February 18, 2025 • 18 mins
Zach Johanson shares his incredible journey of overcoming trauma and addiction through fitness, highlighting the mental health benefits and life-changing impact of exercise. The episode emphasizes the importance of viewing exercise as essential to overall wellness, advocating for consistency and a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle.
• Zach's journey from addiction to stability through fitness
• Mental health benefits of exercise and its parallels with SSRIs
• Viewing fitness as medicine for mental well-being
• Client transformations and the significance of consistency
• The return on investment of physical wellness in life and finances
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's dive in.
Hey everybody, thanks forjoining us Today.
We're joined by Zach Johanson.
Zach's an ACSM certifiedpersonal trainer, ace weight
management specialist, level oneCrossFit coach and IWA health
coach Since 2015,.
Zach has used a holisticapproach to burning muscle and
building muscle and burning fat.
He coaches his clients usingexercise, nutrition and
(00:47):
lifestyle to achieve lastingresults.
You can read more about Zachand use testimonials on his
website, muscle and veggiescom.
I've personally known Zach fora couple of years now Well, we'd
like three years.
It was about how long Cause hecame back to Ozark yeah, after
the accident.
Yeah, and that's right when Iwent to Ozark.
(01:08):
So we are competitors, but alsofriends and trainers alike, so
I've got to know Zach prettywell.
Over the last few years, zach'sgot a pretty interesting story,
so I'm going to let him kind ofjust take it from here and talk
about.
You know how he got intofitness?
Um, how long ago, I guess, wasman 2012.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So over a decade now.
Yeah, going over, going, almostgoing on 15 years.
So, yeah, I um have aninteresting story Came into
health and fitness on a longjourney of both pain and
suffering and drug addiction anda little sprinkled in there,
(01:55):
the penitentiary and drug rehabs, you name it.
But make a long story short.
Early in my life I went throughsome trauma.
My mom died of cancer when Iwas 12.
My dad drank himself to deathin the subsequent five years.
So by the time I was 18, I wason my own and really that's when
(02:18):
a large part of my problemsstarted with drug addiction.
A large part of my problemsstarted with drug addiction,
alcohol, things of that nature,and it just led me down a rough
road.
I had an extremely big chip onmy shoulder against authority
and just life in general, yeah,just kind of making bad
(02:39):
decisions, yeah.
So how I found fitness, thoughactually in the penitentiary for
the third time, so I was in andout for most of my 20s um
started lifting weights again,always lifted weights in high
school and played football andgot back into it and man, it was
like.
(02:59):
It was like the clouds clearedand I had an outlet that I can
channel this frustration andthis energy into.
And then I wanted to learn moreabout it, because I saw my body
respond, I saw my mental healthimprove, I saw all these things
happen and I just doveheadstrong into learning all
(03:20):
about this, and strengthtraining was just one aspect of
it.
At the same time, I startedlearning more and more about
nutrition, um, and justlifestyle practices in general.
And man, just like layers of anonion, uh, my life just really
started improving and I had anoutlet, uh, that I could channel
(03:43):
this energy into and, um, youknow, eventually that led me to
being like man.
Why don't I just make this myjob, you know?
Speaker 1 (03:52):
what were you doing during, like when you get
started like career wise?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Oh, I've always been in and out of construction as a
felon.
It's like the one job you canpretty much always get is doing
some sort of construction likethe one job you can pretty much
always get right is doing somesort of construction.
Um, and I was so tired afterworking construction that when I
would get to the gym it waslike my workouts just weren't
the same that was beat up.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So you still had the desire to like, want to go to
the gym, like.
Obviously you still develop apassion for it.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
But well, and I knew it was so crucial to my mental
health and dealing with, um, the, the mental stuff that I had
always dealt with, right, right,um, and so I knew I had to keep
it going and so I was like,okay, how do I make this my
office?
And I'm kind of one of thosepeople that when I put my mind
(04:41):
to something, nobody's gonnastop me, and I'm also like an
all in kind of guy, which iswhat got me in a lot of trouble
too Right.
