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Men's Guide to Health: Fitness and Nutrition with Dave Holt from DH360 Fitness

• Stephanie Graham • Season 1 • Episode 25

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Dave Holt from DH360 Fitness dives deep into the often-overlooked world of men's health with host Steph, exploring the unique physiological needs men face throughout their lifetime.

At the heart of male wellness lies strength training - not just for aesthetics, but as a cornerstone of disease prevention and longevity. Dave explains how building muscle in your 20s and 30s creates a critical reserve that protects against age-related decline when testosterone naturally drops after 35. "We want to prioritize strength training and muscle building... gaining a little bit of muscle in our early 20s and 30s is key because it will stand us in good stead as we age," Dave emphasizes.

The conversation reveals surprising insights about training blind spots men typically develop. Many believe playing sports or running eliminates the need for leg training, despite quads and glutes being the first muscle groups to deteriorate with age. This deterioration directly correlates with increased diabetes risk and metabolic issues. Meanwhile, flexibility work - often dismissed until injury forces the issue - proves essential for maintaining joint integrity and preventing the "vicious circle" of chronic pain and decreased activity.

Nutritionally, Dave challenges low-fat diet culture that can devastate men's hormonal health. He outlines specific requirements for protein intake, emphasizes the importance of saturated fats as precursors for testosterone production, and discusses supplement recommendations. Most importantly, Dave connects physical and mental health through movement.

Want to optimize your health as a man or support the men in your life? You can follow and connect with Dave using the details below:

Instagram: @dh360fitness

Email: daveholtpt@hotmail.co.uk

LinkedIn: Dave Holt

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Steph:

The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please always seek the advice of your healthcare professional regarding any physical or mental health conditions.

Steph:

Hello, welcome back to Tranquil Topics. I'm your host, Steph steph, and I'm delighted to welcome back a familiar face, Dave dave Holt from DH360 Fitness. Dave was with us on the last episode, where he spoke about female health and wellness, and he returns today to tackle another vital subject: subject men's health and wellness. We'll be diving into the specific health needs of men, covering topics like hormonal health, tailored fitness routines and more. So, whether you're aiming to enhance your own health or support the men around you, this episode is brimming with practical advice and information. So let's get started. Welcome back to the podcast, Dave dave.

Dave:

Thank you very much for having me back again.

Steph:

So can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do? For those who may not have heard our previous episodes.

Dave:

Yes, sure.

Dave:

So I'm a personal trainer based in Stockport, working with a broad spectrum of clients on a one-to-one basis, helping them out with the training, helping them out with the food, navigating their goals whether it'll be weight loss, muscle building, fat loss, strength training and helping them build a plan, working it and then covering all different aspects of that. So helping with the sleep, managing stress, optimizing output, improving the performance and, yeah, cover a broad spectrum of things with people and getting them on the right track.

Steph:

And this episode is all about men's health and wellness, isn't it? So I know we spoke about women last week. But for the men, can we start off with exercise again? So what are the most effective exercises for men at different stages of their life.

Dave:

o, all the way through our male journey we want to prioritise strength training. We want to prioritise muscle building. So gaining a little bit of muscle in our early 20s and 30s is key because it will stand us in good stead as we age and getting strong as well. We want to keep strong as we get older as well. So as we get to 30 years of age maybe a little bit older our testosterone levels start to decline, so the ability to gain muscle is harder. So the goal would be to build, if you don't really like the term building muscle, muscle preservation is key, especially as we age. So in our early 20s and 30s, we're pretty good at building a bit of muscle. As we get to like 40 and 50 and higher, it becomes about muscle preservation. And then, within that as well, we want to look at not losing bone density as well. So we want to have stronger bones as we get older as well, don't we? So trying to offset um, sarcopenia it's called, and then, yeah, that's in a nutshell. That's the key for males as we get a bit older.

Steph:

So you mentioned there strengths and muscle.

Steph:

How can men balance strength training and cardio for optimal health? Like what would you advise per week? And this is like for beginners as well as people that have been doing it for years?

