Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #329: Dr. Hal with Gameday Men's Health
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Most guys don’t wake up and decide to feel depleted. It happens slowly: a little less sleep, a little more stress, workouts that stop working, a waistline that creeps up, and a steady sense that you’re not showing up the way you used to. I sit down with Dr. Hal, Chief Medical Officer at Game Day Men’s Health, to unpack why so many men are walking around at “60%” and calling it normal.
We get practical about what’s broken in modern healthcare, especially the insurance-driven model that often limits meaningful time with a physician. Dr. Hal explains why men skip routine care, why short visits miss the real story, and how a concierge-style, physician-led clinic can build an individualized plan around labs, symptoms, lifestyle, and long-term risk. We also dig into the biggest day-to-day issues he hears from patients: fatigue, poor sleep, low motivation, brain fog, weight gain, and how these problems spill into family life, work performance, and confidence.
Then we go deeper on testosterone and men’s hormone health: what testosterone actually does beyond libido, what can cause levels to fall faster than expected (obesity, stress and cortisol, alcohol, sedentary routines, lack of strength training, and sleep debt), and why chasing a number is never the point. We also cover peptides and weight loss tools with a clear lens on safety and evidence, including GLP-1 medications, growth hormone peptides, and why internet-sourced compounds can be risky without baseline labs and monitoring. Finally, Dr. Hal draws a hard line between medically supervised care and the dangers of anabolic steroid misuse, especially the hidden cardiovascular consequences that can sit behind a “fitness influencer” look.
If you know you’re not at your best, take this as your nudge to get a real baseline and a real plan. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share this with a friend who keeps saying he’s “fine,” and leave a review with the biggest takeaway you’re acting on.
For more information or to book your appointment:
📞 (954) 534-9060
🌐 https://gamedaymenshealth.com
Why Many Men Run At 60%
SPEAKER_00The place where the local business is the neighbors who come together. Here's your most germ.
SPEAKER_02There's a version of you operating at 60%, and you've been calling that normal. But what if it's not? There's a lot of guys walking around out there thinking they're fine, but they're not even close. Today, we're joined by Dr. Hal. Dr. Hal is the chief medical officer over at Game Day Men's Health. Game Day isn't just another clinic. It's one of the fastest growing men's health companies in the country with over 400 locations and on track for a thousand by 2027, aiming to cross a billion in revenue. That's right, a billion in revenue. But what's really interesting isn't just the growth, it's why. Because behind that growth is a conversation about modern men, performance, energy, and what it actually means to operate at your full potential. Dr. Hal, welcome to the show, brother. Hey, thanks for having me. Of course, of course. So I'm really, really stoked to get into this. We've met a couple of times in the past. Um, I'm actually a patient of yours and um a big advocate of the work that you're doing because I've uh been doing a lot of men's work myself, um, and I notice a lot of people that are struggling out there. So I just want to start here. Whether it's the guy that hasn't even started paying attention to his health or one that's already kind of dialed in, but knows that he's got another level. What do you think is the biggest thing that's holding men back from actually performing at their peak capacity?
SPEAKER_01I think a lot of guys are just uh confused about where their health is because we we just don't go see the doctor, right? About 70% of guys, 75% of guys won't go see a physician. So we don't have a baseline to start with. Um and then when they do go in, they're you know, they're in for seven to ten minutes with their primary care doctor. Uh they get some labs and then they're told to see see them next year. Um by the time something actually rolls around, you know, a problem actually rolls around, it may be a little bit too late, and then there are medications. So that's where I think uh some of the the benefit of going to game day and why our model is so much different. We've removed you know the um the insurance from the equation, actually allows us to spend more time with patients, educate them, build individualized plans like you've seen. Um, and then everything we do is physician-led. Uh the goal is simple. It's just helping guys feel better, function better, and just show up better in their lives.
Insurance Limits Real Medical Care
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. What do you think it is? Like I know going back, people used to go to the doctor, used to have the family doctor. People seem to used to have these deeper relationships with their healthcare provider. And now, as we move in the future, it's like there's this, it's just a um, you know, revolving door, essentially, like you mentioned. You go in and they're they're kind of just checking the boxes, right? They're not really uh getting to know you and getting to figure out what the best course of action is. What do you think is going on there? What's the biggest driving factor that's creating this disparity um between like in the health system that we see today?
