Whey of Life
Whey of Life
#79 - Beyond the Gym: Living a Fit Life
Fitness isn't a temporary fix or punishment but a mindset shift and way of life that requires looking beyond conventional gym culture. We need to transform our perspective on physical activity from a chore to an integral part of our daily existence, focusing on small, sustainable changes rather than quick fixes.
• American infrastructure isn't designed for naturally active lifestyles, making conscious effort necessary
• Many view fitness as "earning food" or punishment for bad habits—both approaches fail long-term
• Replace one sedentary routine with a movement-based one (taking stairs, standing during calls)
• View food as nourishment rather than restriction
• Add one protein-rich food while cutting something unhealthy from your daily routine
• Speak to yourself with compassion instead of criticism
• Draw inspiration from blue zones, farming practices, martial arts, and other cultural approaches
• Make fitness fun by connecting it to your interests and social connections
• Adapt your approach based on your circumstances—limited gym access doesn't mean you can't be fit
• Focus on being a fit person rather than trying to get fit
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Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of Way of Life. I'm your host, gus Holland. I want to do, per usual, a big shout out to everybody that's been supporting the podcast. It has been growing, even since that last little episode that I put out just as a kind of like a welcome back kind of episode. It is now I know some of the stats are coming from people with VPNs and everything like that, but it's reached over to this date, over 516 cities across the world. Like, I think I'd have to look at the stats, but I think it's like over 50 countries, maybe 60 countries, I'm not sure, but it's really cool.
Speaker 1:I'm a very analytical person, so it's really cool for me, or really cool to me, to be able to see all of that stuff. It's pretty wild, but, um, yeah, so we're, we're back with full episodes from here on out, um, every Wednesday, like I said, um, I'm going to try and actually I'm 100% not going to have any type of filler content, fake hype, anything like that, any of the BS you see on TikTok. I love TikTok to a point, but it's kind of gotten out of hand and it might just be from doom scrolling, but it's like you get burnt out with people. It almost feels like people are jerking around like buy this, no, buy this, oh, you need to do this instead of that, and blah, blah, blah, and it's really kind of we've gotten to the peak of consumerism, I believe, to the point where everybody's kind of just getting burnt out on it. There's always like, no matter what you do, there's always something. Or well, within the eyes of those types of communities that have gotten kind of toxic, there's always something you did wrong, like I mean, you could post that you were so excited that you lost 100 pounds over the past year, or two years, or three years, whatever. And there's going to be a bunch of people in there saying how, oh, it would have been faster if you did this. Or, oh well, you did this one thing a certain way and that's unhealthy, or whatever. Anyways, I'm not trying to get on here and rant, um, but my point is is uh, if you're still subscribed, um, I I owe you major, so I'm super grateful.
Speaker 1:Um, from here, the show is about lifting weights, obviously, but not just lifting weights. So the point of the show is to kind of lift everyone's spirits in a sense. We want success inside and outside of the gym, of the gym. Eventually, I'd like to just uh strong men and um uh fighters and all kinds of different people, people that own gyms, um to kind of talk about the business aspect of that and also get kind of like a behind the behind the scenes look at either owning a gym or how they got to that point or anything like that. Um, so we're going to have we're definitely going to have a uh mixed martial artists on uh in the upcoming episodes, as well as a um strong performance strong man. He's been on the podcast before John Well. Actually both of he's been on the podcast before John Well. Actually both of those guys have been on the podcast before um John Walsh and um Brian Sherma horn. I hope I said his name correct. I'm sorry about that if I didn't, but um, yeah, yeah, I've also got um been in talks with someone that makes custom lifting implements, such as circus dumbbells and all kinds of stuff like that. I'm excited to get that person on the podcast to also talk about his business. I mean, he does other things, but he's a metal worker, so I'd like to see how he got there, what his plans are in the future. Et cetera are in the future, you know, et cetera.
