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2902: How 311 Has Stayed Together for 35 Years — Nick Hexum on Sobriety, Fitness and Creativity

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Release Date: 07/16/2026

2918: 5 Ways to Fix Obesity That Actually Stick Long Term show art 2918: 5 Ways to Fix Obesity That Actually Stick Long Term

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

In this episode the guys break down 5 easy ways to fix obesity that are sustainable long term — injecting more movement into your daily life in small ways, avoiding hyper-palatable drug-like processed foods, lifting weights occasionally (even just once or twice a week is enough), connecting through activity with friends and community, and turning off social media an hour before bed. They also discuss the obesity epidemic now hitting Italian kids as processed food arrived, the milkshake study on how belief changes physical response, Adam's internal battle between ego and caution while...

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2917: How Strong Should You Actually Be? The Numbers Finally Explained show art 2917: How Strong Should You Actually Be? The Numbers Finally Explained

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

MAPS BOGO: https://mapsbogo.com Buy one get one free — mix and match any of the top 10 most popular programs (Anabolic, Aesthetic, Performance, 15 Minutes, Anywhere, Symmetry, Starter, Muscle Mommy, Powerlift, 40+) for $157. In this episode the guys break down exactly how strong you should actually be — covering the real strength benchmarks for men and women across bench press, squat, and deadlift from decent to good to great to advanced, why strength is one of the single best predictors of longevity and all-cause mortality, why we are in a muscle weakness epidemic, why mainstream workouts...

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2916: 5 Ways to Get Fitter Without Adding a Single Workout show art 2916: 5 Ways to Get Fitter Without Adding a Single Workout

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

MAPS BOGO: https://mapsbogo.com Buy one get one free on any of the top 10 most popular programs (Anabolic, Aesthetic, Performance, 15 Minutes, Anywhere, Symmetry, Starter, Muscle Mommy, Powerlift, 40+) for $157.   In this episode the guys break down 5 non-workout shortcuts to fitness gains — post-workout sauna and its 32% improvement in run time to exhaustion in just 3 weeks with competitive runners, visualization producing nearly identical skill gains to physical practice, music and its measurable effect on pain perception and exhaustion, caffeine as the most consistently supported...

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2915: The Best Workout Programs Combos For Any Goal: Muscle, Strength, Fat Loss, and More show art 2915: The Best Workout Programs Combos For Any Goal: Muscle, Strength, Fat Loss, and More

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Buy one get one free, pick your combo:   One of the most common questions the guys is also one of the simplest: what program should I run next? It matters more than most people think. Stack the wrong two programs back to back and you leave gains on the table. Stack the right two and you buy yourself six months of near zero plateaus, real strength PRs, and a body that keeps changing every week. In this episode, Sal, Adam, and Justin stop making you guess and lay out the definitive MAPS program pairings for every major goal.   They cover advanced muscle gain, pure strength, fat loss...

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2914: 5 Rules for Building a Lagging Body Part (The Ones Nobody Tells You) show art 2914: 5 Rules for Building a Lagging Body Part (The Ones Nobody Tells You)

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

In this episode the guys break down the five rules for building a lagging body part — train it longer, train it more often, train it first in the workout, take volume away from the rest of the body to fuel it, and eat in a calorie surplus. They also get into calf insertions and how high versus low insertions determine whether you're built for speed or strength , Adam microdosing GLP-1 for inflammation and knuckle swelling, Justin's KLOW and cognitive peptide stack from Vita Bella. Then they coach live callers submitted through mplivecaller.com.   MAPS Upper Lower:...

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2913: 5 Fitness Rules You're Breaking That Are Quietly Killing Your Progress show art 2913: 5 Fitness Rules You're Breaking That Are Quietly Killing Your Progress

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

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2912: SS-31 Peptide Benefits: Why Ben Pakulski Says This Is the Most Exciting Peptide Right Now show art 2912: SS-31 Peptide Benefits: Why Ben Pakulski Says This Is the Most Exciting Peptide Right Now

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

In this episode the guys sit down with IFBB pro bodybuilder and science-driven performance coach Ben Pakulski for a wide-ranging conversation on peptides, performance, identity and the hard lessons of a 20-year bodybuilding career. Ben breaks down the peptide landscape — why he's optimistic about the science but deeply cautious about sourcing (90%+ of research peptides come from China with no quality guarantees), the most exciting peptides he's currently working with including SS-31 for mitochondrial repair, and myostatin inhibition and where the science actually stands. They also cover...