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, we have a third party that's involved. It's the insurance company. Yeah. And really the insurance company has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, no one else. And me as a physician, I have a responsibility to my patient to try to take care of them as best as possible. But I'm limited as to what I can do based on what their insurance is, because their insurance isn't going to cover certain things. Um, and then insurance only allows for a 15-minute visit. So if you go to your primary care doctor who is probably a brilliant, you know, student, who was a brilliant student. Hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_02I have to stop you there. I apologize. I had no idea. The insurance only allows for a 15-minute visit.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's how much you can bill for, right? So uh that's so your your day gets packed as a primary care doctor. Your day will get packed with 2025 patients. And how do you see a patient for so when when I when you came to see me, how long did we spend together? 45 minutes an hour. Oh, yeah. Um, if I did that with 20, 25 patients, I don't have enough time in the day. There's there's not enough hours in the day to do something like that. Um, and insurance will dictate that you know you've got to see X amount of patients uh during the day to build a certain amount. And it sort of uh that that whole model, I think, is not serving the patient, the doctor. Uh, you're burning out the most brilliant minds in medicine. Um, my my wife is a primary care doctor who sees 20, 25 patients a day and works 12 hour days and then come home, comes home in charts. Uh, so it's it's unfortunate that we've done that. But um what game day has done is we've removed insurance from that equation. It allows us to spend, like I said, more, much more time with the patient, really getting to know them and building a plan around what's important to them, not what's uh insurance is going to cover.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the insurance uh conundrum has really disincentivized um people from getting the care that they really need. And I've had folks on the podcast too that that work with the direct primary care model, which is another alternative to the traditional insurance where you have more time to spend with the doctor, you have more access to the doctor, and therefore you can get more healthy. But how much how much of this do you think is the problem with the insurance versus people just not taking care of themselves nowadays, right? Because people are so disconnected from their health, uh, from everything.
SPEAKER_01There, I mean, I sometimes it feels like there's a lack of um responsibility, but then if if as a as a doc, and I if I tell you, hey, I need you to diet and exercise, and then send you on your way without a game plan, is that fair to you either? If I'm supposed to be the expert and I should be sending you to you know a registered dietitian, someone who can teach you how to eat if you're not eating properly. Um I have health coaches and and you know, personal trainers that are trained in sports medicine, that are you know are trained in in therapies that can help you with your exercise routines. Um so I I have those experts on my team where I can uh refer out to that's my responsibility. I'm sort of the quarterback, but um I can't just leave you to you know on your own. There is there is you know certain personal responsibility to that, but um I feel like we we need to give more people the choice. Um otherwise they're they're they're lost. And there is an awakening, however, I think guys our age, uh the younger generation as well, uh, that's really saying no to you know the traditional healthcare, sick care model, and and taking um taking a hold of their health and sort of uh getting in front of it.
Fatigue And The Hidden Spiral
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 100%, man. So Dr. Hal, when when guys walk into your office, I know you're dealing with all sorts of all sorts of patients over there, right? People that that are just getting started on their journey, that are having um deficiency issues, things like that, then high performers that are trying to optimize their health. What are they typically telling you? Like, like how are men feeling day to day? What's going on in their lives from a health perspective?
SPEAKER_01I think the number one thing that I hear from our patients is fatigue. Uh, it's just that uh you know they're they're running themselves ragged or um they're they're stressed out, they're not sleeping. Um, and that's that's probably the number one thing I'm seeing out there.
SPEAKER_02So lack of sleep is the number one drive.
SPEAKER_01Lack of sleep, yeah, lack of lack, you know, just fatigue, uh lack of energy. Um, some of the guys, you know, they're they're they're coming in with um central adiposity, just getting that that dad bod and not being able to sort of uh um get rid of it after a certain age. Um, difficulty in the gym, whether it's uh not hitting personal bests anymore, uh, or just not you know having the motivation to go into the gym. And then that directly affects energy levels. Um, that directly affects how you perform with your children and how you are with your wife, and then you know that that leaks into your your work life and that can uh sort of spiral on its own. It's not it's not one thing that happens, um, it's it's accumulation of you know a bunch of small things that happen, and then you realize, oh man, I I'm not the guy I was 10, 15 years ago.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it gets you mentioned as we get, you know, men of our age, right? As we get older, are often our at least what I'm experiencing is our perspective tends to shift about how we take care of ourselves. Um, and I don't I don't do you think it's more of an awareness issue for guys? Like they just don't know any better, or an action problem, like they know what they need to do and they just don't do it, like you said, for lack of motivation, whatever it is, lack of this or that. Like where's the line there?