It can be a plus and a minus,but shifting, shifting that
focus and shifting that, thatambition and that desire.
And you know, something thatsomeone told me years ago stuck
with me it's like if you tookall the energy that you put into
(05:02):
drugs and alcohol and sellingdrugs and all the stuff you were
into, if you put half as muchenergy as you put into that into
doing the right things inbusiness and finance and and
your passions and desires, youwould be extremely successful.
And, uh, that was exactly whathappened to me.
I'm not that I'm extremelysuccessful or anything, but I am
(05:24):
in the sense that my life istotally different and I'm stable
, functioning, you know humanbeing, like taxpaying citizen,
law abiding yeah, I'm married, Ihave a baby on the way.
I mean, my life is just totally,totally different.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
All because you, you know and I think you said
something that I findinteresting because most people
start fitness out of a desire tojust lose a little bit of
weight or, you know, sometimesyou get the occasion like I just
don't want to feel better, Iwant to be out of pain.
Not that they're not validreasons for starting, but yours
is like you discovered a way forlike mental health, like that
was the prime desire as to whyyou continue doing it, and then,
(06:08):
like, seeing your body respondwas just a result of what you
were doing.
Just is, I think, inverted fromhow most people experience
fitness.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And it's actually one of the first things that I
coach clients in today is Ioften will tell them you know,
look, in the first two to fourweeks of this, you're probably
not going to see a whole lot ofbody composition changes.
That's great if you do, but theone thing I want you to focus
on is how much your mentalhealth improves.
You feel better in your ownskin, more energy and vitality,
(06:37):
less depression, less anxiety,your sleep improves.
All these things tend to happenin that first two to four weeks
of working out, and that's whatI try to get people to say man,
I'm hooked on this.
The aesthetics will come withconsistency down the road, but
man, I can't say it enough, andthe clinical research has
(06:58):
validated this.
If you look at head-to-headstudies against SSRI drugs and
strength training, head-to-headstudies against SSRI drugs and
strength, training, theyliterally perform the exact same
outcomes.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Ssri has been like the standard antidepressant
drugs that most people areprescribed.
Yeah, absolutely I, you knowI'm.
I take a similar approach withmy clients where it's all about
like the mental upfront how dowe, how do we win up here so
that we can affect what's outaround here?
Yeah, and that you know, Ithink that goes a long way to
getting somebody to not focus onthe number and not focus on the
(07:33):
mirror and not just theobsession with it yeah, Right,
Rather than how you're feelingin all aspects that are out.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Well then it also turns into like I got to take my
medication Right, and that'swhat the gym is for me.
Yeah, I was on a 10-day trip inMaui one of the most beautiful
places in the world and at thetime I was doing, you know, I
was doing triathlon, I was doingCrossFit, I was really over
training and, um, I told my wifeI said this whole 10 days I'm
(08:05):
gonna take the whole trip off.
I'm not gonna work out.
Well, by day five my wife looksat me and she's like you need
to go find a gym so she needsyou to get straight.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I was irritable like the clouds set in here.
I am in this beautiful place ona beautiful vacation and I
still realize the importance ofsome sort of physical routine.
Yeah, instead of just layingaround doing nothing and that's,
and that's just from a mentalhealth standpoint, like if, if
you can do that on your, on yourvacation and it doesn't bother
you, great, do it de-stress.
(08:38):
But for it doesn't bother you,great, do it De-stress.
But for someone like me, I haveto take my medicine Right.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I think part of that, part of that's probably
personality.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
It's like leaning into stress, like you know, but
it's something that's become soingrained, just like you said,
taking your medicine is a partof your routine, that that that
feels normal, that's how you,that's how you operate on a
daily basis and feel good and,personalities aside, it's
pharmacological right.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
you know those endorphins and yeah, those
endorphins and those feel-goodneurotransmitters that we get
from working out, evidently mymind needs that I had discovered
the same thing that you talkedabout with um when my wife and I
went on our honeymoon and youknow I had not been on vacation
in a decade, I'd just been inschool and then worked and never
(09:28):
taken time off and exercise,movement, playing, ultimate.
