into the system.
Lincoln Marti:Those are 2 of the initial changes that would start to happen in terms of negative side effects. Obviously, women are still gonna gain muscle gain, fat loss as a benefit, and some women can take, low doses and not have any negative effects. But if there are women in a gym who are sound kinda like a dude, more likely than not, they're they have experimented with some things. So that that's just super basics for women. For men, there's lots of different issues.
Lincoln Marti:We can have gyno. That's where there's hardness in the nipples. It's where estrogen has been elevated to too high of levels. There are a lot of mental side effects. I've had issues with that.
Lincoln Marti:There were certain compounds that I would take that would well, for 1, I'd just be more on edge in general. So kinda what I I always tell people is whatever your emotional levels are, if you're, like, easy to anger or if you get super depressed, whatever wherever you kinda ride on, the emotional roller coaster, steroids is just gonna enhance that. So if you're easy to anger, you're gonna get angry even quicker, and it's gonna elevate at a at a higher rate. So road rage would be something that would happen to me. I'd go into some pretty I'd have some pretty dark thoughts, especially taking certain compounds.
Lincoln Marti:And then there's a lot of, a lot of people when they abuse and they don't use a proper post cycle, they will destroy their testosterone levels. So they will have to be on a synthetic testosterone forever. And, you know, that's why you have a bunch of doctors that prescribe TRT, which is testosterone replacement therapy. You have tons of men. I mean and, you know, low testosterone goes more than people abusing steroids.
Lincoln Marti:It's diet, food, sleep. We Yeah.
Kaitlin:I was just gonna say, I think it's the lifestyle people are living today in general has caused Yes. Testosterone levels to plummet significantly. Yes.
Lincoln Marti:Yep. But that is another way that it can happen. So that's just another, avenue to kinda ruining testosterone levels. And then every time I'd get off a cycle as I was going through the transition of synthetic testosterone to, regenerating my own natural test levels, I'd always go through about a 3 week slump to where I'd have more depression than normal, lack of motivation to work out. You go from having, like, the craziest, like, pumps in the gym to having almost no you can hardly feel that you're working out.
Lincoln Marti:So those are just a few of the negatives, and it's hard to avoid them completely. Anytime you add something foreign into the system, there's gonna be some some type of side effect.
Kaitlin:Right. Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned earlier that most people in the fitness industry or a lot of them are on, look at certain look at certain people and say, oh, I wish I could look like that or I wanna look like that. Little do they know that they're on steroids, and that's why they look that way.
Kaitlin:And it's almost impossible to achieve that physique unless you're taking steroids. It's just not possible unless you're taking something. So I think that's important for people to understand is people that have these crazy physiques, or someone you're admiring or wanna look like or whatever, are often on something. And so it's like, how can peep people out here tell if someone is on something so they can be like, okay. I know that's not real or realistic or achievable just through living a natural lifestyle.
Lincoln Marti:Well, I would say that it you can't you can't always tell. There is a there's a softer look to a natural body. Anytime there's any type of, like, extreme, like, cuts, and that's not to say you can't get lean without steroids, but there's a different level of density and hardness that comes through on a a steroid body, extravascularity. I can. If someone claims to be natural, some people I believe based off of the just how not soft soft soft is the best word that I can use to describe someone who's more natural.
Lincoln Marti:I would say if anyone's wondering if someone's on steroids, assume they are, and and that's that's just the reality of the world that we live in. If they're not on steroids, they could be on some type of, peptide or HGH. There's just so much out there and so many avenues for people to have it prescribed to them as well that it's it's rare to find someone who either has not been on or is not on. And that's not to say that that's everyone. I don't wanna don't wanna claim that everybody who looks good in the fitness world is on the cycle because that's not true.
Lincoln Marti:But most there there's it's just it's just so common on out there. Mhmm. I it's kinda hard for me to describe to someone who is unfamiliar with the steroid world how to tell the difference. Once you bug become familiar, it's easier to pick it out. But, yeah, I can't I can't give, like, an exact description just other than the body is less vascular, and it's not, like, unrealistically, like, dense.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Yeah. But I think, all in all, it's good for people to know that there's a physique you can't achieve unless you're on something. But I
Lincoln Marti:would also say there's a lot of people who are on steroids who don't look that great, and it's because they're not taking ice into account. Their training might not be as, functional as it could be. So steroids, although they do work and they work very well, there's a lot of people who don't look as good as they wish they did that are taking steroids. So it's not a magic pill. It doesn't remove all body fat.
