Steady and Consistent - Podcast

This is a transcription talking about the influence of social media on self-growth and the story of Chris Brumstead, a professional bodybuilder. It discusses how social media influencers promote the idea that anyone can live their ideal life through hard work and effort. Chris Brumstead's journey from a hobby bodybuilder to a champion is highlighted, including setbacks he faced due to health issues. Despite these setbacks, he managed to overcome adversity and win multiple Mr. Olympia titles. The transcription emphasizes how Chris Brumstead's story is authentic and inspiring, as he practices what he preaches. His influence has led many people, especially youth, to idealize self-growth and strive to improve themselves. Chris Brumstead also gives back to the community through contributions to youth food charities. Overall, he is seen as a genuine person who genuinely enjoys helping others and spreading his message. His story serves as motivation for others to overcome obstacles and find s Welcome back to Steady and Consistent, where we talk about promoting growth, how to expand our mindsets, and how to turn motivation into discipline in our everyday lives. The term self-growth has really been thrown around a lot in recent years as social media trends, self-help books, and even things as cliché as heartbreak have really taken our generation by the hand and promoted a growth-focused lifestyle. It's now very common to see teenagers in high schools very focused on fitness, business, and essentially anything to better themselves in the future. Where does all this inner motivation come from? Surely, some of these kids fuel themselves, but that would be a small group, so where does this generation-wide self-devotion come from? I mean, it cannot be created from just one simple thing, but a big contributing factor, one of which I think has really become more popular in recent years, that is actually social media influencers convincing our youth they can all live their ideal lives if they put enough work and effort in. So we see these influencers who now gain enough popularity that they can do it for a living, so there's going to be more of them, which is our youth with essentially an unlimited amount of information on how to make themselves happier, look better, become more successful, and virtually anything they could want out of their lives. So now, where do all these influencers come from? How can they do what they do? How are they influential? Let's dive in and take a look at a personal favorite of mine, Chris Brumstead. I'm a man of your strength, of your power, who you know how, come on, show me what you've got. Chris Brumstead, also known as C-Bum, is a professional bodybuilder who has won the Mr. Olympia Classic physique title for the past four years consecutively. Growing up, like many kids in today's age, bodybuilding and working out was simply a hobby for Chris. I mean, he played many sports, ranging from soccer to baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, so his passion for bodybuilding actually began after training in the gym for his sports when going into freshman year of high school. He was initially motivated by his sister's boyfriend, Lane Velaire, who quickly saw Chris's potential and helped him capitalize on it. All right, so he begins to train Chris and help develop him to get him ready to compete by 2014, which is when he was just 19 years old. His first bodybuilding show was at a regional level, in which he actually competed with his sister, Melissa Velaire. They each won the overall in their category, with Chris only being a junior. After his goals began to stack up, his passion for the sport grew, Chris began to compete more and more. He knew bodybuilding was his calling, and he had what it takes to compete at the highest level. So he decides to take Lane on as a full-time trainer, devoted to his life to the sport. He obtains his IFBB Pro Card, which is the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation, at the age of 21, after he claimed the 2016 IFBB North American Bodybuilding Championship. So he then goes on to make his first appearance at Mr. Olympia in 2017, and impressed the judges enough to take second place in the men's classic physique division. The results were the same for the following year, 2018 Olympia competition, except his conditioning was actually worse compared to the previous year. He was hospitalized four weeks out from the 2018 competition due to severe water retention in his body. He had to spend three nights in the emergency room, and was given a strong diuretic to flush out potassium due to a kidney issue. He was torn between driving forward or giving up, because the last thing he wanted to do was step up on stage looking like he didn't belong. Thankfully, Chris was released, but this was a huge setback for him. He continued to train for the Olympia with the help of his family, friends, and coach, but understandably, mentally he was not right there yet. Once he received the results of the kidney biopsy two weeks after the procedure, he found out that long before he got into bodybuilding, he had health concerns brought on by a rare autoimmune illness, which was very surprising to him. Unfortunately, he was given the go-ahead to compete, but with so little time left, he really had to do everything he could to get his body ready for the stage. Despite adopting a ketogenic diet, performing rigorous aerobic exercises and training, he was still retaining a lot of water. And so even hours before competing in the Olympia, he still had swelling in his legs, which definitely affected his confidence. By the time of the competition, he was content to simply enter the stage because of how much he'd been through. Once he received the initial callouts, he finished in the top two comparisons, which essentially means he was guaranteed at the very least second place, possibly first. He believed he had already won after pre-judging was through, because regardless of the outcome, he'd been through so much. He has what it takes to be a champion, and as seen by his second place finish in 2018, despite a very challenging training period, he then comes back to win the 2019 Men's