Dave:

So if you can only get to a couple of times a week to the gym, or you've only got a couple of days where you can exercise, just again, the centre of the training plan should evolve around strength training and weight training. And if you're a runner or if you're a like playing football or a sport cricket, golf, whatever it would be you'd attach that onto it as well, so that would be secondary to the weight training. And if it's only one weight session a week, one run, and you play five, a side or a sport, great. If you've got access to a gym and you can get two to three weight sessions in a week, four weight sessions amazing. You could do 45 minutes weight training and you could finish off with a little bit of HIIT training where you put a little bit of cardio at the end. There's loads of variety. You could do two full body workouts and a conditioning circuit. You could do a modified strongman where you're doing prowlers and etc. Like that. So there's loads of variety. Um, but again, the center would be strength, strength based and muscle building.

Steph:

And are there any parts of a training program that men generally don't prioritize?

Dave:

Yes, legs. They don't like to train legs, do they?

Steph:

Oh really.

Dave:

Well, they don't, yeah, yeah, it's, they don't. It's for whatever reason, because it's quite hard. Training legs, like if you, if you've never done a proper leg session before, so like squatting and lunging and leg pressing, it's demanding because these big muscle groups, they can take a lot of punishment and then the next few days you can feel like it and it's hard work, whether it's you don't really want to do that. But guys generally gravitate towards training chest and biceps and shoulders, don't they? The the vanity muscles, as they say.

Dave:

So yeah, legs is usually one where you have to get that in there as well and just on that as well. As you get older, the first place you start to lose muscle is your quads and glutes. So from a guy's standpoint, training quads is imperative, training your glutes as well. So squatting, deadlifting, lunging would be a key part of your training program, especially as you age. So then obviously, when you lose muscle mass, your increase of diabetes go up. So as you get older, muscle mass or muscle preservation is key because again, it has the ability to offset disease as well.

Dave:

So when you're young, train your legs.

Steph:

What age does muscle loss start in men? Is it different to women then?

Dave:

Um, yeah, um, women is generally the perimenopause and menopausal age, but with guys it's from the age. It depends on what you do before it. So if you're pretty good in your 20s and 30s, you stand yourself in good stead. You just got to try and maintain it. But I'd say from the age of 35 to 40 you'll probably notice it, and then as you get to 40, it's, it becomes a little bit. It's a bit of an effort, it's hard work. It can be a bit demanding, um again, but then there's, there's loads of factors, isn't there as well? You've got like people's jobs and stress and poor sleep and injuries to work around. That's quite hard as well. So if someone's got a bit of a niggle and an injury, but then we're trying to prioritize strength training, we have to sort of balance. Well, we need to get some load for you, but we also need to manage this injury or a bit of a niggle. So, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of factors.

Steph:

And that's what you did with Alan, wasn't it, my partner, when he had his accident.

Dave:

, like you say, when? Yeah, and then, as of recently, he's tweaked his back. So, yeah, again, he's a prime prime candidate for well. Well, we'd love to get the big compound strength lifts in there, which we do to a degree, but there's an element that I need to protect this guy here as well for his well-being and his job. So the worst thing we could do is crush him with a squat and a deadlift when he's a little bit temperamental and his back's a bit dodgy. So, yeah, it's balancing them both. We need to. I need to try and get some strength training, some load for his structures, whilst managing his problematic area, so to speak, or his weakest link.

Steph:

Are there any common myths that you find when you train men? Is there anything that is out there that men tend to think is true but it actually isn't?

Dave:

In terms of myths? No, I don't think they actually is. I'd probably say it's. They don't like training legs, like we just discussed there, so they might end up just doing I'll train a bit of up and body, or actually there is. They tend to say I don't need to train my legs because I play football or I do a bit of running. That's a bit of a common one. Actually just thought about that, yeah. So yeah, they do the up body workouts and I don't need to do legs this week, so I played five a side at the weekend or I played football or I went for a run, which isn't the case. So I've heard that quite a few times.

Steph:

Interesting.