Speaker 1:My point is is that the episodes are going to be really cool and we're going to get back to interviewing some people that are very, very interesting individuals. Anyways, to start off, start this episode and get to the actual meat of it. We're going to be talking about training beyond the gym. So a lot of people have reached out over the years and they've said, oh well, what if I don't have this type of equipment? What if I don't have access to a gym? What if I'm limited on time? There's a million what ifs and everything like that.
Speaker 1:And if someone's reaching out, those aren't excuses. That's actually things that are in their way and they're actually trying to better themselves. It's different if you talk to a buddy that's out of shape and he's got a million excuses and you brought it up. But if people are reaching out to me or to others and asking for some sort of guidance or maybe a tip or a trick or something like that, they're actively seeking a solution, a solution, um. But my point, what I'm getting to is, uh, that fitness isn't a hobby. Um, it's not a punishment. It's not about getting a six pack, um, it's. It's a whole different like perspective and it's a way of life you know, it's a way of existing in the world, so it's kind of it's an every single day type of thing.
Speaker 1:Basically, if you took away gym memberships and all the special clothing, special supplements, um, any of the hype that you're seeing on TikTok where they're pushing you in certain directions or well, you know one way or the other, would you still be? Would you still be living a fit lifestyle, like a healthy lifestyle? So the goal, the overall goal of this podcast, is to make a massive overall change to the culture. Whether that's worldwide, or it's just America or the United States, or if it's just Texas you know what have you but or even if it's just my local community, there needs to be a big perspective shift around how fitness is perceived. People, in America at least, see it as a chore for the most part. I mean, there's avid gym goers, don't get me wrong, or anything, but overall people are like oh, I need to lose weight, I've got to go work out, I've got to do this, blah, blah, blah. And it's seen as like a massive temporary imposition that is just gonna like be negative for them. But in reality it's like you just need to like focus on eating a little bit better and focus on being a little bit more active and everything.
Speaker 1:I mean everywhere I, everywhere I've lived in Texas it is not Walker friendly, like you can't walk to, you can't really walk to the store, you can't really walk to work, you know things like that. You can't. There's not a lot of, uh, bicycle lanes, there's not a lot of infrastructure built around, that Like, if you go to go to um so I've been to scotland as an example you go to scotland. Uh, at least in the cities you can walk pretty much everywhere, um, and everything's kind of within a you know a reasonable distance. Um, their public transportation is is massive over there. So there's, you get too tired of walking. You can hop on a bus or you know whatever. There's a, there's a lot of options and so it's a little bit more conducive to a healthier lifestyle. So at least in Texas, uh, we drive everywhere. You, if you're, if you have a long driveway, you drive down to check the mail and you drive back.
Speaker 1:You know like it's, it's crazy, but um, so really like, as far as fitness goes, it's just that mindset shift of oh, this isn't that mindset shift of oh, this isn't like a pain for me. This is something that's going to like change my life for the better and I just need to change like a couple small aspects here and there. You know, instead of, oh, I got to go to the gym every day for five or six or seven days and I need to follow this exact certain diet, and blah, blah, blah, and then you either burn yourself out or you get upset about it because maybe you're not seeing results right away or it's overcomplicated. There's a lot of different reasons. But we need to get that shift going, like whatever. Whatever it takes you, whatever it takes for you to like make that shift in your mind. Like maybe you just need to sit down and just think about it.
Speaker 1:Like, to be honest, is we're kind of like overstimulated with like bullshit knowledge on social media. That's just people talking. You know they're just talking and talking and talking and nobody's ever really like making any progress for, uh, for themselves or anybody else on social media. It's kind of like, by my course, uh, do this, here's some tips and tricks to blah, blah, and like it's always steering you in a certain way. But, um, I mean, I've, I've been as far as fitness goes.
