Q And A with
Ryan Manista:
Ryan's Journey Within
The Traditional Fitness Industry
And Workout Supplementation Market
Ryan Manista:
Ryan's Journey Within
The Traditional Fitness Industry
And Workout Supplementation Market
1. What motivated you to start using fitness supplements?
My first inclination to use a dietary supplement started back in high school during my sophomore year of 2007. My initial reasoning for supplementation use was to improve my athletic performance as I started weight training and working out with the Wickliffe High School football team. Participating in the traditional strength and conditioning weight training programs (that the coaches prescribed for our workouts) is when my lower back pain and SI joint pain first started to flare up in my life.
After high school, I began traditional weight training in a bodybuilding style format (eventually progressed into cross fit training, then yoga). Bodybuilding encouraged me to advance my dietary supplementation usage even further. Unaware of my deeper internal motives at that time, I was actually setting myself up for disaster. I slowly discovered over the years, that the driving force behind my abuse of fitness supplementation and excessive working out came from not feeling good enough about myself. By working out and looking better physically, I thought I could score a girlfriend and make myself feel better about who I was as a person.
2. Did you see results from using fitness supplements? What products did you use? Explain.
I started out with using whey protein powders in high school and over the next 9 years, I slowly began to evolve my supplementation usage into a variety of products including; pre workout energy drinks / powders, post workout recovery drinks, whey protein shakes, weight gainer or mass builder shakes, branch chain amino acids, testosterone pills, creatine, fat burners and various forms of multivitamins, pills and powders. All for the sake of attempting to create inner happiness through a better looking physique. I used to spend hours in the mirror obsessing over how I needed to look better, build more muscle and lose more fat.
My first inclination to use a dietary supplement started back in high school during my sophomore year of 2007. My initial reasoning for supplementation use was to improve my athletic performance as I started weight training and working out with the Wickliffe High School football team. Participating in the traditional strength and conditioning weight training programs (that the coaches prescribed for our workouts) is when my lower back pain and SI joint pain first started to flare up in my life.
After high school, I began traditional weight training in a bodybuilding style format (eventually progressed into cross fit training, then yoga). Bodybuilding encouraged me to advance my dietary supplementation usage even further. Unaware of my deeper internal motives at that time, I was actually setting myself up for disaster. I slowly discovered over the years, that the driving force behind my abuse of fitness supplementation and excessive working out came from not feeling good enough about myself. By working out and looking better physically, I thought I could score a girlfriend and make myself feel better about who I was as a person.
2. Did you see results from using fitness supplements? What products did you use? Explain.
I started out with using whey protein powders in high school and over the next 9 years, I slowly began to evolve my supplementation usage into a variety of products including; pre workout energy drinks / powders, post workout recovery drinks, whey protein shakes, weight gainer or mass builder shakes, branch chain amino acids, testosterone pills, creatine, fat burners and various forms of multivitamins, pills and powders. All for the sake of attempting to create inner happiness through a better looking physique. I used to spend hours in the mirror obsessing over how I needed to look better, build more muscle and lose more fat.
Given my wide array and obsession for over the counter supplementation, I never used steroids or human growth hormones, thankfully. The most extreme supplementation I ever ingested was an over the counter testosterone booster under the product name of T-Bomb by Maximum Human Performance. The results I gained from using all these fitness supplements were increased strength within isolated and linear movements, increased endurance, a faster 1 mile run time, increased muscle mass, faster exercise recovery, improved ability to lift, push and pull weight, a better looking physique and a falsely inflated ego.
3. How did you physically and mentally feel when you took these fitness supplements?
When I took pre workout supplements, I felt like my nervous system was in overdrive and I could lift heavier weights and achieve a greater muscle pump like Arnold Schwarzenegger. My mind was in a heightened state with a sharp focus and my body feeling flush with tingling sensations. During my workouts, I could train harder for longer periods of time and quicken my muscle recovery rate in between workouts. It was a sensation of feeling superhuman and was my new addiction.