Steph:

Okay, I was just interested in that because not to change the conversation around to women, because this is about men. But women tend to think like, oh, I don't want to lift weights because then I'll get bulky. So I wondered if there was anything yeah in the same lines, but for men. So what about flexibility for men? How important is that?

Dave:

Yeah, again, it's another, it's another requirement of training. So if you've got good flexibility, good range of movement at a joint and you're not stiff, tight, rigid, you can. You're in a better place to perform these big, these big technical lifts, like you say back squat, front squat, um, you can even do a little bit of power training. So, like some cleans, some snatches, some push presses, these all require flexibility, but they also require some good joint integrity as well. So if someone is quite stiff and quite rigid and quite tight, if you just jump into these exercises which we need to do, then that can be problematic as well. It can set you back. So everyone should squat, but not everyone can squat. There's a difference. And then it's how you squat as well. So, again, I always use that as sort of like the big daddy of all exercises, because it's the king of all exercises, just so much. But yeah, if you're not very flexible or you're rigid and you can't do that as the years and years go by, you don't do not only your muscle mass any favours, you don't do your joints. The years and years go by, you don't do your not only your muscle mass any favors, you don't do joints any favors and then you don't have joint integrity, which then leads to shoulder problems or lower back problems, and then you're in a place well, I've got a bad back so I can't train legs. It's like a vicious circle.

Dave:

Flexibility is a huge one. It doesn't. That's going back to your previous question about the myths and stuff. It's kind of those guys don't value it, and I I was one myself and it's not until you get a bit of a bad injury or a bit of a niggle that it becomes like it's up there with input. It's quite important because you want to be mobile, don't you want to be able to continue to do this. Yeah, I'd say the flexibility side's a bit of a. Guys tend to do that when they've got an injury, but when they don't have an injury, they go I don't need to do it, I'll leave it. Whether it's like a little bit stretching, a little bit of foam rolling or whatever it'll be, always that's the one thing which goes on the back burner.

Steph:

And you mentioned before about squatting.

Steph:

So how do you know if you can squat like if you don't go to the gym?

Dave:

You'd have to try it, see how it feels. At the end of the day, you may have to get a bit of advice on it or a bit of coaching, but it's like what you do in the gym. You should be able to put your feet shoulder width, squat down, get your bum as low as possible so it goes below the angle of your knee, and then come back up and you should feel pretty good and you should feel your quads working. You should feel your glutes working and not your lower back. So, yeah, you'd probably have to get a bit of advice on it or try it. Do a dumbbell squat, maybe do a barbell squat, see how it feels. Um, and, yeah, you'd have to try it, to be honest, and see how you feel, but if you feel your back, you're probably doing it wrong.

Steph:

Okay, and how can men safely start a new exercise routine? So this is covering men that haven't been active for a while in the gym. Outside the gym, what exercise would you recommend that they start with to get back into it safely?

Dave:

Anything that gets them moving. And us guys we're creatures of habit, aren't we? And we like it comfortable. So if you've done a sport in the past, maybe go back into that and start walking, just get out more. Maybe do you tell guys to do a home workout and they look at you, go, I'm not doing that, it's not cool, but it could be a start of something. Um, yeah, again, it'd be load bearing, weight training and like a body weight circuit. Just anything that gets you moving is a start. And then if you've got the ability or the access to a gym, then you'd get there as soon as you can. And then onto the machines. Or, yeah, use the machine to start off with and get used to it and just get moving and you can.

Steph:

I know you have clients abroad, don't you, where you can video, like I know we spoke about before you can. They can send you a picture of their gym and you can send videos yes what exercises to do so. The support is there if they want it.

Dave:

Yes, yeah.

Dave:

So what I usually do with that is, let's say, for example, now you're on holiday and you're going to do three sets of six reps on a squat again, and I tell you to film your last set of squat, which, when you get to your last set, it should be the your top weight or your maximal weight. Don't film your warm-up set, because your technique is going to be pretty good, it's going to look good and it's going to be easy. So you'd film your last set where you're most challenged and then, when you're in that state where you're really challenged, it'll highlight what's good, what's not, what's imbalanced or what's off, and then that gives me the ability to coach you.