Speaker 1:I've been like up down and all around, um, I've played sports when I was a kid and I've went through a phase in childhood like teenager years and all that where I didn't play sports. But I've always had massive interest in weightlifting because of growing up with my dad being a bodybuilder and all that stuff. A bodybuilder and all that stuff Um, but I've kind of I went through that to being in such a, you know, tight financial spot where, like, I couldn't afford a gym, couldn't afford good, uh good food or clothes or or anything like that. It it was. It was super rough and kind of like.
Speaker 1:That's also a perspective thing. It's like, oh, now I've got to just focus on, you know, either getting a better job or getting a better living situation or, you know, whatever that takes to be able to, you know, feel like I'm not just surviving anymore so I can actually, um, focus, you know, do things that I like, like lift weights, you know, like, if you're not, if you're, it's kind of kind of like those survival shows where they're like they're trying to survive out in the wilderness and everything, you're not going to be out there just working out on camera while everybody's like, no, you're, it's, it adapts to the situation you're in. So if you can't afford food, you know, focus on the job. Obviously, don't focus on the gym. You know, like I don't know if that's that's. You know like I don't know if that's that's. If you like going to the gym and you can afford it, go, obviously I'm.
Speaker 1:One of my point is that different situations call for different perspectives. You know, um, you know that I. But anyways, back back to to my stories. Like I started being got to a point where I could afford, uh, regular meals and things like that, and then I was like, oh well, I still can't afford a gym membership. So what if I? You know, the next place I rent, I'll try and see. You know, get a place that's in my budget, but try and try and get one that has a gym. You know that I can have access to, and that's that's what I did.
Speaker 1:You know, for like two or three years I had an apartment that had, within the complex, had a very crappy but a very crappy gym, but it had a gym and it was better than nothing. So, um, yeah, I spammed lat pull downs a lot because, you know, you can. There's only so much you can do with all that. But, um, given my knowledge now, there's a whole bunch you can do with just body weight exercises and stuff like that. But anyways, but yeah, and so then I got, went through a phase recently or it's called a phase, you know, whatever.
Speaker 1:It's basically that, that time period where I was doing Amateur Strongman. That was literally just because I like it sounds crappy, but because I've always wanted to try and stay lean and muscular and I didn't have for a time period I had an interest in being a bodybuilder. I thought it was so cool, cool and it was mainly because of my dad and everything, and I like thought about competing and all this and that I decided later on that I didn't want to do that. Um, I, you know, like I support, support all of that, but like that's not something that I want to do with my body. And so, um, went through through that kind of phase and then got to where I was working way way too much, um, and putting myself and my family in a in a big like tight spot, not not financially but just as far as my time goes, and just working so many hours. You just come home, go to sleep and then go back to work, you know, then obviously you can't, can't gym and do all that stuff then either.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, I ended up gaining a lot of weight and I was like, well, I've always been curious about strongman and here's this strongman competition that kind of fell into my lap and all that. And so I went and competed my first amateur strongman competition at the Ronnie Coleman Classic, and that did not go well, but I was the most amateur of amateurs. I have a lot of lifting experience, so I'd never touched a strongman implement and so when I signed up as a novice, I was a very, very true novice. I hadn't even seen a competition, except for what was on ESPN, but I've never, had never, been to one in person, which. So if anybody's interested in that training, training strongman or anything like that go, go watch some competitions in person, go, put your hands on the actual implements and everything, and you'll have much, much greater success than I did. Um, I placed last, obviously, um, but I, I wasn't ashamed of my performance, uh, but I did not like how it turned out. And um, yeah, it was. It was all right, you know, but it's a learning, a learning moment, and I, it was something that I'm, I'm happy that I, you know. You know, like, in hindsight, I'm happy that I did um, but anyways, um but anyways.
Speaker 1:But fitness in general, it just needs to be a lifestyle. It's not a 12 week program or an 8 week program or whatever they try and sell you online. Like you. Still, whatever it's like your diet, you know you need to form it to what you can comfortably, what you can do and what you can enjoy while still being healthy. You know now, where the discomfort comes in is because of that. That's what I was trying to get to back when I was talking about, uh, certain environments not being conducive to, uh, naturally healthy lifestyles and everything.
