actually just got done watching uh that thing you do for the first time ever no way swear to God I never watch I never watch it its entir day a little bits and pieces never saw thing and I grew I didn't grow up in I lived in YY for five years when that came out I never saw it oh you're kidding me you grew up that went to edinb out there went to Edinburgh for a couple years and I think you were just filming when it came out so I don't think it's released we Never filmed there we filmed in Orange County no but I mean but I mean when you were filming they were talking about it out there right like it's based in so we knew was coming didn't and they never saw until just moments ago wow so but I mean the hair back then was magnificent for that for that role was that your real hair for that or oh yeah back then yeah like was watching that I and I'm watching I'm just watching the trailer this morning for Blue Ridge and I was watching some of the the one quote I have it written here what about your father doesn't scream old school it's like yeah how old school are you right now I think I've become old school for sure because I got two kids and I've become my dad basically and how's that how's that work in what ways what you know I I just my father was very um faith-based and worried all the time and so I think I'm very much the same thing I'm worried all the time for my kids uh he was a Baltimore City police officer so it was a little different um but yeah he's definitely old school and I've become old school with my ways and Justin wise my character is definitely old school it was very easy to be just like my dad so what time you what is your like routine you normally like you already have a whole lot of things done before uh breakfast yeah I I get up um I eat my protein pancake one protein pancake and uh coffee and then I get to the gym I train usually for an hour if I don't do cardio um I'm back home usually taking my my son to some camp or something during the or you know I I usually take them to the bus and then I go to the gym but now that we're in the summer I usually take it to a camp when I get back I mean is this like a normal routine for you have like a daily checklist this has to all be done before yeah I like getting up before everybody else and getting to the gym that's that's the best way to start my day what time you wake up well the Summer's a little different and we just got back from Hawaii so I'm little jet lagged yeah um but usually I get to the gym at 7:30 in the morning so I'm usually up by 6 six all right so is that something you've always been accustomed to having a regimen May me back in even in then that Thing You Do days were you still always no it's a little different I mean I I definitely had the discipline because we had to learn how to play those instruments and we get up and that's the first thing I do every day I didn't go to the gym um but now my you know I'm 50 about to turn 55 so at the gym is priority uh we're going to be getting back into Blue Ridge so I'm getting back into Justin y shape and I got to be to kick and throw and and move right so yeah saw the pictures saw the pictures one thing I mean how when it is when blue does start again how hard is it to keep that that morning schedule to get up at 6:30 or whatever time and get to the gym and then get to work and yeah if I if I don't get to the gym before we start filming I usually get after right after and I took keep my right my I eat five meals a day um 6 ounces of protein each meal seven seven six to seven depending on where my weight is and um you know I go at it every day I've got my I got my routine now that's my routine what is your normal weight for a well it's usually around 195 but I try I'm bringing it down to 185 I'm trying to be up B muscle mass and still you know suain the cuts with that how how similar I guess in regimens in just preparation is it between Blue Ridge and a bodybuilding show like are there very similarities as far as the prep work as far as just keep maintaining a schedule you know last year Michael Hearn was on the show and I learned I've I've known Michael for 30 some years so I've literally followed Michael's every word I mean I know he followed a lot of the old old school bodybuilders as well as I did but that's the regiment right there it's it's the bodybuilding regiment I was gonna ask that question a little bit later how does Justin Weiss take down Michael Hearn in a in a situation thank God I don't have [Laughter] to yeah oh God I'm sorry yeah we trained when he was out there we had a blast um and then you know he trained me uh after the after the show before the strike when the strike the The Screen Actor strike was about to hit I called Michael up and I said there's a contest up the street for me in Franklin Tennessee and I wanted to compete for like a bucket list thing and it was five and a half weeks out um and Michael said yeah let's do it and so every every every day he gave me a regimen to do and you know we were on the phone back and forth and I just trained my tail off dieted like a a pro and I I won my uh M M over 50 Mr Tennessee nice nice is that the convention center it was it was in the Franklin Convention Center yeah okay I was there once in my life you were yes did a jiu-jitsu tournament down there three years ago in my first tournament down there you're kidding me that's awesome man so so we do jiujitsu in the couple first couple episodes of blid well as