A Strong Mind and Body for Life

Strength is more than physical—it’s a mindset, a daily practice, and a foundation for living fully. In this empowering episode of The Breakthrough Lab, host Giovanny Ramirez sits down with Greg Lunski, Founder of Strong 4 Life LLC, to uncover the keys to building lasting resilience.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Welcome everyone to this week's Breakthrough Lab. Your next breakthrough
starts here. Have a really really nice guest today, someone
that I met at the A to B conference. Now
two A to B conferences ago, right, so I know
you almost over a year year and a half now, correct, Yeah,

(01:00):
oh yeah, it's incredible. His name is Greg Lunsky. He's
the founder of Strong for Life, LLC. A strength and
mobility coach, certified CSCs trainer. He has a master's degree
in education. His niche to help parents do time efficient
workouts and mobility exercises from the comfort of their own home.

(01:24):
Super and highly versed in kettlebell training and distance racing.
My brother, Greg, Welcome to the Breakthrough Lab. Let's shake
it down to brother.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, yeah, I'm so happy to have you here, number one,
because you're such a nice guy.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
You're like one of the nicest guys I know. And
I look in the mirror and see a nice guy,
and I look at you and I'm like, he's even
nicer than me.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Either.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
I don't know about that, right, No, But honestly, I
really appreciated that we struck a tone at the to
BE conference back in twenty twenty four, and we've kept
up with each other, messaging each other, and it's really
nice to strike a friendship. And I always appreciate people
that are into fitness and training because it's one of

(02:15):
those skill sets that you know can take you and
increase your longevity and increase your mission on this planet.
So thank you for choosing that as a life path.
And so Greg, you've had over twelve over a dozen
like body injuries, right, and tell me, like, how does

(02:37):
a young guy like you, you know ge get his like
body you beat up in that sense, and then tell
me how that inspire your journey into what you're doing today.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
So this is dating back probably over a span on
a couple of decades. You know, life happens, especially for
us who are very physically active. Injuries happen, car accidents,
one bad construction one that really do the number on
the back several years ago, and a shoulder one. So

(03:10):
I developed this mindset that if physical therapy works for people,
so well, imagine what fitness can actually do for somebody
in their longevity factor. And it can mitigate for the
person to actually have either less severe injuries or reduce

(03:32):
the amount of injuries because the body becomes a lot
more resilient and you build that mental fortitude that you
just have to work through it, work around and find
a way how you can move your body, because it
can be medicine in so many different ways. So that's
what really kind of gets me motivated with the fitnesses

(03:53):
because it's so versatile. There is so many ways to
train the body, and one of the major ones is
through all these injuries, I've experienced that mobility is actually
strength training and it can be strength training. And I'll
show a little demonstration like an risk movement to everybody,

(04:15):
and once we fortify all those joints, it's not just
the muscles. We're talking about the carllage tissue, the tendenc
the ligaments, and building better neural pathways in the brain
to actually realize, Okay, it's not feeling right. I thought
I could move my joint well, but that's not the

(04:37):
case when it's done the right way. So there's different
ways to do mobility training and it can be real
strength training. And I'll share with the audience also how
I've been able to strength train over the years and
improve my mobility through strength training because a lot of

(04:58):
people do not focus on the right range of motion,
and that's another factor.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, yeah, range of motion. That that speaks to me
because I've had quite a few fractures. I've when I
was young, I fractured a skull, I've broken an elbow
and broken this bone as well, and so mobility has
been a factor for me through these injuries and just
hearing that, so you had some construction issues going on
and other things that caused you to get this mentality

(05:28):
that there's a way to move on or at least
prevent from these light catastrophic life things that can happen. Right,
we walk around, we trip, we're driving cars, people drive
cars into us, we're on a bicycle, we fall over.
You know, all these things could impact us. But what
you're saying is mobility and strength training will help you

(05:51):
overcome you know, those those those injuries and may even
prevent them altogether.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Absolutely, So when we're talking about injury prevention, I prefer
to use the term reduction. So like you said that,
the you know, things happen unfortunately at the least when
we expected with an injury, like for example, somebody walking

(06:18):
down the stairs, you misstep one stair and then the
person could fracture or sprain the ankle. So through proper
strength training and mobility training, we are strengthening and fortifying
all the connective dishes, but also building that bone density

(06:40):
that can help reduce the severity of fractures or even
prevent some of them. So it's really important that we
do both.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, Now that bone density, that's so interesting, right, because
you know, one of the things that you hear is
that you know, if you go running, that's one way
to really wear down your joints, but at the same time,
your bones really like your body sends messages to your
bones saying, hey there's impact here, let's send more materials

(07:13):
there to strengthen it. Right, And so how do you
balance those two things when you are putting stress on
your joints and also your ligaments, but also you need
your bones to be strong. So what's the balance there.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
It's multiple things. So definitely nutrition, there are different foods
and nutrients people call the macros, but also micronutrients that
people can have in their diet that can help strengthen
the bones, improve recovery from injuries. And also when it

(07:52):
comes to balancing the strength training the mobility and running
if somebody does first and foremost, what I somebody's asking
about running, they should be at a healthy body weight
to run because that's unfortunately the exercise that a lot
of people take on and when they have weight to
lose and they cause themselves over use injuries. So it's

(08:15):
important to run well. And that's another part of it.
So having somebody assess your running technique, what kind of
footwhere the person uses the surface that we run on,
and that's important. You know, pavement is not really that
healthy of a surface. Some of the highest level elite
ultra marathons they run trails. They run on a lawn

(08:40):
like on the grass fields tracks, so it's a lot
more forgiving to the joints. And also the strength training
builds that little bit more robust bone density as well
as the mobility gives you a lot more feedback and
ability to run well and also make the body a

(09:02):
lot more reactive. If let's say somebody missteps or is
about to trip themselves, they can catch themselves much quicker.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, you are, like, so I'm so impressed right now
because you're you're a wealth of information right now. I
feel like you're in encyclopedia, Like, I just want to
like ask you so many questions and so talk to
me about that that you know, running, because you know,
running is one of those things that I used to dread.

