What if getting healthier, stronger, and more energized didn't require hours in the gym or endless willpower? Today's guest, PJ Glassey, has spent decades combining exercise science, brain training, and biohacking to help busy entrepreneurs and professionals and busy people in general really achieve extraordinary results with smarter, more efficient strategies. And boy, do we need that in this industry Welcome to Break Free from the Burnout. I'm your host, Dr. Anastasia Chopelas, physicist turned energy healer, and I'm here to help you make the quantum shifts to release hidden blocks to your success. Welcome to the show, PJ. I'm so excited to hear your story and ideas. These are not your typical ideas that you see in the fitness and weight loss industry. Mm-hmm. So I can't wait to hear what you have to say. That's great. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so you've been biohacking and experimenting with human performance since the late '80s, long before it became mainstream. What first pulled you into this world of fitness, brain science, and optimization? I think because I always question everything, and I never take anything for face value. And I remember when I was 16, I started writing a book because it was really about the calorie in, calorie out theory, about how, you're eating… you eat more and you eat less, and you exercise more, and you exercise less, and all this kind of stuff, energy in, energy out. And- Yeah, I guarantee that doesn't work … no, you're right. In fact, I'm writing a book right now that debunks it. I always said if I ate 500 more calories, I gain a pound, and if I ate 5,000 less, I might lose half a pound. I know. It's, yeah, and but most people are still doing it, and it's really sad. like they're still doing traditional training that was invented back in 1891, but it's all outdated. And even back when I was 16, as I was starting to write this book, I started thinking this… Wait a minute. This is mainstream. Why am I writing that… Because mainstream is usually wrong, so let me look into this a little bit." And so I went deeper into it, and then I realized, oh, this is… Actually, the calorie in, calorie out theory is just, is still a theory because it's not fact yet because so many millions of people have proven it wrong. It can seem to work in the medium term, but it doesn't in the short term, and it certainly doesn't in the long term. And so I stopped the book, and I started,"Well, this is… I got to find out what the real way is," and I have since then. gosh, that was back in 1981. And so ever since then, I've just been voracious researcher and experimenter and have come up with things that are very, very different from mainstream with a lot of psychology wound in with it, too. Yeah, so your education, I didn't s- I didn't see that anywhere. So did you study any of this? Did you go to school for any of it? Yeah, my degree is in exercise science from Seattle Pacific University, and then certification is from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. But the the most important thing that exercise science taught me, getting the degree, was how to read research and how to determine which studies are bunk and which studies are really good, and 90% of the studies are bunk and 10% are really good. And so with those 10%, and there's a lot of them I have to know about- It's not just-… about them … it's not just in exercise science that holds true. Right, right … I spent 40 years in, in peer research and- Mm-hmm … published many papers, and there are, there's a great deal of nonsense out there. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. It mo- it's mostly nonsense 'cause the, back in the day, it used to be that the prestigious research journals would actually be proud of publishing really good studies. But now it's just about money, so you you pay and you get in, and, or you know the right person and you get in. And so it's hard to know, right? Yeah. It's not just money for the journals. It's also money for the universities, and it's money- Yeah, yeah … and it guarantees longevity as an academic or a researcher. yeah. So a lot of entrepreneurs and wellness professionals listening are exhausted, over-committed, and feel like they don't have time to take care of themselves. Mm-hmm. And you specialize in helping busy people get extraordinary s- results efficiently. What are most people- Mm-hmm … getting wrong about exercise and energy management? Well, as far as the exercise goes, it's, they're still doing sets and reps. And that's a great method actually if you're looking to get really big and bulky,'cause that's what it was invented for back in 1891 by Eugen Sandow, who was a famous European strongman, and came over to the US, to make his fortune. And then he was jacked. He was, a really big guy. There were other strongmen, but they were, obese and they were super strong. But he was the only one that looked like a lightweight, a modern lightweight bodybuilder, and he