far as everyone you've trained with besides Mike you've trained body balloon Mike you probably trained a little bit fighting with Frank gorillo DJJ with Shawn Patrick flandry I mean you take a little bit from all these guys and just try to work a routine with it yeah so I did that movie with Shawn Patrick Flanery and and I became enthralled with him because he's a badass a true badass and uh he loves Jiu-Jitsu so much you know the guy was a Taekwondo champion and put all that aside and became a Jiu-Jitsu Champion as well um and you know they teach me little things here and there but my son he's 10 years old he trains jiujitsu and so for Blue Ridge his instructors were instructing me out here so I'd watch him do some things and then I I you know I had a private session with him and we would work on on on getting my technique down so I looked good for the camera yeah what are you training which uh which uh facility it's um hold on Gracie Baja you train that regularly or do you uh just no I don't I I don't do classes because I'm old and my shoulder could be dislocated at any moment and but I do train PR yeah you understand so I train privately so that I can do it and make it look good because I'm an athlete so I can do those things same thing with Gorilla is a lot tougher than me and and like he he he throws punches every single day you know with his instructors but Bo I just I can't do that my it hurts me too much it I can't get back up you know the next day like I usually I can't train like I can but I do train you know um boxing Krav and uh and Jiu-Jitsu for for bluid now is there anybody any any activity anybody you train with say nah sorry I can't do that that's a little too much for me yeah getting in the you know I don't like the throw in the mat as I like the roll but man when you get in there and the grip and everything it's just it's just too much just jars my joints I've dislocated my shoulder like 10 years ago and it's just never been the same so it's so if someone knows that they're just G to take my shoulder out like that well at 54 I mean what's I mean you don't look 54 I you look I mean bodywise you look 30s 20s what feels different though at AG 54 yeah it's it's recovery time I'm like I'm taking this peptide bp157 have you never tried that yet have I Haven tried it no yeah so I'm I'm I'm trying that have my recovery a lot faster you know the one thing that kills me is every time I travel so traveling with the luggage and all that stuff just it wrecks me I don't know why I don't know if it's my dehydration or or something but my joints I just got back on Sunday and I went to the gym the last two days and boy I just wish wish there was some kind of miracle drug to just get you back in the Rhythm so what is your what is your so what's your non- Miracle J what's your just your I guess daily Habit to make sure that happens I drink a lot of water yeah oh Hearn told me when we did the bodybuilding contest to drink two two gallons of water a day but you got to be around the toilet the entire day because you're just you're constantly peeing it's it's endless so is it fun was it fun doing the bodybuilding show or the whole process or was it more challenging or some things elements that you didn't know were part of it was the best part was talking to Mike you know I got to you know we always we always talk about things but we we really were focused on something together so we were like teammates and it was I mean there's no better teammate than michael' Hearn that guy is a great coach what did you learn most from him that you still apply daily over these past 30 years over the last 30 years um that it's it's just not the the muscles it's the mind um and it's like the whole whole being you know the philosophy of of of training as well as um the actual training itself um the mindset that you need to get into um that's that's my goal heard is it hard for you to change I mean just to change up your your routine or just change up your schedule like I said you say you're a morning person you go work out at 7 o'clock filming comes in something screws it up now you got to go to seven is that hard for you to to just mix that up are you are much a creat your of habit where you've got to do it at s or or else you're be the only part of me that that has trouble is sleep is is regulating my sleep patterns that that's destroyed me over the years I've had a a really hard time with sleep and uh when I don't sleep well I don't eat well I don't function well I don't think well and so trying to regulate the sleep is the hardest part like what what are some of the bad like on average like how much sleep do you get or don't get if I'm if I'm in regimen I can get eight hours of sleep and that's great um under six is really difficult I mean sometimes when I'm filming you can only you know you're getting you're getting home late and and then they change it to nighttime but um that really screws me up every time we had do nights on a film or something like that it always would screw me up and I it it actually screwed me so much that I I got addicted to Xanax in the last 17 years I've been addicted to Z anx I finally got off of Xanax how'd you get off it how's what was that like I just I just quit and then I just reg I tapered it off so I you know I just tapered it smaller amounts smaller amounts smaller amounts till it was in my system anymore and I realized I was actually evening better without it yeah no I never