(09:31):
You know, my mind would play tricks on me. It
would say, ah, you could be doing this, or like
you could be working on a project, or you could
be you know, it just didn't feel like an efficiency
thing because it takes a long time. And also, you know,
you're just sitting there with your mind. You know, you're
not pushing anything other than your body, your legs, but

(09:54):
your mind keeps getting in your way. Nowadays, I actually
I am able to control my mind and a bit
more I get into like a meditative state. So what's
some things that you for someone that wants to get
into distance running, Like, what are some of the techniques
that they can they can do to overcome like the
mind tricks that happen as you're as you're training for

(10:16):
either like you know, from as small as a five
k to like a half half marathon.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
That's a great question because once you get to those
half marathons and beyond, it almost becomes like a part
time job. Yeah, I get anything past eight miles. It's work. Yeah,
many things. For me, what I found is definitely outdoor scenery,
like I would even run in like light rain, because

(10:43):
like I dread treadmill, I cannot be on that thing.
I feel like a hamster stuck in a wheel. Oh man.
So outdoors training, yes, important, but knowing how to train
in a different environment climates, so like the heat index
the right. For some people, what works is music, which

(11:05):
I've done in the past, but also actually some affirmations,
you know, having that imagery that you're moving like a
whale kind of oiled machine, and just having that envision
that like there's a slight little bit of I guess
you could say, a little wind pushing on the back,

(11:26):
and just positive affirmations that you're running like an efficient machine.
Finding ways how to relax as much as possible. Some
people clench their jaw or hands, And one of the
biggest things I tell most people who take up running
is the hands are relaxed, like holding a chip in it. Wow.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
See, I would not I wouldn't even think of that,
And I tend to tends up like whenever I'm doing anything.
So in relaxation, so you have to be really.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Relaxed exactly exactly, you're gonna like over stress the muscle
or you're just gonna you're just using energy that would
be best applied towards the distance.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
You hit it on point right there. Yeah, it comes
to what's called running economics. So the more efficiently you
can run relaxed and just putting in the energy that
you need, that's going to help you. But also what's
been shown to help people improve in distance races is
working on speed work because now we're talking about different

(12:31):
energy systems and muscle fibers. So if we're going for
a five k or a half or a full marathon,
you know we're utilizing those slowtwitch muscle fibers that are
really functioning on more on the oxygen, the blood sugar, right,
and then including also some speed work. So for example,

(12:53):
like a marathon runner could be doing like four hundred
meter or half mile repeats out of track at like
their five k pace, so you're running slightly faster and
you're conditioning yourself to have that little extra kick another gear,
so the body feels less tired and fatigued when you're

(13:14):
going for distance. So speed work is actually missing in
a lot of distance runners, and that doesn't have to
be anything extreme. Definitely core work, core hip mobility and strengthening,
and also spinal muscles.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Got it, got it? What's one area that you think
people that are running marathons, you know that they seem
to overlook that's really been impactful for you for with
your clients, right, you have clients that that train. I
know your niche is really like the at home, but
I think you have some clients that you've trained for

(13:54):
some distance running, right, and like, what's one area that
really made a difference for them for.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
The five k? Typically it's going to come down to
two things so they don't overtrain the body is doing
cross training, which I've done myself when a nag in
injury was kind of like coming back with an ankle
using like an Ellipticon stationary bike. It is still working

(14:20):
on a cardio and strengthening the legs in a different
way because you have to resistance. So that's been very
tremendously helpful. And the other part is strength training at
least a couple of times a week, focusing on the
compound lift like squat variations, lunges, split squats, and upper

(14:40):
body too. People actually don't realize how much the upper
body contributes to the running. So when we're moving our arms,
actually some kind of chest press bush ups back rows,
and that don't give you that stronger posture. So people
don't have the sluged shoulders and drop drooping head once
the distance yeah you know creeps up on you. Yeah wow.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
And it's how important is it for your posture to
be like pretty.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Straight when you are running? Absolutely? Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
Like so when you get the droopy head, that's gonna
how how does that impact the run? It's like, because
it does. That misalign the entire body and now you're
you have to overcompensate in certain areas.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Definitely, definitely. I've experienced that in my first not my
second half marathon, and I started working on variations of
back rows face poles, which strengthens the whole posterior chain,
the trapezis muscles, the rear deltoids, and that gives you
that like almost like shoulders back bush. Yes, huh.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
And I see that in a lot of runners, you know,
they stand like this with their chest puffed out, you know.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
So if we don't do that, then we have that
posture drop and not head tailt slightly forward. Well, now
we're talking about Actually it's been proven through some research
that now the head weighs a little bit more and
we're putting a lot more strain on the neck in
the upper back, and it may also affect the breathing.

(16:10):
That's another part is a lot of times people breathe
the wrong way.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
I was just about to go into that. Are you
reading my mind?

