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ADHD is My Super Power · On Your Own Time Podcast

• Declan Toland: Hi, Tony. You're very good on your own time podcast. I've been on to you for the last couple of weeks. You're a busy man. Yeah, yeah. so for any of anybody watching here or anybody listening, so Who who are you? well, I'm a coach, I'm a firefighter paramedic and I'm a family man. I have two kids, Tommy and Ayla. I've a four year old turning five next week and I have a nine month old at home, so it's it's carnage. It's easier to go to work, man. It's easier, isn't Death the door. I don't know how any women does it does it. No, it's I I I I say to my wife all the time when I say I told the lads in work, like it's i I couldn't do what they do, like to be honest, you know. So Anyway, growing up Tony, I've known you long time. You have indeed, yeah. So growing up in Athlone, what was like for you? yeah, it was I felt it was Athlone was very close minded in comparison to going to I suppose up to Dublin and stuff like it's a completely different place, like but I suppose I liked it. I got stuck here for a little while and then I moved away. I moved I was living over in America and Canada for a little while, opened my eyes to a lot of things and delighted I did that, but then of course it brought me home. I applied for the fire service when I was over there and Brought me back. So you apply you applied when you were away there? I applied I was I applied when I was living in Vancouver. my brother ran my brother's in the fire brigade twenty eight years. He's in Athlone Fire Brigade, I think I think he's twenty eight years in. And he told me a fire brigade fire fire position was coming up in Athlone and I applied for it. And if I didn't get it I was gonna move back to the States or move back to Vancouver, should I say. And I did and I suppose the rest of history got stuck here then. What was like living in Vancouver? and hearing stories about it's It's it's expensive. It was a great experience. Would I bring kids up there? No. it's there's a lot of drug addiction over there. I know look there is here as well, but it's very serious over there. Like Homelessness is mad, is it? Mad. There's a s place called East Hastings and if you Google it you'll see I don't even have to explain it. You know, I in my barber he used to live in you live over there and he says to me the homelessness is mad. It's different. It's totally different. Like you there's a w and I suppose East Hastings is just It's one street covered in homeless like you know, it's just there's a gap in between two buildings and it's just like a shanty town of tents and they're allowed drug did can drug use in front of the guard the cops over there and d they just let them off like it's it's nuts like fucking mad. what were you like growing up, Tony? I was supposed I was a bit mad, as you know me. I was mad into sport my whole life. very I suppose I suppose it wasn't nice to play with me because my temper would get the better of me at times, but I didn't know I had ADHD at the time. but no, look, I was mad in sport, went for our playing rugby. got mad into that when I went into secondary school and loved that. And then a few injuries at the wrong times put me out, you know, and then moved on to trying to get work paid for work instead of that, you know. You're a good rugby player though. I was, yeah, no, I played played high level, was played upside flanker, loved it. Went back there at thirty four to play one season with all the lads I grew up with with Trevor Thompson and s lads like that. And we went back to win the the Ardenna Craig as a big cup for thirds and we ended up winning the league and the cup and then we all hung up the boots again. So you're in her you're into fitness and you're into the gym work. What was what was actually hard to recover from? Going back then Rugby her going through a after after a lay a hard leg day. Jesus, no, after rugby there, I you forget that you're the age you are, I suppose. And at thirty four I thought I I went it was grand training, I suppose, I was grand and then played a game, it's just different and it was like I was hit by a train for a week. I swear even my fingers were sore after the game, like so it was it was horrendous, like I went I I I done I done got on to my fifth Martin and went this year. someone said to me a couple of months ago, he says, Just do a Hyrux, will you? Do a Hyrux I said, No, not a hope, it doesn't suit me at all. Just do it. So no training, just the Martin training. Went in, done the Hyrux, flew away with the Hyrux, couldn't move for a week. Yeah. After Martin was ground. It's just the style of training, you know what I mean? Like bodybuilding is I suppose is all about like recovery and you're not like the aim of the game in rugby is to run through someone like you know. So like you're running at people all the time and I suppose MRIs after I got all older I got a few big knee injuries and and hamstring injuries and stuff and I got MRIs and they were talking about my my quads, they were like, Yo, this there's unbelievable amount of c scar tissue on your legs from literally just running into people like, you know. It's a massive high level of concussion, isn't it? Massive, yeah. I got big concussions. I suppose look, when I was growing up and playing, it wa it wasn't as big as it was, as it is now, should I say. And I remember one game in particular I was playing for the college and I got knocked out cold. But it was hit I went up into the air and when I hit the ground, the lad said I woke up 'cause the the knock to the ground kind of brought me back around. And I played on that game. To this day, I can't remember that match. And I had vertico I ended up missing the the the all earned final because I had vertico after the game and I was puking and I was bad badly concussed for maybe six weeks, you know. Which is mad isn't it, 'cause I think the the older and older gener older not's not calling the old, but the older kind of generation, you get an injury, you just fucking play on. Well that's it. Well should that was me. I got up, I was like, Yeah, good like on the sales we play on. Yeah. Do you know I mean? There was no no thoughts about it. We're now it's way more looked into like even there with the when I went back playing thirty four I went up in the line out and one of the lads hands slipped and I came down and cracked my chin off his the top of his head. But nothing happened. But the the the ref made me go off to get checked. He made me get an H I A like. And think it's good? Definitely, definitely especially for younger kids growing up like I you hear these stories, especially like with a couple of the English players are actually trying to su sue the RFU at the moment because they're they're they're getting nearly onset dementia like you know that's from knocks to the head. It it can't be coincidence that it's happened to all the ro all the rugby players like no American football is big into it as well because like the the the gear they're wearing like I'm sure half the gear they're wearing is smashing them as well, like you know. Sure that's not mobile, isn't it? And they're allowed hit to the head. Are they? They're allowed well, I'm nearly sure they're allowed hit sure you see them getting smashed at shoulder height. Where we're rugby is getting lower and lower. They're trying to bring it down to hip level, but I can't see how how they'll bring that in into international level. You know the game's too fast. So fitness, Tony, growing up, You're a personal trainer very young, yeah? For I was I I got into it so I suppose I got into it when I was twenty, I got qualified, I think. And I did it for a couple of years. But starting out I did it the wrong way around and I'd advise anyone that kinda gets into it, they should study nutrition first before they do a personal training course. Okay. Because if you do a personal training course, six weeks you come out, you've no you've no knowledge in nutrition. You've just got basic macro knowledge. Do you know? I was very lucky. I got to train with a When I started in the gym, I got to work with a girl, a professional bodybuilder, Justina. And in six months working with her, I learned more than I did ever. Okay. Through my whole process of doing this, like all the research I did, the courses, everything. She taught me everything. And then like then I obviously went on and done more courses. I did study nutrition for for two years. And then I did a thing called the John Dewitt Academy. It's kinda every bodybuilder kind of would get into that, or anyone that's getting big into it. It's it's he's a very recognised bodybuilder in the industry and he has an academy of teaching and if you have that like it's it's top quality like do you know? And nutrition. you often hear the saying you can't out tr out train a bad diet. You can't. Yeah, that's that's very true. Like I'd be that confident that if I was to if you were to sit on your arse for six weeks, right, and you'd done the diet, I'd work out that your your how much calories you're burning a day, I would put you in a deficit. You'd lose more weight. sitting on your arse than you would training all the time and eating shit. Do you know what I mean? Because I'd work it out perfectly. It's diet is the key. And everyone talks about like, you know, just macros and that that and like it's great, you know what people that are kind of calorie counting and stuff like that. But if you want to have a healthy diet, you need to bring in micronutrients as well. Like you know what I mean? Like people look at macros the whole time. So if anybody anybody watching listen doesn't know what macronutrients are like they're they're just it's it's a way of measuring a nutrient so a pro protein is four calories per gram. So and then a macronut sorry, so there the macronutrients are fat, protein and carbs. Okay. So but four calories per protein, there's four calories in a carb and then there's nine calories per gram of fat. Yeah. That's the way it works. Yeah, no it's good like is I I said to you I don't I do a lot l long distance running. I went and done a half Martin, so it would have been just Sunday gone. But it would have been yesterday when this comes out. yeah or around me afterwards. Yeah. But like I I don't like I I don't look like a runner. I don't look like I've I have a belly on me. So I love to train, but I love to run. I like in Jim Mark with me especially my diet my di my diet would be shocking. so it's good to be good to listen