tried it but what what does it do what does how does it make you feel how does it like over the long term yeah zenx I think for most people just calms their nerves nerves but it would knock me out it would it would help me fall asleep right away um so that's why I would take Xanax and then I just got became a creature of habit I had to have it in my system I was scared to death not to have it but now I'm okay did you feel better in the morning with the sleep or was it kind of like a I don't like a hangover type sleep I don't it never yeah all the other sleeping pills they usually give me a hangover but the the Xanax never did not to say anyone should take Xanax it's not it's an addictive drug and my my um my doctor knew it was going to be an addictive drug but we really needed to regulate my sleep because I was going nuts 17 years ago did you have to take anything else since then or did you just go natural since natural I mean I take supplements you know natural supplements uh what do they you know the ones everyone takes what's it one I can't remember what it is oh melatonin I think yeah melatonin that's it calms you down you need stuff that calms you down I do meditation uh I you know do some breathing that helps me be able to sleep a lot better and really getting a really comfortable pillow helps a lot too and training really hard that day is probably the key to me getting good good night's sleep how often do you train is it daily you train daily or I do I go to the gym daily whether I I'm training a body part or just getting in there and doing cardio usually even I incorporate like you know bag work um you know I try to roll um just just getting in the gym every single day just is a great discipline for me and uh it helps my mind it helps me be clear and okay with whatever the day may bring me what is your routine like what what kind of workout do you usually like us follow as far as I know that and you guys are I know um I change it up a lot but right now I'm doing chest one day and then I go back in and do the next day back the day after that chest uh shoulders and then I I I break them down so that I don't have a day off so then I do arms and then I do legs and then I just repeat and I usually do abs every single day um different exercises you usually with the bands TRX use a TRX um and then usually like on arm day I'll hit the bag if I want to be brutal to myself I'll hit the bag on shoulder day um and then I can roll uh on usually like on a leg day um try to keep mobile with my legs not so much heavy weights um even though I do lift heavy and that that's my routine I just do that over over and over and over again and my I my eating is I ate that one meal prior to getting to the gym and then four after that make sure my proteins are up really just focus on my proteins and stay away from any of the carbs that I don't need you count your Macros you really strict with that or is that just I'm not I just kind of look I could just study where where I am and make sure my waters are up like two two gallons a day is Mike's thing but I usually have like one and a half at the most because I hate peeing so much and then I I start doing these Alanis when I needed to you ever taken have you drank any of those no I haven't they are very they have a lot of energy what was it again show me that again aani what that is it like a Celsius type or is it a yeah it's just like that Yep they're very tasty and they got a lot of caffeine in them no I stct with the uh stick with the Amino Energy usually oh that's good about you know 8 or 9 in the morning really probably isn't the best for me but one day I'll probably learn the hard way but also doing some research on you I saw back in the day you're like a GQ mono I think was it all my you know when I when I was 19 years old um GQ hired me to fly to listen to this I got offered the fly of France to do a photo shoot with the top 10 actresses of the time and French actresses up andc coming actresses and I went out there every single day I had a new actress I took photos with them and then that was my GQ experience oh nice I mean back then did you focus on your uh on your Fitness as well or yeah back then yeah I was I was I so when I first I was a little guy I was a 98 Pound wrestler in high school so when I went to college I was training like a bodybuilder and I was studying Bob Paris um leil Labrada um and Arnold you know and I was really into bodybuilding and I trained like a bodybuilder and I got pretty big and um and people loved the way my body was built so I that's why I broke into the industry really shot with heritz and Bruce Weber these big photographers back in the day um I did Calvin Klein Georg ommani and I was St was a hardcore uh acting coach named Roy London I would study really really hard he told me that I had to work harder than anyone else because the way that I looked and so I I used my body in the beginning of my career to get where I wanted to go so what you have to do as far as training wise back then how was it evolved from GQ to Blue Ridge well at this age it takes a lot more uh stretching and uh proper diet and and like you know the peptides have helped I have this company called BLS that I work with um they were always trying to figure out exactly what the best thing that I could take I take V you know vitamins with them um they have a customized vitamins that is pretty awesome so I just have a little package that has all the vitamins