Ignoring the warning labels on the products and being in my younger years of 16-22 years old, I was also an avid social user of alcohol. Drinking beer and hard liquor every weekend coupled with immensely invasive fitness supplements on a daily basis does not make for a good combination. It even says on the product labels, “Warning! Do not mix with other sources of caffeine or alcohol.” But getting “That Body” and getting drunk with my friends (at the expense of my health) was worth it to me at that time in my life.
During my extreme workouts and fitness supplement experimentation, I had no guidance or coaching for advice or help. Nor did I know how to comprehend or communicate my suppressed emotions. Hell, I wasn't even aware of my inner hurt or emotions back then. I was on my own, aside from an occasional workout buddy at the gym whom also used supplements just the same as I did. Looking back on these years of my life, I can't help but feel a sense of being out of control and in danger, similar to the sensation of playing recklessly on the edge of a cliff.
By years 5 and 6 of using fitness supplements, my body started to breakdown and show exponentially alarming signs of damage and abuse. My signs and symptoms included; bloody stool, black stool, feeling like I needed to urinate but I could not, rapid heart beat, extreme headaches, rapid weight gain and rapid weight loss, depression, irritability, binge eating, a numbing of my nervous system, inability to sleep at night, itchy body parts and an inability to eat certain natural foods without a painful burning sensation felt in my digestive system.
My body started to shut down to the point where my joints started to become weak and unstable. It was so bad that I could feel my knee joints locking up and creating excessive shearing forces just by walking. In the winter of 2012, during a pick up football game with my friends, we all pre-gammed by drinking a pre workout energy drink to hype ourselves up. Within the first 10 minutes of playing, I was running by myself with no one around me and my knee gave out. I suffered from a non-impact severe knee sprain and I could not walk normally for several weeks.
A few months later, I was playing backyard baseball with my friends. I jumped to catch the ball and on the way down, I went to turn my body and my knee joint locked out as my knee cap dislocated momentarily. I was yelling, screaming and in immense pain. Luckily, no torn ligaments (my ligaments were strained and weakened), but I needed surgery to remove the damaged and dislodged cartilage around my knee. I know for a fact, the way my body reacted to the workout supplementation and how I strengthened my body within isolated movements during my workouts, caused my knee to give out slowly over time in a real life and athletic situation. My nutrition nor my training systems prepared me to move well enough in the given manner necessary, which is what caused my knee cap to dislocate.
Looking back at myself with honest introspection, I realized my desire to workout and take all those supplements was an attempt to fill an empty void within myself. Deep down, I was feeling inadequate, not good enough, I was hurting inside, afraid, fearful, anxious, I felt small, unimportant and without a voice. I figured if I could workout hard enough and supplement my body like the ripped people did in magazines, I could be happy. Boy was a shit out of luck there and completely wrong!
4. Do you still use fitness supplements? Why or why not?
Given the nature of my history, Hell No! 99.99% of workout supplements are damaging to the body and are a waste of money. I found that out the hard way and I am still suffering from the damage my body went through from the abuse of ingesting workout supplementation and from adopting poor training systems.
I believe in supplementing with real food, non-fluoridated water, sunshine, mindful / intuitive eating and appropriate fasting. Occasionally, I will take a 100% plant based multivitamin or a small teaspoon of raw vitamineral green powder for healthy immune system functioning. Any supplements I try now are solely health resolution based, made with 100% plants / herbs / whole foods and are used sparingly like medicine, only as needed. During my fitness supplement days, I used products everyday whether I worked out that day or not. I realized gradually over time, the severity of damage I was inflicting on my movements, organs, nervous system, digestive system, musculoskeletal system, fascia system and my entire body functioning.
5. What is your best advice for someone looking to get results by taking fitness supplements?
Ask yourself honestly, “What do I need this supplement for and am I willing to potentially damage my body in order to fulfill this need? What emotions am I suppressing by putting my health at risk from ingesting a damaging product? What emotions am I suppressing from working out so damn much and at such a high level of intensity all the time? Where are these suppressed emotions coming from?”