to a bit more about nutrition about you. Like, I suppose the bodybuilding well no, what I would do with you is you would have to be carb heavy. You'd have to be carb heavy because you're training for long distance. You know what I mean? long distance running, should I say. Where like bodybuilding, you're you do this thing called nutrient timing. So your tree your two meals Pre and post workout would be your highest carbohydrate meals. Because and all so what you do as well is so say someone we'll just say you're 200 grams of protein a day off your body weight, okay? What you do is you break that down into five, so you divide that by five. So you'd have 40 grams of protein per meal. So then you're eating it every four hours. It's called protein synthesis. So like it's it's you're getting the optimum amount every time where like you can't store protein. So when your body's looking for it, it's gonna if it's not there. It starts dragging away at other things, you know. So it's it's it's a ki it's key to to losing weight as well because protein keeps you fuller for longer because it takes four times longer to break down than fat and carbohydrates. So you're actually when you're digesting the food, you're burning calories as well. So it wor it's it works in a a sm snowball effect, I suppose, you know. And when we're talking about protein and all that stuff like supplements. Supplements, yeah, like the basic supplements, you don't have to go crazy. Like so like I suppose whey protein is a superfood, right? It really is because it's low calorie and it has high protein in it. It really does it does, right? Where but if you can get that protein from food all the time, it it's it's the same thing really. The only reason I use protein, I suppose, pre and post workout is I'm on two hundred and fifty grams of protein a day. Right. So I have to eat a lot of protein. So it's number one, eating that amount of protein with food is it's expensive. So two shakes is cheap is cheaper than buying chicken the time and then you have to cook all the time. The other thing about it is as well, is you've liquidized the meal. So you don't have to digest it. So when you digest the food, it you're it takes longer to get that protein. Where you broke down that tissue pre and post workout, you're getting that liquid meal in straight away. You're getting the nutrients faster. Yeah. Do you know? It's a fucking e it is expensive to be healthy, though, isn't it? Expensive. It is expensive. Like when I was in the top of my bulk there when I was properly bodybuilding before I got injured, I was spending like two hundred and twenty euros a week on myself. Never mind the kids and the wife like that. That's a wage alone. Yeah, yeah. So it's it's crazy, like, you know. But so for any any job logs that want to start the gym, male or female, and they're on the c first to come to come to any PTI and talk about supplements to walk to one. I suppose creatine is massive. I think everyone should be on it, not even if you're if even if you're not training, for energy alone, and even cognitive function. it's it's massive. Five grams a day every day, everyone should be taking it. It doesn't matter if you're ninety, if or if you're well, I won't say we'll say sixteen. So everyone should be should be on it. Everyone. Yeah, you you hear these mad stories with creatine, not you. Kidney failure, hair loss, all this shit. No. It's the most it's the most studied. Most studied supplement in the world, man. it's it's unbelievable. Now, the way it works is everyone thinks, you hold water, you do, but it's intramuscular. It's not in the skin. Everyone thinks you get water retention like you do with I suppose stress hormones like cortisol and stuff like that, you get water retention. This is different. It stores water intramuscular. So water gives you energy. So if you have more water in the muscle, you're able to lift heavier weights. Yeah, exactly. And more energy in the in the muscles, so. It's there's so much misinformation out there about it, but it's best supplement in the world. Well well, while we're talking personal trainers, like social media has evolved massively over time. Yeah. And and everybody seems to be a personal trainer. They seem to be. Yeah. So I suppose all the and look I'm not gonna diss everyone, but there's so much misinformation out there and there's so much bad information out there. It it's not governed enough, the industry. And you have these young lads, I I kinda I met a post on this already. You have young lads there that are like to get in shape, to do to do a a sh photo shoot with with one coach, never trained anyone on the floor, never understood how biomechanics work, they don't know how programming works, they've just got this program, and then they go, Wait, no, I can do this, this guy's making money out. And some of these young lads are unbelievable at social media. So they're good at marketing. So next thing and it's not just young lads, some lads jump into it as well at that are older as well, and but they're good at marketing. Yeah. But they're shit at training. Yeah. Do you know? And It's dangerous. yeah. It's dangerous. Like I caught I won't say I won't say who it was, but I caught someone that was being trained by me giving out my program to someone. Because the person that they gave the program to was looking for something completely different and text me saying, Is this right? And then I looked at him and I I recognized it was mine. And it was dangerous what they were doing to the person. You know, it was a man I was training and I gave it to woman. Yeah, 'cause if you you give someone like you're talking about carry deficit white ago, like you're being more the basic man your basic calories to survive. I s I've noticed or I won't say his name, but a local enough fellow was doing programs recently, well maybe last year or year before, and he was given really dangerous for you low calories. I I think I know what you're talking about. No, but I understand that that's dangerous. It is. So like you always I suppose I'll give some basic diet and what I what I do with people and anyone that's anywhere good at this will give people that are training days, they'll give them higher calories and then They're non-training days, so non-weightlifting days, they'll be on lower. So, like a basic male, their maintenance calories, so maintenance would be you won't lose any weight, you won't gain any weight. Okay. So your basic maintenance calories should base is around two and a half thousand, right? For a male, right? For a female, it's around two thousand. If you give them, you always start so basically if someone's coming to a trainer, their diet is usually not great. That's why they're coming to you. Do you know what I mean? So if you start them on usually start them on two and a half thousand on their training day and start them on two thousand three hundred on their sec on their non-training day, they will lose weight. They'll lose at least a kilo that week. And then you go off that. So like with me, you do weekly check-ins. So I I track all the data. That's why I suppose I'm getting the results from people, is because everything gets tracked. Even their sleep, how much hydration they're getting. I've this check-in form, they fill out every week and I will grill them if they don't fill it out. So like I'll be on to them. What where's the check-in? You know? It's the most important part because It's not for me to grill you about things, only if you don't fill them out as well. But it's for me to help you. And if you don't give me that information, I can't help you. Of course, it's accountability. Like I have a coach. Do you know? I know what I'm doing. I have a coach. Because I want to learn off him and give it to my clients as well. You know, you always get someone that's bigger than you in industry. That's a good that's a good point as well. heard that before, like a a good coach will always have another coach. A hundred percent coach for himself. My coach has a coach. Yeah, yeah. So mad, isn't You it's it so like everyone needs I need to be held accountable. I need when if I'm not doing something, which I usually am on the ball with it, but sometimes I don't. You know, especially if I'm injured or something like that, I'll I'll let the ball slip a little bit. I need him to go, count the fuck on. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like Do you actually enjoy like you're sorry, you're still keep you're still counting calories yourself, I I well I don't really count them. I I stick to kind of a plan. So I that's works best for me. Some people count calories and use my fitness pan and all that. I used to do it bits and bobs, but if I want to get in extreme shape, it's just same thing. Every day. On repeat. So I'll have my rest day plan. I'll have higher fats. protein stays the same both days. and it just less carbs on my rest day. And then on my training there's more carbs. That's that's it. Do you have any ever have a cheat meal? no, I will. Like look, I have a wife and kids now. I if I was doing when I was doing the getting ready for the show before I got injured that time, no. I had the same thing for nine months. Every day. Just when I got more lean, I was eating less of it, less carbs. That's all it is. You manipulate carbs like. You go be quantum home then. You're a lunatic. All right. Yeah. You know, if you're doing if you go down below ten percent body fat, when you go down them freaky like veins coming out of everywhere, you are a psychopath. You're just lunatic. But how do you keep your mindset for that? I suppose when you've booked something in, like a photo shoot or something like that, you know you have to go down there. And suppose being a person trainer on top of that, you can't you can't break like 'cause then you're like you're speaking out like I'm speaking about train like this, do this. And then I broke. Yeah. It doesn't look good like. You know, so it kinda that drives you. And then I suppose look, ADHD definitely helped me in that because I could hyper focus on it. And I once I can hyper focus on something like I can do anything. You tell me I can't do something, I'll do it. Just to piss you off. so talking about ADHD. When did you first find out we would? I was I think I was yeah, I was thirty two. so I found out later in life. I always knew there was something because like I go I couldn't go for points. I had to go and get absolutely smashed and I was What the fuck is going on here? Yeah, I'll I'll I'll show you the photos of me when