Lincoln Marti:It doesn't it doesn't remove, it it doesn't give everyone the perfect physique, but it helps. It works.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good point to bring up too. So tell us how you why you decided to get out of all of that, steps you had to take to recover to kind of repair your relationship with how you saw yourself, food, your training. Walk us through that journey and kinda why you decided to step out of that world and take the approach you take now.
Lincoln Marti:Well, the the the big change for me was 2020 when gym shut down. And I had to figure out how to do something different for a period of time, and I started just stretching a lot. So I was just at home, kinda like everybody else, trying to figure out what to do, And I would start I started stretching for, like, an hour a day. And that it was within that my first step back in the gym, I just moved different, and I realized I was never gonna do things exactly the same as I did before. During 2020, before the shutdowns happened, I had decided I was gonna get back on the bodybuilding stage.
Lincoln Marti:I'd already taken a break for a couple years, but I decided that that was gonna be when I was gonna go back to it. Shutdowns happened, and, I would say is what completely ended it for me for good. In terms of dieting, I'd already, at that point, been more intuitively eating. I would I would give give myself an estimate. I'd, like, kinda plug on average what I was eating into MyFitnessPal every, like, 3 to 4 months just to kind of, like, see where I was.
Kaitlin:And the spot check?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. But at that point, I was already I was already beyond the, the addiction to tracking all my calories, in terms of
Kaitlin:did you go from being obsessed with everything, having some anxiety with not weighing and tracking to going to more intuitive? Because, you know, even people that aren't in the bodybuilding world struggle with that.
Lincoln Marti:It was just a decision I had to make that I wasn't gonna be controlled by it. I mean and I would say it probably happened gradually. I've tried tons of different diets in my my time. I've done the intermittent fasting where I would fast for 16 hours, eat for 8. I had a period of time where I would eat for 1 hour a day and fast for 23.
Lincoln Marti:I've done the intermittent fasting where I'll fast for, like, 30 2 hours a week as in, like, stop eating Sunday night, start eating Tuesday morning. So it was kind of when I started to play around with the intermittent fasting back in 2018, 2019 time frame that I kinda stepped away from the from the calorie counting. That's not to say that I never utilized it, but I I probably replaced one addiction with just a new like, I I was just learning something different.
Kaitlin:Yeah. That was gonna be my comment. Was it, like, one restrictive thing to another restrictive thing that I swapped out?
Lincoln Marti:I would say that I found with so with the intermittent fasting, is it allowed me to eat more freely within you know, still within a restrictive, like, construct.
Kaitlin:Mhmm.
Lincoln Marti:So it was still restrictive, but it felt freeing in some ways because it released me from some of what I was doing. And and I would say that that that's something that I still kind of even now, like, I still sometimes have to get my diet back in order. I still sometimes look in the mirror, and I would say the body dysmorphia thing never goes away. I was overseas for 5 months. I was on a vegetarian diet for 2, and I wasn't weightlifting at all.
Lincoln Marti:And I probably dropped £25, and I was not happy with how I looked. Now I knew walking into that situation that it was gonna happen. I just got off a steroid cycle. I went to India, did a yoga training, did some mixed martial arts, so I knew that there was gonna be a complete change in my body. But to say that I accepted that change as, like, with open arms would be a lie.
Lincoln Marti:I I took a break midway through my travels. Basically, I went to Vietnam so I could eat meat and lift weights again. Like, I was like, I just need to, like, feel a certain way again, which is interesting. I'd actually hurt my knee during my yoga training, because I was, yeah, I was just pushing my limits and felt something kinda out of place. And it wasn't until I started weight training again that my knee got better.
Lincoln Marti:So
Kaitlin:And eating meat maybe had a role in that too?
Lincoln Marti:Yep. Yep. So I will for myself personally, I will not go on to a vegetarian diet long term. That's not to say that it can't work for people. I know for how how I want to look, how I want to perform.
Lincoln Marti:Meat is a very essential part of my diet. Red meat, specifically, I find myself having really good energy. Yeah. Eating red meat on a consistent basis.
