Today I was thrilled to be joined be an outstanding person in Brett Stewart. Along with being a someone I’m proud to call a friend, Brett is an author of over nine fitness books, and an active participant in countless marathons and triathlons.
Growing up as a self-proclaimed “chunky kid,” Brett was motivated to gain his youth back by dedicating himself to a healthy lifestyle. At the age of 42, Brett is in the best shape of his life, and continues to participate in triathlons across the country. In his books “7 Weeks to Fitness,” “7 Weeks to Getting Ripped,” “7 Weeks to a Traithlon,” along with his other books, Brett gives step-by-step, goal-oriented ways to increase one’s fitness level and eating style.
Brett was a great person to interview, and this is a great video to watch for anyone looking to improve their lifestyle.
During our interview, Brett and I talked about:
- Why Brett is so dedicated to fitness and a healthy lifestyle
- How Brett chooses the partnerships he endorses during his fitness events
- The attitude one needs in order to successfully complete a triathlon, along with be successful in life
- Advice Brett would give to those thinking about participating in a marathon or triathlon
Brett Stewart Interview
Brett Stewart Interview Transcript
Lucas Biebelberg: Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today again on sportsnetworker.com I’m happy to be joined by a very, very interesting person along with my good friend, Brett Stewart. Nine time author of countless fitness books, active marathon runner, active triathlon participant, and I’m sure everyone will enjoy this as much as I am. Brett, how are you doing today?
Brett Stewart: Great Lucas, how are you?
Lucas Biebelberg: I’m doing well. Brett, let’s jump right into the first couple questions. You’ve written over nine books regarding exercising and healthy eating. What makes you so passionate about fitness, healthy eating, and dieting?
Brett Stewart: The biggest reason why I’m into fitness is because I wasn’t as a good. I was, for lack of a better term, a little bit pudgy. I was the slow kid who got onto the baseball team because his dad was the coach. My brother was an all-star, and I was just kind of one of those kids who filled a roster spot. I loved sports. I really enjoyed sports, but I never took that extra step to become better, to try really hard, and to get fit or eat right or anything, and I like to say that I remedied that in my teens or early twenties, but it didn’t happen until I was about thirty years old. I found myself as an overweight guy who was smoking too much and eating poorly. I went out to play softball and I was easily winded and tired, and it wasn’t who I wanted to be. In my mind, I was still a decent baseball player, but in reality I was overweight and out of breath running to first base, and that just wasn’t going to cut it.
Lucas Biebelberg: Along with that, you’ve gone from that to now an active marathon and triathlon participant. You’ll tell the audience how many you do, but it’s not just one or two! What motivates you to continue to participate in these kind of events?
Brett Stewart: Yea it’s quite a few events. If my wife were to tell you, she’d probably tell you its hundreds. I think it’s more closer to 100 or so, but my very first event was because a buddy of mine, and I go over this in my triathlon book, dragged me out to a duathlon, which was a two mile run, ten-twelve mile bike, and then another two mile run, and I figured this can’t be all that hard. But the first half-mile into it, I was miserable! I finally finished the run, but I was miserable on the bike. My chain kept falling off, and I couldn’t stand it! But luckily for me, I had the drive to want to finish, and then something happened. In duathlons, you transition from the bike to the run, so coming out of transition number two going into the run, something weird happened. I saw the looks on the faces of my family, I heard the crowd, I saw other people on the coruse actually enjoying it, and they weren’t doing any better than I was. But they were having fun, they were laughing, smiling cheering, and suffering like the rest of us. So I said, you know what? I’m already here, I’m already sweaty, and I can’t quit now while my family sees me here, and I stuck it out, decided to have a little bit of fun, and I enjoyed those last two miles, and crossing the finish line was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. Giving birth to my two children…well being a father to my wife giving birth to my two children, to getting married. This was right up there it was a magical moment for me that changed my entire life, and I knew right when I finished that race that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
Lucas Biebelberg: You are pretty much are doing that as you’re sponsored by several brands, one being the HITS triathlon. I’m hoping you could talk about your sponsorships, and sort of what makes them unique to you, such as how you picked them out, and what you look for when you advertise certain brands.