I found out I did HD is when I was really fat it's on my it's on my page and then what I turned into when I once I figured it out. but I was it's it's actually so LDHD what happened for me to find out. I was I was on TikTok flicking at like two in the morning and this thing video came up and was like, Do you do these ten things? It was like lose your keys. flick through fucking TikTok all the time. There was like ten things. And I was like, I literally did them today. Yeah. And then I I started Googling it. So I went down the wormhole. And then it was four in the morning. I was on ADHD Ireland. And then there was like a list of fifty things. And forty eight of them I had done in the last three weeks. And I was like I nearly wanted to wake my wife up and be like, Amy look what I told her the next morning and then she kind of said, Well I fucking knew there was something but she didn't s she didn't say anything like So and then I was like, why didn't you tell me whatever? Because I didn't want to ups upset you. Ten percent body fat. Yeah, yeah. Well no, I wasn't at the time. I was I I was like a beach whale. but I but then I I looked more into it. Then I said to myself, right, I'll go and get tested. And then I I've combined type ADHD. Okay. So hyperactive and I I like I I I I can hyper focus on things, I suppose, when I'm interested in them. So like in school, like They always said to my family, he's really smart, but then he doesn't put in any effort, but then he can pass his exams or he does nothing, you know what I mean? There's loads of shit like that, but then he's like he's always bold and messing and stuff like that. But that was just me, like but I didn't know at the time. I suppose it's more known about now and stuff and the s the teachers are more switched on, you know. And it's I think like we read a statter recently, one in ten one in ten kids have has something ADHD. yeah, but I I I didn't even know that. So if your kids so if you have if you have it, they're There's a massive chance your kids if one parent has it, there's a massive chance your kids will have it. Now my son 100% has it. It's just I bent he's five next week. I spent the last five years trying to keep him alive. He's just no sense of danger, you know? But but then anyways, I went and got tested and came back that I had it. And yeah, look, it was life changing for me. And I didn't take the medication. I could get medication if want, but I was able to put in coping mechanisms because I figured out it was like it all made it just it was like something clicked in my head. It's like it all makes fucking sense now. Like do you know? And like the coping mechanisms are massive for me. I know it's gonna sound stupid like but my Google Calendar is like everything in that day. I have to have it in there. If it doesn't it's not in there, it's gone. I forget. You know even like for my wife so I book in my personal training slots or whatever. I book her in I know it's not gonna sound stupid, but I book her in like a slot as a PT so I don't miss her training as well to get back to To mind the kids and stuff like that. I have to my Google Calendar is just life changing for me. even right we asked about we talked about meeting up today. You're like, I'm actually gonna put up my calendar right now. Yeah, yeah, no, that that that has to happen. If that if it's not in there, it's gone, man. Because I'll start booking PT slots and then I'll I'll miss it. You know, 'cause I like I work I work around my shift as well. So I book people in. So I could be coming off a night shift and then I book people in that evening. Or if I'm on a day shift go coming off, I've twenty four hours off, I could have people all that morning. And I don't be thinking, I'm just booking people in and then I'll go, boy, if it's not in my calendar, you And you stress out then if you're fucking all over the place. A hundred percent. It definitely changed my structure having that as well, you know. Okay. Fire Brigade. So you you join Athlone Fire Brigade service Athlone Fire Brigade first. Yeah, I joined the retained fire service. So like I'll tell you how that works, I suppose. Well it was ten years ago and you're on an alerter. So you you're at home. You have to go in and do drills every week and you do training courses and all that. That You're like full time for them, but you basically you're at home with a with an alerter and that when that goes off, you have five minutes to get to the station, you have to be there. it's it was great. It will I I absolutely loved it. The courses were unbelievable, it's a well paid job. I'd recommend it to anyone. Change run ahead, kids. when I had kids, my wife was stuck at home. you can't be left with a kid in your own. Yeah. Because that goes off. It really did change my look at it. Even like you're I didn't realise until I joined the full time service that how institutionalized I was. Like when I was going to bed, I'd have my clothes folded in a certain way, I'd have my runners, just because that could go off any second, I'd have to be on the ball into my car and gone. I'd even park my car a certain way, I couldn't lock my gate. Do you know it was little things that until I left the retained I didn't realise how mad it was, you know. But how do you like so yeah, are they always on call? Yeah, so well, when I joined originally it was eleven weeks straight, you were twenty four seven on and then you got you I got three weeks off. So you were off call. But like if there's lads looking for time off, yeah you can swap that and stuff like that and give them your alerter. So that's what it was called. Like I was lucky enough, my brother was in it. So me and him were on the different shifts. So we could swap with each other and we cover each other. It was great. But only three lads can be off at the one time. Yeah, yeah. Do you know? So it was Yeah, it was it was mad. Like, but again, I wouldn't change it for the world. I I absolutely love it. The boys down McLaurin there or like met friends for life there. Absolutely adored And I missed it. It was a big, big decision for me to go to Dublin when I got I said when I first joined, I like, I'm gonna become a full time firefighter. I loved it that much. And then I went for it and I got it. And then I considered not going because I'd fought it was just that long and with that with the lads there and I just thought, will I bother, you know? 'Cause I it doesn't work like the army or the guards. You can't transfer a station. That's fucking mad though, isn't it? I know, yeah. So I like I had to go to Dublin and retrain as a recruit. So I was back getting shouted at to run around the yard, like, you know. And it was a big thing for me because I suppose doing the ladders and stuff, like doing the drills, you're doing a ladder drill, I know the next step. Yeah. So I automatically would go to do it. You're getting it. And then I was getting it because I like I forget these guys don't know it. 'Cause it was just it's just drilled into you to do the next thing, you know. So it was it was mad. It was mad. But look Turns out it was the best decision I ever made. the time off with Dublin Firebrigade is absolutely unbelievable. I'm a paramedic now as well. got trained up as that. it it's a phenomenal job. I absolutely adore it. Like I I've been to f a few family fun days there in Athlone, Firebrig into the station itself. Unbelievable lads. Like the lads that worked there are are very friendly, very professional at their jobs. but actually the last one I went to in Downer, they had everything out and it actually I I was putting the young lad up onto the fire truck. And I seen two young lads there, probably probably f fourteen or fifteen, and they were talking to them how to join the pr how do they join the how to join the fire service, how do they join the fire service. But I've never heard of anybody once they join the fire for service, like before talking to you like years ago. Yeah, like I suppose look, Atlone is the Atlone you couldn't join for a long time. Yeah. Because there's only fifteen positions. Yeah. And the lads have to retire to get that position. Right. It's not like anything where there's a rolling thing. So the lads Mickey Marta is in Athlone Fire Brigade. He joined the day I was born. He's still there. He's still there. Yeah. So he joined eleventh of August nineteen eighty nine. So he's thirty-seven years there. Do you know? So you have to wait for him to retire to for you to get in. So like there's lads there, like they're they're there years. Like I think when I joined, the closest to me was eight years or something. But you need it you need them boys in there as well, don't you? A hundred percent. Like when them lads retire, you're losing like if if four of them retire this year, you're losing over a hundred years' experience. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like it it's it's it's insane. And like You deal with lot of debt in it, you know. You deal with a lot of debt. even more so up in Dublin because you're paramedic as well. But when you join, like you need them lads to to show you and go in and how to talk to families. You're telling someone they've lost a lover. Do you know what I mean? And like you can't go up and be smiling at them or that, you know. And it's like when you see a body the first time, taken back by especially if it's if it's in a car crash, you know, you're taken back by it a bit and you're like, Holy shit, what is this like you know? but everything i is so professional. You have to treat that body like it's alive. Ever like taking them out of the car is is is it's not nice at the start, but you get so used to it and you still got that you get focused on it and you've got one job to do. Like it's not as if you to do it all by yourself. There's a there's a team you there, you know. Same in the army, mission mission comes first. A hundred percent. It's like it's like that. We we say it's like a Formula One team. Yeah. If one lad's not doing one thing, the rest of it goes to itself, you know. Say one man in a small team can fuck each other. hundred percent, yeah. Especially in drills with ladders and stuff like that in the brigade. If one lad makes one wrong move, it's all gone, you know. but double fire brigade is is totally different. It's it's full full time. So I eve a shift, I do three days on, three days off, so I'll do a day and then I'll do two night shifts, and then I'll get three days off and then I'll do two days and one night shift. The days are nine to six. Now there's an unwritten rule in the fire brigade in in full time, so you come in at eight to let the off coron crew go home. So you have to be the same skill set. So if they're the same skill set as you if they're not driving or something like that, or if you're driving, you they you just go here back at a whatever alpha one or whatever and they go home. Did there's no like changeover or whatever and same then you come in, they'll come in for ye at five. Yeah. It's kinda the only respect. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Cause we're on parade at six. Yeah. So there you can if you come in at ten to six, you're gonna be ready. Yeah, right. So it's it's just the way it works. It's with respect, I suppose. Yeah. And like I won't say but it Is there any artswalls that doesn't do it? Yeah, but they're noticed. That's an every job. They're d look, they're they're noticed. Probably first when they come in first. It's probably that kind of when they're new into the station. Lads, lad, you're you're warned. So when you're leaving the training centre, the f the things they say to you is, work in the kitchen, even if you're not on it. So we've duties like you know, and it's like work in the kitchen if you're not on it. Too cruel like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we've doing we've a mess man. So in in I I'm in headquarters, so we've two messmen. So during the day, because there's all the senior officers in headquarters as well, they feeds Fifty five people or something. It's like working in a restaurant. It's it's it's mad. So you you have the two lads, the two mess men. No, they're firefighters as well. Yeah. And then you d you get three workers in with them and y you help them out. Now there's two pump stations in Dublin and then there's one pump station. So two pumps is that means there's two engines with water tenders, you know. And then you have the ones so there's fourteen stations in Dublin, two are retained, so two of them are on alerters. Okay. What's the one in down by Rat Minds? Dunby Rat Mines, Dolphins Barn. Dolphins Barn. The barn, yeah. Is that is it retained is there? No no no that's full time. So there's only two there's Bal Brig and the scurries are the two retained ones. They're on the outskirts. Jeez, they're fucking like they're always busy. Like all s every every month there's either fire fire service or the ambulance service. It's crazy. So we run the ambulance service really in Dublin. because all of us are paramedics. You have to be a paramedic. You're not allowed, it's not a choice. so the way it works at the start I suppose when you become a paramedic, you are on the ambulance all the time. So you do this thing called seven and seven. So you do seven days and seven nights basically straight. And you're you're the it's called third person, right? So when you're the third person, you're observing, you get you get hands on as well. But you're the third person, so you're there, right? Then you once you finish them, you do this thing called fifteen and fifteen. So you're an undergrad, and then the fifteen and fifteen, you're it. Okay. So you there's a driver and then you're in the back. Okay. So you have to basically get good at your handovers is a big thing. So like when you're handing over in a hospital, we can't you can't just walk in and go, there you go. Like it's it's what's wrong with the person what you've given the person, what vitals are on or off. So like if they're big form, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's it's it's a spiel you give to them. So like it would be deck what age are you? Thirty five. So you'd be like Decky thirty five. If you broke mid chaff femur break, that's what I'm querying is wrong with you. And then if I've given you like drugs, I tell them what drugs. If you're vitally stable, if all your vitals are in range, you'd be like vitals are in range or whatever. And then if you have allergies, if you're on medication and stuff, it's it's a it's a spiel you give, you know? How the fuck do you deal with the gym work? Well here listening to you when I d my head is flooding in terms of like okay I'm I'm dealing with patient, I'm dealing with clients today and I'll get the macronutrients this and account with this and I'm on the fire service tonight and I'm doing this. How would you deal with it all? mentally. I don't know, like like you get so I love it. Okay. Do you know? I it my my wife always says you love being under pressure. Okay. I think that's part of the ADHD as well. Like I work better under pressure. Like I'm a fucking disaster. If I have a project or something to hand in especially when it's like 'cause you have to do case studies as undergrad, you do three undergrad case studies as paramedics. So it's actually on a case you've done. Do you know? So like I'm actually I actually handed one in yesterday was on sepsis. So I had a patient that had sepsis or whatever and she ended up passing away or whatever, but I had to do it on that because she went from sepsis to septic shock and stuff. But the that was my learning points and stuff like that. But it's just I left that like that had to be handed in. I finished that at half eight last night. No, I I sent it over to lads to look over to make sure I got it. Pass it, you know. But I have to have it in at nine. I should have done it weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, but I always do it and I'm I'll do it next week, I'll it next week and then I it. But then everything else comes in on top of me and do it all. So I just late. Yeah. Yeah. I try to balance. Like I go away when I do the double nights and I do double days, I don't come home. So a double double night shift is six to nine in the morning. I'm off to nine to six and then I'm back in six to nine. So I'm in headquarters. That'll take me which is in Tower Street in middle of the city. That'll take me an hour and a half, an hour and forty five minutes to get home. But yeah, get home, I if you hit the pillow, it's like right back. Yeah, it's pointless. So I just I stay in Dublin, I place something fingless there and I just stay in that and I do the shifts. So I'm gone basically for two two nights and and I don't see my kids, you know. It it's tough for my wife at home, you know. It's it's not easy. But it's like it's great we're in a position that we can do that. And But if you're doing it for for them as well. yeah, of course. Look, we we we we live a good life, you know what I mean? I I l I love the the coaching as well. I look at every client as an advertisement for me as well. So I I put so much work into it, you know, to to get them in shape as well. Jeez Tony man, you're a busy man. Fucking nigga's not like even just anyway par paramedic and then you'd fire fireman on top of it. The fire fire yeah, so I suppose I'll explain how that works and probably make more sense, yeah. So we do we do with the tree on tree off that works out with seven days and seven nights a month. So for when you're fully qualified as a paramedic, you usually do one day and one night a month is all you're on as a paramedic 'cause the the paramedic side of it is just non stop. Every case you do, there's one way. Do you know? You come out, you c and the crazy thing is you could go from someone with a sore toe to a cardiac arrest. Yeah. And then back to someone with another sore finger or something. You know, it's you just don't know what you're going to. Is is there still a lot shall you is there still a lot of people ringing on the service when they don't need to ring? Yes. That's happened in throughout the country, I think, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There there is, one hundred percent. Yeah, that's crazy. Like you could get talk about one call at four in the morning for itchy knees. Yeah. You know. It's crazy 'cause it it's fun to stress. It's not just one ambulance, it's that's one ambulance away from somewhere else. Like Yeah, it's it's it's it's an abuse system, at times. Like we had someone that's partner was in the in the hospital and they didn't want to pay for a taxi. So they rang and said there was something wrong with them to go to the hospital and then admitted it in the ambulance. You're even you're you're asking a call a call to an emergency. What's going through your head? Well you have you have pre arrival information. So you'll have a like a kind of basic if it's generally unwell, they're usually just like flu or something like that. You no sometimes you can walk in and it's it's a lot more serious than that, but like you'll have you'll have like a history on them as well. So if they have a history of cardiac problems or you're getting this in. So you're automatically thinking there. You walk into the house as well, like you're looking around. If you see someone that has they're on meant to be on a lot of medication and you see all the blister packs and they're not used, yeah. They haven't been taking their medication. Yeah. So you're you're you're constantly scoping stuff like that. Do you know? And like when you arrive to a scene, how do you stay calm? Like you all I also said like I I've done the my we call it MFR course in the army. You you're never told to run into a scene. Never run. It it like Officers will do a d a thing called a d DRA, it's a dynamic risk assessment. Like we don't boot doors in and run into flames like they do in the movies, like do you know what I mean? You're looking like if the building is engulfed in flames, even if there's someone in there, they're dead. Do you know what I mean? Like so y it's now a body recovery, not a yeah, different thing. Not not a save, you know? So you're getting loads of like you y you're constantly thinking like, but again, it's not as I said, it's not all like that. Yeah. Like you get ones there like that Like w I suppose look, I'm water rescue as well, so I'm actually swift water rescue. So in where in Tarra Street we have two boats as well. So what happens is if there's someone going into the water, what if you're on Alpha One truck, you're the swimmers. So you'll go to the person that's gonna jump or into the water or has fallen into the water. So we'll jump in and get them and the lads on the boat will come from Alpha Two, they'll come up to us and meet us and we'll take them out of the water, you And do you get many calls for that? All our in Tarra Street, our highest saves are in the water. Yeah, yeah, we're in the we we're in the water the whole time. What would you prefer out of the training? well, f being a firefighter is part of the is is the Swift Water Rescue is