4. Do you still use fitness supplements? Why or why not?
Given the nature of my history, Hell No! 99.99% of workout supplements are damaging to the body and are a waste of money. I found that out the hard way and I am still suffering from the damage my body went through from the abuse of ingesting workout supplementation and from adopting poor training systems.
I believe in supplementing with real food, non-fluoridated water, sunshine, mindful / intuitive eating and appropriate fasting. Occasionally, I will take a 100% plant based multivitamin or a small teaspoon of raw vitamineral green powder for healthy immune system functioning. Any supplements I try now are solely health resolution based, made with 100% plants / herbs / whole foods and are used sparingly like medicine, only as needed. During my fitness supplement days, I used products everyday whether I worked out that day or not. I realized gradually over time, the severity of damage I was inflicting on my movements, organs, nervous system, digestive system, musculoskeletal system, fascia system and my entire body functioning.
5. What is your best advice for someone looking to get results by taking fitness supplements?
Ask yourself honestly, “What do I need this supplement for and am I willing to potentially damage my body in order to fulfill this need? What emotions am I suppressing by putting my health at risk from ingesting a damaging product? What emotions am I suppressing from working out so damn much and at such a high level of intensity all the time? Where are these suppressed emotions coming from?”
My advice is to listen to your body’s intuition, increase your self awareness on a deep emotional level and keep what you ingest 100% natural as much as possible without overly discipling yourself. It’s ok to eat junk food every now and then, just not all the damn time. Don't waste your time or money on workout supplements or any substance (alcohol, drugs) that will damage your health from the inside out. An easier way to feel better, is to express your deep rooted issues and feel your emotions intentionally, like a human being is supposed to. Otherwise, through suppression and unawareness, we live in a constant hell of existence, whether we realize it or not. And sooner or later, the inner hurt will catch up to us, just like it happened to me.
6. What sort of lifestyle do you live now?
Today I am currently trying to heal myself from all the emotional and physical damage I have accumulated in my life. Even though I'm open to sharing my struggles, I am still learning everyday, how to resolve my issues. I no longer drink alcohol or ingest harmful substances. I have completely changed my approach to fitness, nutrition and in resolving my emotional traumas. In helping myself seek the truth, find resolutions and function pain free, I have discovered Functional Patterns fitness training along with Guru Aum Jah’s emotional healing work to be a FANTASTIC healing combination.
I started my own business, Functional Fitness Ohio, where we employ Functional Patterns training methods. As a result of my services as a FP Practitioner, I help people address pain issues, restructure their posture and improve the quality of their pain free movement. Simply stated, we identify movement patterns and behaviors that are damaging, in order to replace said damaging biomechanics with healthy structural changes as to avoid unnecessary injuries or painful life styles down the road.
6. What sort of lifestyle do you live now?
Today I am currently trying to heal myself from all the emotional and physical damage I have accumulated in my life. Even though I'm open to sharing my struggles, I am still learning everyday, how to resolve my issues. I no longer drink alcohol or ingest harmful substances. I have completely changed my approach to fitness, nutrition and in resolving my emotional traumas. In helping myself seek the truth, find resolutions and function pain free, I have discovered Functional Patterns fitness training along with Guru Aum Jah’s emotional healing work to be a FANTASTIC healing combination.
I started my own business, Functional Fitness Ohio, where we employ Functional Patterns training methods. As a result of my services as a FP Practitioner, I help people address pain issues, restructure their posture and improve the quality of their pain free movement. Simply stated, we identify movement patterns and behaviors that are damaging, in order to replace said damaging biomechanics with healthy structural changes as to avoid unnecessary injuries or painful life styles down the road.
My goal in sharing my personal struggle is to allow for other people to be willing and open enough to share how they are truly feeling deep down inside. In doing so, we can uncover some inner truths, in attempts to willingly change unhealthy mindsets and damaging behaviors into more functional aspects of ourselves . Sharing of how we truly feel is unheard of in our current society, but so vitally important if we want to improve our wellness and find the core answers to our problems. When we do not intentionally express our emotional hurt with clarity and resolution, the internal chaos of our being will constantly be in control of our lives at every moment.