It's all just normal.
So I was like I'm gonna, I'mnot gonna work, I'm not gonna
bring workout clothes with meand I'm gonna just relax the
whole week.
I made it like three days, yeah, three days, and I was like I'm
not going to work, I'm notgoing to bring workout clothes
with me and I'm going to justrelax the whole week.
I made it like three days.
Yeah three days and I was likeI'm wearing my swim trunks to
the gym.
I got to get a pump.
I got to do something.
It doesn't have to be crazy,but I got to feel myself because
(09:51):
I'm just going to get sadotherwise.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Or restless even.
It's not even like sometimes,it's not even sad, it's just
restless or irritable, um,whatever it is that.
You know, if I can get myclients to kind of focus in on
um, realizing that they need totake their medicine and this
isn't just a I'm trying to loseweight and get you know stronger
or more muscle or whatever, notthat those things aren't
(10:16):
important as a goal or amotivation, but if, but, if I
can get them to buy into I gottatake my medicine, then they're
way more likely to stick to aconstant routine.
And then, of course, it's thatconsistency over the long term
that really pays off theaesthetic benefits and the
muscle mass benefits and thingslike that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Has there been any like aha moments that you've
seen with clients, Like you saidsomething specific that kind of
got them to click, or they didsomething that they experienced
in the workout or in their dailylife, where they're like you
know what, I get it now, Like Iknow, Because for me and you, I
think it's especially since it'sbeen so long and we're in it we
(10:58):
obviously have a passion for it, it, you know it, it seems to
come natural.
It's like how could you notexperience this?
Yeah, but you know you, youknow as well as I do that not
everybody loves it.
You know, some people show upand they tolerate it cause they
have to, and I used to thinkthat I could get everybody to
love it in one aspect or another, but I'm not naive anymore.
(11:20):
I've coached enough people toknow that some people are never
going to love it.
So have you seen a theme orlike that aha moment where you,
you, you've done something, yousaid something, they experienced
something that was like oh, Iget it now.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I'll give you my favorite one that I always look
for, and that's around thatthree or four week mark.
Most of the time people havethey've done a certain level of
nutrition and supplements andworkouts and things like that,
right and lo and behold, it'susually on a monday.
People come in over the weekendand I'm like what's up, man,
(11:54):
you know, and it's like come in,they look dejected, they look
tired and and they're like man.
I ate really bad this weekendor I drank way too much this
weekend, whatever it is.
But they had been feeling sogood for three or four weeks and
that deviation proved to themthe physical aspect of how much
(12:16):
their body said I don't likethis, I don't like pizza and
beer all of a sudden, Whereasbefore you may not have noticed
it because it was something youdid all the time, but I'm just
giving an example.
It's like they came in and hadsomething that they used to do
three or four weeks ago thatnever bothered them and now
they're like man.
I feel the difference from thisand that's always.
(12:36):
I always think it's so funpersonally, because you can see
the light bulb in their headwhere they're like man.
I was feeling really good and Ikind of took that for granted
and went over here.
And not that that's a bad thing, we all do that and I actually
coach and preach my own podcast.
I tell people man, enjoy theweekend.
Right, you may pay for it alittle bit, but you know, that's
(12:59):
why we own our monday throughfriday right, right, I think
that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Uh, you know, it takes an element of experiencing
something and then going, youknow, without it, to know what
it actually does to you.
It's like anyone that's givenup fast food yeah, for any
amount of time that one hitshard.
Yeah, because then you have itand it seems like such a good
decision at the time.
And then, as soon as you'redone eating, it's like immediate
regret because your stomachhurts, you sitting on the toilet
(13:26):
and that doesn't feel goodeither, and then, even like when
you're really in touch withyour body, like your sleep gets
disrupted and everything doesn'tfeel good.