Physique after making a triumphant comeback on the Mr. Olympia stage. It goes without saying that it was deserved. Since that year, Chris has managed to win the 2020 and 2021 Olympia competitions with little to no setbacks, until this year when he tore his hamstring while training four weeks out from the 2022 competition. Fortunately, Chris has a very professional team who helped him with recovery using a variety of recovery techniques, such as the STEM electric shock machine to help him with his pain and simulate a very quick recovery. Chris once again managed to overcome a setback of an injury and managed to come away with yet again another Mr. Olympia title, this one being his fourth year in a row winning. It's indisputable that his hard work is the reason behind his success and his ability to overcome adversity. But see, why does this all matter? Great for him and his accomplishments, but many people ask how does this affect others and why is his story such a big deal? Now I'll tell you exactly why. Many influencers often don't practice what they preach, meaning they promote certain lifestyles and habits that they themselves don't even follow or show themselves following it at least. The difference with Seabum here is that he started his own journey of living this dream lifestyle and then turned to influencing his audience. This makes it much more authentic as now not only does he preach working out and self growth, but he has shown first hand that he follows this lifestyle and you truly can succeed through numerous types of adversity if you put enough effort forward. And I think that's what sets him apart from other influencers as their youth goes, hey, this guy overcame this and that and still succeeded. I can do that, or rather I want to do that, which allows for them to then create their own motivation and drive. Now again, why does this matter? Sure, some kids get motivation from him, big deal. Where he really makes a difference is in the movement he starts. So kids start to idealize the name Seabum, talking to their friends, oh, I want to look like Seabum, oh, this guy's huge, he must think he's Seabum, etc. Now you have kids not only looking up directly to him, but competing with their friends and peers on who can improve themselves the most. Bit ironic, isn't it? So he's essentially idealized self growth to the point where even people who may not even know him, know of the lifestyle and overall message as it's passed on through social media and our youth. With this powerful influence, he's given the opportunity to do good in the world. With many of his merchandise releases, he announces all contributions, or at least a very big percentage of it, go to youth food charities, especially during the prime COVID era. Many famous influencers are often pressured to give back to the community, since they do generally have lots of money, but Seabum simply does it out of the goodness of his heart. Alright, so we see, yes, for sure, he's making a difference, but again, why? Unfortunately, it's not as black and white as he's doing it for this or that, so we cannot say for sure. But from an outside perspective, looking in, and as someone who he has personally impacted, I would say he does it simply because that's the kind of person he is. Now let me expand on that a bit. So, take away all of the fame, all the money, everything, I would say he does this all primarily because he enjoys it, and it makes him happy, and I would reintroduce the money, the fame, the influence, and everything. Why not promote the lifestyle that you love so much to others and allow them to experience and enjoy it just as he does? Alright, so I think that's the mindset for his career. So I mean, yes, again, this is still his career, so he does need to focus on the aspect of income to support himself, but I truly do believe that he does it simply because that's who he is. Look at any of his social media platforms, like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, anything. He posts content like full days of eating, meal prep, his workouts, and more. First off, because that's his lifestyle and he enjoys it, second off, yes, again, it is a big part of his income, but more importantly, because he wants to help others and share his message. As you saw in each video, he receives an average of over 1 million views, which alone speaks to his influence and how people are inspired and motivated by him. Overall, he's a genuine guy, and I think that's what this world needs more of right now. From his story of hesitancy in the beginning, finally starting, experiencing obstacles, overcoming adversity, success, and the step he has taken, much beyond personal success, is spreading goodwill and giving back to the world. If Seabum is a new name to any of you, I really do suggest you check him out. I'd love to hear your guys' opinions on him. Before we wrap up this episode, I do just want to say thank you guys for listening through this. Although today was focused on a specific story and a person, I want you guys to take away the message from today, that it can be you. I want you to come out of this ready to follow in the same steps as him, for whatever it may be in your life. Do not be afraid to start, if it's something you love, rarely can you go wrong with it. If you're faced with difficult paths, where it may feel like the end, much like Seabum did with his surgeries and injuries, just keep pushing and you'll make it through. No great things in life ever come easy, so embrace the pain, embrace the struggle, embrace the embarrassment, and as long as you stay consistent, you'll be successful. There's only one person in your life who can become the person you want to be, and that's you. That's it for today, but looking forward to next week's episode, right back here on Steady and Consistent, we will be touching upon how to turn your motivation into discipline, so you can turn your dreams into reality. I'll leave you guys with that, and once again, thanks for taking the time to listen through this. The first step to improvement is wanting to make a change. If you have any questions, feel free to message me on Instagram or Twitter, I will be responding to that. Hope you tune in next week.