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Tell me about breath because for example, like I, when
I do a workout, if I don't focus on my breath,
I start holding it and I can't stand it about me,
Like if I'm doing push ups, like once in a while,
I'll lose. I'll lose let's say, being conscious of my
breath and all of a sudden, I'm holding my breath
and now, like my push ups, I can't do as many.

(16:41):
And so like, yeah, what's a great proper like breath technique.
Let's stay on the theme of running right, yep.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
So what it's referred to is I've talked to about
this on a small seminar I did. It's called two
different names. People call it sometimes belly breathing or most formally,
crocodile breathing. When we see like a crocodile. It's actually
stomach is pushing out and pushing down because now you're

(17:12):
letting the diaphragm completely fill and drop, so the lungs
feel where most people think, I'm going to breathe and
feel the rip cage rise, but it's only going to
fill the lungs so much, and it can only expand
so much. You need to allow the belly to basically
push out and to the sides, so that way the

(17:33):
lungs fail completely. And now you're getting the diaphragm engaged
on the exhalation. Got it? Got it? How does that
look like?

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (17:42):
And I'm gonna put you on the spot. So, so
what it looks like is like when you see somebody
run or finish running, you feel you see the stomach
actually pushing out. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
So you're breathe in and you're you can you're most
times we breathe, we feel it here, but you want
to feel it down on your belly, right correct. I
want to push out like you push my gut out
right now.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, So the easiest way to retrain the breathing pattern
is actually do crocodile breathing laying on your stomach on
the floor, chin propped up, and as the breath goes in,
imagine that it's traveling all the way down, all the
way down into the stomach, and you'll feel the stomach
pushing to the floor, the low back rise a little,
and the sites where people refer to as low handles

(18:28):
push out.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Got I got it. So crocodile breathing, huh, that's a
first for me. I love the name, Like, hey, make
sure you do your crocodile breathing.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Very very cool. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
So, and what got you into distance running? You know,
there's always, like for me, a psychological like fight there
for most people that get into running, because it's a
fight between you and yourself. There's, yeah, you're competing against people,
but the training itself can be very lonely, and so

(19:01):
there comes to mind games and so like what was
Greg into that all of a sudden he said, I
need to get up and start running.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
So I always kind of ran because of fitness and
playing some sports growing up. My first five K was
exactly on Labor Day in twenty ten. A friend invited
me to join him, which he didn't show up for. Okay,

(19:32):
but I was in the company of thousands of other
people down in New Haven, tremendously big race, and after
that I just kind of got bit by that bug
of running five k's multiple ones. Like you said, it's
like you're fighting against yourself. My first half was the

(19:54):
hardest one. It was very hilly in a fairfield. That
was actually peer pressure from an assistant principle because I
was the only one in our department that did running distance.
So she's like, you gotta do this race with me.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
I'm like, okay, yeah, yeah, and so she's like, how
could you not do this with.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
So I did that. It was scorching heat late June,
and after that did multiple halves, several full ones, and
that was for me. It really was mental training. But
also I was curious about what the training entails, the
rest recovery, how different types of training impacted the effects

(20:39):
on running, and as well as the nutrition and hydration.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Got it, got it, that's so cool. So now and
now you've done how many like you? I'm assuming you
lost count or.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
It was at least I believe four half and five
full ones. My hardest one was in verymonth.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
The elevation that took a toll, and the breathing and
the low accident.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
It was my slowest race.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Wow, wow have you now have you ever ventured to
do a full marathon or is that like you know what?
That's nice, sounds good, but not in the cards for me.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
So that was the That was the full marathon.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Oh you did a full one already, okay, because I
thought you said I only.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
Half, So so I did about four to five half
a last count on those, but it was like a handful,
and it was five full ones. Did the Hartford one
multiple times and one in Vermont.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Got it And then tell me about the last few
miles when you're in that marathon, like, how does someone
because at some point your body says, hey man, I'm
crashing out, Hey hey this is hurting me, or hey,
like you're tired or you're hungry, Like, how how do

(22:00):
you push? How does greg push through these thoughts that
creep in.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
It's a different thing for everybody. For me, it's multiple things,
just checking myself back into how I move in my body,
so being inefficient in my movement, light on the feet,
the breathing, also enjoying the scenery, finding something about the

(22:29):
scenery that is really enjoyable, and just remembering that when
I'm running. When it's in a race and not training
is totally different. But in a race you look around
all those people and that's a fact that that helps
you to kind of stay motivated and push through it,
because after about sixteen eighteen miles, you don't hear conversations

(22:54):
among runners. It's just you hear breathing. Yeah, everybody's playing
a mental game. Yeah yeah, there's no one chatting.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
No, the chip chat's in the beginning a how you doing,
and all of a sudden, like it's just dead silence.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
And all is just breathing. Huh. Absolutely. Wow.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
What a beautiful connection to have that when you're when
you're out there though, right, like to know that someone's
having nearly the identical journey that you're on and to
hear their breathing and say, okay, he you have someone
there with you until maybe you're the only one for
a certain amount of time and and uh, and then

(23:34):
you're kind of off on your own, right. So it's
a beautiful journey to know that there's this It starts
with thousands and then it whirdles down to just a
few hundred.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
I'm assuming absolutely the distance grows between people.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
It's incredible.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
So what God, Greg, cause you you're a fitness physical
education trainer right in uh in schools.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
So yes, I've been at the high school level for
fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah that's a long time. Almost identical to your to
your journey you're into running, sounds like yeah pretty much.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
So what made you become a physic teacher?

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right?