But I think a lot of people arejust like wearing blinders you
don't know what you don't know.
You haven't experienced lifewithout it.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Well, the body is such an amazing adaptive
creature that it will get youused to eating that kind of
stuff and you don't realize thatyou're only running at 70%
capacity of what you could berunning at.
So you know, it's like having aTesla out here that um just
doesn't get up and go, like aTesla should cause it's only
running at 70% capacity.
(14:06):
Well, as soon as you cleaneverything up and kind of take
the bog off the system, then yourealize how fast this car
really is and how good this carfeels to drive.
And that's how the human bodyis Um, just removing that burden
from whatever, whatever toxicenvironment, toxic food, um, and
just giving the body what itneeds nutritionally.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It's funny because if you I think for 100% of people
if you said hey, here's a pillthat uh will make you operate at
20 to 30% better than whereyou're at now, I think everybody
would take it.
No negative side effects, youjust have to.
You gotta be willing to sweatfor an hour, but you'll get a
(14:52):
30% boost.
Everybody would take it.
That's exercise.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was literally just saying this on my podcast a
couple weeks ago.
If you could take all thebenefits of strength training
let's just take that one thingand you were to combine it into
a pill, all the benefits, themental health benefits, the
metabolism benefits, thehormonal benefits, the bone
density, you could just go onand on right.
You could take all thosebenefits, put it into a pill.
(15:18):
It would be the best-selling,most profitable drug ever
produced by the pharmaceuticalindustry in history and everyone
would take it.
You know and that and we cantake it for free in our backyard
, right.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
You don't even need anything.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Do pushups and sit ups and go run, or with a cheap
$40 investment at the gym andthen just that investment in
time or whatever.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I love that wordinvestment for exercise.
Because if you can relate backthose benefits of what you get
in performance, in energy, inrecovery, just by taking an hour
a day, even if it's only threeor four days a week, how much
more money can you make in yourlife because you can work longer
(16:05):
or you make better decisions?
Those are all kinds of ways totie back to why doing it is
beneficial, not just for yourmental or physical health but
like for your, for your finances, your family, like you, become
a better person overall for ityeah, the roi is huge.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I mean the return on investment for the time that
you're putting in for physically, uh, training your body and
then feeding and nourishing yourbody.
Man, I can't say it enough.
I mean, it's literally thedifference of who do I want to
be in five years or 10 years,because the decisions that I
make today dictate the way mybody is going to be made in five
(16:50):
or 10 years and the way itfunctions in five or 10 years.
So, for those who are listeningto this, who doesn't matter if
you're 30 or you're 60 orwhatever age you're at like,
think about in terms of ROI, orreturn on investment, and what
you're investing into yourhealth right now.
Look at it in terms of who.
(17:10):
Where do I want to be in fiveyears?
Where do I want to be in 10years?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think that's the hardest part for people to wrap
their heads around, because wewant it now.
Yes, we want it right now, buteven not taking that broad scope
, like you said, at three orfour weeks somebody goes and
just spends a weekend doingrelaxing or something that's off
off the plan, and then theyfeel it, yeah, and they kind of
(17:36):
wake up to that like, okay, well, this is what's going on.
This is why that investment isworth it.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
yeah, it does actually make me feel better
well, and not to mention thefinancial part of it.
Um, you are more productive,you have more energy to do more,
but then, on top of that, Imean, you talk about the united
states being the the highesthealth care costs in the world,
but we're also the mosttechnologically advanced and
(18:03):
have the best medicine in theworld.
So tell me, how does that addup?
You know, and does the?
The thing is is what you'reinvesting in also saves you ton
of money, because you're notgoing to the doctor all the time
, right, and you're not havingto spend all this money on
pharmaceutical drugs,conventional medicine doctors,
this, that and the other, plusthe time, yeah, where you have
(18:24):
to go.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Spend the time now yeah, doing that, whereas you
could have been working orspending time with your kids or
whatnot.