Kaitlin:Same.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. No. I mean, that that's personal, and there are many reasons why people diet in various ways. But getting back to the body dysmorphia, even at and I'm I'm going on 35 now. I don't think I'll ever I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I I'm not bothered when my body looks a specific way.
Kaitlin:Mhmm.
Lincoln Marti:And luckily, I'm bothered luckily, I'm bothered at a point to where, you know, I still look half decent. So if it's not like I'm so far gone that it's hard to get back sorry I interrupted you.
Kaitlin:Yeah. No. I was just gonna say, I you know, I think a lot of people struggle with that. The differences between, do you allow it to control you and destroy you, or are you still able to recognize it and carry on with the rest of your day?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. And I would I would say what's important is to recognize it and then use it as like, okay. Well, because this is here, let me make a shift in my daily habits for a period of time to work myself back into, a better mental state about how I look. So I don't see it as necessarily a negative thing, but it's also something that I don't want to consume me like it once did.
Kaitlin:Right. Yeah. Yeah. Or drive you into another unhealthy direction of Yeah. Overtraining, dieting, you know, all this stuff to to yeah.
Kaitlin:Recognizing it, taking a healthy approach about it, not letting it control you and, destroy you mentally and physically.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Absolutely.
Kaitlin:Yeah. So tell us now how your approach has evolved from bodybuilding style training to, what you do now, why why your approach has evolved, how your views have shifted, and, how you train personally and how you train other people these days.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. So so bodybuilding is still a foundation of what I do. So I I would say that I don't lift traditionally anymore in terms of, I don't do, like, a chest day and a back day and a leg day. I have a different body split. Part of that came from when I was you know, I did a yoga certification.
Lincoln Marti:I got certified as an athletic trainer, adding that on top of my bodybuilding foundation. And then we obviously went were in our performance psychology program together. And within that, my whole focus really looking back was on energy management. So I've taken all of those kinda, like, philosophies of movement and, I guess, just healthy functioning in terms of, like, the psychology training that we had. And I constructed a a training program that kind of encapsulated all of it.
Lincoln Marti:I also reduced my training from 5 days a week. When I was bodybuilding, sometimes I'd lift 6 days a week as well, down to 3 days a week. I did the 3 days. I dropped to 3 days a week person because I I was having personal burnout.
Kaitlin:Mhmm.
Lincoln Marti:I was not enjoying my workouts anymore, and I used to I used to lift purely for the love of lifting, and I lost that passion for it. But then also what I was recognizing, I was like, well, most of my clients are only working out 2 to 3 days a week. So if they're working out 2 to 3 days a week and these people are functional, they're running businesses, they're high level professionals, and I was like, so if they're working out 3 days a week, how can I also work out 3 days a week and create the most full body functional training program that can benefit the most people on the shortest amount of time? And that was a big that was a huge shift for me. Now that's when I you know, after my yoga training and I'd lost a bunch of weight, I did go back to the gym 6 days a week for a period of time, just to kinda restimulate everything.
Lincoln Marti:But long term, the goal now for me is to move well, feel good, but then also be able to live life outside of the gym. I spent 8 years in California, and the majority of my time was in the gym. So I was out in this beautiful area with above average physique, and I was just spending all my time in the gym seeing 4 walls. So I was like, so how do I how do I I live life but still maintain the habits, to feel good and and look good? Because, again, that body dysmorphia doesn't go away.
Lincoln Marti:So 3 days is enough for me to maintain the physique that I want for myself, but then also feel good and move well. So I I would say I transitioned from bodybuilding to where I honestly thought that having, a sore lower back was normal. I was just like, well, I I lift weights. So so this is just how life is, and I accepted that. I wholeheartedly accepted that I was just gonna have a sore lower back for the rest of my life.
Lincoln Marti:And then when I started adding much more mobility training, I still do strength training, athletic training, stuff like that, but the mobility portion was huge. I know it was it was life changing for me.
Kaitlin:Mhmm. Yeah. Well, when you think about bodybuilding style training, it's, you know, bilateral movements in one plane, not super functional. You know? So you you start to get imbalances or those aches and pains or overuse or or something.