in it so I have a bunch of different you know containers with different things um and back then it was just I it was just eating a a lot of food I ate a ton of food back then and now I don't eat as much food and regulate my food and and do my my training not so heavy back then I just threw all the weight in the gym around um now that I can throw all the weight I don't throw all the weight around I use it sparingly right what were some of your numbers back in the day or you know I think I got my bench up to like it was almost I think was 415 I think I got 415 is that 98 pounds or this was that oh no this was I was always like 180 wow I was strong as I was a very strong kid damn you said four 405 you said 415 I think it was 415 maybe it was 405 no you know people know what their Maxes were I think it was I think I pulled up I think I pushed up 415 back Ian what's for you is gym culture changed at all from back then to now yeah the phone everyone's on their freaking phone people take too long on the benches like they're on their phone you know they I you can see it they're like trapped in their phone and they're not paying attention to their workout and you gotta wait till you know get get a piece of equipment so that bothers me that was never the case everyone was always talking back then yeah very much encouraging one another you know to to get the weight up or you know being part of it now it's like everyone's got their headphones on no one's listening to anybody else they're all on their phones that's the difference have you done the home gym yet or no I haven't but that's a good idea I should just get a home gym and not have to worry about any of that but then again I won't have anybody there to spot me if I want to go heavy so how does Mike's coming out here at the end of July so we're gonna train again a workout what is one of your DayDay workouts that that get in shape for Blue Ridge well like I did chest so I did um I just focused on my chest uh I did uh bench and then I I did a machine bench and then I did cable uh flies and then cable presses which I can go pretty heavy on those and then wide grip down wi grip up upper chest and then I did pullovers with like you know 120 pounds and that's it that's what I did then I did my abs I did TRX push-ups with uh bring my legs up um and then I did hanging leg raises you know I do four sets each um it go to exhaustion on each rep every every set and four so four sets four sets um you know try to do 10 to 15 reps um the last one usually is like eight reps was there anything you can't do now with the shoulder there's anything that's totally off limits um I just feel it but it's strong as can be did you any PT work with that or is it just totally no unless I do something like you know grappling it's always tough when I roll on it or or someone Yanks it someone yanking it out it's my biggest fear that happen to me did you stay in California for a while or I was there for 30 years over 30 years until until my son uh had to go into schools and we realized like we need to get out of California and find a good school for him and and my wife's from Nashville Tennessee and we we came out here and visited some schools and by the time we left we were like we got to buy a house and we found a great home um I'm had to I have nothing but Farm around me with horses and it's just awesome I love it driving along it's all green I was driving to the gym today and two bucks ran out out in front of me wow yeah it's just like watching these Majestic cerss you know going across the road everyone's stopping just watching this guys it's amazing I'm living in Phoenix now I'm waiting for my first rattlesnake sighting I haven't seen one oh yeah oh oh that's I don't want it I'm just like so far so good is it like 117 degrees there was 118 on Monday or yeah wow you get everything done by 10 o'clock and you're okay right right when it comes to filming onc how do you keep that routine going well first off I have a great team out there where for Blue Ridge uh they found gyms for me um I had a gym in where I stayed and then I had a gy gym from three minutes from where I was staying so you know that's it no commute time going home working out going right back showering going to bed so or wake up work out you know get to the get to the set um and we have showers at this at the at this uh our location our studio um that or I don't do I don't go so hard that I'm sweating so bad that I have to you know take a shower so well are you tight are you TP cast now no as the athletic as the athletic uh looking uh cop badass can you play like the heavy guy going forward or yeah you know I think I'm going to be the lead I'm just going be a leading man from now now on y i I think that I started out everyone saw me as a leading man and then I fell into a lot of character work I wanted to be the best actor I possibly could but I at this age of where I am I just want to be a leading man I love um taking the lead and guiding people and and bringing my values and principles to everything that I do what the St fit at least does it help you creatively does it help you just focus better keep your keep your mind on I guess on character in on point yeah I I think the you know one thing about training it relieves all this exterior anxiety that I used to have when I train hard I I can take on anything during the day with my with my mind so my body sets my mind um I get embodied and then I'm calmer my