Who knows, the last thing Iwant to do is spend my time in
the hospital.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation, and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might've missed
(18:46):
.
Again, thanks for listening andwe'll see you next week.
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Let's dive in.
Hey everybody, thanks forjoining us Today.
We're joined by Zach Johanson.
Zach's an ACSM certifiedpersonal trainer, ace weight
management specialist, level oneCrossFit coach and IWA health
coach Since 2015,.
Zach has used a holisticapproach to burning muscle and
building muscle and burning fat.
He coaches his clients usingexercise, nutrition and
(00:47):
lifestyle to achieve lastingresults.
You can read more about Zachand use testimonials on his
website, muscle and veggiescom.
I've personally known Zach fora couple of years now Well, we'd
like three years.
It was about how long Cause hecame back to Ozark yeah, after
the accident.
Yeah, and that's right when Iwent to Ozark.
(01:08):
So we are competitors, but alsofriends and trainers alike, so
I've got to know Zach prettywell.
Over the last few years, zach'sgot a pretty interesting story,
so I'm going to let him kind ofjust take it from here and talk
about.
You know how he got intofitness?
Um, how long ago, I guess, wasman 2012.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So over a decade now.
Yeah, going over, going, almostgoing on 15 years.
So, yeah, I um have aninteresting story Came into
health and fitness on a longjourney of both pain and
suffering and drug addiction anda little sprinkled in there,
(01:55):
the penitentiary and drug rehabs, you name it.
But make a long story short.
Early in my life I went throughsome trauma.
My mom died of cancer when Iwas 12.
My dad drank himself to deathin the subsequent five years.
So by the time I was 18, I wason my own and really that's when
(02:18):
a large part of my problemsstarted with drug addiction.
A large part of my problemsstarted with drug addiction,
alcohol, things of that nature,and it just led me down a rough
road.
I had an extremely big chip onmy shoulder against authority
and just life in general, yeah,just kind of making bad
(02:39):
decisions, yeah.
So how I found fitness, thoughactually in the penitentiary for
the third time, so I was in andout for most of my 20s um
started lifting weights again,always lifted weights in high
school and played football andgot back into it and man, it was
like.
(02:59):
It was like the clouds clearedand I had an outlet that I can
channel this frustration andthis energy into.
And then I wanted to learn moreabout it, because I saw my body
respond, I saw my mental healthimprove, I saw all these things
happen and I just doveheadstrong into learning all
(03:20):
about this, and strengthtraining was just one aspect of
it.
At the same time, I startedlearning more and more about
nutrition, um, and justlifestyle practices in general.
And man, just like layers of anonion, uh, my life just really
started improving and I had anoutlet, uh, that I could channel
(03:43):
this energy into and, um, youknow, eventually that led me to
being like man.
Why don't I just make this myjob, you know?
Speaker 1 (03:52):
what were you doing during, like when you get
started like career wise?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Oh, I've always been in and out of construction as a
felon.
It's like the one job you canpretty much always get is doing
some sort of construction likethe one job you can pretty much
always get right is doing somesort of construction.
Um, and I was so tired afterworking construction that when I
would get to the gym it waslike my workouts just weren't
the same that was beat up.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So you still had the desire to like, want to go to
the gym, like.
Obviously you still develop apassion for it.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
But well, and I knew it was so crucial to my mental
health and dealing with, um, the, the mental stuff that I had
always dealt with, right, right,um, and so I knew I had to keep
it going and so I was like,okay, how do I make this my
office?
And I'm kind of one of thosepeople that when I put my mind
(04:41):
to something, nobody's gonnastop me, and I'm also like an
all in kind of guy, which iswhat got me in a lot of trouble
too Right.
It can be a plus and a minus,but shifting, shifting that
focus and shifting that, thatambition and that desire.