part of that. So like I I would definitely prefer firefighting, 'cause I've been at it longer. but I I I do really enjoy p paramedics as well, but it's it's tough because you get no rest. Yeah. It's just a conveyor belt, you know. So anybody wants to join the f join the fire service either at Lawn or Dublin, how do we do it? What's the best way to do So you watch Dublin Fire Brigade i you're kinda lucky because they take on usually a panel around two hundred. Right. Now a lot of people will go for it. A lot. so you want to be bringing something to the table. if you're going to apply for it, you'll see it, it'll come up on on Dublin City Council. There'll be advertisements, follow Dublin Fire Brigade's page as well, and you'll see it. it's an unbelievable career. Like the skills you can get out of it, they'll send you to college as well. If you want to go back and do a paramedic degree, you can go on to do advanced paramedics. You can go on do an engineering degrees, they'll pay, they'll pay and put you through this stuff, you know. Yeah. If you're willing to do it. but to get in, you wanna obviously talk to someone that's involved in it, call into the station, definitely 100% visit the station. Do your research about the fire brigade as well. Because the first question they'll ask you when you walk into that interview is what do you know about the fire brigade? Yeah. And if you go, you know, you show us interest. You have to show the interest. And like if you go, Well, I visited the station, I seen these trucks, I seen there's ladders, I seen all this stuff. They're gonna go right, just adds on it straight away. And then then they'll go into the interview. Where if you go same in the army, army interview talking about the the army. Exactly. And if you walk in there and don't say anything, that's just gone. Do you know? Especially Dublin Firebrigade, you so much people looking for it. They have the the the the way to do that. I think the army of the guards don't have don't have the freedom anymore, like w well yeah, yeah, yeah. So like the there was what four guards, I think, in my class. One fellow was a detective, left the guards to join us, and he said it was the best of his movie. We've a ladder in in in Athlon there. He went to join the fiber service and he he said he pulled out last minute. I was just talking recently, he said he regrets it. He got into Dublin Firebase. He got into it. And he pulled it he says, No, he says, No, it's saying the army's closer to home and stuff for that. huh. And so he used to live in Dublin and he's been living in Atlanta now. But he's like I thought I'd travel up and down the road too long for too I'm not doing it again. But it's only three days on, three days off, man. But I think that that a lot of people wouldn't know think about the three days. I know. So we we we get I suppose there's another side of it as well. So we get this we get a month off in the summer, full month. Right, and we get this thing called comp leave. So you get six for six months of the year, basically it works out. You get one shift off a month. So you do tree on tree off for four shifts in a row and then you get nine days off in a row and then you do it again for another four and then you get nine days off. It's it's unbelievable the time off. Like it's it's it's so much better for family life. Like the work the work is hard, but the time off is excellent. Yeah, listen and the pay the like if you're seven years in with your night rates and stuff like that, you're up on eighty two grand. That's good money. Yeah. Savage money. There's nothing wrong with Nothing wrong with that at all. is running the job has taught you? yeah, so much. Like just discipline, respect for people. Like your care, I suppose your care for people is so much more. Like, like how would I say this? Like, before I had kids, I suppose the job gets scarier in the fact that because before I had kids you wouldn't think about it as much. But now When I I had kids you're just so worried about everything. And like even when you you're dealing with a a pediatric patient or that, it just changes, man. You look at things so differently, like, you know. But the the discipline from the job is the big thing for me. I I I love it. I I I still love the job like the day I started, you And like is anybody you're talking about you had ADHD you have ADHD. And i if someone has that home and they're t why they're watching this or listening to this, should that put them off doing anything in life? No. No, definitely not. You should Use it your advantage is what I call it my superpower. You have to you have to find something. So like anyone that has IDHD, especially if they're diagnosed, will understand what I'm talking about with the hyperfocus and stuff like that. You need to figure out what you want to hyperfocus on. You know, like I'm into the training. I'm I've been into it my whole life. I've always been strong. Like at fourteen I was able to bench press 135 kilos. You know, so like I've always been strong. So I just got further into it. Like but I I love anatomy and physiology. I love understanding the body. And that suited me then when I was going for paramedics as well, because all that joined together and I was able to understand so much more quicker than the rest of them, you know. it's you just as I said, you need to find something you're interested in, something you love, and then you'll just you'll thrive at it. And is there anything in the job that actually really surprised you? even to this day. In what sense, like? So like do you ever arrive to ending and it says, fuck, I can't believe this is still even happening like over time, generations. I suppose there's yeah, like like I suppose the paramedic side of it, there's a lot of stuff that you can go in. You can't treat every case the same. Like you need to t do your like the homeless. You can't treat every homeless person as a drug addict. Yeah. You can't. If you do that, you've already failed. You need to do all your checks. Like if you automatically walk up to someone and it's like, it's an overdose. Right? They could be having a cardiac arrest. Yeah. And you're going, and you're giving them the the drug, you're giving them loxone and going, great, you know. Why isn't he coming back around? wait now. Do you know? You need to do all your checks. You need to check them, d do your do your ECGs, do everything. If they're treated. You treat everyone with dignity. Yeah. You you you do. You have to. You know, it's not like don't be wrong, some of them when they come over an overdose can get very aggressive towards you. but at the end of the day, they've been having a hypoxic brain. Basically their brain has not been getting enough oxygen. And when they come around, they're confused. And I'm standing over them like a shaved ape and they're like, you know what I mean? They're they're they're they're going, Who the fuck is this? you know? So like they're confused and you're after taking them out of that. They've been unresponsive and now they're like up, you know. So b basically what heroin does is heroin binds to the cell, right? And it c it can it blocks the oxygen from getting into it. So they go into respiratory arrest. But some people think it's cardiac arrest. Okay. It's not, it's actually respiratory arrest. So they can't get oxygen. So their spO two levels, basically their oxygen levels come down and they go unresponsive. That's what happens, right? What naloxone does is, or people call it narcan as well, you'll hear me say naloxone does is you give it to them and it unbinds the oxygen. Or sorry, unbinds the hormone off the cell. So now oxygen goes in. You can hear them come back sometimes to be is it quickly? It depends how badly and how long they've been under. But it can be ver you could give them and next thing they're up. Now they're confused, but they're still up and they weren't a second ago. the thing about it is like you might have to give a couple of doses of it and then you're you'd be breeding for them as well. You'd already have a bag them to keep because basically as I said it's a respiratory arrest so you're trying to get oxygen into system. it does be mad they can get aggressive towards you but like you just have to talk them down like you what I mean? Yeah. And you how how do you balance how do you balance work life and b like the that that's that side of your work life to home life. I know we're saying the gym and the fire service and the paramedic, but how do actually spend time with the family? no I do like look I spend a lot I I'm working working towards something at the moment so I'm putting a lot of a lot of time into my wife understands it as well. but we go on a good few holidays, we go we we we do we organise activities and stuff with the kids. It it's it works great. It like with the with the retained I couldn't leave at home. Yeah. So now I can go anywhere, do you know? You need a good wife though. You need someone that understands it. Like she's she's been there with me through it ten years in the service. Sh sh they're nearly a part of the brigade. Yeah. So they get like we do we do A w at Christmas we always do a women's night out and stuff like to spend them as well, you know. So yeah, so at Christmas, it's like everything. You got family days and stuff like that, you bring them up, do you? I seen a picture on your Instagram. You they had your family up at a fire was that in Atlone or Dublin? Which one? I think I seen on Instagram. You had your your family up at a fun a fun day or something. Did I see that? Or like an open day three. sorry, yeah. So they ha in fairness, Dublin Fire get are very good as well. They do they do Christmas party for their kids. They have Santa there and that like and then and it's it's a big thing. And then they do a summer party as well, they do loads of activities for the kids. They actually rent out a cinema in Dublin as well. They take the whole cinema for a day so we can bring all the kids and stuff like that. It's great. It's a sports and social club. It's it's brilliant. Yeah. You pay into it. We just pay into it but it's it's it's small. So we do like where that's or let's go overseas and do like the Dublin Zoo and stuff like that as well. yeah, yeah. So like then we we do like on our own watch. So I'm t I'm D watch. So there's four watches, there's A B and C A B C D watch and when D watch are on they're the whole the whole Every station is D watch. It's not just my station. So that's the way it works. But d we do night out with with our wives or