Speaker 1:Um, so the the reason that working out or or going out of your way to be fit seems like a big deal and it's frustrating and, you know, potentially scary for you or whatever, is because it's, um, it's not something that feels natural, because you, in your situation, you're not like set up for that to be a natural thing for you. You know, maybe, maybe you grew up with, you know like, nobody that you knew worked out, you know. So it's actually a weird, kind of a weird thing for you and you feel you might feel uncomfortable or you know you, who knows it's I. I can definitely see how it could be, um, intimidating for sure, either either the gym or just like changing your lifestyle in that direction and at all you know. Um, so, anyways, I'm always here. Uh, if you're, if you're a listener of the podcast, you can always reach out to me. Um, I best bets is the comments. Um, I'll always do my best to to help you or to motivate you and steer you in the right direction. Obviously, I'm not a doctor. I don't sell any training courses or dietitian framework or anything like that, but I can at least give you, give you a push somewhere.
Speaker 1:But a lot of people, as far as the view of fitness goes, there's a lot of people that that see fitness as like their grind to earn food. They almost see it as like oh well, I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill, so yeah, I can eat this ice cream or whatever and whatever. You know, it's kind of one of those deals where it's like whatever works for you. But I wouldn't necessarily say that that's like a healthy mindset, you know, like you can definitely reward yourself, but sometimes it's kind of like if the reward is bad, like, say it's bad for you, then it's. If you're burning 400 calories doing cardio and then you come eat 1,000 calories of ice cream, you're probably better off just not eating the ice cream and not working out, you know?
Speaker 1:Um, so it needs to be obviously proportional, or maybe you can even find some, something that's healthy or or good for you, that is, that you set up as your reward Um's like food, food wise, or I mean, you're, you're not a dog, like you don't need to be rewarded with a treat, like a damn, like a dog, like with a piece of food. Um, you're, you're a human and you need to just sometimes do the work. You know, like the, the gym is there to replicate the fitness that you're supposed to like naturally accumulate, but because of the way society is set up, currently, almost nobody actually naturally gets fit, so it's also not a quick fix for aesthetics. Um, maybe, I mean, unless you're, unless you live like a super, like healthy lifestyle already, and you're like I just need to lose. You know, I want to lose five pounds for the beach or whatever, like yeah, then okay, ramp it up or whatever, but the uh and that you know that would be a quick fix. But as far as like if you're trying to go from 30 pounds overweight to having a six-pack. If you're trying to go from 30 pounds overweight to having a six-pack, it's unreasonable to do in a super quick amount of time. But I see that every day, all day, is people selling courses to gullible people or people in denial that want to have these quick changes. It's like the whole get rich quick schemes. It's all the same. It's just either out of denial or desperation or laziness, you're wanting a quick fix and that's not what the fitness is.
Speaker 1:And then some other people, they actually see it as a punishment for bad habits. So that is not. I guess, technically that would get you in the gym more often, you know, because everybody has bad habits or bad things you do in life or whatever, but it fails a long time. All of these things fail a long time. But the punishment for bad habits, one that's like, I guess, like subconsciously, almost allowing yourself to do the bad thing because you're going to get punished for it later. It's like just don't do the bad thing. You know, if you're in a constant cycle of like I mean eating junk food every time I eat a cheeseburger, I got to go to the gym because I need to burn it off and blah, blah, blah. It's like, yeah, you can just not eat the cheeseburger, I mean, you know, or whatever, you know, whatever it is. Not eat the fast food and just go to the gym, or don't go to the gym, you know whatever.