And you know, something thatsomeone told me years ago stuck
with me it's like if you tookall the energy that you put into
(05:02):
drugs and alcohol and sellingdrugs and all the stuff you were
into, if you put half as muchenergy as you put into that into
doing the right things inbusiness and finance and and
your passions and desires, youwould be extremely successful.
And, uh, that was exactly whathappened to me.
I'm not that I'm extremelysuccessful or anything, but I am
(05:24):
in the sense that my life istotally different and I'm stable
, functioning, you know humanbeing, like taxpaying citizen,
law abiding yeah, I'm married, Ihave a baby on the way.
I mean, my life is just totally,totally different.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
All because you, you know and I think you said
something that I findinteresting because most people
start fitness out of a desire tojust lose a little bit of
weight or, you know, sometimesyou get the occasion like I just
don't want to feel better, Iwant to be out of pain.
Not that they're not validreasons for starting, but yours
is like you discovered a way forlike mental health, like that
was the prime desire as to whyyou continue doing it, and then,
(06:08):
like, seeing your body respondwas just a result of what you
were doing.
Just is, I think, inverted fromhow most people experience
fitness.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And it's actually one of the first things that I
coach clients in today is Ioften will tell them you know,
look, in the first two to fourweeks of this, you're probably
not going to see a whole lot ofbody composition changes.
That's great if you do, but theone thing I want you to focus
on is how much your mentalhealth improves.
You feel better in your ownskin, more energy and vitality,
(06:37):
less depression, less anxiety,your sleep improves.
All these things tend to happenin that first two to four weeks
of working out, and that's whatI try to get people to say man,
I'm hooked on this.
The aesthetics will come withconsistency down the road, but
man, I can't say it enough, andthe clinical research has
(06:58):
validated this.
If you look at head-to-headstudies against SSRI drugs and
strength training, head-to-headstudies against SSRI drugs and
strength, training, theyliterally perform the exact same
outcomes.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Ssri has been like the standard antidepressant
drugs that most people areprescribed.
Yeah, absolutely I, you knowI'm.
I take a similar approach withmy clients where it's all about
like the mental upfront how dowe, how do we win up here so
that we can affect what's outaround here?
Yeah, and that you know, Ithink that goes a long way to
getting somebody to not focus onthe number and not focus on the
(07:33):
mirror and not just theobsession with it yeah, Right,
Rather than how you're feelingin all aspects that are out.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Well then it also turns into like I got to take my
medication Right, and that'swhat the gym is for me.
Yeah, I was on a 10-day trip inMaui one of the most beautiful
places in the world and at thetime I was doing, you know, I
was doing triathlon, I was doingCrossFit, I was really over
training and, um, I told my wifeI said this whole 10 days I'm
(08:05):
gonna take the whole trip off.
I'm not gonna work out.
Well, by day five my wife looksat me and she's like you need
to go find a gym so she needsyou to get straight.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I was irritable like the clouds set in here.
I am in this beautiful place ona beautiful vacation and I
still realize the importance ofsome sort of physical routine.
Yeah, instead of just layingaround doing nothing and that's,
and that's just from a mentalhealth standpoint, like if, if
you can do that on your, on yourvacation and it doesn't bother
you, great, do it de-stress.
(08:38):
But for it doesn't bother you,great, do it De-stress.
But for someone like me, I haveto take my medicine Right.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I think part of that, part of that's probably
personality.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
It's like leaning into stress, like you know, but
it's something that's become soingrained, just like you said,
taking your medicine is a partof your routine, that that that
feels normal, that's how you,that's how you operate on a
daily basis and feel good and,personalities aside, it's
pharmacological right.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
you know those endorphins and yeah, those
endorphins and those feel-goodneurotransmitters that we get
from working out, evidently mymind needs that I had discovered
the same thing that you talkedabout with um when my wife and I
went on our honeymoon and youknow I had not been on vacation
in a decade, I'd just been inschool and then worked and never
(09:28):
taken time off and exercise,movement, playing, ultimate.