Dave:

Um, you get you to film your last set and then you can see it in real time it's a bit faffy from your point of view, because you just want to get on with your workout, don't you? But this is the modern day. Now you, uh, you'd have to just film, like probably a side profile and a video from the back, just so you can see it in real time.

Steph:

Yeah, no, makes sense.

Steph:

So can I change the conversation around to nutrition now for men?

Dave:

Yes, of course.

Steph:

What are the key nutritional needs for men, and do they change with age as well?

Dave:

Again, protein is key, protein is king. So first of all, you would prioritize a protein goal. So, whatever their target weight is. So let's say, for example yeah, you weigh I don't know 13 stone, whatever, and you want to be 12 stone. You want to lose a stone or something? It's about 170 pounds roughly. So you aim for one gram of protein per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 170 pounds, you want to try and get 170 grams of protein a day, which doesn't seem a lot, but it's quite hard to do that day in, day out. And then the older you get, your requirements kind of go up. So you could even push that number to 1.1 or 1.2 grams. So, which is even harder to do. So that would be number one, would be prioritizing protein.

Dave:

And then again, we want good fats in the diet as well. We want the high fat, high saturated fat again, which we've previously touched on. Again, these are the cholesterol backbones for making hormones. So without the cholesterol in your food, in your diet, you cannot synthesize that and make testosterone again, which we touched on.

Dave:

As we age, testosterone declines. So we need the saturated fat in the diet to help make testosterone, because you're not going to be able to build muscle mass and get strong. So, as a guy, the worst thing you can do is go low fat. I know we talked about women, but again, fellas, don't go low fat. That's going to hinder you as well gaining muscle. And again, carbohydrates is another good fuel source, so you'd implement that in and around the training window and good quality carbohydrates and carb cycling as well. Carb cycling is pretty good for guys. Again, it'll improve the insulin sensitivity and stuff. So the goal is to gain muscle. We don't gain fat. We don't want to bulk and get our weight up and gain fat in the process.

Dave:

So, yeah, protein, fat and carbs would be the key ones, and then obviously after that would be all the vitamins and minerals and stuff.

Steph:

When it comes to nutrition and the link with hormonal health for men I know we've briefly spoken about this before where men have a 24 hour cycle, would you mind just touching on that.

Dave:

Yeah, so it's a bit of a concept. But when we wake up in the morning, cortisol's high. We want to try and manage that as well, and then as the day goes on, cortisol comes down. This is like our circadian clock working and then as we go into the sleep, testosterone's high. So we kind of have these ebbs and flows with testosterone and cortisol.

Dave:

So, from a guy's point of view, if we just manage them as best as we can with good quality sleep, good quality strength training, managing stress as well yeah, they're there that would be key. And then, obviously, with the food, that will look after your like managing insulin resistance, so getting getting guys insulin sensitive as well. So three main ones would be managing insulin or getting good insulin management, optimizing testosterone, weight training, good quality sleep and mitigating stress as best as we can. So we again guys, we tend to like no, I'm all right, I'm okay, I can keep going, I can keep pushing. They burn the candle at both ends and they just work, work, work, train, train, train. But then that can also hinder them as well. So managing cortisol is a big one aswell, stress management.

Steph:

Stress management stress is huge, isn't it?

Dave:

It just keeps coming back around to to do the stress, but yeah, that's people are stressed if it's the one thing you could control where we are and there's so many different angles that it comes from. But if yeah, we just have to mitigate it as best as we can manage it. You're never going to get rid of it, just work with it, try and add to the problem.

Steph:

And how does exercise and diet help in managing men's hormones? then yeah.

Dave:

we strength train, that's good for raising testosterone levels. So again, lifting weight, that's probably one of the biggest drivers of that. So prioritise all rep ranges as well. So from a training standpoint, most people are like how many reps do you do? It's like, oh, I just do three sets of 10 or three sets of 12, but we want to lift all through rep ranges. So from you can go as low as one and two reps, but then it becomes risk versus reward. But for the average general population or average person, you go from four or five reps anywhere up to 15 to 20, maybe 25. It's getting good at all those. So the better we get at the heavier rep ranges is good for testosterone.