was getting all the chicks. And so all the guys back then in the late 1800s were pretty skinny, and they didn't look like Eugen, but they wanted to look like Eugen. And so they finally wore him down and talked him into selling them his methodology, and that's when sets and reps were born. And there's… It's still a really good method for bodybuilders. But for the rest of us that just wanna be toned and defined and look and feel fit and have real functional fitness and not get huge, men and women, then that's what I developed my methodology for based on the research, the good studies that I found. And took me 11 years, but then I opened up X-Gym with the methodology and, the rest is history. Since 1998 is when the X-Gym's been around, Wow. Yeah. So you've really- It's been a long time… held on for a long time and stuck with it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I know all about the reps and sets. And no matter how much weight I lift, I'm a v- I'm very strong. Even though I'm 73, I'm very strong- Mm-hmm Yeah. Yeah. but I never, I don't gain… I never look bulky, 'cause I think- Right, right … women just don't. And I think as we get older, we lose some of that ability to, So my dad always said- Yeah he's full Spartan," so I'm half Spartan. There you go. strength is what people are really after. Some people like to be big and bulky, and they're usually in their 20s and 30s. And I was g- I went through that phase myself, and that was fine. but most people past their 30s, just wanna be strong, and they wanna be functionally fit. They wanna have endurance and energy and vitality and toned and defined. And they, they're over the bulky thing, and they just, they want functional fitness. Yeah. So you created your multi-protocol approach after years of testing and refining me- methods with clients. Can you walk us through what makes your system different and why shorter, training can sometimes outperform the traditional more is better mindset? Yeah. So your typical traditional workout is five sets, around five sets of eight to 12 reps of a certain exercise with a minute to two minute or longer rest in between. So if I'm gonna work out my biceps, I'm gonna do some standing bicep curls, and I'm gonna do eight to 12 reps, and then I'm gonna rest for a couple minutes, and then another set, and then rest for a couple minutes, another set. And then five sets later, with two-minute rests in between, I've spent a lot of time and I'm just, I've only done my biceps. Yeah. And so then now I, I move on to another muscle group. Sometimes it's a compound movement, but especially for bodybuilders it's more machines and isolation. And at X-Gym, we're doing only compound movements, never isolation, and we don't use machines. It's all body weight stuff. It's elastic resistance. It's carpet sliders. Sometimes light weights, but never heavy weights. And it's time under tension. That's how we can get the intensity out of it. Instead of all the reps and the sets, it's time under tension. So as opposed to a traditional set that takes about 10 seconds and then two minutes of rest and then 10 seconds and two minutes of rest, it's our set is the reps themselves vary, but the time under tension is about three minutes- Wow instead of a 10-second set. And there's no rest, not even a micro rest. Because micro rests will refuel the muscle fiber. All it needs is a quarter second to refuel. What we're trying to do is to make the fibers run out of fuel, because when they run out of fuel and they empty out and they fail because they're empty, then and only then do they see a need for change. And so we're trying to send that message to as many fibers as possible, and the best way to do that in a safe way is time under tension. So that's why it takes three minutes to do an exercise inte- instead of 10 seconds. And because we're doing it that way, we're also giving the person endurance. So they're, we're giving them strength because at the very end of that three minutes, it's really hard. But it's still not ever ballistic or repetitive with lots of reps, so we're not getting repetitive strain injuries. We're not getting injuries because it's too heavy, 'cause it has to be a light weight. You can't do a heavy weight for three minutes of constant tension. No. And so yeah, so it's a means to an end. the time under tension gives them endurance, and then at the end with muscle failure, they're getting strength. And so they're getting two workouts in one, and at the end of the workout, after, six or seven exercises later, we've had a heart rate spike with every exercise. And so if you chart it on a piece of paper, it looks like interval training And as far as the heart and lungs are concerned, it is. And so that's why our people are also getting cardio out of it. So they're getting three things in one, and that's why it's just 21 minutes. And that 21 minutes is equivalent to about three and a half hours of traditional training. Yeah. I always did super sets, 