It's all just normal.
So I was like I'm gonna, I'mnot gonna work, I'm not gonna
bring workout clothes with meand I'm gonna just relax the
whole week.
I made it like three days, yeah, three days, and I was like I'm
not going to work, I'm notgoing to bring workout clothes
with me and I'm going to justrelax the whole week.
I made it like three days.
Yeah three days and I was likeI'm wearing my swim trunks to
the gym.
I got to get a pump.
I got to do something.
It doesn't have to be crazy,but I got to feel myself because
(09:51):
I'm just going to get sadotherwise.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Or restless even.
It's not even like sometimes,it's not even sad, it's just
restless or irritable, um,whatever it is that.
You know, if I can get myclients to kind of focus in on
um, realizing that they need totake their medicine and this
isn't just a I'm trying to loseweight and get you know stronger
or more muscle or whatever, notthat those things aren't
(10:16):
important as a goal or amotivation, but if, but, if I
can get them to buy into I gottatake my medicine, then they're
way more likely to stick to aconstant routine.
And then, of course, it's thatconsistency over the long term
that really pays off theaesthetic benefits and the
muscle mass benefits and thingslike that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Has there been any like aha moments that you've
seen with clients, Like you saidsomething specific that kind of
got them to click, or they didsomething that they experienced
in the workout or in their dailylife, where they're like you
know what, I get it now, Like Iknow, Because for me and you, I
think it's especially since it'sbeen so long and we're in it we
(10:58):
obviously have a passion for it, it, you know it, it seems to
come natural.
It's like how could you notexperience this?
Yeah, but you know you, youknow as well as I do that not
everybody loves it.
You know, some people show upand they tolerate it cause they
have to, and I used to thinkthat I could get everybody to
love it in one aspect or another, but I'm not naive anymore.
(11:20):
I've coached enough people toknow that some people are never
going to love it.
So have you seen a theme orlike that aha moment where you,
you, you've done something, yousaid something, they experienced
something that was like oh, Iget it now.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I'll give you my favorite one that I always look
for, and that's around thatthree or four week mark.
Most of the time people havethey've done a certain level of
nutrition and supplements andworkouts and things like that,
right and lo and behold, it'susually on a monday.
People come in over the weekendand I'm like what's up, man,
(11:54):
you know, and it's like come in,they look dejected, they look
tired and and they're like man.
I ate really bad this weekendor I drank way too much this
weekend, whatever it is.
But they had been feeling sogood for three or four weeks and
that deviation proved to themthe physical aspect of how much
(12:16):
their body said I don't likethis, I don't like pizza and
beer all of a sudden, Whereasbefore you may not have noticed
it because it was something youdid all the time, but I'm just
giving an example.
It's like they came in and hadsomething that they used to do
three or four weeks ago thatnever bothered them and now
they're like man.
I feel the difference from thisand that's always.
(12:36):
I always think it's so funpersonally, because you can see
the light bulb in their headwhere they're like man.
I was feeling really good and Ikind of took that for granted
and went over here.
And not that that's a bad thing, we all do that and I actually
coach and preach my own podcast.
I tell people man, enjoy theweekend.
Right, you may pay for it alittle bit, but you know, that's
(12:59):
why we own our monday throughfriday right, right, I think
that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Uh, you know, it takes an element of experiencing
something and then going, youknow, without it, to know what
it actually does to you.
It's like anyone that's givenup fast food yeah, for any
amount of time that one hitshard.
Yeah, because then you have itand it seems like such a good
decision at the time.
And then, as soon as you'redone eating, it's like immediate
regret because your stomachhurts, you sitting on the toilet
(13:26):
and that doesn't feel goodeither, and then, even like when
you're really in touch withyour body, like your sleep gets
disrupted and everything doesn'tfeel good.
But I think a lot of people arejust like wearing blinders you
don't know what you don't know.