SPEAKER_01Well, the the low energy, the weight gain, you know, the the brain fog or low libido, I I think we have confused that with just aging, and it's not just aging, it's it's your body telling you something's off, right? So we we need to look at the the bigger issue, and I think most guys are waiting too long. If you start to get uh, and I don't really like using this word optimize, but uh if you like uh if you get optimized earlier, you're not just gonna feel better, but you're gonna perform better, show up better in business in life with your family and everything else.
SPEAKER_02So you don't like the word optimized.
SPEAKER_01It just it feels a little marketing. It feels what? It feels it feels like a marketing word, whereas I'm I'm looking at I'm looking at it from a health standpoint, right? Um it's the I guess what would be a better word than optimized? Um just feeling better, honestly. Like the the the best version of yourself rather than because your optimization may be different than my optimization. Your numbers in terms of you know hormone replacement may be different than mine, your weight, your all of that may be different than than than mine is. So what is really optimal? It's the best for you, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Everybody's different, everybody's got different physiology, everybody needs a different treatment plan, if you will. But I think where a lot of people fall short when it comes to this idea of feeling optimized, for lack of a better word, is they feel like you always have to be optimized. And I think uh life is more about balance. I've talked a lot about this lately, where like we're we're human beings, right? We're going to have peaks, we're going to have valleys. I think that like the goal is to increase your baseline over time so that the peaks become higher and the valleys also become higher. And then it's a question of like how quick you can get back to baseline when you experience a dip.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Um and it's just as you get older, it feels like that bounce back doesn't happen as as fast as it used to.
SPEAKER_02That's why they got to come see you, my friend. So what do you what would you say that that guys are getting getting wrong right now? Like like what are they calling normal that really isn't normal?
SPEAKER_01I mean, if you look at uh testosterone ranges over the last 20 to 30 years, um, the decline of 20 to 30 percent across the board, you know, looking at that that range of 300 to 1200 total testosterone, you know, if we if we look at such a such a wide range, and then that number is slowly starting to decrease over the last, you know, it's gonna decrease uh after age 30, one to two percent a year, accelerates after age 40, but then we're seeing an even bigger decline um over over the last 20 to 30 years. I think that's you know, it's it's becoming more and more dangerous, I think. Um low testosterone is just as bad as as high testosterone. There's a um, you know, there's cardiovascular issues that come from it, neurovascular issues that can come from it. It's not just libido insects. There's a there's a lot more attached to um hypogonatism, low testosterone and testosterone deficiency than most people would think. Anemia, bone density, um, brain fog, you know, cognition, um, executive function, decision making, pragmatic decision making, all of that is directly affected.
SPEAKER_02I want to double-click on on testosterone for a second, because I think a lot of folks out there, they hear that word as you get older. A lot of men as you get older, you hear about low testosterone. I don't think a lot of people really know what testosterone even is, what its functions are, and then why it declines over time. Can you talk a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_01Sure. I mean, it's it's the main male hormone, right? So it's directly responsible for your male features, let's call it. Um, but then like I said, it doesn't just affect that. It doesn't just affect your your uh libido, sex drive, um, how you look as a man, but it definitely can affect decision making, uh, bone density, anemia, um, you know, cardiovascular risk, uh, dementia risk. Uh, but what I think the the biggest misconception is that you know the men's health is just about testosterone. It's just a tool, it's not the whole toolbox. Um, you know, if you go to the different different clinics that are out there, um, all clinics are not the same. You know, there's a difference between going to a clinic clinic that's run by a physician, and then there's a difference going to places that are out of uh out of their scope. And when I say physician, I mean a medical doctor. Um so you know, all these things that we do in in clinic, the hormones, the peptides, the weight loss medications, really powerful therapies, but you got to remember um they can they can absolutely change lives, but if you do them wrong, they can cause real harm. And you want to make sure that you're going to a place that understands all of that, that doesn't just go um and hand you a script that's gonna talk to you about uh all the big stuff, all you know, your how your diet is, how your sleep is, how's your how's your stress levels, if you're uh reducing harm, like you and I talked about, if we could possibly naturally raise your you know your well-being, uh it that'll naturally raise your testosterone levels as well. Um, and then maybe you don't need to add on a medication.
SPEAKER_02Is low testosterone and decreased levels, is that just a natural byproduct of aging like everything else? Or do you find some men that just maintain normal levels all the way until they get older? Because I know there's obviously it's different for every person, um, but I just find this fascinating how the human body works.
