The Fitness Industry Lied to You: What Finally Made Me Feel Healthy

Watch the full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSmpmK-vvA

The fitness industry keeps evolving, and it is fascinating to watch. Every year brings new supplements, new methods, new holistic approaches and new workout plans, all promising to help you build the best physique possible.

For a very long time, I followed that path. I kept updating myself with the latest supplements and the newest plans. But by the end of it, something was not right, and it always bothered me. I had the physique I wanted. I had everything I wanted. And I did not feel good.

I woke up exhausted every day, even after eight hours of sleep. I crashed at 2 p.m. and lived on coffee, until I understood that caffeine means borrowing energy, and your sleep pays the price. I could not make sense of it. Here is how I eventually found the answer.

When bulking nearly cost me my health

For a long time, I believed that to get bigger and build more muscle, you needed to eat more and more and more. I pushed that idea to the limit. I spent two years eating a huge amount of food and went up to 110 kg.

I looked huge, but I felt sick. I could not sleep well. I could not breathe properly. Over time, my breathing shifted from my nose to my mouth, and my jawline changed shape because of it. I honestly believe I nearly died because of that bulk. I was in shock.

I went to see doctors and did my blood work. I described my symptoms. I could not focus. I could not get through a night without waking up. I was eating the right food, and the results even looked fine on paper. But the symptoms persisted.

That is when I understood that doctors are mainly there to tell you whether you are sick. If you are not, they are not set up to help you optimise your health. It was a wake-up call, and it made me realise that I needed to take responsibility for my own health.

Becoming my own researcher

So I decided to learn everything myself. I went to university to study the subject properly and dug deeper into the research, until I came across a study that focused on the gut. It made complete sense to me.

It highlighted that the gut is the second heart of the metabolism. If that is true, then everything runs through the stomach. That includes parts of the nervous system, which made me understand that the state you are in really matters.

It also explained something I had noticed: I would eat and then go straight to sleep, and I never had the right energy. I decided to start a process of elimination. I selected exactly which foods I could eat. That made me feel better, because not all the foods in the markets are healthy for you.

You have to remember that every metabolism is different. And after years of eating processed and chemical-heavy food from the markets, many things in our metabolism can change. I was never gluten intolerant until, at some point in my life, I found I could not eat gluten without getting bloated. That did not make sense to me, but it showed me that I had damaged my stomach over a long time. To heal it, I started taking more probiotics.

The result: a recovery that surprised my doctors

Let me tell you where I am now. About two and a half months before I recorded the video, I tore my bicep tendons. I healed within a month. I was back to training only a month after surgery. The doctors could not believe how fast I got my mobility back, and how quickly I could lift, box and run again.

I believe it came from the habits I had before the surgery, which helped me recover far faster. The surgeon, in Italy, ran a full set of blood tests: testosterone, blood markers, vitamins, everything. He told me he had never seen such results, and that they were the best in the whole hospital. My testosterone, vitamins, blood sugar and cholesterol were all in a great place, with no excess in anything.

He said I would probably recover faster, and that it would take about three months. That motivated me, and in the end it took one month.

So what did I do? I paid attention to five areas.

Area 1: Sleep

The first area is sleep. Here is what I changed every evening.

I stopped eating two hours before bed. I stopped using television and screens one hour before bed. I took a hot shower before going to sleep. That helps trigger your body to rest, because when you sleep, your body begins to regulate its own temperature.

I also kept my windows open, even in winter. Many people close everything to keep the heat in, but the air inside the house can be lower in quality than the air outside.

I changed my sleeping posture. I stopped sleeping on my stomach, because it felt as if it were suffocating me. I moved to sleeping on my side, which gave me more room to breathe. And I focused on breathing through my nose, not my mouth. For a time, I taped my mouth to push my body to use the nose. That is personal, and it is not right for everyone, so speak to a professional before trying it.

The result was that I began to wake up feeling great at 6 a.m. every day, full of energy.

I also fixed my sleep schedule. I chose a set time to go to bed and a set time to wake up, every day. Even after a late night, I woke at the same time. Your brain is like software, and it memorises the pattern. I reached the point where I did not need an alarm. I woke up naturally.

Area 2: Food, and the order you eat it in

The second area is food. I am not talking about quality here, because by now you know you do not need processed food or things that are not healthy. You know what is healthy: rich in protein, rich in fibre, and with carbohydrates in the right amount.

What I changed was the order. I started to prioritise protein, then fibre and fats, and finished with carbohydrates. This lets my body take in the most important nutrients for recovery first, ahead of the rest.

Area 3: The state you eat in

The next factor is the state you are in while you eat. If you are rushed, constantly stressed, eating in front of the TV, eating while reading emails or eating during meetings, your body behaves differently.

