Four-Time Mr. Olympia Winner Jay Cutler Joins The Lights Out Podcast With Shawne Merriman

you can call it a muscle. I called myself a muscle. Hey to gym rat. I love the gym. I think it's it should be a part of everybody's life as some capacity. And UM, something I've been very vocal about over the last several weeks, really over the last several months, is that I understand COVID is very serious. I've been

affected by it. I was sick back in UH. I believe that right after the Super Bowl, I was down on radio road working and and I came back here to l A and I knew something was up and I had COVID then, UH, you know, my family members and close friends and It's a very very very serious deal and I get that and understand, but I also believe that mental health, uh, physical health is also equally as important. Um. There's a lot of people suffering right now because they can't get to a gym. Uh you know,

they're trying to do some homework outs. With those of us who are serious work outoholics, I would like to say, um, sometimes with a home workout, some won't always fix it. And you know, I've I've been there. I've tried to do push ups and mountain climbers and air squads and running in place with my neighbors downstairs below me, uh complaining. I tried to do as much as I can, but I went through it, you know, when they first shut down the gems and shut down everything, um, and trying

to figure out what to do. So it's it's awesome to have uh, one of the best to ever do it and talk about you know, what inspires him and also him inspiring other people certain programs he has going on and follow him at Jay Cutler. But we're gonna get into it, man, because this is awesome. No, you you know, it's funny. Uh. You know, I was talking to the other, who's that? Talking to my boy Chance who was there that day, and I told him you were coming on and he said, yo, And I completely

forgot about that time. You said, yo, you remember that time we was at the pool? It was was it wet? Was it wet? Right? It was? It was what republished the first time I ever met you. I didn't even know you then. So dude, you you got it for me. You gotta be a sick individual to grab shake throw in the pool through the first time you feel like I look back down, I said, what what the hell is? That was it? You know? But that like, what was it that? Maybe you want to go and do that? Man? Actually,

you you spared me, bro, You didn't grab me. You spared me like we're on. We were on on the field and uh, I was three and it was pretty easy to actually knock me in the pool at that point. You so you know it was crazy. It's I've seen that. Um. You know you guys just had up and you were in Vegas right. Um. For for Miss Olympia, they actually

moved to Orlando. Yes, it's normally in Vegas. They moved it this year because the land but they still had they still had like the restricts and stuff in place, right, Well, was there pretty wide open? You know it was it was they restricted to three thousand and the audience. Uh, you know, they were suggesting a masked protocol. Um, but it was kind of a choice. They weren't super super strict about it. And that's of course why they moved up to Florida, as you know, a lot of events

have taken place there. Um, you know, the National Championship was just there and it was you know, limited fans, right, but it was still active, which is a bigger thing than California and Nevada been doing it. And I get it, man, Like, we just saw the whole in the NFL go through what the NBA first because they had the bubble, and then we saw the NFL. And I was shocked that NFL was able to get through a whole season without having to shut down because nobody, especially here in California.

But for the most part, no one was letting people there, and it was it was kind of weird even see the event. I was looking at some pictures and I saw you on stage, and I didn't see the crowd. I didn't see any you know, a real big crowd there. So things have just changed. Man, how how's it been for you on your listen? As you know? I mean we we you know, we converse here and there. I mean I I was a big trade event guy, so I was attending expos. I mean we saw each other

last year at the Olympia Expo. Priority we're there, um and I do a lot of those. I mean I promote events that require audiences in order to create revenue, right, So we had to cancel a lot of these events because we couldn't even hold the athletes. I mean a lot of these contests have a hundred and fifty plus athletes in the venue at on time. So we've actually had to work around restrictions. Although this year we're not

going to cancel. We're gonna do time slots, so basically going to bring in certain divisions and you know, and then we'll have to uh take take the audience out, re sell tickets and kind of have it in time slots. Uh, to get through this whole pandemic thing. I mean, we can't go through another year. I can't had four events I canceled last year and all the expos had cancel. That l a fit expos usually to kick off Exploit of the year, which is in January. That's been pushed

until July as we speak right now. So and that that was my one of my questions to how has because you had the nutrition company, you have to supplement and I know you're pushing online, but I think they're winning stores and stuff too, right, I mean, and and and some of these exposed. I remember you having a booth and having stuff sent up the last few that I've been to, Like, how has all that changed? Though?