SPEAKER_01I have I have patients, I would say, in their 70s, 80s, um, that their testosterone levels are lower, but they don't have any symptoms. You know, they they have uh they don't present with hypogonadism. Those are not patients that need hormone replacement therapy. Um, but then if you look at three-fourths of the American male is overweight or obese. Uh obesity is the number one cause of low testosterone. And then low testosterone causes you to hold on to fat uh and it makes you fatter, right? So is you're in a vicious cycle there. That's what starts to happen. Um, sedentary lifestyle. I mean, we sit at our desk for 12 hours a day. Um, so the lack of exercise, uh, and I'm talking about strength training, really, that that decreases testosterone levels as well. Um, higher stress levels because cortisol competitively um competes with the the receptors, um testosterone and and cortisol. So if you have more cortisol on board, you're gonna have less testosterone on board. Same thing with you know the harmful substances, um, alcohol, drugs, uh, smoking, all of that can can definitely lower testosterone levels. Your sleep is directly correlated to testosterone levels. Um, I think you and I had talked about this the the days that my my two-year-old has a rough night, so everybody has a rough night here. Um, I can almost, and because I have the lab in-house, I've tested my testosterone levels and I always find uh two hours of sleep will drop my testosterone levels about 200 points. So it's almost a direct correlation with that. Um, and yeah, and just you know, social connections are huge as well, because if you're if if you're not happy or if you're not well adjusted, that can definitely affect it as well. Depression can be masked as low testosterone, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_02Do you think that for somebody uh you mentioned you have people you see that are 70 that have lower actual levels, they don't experience any symptoms. How much do you think of that is tied to the mindset that somebody has? Because again, like like you mentioned, depression, a lot of these things play into, I mean, the mind and the body is so connected, right? A lot of these things play into how you conceptualize things in your mind, and that probably feeds your physiology to some degree. So, do you notice that the people that aren't experiencing symptoms, so to speak, are people that are just uh coming at it from a better mindset? Maybe they they just take care of, yeah, they do they do the habits, they do the things. They might not feel, they might feel all things considered. They might like feel physically, maybe they feel achy and painy, they're just not complaining about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, those are you know, those are patients who have 70-year-old joints, 70-year-old muscles, and 70-year-old ligaments, all of those things are gonna be, you know, they're older, right? It uh in the hospital system, I used to explain that to my patients that like you have to look at your system like a car. And you know, the alternator, the battery, the the engine, everything is 70, 80 years old. So things are gonna start breaking down. Um, does that mean you can still you know they're gonna stop working? Not necessarily. You can keep keep them up. Um, you and I know, you know, the perfect example in our in one of our groups uh who you know, if we checked his testosterone levels, yeah, they'd probably be a little bit lower because he's in his late 70s, but he works out every single day. He's one of the most positive people I know. He's happy all the time, uh, engaged, has zero bad habits. Um, so that that's someone that doesn't have testosterone deficiency. Maybe they have age-related decline in testosterone. Um, but I I don't think that's a person that has a testosterone deficiency. Two different things. Um and it's definitely his mindset that that has caused him to live that way.
SPEAKER_02Peptides. Another thing, another, another buzzword out there.
SPEAKER_00Sure.
SPEAKER_02Hear a lot today about peptides. For those that don't know, what are what are peptides? And then specifically the types of peptides that you're that you're hearing about now in the news that they're talking about are are really revolutionary, but then you have a lot of people that are highly critical of it. Sure.
SPEAKER_01Um peptides, the easiest way to explain it, they're just signaling molecules, right? They're gonna interact with something in in your endocrine system, your metabolic system, uh, or your regenerative pathways. So, unlike what we were talking about earlier, traditional pharmacological agents that will override your physiology, your own body's you know, natural uh processes, peptides are gonna amplify or mimic those um signaling cascades. So the GLP ones, that's the one that that's made it most famous, right? We're talking the Ozempic, some manjaro, Zetbound, things like that, uh, it will release uh hormones from the gut uh in response to like food intake. So it slows down uh gastric emptying, slows down the food in your stomach, and then it tells your brain that you're full, and that's how that's how you lose the weight. So that's you know, that's uh one example. Um, and then you have the uh the newer ones that people are talking about all the time, the growth hormone peptides. Um instead of directly affecting growth hormone, it will stimulate pulsatile growth hormone release rather than just replacing growth hormone directly. So you feel uh sort of sort of like the most physiological way. Growth hormones released in deep sleep at nighttime. Um, and it's it's it's not it's not constant. So when you know the bodybuilders used to take correct, yeah. Um when bodybuilders used to take you know growth hormone by itself, that's like a blunt instrument um and replacing growth hormone directly, and that's where all the um the side effects were coming from, I think. And um this is you know the newer peptides are they're just stimulating growth hormone releasing hormone to release growth hormone in your in your body in a in a more natural fashion. And then I think the the most famous uh peptides right now are the regenerative ones, right? Um the ones that people talk about BPC 157.