brain functions better how does it work for the long hours when the filming does go from morning to night does it do you fatigue normally or is it or can you last a little bit longer and just yeah I think I think that you know doing cardio and U and and and boxing it it helps you know be able to to move with everything um and just breathing you know just being in your breath gives you a little bit more longevity no matter what you're shooting kns or I mean they catch up to you no matter what but and if you're not in that if I'm not in the gym I'm a mess that's that's the only problem is I gotta get to the gym you know and I try to avoid injury because injuries injuries can just take you completely out never happened to you or yeah I mean I dislo dislocated my shoulder and I thought the world had ended horrible thing I was playing Bas I was playing baseball with the Hollywood all stars and I hit a inside the park home run and the catcher came down on my shoulder as I slid across own plate and just destroyed my shoulder dislocated it and broke it and and so I I just I did Rehab on it was fine I still I can't do certain things and when I when I was posing in my my um my contest you could just I could actually see it for the first time because I leaned myself out so much that my shoulder hasn't rounded on this side from that injury and you know I couldn't get my lat out when I stuck my lats I couldn't get my lad out and I was Mike was trying to help me I was just like that's just not GNA happen because it's just you never rehabbed it properly so have you ever for posing yeah you you hold a grudge against that Hollywood Allstar or you know his name was Mark cressier it was he was a it was a catcher for the Dodgers and um he just said that I came around Third Base so hard that his instincts just took over and he became a professional catcher and he came down you know to block the plate and came down on my shoulder and he called me he was felt really bad about it but you know what he said when he called he goes I still think you were out I was like I wasn't out I was safe obviously my arm was dangling over home plate well how long was that recovery process well you know it took it took about eight weeks I had a great um physical therapist and we just trained it really hard all the band work that we did um but you know at the time the the surgeon he was like you're going to be fine you're going to be do everything you're just not going to be able to reach back and grab a seat belt um but I didn't think about like fight sequences um and it took me a while but I I I wind up filming this movie called Road House I did the sequel to Road House way before um anyone else did Jake Gillan Hall did his um but I did it a long time ago but and I did that film for that very reason to test my shoulder um to get back into the gym to box and to uh I did a lot of CRA Maga um and to see if I can pull it off and I did I was I was able to do all the fight sequences that we had well for you now what's an actor's best workout best exercise that you gotta keep you got to have in your program at all times well first off an actor needs to be embodied so they really do need to know what their instrument is all about like a dancer would um they need to know what their body can do because their body has to be in tuned with their performance so that's one thing but for for me being this character uh Justin wise you know I got to be a take care of business and you need to know that I can take care of business so that's why I put more weight on so that you look at me you know he's imposing he's got muscle you know he's strong um and he's going to take care of business so did you put on extra weight for this role yeah I I put on additional 15 20 pounds of muscle how was the process for that how did you do what was was it how long did it take to put that that's a lot of weight for yeah I just I just increased my um the weights and you know did lower reps uh but really just just went back to bodybuilding just to look you know to sculpt it here or there chest out a little bit more bring out the back um I had a great uh trainer back he didn't train me for Blue Ridge uh Eric the trainer do you remember Eric the trainer yeah yeah so I used to work out with Eric he used to train me so he would always talk about like wide narrow waste wide narrow waste of course we never did ABS Eric never trained ABS but I train abs every day now so to do that I mean did you need a team for this at this point or did you do were you able to do it on your own as far as nutrition the training and everything just the pack on good I think I do have a team my team would be Michael he's uh he's always there for me anytime I need any instructions um and then the people from blos uh it's a great bles.com go what I can't remember what the thing is but it's uh BLS it's like a place where it's like hymns I go they have all the supplements that I need and and anything like the bp5 157 I think is what it's called like the peptides um and that's helped me a great deal so I that's my team bad and as far as all the fight scenes for Blue Ridge saw a couple of them in the trailer how much work is involved how much actual work is involved with that not choreography like physical like how much recovery do you need afterwards for that I got great uh stunt guy Jared is phenomenal uh and then my stunt coordinator he's he's he we put everything in line and they they know what I can