You know, it's changed, And unfortunately for me, like I you know, I've been mostly directed consumer brands, so a lot of my consumers are buying from the internet and through social media and through advertising through Facebook or whatever. So as you know, during a pandemic and during this time, people sit on their phones, and you know, it's been

great for the online business. But yes, the store is a lot a lot of restricted areas have closed stores down, um, and they're starting to diminish, just like the gems and just like other restaurants and everything else. I mean, when you can't have face time with people, A lot of people still rely on walking in a store talking to a salesperson on what products they need. And uh, you know, the only good thing is honestly shown is a lot of people working out during this time, Like they find ways,

whether it's outdoors, in their garages or whatever else. I mean, we talk about that, but as you know, a lot of gyms, especially where you are closed, and a lot of people don't have access to those. So you know, it's it's kind of hurt them diet wise, and you know, keeping key carry their bodies, dude. And and it's something I've been pushing for the last I've been talking about openly for the past eight or nine months, um about

gems being closed. And you know, you get stuck in this place where you want to be sympathetic because there there is people. There are people losing their life right now. This is a serious deal. I've been affected. I think I had COVID. Uh well, I did have COVID, but I think I had it in February, right after the

Super Bowl. I was down there doing radio row and just around a bunch of people, and I came back I started feeling something like immediately and I don't really get sick, and so it put me down for seventy two hours and so I can only imagine with somebody would actual health problems like we're going through. My My dad had it, and family and close friends like everybody.

So it's a real deal. But the other part of it is is that when they when they closed down gyms, and I don't know if this happened to you or not, but it happened to me. And when I'm talking, it was a completely closed we just it was it was basically stay in the house, don't do anything, not even go outside. Didn't work out yet, it's just like just stay home. I went through it, man. I was depressed. Um,

I was stressed out. I had anxiety, and I was just sitting around and I found myself like, man, I haven't not worked out for this long since probably I was thirteen or fourteen years old. I was normally gone, never taken three weeks off from like not really being able to do anything. I try to do push ups in the house, I was doing dips off the edge of my couch. I was doing mind climbers. I was I was trying to figure it out. But that was

the first time that I actually went through it. And I mean, I think you gotta you got a pretty good set up, right, But was it the same? Uh? Yeah? And I'm not gonna lie. I'm still suffering a little bit because you have to remember, um, my lifestyle, I mean, for the past twenty years has been traveling to expose, doing guest appearances and a low bodybuilding. You know, I

retired competitively now seven years ago. I was still very, very active and I was still out there, and that was how the bodybuilding arena thrives off the energy and you know, and when I would travel on the weekends and I would, you know, have lines of people coming to meet me, That's what motivated me. And when I stepped away from the stage, I looked for motivation to

do that. So when we hit a when we hit this pandemic and Jim's close and I'm training at home with a few dumbells and some benches, and I do have a great cardio set up, but nothing is like going to the gym and having the routine of machine to machine. And I'll be honest, I mean, someone who was a lot of self motivation, I still like to watch other people work out to gain motivation. We all

thrive off each other. And I I talked about a lot on social media that we follow, the people that inspire us and certain people that you know, we just watch. We may not learn something, but we do require a lot of those people that give us motivation. And to this day, I'm still driven by a lot of different types of personalities. But for me, it really did affect me. That still affects me because my lifestyle is absolutely changed. I don't have a lot of FaceTime. I'm a person

that literally it's I'm in a solid routine. So I literally work every day. I go to the gym, I'm active on social media, and and then you know, I start to you know, go to sleep and start the next day. Yes, I work on business and whatever else, but I still require my social time as still, you know, being in the gym and trying to motivate others. Why being motivated myself, I do, And like you said, with the whole routine that I think that would kind of

threw me off the most. That routine was gone. And I talked about guys when they retired, especially when you retire from football. I think because football is a little bit more, you've got collision. You've got fifty three guys in locked room. So the camaraderie to me is a little bit different. And you go through the stage when you first retire, that's your routine is all for the first time. And that's why a lot of guys, you know, self depression and anxiety and trying to figure out the

next stages. And I really didn't have a whole lot of that, but I experienced it for the first time. So I'm pushing, you know. And I get it that you want to keep people safe. But in my personal opinion, uh, mental health, physical health, and all the things that this COVID is causing by gyms not being open and people not having, as you said, the routine, we we haven't even started to discuss those effects. I mean people losing their bit. I have a lot of friends this uh

gem owners. They own you know, the two jams, some own twenty gems, chains of gems, and I see the way they're suffering, not only from the business and the financial part. But it's like that routine is gone, and we're counting all these COVID numbers. And I get it. It's serious deal. People losing their lives and we gotta be safe as possible. But one thing we're not talking

about and I don't think it's talked about enough. Is the the bigger aspect and the mental health and physical health that's gonna come out come from, you know, being shut down to what we are. Yeah, I mean listen that you're talking to someone that's you know, I'm surrounded by fitness, right, And there was a lot of benefits when I started training into the age of eighteen, and that's a different I mean you, I mean you played football as a kid and then of course go to