partners, whatever, once a year as well. Do you still drink? I didn't drink for four years when I was bodybuilding. Then I went back on it for maybe a year and a half, but I'm I've given it up again. I I've no interest in it, to be honest. What's you drink when you're old? That's the problem. So I I I don't get sick from drink. Do you know? No, I get sick the next day, but I don't I don't get pukey or something. I I could I just want pints and that's the problem. It's the dopamine rush. Once I start drinking, I figure this out from when I figure out an ADHD, it's the rush. So you could have one pint, I'll have four gun. Okay. Do you know? And then I'm there two hours and I'm speaking in tongues to people. You know what I mean? So it's just I I had to learn the hard way, I suppose is the easy way to put it. But now I keep it under control. But it's just I was like I wasn't alcoholic that but like I I binge. I I I go Well, and I drink a pot of vodka or something, you know? And then like I'd be still standing there, but I'd be on a different planet, like, yeah, you know, so I think you think you're okay. Yeah, but you're not. And then you see photos and videos, you're like, Jesus, you know, did that happen? Yeah, yeah. What do you mean that happens? What do you wish people understood about ADHD? I don't mean some of the things I do, I suppose. Like, I could I see in my brain, I suppose, that if I don't get something across straight away, I'm gonna forget and I won't tell you. So sometimes I can like put across people. Playing sport as well, if I fucking knew when I was younger playing, it would have been a lot easier. my temper, I cannot stand losing. Like, I would lose my shit, man. You know? And I suppose at the time I was a good player or whatever, but it probably wasn't nice to play with me. Yeah. Because I'd be screaming at lads and be What the fuck? You and I shouldn't have been like, Do you know? But it's just Like we could be even if we were winning. We could be winning by twenty points. Yeah. Someone do something stupid. Yeah. I go fucking ballistic. But a Raikino. Yeah. I I won't say I'm that less now, but I I I just go absolutely fucking rational. Do know? Yeah. yeah. Yeah. I'm only gonna let my summer win around four. Give it a few years. So we'll go back to your fitness side of it. like all your your paramedics of in a fire against her is amazing, okay? but you're like you do a lot of fitness stuff. You're still you're you're you're a Personal trainer and you're busy that way and you're doing a lot of check-ins and stuff. So what does being generally, what does the word what does the word fit mean to you? in my eyes, look, I suppose I look at condition differently. Like I being fit, like being an athlete, I look like people look at athletes and they think, they have to be absolutely shredded and stuff like that. That is not the case. Like you could have one of the fit motherfuckers and he has a good bit of high bit of body fat on him. You know what I mean? So you You don't judge a book by its cover, I suppose the easiest thing for me to say there, because as I said, like I I don't know if you've seen that transformation with with the DJ guy Jordan on my page. He he was one of the best athletes I've ever worked with. Like one on unfucking believable. Like I could have told him to lick that wall, he'd lose another kilo, he'd do it. Like he he just believed me. Yeah. Do you know? That's trust though. No, no, it is, it is. And like he he literally was so good, man. Like at the start, he he came up I I'll never forget, we we were sitting down, it was the second of January, we're sitting down and he wanted to meet me to talk about what he wanted from his journey. 'Cause he a bit of a health scare he did. And he wanted to talk to me about it. And I met him and he'd the pink hair and I told him this anyway, so it's it's old enough. I like he'd the pink hair and stuff like that. And like, just that and he like, I wanna have a six pack and I and like he he was he was big, you know. And I was like I was thinking in my head. I was like, I I I don't I like 'cause he's a DJ as well. The lifestyle, everything was like drinking at night, eating pizza, eating eating food after stuff, and I was like, There's no way he's gonna be able to fucking do it. Yeah. Do know? And that was my biggest kind of learning through Finnista, 'cause I judged him that day. Yeah. And I shouldn't have. Because fuck me. After four weeks I was like, This guy's gonna fucking do it. I've seen the picture, I've seen the f yeah. He went from my the my if one attream to dinner. yeah. Unfucking believable. Like I mean, like He had the potential. Now he he's not into it as much anymore, but he had the potential to get on stage possibly six months after that photo, he would have probably won a show. Jesus Christ. Do know? Like and he went from being extremely overweight to absolutely beasting it like do you know? Savage man. What's the biggest mistake people make when they start training? They start way too much. And what I mean by that is they think to try to do it all at once. Why? Because people want to get in shape yesterday. Do you know? You need to be consistent, you need to look at how much you're able to train functionally. And what I mean by that is like there's no point in looking at me and going, right, I'm gonna do what he does. Because if you're not able to do that, you after f you you'll try to do it. You'll last four weeks, right? And you'll go, fuck that fat he's a mental guest. Right? Do you know like so like it's just you have to build towards something. And what I mean so like look at your life. Go right, I can fit three days functionally here. And it's not gonna bother me with the rest of it. So start three days. Yeah. Don't start with any cardio. Start with weight sessions and get your nutrition right. That is the best advice I can give anyone. If you're able to do four, the more you do, the quicker it'll happen. Yeah. Right. But if the more you do puts you going under pressure and you're not gonna be able to do it in four weeks' time, don't do it. You have to enjoy what you're doing. You have to enjoy it, you have to stay consistent. If you're consistent for nine months, instead of Eight weeks at doing four eight or four training sessions a week and but consistent for nine months with three, which is gonna work out better, you know? Yeah, absolutely. what's your own training schedule like how many days a week do you train on? So n since the injury, I used to do when I was bodybuilding properly, I I used to do three days on, one day off, three days on. What I mean so I don't push I I two different push days. So I do push, pull legs, I'd have push A, pull A, and then quads, and then I take a rest day, and then I do push B. pull B and then I do hamstrings and glutes. That was my training regime. If I was high into like a massive cut, I'd be doing lots of cardio as well and my food would come down s gradually. It does you don't what you start on, your food at the start isn't the same at the end. You've manipulated carbs as you plateau. So what what you do is really is you watch, you watch yourself. So I'll do check ins every week. Yeah. If I'm losing a kilo every week, perfect. I don't change nothing. When it dips below that, as you get fitter, your heart rate gets better, so it comes down, you don't burn as much fat. There's loads of things to put all of it. Your body likes fat, it doesn't want to go low. So when you want to get low, you have to get crazy. Like, especially if one like ten percent is ma is sustainable. Under ten percent is not. It's it's insane. You're when you go down like even to seven percent, you're freezing cold. Doesn't matter if it's forty degrees outside, you're freezing. Is it healthy? No. No. Like come from your your paramedic background, like it is. No, no, no, no, no. It's it's if you don't know what you're doing there, and this is what I talk about if like if you have someone that does a prep environment no, I'm talking about prep, not not not like as in bodybuilding to extreme. Yeah. That is not healthy. One hundred percent. It's it's great that and you prove to yourself you're able to do it, it's a massive challenge. If you stay down there long enough, you probably die. Yeah. You're dehydrate like especially like if you're going for a competition, you dehydrate. Yeah. So like y that is not good for your kidneys, do you know? there's loads of things like that, but like again, they're extremes. For fitness, like I'd say eight percent between eight and ten percent body fat is sustainable. Okay. You know? As a male, obviously. I if anybody wants to say someone wants to get in contact with you to do your to come at come on as a client ya, is it just bodybuilding stuff you do? No, no, no, no. I have I have loads of lifestyle clients. Loads, loads, no. I I train men, women and I train all different ages, you know. I understand Not everyone wants to be a bodybuilder. That's where I went wrong when I was first at back nearly 20 years ago. I no, sorry, put me on it, 10 years ago. I I thought, no, everyone wants to be a beast. You know, everyone's they don't. And that's where I kind of went wrong. I was young and naive. And I that was the mistake I made at the start. But again, that was a long time ago. And I like to be a good coach, you have to understand the mindset of somebody. it's it it because like if they want to get into bodybuilding, I will explain to them straight away this is hell like do you know what I mean? You're going this is the hardest thing you'll ever do. Like ever. You know, food be like you're telling someone what they have to eat all the time. You know, it's it's just it's around this. Yeah, like it doesn't it doesn't look it I've I've had a couple of boys on who's bodybuilding and they just they never they always say to me it's never enjoyable. It's never like they do probably want a year, would you have? They don't do much of much No, no, no. So what you usually do is you do especially if lads are doing shows, they'll do a couple of shows in a row at the same time. So it's usually around September. There's a couple of shows coming up now next week. And they'll all do the set September shows or whatever. And then they go into a bulk to get bigger. And then come back even bigger next year. And what's this thing a dirty bulk? What's this call? That's bullshit, man. That's getting fat. So like i I suppose a lot of people don't understand what bulkin actually is, right? So everyone kinda talks about bulking. And they're like, you