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Because to me it's one To me, it seems like
one of the funnest jobs to do. You got children,
you're you have physical activity and uh, these kids usually
are happy for jim most of them.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Maybe not well most most of them, but elementary level
is the one that is the most excited about it.
They always want to be there. Yeah. Because you get
you become so creative, you almost like enter a different world.
You have to use this fun equipment, come up with
all these wild games, and high school level is totally different.

(24:46):
So what got me into it is I grew up
I had some mild asthma, severe seasonal allergies to the
point that I had to use like a ventilator. And
I was never like a fitness kid nut. I wasn't
like overweight. I was just really like super thin for
my age and not really athletic.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
And let me just hear this out again. You had
asthma growing up, like to what age or do you
still have asthma?

Speaker 2 (25:18):
No, no, it was. It was mild asthma, but the
seasons definitely triggered my breathing and it was very like labored.
I had to go to a children's hospital if my
parents at a young age of three up until late
elementary school. Middle school is that when I became a

(25:39):
lot more physically active. And I've noticed that the physical
activity and fitness just started to grow on me and
the body. The immune system just I saw a shift
that change, and I started looking into nutrition how it
effects are immune system.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
That was you in middle school.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
So that was middle school, then high school when I
dove into nutrition towards the end, and I'm thinking, okay,
you know that's that's what I went for the degree.
And then further down the road, I'm noticing that a
lot of adults actually are very unfit and active. And

(26:18):
we have a population right now that is upwards of
anywhere between eighty to eighty four percent that is either overweight, obese,
or morbidly obese. So that means that those adults were
not given the right tools at a young age, so
they need actually trainers mentors in these days to shift

(26:40):
that tide of longevity and quality of life.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah, it's in which I love the name of your company,
Strong for Life, Llsey. It really does like sound like, hey,
if I partner with Greg, like, I'm going to be
physically fit until I'm ninety nine years old or at
least we right, Yeah, but I do love the name
of your company because it does give a sense of longevity.

(27:05):
It does give a sense of that I'm not.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
Here to you know.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Obviously some people join fitness to look good or to
and maybe to feel a certain way, but it does
emphasize the longevity portion of it, which, which is clutch,
is really what most people should be focusing on, right. Yeah,
tell me about like your favorite client, like a good

(27:30):
client story of yours, because it feels like I feel
like you have so many due to the fact of
the niche is parents like parents, for them to find
free time is hard, and the mentality that you don't
have time is also hard to overcome. Right, So it's
really about creating time or choosing to make the time. So, like,

(27:54):
do you have any stories out there? With clients that
you've been able to have those breakthroughs and say, hey,
you kind of extra size even though you have four children.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Absolutely two clients come to mind. I have to share
those two bid because there are totally different spectrums. One
of them was actually a close friend, my first client,
and this was probably eight years ago, and we actually

(28:24):
we trained together well, I mean I basically coached him,
but trained to get alongside. And he has two younger
boys at the time, very young, super busy running a
business himself as well and working full time taking care
of a family home, and he needed efficient workouts that

(28:46):
were like about forty five minutes or so in the
morning and now it's his time. That was his only
time that it would get done and the rest of
the day is off to a totally different start. And
in a matter of a year, we trained for a
year total like recomposition, gainedling muscle, I mean lust weight

(29:09):
without trying, not that there was much to lose. And
he even cut himself saying, hey, you know I did
this or that project. I was moving all less weight,
and I remember some of the cues about how to
use your legs, your hips, the grip bracing, the core
to protect the back. And that's another factor that it's,

(29:29):
like you said, it's not about just looking good. But
if we train for function, the form of the body
is going to follow. But the body is a lot
more not just resilient, but functional in life. We're able
to do life much easier in daily tasks.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah, yeah, I do like that because form is so important.
Right when you're especially if you're moving stuff around the
house back injuries or typically you're at home, you decide
to pick up this thing that you normally pick up.
But now you're forty years old and you don't lose
your legs as much, and so these injuries happen. And

(30:07):
I'm in my forties. Now I'm dating myself, but yeah,
I get hurt much much easier.

Speaker 2 (30:13):
Now, what are.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Things to how can people avoid or what what can
we implement in life, like maybe three to five exercise
that that that can increase the ability to not get
as injured as much.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Definitely training the core, knowing how to brace our abdominals,
which is called basically it's almost like a virtual air bag.
So when people are lifting away, they're told often times
to expel all the air and sucking the belly button

(30:53):
towards the spine. But technically that's ill advice because now
the back is much more jeopardized. So when we're lifting,
we take actually a breath in and tighten a core.
That's why powerlifters where the belts today, not just to
protect the back, but they want to feel their core
push against the belt as they keep some air in

(31:15):
the core and tighten the core, so it feels like
a virtual air bag and you feel that slight pressure
against the back. So knowing how to brace the core,
that's one way.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
See that's incredible. Let me just stop right there because
that sounds so cool. To make sure the audience can understand.
So as you lift, bring a little air in and
that creates a little bit of cushioning, so that if
you're lifting something, you've got a like a pocket of
air here. That's going to create some space between the

(31:46):
spine and maybe like the weight that you're trying to
lift up.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
So like, for example, I've never even heard of something
like that. So for example, like doing push ups, you know,
once you get to your end set, you're taking we're
taking a breath typically on the point where the muscle
stretches when we're lowering the weight. So, for example, when
we're doing a push up or lowering, taking a breath
in tighten the core, and then as you come up,