do and they know what I can't um and so the way we do it is whoever I'm having the fight scene with when the camera's on me I'm in there right but when we don't want two actors going at the same time because we can't afford any injuries so Jared will step in there and go at go off of my uh my other actor so you know we'll get the the fight fights down before that we and we we worked on some things before some of the stuff that we wanted to incorporate with jiu-jitsu you'll love some of the stuff that we've been able to do um and you know it's film it's not real but you could you know you get the gist of it um even like we have a big episode uh episode three is about wrestling so we incorporated a lot of the wrestling Maneuvers that wrestlers would do so when you see the fight in that in that scene you know Justin's actually doing some wrestling moves that aren't real but they it feels it entertains you and makes you you know get into the episode so incorporate a little bit with with every um new scenario new new situation so we incorporate new new techniques and we do everything for kaga Jiu-Jitsu boxing um fun when does blidge come out blidge comes out uh July 28th 900m on INSP East Coast would be why should everyone be watching Blue Ridge well it's a family uh family show so I can watch the show with my 10-year-old he's in he's enthralled throughout the whole thing he doesn't have to leave the room for any situations um and I can watch it with my 85y old father and my wife right by my side and we can all enjoy it so it's a family family fun entertaining you know piece and one thing we really wanted to do is have fun for making it as well as for people watching it um I find myself getting involved with the other characters that are in the in the series when I watch it um Justin is a Great Hero for everyone to to follow my character Justin um and I get to play my dad you know I get to play my father so it's been the greatest experience for me and I think that everyone who made it um has really strong morals and principles and values and I think it comes across really well um it's entertaining piece and people just have really loved the show more people need to see it is this one of the more fun fun shows you've you've done in a long time orever well there was a there was a movie I did that you just watched called that thingy do so I had a ton of fun making that thingy do and it had a lot to do with the people that were at the top of the food chain and the same thing with Blue Ridge the people at the top Gary wheeler um Doug butts they're great people and just love making this series as much as I love making that Thing You Do when's the last time you watched it that thing you do yeah you know I we tried to watch it with my three-year-old little girl and uh she she couldn't she couldn't follow it you know it was it was interesting because I thought she would love the music and all that but it's not all the music you you got to get through the characters and stuff like that and she's just not there yet so we tried to watch it with her um to let her see that you know I play it I played music one time in my life uh she loves to play the in uh the piano so hopefully she'll be a musician in the family now if the Wonders were a 2024 band what would they be like you know there's a line in the movie I keep going back to the herdsman you remember that there's a line it go it so my character Jimmy has a band after the Wonders called Jimmy and the herdsman and he wins all kinds of uh Awards with it and gets uh like platinum records and stuff like that so he's very successful as Jimmy and the herdsman so I think he would be Jimmy and the herdsman like he's like Richard Marks you know one question I the one question I did not ask though was uh what is your nutrition like what is your go-to meal what is your you have a rest you have a do you have a go-to meal I meal prep I meal PR but I do do one thing that I've really gotten very good at I have egg white protein pancake every morning I put it in the microwave so I don't touch the stove early in the morning and I zap it for like two minutes and 45 seconds I got it down where that thing is just right there on my plate I eat that I pour uh sugar-free syrup on it and it gets me going for the day if you do meal prep how does your family like they they hate when I meal prep with fish because the house smells like fish but if I do chicken they're okay with it but they eat their own meals they eat their own yeah they'll go off and have their meals and you know sometimes if if I'm not getting ready for a show or something and I I'll I'll eat out with them and I can you know you can get six ounces of protein anywhere you go yeah I know it's that's the tricky part and I've been lucky enough to have a family who understands you know Daddy's got to look a certain way and at this age I can't really falter too much like when we were in Hawaii I all I did was eat Pokey it was everywhere so I had fresh Ai and salmon Pokey everywhere I went and they could eat you know tacos or whatever so bottom line is all you have to do really is just points to TV and say that's why I have to meal perhap exactly that's exactly what I tell everyone every everyone wonders why they can't be discipling enough to stay on the routine that I stay on but I do this for a living so I have to look this way so I have to get a TV show now just to justify my meal that's exactly right EAS your s [Music]