'cause I could never stand this, the- Mm-hmm I rested for 30 seconds. So 10 seconds- Yeah, yeah … reps. So in those 30 seconds, I would do two to three other exercises, 'cause- Right, right… the super sets were much more helpful And doing- Mm-hmm … step ups in between and keep the heart rate up. But yours- Mm … sounds a lot more interesting. I can't wait to try it. Mm-hmm. So the one thing that I found really fascinating is your brain type test and your work around rewiring the brain for success. Why do some people stay motivated naturally while others are constantly battling resistance, procrastination, or inconsistency, even when they really deeply want that change? Mm-hmm. Well, it's really a personality trait. So, and it depends on their initial motivation, how strong their lever is. So it's leverage. And if somebody is motivated to start exercising because of something they're trying to avoid, like their, maybe their parent just, maybe their parent got cancer, and they're like, "Oh, wow. Like I gotta get healthy, 'cause I don't wanna have to go through that," that's away from motivation. And that's fine. It's good to be motivated away from something, but that's very temporary. And it's a good way to get people started, but away from motivation is usually pretty lousy to help them continue and stay motivated. Because as you move away from that pain, and the further away you get from that pain, the less motivated you become. So that person also needs to have a toward motivator, and they need to pick something, down the road in the future and picture their future self in a certain way, and all the benefits associated with that to get toward motivation. And so the motivation is important. The personality type is important. And the people that succeed usually are the ones who have the right personality type, that's what my brain type test is about, to find out about that, and to have the right motivation. They usually have a toward and away motivation. And that's why 5% or less are the ones who actually succeed with their fitness New Year's resolutions, and then 95% or more fail by the end of the year That's really interesting. from a perspective, like as a healer, the perspective of the away from motivation, it's something they don't want. Yeah, yeah. And when you put something like a not, like I don't wanna be fat, your subconscious hears I want to be fat- Yeah, yeah … and then moves towards that. Or I want to be out of- Yeah, yeah I don't wanna be out of shape, I don't wanna get cancer, and all you do is you drive that deeper into your subconscious, so. Bingo, bingo. Yeah, exactly. So the away from motivation is, like I try to talk, as a healer, I try to talk about being healthy and vibrant, but people really say- Mm-hmm … I don't wanna be sick. Yeah. So you have to hook them in that way, right? Oh, sure, yeah. And, and I'll do the same thing. When I'm talking with members, if they have an away from motivation and they don't have a toward motivation, we'll sit down and talk about it until we have turned their away into a toward. Yeah. Awesome. So I- like the cancer example, for instance. So well, so I say, "Okay, well, how would you prevent that? what's the best way to, for you to not be in that situation?" And then we start talking, now we're talking about towards stuff. Yeah I saw that there were 16 brain types. Does this align with the 16 Myers-Briggs personalities? No, but interestingly enough, I couldn't get away from that, and I tried to. I just wrestled and wrestled and tried to… I couldn't make that few boxes, and so I, I had to stick with the 16. But there are 16 different brain types, and each brain type has a different way of thinking about things, and that brain type is motivated in a different way. That brain type has different preferences toward and away, things they avoid, things they're drawn to, and brain training exercises. every brain type has half a dozen brain training techniques that they can do to literally rewire their brain, to change their brain so they think, act, and become a fit and healthy person, so they can reach their goals better. that's really different. I started focusing on weight loss and nutrition when I was 14. That's when I started my daily exercise- Mm-hmm … of a minimum of an hour. Now it's about two hours- Mm-hmm … that I do. yeah. so I've been at it a while, so this is- Yeah, yeah … I'm going on my 60th year here. That's so great. That's so great. Oh my gosh. And Good for you. Well, I, I think I didn't realize that I was ADD. Like, I'm always, my body is always moving, so I discovered- Yeah … that when I exercised, I could sit still and study And that's what allowed me to focus and get through school and study, get the same amount learned in half the time than other people. Mm-hmm. Yep. But, uh, it also led to a lot of anti-aging, which we'll talk about in a second. there's so much noise online about longevity right now. What do you believe are the most- Yeah … overlooked habits