Kaitlin:So that's actually something that I recently started doing too was I have now taken my training down to 3 full body workouts a week and then, adding more mobility in there. I think 3 full body 2 to 3 full body workouts a week is, like, money.
Lincoln Marti:Yep.
Kaitlin:Uh-huh.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Because all my all mine are full body in a sense. Yep.
Lincoln Marti:I have different focus. So one of it's kind of my new favorite. I do a rotational style day because you think bodybuilding, they're you never rotate.
Kaitlin:Right. Yeah. Ever.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. It's like, how do we miss a plane of motion that we utilize every single day? I mean, even just putting a seat belt on, you rotate. Yep. So why are we moving in all these ways that you're you're not why are we working out in ways that aren't kinda helping us move functionally throughout the day?
Lincoln Marti:And then even still, I still play sports. So I still wanna be able to get out and play basketball, play golf, do stuff that I enjoy, and, ideally, still do it at a high level. Yep. Not golf. I've never been good at that.
Lincoln Marti:But still, like, still do things at a high level, and you can do that much better if you're training in a functional way. And full body training, I mean, you just walk with some groceries. It's a full body workout.
Kaitlin:Right.
Lincoln Marti:Why are we not training in a similar fashion?
Kaitlin:Agreed. Yeah. So do you have an app? Are you online training, or, what's your approach with that now?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Yeah. So all my stuff is on an app. I've been using it. I've been building up programs on there for 4 to 5 years.
Lincoln Marti:So I have just my entire database of training on there. I do have since I came back from my yoga training, my, again, my training style adapted slightly. And I as I've because I travel around the country at this point a decent amount, so I work out of, a Planet Fitness, and then where I'm based out of in Las Vegas, I work out of an apartment gym. So I have transitioned my training from, like, working out of a private training facility to where I had tons of unique equipment available and kinda all the space I needed. I transitioned my training from, I would say, overuse of equipment to very functional, in terms of, like, you know, I'll use one side of a cable machine, or I'll use a bench and do 2 exercises off of there.
Lincoln Marti:So, yeah, my my training is available on an app, but it's also very functional within, like, a Planet Fitness style gym, apartment gyms. So I put a huge emphasis to focus on that since I, came back from my travels overseas last year, which I think has been a huge step forward. It was healthy for me to get out of the private training facility to where, you know, you're kind of spoiled with the equipment available and the lack of people. Because for all the bad rep that Planet Fitness has had over the years, maybe that was just me as a bodybuilder not loving it. Those gyms are full, and there's a lot of people in those gyms at all times.
Lincoln Marti:So to be able to walk into a gym and to be able to do everything you need to do without taking up much space, without interfering with other people, that is also, I I think nice. I do my best to stay out of other people's way.
Kaitlin:And more realistic for, like, the average person, you know, that doesn't have or doesn't feel comfortable going to a big gym with an overwhelming amount of equipment. You know, how can people still work out and move, in a way that is realistic for them and sustainable for them over a long period of time.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. What I would add, though, I know you you read it in in the intro bio, but, my programming is a little more of an advanced level. So I I would say that people need to have, probably recommended at least a year's worth of working out. Ideally, they've worked with a trainer before who has showed them proper form, who has taught them how to squat and dead lift and do the the base functional movement, that I feel like everybody should should do, but my training builds off of that versus creates that foundation. So there's there's a there's a there's a functionality within the way that my program works that is that also creates a foundation, but it's assuming that there's already that basic strength and hypertrophy structure in place.
Lincoln Marti:So, yeah, if someone's brand new to working out, I mean, I can provide them with my mobility routine that I do every day, and that would do them well. But my overall program would probably be a little too challenging in many ways.
Kaitlin:Yeah. What are some other because I know you're all about, like, habits and lifestyle. So what are some other things that you touch on that are very important for you know, it's not all just nutrition and working out. It's, there's much more to it than that. It's so important to have, health and and longevity.
Kaitlin:So what are some other things that you also teach and incorporate into your programming?
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. So habit regulations, one of the biggest things that I touch on, sleep, how to I mean, I know you you heard me give how many speeches on on sleep in our our program, but knowing not just trying to get 8 hours of sleep, but what can you do leading into going to bed, that helps promote, how do you release melatonin naturally? I mean, I know that's the most popular sleep supplement on the planet, and we can literally just do certain things every night, and our body will release it for us. So that for me, big thing is just well, diet. I'll also I'll I won't provide a, nutrition plan, but I will provide tips and tricks for, like, how to eat according to your lifestyle, what you're trying to do.