(32:13):
breathe out, but not all of the air some area
and you still feel that core tightness. But that would
be a technique that's really implemented once you are more
closer to the end set to protect the back or
really moving heavy resistance, or like, for example, somebody doing
weight to push ups with like forty to fifty pounds

(32:34):
vest maybe for example.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
You know, Wow, incredible. So I've been full disclosure. I'm
always doing the breathing in pushups, but I didn't know
to keep a little bit in there because I tend to,
you know, we tend to as we go up for
what we do. I'm forgetting here obviously, So we take
a breath in and then push out right, but leave

(32:57):
a little bit of air in there, especially towards the
end of the sets as your body is getting tired. Wow,
I've never heard that before, and it makes sense. You
want to protect your spine, you want to protect your back,
leaving a little bit of an air pocket in there.
How incredible is the human body that it created that

(33:19):
your your both your your lungs and even your stomach
create a protection barrier for your spine.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah, it's it's interesting once you drive into the mind
muscle connection the things that we're able to do with
the body. And I want to go back to to
add to your question previously. Is training actually the hips
as well, not just strengthening them like most people know

(33:48):
about the gluten bridges clams, but training the hips in
different ways and as well as balance work that that
is oftentimes overlooked. You know, when you ask somebody to
balance on one leg and then switch it to the
other side, you have to consider all those little stabilizing

(34:10):
muscles around the ankle, which is actually a connected chain.
Because it's not just those muscles. The person may actually
experience some of the hip muscles fatiguing because everything else
is stabilizing, may be an oblique or a spinal muscle.
Most people have one side that is stronger, and that's
another thing I want to mention. Everybody kind of says, well,

(34:34):
this is my strong side, this is my weak side.
Technically they're both strong in their own way. So when
we switch to internal dialogue when we're working out and training, Okay,
your stronger side can do so much, but the other
side is still strong. So we can work on the
strong side to build as much symmetry as possible to

(34:59):
your stronger side.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Wow, And it's so true because.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
We all have one leg we use more, we put
more pressure on or one definitely on one hand that
we use more. So yeah, the body dust get out
of sync right as we get older. You know, we
see women that wear their purse only on one side
and so their shoulders start to sag on one side

(35:25):
over the other. Or men that wear their wallet right,
they put their wallet on only one side of their hips,
and then their hips get get a little bit you know, uneven.
And so it's so we have to be so conscious
of these things, right, incredible work. And so you had
one client and you had another client story as well.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
The other one just it just showed absolute resilience in
the mindset. A seventy one year old client that came
to group classes that I did at a gym for
kettlebel slash body weight training. Seventy one years old and

(36:07):
after only a few months with like I think it
was twenty five or thirty pounds. His name was pete.
He pulled off almost like a flawless Turkish get up,
which what's the turkeysh kettup? I gotta hear what is this?
I don't know how the name came out to be,
but typically it's called the get up. It is like

(36:28):
the gold standard in kettlebel training, and it can be
multiple things. An assessment tool to show a lack of
symmetries from one side to another, and also it can
build mobility, stability, and strength all in one. So for example,

(36:50):
you'll see somebody laying on the floor and floor press
the kettlebell. Yeah forward, yep, forward, just one side and
the legs are kind of at five and seven o'clock
and the other hands on the floor and they basically
do like this half sit up sideways, come up to
a seated position, hipsp sweeping the leg under and you're

(37:11):
basically going to a full standing position.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Got it all with almost like only your legs and
a kettlebell leaning forward?

Speaker 2 (37:20):
Correct? Yeah? Wow, very effective movement. That was one of
the gold standards in my training after a back and
shoulder injury. It's very rehabilitative and if I'm a mistake
and a lot of physical therapy schools now basically teach it.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Wow, incredible, and that's what seventy one year old?

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Correct?

Speaker 1 (37:43):
And then you said in the span of a few months,
a couple of months, yep, Yeah, And how was he before?
Was he complaining about some mobility issues?

Speaker 2 (37:51):
And yeah, the mobility and the one thing with mobility
I've noticed, like in populations for men, it is most
hips and shoulders. Yeah. Yeah, so both of those improved
for him. But then also the core strength and the

(38:11):
stability because it's a very intricate movement. It's almost like
you could call it beautiful strength in a way. I
like that.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
We need to make t shirts called beautiful strength. Yeah. Now,
now tell me about the quality of life improvement for
a gentleman like that. Right, you're in your seventies. A
lot of people start buying into agism for themselves, right,
they start to say, I'm too old for X, I'm
too old for this, I can't do this, I can't

(38:42):
do that. How is the quality of life shift for
like a seventy year old, Like, did you hear any
stories where he was just reinvigorated?

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Yeah, just mentioned that, you know, he was moving better,
his strength went up significantly and you really don't need much.
Like my classes that we ran, we had upwards of
anywhere from several to almost a dozen people at times,
and it was typically the older client tail base that

(39:15):
showed up, people passed their forties, fifties and up to
his age and them routine typically comprised of mobility. And
this is where people don't realize how simple, not easy,
but simple the training regimen can be. And we were

(39:37):
done in forty five minutes with a class of that
many using only a couple of tools, a band, some
kind of matte, a cateable or two, and their body weight,
and like you could, you could see people moving up.
And like you mentioned the age and the fear factor.

