On the cutting edge of success
Explore what it takes to excel in today’s fast-paced world with Dr. Joel Strehl, a surgeon, entrepreneur, educator and leader in innovation. Each episode explores strategies, compelling stories, and practical tools to help you refine your skills and strengthen your mindset.
Whether you’re striving for personal growth, professional excellence, better health, or simply seeking inspiration, this podcast will keep you on the cutting edge of success.
Join us as we talk to trailblazers, industry experts, and those redefining success. It’s time to cut through the noise and carve your path to greatness.
On the cutting edge of success
Strength, Mobility, and Nutrition: The Foundations of Lifelong Health
Strength, mobility, and nutrition form the three pillars of a healthier, more functional life—especially as we age. In this enlightening conversation with fitness expert Chad Volant, we explore practical strategies for anyone looking to move better, feel better, and age better.
Chad breaks down what functional strength training really means: not just building muscle for appearance, but training through full range of motion to maintain mobility and prevent injury as we age. "We want to be able to move for life," he explains, detailing how proper strength training improves metabolic health by creating more "glucose sponge" muscle tissue that helps manage blood sugar and provides resilience on days when nutrition isn't perfect.
The discussion tackles persistent fitness myths head-on. No, lifting weights won't make women bulky (excess calories do that). No, you're not "too old" to start strength training—Chad works with clients in their 70s and 80s who are still building muscle tissue. And no, fat isn't the enemy—it's crucial for hormone health and helps you feel full longer.
Perhaps most valuable is Chad's practical wisdom about sustainability. His 80-20 approach acknowledges that perfection isn't the goal—consistency is. He offers actionable advice for high-stress periods, travel, and busy schedules, emphasizing that even small movements like taking stairs or doing 10 bodyweight squats after meals can make significant differences. His protein-forward nutrition strategy focuses on adequate protein intake (roughly 0.8g per pound of body weight) and proper hydration.
The conversation provides hope for anyone struggling with mobility issues or chronic pain. As Chad explains, "A stronger human being has less pain," and improving strength around problematic areas often resolves issues that might otherwise require medical intervention.
Whether you're just beginning your fitness journey or looking to overcome a plateau, this episode provides the blueprint for sustainable, functional fitness that enhances quality of life at any age. Start with just one small action today—your future self will thank you.
Hey everybody and welcome back to the podcast. Today, I'm thrilled to sit down with someone who's not only a leader in the fitness industry but also a great personal friend of mine, chad Vallant. I've known Chad since 2020 and he and his wife Diana have been incredible friends to Brittany and me. Chad is one of the smartest and most talented people I know, but what really sets him apart is his dedication not just to his work, but also to his family as a loving father. Chad has an impressive background. He was a college football player, which explains his passion for strength and performance. He's also a highly successful businessman, running StrengthRx, where he combines functional fitness with pain management to help people feel and move better. Oh, and I have to admit, he's a better golfer than me, but I'll get there someday maybe. On top of all that, chad is deeply patriotic and someone who truly loves his country, which is another reason I admire him. His certifications speak to his expertise. He's a certified pain-free performance specialist, an active life immersion graduate, a nutrition coaching institute level one coach and a USA weightlifting level one sport performance coach, among others. He has also created innovative programs like functional strength training, boomers boot camp and a recovery focused routines like the functional body segment. Chad's journey is inspiring and today we're going to dive into his approach to strength training, mobility and nutrition, as well as learn how he's helping people all over the country become healthier and pain-free. Let's get started.
Speaker 1:As a 42-year-old who is a college athlete, staying active and fit has always been a big part of my life. I'm passionate about my health because I know firsthand how it impacts everything else my energy, my ability to enjoy the activities I love and my time with my kids. But I'll be the first to admit I'm far from perfect. I struggle just like everyone else. I love snowboarding, golfing, backpacking, spartan races, weightlifting, and I try to stay active with my kids whenever I can. But balancing all that with a busy life and eating well isn't always easy. I've noticed that I either A don't eat at all if I don't have a healthy option, or I swing to the other extreme and binge on unhealthy foods when I give in to temptation. That's why I'm so passionate about this conversation with Chad.
Speaker 1:I know how hard it can be to juggle fitness, nutrition and staying motivated, especially as we age. I also know how rewarding it is when you find the right balance and approach. My hope is that this episode helps not just me, but all of you listening, to take small steps forward, feeling healthier, stronger and more in control of your habits. So, without further ado, here's Chad Vallott. We're going to dive right in Chad. We're going to talk a little bit about why strength training matters. So what does functional strength training mean and why is it essential for everyday life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so functional strength training is think of the old meathead bodybuilding type of muscle tissue focused strength training, but putting huge focus on full range of motion, so full flexion, full extension through each joint and putting the utmost of integrity and intent on the full range of motion aspect of it. In addition, it is adding things like rotational exercises, which aren't as traditional in the bodybuilding world. As you probably know, a lot of the when you think of strength training, you think of these guys up on stage and who look like robots. Well, we want to be able to move for life and make sure that we have better mobility, because that's critical to aging well, and so that really puts the emphasis on functional strength training.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think one of the things that I noticed different when I started coming to your gym and training with you was some of that rotational aspect, instead of just sitting on a bench and bench press all the time and we do that. But in conjunction with that there's things that you know rotational strength, which I had never done before. So you know, I appreciated that. How does building strength improve overall health, like metabolism, injury prevention, aging? Just kind of an overview of how does building strength improve your overall health.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So this is critical for men and women both. Ultimately, our muscle tissue is the largest organ on our body and think of it like a glucose sponge. So when we eat food, especially in today's world, we have a lot more convenient food, a lot more blood sugar spikes and so on and so forth. And now, with the more muscle tissue that you have, you have more resiliency to those blood sugar spikes. You have a higher level of metabolic health to be able to absorb those days where everybody goes out and has some pizza, has some wine or whatever it might be. So it just allows us some more flexibility in our nutrition which is.
