Sleep More and Get Inspired by Eddie Hall with Powerlifter & NASM Personal Trainer Max Morales

Q & A with Powerlifter, NASM Personal Trainer & On Repeat Sports Brand Ambassador: Max Morales

ORS: When and why did you start lifting? When do you feel like you became a serious lifter?

Max: I started lifting weights when I was 16 years old at the 24 Hour Fitness I currently work at. I had initially started in order to put on muscle for wrestling. However, I feel like I became a serious lifter about two years later when I started powerlifting for competition at 17 while in college, something I am still doing and enjoying to this day.

ORS: What time of day do you train and why?

Max: I most often train in the late morning or afternoon, because it works with my work schedule. On top of that, since my lifting is usually very draining and requires me to eat substantially before, I often can’t train early in the mornings without my lifts suffering from my lack of food or lack of quality sleep. For that reason, I lift in the afternoon even on my days off from work, so that I can enjoy my workout.

ORS: What do you listen to on repeat at the gym to get you into beast mode?

Max: I don’t normally listen to music while I train, simply because it can sometimes lead me to be picky about the music on my playlist. However, the music I can listen to on repeat while training is anything by Hollywood Undead, because not only is their music amazing, but I also love their lyrics, whether the song is done in a serious or goofy manner.

ORS: Do you have a favorite exercise?

Max: My favorite exercise is the squat, because of its simplicity and the fact that not many people are able to properly do it in a way to get its full benefits. This is part of the reason why I have chosen to have Squat in all of my usernames.

ORS: What is your main fitness goal for the coming year?

Max: My fitness goal for this year is to become as strong as I possibly can at the big three lifts, so that I can qualify for junior nationals in powerlifting next year.

ORS: Do you write down your goals?

Max: No, I don’t like to write down my goals as I usually tend to lose track of them. Instead, I just recite them to myself every day.

ORS: What has led to the biggest improvements in your training or physique?

Max: Consistently training and keeping track of the weight of my lifts. Doing so, by purchasing a subscription to a training group made by powerlifters for powerlifters.

ORS: Who inspires you in the gym? Do you have a hero?

Max: Multiple people inspire me in the gym, the most notable being Daniel Ryjov, John Hack, and Eddie Hall. Their training intensity and knowledge always make me want to improve myself, in hopes of one day getting to their level. My hero in the gym would most definitely be Dorian Yates, despite the fact that he is a bodybuilder. I will continue for the foreseeable to watch his movie “Blood and Guts”, which is just him training at the most intense level possible to train for Mr. Olympia.

ORS: What is most overlooked when it comes to getting the results you want in the gym?

Max: Often, the most overlooked thing I see is sleep. Many of the people I work out or train with realize that when we train, that is the body breaking itself down, but they think that the body primarily repairs itself when they are awake, when in reality almost all of our recovery is done when we are sleeping, and the body has little to no pressure put on itself. I guarantee that if people not only improve the amount of time they sleep, but the quality of their sleep as well, the results will come.

ORS: What advice would you give someone new to the gym?

Max: To anyone new in the gym, the first thing I will always tell them is to find a good coach or trainer. While it is something that seems gyms only want you to do to get more of your money, having a coach can quite literally make or break your goals. Having a person with more experience go over your goals, tell you what they think, and even show you what to do and how to get to your goal seems like a no-brainer. Coaches are more experienced than new lifters and have chosen to make their livelihood making sure that new people don’t make the same mistakes that they made or have seen other people make. On top of that, having a coach initially will also make people stay consistent for the first few months, because they will feel obligated to listen to what they say, because they are paying for it. I often hear people say they “know what they are doing” or "would like to figure it out on their own first”, because they don’t understand how progress is made in the gym and think doing what they always did will work. It kind of makes me sad because when I hear that, I know that the chance of that person reaching their goals has dropped significantly, because unless they have an obligation that isn’t a promise to themselves, they’ll quit after not seeing their results for a month and then blame the gym. Don’t even get me started on how they would try to get to their goal. Having a coach will not only keep you from quitting, but it will also get a person to their initial goal and even allow them to surpass it.