(39:57):
So somebody who started the class was do and two
hands capable swing with maybe fifteen twenty pounds. Now I
see how they moved up in the trend, and you'll
be amazed. Once people are encouraged, like okay, I know
you're ready for the forty or forty five pounds, and
they look at you with the biggest fear in their eyes,

(40:18):
and once they actually try it, that confidence just goes
through the roof and they realize, Okay, they've gotten a
lot stronger.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
That's incredible. Yeah, yeah, especially in an older age. Yeah,
and you're unlocking what I would say, or they can
rediscover new abilities, right. You know, fear is it's like
an self fulfilling prophecy. I'm older, I can't do X.
Because I can't do X, I won't do why. And

(40:50):
because you don't do why, then you're older and that's
why you can't do X, and that's why you won't
do why. Right, And it's just a cycle and people
just really read themselves much quicker than probably they should, right, absolutely, Yeah,
So what's your ideal client? Because I want people to
find you like you're doing amazing stuff. Heck, I'm ready

(41:11):
to sign up. Sign me up right now then, and
so you know, because longevity is the key, right with
nutrition paired up. We'll get into that in a little bit.
But how do people find you? I want people to
know where your training is.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
So currently I'm coaching clients through online. I've built the
systems and I'm primarily operating through Instagram. I've just recently
opened up TikTok, but on Instagram I'm under asked the
business name Strong.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
For Life st R O n G. The number four
l I F E.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
L L C. Right, correct, I'm on Facebook as well,
but it's just my first and last name. Uh, there's
a YouTube channel that has a somewhat moderate following. So
I'm on on these platforms and I'm looking to build,
uh and expand to other ones. Yeah. Well, primarily it's

(42:13):
been Instagram that have been operating on, mostly with clients.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah. Yeah, I've seen some really cool reels and you're
in a pretty badass truck.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Now, let's go a little bit into nutrition, right, because
obviously working out nutrition they go hand in hand.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Right.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
If you overdo it and you don't have the proper nutrients,
then you're depleting your body.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
And if you're if.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
You're taking too many nutrients and you're not moving it off,
now is becoming stored fat?

Speaker 2 (42:43):
Right?

Speaker 1 (42:44):
What's uh? I guess what are modalities that you've adapted to,
you know, to meshin and synchronize with with the training
that you emphasize.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
So the training that I do, most people are familiar
with my Fitness Pal, so I have my clients tracking
now and it's synked in with the training app. But
prior to them starting nutrition, most people will need to
learn how to eat healthy for their lifestyle. So it

(43:15):
needs to fit your lifestyle, your schedule, and what some
people already may be doing may be good and require
only some minor tweaks. So having a diary, some kind
of journal of at least a few several days of
their current nutrition is important. But you don't always track

(43:38):
calories and the proteins and fats and carbohydrates like forever.
Once you learn, and I teach this to my clients,
how to read the labels, portion sizes, how to make
it manageable in portion sizes, how to utilize the app,
and once they become familiar with it, you can actually

(43:58):
be very close to when you create your meals without
tracking after some point.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
Okay, and that's great because the tracking part is what's
the most tedious, right and where.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
People get away.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
So how can people have a breakthrough there to to
stay consistent? Right? Is it just the daily journal or
is it how long would you need to track in
order to get a good picture of what your if
your intake is sufficient in a for your current lifestyle.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
So obviously we do the calculations considering their their body weight,
what their ideal weight should be. Body weight measurements and
consistently weighing, weighing in it's going to show how certain
foods affect people. So I noticed with some clients a

(44:51):
small percentage that some foods I actually highly inflammatory. So
for some lines they may have to pryor jumping on
a nutrition plant, they may have to do some blood work.
Unfortunately when they do have a considered amount of weight
to lose, because now we have to know how the
hormones are functioning. You know, if the thyroid is healthy,

(45:14):
what their testageone levels are, especially for men, So we
have to know some of these markers and if it's needed,
may have to require you know, medical intervention with that.
And then after that, once the meal plan is designed
and they know how much food they should be taken in.

(45:36):
Most people are actually under the requirement of protein for
lean mass that they should be consuming. And it depends
on the person. It can be anywhere from a couple
months or a few months or several months for each individual,
depends how much weight they have loose, what's their experience

(45:59):
with previous any tracking, or if they are capable of
reading interpreting food labels. So it's different with all people.
But I've noticing. An average, it takes about a few
months at least for the person to be very proficient
or somewhat proficient. For someone could be up to six months.

(46:19):
So when clients sign on, you know, people want the
quick fixes like six week programs, ninety eight programs. Unfortunately,
that's not the reality. Most people are going to be
training with some kind of mentor for at least six
months because there's that learning curve. They're using the app,

(46:41):
they're becoming familiar with the training when we do the
check ins, the nutrition tracking. It's all habits that change
over time and they're layered on and then over time
it just it becomes like second nature. It's it's the
new new lifestyle. Uh.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
And on average, Like what would you say is would
take someone who has almost like sedimentary lifestyle, right, maybe
just they go on walks here and there, but by
far and large, they're they're not physically active, they don't
play any sport, you know, they watch TV. That's their

(47:20):
primary habit. Like how long would be an average whard
someone it has that lifestyle that starts an exercise routine
for them for it to be fully embodied. So it's
going to change obviously, but from your experience, for someone
that wants to breakthrough and continue to go down that

(47:42):
this path and create a lifestyle that's different from what
they have right now with that is that generally like
three months or six months is a really like a
good marker for them.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Somebody who is pretty sedentary, it's going to be closer
to the six months because you're asking somebody who's not
used to doing anything other than maybe some walking and
stretching that there's no question about it. The fastest fat
burning recomposition for the body is going to be resistance training,

