This Is Your Brain on 3pm

🧠 Corporate 3pm Slump vs. Cinemagravy 3pm Slump

These days, I audit my workouts like a meticulous accountant.
Did I get a pump? Any junk volume? Could I have done more?

When I was starting out, I didn’t even know those questions existed. Back then, I’d just follow the program for weeks without asking why.

14 years later, I’ve earned a badge on my sash of bro pageantry: if something doesn’t feel right, maybe don’t do it. Not “hurts” wrong, though that’s a thing, but psychologically wrong. If you’re not vibing with it, odds are it won’t stick.

Lately, I’ve been running the same audit on my days. Mornings? Nearly perfect. Coffee, walk, deep work, smooth as a Nicaraguan Puro humidified at 69% (“what sort of newsletter did I sign up for?”).

Then comes the gym. Still good. But somewhere between the Boar’s Head, rice cakes, and my drive back home, vibes shift.

3pm hits and something in me collapses. I’m not physically tired, I’m mentally cornered.

It’s not a fatigue sleep can fix, but a gnawing, slow-burn dread. The kind that makes my shoes feel like they’re made of bumper plates and my emotions Rorschach-level uncharacterizable.

It’s not sadness, exactly. More like angst, procrastination, and existential static all trying to fit through the same doorway at once.

Unlike the disgruntled office zombies in 5-Hour Energy commercials, this part of the day isn’t fluff for me. It’s the main event.

It’s when most of my shooting happens. The plates-in-the-air, light-just-right, “every decision costs me time and money” kind of work. Even on days I’m not shooting, the shadow of this block hangs over me. Like the moment before a big lift, except no matter how many times I’ve performed the movement, no matter how many warm up sets I get in, I’m never ready.

I’m starting to think the root of this dread isn’t the work itself, it’s the feeling of things not being completely in my control. Mornings are mine. The gym is mine. But 3–6pm? That’s when the day pushes back. The light changes, emails come in with last-minute requests, shots don’t work the way I saw them in my head.

It’s the most important part of my day, but also the one most likely to eat me alive if I don’t adapt.

I’m met with a crossroads.
It’s like when I really want to grow my chest. Dumbbell bench, big stretch, slight pause at the bottom. I’ve been running it for months and the gains are there. But the psychological strain of week after week adding reps, forcing progress in a movement that just feels stale, it’s taxing.

The bro in me wants to switch exercises.
But with life, there isn’t an alternate exercise. Just the same movement, over and over, and maybe that’s where the real progress is made.

Maybe the real skill here isn’t eliminating the dread, but turning the chaos into part of the set.

🍨 Discipline Dessert

A recipe for tricking yourself into hard things

Ingredients

• 1 miserable leg day

• 1 juicy arm pump saved for last

• 1 creative project you secretly love (but don’t start with)

• A splash of resistance

• A cigar at sunset (optional, but highly recommended)

Method

1. Audit
   Take a brutally honest look at your goals.
   What parts do you dread?
   What parts do you actually look forward to, even a little?

2. Feel it
   This isn’t a worksheet, it’s a season.
   Track your energy. Watch your mood.
   Notice what lights you up after the initial resistance.

3. Reorder
   Once you know your dessert, stop eating it first.
   Save it for the end.
   Reshape your day so the reward waits on the far side of the hard thing.

Serving Suggestion
Discipline doesn’t have to be pure grit.
You can build it around pleasure, just not instant pleasure.

📚 Things Worth Your Time

💪 Stim-Free Pre/Intra Workout Nutricost Peach Mango
I’ve already gone full bro in this newsletter, so let’s keep it going.
Here’s my stim-free stack of choice: peach mango pre (best flavor I haven’t gotten sick of), a good teaspoon or two of lite salt, ~15g of extra citrulline, and 10g of creatine. If I were superstitious, I’d measure the success of my day based on whether my ice has perfectly melted by the time I finish this drink.

🩳 Hoochie Daddy Swim Trunks (Adidas)
Random Amazon find that looked too good to be true, but they actually slap. Retro vibe, solid quality, and a 3" inseam that will make sure your quad development does not go unnoticed at the pool. Get them in all colors.

📖 Unreasonable Hospitality (by Will Guidara)
When I started Cinemagravy, I knew I wanted it to feel intentional, like a place you’d actually want to visit. Cozy, detailed, your favorite beverage served at the perfect temperature. This book is about bringing that kind of obsessive hospitality into every corner of your work. Guidara, who ran NYC’s Eleven Madison Park, shows how little details can transform an experience from good to unforgettable. It’s already sparking ideas for how I can serve you all better through this brand.

🔜 Coming Soon…

8/17 — SUNDAY GRAVY SCHOOL – (IG)
You Are Going to Die
Had a thought at 5 a.m. while making coffee. I multitask my way through the pour on my Moccamaster - putting away dishes, downing supplements, doing six other things in the name of… what, exactly? It’s like my subconscious tipping its hat to my imminent demise. This one wrote itself. No idea if it’ll resonate with the tribe; it’s not algo bait, it’s a 60-second soul dump. Straight therapy.

8/22 — CINEMAGRAVY (YouTube)
Why the Gym is the Easiest Part of My Day
Started as a mini-manifesto on lessons the iron paradise has taught me about life, and evolved into a Trojan Horse experiment in how I package my YouTube videos. Expect it front-loaded with bro-isms, ending with the real gems—insights I’ve picked up over the years on discipline, passion, and becoming an Olympian-level life liver.

8/24 — SUNDAY GRAVY SCHOOL – (IG)
Adonis Ratio
Why do I train shoulders like I’m secretly on payroll for Big French Doors? Why do I pack protein bars like Athens hasn’t heard of macros?

Because somewhere along the way, someone measured a god and left us mortals chasing fractions. This reel is my attempt to break it down, a hopeful pill for the kings out there who want to inch closer to that slightly more godlike physique. All in the name of beauty.

✌️ Until Next Time…

Most of the pressure I feel is pressure I put on myself. The brand is growing, the numbers are climbing, even this newsletter has more eyes on it than I expected. But sometimes I wonder if all that pressure keeps me from seeing the bigger picture: this community we’re building together.

Maybe that’s the balance, pushing hard while also learning to dance with the chaos. I’m glad I don’t have to figure it out alone.

As always, my IG DMs are open. Love hearing from you all.
See you next week.