SPEAKER_02BC157.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that you hear about on every single podcast out there. Um when you ask the podcasting host what what it actually means, and they just tell you, you know, it's it's a the the wolverine, it's gonna make you uh regrow. Uh they don't what they would I think the education lies in it causes something called angiogenesis. Genesis is just creation of new stuff, right? Angios is blood vessels, right? So it's creation of new blood vessels. That's what that's what it does. How does the body heal? It sends growth factors, sends stem cells and exosomes and all those fancy words, but it happens through blood flow. So these peptides cause more blood flow to an area that's damaged. Um, it can also cause uh fibroblast activity, and fibroblast is a misnomer. You would think blast is blowing up. No, fibroblast is actually its creation, you're creating more um activity, and then the you know, inflammatory signaling, um, decreasing inflammation in the body. Um, so it's it's you know, clinical implications here is like someone who's got a decent working system, a baseline physiology, they may do really, really well with this because you're stimulating the body to do more of its own um uh processes. Now, someone who is beyond what a peptide can do to help them, um, that's where I think a lot of the misconception is it's patient selection, right? You can't just go online and click two buttons and decide uh that you're gonna go on a peptide. You need to have physician oversight, um, some baseline labs, and then monitoring for side effects, and then patient selection. Also, none of these websites that you can order from really will tell you if it's a you know uh research only or they'll call it clinician use only or whatever. Those are coming from China with zero oversight. There's no real third party testing because they're not testing every batch. They're sending out a file, and then you see these certificates of authenticity uh they post on their websites. And I'm like, you can create a PDF now in Chat GPT. In in 20 seconds. So just got to be really careful with that stuff. That's that's my only concern, really, with peptides is um patient selection and and you know the lack of uh physician oversight.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I think there's a lot of people that end up using these tools as um like a crutch instead of a supplement. I guess what I mean by that is like for instance, my I mentioned before the show my shoulder's hurting, right? Like you can go and get peptides, right, inject them in the shoulder. And it's probably that in and of itself might help your shoulder feel better. But if that's all you're doing, that is not a long-term solution to the problem, right? That is probably gonna stop working at some point, you're gonna have other issues. Like these types of medicines and tools, they need to be used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, with diet, with exercise, all these different things. And they need to be used as supplements and not as magic bullets, right? Like everybody wants to, everybody wants a quick fix. Everybody wants a pill, wants an interaction to fix the problem. But do you see that a lot? I mean, obviously, you talked about patient selection. You're trying to work with people that are trying to optimize themselves. Uh, but do you see a lot of people coming in and trying to just use these things as a quick fix?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I mean, that that's they'll they'll come in with uh you know a repeat injury. And I, you know, some these peptides do work with uh you know improving healing and tendon, ligament, muscle injury. They absolutely do. But like you said, if if you're not uh if you're not working on the big stuff, if you're not making sure that you know you're stretching and warming up and taking time off when you need to, eating right and making sure that you're you're not in an inflammatory state to begin with, then um it's it's not gonna it's not gonna be as effective as you know some of the claims out there. And remember, a lot of the human data is really limited here. And then dosing isn't standardized, the sourcing isn't standardized. So it's reasonable to use it, but if you're not doing all the other big stuff, then it's uh it's kind of pointless.
SPEAKER_02It's just a band-aid at that point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, and it's not even a good band-aid if you're not uh set up for it, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're masking the underlying problem, and even if it helps temporarily, you're probably gonna hurt yourself in another way later because you're not taking care of yourself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Makes sense. Why is it so tough for us to do the things on the day-to-day? That's the that's the million-dollar question, right? So easy. Put the habits, put the systems in place, just do the work.
SPEAKER_01It's the uh human nature, we want things fast and gratification, and then um, you know, it's the the quick fix absolutely is something that uh we deal with all the time. I used to when I was seeing hospital patients, um, we used to get the sickest patients in there, and they were super sweet. They were always all from these these nursing homes around us. And I I just remember having these conversations with them like, you know, can't can't you fix this? And I'm like, you know, I I can't do in five days what it took 50 years to get to this point, right? Yeah, it took a lot of hard. So it's it sucks having those conversations, but you try to optimize as much as you can. Uh, and and unfortunately it's uh you're fighting uh a losing battle sometimes. But um I think I think people are getting healthier overall.