Take person A and person B. They eat exactly the same meal, but they do not absorb it equally. The difference is stress. How you handle stress and cortisol is crucial. If you eat on a stressed stomach, your body will not absorb the food as well, even when the meal is healthy.

For me, this was mind-blowing. I used to eat while running and rushing through everything I had to do. When I began to set a specific time to eat, a lot of things changed.

Area 4: Cardio and heart health

Back in the day, I was a gym bro who lifted heavy and wanted to get bigger. It made me realise I was not truly healthy, because my heart was not functioning as well as it could be. So I added cardio.

Your VO2 max is one of the first indicators of whether you will age well. If you do not do some physical activity that pushes your heart into a higher zone, such as zone 4 or 5, for a sustained period, you miss the longevity side of it. Think of the heart as a pump. A good cardio routine helps your whole circulation, which is why running and cycling are great.

Area 5: Supplements, simplified

I also paid attention to supplements. I used to take every supplement you can think of, and I believe that is part of why my digestion was a mess. I took whey protein, isolated whey, mass gainers. Most of it was sugary and processed, and not beneficial for my health. I would rather get my calories from real food.

The day I started to see changes was the day I understood that supplements and complements are two different things. Supplements are there to supplement your diet. They do not complement or replace it. You need a proper food routine first. If you do not have that, your body will not absorb them well, and you end up with a counter full of supplements, wasting time and money.

I did a process of elimination and settled on the supplements I truly needed. My thinking was that, to feel better, I needed better circulation and better oxygen transport. That led me to creatine monohydrate, which is the most researched supplement on the market, along with citrulline and arginine. I also added recovery supplements. For me, the most crucial one is ashwagandha, which can help with sleep and cortisol, although it is not right for every metabolism.

I take magnesium glycinate in the morning and in the evening, to help calm inflammation and support a nervous system under a heavy training load. I also take a multivitamin, omega-3 and vitamin D3 with K2, which I see as important for joints, especially if you are building muscle. Please check with a doctor before you start any supplement, because what suits me may not suit you.

Alongside that, train your tendons. Use isometric and plyometric exercises to look after your fascia and muscle tissue. If you do not, you can end up with injuries that take months to heal. I have made that mistake myself.

Area 6: Training in cycles

My last lesson is not pushing to my full potential in every session. For six months, I trained four or five times a week. I was completely worn out. I overdid everything: overtraining, overstretching, over-mobility, over everything.

I learned that you need at least three days of recovery a week, and that you should train in cycles. Mine looks like this. I train four or five times a week for two months, with active recovery on rest days, where I run 5 km at an easy pace. Then I have a deload week, where I drop the weight and increase the repetitions. Then I take one week to ten days of rest, with no activity at all.

On a chart, your progress goes up, up, up. If you keep training hard without a break, you eventually hit a plateau where progress stops. That is where recovery matters. The line dips, and then, when you start your next cycle, it climbs again.

What it feels like now

With all of this, plus probiotics for my gut, I felt amazing every day. I was excited, and I was able to focus. Once you taste that feeling of feeling good, it becomes very addictive.

I used to be a heavy smoker. After one week of feeling great, it became very hard to go back, and I quit. That is how strong the difference was for me.

Why I trust this advice

I know it is overwhelming. The internet is full of opinions. What I am sharing comes from 12 years of experience. I am a certified trainer and nutritionist, and I went to school and studied this. That is the credibility behind it, along with my own experience.

Start here

There is a link below to my free 30-day recomp plan. Check it out, apply it, and come back and tell me how it went. It is the same process I use with my clients.

If you are struggling and need guidance, you can book a call with me, and we can look at the details together.

Get your free 30-day recomp plan here: https://azermahdi.com/

Watch the full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSmpmK-vvA

If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I will be happy to answer every one.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information and education only. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified doctor or other licensed healthcare professional. I am sharing my own experience and what I have seen with my coaching clients. Reading this article does not create a doctor-patient or coach-client relationship.

Bloating, low energy, brain fog, poor sleep, low libido, and constant stress can have many causes, including medical conditions. If you have any health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or have symptoms that are severe or do not go away, speak to your doctor before you change your training, nutrition, supplements, fasting, sauna or cold exposure, breathing practice, or sleep routine. Never ignore or delay professional medical advice because of something you read here. If you think you have a medical emergency, contact your local emergency services right away.

The client stories and results mentioned here are real examples, but they are not guarantees. Results vary from person to person and depend on many factors, including your health, effort, consistency, and circumstances. Supplements, calorie targets, and training programmes are mentioned only to describe what I do and what I have seen, and they are not a recommendation for you personally.

You are fully responsible for your own health decisions and for how you use this information. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Azer Mahdi disclaims liability for any loss, injury, or damage resulting from the use of, or reliance on, this article.