can eat which one. No, you can't. Not if you want to do right. So like if you wanna if you wanna get real sciencey about it, like as a male, when you're when you go above 15% body fat, your insulin resistance goes really, really high. Okay. So you don't convert, you're not as an anabolic. So you convert more food into fat than you do into tissue. Okay. So that bulkin, you should get down absolutely shredded first. Be shredded as you can to start low and then you reverse out of it. And you reverse out of it. You're only going up like three hundred calories and then you go and you're watching yourself and you keep yourself tight. If you stay if you go up below above, you'll hear someone doing in a bulk if they've fucked it up. They'll go and they'll do a an aggressive cut four weeks. You'll may you maybe heard that. That's because they've gone above fifteen percent body fat and they come back down so they can bulk for longer to get even bigger. Okay. Do you know? And like understanding like understanding the gym. So someone's starting the new starting out the gym and they go on for AI, give me a six week program for For myself. AI is good. It is good. will it take in you as a factor? Maybe not. No, it depend I suppose using it as a tool, how you talk to it is a big thing. Okay. Do you know what I mean? If you go, give me a six week plan, it's gonna just give you or sorry, give me a four day a week plan for six weeks or something. It'll it'll give you generic. Where like if you talk to it and speak to it well, you can use it as a good tool. So like you'd be like, I've had a back injury, tell them everything. Yeah. Then we'll design it to you. And then as well as like like if you're going for food and you wanted to make your food plan, tell them the shit you hit. Yeah. Tell them I don't like this. I don't do it with it. Yeah. So you can use it like as a tool. It'll work out all the macros for you. Go look, I'm and then tell them it what I suppose working out what weight you are. So that'll only that doesn't see you. So like you could have some like I'm I'm ninety seven kilos now, right? And I'm around I'm around eight percent, nine percent body fat. If you just tell them I'm a I'm ninety eight ninety seven kilos, but like you're no, but you're twenty percent body fat. That's not taking that as a factor. That's just taking it as one. So tell them look or even put a picture in what part body fat percentage do you think I am, and it'll fucking tell you. So like if you use it as that, it'll help. Yeah. Where as I said, you you need to know how to talk to it. You know, especially like l look, personal training and coaching is a it's it's expensive, you know. and if you can't afford that's that's what I'd be doing. Yeah. And like a basic gym package, like I'd say if you're going to gym and see like yourself, say you're you're in house fitness, are you? That no, that's where I train. You're sorry, that's where you train. Yeah, yeah. So you're training in house fitness. But someone come someone come up to you and see me in the gym, I'd say you're no hassle helping them out. no, not at all. Like if you want to be I suppose in this industry, y like especially 'cause of like I suppose the fire kid as well, like I'm there to fucking help people. I'm not gonna say. training like give me fifty quid just no no yeah it'll hand out no it it doesn't work like y like especially I suppose I don't I don't I wouldn't butt in on someone if they were doing something wrong unless they were gonna hurt themselves. If they're gonna if someone's gonna hurt themselves I I'll go over and woo you know but like I I but a lot of people look the whole gym knows me down there and they a lot of people come up and ask me advice and stuff like that, you know? And that's not that's that's okay. No, of course it is. A anyone come up to and like you know. Yeah, so like but even your ins anybody that's watching this relationships, go on their Instagram page. It's like you're actually like you're very very your intro page is amazing. Like even the way you talk, the even the stuff you put up. It's like for a fella that's like I've no I I probably haven't talked to you in years. Like that's what I talked to you probably about five, six years ago. Yeah, yeah. You know, and then I've seen where you are and you've told I've done mentioned the shop one day, you're telling me in Dublin Fire Fire Service. I like, that's fucking mad. Like that's my senior and at alone. Yeah, yeah. But Tony Gesman, you're it's it's an inspiration that look at a fella like w like you came from where you came from to have ADHD, to achieve what you've done in life, to double and fire, to be a paramedic. And just talking about your knowledge about your fitness into your fitness and your compassion and just your interest. Like anybody wants to be anybody that a client of you, like look how much even l listening to today, how knowledgeable they are. Yeah, well look, I I I put as I said The ADHD helped me hyper focus on the things I like. Do you know? So like I'm interested in this shit. But you're not bluffing it, like it's literally like there's literally no bluffing. It's literally you know the science behind it. Listen to you and you'll achieve your goals. A hundred percent. Like I anyone anyone that wanted wants to do it. Like I I I'll I'll you can put the pictures up as well of my transformation. Like if you told me that day I figured out I had ADHD and I was drinking and eating fucking Chinese all the time that I get to where I was fitness wise. I would have told you, I would have laughed in your face. So like if I can do it, anyone can. You just have to have that mindset, you know? Absolutely. so small bit, the person behind the jobs, okay, Smallbit, just Smallbit about you. You ha you help a lot of people in your careers. Who has helped you along in your your career? my wife, it was a big, big thing. Like I wouldn't be able to get to where I was where I am now without her. She even now, still she she preps my food. for me for when I'm going on shift 'cause I'm so busy and stuff. And that look, that's that's a that's a little thing, but the support behind it, my kids are big, big inspiration on me as well. my two my my my family as well, my two brothers and my sister. my brother in fire brigades was a big inspiration on me to to join 'cause I seen what I took with him and I wanted to follow suit straight away. I thought it was the best fucking thing ever. Like, you know. but yeah that di it like Obviously then as well, there's a lot of people in the industry helped me as well, like Justina, that bodybuilder I spoke about was yeah, life changing there for me to understand, get that massive knowledge straight away at the start was was huge, you know. so you've you've achieved a lot in your careers or in your life. What's the most proudest thing you've ever achieved? well, my kids. Outside outside your family. Yeah, no, my kids was a big thing. I'm a very big family man. Are number one in in my life, but I suppose going back at 34 and passing out as a recruit again through Dublin Fire Brigade was a was a big thing for me. Do you know? I'd actually said yeah, we were talking about the recruitment in Dublin Fire Brigade, and you said they were shouting at you. Is that is that the way it is? yeah, at the start. So like when we do like parade parades on there's parade in morning and your uniform has to be pristine. Now it's not it it doesn't It doesn't stay like that when you get out. But that it's it's it's militant. You you march out, you're on parade, you're in the same spot every day, then you get put into syndicates and you go and do your training. So you come out and you you stand to attention in your fire kits then and then you'll go and do your drills. And yeah, it's it's it's you wanna be on the ball there, like we've we've you're in the army, the four Ds, your address, your drill, your department and your discipline. It's probably the same in your job. Yeah, I I I never heard that four D thing, but it's it's the same thing. It's the same thing. Do what I It's the same thing. and like d they'd mess with you as well. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? They'd be What's that on your boot like? They're after sculpting it, you know. But it's a bit it's it's a game out there. That's that's the best way to put it. And you need to know it's a game. If you don't, you're gonna be in big trouble. It's mad any army lads that listen to this and then the the last couple of minutes we're talking about game, we're talking about the four D's, we're talking about the refresh, all that stuff. That's the exact same it isn't the job, our job. Like I've I've done an NCO course and my best men, my best friend was my was the student of the course. Yeah. And I was his best man as well in a couple of weeks there. And you're fucking drilling like but like you have I suppose you do you do all these skill sets in your training as well. So you'll do f the the training at the start, you're trained to be a firefighter first, right? So you go in, you do four weeks' initial training, so it's all ladder drills, pump drills, stuff like that. You're running around to do like this thing called the monkey run as well. So they set up there's two towers, they set up a thirteen point five ladder on each. And you have to r climb up one, climb down the other, roll out holes, run to the next one, which is a good distance away, do the exact same thing, climb it again, and they just keep with all the gear. With all the gear on. Then you go into your special training, which is like your BA, that's the big one. Okay. breeding apparatus training. So like what they do is they hide bodies around this building. You have to go in and you're we use walls as paths. Did you ever hear this? Yeah, close to the wall. So you're number one. So you go in, so we'll you're going as a team. one, two, and three, you go in, you they'll they'll give you a a brief outside. So be like, you're team alpha, you're going in on the left hand wall. Some lads don't listen, and next thing they're going on the right hand wall, they've already failed. So they tell you go in at the left hand wall. So if you're team if you're number one on that team, you're the pathfinder, you are on that wall. The other lads are attached onto you and they they go out and search. So they'll hide a body just at where you should be able to reach. Yeah. If you search properly, it might fall off. If you were able to If you're able to reach out properly and do your search procedures properly, and if