Steroids Social Media And Vanity
SPEAKER_02Well, that's good to hear. One more thing on the subject of testosterone and peptides and steroids and things like that, and then I want to I want to shift and move on to something else. I think a lot of people they hear about human growth hormone, they hear peptides, and then they lump everything together with like this idea of steroids, right? Just like something about injecting yourself with something. What's the biggest difference between the steroids that you hear from the bodybuilders that are trying to pump their muscles up specifically, and then something like taking human growth hormone or the peptides for that for that matter?
SPEAKER_01Or you mean human growth hormone peptides, not necessarily human growth hormone, because human growth hormone is illegal for the use in anti-aging in the United States. Okay. Um, so uh steroids, like what you're talking about, the bodybuilders and you know the back of the gym transactions that have the primobala and the windstrawl, those things that are that are those are highly, highly um narratic window medications because they're they're medications. They you know they were used. I think uh Anabar was used in like um patients with the kidney failure, uh Caquexia with the you know, cancer patients who needed to put on muscle quickly, but they've got such a therapeutic, a narrow therapeutic window that even they're not first, second, or you know, they're like third-line medications for those indications. And people are abusing them to try to put on muscle quickly. What they don't realize is that they're causing cardiac remodeling, you know, changing the the muscles in the heart, uh, and that that's dangerous. It's it can be deadly. Some of the most healthiest looking guys uh on the internet are ticking time bombs, you know, the and and you know who we're talking about, the the the jacked bald-headed guys that are you know shilling pet bags all over the place with hundreds of thousands of followers. They look great, but I bet if you were to do an echo on some of these guys, you would just see the fragility of their uh aortic lining from all of the damage that they've done using some of these anabolic steroids. And you don't realize until that damage is already done. Um, but I, as a physician, I'm in constant contact with hundreds of physicians across the country. I have a lot of friends who are in the ER, um, you know, in the ER field. And they always tell me, you know, it sucks seeing some of these guys come in who are just absolute, you know, they look like they're the healthiest people out there, and they're coming in with aortic dissections, just a torn apart aorta from all the you know elastin and and collagen damage that they've done over the years using even using you know higher than normal testosterone levels uh or these other anabolic steroids, and that they don't know because you don't know what you don't know. Um and it's it's unfortunate. But and then those are the people that are out there educating other other folk. Meanwhile, you have you know your your primary care doctor who may be uh 20-30 pounds overweight uh trying to give you advice, and you're like, Well, why would I listen to that guy? I'm gonna go listen to that influencer online, which speaks in absolutes, and it's uh it's unfortunate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think um Yeah, I lost my train of thought there for a second. I had some I thought I had something good. That's okay, it'll come back in a minute.
SPEAKER_01Throughout patient selection, making sure that you know you're you're very, very careful about um the protocol and monitoring closely, and then expectation management. Like you said, these are not matchable. It's I think that's where the the physician leg care really separates from um someone who's gonna you know tell you it's the end all be all, and they just happen to have the the thing that they're they're saying is amazing.
SPEAKER_02For sure. Yeah, it's amazing what what people will do them do to themselves over vanity. And I just want to I I think what you said is very useful, and I want to give a reminder to the audience out there. Like, we're so attached nowadays to social media, to our screens and watching people's lives. And so many, like to your point, so many people out there are putting out this facade, right? And they're putting it out in a way, and it I think human beings we have we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. And so we look at somebody like, why are they like that? What and then we drive ourselves crazy trying to get to that level that we can't achieve naturally. Um, and it's just it's it's it's it's a toxic cycle, it really is.
SPEAKER_01Comparison is the peep of joy. What is it? Comparison is the peep of joy.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So I I I think a lot of us end up where we're at in life in terms of what we're doing, our mission, our career, because of the the things that have influenced the factors that have led us here. How did you arrive at this concept of game day men's health? I know if I'm not mistaken, this is still a startup, right? You're what, two years, a year, two years in?
SPEAKER_01Two years in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, like this is a this is still an emergent comp concept, and you're you're blown up right now. What led you to launch this model? Was there something that happened in your own personal life in terms of your health that was the impetus for this project?