Lincoln Marti:But some people just need to change certain habits in general. I mean, we all have unhealthy habits. I have unhealthy habits. I'm sure you still have some unhealthy habits. So that's never gonna gonna go away completely, but most people are doing things unconsciously and not realizing it, and it's getting in the way of them achieving the goals they wanna achieve.
Lincoln Marti:So, I do try to take more of a holistic approach to, when I have a conversation with someone, I mean, I can provide them a a great training program, but that alone isn't going to change their life completely. So yeah. So there there's the added kind of taking a, an assessment of of where they are in life and where they're trying to get get to, and then what can I help them with? Obviously, I there are certain things that I'm not an expert in, so I do my best not to overstep my, my level of knowledge. But it's definitely more of a holistic approach.
Lincoln Marti:And for people who are interested, I do enjoy incorporating some more diving into more of the psychology of things as well. But a lot of people come to me more for spin fitness specific versus that.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Well, that's interesting because, you know, we as trainers know that that it's mostly that. It's mostly the psychology. Right? It's people come to you with, maybe, like, fitness goals or weight loss goals or whatever, but we know that it's mostly psychology in order for that to work.
Kaitlin:You know? It is about the mindset, habits, getting people to be consistent with things. Like, it mostly becomes about, the psychology of a person. And I think that's what is so great about having a trainer that has a background in psychology because they can do both. And, many trainers don't have that training or that expertise, so you're losing out on a lot, with that piece.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Yeah. There's there's there's a level of understanding that we have that that just I mean, even when I started training, I had my basic personal training certificate, and I've been bodybuilding, and that was it. My level of knowledge of what I could share with the client was significantly less, than after my psychology degree. And then the other I'd even say other modalities of movement in terms of yoga and athletic training.
Lincoln Marti:You just kinda open the realm of understanding more the more diverse your education and your background is. So, I mean, even with you, with your psychology and then your PhD endeavors have, I'm sure, opened your world to a much much greater capacity for understanding for health and fitness and the totality of all of it in terms of that in connection with psychological health.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Yep. That is the little do people know that that's, like, the most important piece. They come for you to one thing, but then they end up getting, something else and so much more that benefits them, way better. So any other final thoughts that you have or topics you wanted to cover?
Lincoln Marti:I think that's pretty good. Let's see. Cover cover the list that we
Kaitlin:Yeah. I think so. Answered all the questions that I have. So thanks for coming and sharing your journey and knowledge and experience with, going from bodybuilding into more functional training and eating disorder, body dysmorphia, steroids, and all the impact that that has had on you and, how it's kind of shaped your view and approach of things. So thanks for coming and sharing all of that.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah. Well, thank you for having me and giving me this opportunity.
Kaitlin:Yeah. Share with everyone where people can find you and how they can contact you.
Lincoln Marti:Okay. So Instagram is probably the best place. My business page on there is atp3cpro. And then you can just reach out to me directly, atlincolnat p3c.pro. So that's a way.
Lincoln Marti:If you have just any questions in regards to anything we've discussed, you can reach out to me at that email, or you can connect with me on, on Instagram or TikTok. I believe my TikTok is also p three c pro. So that's where you can that's where you can find me. I have links to my website, at least on my Instagram from there. And, yeah, it's the best way to get a hold of me.
Kaitlin:Awesome. Reach out if you need training support.
Lincoln Marti:Questions.
Kaitlin:Yep. All all things fitness, lifestyle, health. He's your guy.
Lincoln Marti:Yeah.
Kaitlin:Alright. Yep. Thanks again, Lincoln.
Lincoln Marti:Okay. Thank you.
Jen:Thanks for joining us on the Counter Culture Health Podcast. To support this show, please rate, review, and share with your friends and family. If you wanna be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast player. You can find me, Jen, at awaken.holistic.health and at awakening holistic health dot com.
Kaitlin:And me, Caitlin at Caitlin Reed wellness and Caitlin Reed wellness dot com. The content of the show is for educational and informational purposes only. As always, talk to your doctor and health health team. See you next time.