(48:17):
whether it's weights, bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, different resistance tools. That's
that's a big shift you're asking somebody to do, and
for some people, they're not comfortable exerting themselves stuff much.
So that's where the coaching comes in. Daily checkings a

(48:39):
couple of times, a few times a month, calls, technique
assessments to building that confidence, and that's one thing that
needs to be acknowledged by that person is having a
sense of affirmations and also gratitude towards that they're able

(49:02):
to do this, that they're overcoming this obstacle, and that's
a big thing that plays a role in people being
successful is that mind shift change? Yeah, yeah, the mind shift.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
Like a marathon runner who's battling themselves, they are battling
themselves as well with old ways of thinking and new habits.
And you mentioned you know, new neural pathways, right, not
only for just new mindset, but like I believe and
correct me if I'm wrong, is that exercise does keep

(49:35):
your brain super super young for much longer, right, because
you are using new pathways or establishing pathways that you
haven't been using that much. Is that correct?

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Absolutely? So, just to show an example for example, like
a simple risk mobility, most people, and I'm using a
ball just as a point of reference that it could
be used as resistance for strength mobility. Most people are
going to do wrist mobility like this. But if you notice,
my form is tilting, so I'm not really focusing on it.

(50:08):
So when somebody actually does like a mobility drill, I
can combine the strength of it by gripping it. Now
it becomes more difficult, and I'm literally just moving right
from the joint, so my range of motion may be limited,
and I feel like I'm pushing against the wall and
the form is still building that right there, the connection

(50:32):
to the mind. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
And for those just listening here, what Greg just did
is he grabbed a wool ball that we have here
on our desk, and he basically locked his elbow so
that his wrist would barely move, and then he's doing
wrist rotations with the ball fully clenched, so it becomes

(50:57):
not only just a.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
Moveing the joints.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Around the wrist, it actually becomes a muscle exercise for
your lower forearm.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
That correct.

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Yeah, that's incredible. I even I could even see him
and his muscle shaking as he was doing that exercise.
Looks like I'm going to have to implement that in
my office at work. Yeah, very cool. Now, just to
get into your mindset, what makes Greg get up in
the morning, You know, like your phys ed teacher, You've

(51:31):
got all these crazy high school kids, you know, that
are trying to figure out life, and a lot of
them become sedimentary in high school, and you've got to
motivate them. And now you have your own and you
have your own business on the side where you've got
to motivate the parents that have maybe we're physical before
or physically aft, and now they have a sedimentary lifestyle

(51:52):
because you know their parents and they have a lot
of responsibilities. So like, what what makes you get up
in the morning, what motivates you? Because you're very passionate
about what you do, and that's one of the things
I admire most about you.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
I would say is somebody said it best, Dave Rich
said to learn and serve. That's the biggest thing, is
like people need help out there and that makes my day. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:29):
Yeah, that really that component of giving to others and
seeing that transformation, that's a big reward system for you.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Yeah. Yeah, and just you know, keep growing. There's so
much more potential in our growth that people don't realize,
whether it's your own body, like starting up a business
and not being on any social media at all, like
three years ago and shooting the first video that looked

(53:02):
like it was in the nineties, So you know, there
is room for growth for everyone. Just being willing to learn.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
Yeah, so your business is also pushing you into new frontiers. Yeah,
I mean, like this might be if this is your
first podcast or.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
Podcast, actually, well first one like this in person, but
I did an episode with with Rob on this Surviving
the House.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
That would be Rob Tracy of TAPS Training. Yeah, yeah,
very cool. Yeah, So we were even talking about like
all right, we're gonna be animated and you're like, okay.

Speaker 2 (53:40):
We gotta do this. Very cool, very cool.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
Now we talked also about you know that growing a
business is it can be challenging, right, Like there's you know,
they're starting the business, setting up systems for the business,
marketing the business, clothing sales. You know, for you there's
an additional element of like routines and check ins and

(54:07):
and nutrition. Right, there's so many layers to like people
only have a training business like.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
Active and mobility. Yeah, but it's social media marketing.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
It's like systems and check in and platforms and technology.
So there's a lot to it. Like, tell me about
how that's been for you. And if someone's out there
that wants to uh start uh like their own training
because they've been doing so well at it, Like, what's
one takeaway for you that that you could share.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
The biggest takeaway that I've learned is that the start
and the journey is never going to be perfect. We
learn along the way. You know, you may have all
some of the tools and experiences to implement to get
it started, and that's the biggest thing is just starting

(55:05):
and that's what it was for me, starting with a
cell phone Galaxy as four to shoot my first content
that looked all like it was in the nineties, just footage.
It took forever. I look at the clock and what
just happened. It took me like a couple hours to
do a simple video like that in the captions. Because

(55:27):
you make mistakes along the way and you learn. So
the other part is just being willing to reach out
to others who are there already and learn from them
not to make too many mistakes along the way. Yeah. Yeah,
and those mistakes are so costly. Right.