Dave:

The better we get at the higher ranges is good for like utilizing glucose and getting good insulin sensitivity and managing that side of it. They're kind of the two drivers from a training standpoint and then sleep help that'll help manage cortisol. Yeah, I'd say insulin management for the higher reps or utilizing glucose as a fuel and then the neural adaptations through strength training for increasing testosterone.

Steph:

And just out of interest. So I know we touched on the female cycle in the last episode. If the men's cycle is 24 hours, essentially, is there a time of day that is best for them to exercise, or is that on an individual basis as well?

Dave:

Yeah, I personally I feel better in the mornings, but then I kind of condition myself to that. Some people are just not a morning person either no so I would say there is no right or wrong, but then you'd have to look at how good is your training at a certain time of the day. So if someone's listening to this, I don't want to run away with. All right, I'm going to go to the gym at six in the morning and then you feel like a bag of rubbish yeah then don't do that.

Dave:

Go to the gym in the evening. If you're so, I get people say they don't feel good in the mornings, they feel better in the evenings. But then you could argue the fact well, you're training late, that's not going to be good because you're jacking your systems up and it's a stimulating effect on the body when a couple of hours late you're going to be going to bed. So these arguments are both sides of the coin. I think it's more where you feel your best and then generally that's been conditioned through years and years and years of your work patterns, your sleep patterns. And some people are just not morning people. Some people love training the evenings. Personally I'd go for the morning if you can. But again, if you go to bed early, get up early, you'll be able to do that very individual based.

Steph:

I see, yeah, I know Alan, my partner, he's not a morning person whatsoever. I know he trains with you in an evening, whereas I'm the complete.

Dave:

e's, he's, uh, he's quite late yeah, yeah, yeah again it's yeah, yeah, very, very like you say you, probably if you came in the evenings you might be like don't feel right, run out of steam, whereas if he came in the morning, probably be, he'd hate it.

Dave:

Some people, midday again. You can tie food in with that as well. Some people don't like training an empty stomach in the morning. Some people like to get up, have a meal, feel good. It might take them a few hours to come around and if it's, if you have like flexible working patterns, you go to the gym. People come at like 10, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock and they feel great then. So it's just getting in tune with you or how we are as an individual, but then there's no right or wrong, I think.

Steph:

Listen to your body and just go with that.

Dave:

Listen to your body again. Yeah, being intuitive.

Steph:

And are there other specific foods or supplements useful for supporting men's health in particular.

Dave:

Yeah, definitely.

Dave:

I touched on about carbohydrates, fats and proteins and then under that you've got vitamins and minerals. So a key mineral for guys is zinc. That's our nail mineral. So when we talk about optimizing, when guys get out of shape and they get a bit of a beer belly and you get a bit of man boobs going on, it's what you call aromatase. So as the testosterone levels drop or the aromatase, it towards female characteristics, hence man boobs. Zinc is a enzyme which blocks, or it's a mineral which blocks that enzyme, aromatase. So zinc for guys is great for one testosterone production and blocking aromatase which is converting to female uh, converting to estrogen.

Dave:

Again, food, get that through your red meat, your fatty cuts of steak, eggs etc. They're good sources of that. And then magnesium as well. Magnesium is great for guys. Again, I talked about the stress side of it. Magnesium is really good, depending on what or how their stress levels are. So calming the nervous systems down. Magnesium, glycinate or glycinate is really good for that.