high school, college, then into the pros. You know, I started weight training, not that I didn't start following it, but I actually joined the gym my eighteen birthday and I joined the gym mainly for a confidence or a stress reliever. So when I picked up weights, I was at a crossroad at eighteen. I was going to college. My family wanted me to work in the concrete business. I was in central Massachusetts with super small town and uh, I was one of the first ones in my family

had a seven kids to go to college. So for me, I was at that crossroad. In the gym, that two hours a day really gave me the outlet, and that outlet, UH turned in you know, it was a hobby and then of course turned into a career, you know, my early twenties. Then when I stepped away at forty and retired, it allowed you know, I'm kind of back to Okay, what is my stress reliever? What gives me uh a

reason to you know? Every day pushed harder and harder with my work ethic, but I still need an outlet, right, So the training still is a huge part of my day. I mean, I tell my my supporters of fans or whoever I talk to all the time, the best part of my day is still going to the gym and

working out. That's it's but it's routine if you follow me, you know, every day it's like I train it, you know, around ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, I do my cardio first thing when I wake up, you know, I eat my meals and then you know, sometimes I'll be back in the gym later in the evening. But it's just it's routine for me, and it's something that I've done since day one. Yes, what what would be

like you advice? Because um, I've had some some guys and I'm fortunate because of the private gym's open back up so the two mm A gyms, I get a chance to go to everybody you know didn't have that access to. But what would be I guess you advice to somebody this because I've talked to a couple of my former teammates and guys is off right now that can't work out and doing different stuff. They're struggling, you know, depression wise and mentally and just they're fighting the fight

right now. What will be your advice to some of these people that use this as advice to work out and do this and to get through it. You're still you're just gonna find one outlet, and that's usually setting a time. I try to do things early. So when I mentioned I get up, the first thing I do in the morning is I dive into a couple of emails or take care of a couple of things for thirty minutes, and then I grab a workout. It's really, hey,

how I kind of start my day. And for those people that are looking even if it's just walking outside, running outside, I mean doing those kind of things. And I mean a lot of people I know have used band training whatever else. But you have to set a schedule and every day. I always mentioned this when I was training is like groundhog Day for me. I don't really deviate much from a schedule because that's how I find works best for me. That way, you know, every day,

this is the time slot I'm gonna give. And some of these people listen, they have to be at work at seven o'clock in the morning, they have to get up at four o'clock in order to get a workout in. It's easy to make excuses, but unfortunate. Only like to be successful, we have to go through the struggles. And I think that I think that you have the routine always works best. And my suggestion is while the gyms are closed, you've got to find that outlet. And we

all have different functional training that you do. I mean you mentioned training with m M A type training and I do more weight training cardio. So like I you know, I go outside. I like to walk outside a lot of days, and unfortunately on the East coast, like it's cold there. But like it's too easy to make excuses. I think that's what people tend to do when they're

under those kind of stress levels. Now, and you know, I'll tell anybody um that to try to get through this thing, like you're gonna you're gonna need the mental part of it to the in the physical part of it, because there there are repercussions from you know, you know, people call it COVID fifteen. I'm like, okay, you see the weight, but your cardio, vascul and and all these things is being affected. And I'm preaching to the choir

and it. Man, I'm I'm gonna scream at this topic as loud as I possibly can that to get through

this thing, you're gonna need your health. And I'm you know, the gems are the transmission rate of like point oh two and like people love science, they love nevers, I'm like, please please open these gems back up and do it safely, you know, do percent capacity, and let's start to work back to some kind of normalcy, man, because the repercussions of this thing long term, you know, people going to have the un quarantined mentally and physically for a very

long time. Yeah. And I want to mention one thing, and that's the nutrition aspect, because I know, I mean, you posted pictures recently and you're in phenomenal condition. I know that wasn't just because you're training, like you follow a diet protocol. So I always mentioned, you know, in the morning, it's very important to start your day off with a great nutritional breakfast. And you know, for me,

I have you know, egg whites, opmeal or whatever. You know, sometimes you know, idevate a little bit, you know of some some turkey, bacon or whatever else. But I start my day. I still eat at least four to six

portionate meals a day. And to be successful, to have a successful body, I hate to put percentages out there, but when people look at like the figure behind me right when I got in that condition, it took me four months to come down from a big body weight to get in my top condition that we held for maybe a couple of days when we got on stage. But it was a process where I lost a pound er two each week. And I did that through deviating, like with a certain diet regimen where I ate more protein.