Speaker 1 (55:43):
So, and you mentioned that you have a mentor now,
like a business mentor that's you know, helping you shape
and put goals forward. Right, So it's really cool for you.
Obviously you're a mentor to others, and now you've connected
with someone to also mentor you, which is going to
be a compliment to your systems, to your clients as well.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Right, absolutely, Yeah, incredible work.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
And you've had you showed us one mobility exercise. What's
one other thing that you can think of, Like, let's
say a guy like me, right, I'm at a desk
all day long. I have the standing desk, I stand
up once once in a while. What's one thing I
could do in the office that could help me, whether

(56:29):
you know it be avoiding carpal tunnel or you know,
just a little stress training on the legs right from
having to sit down for many hours throughout the day.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
No. One simple thing from sitting for so many hours
is just standing up and doing the old school quad
stretch where you see people pull the leg back by
the ankle. However, when you do that stretch, it's important
because we're sitting and the hip flexus get tight on us,

(56:59):
and then people up and have this like feeling like,
oh my back is just like tweaked a little bit right,
and it's like doesn't feel right. So pulling that leg
back feeling a quad stretch at the same time, since
the glute muscles are kind of in a stretched position,
tightening them gave it like a five second isometric contraction

(57:20):
while pulling a leg back, So you're stretching the quad
a little bit on the hiplexers, but also reactivating the glute.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
Got it, So you're you're not only just stretching the
back I'm gonna just put it bluntly out there so
people understand you're gonna be squeezing your butt at the
same time.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Yeah, basically, so it's a little reactivation stretched drill quad
and then reactivate the glute. The other one is oftentimes,
you know people have this head posture. Yeah, so simple
one is called it's from physical therapy. It's a Bruger's method.
So just simply realigning your shoulders, letting them drop like

(58:01):
sew sink down. And what I'm doing with my hands
is instead of pointing forward, I'm turning them rotating, so
the thumbs are facing behind me and I'm pinching my
shoulder blades for like ten seconds like I'm holding a
pencil there. Yes, yes, bringing the chin back. Yeah, I
do see that, and I do.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Unfortunately, I see that even more with female colleagues and
in the corporate world, where you know, they really get
the rounded shoulders, you know, and I don't know what
that is, but you know, it makes me feel bad
because it is about the posture. It is about us
being on our phones all the time and scrunching our

(58:42):
shoulders together. But yeah, like during the day, I do
roll my shoulders back and I puff out the chest
a bit, but I do. Yeah. So it's the key
thing is to put your hands back and rotate your
palms up and pinch.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
So my hands are right at the side like in
the chair, and I'm as I pinched the shoulder blades
and deepress them, I'm rotating the hand from this position upwards,
so it's you want to drop the hens more and
I'm rotating them back behind. So now you may feel
a little bit of a stretch through maybe your palm

(59:17):
or even your form or even the bica because that
sometimes gets tight from this posture.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
Yeah, wow, remarkable. Yeah, and I do feel the stretch there,
even more so than when me just rolling my shoulders
back and with my elbows. Typically I'll do this throughout
the day, but I do feel an even better stretch
there and good pinch. Yeah, that feels really good. Well, Greg,

(59:43):
our hours up and you know it went by quick.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Actually, you're one actually thing I remember you mentioned copper tunnel.
It's an exercise that it's not done. Everything we do
is like a lot is crush grip gripping things. So
when I would do something, times just put a rubber
band or two around the fingers and work the extensors.
Uh and and try right here. You will feel it primarily.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
I understand here and for those listening, it's basically putting
a rubber band around your thumb and all of your
fingers and then extending your your your fingers outward like
like increasing a circle. And so as you're extending your
your fingers out, you will feel all your tendons your

(01:00:33):
ligaments to stretch and pull, including all the muscles down
here towards your your lower forearms.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Right yeah. Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
Yeah, And as a former almost carporal tunnel guy, uh,
that were I actually had to quit a job, a
really nice job where I had my own office and
even my own bathroom just by sheer luck because there
were no more offices where I had to quit a
job because my risk information had become so bad that

(01:01:05):
I literally did not work for about three months just
to give it a break. So yeah, that's actually very cool.
I do stretch throughout the day, but that I'm going
to implement that into my office movement routine from now on. Yeah, Greg,
So thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
You like, like I said, you're a wealth of information.
You're a walking Encyclopedia for strength training and mobility. So
I appreciate that. Do you do you have Would you
like to leave a lesson with the audience, like something
that struck you that that you live by a motto,

(01:01:43):
or we could go into like saying goodbye to the
audience if you want, I'll put it here on this
white camera right here.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
One thing I would say is that when people start
the journey of whether it's weightless, front training, mobility is
you have to remember that we are all beginners at
some point when whatever it is that we do. So
oftentimes her clients say, oh, you know, he did this

(01:02:15):
or she did that, and I don't think I'm able
to do this. You have to understand that when you
are a beginner at let's say the fitness journey with
lass journey, there will be hiccups along the along the way,
and you basically pick up and move on. You learn
from it. Not to have those mistakes along the way

(01:02:38):
and those setbacks. It's going to take a lot more
patience than people realize. So along the way you have
to show yourself gratitude and grace and not be so
hard on yourself when mistakes happen along that journey.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
Thank you, Greg, really, I really appreciate you accepting my
invitation to the Breakthrough Lab. I'm gonna shake it here.
Let me give you a big hug, brother, and that's
it guys for this week's Breakthrough Lab. We really appreciate
you listening here at Sosradio dot Live. We have other
hosts on this network that are speaking about survivorship, hope, entrepreneurship,

(01:03:23):
you name it. We are here. We're a community for
you to inspire you, to motivate you to have your
breakthrough like here on the Breakthrough Lab where your next
breakthrough starts here. And we'll see you next week. Greg,
thanks again. Let me get a good old fashion and
high five. And that's it, guys, Greg.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Thank you again.

Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
Thank you, rock and roll Baby, Take care, guys, see
you next week. Bye bye bye, Karrossi

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
Garros