You haven't experienced lifewithout it.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Well, the body is such an amazing adaptive
creature that it will get youused to eating that kind of
stuff and you don't realize thatyou're only running at 70%
capacity of what you could berunning at.
So you know, it's like having aTesla out here that um just
doesn't get up and go, like aTesla should cause it's only
running at 70% capacity.
(14:06):
Well, as soon as you cleaneverything up and kind of take
the bog off the system, then yourealize how fast this car
really is and how good this carfeels to drive.
And that's how the human bodyis Um, just removing that burden
from whatever, whatever toxicenvironment, toxic food, um, and
just giving the body what itneeds nutritionally.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
It's funny because if you I think for 100% of people
if you said hey, here's a pillthat uh will make you operate at
20 to 30% better than whereyou're at now, I think everybody
would take it.
No negative side effects, youjust have to.
You gotta be willing to sweatfor an hour, but you'll get a
(14:52):
30% boost.
Everybody would take it.
That's exercise.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was literally just saying this on my podcast a
couple weeks ago.
If you could take all thebenefits of strength training
let's just take that one thingand you were to combine it into
a pill, all the benefits, themental health benefits, the
metabolism benefits, thehormonal benefits, the bone
density, you could just go onand on right.
You could take all thosebenefits, put it into a pill.
(15:18):
It would be the best-selling,most profitable drug ever
produced by the pharmaceuticalindustry in history and everyone
would take it.
You know and that and we cantake it for free in our backyard
, right.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
You don't even need anything.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Do pushups and sit ups and go run, or with a cheap
$40 investment at the gym andthen just that investment in
time or whatever.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I love that wordinvestment for exercise.
Because if you can relate backthose benefits of what you get
in performance, in energy, inrecovery, just by taking an hour
a day, even if it's only threeor four days a week, how much
more money can you make in yourlife because you can work longer
(16:05):
or you make better decisions?
Those are all kinds of ways totie back to why doing it is
beneficial, not just for yourmental or physical health but
like for your, for your finances, your family, like you, become
a better person overall for ityeah, the roi is huge.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I mean the return on investment for the time that
you're putting in for physically, uh, training your body and
then feeding and nourishing yourbody.
Man, I can't say it enough.
I mean, it's literally thedifference of who do I want to
be in five years or 10 years,because the decisions that I
make today dictate the way mybody is going to be made in five
(16:50):
or 10 years and the way itfunctions in five or 10 years.
So, for those who are listeningto this, who doesn't matter if
you're 30 or you're 60 orwhatever age you're at like,
think about in terms of ROI, orreturn on investment, and what
you're investing into yourhealth right now.
Look at it in terms of who.
(17:10):
Where do I want to be in fiveyears?
Where do I want to be in 10years?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think that's the hardest part for people to wrap
their heads around, because wewant it now.
Yes, we want it right now, buteven not taking that broad scope
, like you said, at three orfour weeks somebody goes and
just spends a weekend doingrelaxing or something that's off
off the plan, and then theyfeel it, yeah, and they kind of
(17:36):
wake up to that like, okay, well, this is what's going on.
This is why that investment isworth it.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
yeah, it does actually make me feel better
well, and not to mention thefinancial part of it.
Um, you are more productive,you have more energy to do more,
but then, on top of that, Imean, you talk about the united
states being the the highesthealth care costs in the world,
but we're also the mosttechnologically advanced and
(18:03):
have the best medicine in theworld.
So tell me, how does that addup?
You know, and does the?
The thing is is what you'reinvesting in also saves you ton
of money, because you're notgoing to the doctor all the time
, right, and you're not havingto spend all this money on
pharmaceutical drugs,conventional medicine doctors,
this, that and the other, plusthe time, yeah, where you have
(18:24):
to go.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Spend the time now yeah, doing that, whereas you
could have been working orspending time with your kids or
whatnot.
Who knows, the last thing Iwant to do is spend my time in
the hospital.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation, and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might've missed
(18:46):
.
Again, thanks for listening andwe'll see you next week.
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