Brett Stewart: Sure! Lucas, its not so much sponsorships as it is partnerships. If it’s not a brand that I use, if it’s not a brand that I believe in, or its not people or a thought process that I could get behind, I don’t want anything to do with it. One of the things that’s really, really common with fitness authors or fitness writers and magazines or even trainers is that people will just advertise. Unless it’s something that I’m really passionate about, I don’t advertise for supplements. Unless it’s something that I use, and usually I won’t advertise on my websites, it’ll be something that I’ll tell people when I’m training them or on a group run, is that I’m not in it to build other brands unless it’s things that I really believe in. You mentioned the HITS triathlon series, which is a race company that’s taking triathlon in a whole different area. The swim, bike, and run are the same, but one of the interesting things that they do, is they make it family friendly because it’s a two-day event. Instead of just a traveling circus showing up one day and taking off, they actually come in a couple of months ahead of time and do a triathlon camp for newcomers, so that’s really great. But what they do on race weekend is even more interesting. On Saturday, they’ll have three races: an open, a sprint, and an Olympic distance, which are really family friendly. Obviously the Olympic and sprint are double what the open distance is, but they provide enough on Saturday for most of the family. Then on Sunday, they have 70.3 and 140.6 distance triathlons, but the one thing that I really like about it is that on Saturday, the open is free. So people who have never raced a triathlon can show up on Saturday and literally get their feet wet and enjoy the sport. Something that I’ve always felt since 2004 when I launched the ESPN Triathlon team, with my co-founders, is that I’ve always wanted to be an ambassador to people who haven’t raced before, whether it’s a 5K or anything up to a triathlon or an obstacle race, I like seeing a first time participant come out and experience the type of excitement that I just talked about feeling at my first duathlon. The feeling of, “wow I can do this,” and the feeling of empowerment to know that no matter how miserable you may be during the first couple of miles, there is always that finish line to look forward to and the accomplishment you feel by reaching your goals.
Lucas Biebelberg: For those who are watching this, and have not done a marathon or a triathlon, what recommendations would you give to someone who’s thinking about participating in one for the first time? I myself ran cross-country in high school, and when I would get to the 2nd mile marker and I had a mile and a half to go, I wanted to stop right there! How do you give recommendations to someone who, when they get to the two-mile marker, they still have 24 more to go?
Brett Stewart: There are a whole lot of things you covered there. Number one, the first couple of miles suck! I don’t care if you’ve done 100 marathons or if you’ve done one 5K. Whether you’re training, running, or racing, the first couple of miles are never fun. The harder you run them, the harder they are. As a cross-country racer, you only had two miles of misery and then a last mile to finish. But with anything, it’s all about the goals that you set. If you’re watching this out there, and you’re sitting on a couch today, and you haven’t run a mile ever if not for a very long time, set small goals. Go out, jog to the next mailbox, and then walk for a minute. Work your way up to 30-30’s, where you’re jogging for 30 seconds and then walking for 30 seconds, and then you can continue to build that up. Mileage is great because you can put it in the bank. It’s the type of thing that every mile that you run, jog, or walk, is only a benefit to you, which is the great thing about training to run at an event. You can do it over time, and it can take between 7-16 weeks, which is usually what’s recommended to train for an event based on what your base mileage is, but you can grow mileage so easily if you just do it. The great thing about setting small goals, whether it’s marathons or triathlons, is that if you set small, attainable goals, it’s much easier to keep going. Lose that one pound or dress size. Don’t worry about losing 16 pounds at once. You’re only running to the next mailbox. Even in the lowest points of some marathons where I’ve just been miserable or during Iron Man’s when I was so beaten up, getting to the next sign post or the next corner or making it to the next street becomes what’s necessary. Once you get there, you can re-evaluate and see if you’re body is still working and keep moving forward. And that’s exactly one of the phrases that I use in the triathlon book. If something is working, keep doing it. If something is not working, stop doing it. But all in all, keep moving forward. And that’s really the most important thing.