Dave:

Um, 5-htp is pretty good as well. So 5-htp is that's like a precursor to serotonin. So for well-being and feeling good, 5-htp is good as well. Good for the good at getting across the blood-brain barrier, increasing serotonin levels. That's your happy hormone, so that's good for guys as well and women, but great for guys. Help with sleep. And again, vitamin D probably that's at the top of it should be at the top of everybody's supplements. If you don't get a lot of sunlight, especially so vitamin d and k2 I'd hugely recommend that. I'd say those three and then you could push on even more as well. So if you're training, you could take a whey protein and strength training. I'd recommend creatine as well, so creatine is good for increasing strength. So there's quite a lot, but I'd say, from a generic standpoint, zinc and magnesium for guys, and vitamin d3 and k2 as well. Obviously we need that just for every single aspect of our well-being

Steph:

And can I bring the conversation around to like mental health for men?

Dave:

Yeah.

Steph:

Because I know it's being spoken about more, which is amazing, it needs to be. Is there any advice that you can give to the men listening, or to anybody listening that can pass this on um, for how men can prioritize their mental health alongside their physical health? Do you have any advice for that?

Dave:

Yeah, uh, yeah, it's um, it's a big one, isn't it? Mental health it kind of goes hand in hand with physical health, I think. So if you don't train, you don't move your body, you don't exercise at all, from a physical standpoint, that's only going to have a negative impact on the brain as well. So you'd have to be straight away, you'd be like move in whichever way moving looks for you. So getting your heart rate up, getting a sweat on you prioritize moving, movement straight away, and HIIT training is pretty good as well. So when we so, that's like when you're working flat out as hard as you can, when you do HIIT training, so you increase um, BDNF, BDNF of the brain, so brain derived neurotrophic factor. This is good for mental well-being as well. So when you don't exercise, or people don't exercise, and then if you're, let's say, someone who is like very anxious and depressed, these levels of the brain are quite low. So exercise would be your biggest lever you could do so.

Dave:

I touched on briefly about doing a 45 minute workout and a little bit of HIIT training at the end. That would be great for your mental health because you would absolutely increase that BDNF in the brain and huge, huge factor that. So, again, getting outside, getting your morning sunlight, is key as well. Easily, I know I always harp on about that, but it's so easily overlooked. But yeah, exercise would be the biggest lever you could move for your well-being. So, just right, whichever way it is, move, run, walk, go for a hike, get outside, lift some weights and don't over complicate it, just move. So if you flipped it round and you said, don't do nothing, you're not going to feel particularly good, are you? So generally, when you move, you're going to feel well.

Dave:

So where the body goes and mine will follow.

Steph:

And what about if men are struggling to stay motivated, like to maintain a healthy lifestyle? What would you say?

Dave:

I think it comes down to your routine, doesn't it? So like if we have a good routine where it's part of your lifestyle, like just getting up and once twice a week, you just prioritize a 20 minute, 30 minute walk, you prioritize a gym session, you prioritise a class, I think it's getting into your routine. So, yeah, it can be again time. If work's a bit of a, work can get in the way sometimes, can't it? If you're depending on your job and you're in meetings and stuff and things run over and you're going home and you've got kids, etc. There's loads of things, things pulling you different directions, isn't it? But I'd say, prioritize it into your routine, make it part of your lifestyle. Don't make it, don't make it a chore.

Dave:

I think, oh, this is something I've got to do for the next 12 weeks because I need to lose a stone, and then you revert back to your old ways. Just implement it into everyday life. Like we don't get bored when we wake up, do you like? When we clean our teeth every morning, we have a wash. It's just part of what we do. And I think if your exercise routine is up there with simple things like that, just do it, get up and do it, plan it in somehow whether it's before work, after work, weekends and just get them, get some momentum going behind you, because it's crazy like when you get a bit of momentum behind you, the snowballing effect is good, it's quick, and so you don't realise weeks and months go by and then you're on the right track.

Steph:

And for those men that are listening that are struggling to prioritise the self-care, prioritise the nutrition. They could be a new dad, like you mentioned about having a busy work life. What advice would you give to them? Is that similar, just to get it in your diary to do?