SPEAKER_01I mean, this was uh so Game Day Men's Health is was started in 2017 by uh Evan Miller, a buddy of mine in California. Um, he was in, he had just sold one of his businesses, moved to Hawaii, and was looking, you know, just felt like something was wrong, you know, low energy levels, and just couldn't figure out why in his late 30s, early 40s that he's starting to feel this way. And um, everywhere he went, it was either the cold doctor's offices or these TRT mills. And he decided to create game day um for a place where guys can actually go and and you know not be treated like a number and and not be sold something that they don't necessarily need. Um, you know, built a concierge model. Uh guys walk in, they get real answers, same-day labs, um, physician-led plan, and getting get them back to feeling like themselves and better than they were before, right? Um, so he started that. And then when during that time, I was actually um practicing hospital medicine and then clinic medicine. I ran you know large systems across uh the Midwest in Florida, um, you know, made it up to about chief medical officer and then um got to 255 pounds. This was in 2023. My wife said, I want to have a baby, and you are borderline diabetic, you're hypertensive, you have you know cholesterol through the roof, you're on your 10 years from a heart attack max. Um, and if we have this baby, are you gonna be around to you know take care of the child with me? It was more of like an aha moment for me. Like, oh man, nothing really matters at that point, right? Like all the career success, all that doesn't matter if you're not around for your family. So I quit my job uh and lost 70 pounds, found game day, and just you know, realized that it was exactly what I had needed. Um, and we started opening clinics on the East Coast. I was the first franchisee on the East Coast that was back in 23, um, September 23. We signed our first lease. And then my son was born uh the 10 days after we opened. Um, 10 days before we opened, actually, 10 days before we opened, my son was born. And then we opened another clinic and then another clinic, and then we became uh training facilities uh for the entire nation. And we trained between 100 and 200 clinics through through our clinics. Uh, and then early last year, Evan sat me down and said, uh, you're gonna take over as chief medical officer. I like what you guys are doing. Uh, it's very academic. I see that you know your background. Um so I said, Okay, you know, take me to dinner first, but okay. So uh and it was just off to the races. And since then, you know, we've grown, we've doubled in size. Um, we created Game Day University, which is a very strenuous uh educational platform with you know uh years now, uh hundreds of hours of video and and lecture series that we've done, not just myself, but like you know, urologists, endocrinologists, different um specialties that come and present to our system. Um we're just trying to take an industry that's maligned, that is filled with bad actors, that's you know, has folks that are practicing out of scope for sure, has folks that are prescribing medications and giving um medical advice without medical licenses. They may call themselves a doctor, but they're not really a medical doctor, or they're you know, med spa folks who really should stick to aesthetic practices. And this is medicine. So I I want to first and foremost, I'm a patient advocate. Everything else is second to me. So if we can do the right thing by every patient every time, like Evan says, the success is gonna follow. And that's what's happened. We become the largest in the world, not by accident. It's by putting patients first.
SPEAKER_02It's really impressive to watch what you're you're building there. Do you think it's like the secret sauce behind that you just said patients first? But like, is this just the perfect storm of a broken healthcare system, men just being fed up, having enough, and then you just being the right time, right place, getting together with the right people? Like, what is what is the secret behind scaling this quickly? Because there's so many people out there that are in business that are struggling to get by, and you guys are just like you said, exploding. You're on track to have what, a thousand locations by 2027.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Um I think it's just a uh single-minded head down and let's do the work. That's what we've been doing for the last year. Um, the entire executive team works 16 hours a day, and then each individual franchise owner probably puts in that that amount of time as well. Um, we're in constant contact. We're not one of these franchisees uh or franchisors that sort of leaves people to uh figure it out. You know, we're in the weeds with them. We're all clinic owners as well, you know, on the on the executive team as well as on the on the franchisee side. So we're all in the trenches together. Um I have a medical advisory board made up of board-certified clinicians, physicians across the United States that are also clinic owners uh that sit on my medical advisory board. Those are the guys that I lean on whenever you know we're we're pushing out different uh uh medications or different service lines to the system. Um we partnered with you know some of the greatest marketing folks out there uh that looked at us and said, wow, you you're not a if you look at some of the folks in this industry, they're just marketing companies, really. And then if you dig down into it, there's not much substance there. What they looked at uh was like, oh my god, you're you're a health system and we can market this. So it sort of flipped it on its head and it's been it's been a lot of fun. Um I I don't pretend to know everything, which is why I have urology on on my uh on my board, I and why I have you know urology on on the um uh the greater partnerships across across the country, you know, in Weston alone. We've got clear Cleveland Clinic Urologists that uh I've got on speed dial. The theologist actually is the next door to me in the in in the same building. So we stay in our lane, and if we're out of scope, we're very quick to refer, which I think uh is a testament to um being really good at what we're really good at. And then trying not to go outside the lines.
