INTRO TO MOZIAH

Moziah Pinder is an international model, online coach and body builder currently working out of Brighton, UK. He’s also the face of Olympvs. Moziah’s hard work, easy going nature and adaptability have made him a great addition to the Olympvs team. Moziah is well read on a bunch of topics and has an interesting perspective on most - making him the perfect guy to kick off this series.

'Mindset For Muscle' was created to share perspectives and learn from each other in the fitness space. In the hopes you'll find an insight which gets you one step closer towards your own goals. To kick things off, please jump ahead to a topic which interests you from the highlights below.

GET TO KNOW MOZIAH

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

I have always been an active individual. My first memory of this was going for a jog at around 12 or 13 years old. It wasn't until recently that I realized how peculiar this was. What teenager puts down their console to go for a jog regularly? This developed into playing for a semi-professional football team at 16. Pushing my body to its limits has always given me a feeling that I still can't quite describe - but we can call it endorphins.

At 16, I played against a rival team. I say "RIVAL" in capital letters because it was a fight between life and death - no one was walking away with a loss. I'm naturally a defender: tall, strong bones, and long legs for extra reach on tackles. But in this game the striker got the better of me. As we both reached up to head the ball, I received a sharp elbow to my collarbone - breaking it! I knew something was wrong because I could feel the tears coming down my face, I didn't cry out in pain... Well, at least back then, I didn't, haha! As I was carried away to the sidelines, I knew this was it for me - there was no way I was going to have my starting 11 spot when I recovered from it.

"The process of grinding away at those reps brought new life to me"

I had one big surgery and six months of rehab and re-strengthening my upper chest and front deltoid area. It's funny because this is where my love for training my body to build muscle began. The process of grinding away at those reps brought new life to me. I've always known that no matter what, fitness will forever be a part of my life. No matter how small or big the profession is, my foundations will be based on being active.

This naturally led me to the path of bodybuilding - I say bodybuilding, but I don't actually classify myself as one. Every time I'm asked this, I say I'm an athlete. The reason for this, to me, is simple: a bodybuilder's primary goal is to contract and build muscle to attain a certain size. I see myself so much broader than that. I am more focused on being as mobile and functional as possible. I realise yes, I need to attain a certain amount of size and strength to meet the demands of my environment, but I'm also someone who can spend 60 minutes running on a treadmill. I'm more content at reaching peak human condition, physically and mentally, than weighing 280 lbs solid muscle. I know everybody has their own preferences, but this is mine.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

Currently, the project I'm really excited about is becoming a gladiator (TV Show). The training necessary for this and the selection process is in April. It will give me a chance to go toe-to-toe with the nation's fittest and be crowned the ultimate Gladiator.

FITNESS

WHAT'S A COUNTER INTUITIVE FITNESS IDEA WHICH HAS HELPED YOU GET BETTER RESULTS?

One idea people don't seem to grasp is rest. You have to rest! The amount of injuries that could be avoided with simply saying "I'm going to take a week off to recover." Your muscles and the gym aren't going anywhere, especially if you have 1-2 years worth of consistent training under your belt. Another thing is rest will allow your body to recover overworked muscles so they can be pushed even further to their limits. My deadlift is now at 255kg because I deadlift 4 times a month. We need to remember that pushing our bodies is extremely taxing. I always advise my clients to train constantly for 3 months with 1-2 days rest per week and then followed by 1 week of rest after 3 months of constant graft. Put this idea into the space of years and you have built a body with minimal injuries and on a consistent strength gain.

The importance of rest would have prevented many fatigued-based illnesses, and I would probably be further in my career.

WHAT'S A BELIEF YOU HAVE WHICH HAS HELPED ON YOUR FITNESS JOURNEY? 

I try to be concious with every action I'm taking, do things for a reason. So many of us are blindly walking around life thinking the gym is good for us, but my angle is to understand WHY it's good for us, what am I doing here, what is my goal, why am I bench pressing today, why is doing 5 reps better than doing 12 reps on certain muscle groups, why do I have days when I'm not really interested in going to the gym, or why wasn't that workout great like the others? I truly believe that my thought process is what leads me to being so passionate, not just about life but every aspect of exercise and fitness in general.

WHAT'S THE BIGGEST MYTH IN FITNESS WHICH IS POPULAR RIGHT NOW WHICH YOU THINK IS BS?

Doing moderate cardio after you exercise and not before, it's complete BS. Yes, there's an energy transfer here where the energy you would have spent doing cardio, you can focus on lifting weights, but that does not mean that every individual's performance is hindered. This is complete trash, you can't generalize a whole population and say do your cardio after your workouts. There's no proof that cardio hinders performance in the weights section before or after. I can vouch for that myself, and with 8 billion people in the world, I'm pretty sure there are others who love to feel warm, sweaty, and ready to attack the weights.

"There's no proof that cardio hinders performance in the weights section "

QUICK FIRE

MINDSET

WHAT'S THE GREATEST OBSTACLE YOU OVERCAME LAST YEAR?

Pushing my pain barrier to new heights. Let me explain: each of us has a pain threshold or we reach a wall that we can no longer seem to get through. Last year I reached a place of knowing exactly how to surpass that feeling, that feeling of knowing you can do more. If you want to know more about this have a listen to my podcast ‘perceiving passion’.

WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST FAILURE AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT?

Placing 6th at my 3rd competition. This loss really triggered something in me, and that was when I learnt that my best is sometimes not enough. Arnold said, “leave no stone unturned,” and this is a quote that has stuck with me for a very long time. Making sure that there is nothing that could have been done to determine a better result. If you could have everything you ever wanted, but had to be prepared to let everything go win or lose it, would you do it?

QUICK FIRE

VISION

WHAT WOULD BE A PERFECT DAY FOR YOU?

For me, a perfect day would typically start with a nutritious breakfast, followed by an intense workout. Then I would have a post-workout meal and catch up with business partners (getting on calls and emails for a few hours). After that, I would create necessary content and post it on all my platforms. The rest of the day would be spent with friends or watching a really good documentary/film. I would also play Call of Duty, have my fourth meal of the day, and prepare my to-do list for the next day.

"The day would be spent with friends"

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT 1-2 YEARS?

My next goal for the next two years is to launch two new businesses and compete with some of the best athletes around the world. I want to push the boundaries of my own limits.

WHAT'S A PROBLEM YOU'RE WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?

At the moment, the problem I'm working on is fitting everything into my day. Winters are very difficult for creators like myself as we're racing against the sun to fit everything into our day. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have 30-hour days instead of 24. I often question who makes the rules here!

MOZIAH'S PICKS

Muscle Fit - Hyper Stretch - Made For Athletes

Sorbtek 365 Jeans In Medium Wash

$149.00

Bamboo Tee In Deep Blue

$59.00

Hyper Stretch Shorts In Jet Black

$99.00

High Performance Shirt In Sky Blue

$99.00