Dave:

Yeah, prioritise it, get it in there. And, again, it might have to be in the morning, before you go to work. It's hard, isn't it? Like I say, sometimes you don't want to get up and do it, but that's probably a key time, i'd say, if you can get it in the morning, like you say, if your partner's in bed, your kids are in bed, and you can get up, get to the gym and get back before they're even up, you're not missing out on anything, are you? Then you don't miss out on giving your kids breakfast and all that before they go to school or before you go to work. And then you're not missing out on the evening routine as well, like having tea with your family and stuff like that. So that could be a good strategy to have. Do it first thing in the morning, but then if you're not a morning person, that's going to be a battle. But yeah, it's weighing it up whatever's right for yourself. Again, I'd say it is, it's prioritizing it and putting it part of your routine

Steph:

And what about men that are struggling to prioritize the nutrition side of things? Have you got any advice for that?

Dave:

Yeah, I would. Yeah again, it's is it maybe the awareness of it as well? So I think, if you're gonna say it all the time, prioritize protein. So if you go back to that, just look after that muscle mass and eat as much protein as you can, aim for that one gram per pound of body weight Then just fill in the blanks yourself, except from a carbohydrate and a fat point of view. So I know it's easy just to go oh, I'm on the go, I'll just go and get a sandwich.

Dave:

But if you put it to the forefront of your mind prioritize your protein, you can't go wrong. So eat your chicken, your steak, your fish, your eggs, etc. Get that in you and it'll give you a good start, one. You're going to be satiated, you're going to be full, you're less likely to slip and then again get the momentum going behind you. And if you're, if it means putting like a wrap with it or something, that's not the best, but it's going to move you in just put the needle in the right direction and leave it there. Keep it simple, start slow, and then you can't really mess it up.

Steph:

Is there anything today that I haven't mentioned that you want to discuss that is important for mental health and wellness?

Dave:

Um, I don't think we've covered it all, I'd say it's. I think we've covered it all, I'd say it's. You cut it into like three categories, won't you? So it's the quality of the food, the quality of your training and how well you rest. And if you attack all three of them to the best of your ability, especially the food standpoint, so eat as well as you can eat, as rich as you can. Have a protein shake after you train, manage your sleep. Really prioritize that as well. So take your zinc, take your magnesium, whatever. It is anything that's going to promote some good quality sleep. And then you're kind of halfway there and if you can get to the gym once, twice, it's better than not going. And when you do get there, do some weight training. They're the three, I say the three categories that I'd put it in food, training, sleep.

Dave:

If you just choose one and get good at it and then, when you get good at it, move on to the next one, and if you can attack all three and make some simple changes and just continuously move forward with all those three at the forefront of your mind, you kind of you can't get it wrong.

Dave:

And if you do fall off the bandwagon every so often, just don't beat yourself up and just think right, draw a line under it, move on and just go back to whatever you was doing. And I think, as your baseline increases, so the baseline of your food increases, the baseline of the quality of your training does, and you're getting a bit stronger and you're getting a bit more muscle and you look a bit leaner. Yeah, you, it's quite contagious and you'll keep going and keep going. And well, guys we're quite like that. But just once we see it, you've kind of run with it. Then you get that momentum behind you, like I said, and yeah it's, it can be easy, but it can also be tricky as well.

Steph:

Yeah, just to wrap up from our conversation today, what's one piece of advice that you hope our listeners take away?

Dave:

Lift heavy. Don't be scared of lifting heavy and getting strong. So again, you can, I know if you're new, you want to be a little bit. I'll keep it safe. I'll just do some reps, but have the confidence or learn. Get a trainer, get a coach. Strength training. There's not many downsides to it, it just huge benefits to it. And if you gain a bit of muscle in the process, prioritize that.

Dave:

Yeah, lift heavy.

Steph:

Brilliant. And how can people find you? How can people work with you, Dave?

Dave:

Uh, you can find me at dh360 fitness on instagram. And yeah, if you need any help, any advice on training, training splits and styles and navigating the food side of it, I'm here to help.

Steph:

Thank you so much for coming back on.

Dave:

Pleasure, not a problem.

Steph:

Thank you so much for listening. You can follow me on instagram at Tranquil Topics and if you have enjoyed this episode, please do leave a rating or review, as it will help me to reach more people and I'll be back in two weeks time with another episode. Bye.