Brett Stewart: Now, the first thing that you asked was how should a beginner get into a triathlon, marathon, or any type of race? Volunteer. You don’t jump into something without seeing it first, and you won’t know what a triathlon is like until you’ve been there. You can read my book, you can read any book you want, you can watch videos of Iron Man on NBC and get that great feeling like “I want to do that!” But unless you go out to a triathlon and you see what it’s all about and get involved by being a volunteer, you just don’t understand it. You need to be involved before you can really go out and do it. It’s really a walk before you run, and in this case crawl before you walk type of thing. You need to show up and understand what a triathlon is all about before you show up on race day. It won’t only be good for you because you’re safer, but for the safety of everyone else. You have to know what’s going on.
Lucas Biebelberg: That’s what’s so great about you’re books. I’ve read a couple of them and it’s not just a free-for-all. The books are very laid out with goals, such as accomplish the first goal before you attempt the second, and accomplish the second before you get to the third. It’s not just saying here is what you need to do, now do it in a week or do it in a year, it’s very goal-oriented. So how important do you think it is to not only set a couple of goals, but set several goals leading up to reaching your final goal?
Brett Stewart: Thank you, by the way. I love the fact that you get what my books are about. They’re all progressive programs. Start at point A, and finish who knows where! Some people get wrapped up in the fact that the books are “7 Weeks,” or specific numbers of this, and that is so completely out of the realm of what they’re really about. Yes, but it’s a title. We do our best to squeeze everything into a particular period because being able to be quantifiable is one of the goal points for so many people. But if you take all of the exercises and all of the programs out of it, it’s getting you from point A to point B to point C to point D and helping you realize that once you’re on that journey, you can continue going. Fitness for me did not happen in seven weeks. Fitness for me happened over the last 12 years, and it’s continuing to happen. Luckily for me, I did it in my thirties, and guys like you get to do it in their early twenties! I played guitar in high school I wasn’t a jock, I was a longhaired kid. But I found fitness late, and thirty is the new 18 right? But really, I’m 42 and I’m in the best shape of my life and I really, truly enjoy what I do. It’s not just about making me better, but I do strive for that every single day. There’s not a day that I wake up and don’t want to get better because I know I wasted thirty years, and I think part of me is trying to get that back. But I love helping other people. All the emails that I get, I don’t post the testimonials because, honestly, I think that’s a little bit cheap. People will send me emails because it’s a one-on-one conversation. They want to tell me if they like it, and even tell me if they don’t like it. They want to ask me questions about what they can do to make themselves better, and that’s my job. That’s what I’m here for. And I truly take that responsibility and consider it a high honor. I’ve really spent a lot of time answering every single email that I get. I want to be better, and I want to help others get better. That’s what fitness is to me. It’s a progressive program where we set goals and keep moving on.
Lucas Biebelberg: In order to participate in a marathon or a triathlon, it’s not just physically demanding, it’s mentally demanding, because everybody’s body is going to want to quit and you have to fight through it. So what do you think is the most important characteristic to have, not only in those type of events, but also in life in general?