You know, I I kept the bad foods out, I got away from bread and starches and I focused more on you know, wholesome foods and meal timing, so I, you know, every three hours something uh, you know, healthy That allowed me to be able to lose the body fat but obviously maintain the muscle mass. So uh, it's it's a it's a journey. It's a challenge, but you have to be dedicated to what you want to do. But diet is probably seventy of getting the peak body shape.

It was. It's something I wished I learned a long time ago, back when I was playing, because you know, I was drinking. I was you know, when I played, I Papa John's pizza two or three times a week, and mentally, I just always thought, you know what, we're gonna go out and practice them, burn off the calories, but you don't really understand what it is doing to

your body. So a couple of years ago I did decided to and I didn't go cold turkey or have some crazy diet, but I said, you know what, if I'm if I'm gonna eat junk food, I'm gonna do it once a week, and I'm gonna do it on this And I slowly, but I slowly started again to

do that. Because people see me now like, oh, you decided to get in shape after you played football, I said no, I just I just started to learn, like, okay, you eat this at this time, you know, don't eat some big, heavy gass meal before you lay down and take a napple go to sleep. So it was it was really all about tweaking, tweaking you know, my my um, you know, my diet, and understanding your body a little

bit more. I I actually, you know, it's funny, um, I think about doing a doing the right When the pandemic started around March, when it became public, I decided to get an allergy test because I didn't know, you know, certain foods can do certain things to your body, and I know gluten and all that stuff that we were really not supposed to be gluten. But I started to learn, like, okay, who I can't debrad or I'm not supposed to even dairy. Not just because I'm trying to change my diet. My

body just won't react well to it. It's gonna blow me, It's gonna upset my stomach, use something like that. But I'm like, damn, I'm thirty six, you know, and you still learning about your body. Man, So you know you're right, man. The diet was everything. Yeah, I mean I learned that early. I worked with the nutrition and from the beginning, and you know, and people are afraid, like people are afraid of carbohydrates and whatever else. And I mean, you can

still eat moderate foods. But I can't tell you how many times I have to preach to people. You know, you are what you eat, right, and the training goes along with the nutrition programs. It kind of it's like, you can't do you can't do the training without proper nutrition because you won't get the results. But I'll tell you, you you can stay on a decent diet and still maintain a pretty decent body without any exercise or even training.

It may take you a little longer. If I was to put a person on a diet on a diet, I'd say, okay, let's get in the diet for a couple of weeks and then add the weight turning, add partio vascular. Uh and listen, as you played football, you needed somebody fat. Obviously you're you're moving around in the field and you guys are you know, you're colliding, so

you you can't be super super ripped. I'm the I'm sure he played with guys that you probably looked at they were like, how is this guy's genetically They're just unbelievably conditioned, right, And but those guys, you know, you just when when you're when you're a big guy, it's just really hard for you to hold that crazy condition all the time, especially when you're closer to three in the pounds. So are you doing more stuff? Um like virtually?

Like you've given a virtual programs and stuff like that out. I know I've seen one thing, but I didn't know if you had like a whole regiment of program that people can follow. I do actually, uh, you know, and people that follow me on Instagram, notice, I actually just did a six week challenge. And I did a six week challenge because I know people want to start off their their new year right, So I started on January eleventh.

I have I probably have a thousand active members on that that joined, and basically I give them nutrition programs, uh for six weeks training and nutrition, and then I do live feats such as this like on a on a Facebook group and I every week I'll get on there and I'll answer the questions that might be looming, like what you know, maybe I want to do this or that. And I did this based on the body type, whether an end no more ectomorph I mean trying to

figure out what what position your body is in. But This is a great way to get people motivated and kickstart them. Not to say everyone. People may fall off after six weeks, but they may want to continue with it, and it's a great way to start and build up people's cal infiniten is because you know how many people wake up in the morning, they look at themselves in the mirror and they say, I want to be something different than what I am. No one's truly satisfied at me.