Speaker 1:At that point, um, my point is is that the punishment for bad habits does not last long term because you're uh, it's a vicious cycle of doing good and then doing bad, and then doing good and doing bad, and you're typically with that kind of uh, lifestyle or perspective or whatever. You end up not seeing any change, or maybe you're still drifting toward the negative repercussions of those actions. Maybe you're still gaining weight, but you're only gaining like half a pound every month. So then you don't realize that you know you're out of shape by at the end of the year and all you did was beat yourself up. Um, but basically, back to that fitness as a culture or a way of life or a way of being, that framework um of life or way of being that framework um.
Speaker 1:You is like a good way to look at it is like movement. Everyone has daily rituals, you know, like maybe it's coffee or, I would say most people use some form of caffeine during the day because they think it gives them energy, and it really doesn't give you energy. It just kind of like forces your body to start spending it faster. Um, but anyway, anyways, I digress. But, um, forming fitness into being like a piece of your culture or, like your, your core ideology is key. So, like movement, um, as a daily ritual. So, instead of like cardio being a punishment, you're like, oh well, um, from anytime I go to this store to get you know, to stock up on my makeup or whatever's close to you, maybe it's to buy a gallon of milk or whatever. I'm just going to walk there. Yeah, it's two miles, but I'm just going to walk there, and obviously do it during daylight, as long as it's safe, and all that stuff. But just introducing little things into your life that become rituals, preferably daily rituals, that's like the best way to do it.
Speaker 1:I hate cardio like a hundred percent, and it's it is tied to bad experiences, experiences I've had in sports that are also it's also tied that you know, it's all tied to my lung issues, um, and so I was like, well, what's a good way that I can like quit looking at cardio as like a punishment or having to do something. I hate and blah, blah, blah. And I really don't have to do cardio, but it's a great way to burn fat and it's a great way to burn uh, stress and you name it. You know there's a, it's it helps, so I'm going to do it. So I have a stationary bike in the garage and I just say, hey, well, here's a perfect window where my kids are asleep and my wife loves to read I love to read too, but she really loves to read and so here's a perfect window, the kids will be asleep, she can read.
Speaker 1:I can go out into the garage and I'm going to do like a HIIT style, you know, high intensity, interval training style workout on the stationary bike and while varying the resistance. And so while I'm out there, I'll watch something on my phone you know, some episode of something that my wife isn't interested in or listen to an audio book that I have downloaded, or some music or whatever and just knock out 30 minutes of like hit cardio and why, why overcomplicate it as far as like scheduling and all that, just for me personally, I'm like I'm going to do this every night, every night, like seven days a week, I'm going to go do 30 minutes of that, no matter, I mean, unless I'm sick or something, but like no matter what else, like no matter of my weight training schedule, no matter of anything that's at nighttime I'm always home at night now, so do that and that's your ritual, and it's really not that bad. I get to enjoy some, uh, you know, a, uh, a show that I like, or audio book or music or whatever. That's actually the plus. It's like, oh you, you get some extra time, uh, to enjoy some media that you, you like or whatever.
Speaker 1:Um, you can also look at food as nourishment instead of like a restriction. So you're saying, oh well, I hear a lot like with the keto and everything, I can't eat bread, I can't, blah, blah, blah. And like they're saying it like it's a punishment or like they're like some prisoner to their diet or something like that. And one if you don't, I mean and it works for people for sure Like I'm not knocking it at all, but it's like if you don't have a gluten intolerance or celiac disease or some very immediate issue with your heart health or you know something like that, like bread here and there is not going heart health or you know something like that, like like bread here and there is not going to kill you, you know it's, but, um, it needs to be seen as nourishment, you know. So you need to. You need to form a diet that you love and that and that is also good for you. So, obviously, if you feel like way better when you don't have bread, maybe don't do bread, you know, uh, whatever that is, or maybe it's just everything in moderation.
