The 5 Question Challenge with the Buff Dudes

By: Jacob Elyachar

 

The Buff Dudes are the first duo to tackle my 5 Questions Challenge!

 

Brothers Hudson and Brandon White have taken their love of fitness to the next level as they inspired thousands of people around the world to adapt the B.U.F.F. lifestyle.

With over 34,000 subscribers on YouTube and thousands of followers on both Facebook and Twitter, both Hudson and Brandon are getting closer to achieve their dream of inspiring others and become influential in the fitness industry.

Jacob Elyachar: When did you get interested in fitness?

Brandon White: Our interest started around age 12 with a strong odor emanating from our kitchen as children and, shortly after soaking up the curious smell, wondering where our dad was always off to after work.  It turned out that he headed off to the gym after mixing up some of his Weider Weight Gain to hit the weights.

Being kids and desperately wanting to follow in our Father’s footsteps, it was not long before we were wearing his sweat-stained leather lifting gloves, weight belt and walking around the gym pretending like we knew what we were doing.

Thankfully, he was quick to educate us and let us borrow his beat-up old Franco Columbu’s Winning Bodybuilding book and brought us up to speed on Steve Reeves, The Oak and many others.

From then on we were hooked and although we did not always know what we were doing, we quickly learned from out mistakes and kept growing!

 

JE: What does B.U.F.F. stand for and how does it stand out in today’s online fitness community?

Hudson White: B.U.F.F. stands for “Better Understanding of Food & Fitness.” We struggled with finding a name and Brandon suggested “Buff Dudes.” We were hung up on the name for a bit, seeing as, to me anyways, it could have possibly carried a negative connotation one associates with bodybuilding: greasy, posing trunk, orange-fake-tan jocks, something me and Brandon are usually only a half-step away of being accused of anyways! The name certainly wouldn’t help matters…

We continued to search for a name when he then thought of the acronym Better Understanding of Food & Fitness, which I loved. Shortly thereafter we began thinking up our overall theme: a tongue-in-cheek, retro inspired throwback using a lot of the themes and images we grew up absorbing into our sub consciousness as kids. “B.U.F.F. Dudes” is something we try to present as something anyone with a love of healthy living can aspire to, becoming a “B.U.F.F. Dude,” almost like a larger than life comic book character.

 

JE: How long does it take to create a YouTube video?

BW: We use the weekends and our morning workout sessions (we both meet up at 5 a.m. to workout before going to our respective jobs) in order to brainstorm new ideas. Late in the week we usually have a plan lined out for the weekend and we then use a block of time every Saturday morning to shoot episodes – usually between 1-3.  

 

HW: I usually begin editing Sunday and continue editing throughout the week, trying to finish each episode so that a couple may go out sometime between Monday & Friday. I would say by the time all is said and done each episode usually takes around 10 hours.

 

JE: What are some of your goals for the remainder of the year?

HW: To put out three videos a week (One fitness, one food & one more in the realm of comedy/entertainment) and continue to make proper use of our time in order to put as much polish on the episodes as we can. We’ve got a lot of ideas but we’re just trying to line them all up accordingly so all of them can see the light of day. We feel that at this point in time it’s up to us to continue to put out consistent videos that just keeping getting better in terms of quality and production and we want people to go “Wow, I can’t wait to see the next one!” Also, we want to expand our horizons and show there’s a whole world of food & fitness possibilities out there, and you don’t have to be confined to a gym in order to accomplish it. There are a lot of people without access to a gym or who just would rather not go, and we want to show there’s a million other ways to become a Buff without the aide of a gym.

 

JE: Why should people follow the B.U.F.F. lifestyle?

BW: The B.U.F.F. Dude lifestyle is simple. In fact, one expression we constantly refer to is to “Keep it simple.” With that said, the lifestyle is healthy eating and keeping active. Jack LaLanne preached it, Steve Reeves preached it and so do the B.U.F.F. Dudes. As I said before, anyone can be a B.U.F.F. Dude; it’s simply trying to understand how to better yourself and in the process making yourself look and feel better as well as others around you.

 

HW: In these times, it seems there is an ever-increasing gap amongst people. You have your growing morbidly obese and your super-fit built-in-a-lab athletes – sometimes it feels like there’s no in between. It’s hard for someone who’s depressed and in a slump to look at someone on Instagram or T.V. or whatever with 3% body fat and go “I can be that guy.” Hell, sometimes it becomes even MORE depressing because you think, “how could I EVER be that guy?” If we can accomplish anything with the B.U.F.F. Dude lifestyle, and I really hope we can, it would be that we can show people that eating healthy and working out is MUCH easier than you think it is and there’s NO super-secret-club or pill or workout plan that will make your life instantly better. It’s that little bit of cardio every morning, that one healthy recipe you never thought of, that one exercise you really enjoy and can’t wait to try out once you get to the gym – it’s keeping it simple, having fun and trying to better yourself and others around you. That’s it.

 

To learn more about the Buff Dudes, visit their website: http://www.buff-dudes.com/