I can tell you even when I was a champion, you know, Mr Olympia winner, I still looked at holes in my physique and said I could still be better here and there, and that's what made me great. I was never acceptance of, you know, what I've actually was, although I did have confidence. I was proud of the

way I looked. But you know, obviously you're your Your whole outlook kind of changes as you get older, and retirement has made me into oh, I want to be a lot leaner and not so muscular because it's very, very hard to maintain as you know, it's just it's too hard to carry that much mass. But that's what I kind of did to get people motivated. And um, I've always put out content to keep people driven. And

I'm always preaching the nutrition thing. I'm showing my meals like that's the most thing I can do is show, hey, this is how I cook my food, this is what I eat, and this is the times I eat it. At no. I think that's great, man, seriously, because um, you know, sometimes we put out this stuff and I'll and I'll put out you know, obviously I talk a lot of ship and I you know, post stuff and keep it funny and because of social media, but I may post something that somebody else is watching it going

through that. I'm fine, I'm not. I'm having a great day, but I know somebody else out there is it. I know somebody's going through some ship and so and and with you, Like you know, this stuff is free. I mean I see you know when you when you talk and show like it's free and you're helping these people out with it. Man. So um, that's pretty cool. Just what what's next? What you got what you got up next? If they open back some of these events, yeah, I

mean I have some stuff. I mean I have a contest that I'm promoting here in Las Vegas on April three. It's at the South Point casino and and you know, Vegas has been pretty hit pretty hard right now. I mean you haven't really been making I'm sure a lot of trips to Las Vegas. Uh yeah, I was just actually, uh I was there a few weeks ago, and I'm looking at even possibly moving there too. Nice. So I have a contest on April third, I'm mooting. It's called

the Ja Cutler Desert Classic. I do four of these a year, so I do two in Boston because I'm from there, I do one in uh Las Vegas, and I actually do one in Virginia. And this is an amateur show that people can get up on stage and compete similar to like we did, and that you know, they win trophies or whatever else. But this gives people motivation. It's it's about uh. I think it's about eleven weeks away at this point, so people are on their diets and getting ready for it. And that's kind of my

tickoff show of the season. But I am booked at a few events. I'm doing a ton of social media, a lot of YouTube au Ja Cauler TV. Uh just staying active that way, and and to be honest, just working on my brands in the background, and you know, every day trying to do this social media stuff even now is you know, I'm a guy that's kind of stepped away and sometimes, you know, at my age to sit there and say, man, I gotta film my food

or this and that. I I I sometimes have to be like, man, you know, this isn't what I necessarily want to do all the time, but I do it for my for my followers and to keep people with people motivated. Yeah, I was always found that weird man um and you know, post a certain workouts. You want to do it to put the information out there, but to continuously doing it like that ship is work, you know, like you're going through outs today and this real works.

Where where can people find the events coming up in Vegas? Uh? It's it's on Instagram J Cutler Desert Classic and also just you know, if you follow me you'll see it. Uh. But the website is also J. J Cutler Desert Classic dot com. So it's you know, we are going to allow some audience there. I don't know what it's gonna be like by April here, but hopefully we're heading towards a better direction than last year. We had to cancel

the event totally, so we will have the event. It will take place, and uh, you know, that's kind of a kickoff from this point forward and normally I'm overseas, but that's not gonna happen until the end of this end of the year. Olympia is probably gonna be pushed till the end of the year, like it was. It's

normally in September. They pushed in December last year. Arnold Classics a big event in Ohio that's gonna be pushed toil Septemer eleventh right now, So it looks like we're kind of sitting tight to un till the spring and summer of one. Well hopefully, man, when everything clear up, well we'll catch up. And if I can get out there to the vent in Vegas, I'll definitely be there. Um, I get up to Vegas probably once a month or once every other month. I'm always there, So definitely let's connect.

Do you've got a lot of stuff going on. I'd love to see you, uh at the working out in the morning here in Las Vegas and the future. Man, i'd be awesome for sure, all right, brother, Hey, I appreciate it, man. Thank you guys, thank you so much.

I appreciate it and take care of Thanks guys, I appreciate it once again for tuning into the Lights Out podcast with me saw Mary then and that was that was cool for for a couple of things, right, because, um, whenever you get a chance to talk to someone who's a legend in their industry, uh, the intellect in what they have and what they do for a living, um and share it, you know, like I always look for free information, and you follow j Color on Instagram and

social media. He's always given tips, nutrition tips, workout tips, and how to stay focused and stay at it. Uh. So that was really cool for me. And the second part of it is is that, um, there's a lot of correlation man and and and being able to work out and how it makes you feel um and and also uh, you know, keep your mental health aspect of it. I believe there's a lot of correlation with working out and feeling good and having your mental health and physical

health also attacks So I appreciate you guys listening in. Um, that was really really cool for me because, like I said, I'm a uh natural born musclehead, a gym rat, and someone who believes in working out in physical health and taking care of yourself. So that was great to hear for one of the best. Keep tuning in, keep uh leaving us great reviews. Man, that's been awesome. I think

we're a few hundred thousand downloads. I don't know. I don't feel like bragging, but honestly, it's because of you, guys uh for listening and enjoying the content and join the podcast. Um So keep subscribing and be back next week. Get after it. Let's go