SPEAKER_02I think that's one of the biggest answers to the current healthcare epidemic, right? It's creating alternatives, viable, sustainable alternatives to the traditional healthcare insurance system that we've operated under for so long. Clinics like yours, these direct primary care models, the more of this that becomes available, right, the more pressure it'll pull off the system, and the system will have to evolve around that, and you'll have more parity and more balance throughout the whole game, if you will.
SPEAKER_01Your mouth to God's ears. If that happens, that'll be incredible for all of us.
SPEAKER_02So you own three specific locations, if I'm not mistaken. You have Weston, there's one in Boca. Talk a little bit about the locations that you have locally here, and then maybe how folks out there could learn more and find out uh more and visit you guys.
unknownSure.
SPEAKER_01So, I mean, I personally own Aventura, Boca, and Weston, and then I've got another seven territories, but I look at Game Day as one system. Uh, so we've got Miami Lakes, we've got Wellington, uh, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, uh, Vero Beach, Space Coast. Uh, there's 30 locations in Florida alone, and there's probably gonna be a hundred by the time we're done in Florida. So, what I would do is just go to gamedaymenshealth.com and find your nearest location. Uh, tell them you saw Dr. Hal and uh you're interested in finding out more. We do complementary testing. Um, so your initial consult will be complimentary. It's on us, and we do you know the initial uh lab testing on on us as well.
SPEAKER_02Beautiful. What's the the long-term vision? I know if I'm not mistaken, you said you're you're branching off into other countries as well. What's the you know the five, 10 year vision for game day men's health?
SPEAKER_01So as of this point, we're the largest in the world, um, but we're just not everywhere outside of, you know, we're in Canada and North. So we're in North America, Canada and America. Um, but the plan is South America, uh, Dubai, uh, the UK for sure, uh, the Caribbean for sure. And um that's probably gonna happen within the next couple of years. There's a ton of interest already. And really what I envision game day is to continue to evolve. You know, we we are we're never gonna chase the shiny new toy that's out there. Uh it's always gonna be evidence-based and and guideline-based. And so we may seem like we're slowing, you know, we we roll out things slower than some of these longevity practices that have every toy in the in the book. But uh, I want to do what's appropriate for patients and what's gonna move the needle, not just what looks cool and you know what what biohackers are talking about on the latest podcast, because that percentage point that you're gonna get from that uh you know, that improvement, uh, it's probably not gonna move the needle. Um, I would say 95% of people. And then you're gonna spend a bunch of money and we're gonna be right back to where we started with with healthcare, where you don't have the outcomes and where we've spent more money than everybody else in in the world.
SPEAKER_02Indeed. For someone listening to this who knows that they're not at their best, what's the what's the first step they should take?
SPEAKER_01Make an appointment. Make an appointment, give your you know, give your nearest game day a call and tell them you'd like to come in. Cool thing about being a concierge practice, we usually have a spot available within the next 48 hours because we leave something open in case the patient needs to come in. Um so you'll you'll be able to get an appointment much sooner than you would call your primary care doctor today, your insurance-based primary care doctor today, and see if you can get an appointment within the next 60 days. Very unlikely. Game day will be within 48 hours.
SPEAKER_02Beautiful. Love it. We will, of course, drop a link in the description below to all your contact information. Dr. Hal, I I can I'll give a personal testimony here real quickly. I I am a patient of yours. Um, I started seeing seeing you at the clinics uh, I think about four months ago. Um, top notch the entire process uh from A to Z. Uh really felt like I was in good hands. Like you said, we had a chance to sit down and talk for a while. You really uh tried to understand what was going on in my personal situation in my life, and and really I you had a vested interest in in bringing out my full potential. And we've been working together and I I've seen vast improvements in my life. Um, and I really appreciate the work that you're doing and what you're building. It's it's fascinating to see, and I wish you the continued success moving forward in this project, my friend.
SPEAKER_01That that means a lot. And um, some days, you know, the workload can get a bit much, but then when you hear stuff like that from your own patients, it puts the fire right back on. And so I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02Of course, man. Keep up the good work, and everyone, thanks so much for tuning in. Uh, if you enjoyed this episode, if you found this useful in any way, you know the drill. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe. We always love to hear your feedback. And remember, take care of yourself. We only have this one life to live. Let's make sure we live it to the fullest. Everyone, take care, stay blessed, have a great day.
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