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2911: Machines vs Free Weights | 5 Times Machines Are ACTUALLY BETTER show art 2911: Machines vs Free Weights | 5 Times Machines Are ACTUALLY BETTER

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

MAPS Upper Lower: https://mapsupperlower.com Code: LAUNCH for 40% off. Four day split, male and female versions, workout videos and live coaching with Cole. Three days left on this offer. In this episode the guys break down five times when machines are actually better than free weights — isolating a muscle or movement pattern, when recovery is challenged from a sport or hard training block, adding extra volume without taxing the body, advanced intensity techniques like drop sets and forced negatives, and movement patterns that gravity-based free weights simply can't replicate. Sal shares how...

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2910: 6 Things Nobody Tells You About Fat Loss After 30 show art 2910: 6 Things Nobody Tells You About Fat Loss After 30

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

MAPS Upper Lower — https://mapsupperlower.com (code: launch)Most people over 30 who try to lose fat end up in one of three traps: they lose the weight and gain it all back, they lose muscle along with the fat and end up softer and slower than before, or they hit a wall and feel like their body just refuses to cooperate. In this episode, Sal, Adam, and Justin lay out the six things the fitness industry consistently leaves out of the fat loss conversation, and why ignoring them is exactly what keeps you stuck.   The biggest shift you need to make? Stop treating fat loss like a demolition...

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2909: 5 Running Styles to Lose Fat (And Which One Is Actually the Best) show art 2909: 5 Running Styles to Lose Fat (And Which One Is Actually the Best)

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

In this episode the guys break down five ways to run for fitness — for distance, same distance for time, same time for more distance, sprinting, and running for fun. Sal shares that he ran his first mile this morning for the first time in years and how humbling it was. They also get into the story behind Sylvester Stallone writing Rocky in three days with $100 in his bank account after watching Chuck Wepner vs Muhammad Ali, Italian dialects and how Mussolini unified them, the cyclosporiasis parasite outbreak in US lettuce, the liver die-off effect and why people feel worse before they feel...

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More Episodes

In this episode the guys sit down with Nick Hexum, lead singer and co-founder of 311, just hours before a live show. Nick opens up about how the band has stayed together for 35 years, his path to sobriety in 2005-06 and how the band stuck by him through it, bringing weights on the road since 1993 and having a full gym dressing room on every tour, and why exercise was his earliest tool for managing anxiety and depression. He covers the study showing dance and exercise outperform SSRIs for depression by one and a half times, how he syncs his workouts to BPM-specific playlists, working with a vocal coach who saved his career, losing his youngest brother to an overdose and finally writing a song about it, Shaq showing up to their music video during the NBA playoffs with two left shoes and a siren on his SUV, meeting Joe Strummer of The Clash and finding a 311 sticker on his boom box, the Rick Rubin creativity principle of audience coming last, and his new Americana solo project with mandolin and fiddle. He also shares his thoughts on AI in the music industry, how the Grateful Dead touring model saved them from the Napster collapse, and why he surfed ten-foot Santa Cruz waves the day before this interview.

MAPS Upper Lower: https://mapsupperlower.com
Code: LAUNCH for 40% off. Includes male and female programs, workout videos, exercise demos, coaching videos and live coaching with Cole.

SPONSORS

Seed Daily Synbiotic: https://seed.com/mindpump
Code: 25MINDPUMP for 25% off your first month.

GUEST LINKS

Nick Hexum: https://www.instagram.com/nickhexum
311 Official: https://www.311.com
Water Tower Band: https://www.watertowerband.com

LINKS

Mind Pump Store: https://mindpumpstore.com
Maps Fitness Products: https://mapsfitnessproducts.com
Instagram: @mindpumpmedia

0:00 - Intro
1:59 - How 311 has stayed together for 35 years — democracy, gratitude and knowing you're better together
9:06 - Nick's sobriety journey in 2005-06 and how the band helped him get there
11:17 - Bringing weights on the road since 1993 — gym dressing room on every 311 tour
13:09 - Why outliers and creative people are more drawn to self-medicating
16:32 - How the music industry changed through CDs, Napster, Spotify and now AI
20:57 - Why the Grateful Dead live touring model protected 311 from the Napster collapse
25:47 - The inspiration behind Amber and how it was written in one hour on a Saturday morning
29:58 - Writing a song about losing his youngest brother to an overdose
36:41 - Exercise 1.5x more effective than SSRIs for depression — the meta-analysis
43:16 - How Nick syncs his workouts to BPM-specific playlists for different exercises
47:17 - Breaking through fear as the key to growth — busking and surfing ten-foot waves before this interview
51:21 - How Nick warms up before a show and why working out 90 minutes before performs better
54:05 - Working with a vocal coach who saved his voice
57:42 - Three teenage daughters and the 90s resurgence making him the cool dad again
59:27 - First big purchase after getting signed: a 1969 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors that caught fire
1:01:23 - The Shaq story — two left shoes, an illegal siren through LA traffic and the NBA playoffs secret
1:04:36 - Nick's current fitness routine — F45, trail running in Topanga Canyon and tour prep