Brett Stewart: I like the fact that you mentioned life in general because a marathon or anything that is an endurance race is a lot like life. A 5K isn’t like that. In a 5K, you go out there and you pound as hard as you can, and you finish. A marathon is a pretty good metaphor for life. A long distance triathlon is a better metaphor and I think that a 50 or 100 mile race is really a fantastic metaphor for life because if you don’t maintain a steady keel and you can’t wrap your mind around the fact that you’re going to be going through highs and going through lows, you won’t be able to figure them out on your feet. There’s no quitting and there’s no stopping. There’s resting, but you don’t walk off the racecourse. And that’s one of the things you mentioned. The physical aspect is huge. You have to be able to endure, and I’ve seen people of every shape and size. One of my first Iron Man’s I raced I came back into transition and was packing up my bike feeling pretty good about myself and I’m standing next to an 80-year-old guy! I think he was 84! We were having this conversation and it was blowing my mind because he beat me! I was a 34-year-old guy and he flat out beat me. We started talking and he said, “Yea, I’m getting a little bit older I think I’m only going to do about seven of these this year.” It just blew my mind. And I was thinking that, first off, this is awesome. But number two, if I can do this until I’m 84-years-old, I’m psyched. But even in obstacle races I’ve seen grandmothers and people that are 100 pounds overweight finishing the course. I took great pictures when I was doing my obstacle race book of a Tough Mudder where they have these series of walls, and there are these 8-foot high walls that are very difficult. In one part, there are four of them in succession, and they call them Berlin walls. I have these great photos of this woman, probably about 280 pounds, with this smile on her face when she got to the wall. She made it through. She finished the course. I was there to watch her finish. For a 12-mile course with about 19 or 20 obstacles, it was absolutely amazing. That’s the thing about fitness, it’s all relative. Anybody can go out there and show up, and anybody with a desire and drive can finish. Of course there’s a physical component to it, but a huge part of it is mental. You have to fight through the highs and the lows, and talking to the metaphor of life, that’s what life is all about. I’ve been divorced. I’ve been unemployed. I’ve been through really difficult and rough patches of my life that I’ve been lucky enough to get through, and I’ve learned, well after the fact of a lot of these things, that being able to have that drive that helps you through and the mentality that you can survive will help you assess the situation and move on. Positivity goes a long way. I like to be positive in my books, my workouts, and I love to be positive when I train people for a new personal best because that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about knowing you can do it and then going out there and actually doing it.
Lucas Biebelberg: Brett, the age aspect of what you just mentioned leads very nicely into the final question we have for you…
Brett Stewart: Are you calling me an old man?!
Lucas Biebelberg: No, not that! You certainly don’t look like it! But the last question we have for you tonight is what would you say to somebody who may be watching this and saying, you know what? I’m past my prime, I’m too old to participate. Maybe I’ll go for a walk later today, but what would you say to someone who thinks they are too old to participate?
Brett Stewart: I fight with my parents about that. My parents are in great shape, I love them to death. I would love for them to be more fit. My Dad was a carpenter his whole life, so he’s a strong guy, but he doesn’t like fitness. They’ll walk and do whatever, but they don’t exercise for fun. A lot of people don’t want to exercise for fun, but I see the positive benefits of exercising for the things that I do. And it’s not just for the races that I do. I’ve taken an entire season off from racing before, and I maintained my physical regiment because I want to stay in shape. I’ve worked really hard to get into shape, but the idea that you’re too old, which I think I just bashed when I mentioned the 84-year-old in my triathlon beating me in the Iron Man. I would love for that guy to see this and say, “Boy that little whippier-snapper was really motivated by me.” But seriously, it’s all relative to you. Whether it’s walking or running or playing with your grandkids, or playing with your 5-year-old, you can do exercises at home. Kids are like monkey-see-monkey-do. The best way to get a kid into fitness is to do it. When I’m doing calisthenics inside the house, my 3-year-old daughter is always right there. She’s doing push-ups, she’s doing forward rolls, and she’s doing push-ups. It’s really important to find fitness that works for you, and it could be anything. It might be a walk, it might be a jog. Whatever it is, find fitness that works for you, and keep with it. Don’t be afraid to kick it up a couple of notches. Don’t go insane, but fitness is hugely important whether you’re 5 or 85. You’re never too old to start and you’re surely never too old to quit, so pick something that works for you and stick with it.
Lucas Biebelberg: Brett, thanks again for joining us today. You’re books are great, and if anybody watching hasn’t checked them out, they’re so many of them and they’re so great. 7 Weeks to Fitness, 7 Weeks to Getting Ripped, 7 Weeks to a Triathlon, they’re all great! Definitely checked them out if you haven’t. For sportsnetworker.com I’m Lucas Biebelberg, have a great night.
Brett Stewart: Thanks Lucas!