Speaker 1:You know just a simple basic principle of uh, controlling your eating habits and everything. Just say, hey, well, yeah, okay, I'm not eating this healthy thing. The big thing is overeating. You're like, well, I'm not overeating, but now, because I'm controlling this, I'm not feeling as bloated or I'm not getting as sick as often. You name it. Whatever the benefit is, you can see it as the bonus and how. It's not either a restriction or something to be upset about.
Speaker 1:But that's all part of the mindset shift that I'm kind of getting at is to be a fit person, versus trying to get fit or trying to be better or trying to eat better or whatever. Just know you're a fit person, you're a person that takes care of themselves and you're happy about taking care of yourself. So that's kind of like a self-love thing. It's the same as like talking to. So I used to have, I mean, I still struggle with, you know, body image issues and all that or whatever, like most people do, but like I used to, just in my head I wouldn't say it out loud, but, like you know, walk past, get out of the shower, walk past the mirror and, when I was overweight, be like, oh you fat piece of shit, like this is fucking gross. You know, like this is fucking gross. You know, like what are you doing? You know, and just be super. I mean I would talk to myself internally worse than I would talk to almost any person in the world, you know, and that's not the way you should go about taking care of yourself.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, the other thing, if you're, if you're interested in, in learning about diet and exercise and everything. I know I've touched a lot about exercise in this podcast and not so much about diets. It's mainly because, um, not not that it doesn't interest me, it's just I am less versed in, uh, in the nutrition side of things. I would say I eat a pretty healthy diet, but I'm not as comfortable giving nutritional advice. But, anyways, something really interesting that you can look into are things like blue zones or farming practices, even martial arts rituals, like different real-world examples of different types of cultures and individuals who embody some form of like fit lifestyle or have some sort of outlier that really sticks out from normal society. And you can even like, make it fun, like, oh well, yeah, you know, on Wednesdays I do jujitsu and I go hang out with these guys at this jujitsu gym and blah, blah, blah, and then on Friday I have a little free time during work and I study about jujitsu or study about or we watch old kung fu movies or what you know. Like you can do. You know, just, you need to make it fun for yourself.
Speaker 1:Basically, um but um, as far as like actionable takeaways from this, I mean you can, you could replace one sedentary routine that you have with a movement-based one. So like when you wake up in the morning and you're all groggy and stuff and you go get coffee and you're like, oh well, I'm just going to do a little bit of stretching while my coffee brews. Or, instead of taking the elevator at work, I'm going to take the stairs from now on, or each time I take a phone call, I'm going to stand or I'm gonna maybe pace a little bit instead of sitting there at my desk all day. Things like that is it's like super small and you. It won't maybe won't necessarily make you lose a bunch of weight or anything like that, but it's going to slowly start shifting your mindset to where, if you keep doing little things like that, by a year or two from now, you'll be like a whole different person person.
Speaker 1:But another thing is you could add, you know, pick one protein rich food and try to start adding it to your meals while cutting something unhealthy out from your day. So if you, maybe every day when you come home from work, you grab a bag of chips and you're like, well, it's not that bad they're, you know, zero trans fat. You know whatever the trickery is on the labeling that gets you to justify it, or whatever you say, well, instead of eating the chips every day, when I come home, I'm going to eat this certain portion of beef jerky, or I'll get some healthy nonfat Greek yogurt and add some honey to it, or whatever you need to do. But little things like that are going to be massive in the long run. But fitness is not something that you just start and stop. It's who you are. It's what you like to do every single day.
Speaker 1:Now, to wrap all this up, I want to give you so much love and appreciation once again for supporting this podcast. Like I said, next week we should be having one of those guests on the podcast, and I'm super excited to talk with them and see what's new that's going on with them and pick their brain about their past, present and future. Basically, if you enjoyed this podcast, the number one way to help is to share it with a friend, and the second best, and probably equally good option is to rate and review it. All of those things really help the podcast. And yeah, I guess that's about it. Thank you all so much If you stuck through the episode. I love you and I'll talk to you later. All right, bye.