you miss it, they might have it like you could find a body, go, Yeah, we're after getting body. And next thing they have a baby hidden over here and you didn't you didn't do the right search, you know. So they do like loads of stuff like that. the training is unbelievable. I love that. Where'd the train? So they train out in the OBI, it's got at the O'Brien Institute, it's out Marino, is where Dublin Firebiga trains. they'll no, again, they light the building on fire as well, so it's on fire as well. Sorry. There's stuff like that. Then you do your SRT training, so spit for rescue, you do your RTC training, road traffic, so you're doing all the cut car cutting, pump pump course, there's loads of different courses. And then you do your big pass out where to do a drill, a big massive kind of show we'll call it at the end for all your family and stuff like that. Unbelievable and that's what that's what I was getting at there. You asked me about a problem moment. That was one of them, you know. Yeah. Like it is same in us in army, you pass out with And they're proud moment, whole family after especially all effort you put into training. So like we do on your pass out, it wasn't me now, but some fella caught eyes with his kid and we were doing our march and next thing lost a step. He kept walking and everyone had turned. Now it wasn't on my pass out but you see it like but like I remember I was driving up in the truck 'cause we do like a water drill and fire and stuff like that. And I remember I was driving up the truck. I could see my son in the crowd like and I was so proud like to just see him there looking out at me, you know. It it was unbelievable. Banter. Banter is there much banter in it? Yeah, too much. It's it's there's a like I suppose if you were sitting with a bunch of firefighters, we have a very dark sense of humor because we deal with we're dealing with. And if you were sitting there and we forget there's a normal person there, you'd think we're fucked. mental, you know. but that's how we deal with it. Yeah. Do you as I said very dark sense of humor. But then like there's there's there's always messing as well. Like so like we do this thing called getting bagged. So like if you're going up into in a door that always look up because there'll be a pot of water coming down the top of you like every fucking time. Like you could be in the rooms. So the way it works is there's trucks you get on a on a parade you get assigned to your truck. It's position two and four there to be Awares. And they're the water rescue as well on Alpha One. so they're going into fires. Position trees usually ha does the medical bag and he will do he'll get water so you get it from the hydrants and stuff like that. Or if there's a car fire, he'll usually put out the car fire. That's usually the way we do it or whatever. But there's there's a lot of acne abolics there big time with it with all that. Is there someone in is there someone in in in command of each yeah, yeah, yeah. So you'll have so you have a station officer. So so I suppose I'll tell you the rank system. So we've your firefires. Then you have sub officers, then you have station officers, then you have district officers, then you have third officers and assistant chiefs and chiefs and one chief. So that's the way it works. So if you're on the Alpha One, that's that's the the station officer's truck. If you're on Alpha Two, not ever not every station has an Alpha Two. There's they're only the two pump stations, they're the sub-officer's truck. That's the way it works. Yeah, yeah. And they're on charge. Then you might if it's a big incident, you could be joined up with a district officer and he's over the whole incident. Okay. So looking back on your whole career, Is there anything you you regret doing in terms of like not your personal stuff, but in terms of regret doing from your fitness stuff to your fire service stuff? Is there anything you change? I would have went for it earlier, I suppose. I'm ten years in. I probably would have joined the the fire service earlier. do I think it's someone f a job for an 18 year old? Possibly not. Now some people do join at that age and fair folks to them, but the death and telling family members that someone's died at 18 years of age Wouldn't be the best thing without life experience, you know. in regards my personal training thing, yeah, I have a couple of regrets. I think I shouldn't have went away from it for as long as I did. I was at it. Then when I moved to America and kinda got into the fire service, I stopped doing it for some reason. And then I came back at it nearly I would say, what is it? Probably seven years ago I went back at it heavy, like, you know. Yeah. Jesus. So advice to listeners. what would you say to someone listening that feels stuck in a rut? There's always light at the end of the tunnel, like you know, just like in stuck in r rut in regards like fitness or anything. There's as I said, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. I think if you're not into fitness, get into it. I'm not saying to go get a trainer or get out. Just like the endorphins from even going doing something in the gym and having a routine is massive. Massive for me. and I it can be massive for anyone, you know. Yeah. So I'm gonna finish off with a few quick fire questions. I need a few of them. Cool. Okay, not mad. Okay, so s Atlone or Dublin? Dublin. Gym or running, simple question. I don't think we're not to answer that. So training, early early or late? early for me, but some days my my hand is is is held because I can't because if I'm coming off night shift I have to get some sleep and go or yeah or I'm fucked. You know, I could get injured. Your favourite exercise? Ooh, well it's I bench pressed two hundred and five kilos, so it'll we'll go with that. Okay. The biggest pahe. Is trainers teaching something wrong? and you c you you call them out if you don't have you? I will, yeah. Yeah, yeah. If I see them doing it, I will. I I did I did a video there a couple of weeks ago and it was directed at two people in particular and they didn't even realise it was, but it was There's actually a person I don't know his name up, but if there's a person on TikTok it actually calls people out. I think someone at UK or America. He is Ricardo Oliver, is it? The Welsh guy. Brilliant. Excellent. Excellent. And he actually puts up the videos. He will destroy you. Yeah. You know, and he he's very good at calling out not just exercises wrong. He'll call out Lazar Bullshit. Yeah. Do you know? He's he's fucking very good. He's quite knowledgeable knowledgeable. He knows his shit. He's he's very good. I follow him oddly, but he's very good. one thing he couldn't live without training. Yeah. The biggest piece of advice you've ever received sorry, the best p piece of advice you've ever received. don't be lazy. Lazy. Yeah. take away food. What's your goals for food? Ooh. Fuck that's a good one. but to be honest, I love steak and chips, man. And I know that's not takeaway food, but that would be my my go to. Like if you're going me, like with the with the missile, do you get 100%. Every time steak chips, yeah. I love it. If you're if you had to go for a takeaway, what would it be? Used to be Chinese. Yeah, but say Chinese. Like it's mad that I keep saying this in the podcast, but everybody I've interviewed and they ask the same kind of question, everybody says Chinese. What's the addiction to Irish people Chinese? I don't know, man. Yeah, like I don't It's just different, isn't it? House Fitness they're they cough shop. Good. Unbelievable, isn't it? Yeah, it's very, very good, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's it's it's very good. House Fitness very, very, very good gym. I love it in there. Good atmosphere. good that's it's the open area, they open at six in the morning. They do, yeah. Yeah, it's very good. I think I think there's an opening for a twenty four hour gym here now. Definitely, yeah, yeah. especially 'cause the amount of factories and stuff around that lawn. I would love to see a twenty four hour gym because like If I was feeling up to it and I was coming off shift or whatever, I I just go I don't give a fuck if it's four in the morning. If I'm on a train, I'm gonna train like But even lads they're w they want or say they're going on duty with the army or lads, the guards go on duty. A hundred percent. They're always they can do that in Dublin, they can actually have the There is twenty four hours on the space. But they can access it's access there. It's j it's it's just turnstile and you have an app. Not all of them have this, but there's an app and you've it it generates a scan and it'll only let you in every four hours, so you can't be letting your friend in with the So they they scan it and then you go through a turnstile. Savage. It's unbelievable. so it's funny won't leave it there. but again I wanna say thanks very much. You're if anybody wants to get in contact with you, obviously the best way is Instagram. Instagram, my page, double coach. I think s someone wants to definitely get a personal trainer probably I would definitely recommend it. Sure as well. I'm not gonna say what mu I don't know what his money is, I don't know how much he charges. anyway, so reach out to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look I'm starting a new I have a new programme starting on the seventh of September, for a twelve week programme if if anyone's interested to just contact me on Instagram or whatever. Yeah, so I'll I'll actually share it up. I'll share it up on the show. sorry the last question one is where's what outside that w where do you see yourself in four four or five years time? I'm gonna push I'm gonna push my my my personal training now a good bit. so I'm gonna I'm gonna really aim to get that back 'cause I I had it and then I with the paramedics and stuff and I was studying and I I still am studying a little bit was It was too hard to balance everything. I was literally like it was insane. Yeah. So I'm I'm back pushing it now. You might see my stupid head up on Instagram a bit more. But yeah, I know I'm I'm really gonna push that and I'm probably gonna do a degree through the fire service. Why not? Yeah. Do you know what I mean? So that that's that's what I'm thinking of. You've experienced life through many different angles, Tony. So anyway, I wish you the best of luck going forward and again I'll share your stuff on your social media on the social media platform. And again, thanks for meeting. Thank you, man. Thanks for Cheers.