that dramatically improve your health span, energy, and vitality as people get older? Oh, gosh, yeah. So, well, in my opinion, the number one thing is exercise, movement. And exercise is uncomfortable, but it can still be fun. Uncomfortable things can be really fun. And you'll hear a lot of anti-aging experts say pretty much the same quote, is something to the effect of, "Aging is the relentless pursuit of comfort." And the people who age the fastest are the ones who are trying to be as comfortable as possible all the time, and they're seeking comfort every day. They're trying to get away with easy stuff, and they're trying to avoid pain. And so they sit down a lot, and they eat processed food a lot. They don't cook for themselves much. They don't socialize. they try to avoid conflict. And so-- and exercise. They just, they hate exercise because it's uncomfortable, and they love their comfort zone. But those people who are willing to stay deep within their comfort zone are the ones who age the fastest, and that's why number one, I think number one is exercise. And all forms of exercise are great. All movement is great. But the more intense, the better. And that also condenses the time required because intense exercise gets more done than non or, the easy walk is great. movement on a really easy walk is great. But there's recent research that came out that shows that two minutes of really intense exercise is equal to about one and a half hours of easy walking, so that's a huge time hack right there. But-- And then number two I would say would be nutrition and eating right and being, staying hydrated. Number three would be quality sleep, so you're really recovering, and your brain is clearing and detoxing. And then number four is brain training, so you're working your brain just like you are working your body, which is it, it ranges from learning something new outside your field of expertise to brain training techniques, always being grateful, thinking about those things. And then number five to round out my top five would be relationships And being really close, getting really close with people, having really close relationships, people you can bare your soul to and, and they will do the same with you, and nurturing those relationships because that is so good for the brain and the body and the soul and everything. And then you learn all the things that are associated with good relationships like forgiveness and encouragement and giving and receiving love. And as you foster these things, especially the hard ones, so people who tell me, "Oh, yeah. Wow, you know, my, my closest relationship is, is really a lot of work." And then I tell them, "Well, actually, that's better for your brain if it's, if it's hard work and-" all those things that you mention, people resist them all. Like, getting- Yeah … eating healthy is not fun. Yeah. It's, you know, you, y- you can have fun one or two times a week, like if you wanna have a piece of cake or some ice cream. Mm-hmm. But the rest of the time, you know, eating whole, healthy foods, like I had a green shake at lunch which consisted of spinach, carrot, blueberries, and some protein powder- Yeah and cacao powder and some other, stuff in it. it's not that tasty. I mean, it's palatable. Yeah. But if I don't have it, I don't feel good, right? So- Yeah. Same. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, so those and, and I, I really love coffee, but everything I drink is either, and I drink a lot, is, herbal teas or water. Mm-hmm. That's it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And- Yeah … and I drink a lot of that, and people will walk up to me really close. They'll get really close to my face, and they go What's, what cream do you use? And I said, "It's called water." Yeah. You can iron wrinkles out- Mm-hmm… faster than anything by drinking a lot of water and getting sleep. Yeah. Those two things. And so- Totally. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, so all those things that you mentioned, like I say, relationships are number one for people feeling happy- Yeah … and healthy and wanting to live long, because there's lots of research on this topic. Like at UCLA- Mm-hmm … in the last few years, they've discovered that good relationship and living with purpose will alter your epigenetics to longevity. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. So- Yeah … you know, it's not happy, happy, it's being happy with your purpose, feeling like you're accomplishing something, which is also work. Yeah. So I like that. All those things- Yeah … you really summed that up beautifully. I loved that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, thanks. So what surprises people most when they start working with you? How much time they save. Because, you know, uh, people complain that they don't have enough money and they don't have enough time. Those are the top two complaints. Well, X-Gym is half the price of traditional training because we're quicker, and we save a whole bunch of time. 21 minutes is equivalent to three and a half hours of traditional training. Nobody believes any of that until they come and start training with us, either online or at the, uh, Kirkland X-Gym or through our app. And then they're like, "Wow. Oh, okay. I get it," because they feel it. You really have to feel it in order to understand how it works because it's so different from traditional training. I can't even explain all the differences in a way that people… I understand it, but I can't explain it in a way that they'll understand it because all they know is traditional training. They don't have any other way to do it. And so when I try to explain it a- another way, they don't get it. They have to try it, and that's the- Yeah just experiencing and feeling it. Yeah. Yeah. I, I completely agree. Like, people ask me the same question, like, "What will I feel like?" I said,"Well, it's up to you when, when you're, when I'm done working with them." Yeah. And it, I always describe it as kind of like getting married or having a baby or graduating from a program. When you're on the other side- Yeah … it's an experience that you can't even imagine until you're there. Right. Yeah. And the comment, the, the most common comments that I get from new members are that it's about functional fitness. So they say, "Well, you know, the car- when I would change the car seat from one car to another car, it used to be really heavy. But now the same car seat, I don't even notice really that I'm…" Or,"Going up stairs is easier," or,"Carrying heavy groceries is easier." Those are the first comments we get. And sometimes, you know, after a few months, a golfer will come in and say,"Hey, I've always golfed in the 90s, but now suddenly I'm golfing in the 80s, but I haven't changed anything. What's going on?" Well, your nerves are more coordinated, and so you're in b- better control of your body, and that's- Yes … very important with golf. Yeah. I've also noticed that my posture changed. Like, you know- Yeah … it's easier to stand up straight and look taller and just by- Mm … improving posture. And I also notice that running and walking was effortless after working out- Mm-hmm in the gym. I really like the idea that it's all light weights, body weight, and at home because- Yeah … I, I really don't like going to the gym. It's just like- Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's why we have so many online members. Yeah. So how do people find you? Oh, it's easy. Xgym.com, X-G-Y-M.com Oh We've been around so long that it was easy to get four-letter domains back then, and that's our name, so we got it. I'll put all the links in the show notes. So you also have a brain test for people h- Yeah … helping people understand how their brain is sabotaging them, right? Yeah. It's a brain test, and it's a 20-question quiz, so it's easy to take, and then they will see which of the 16 brain types they are, and they will get half a dozen brain training techniques to literally help them rewire their brain to be a different brain and think a different way and find results easier, motivation easier, breaking habits easier, forming new habits easier. And most people actually get two brain types. They get a primary and a secondary, and some people just get one. But then those people have 12 brain training techniques. So what I tell them is compare the two types and see if any of the brain training techniques are repeated between the two types, and those are gonna be your superpowers. Start with those. And then when you get really good at those, then start experimenting with the other ones. So you can rewire your brain to think and feel and act like the person that you wanna be, and then it's easier. Then you're not fighting your brain. Your brain is helping you and working with you. That's so awesome. This has been a totally delightful and eye-opening conversation. Like, I have been studying this for a very long time, like, going on 60 years, and some of these things that you've talked about are, on point and also totally unique. So I love that you've brought this unique perspective to helping people stay healthier longer, have a longer health span instead of lifespan. I intend to be around for at least another 30, if not 40 years. I'm sure you will be. Yeah thank you for joining us on Break Free from the Burnout. Did today's program resonate with you? Give it a thumbs up or five-star rating, share it with your friends, and be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss any future episodes. When you're ready to bring more harmony and alignment into your relationships, check out my free five-step relationship healing protocol at scientifichealer.com/relationship. Resources and show notes are available at breakfreefromtheburnout.com. Until next time, I'm Dr. Anastasia Chopelas, sending you golden healing light and success vibes to becoming aligned, confident, and prosperous. Your gifts are so needed in this world.