Speaker 2:I think you know it's critical in this day and age. Right, it's absolutely. It's a massive component with the world we live in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I especially noticed, you know, as I'm now in my forties and metabolism slows down a little bit, leg day was always kind of the last day of the week for me and sometimes you don't get there, but I think you know, to increase your metabolism, having those big muscles in our glutes and in our legs really help drive that metabolism and help you keep, you know, from gaining weight. So I appreciate that. We, you know, we do a lot of legs, a lot of lower body work, both front and back, which I think is critical to help some of the things that you just said. How about some common myths about strength training? Is there anything that you know? People you think they walk in the gym and you hear this over and over and it's just not true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually posted about one today on social media. One of the biggest ones for people is lifting heavy is going to make me bulky. Well, ultimately, excess calories and cupcakes make us bulky, not lifting heavy and with intensity. So I think there's a huge misconception out there that people think that they associate lifting heavy with this 400 pounds on a barbell, when ultimately, lifting heavy is lifting with intensity. So that is, whether you're doing three repetitions or 25 repetitions, you're grabbing a weight that is going to challenge you through that rep scheme, and that could be five pounds or it could be body weight for somebody that's just starting. But it doesn't necessarily mean there's this huge amount of weight on the bar and your, you know your your risk for injury goes way up.
Speaker 2:That's not the case by any means. That's so. That's one of my least favorite ones that I see on a regular basis. Another big one is going to come into play where more so on the, the female side, where lifting weights in general is going to add, they're going to look like a physique competitor or they're going to look like a bodybuilder. Well, and that is probably the most, one of the worst things you could say to somebody who's trained, for, you know, almost their entire life, because it takes years I mean decades to add muscle tissue, especially once you get to a certain point. It is not as easy as people think. It would be like driving your car to work. Every day. You're magically going to turn into a NASCAR race driver.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, and I do hear that from women quite a bit, I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, I don't want to look bulky. From women quite a bit is that, you know, I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, I don't want to look bulky, and I think you know, obviously you can train to get there, but I think general training, you know, unless you're really trying to become bulky or look like a bodybuilder, you know it's not going to happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that ultimately it goes back to the functional strength training aspect too. I think the more focus you put on that long lengthening phase and going through full range of motion through your training, you're going to have these long lean tissues and strong lean tissues, not these shortened reps that you see a lot of the bodybuilding community do, and they do that for a specific reason, right, they want to look like that. They want to have these big, for a specific reason. Right, they want to look like that. They want to have these big, short muscle tissue that shows great on stage and in the mirror.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly. How about this one? Do you hear anyone come in and say hey, you know, I'm just I'm too old to start strength training, you know I'm going to walk on the treadmill, or I'm too old to pick up weights. Is that ever something you hear?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all the time, honestly, especially since I could have changed my focus about five years ago to my demographic of who I wanted to work with, and over the last three years we've gotten a ton of data and metrics through the in-body scans and the body composition scans, showing that 50, 60, 75, 80 year olds putting on muscle tissue Uh so, regardless of age, and so the and there's more and more studies coming out on that information now you know that the whole use it or lose it aspect comes into play. Um, people uh frequently don't believe that they can just start today, or they feel like it's too late in life, or that they're just bedridden for the rest of their life, and you know that's a death sentence ultimately. And so that's where I get the most gratitude, uh, personally, is showing those humans, that 40 to 80 year old crowd, that hey, we still got it and we can still do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think from the medical literature I'm sure you know this as well specifically Caucasian and Asian females who are not doing some sort of resistance or strength training, the rate of osteoporosis is significantly higher. So just kind of loading not only the muscles but having a load on the bones as well helps keep strong bones with the strong muscles surrounding them.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean sarcopenia is a real, significant cause of death and that is when, ultimately, after the age of 40, I believe the literature is stating that we're declining, from a musculature standpoint, a few percentage points per year if you're not doing anything about it. So bone density and muscle health and the amount of muscle tissue on your body is ultimately associated with death rates and mortality.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Going back to kind of the population that's aging and we see, you know, this rise in the number of people living longer baby boomers Can you give two or three simple exercises? Obviously you're not doing a consult on these people and obviously we want people to seek help first before they just try anything at home but maybe two or three very simple things that people can start doing, maybe body weight type exercises, if they're for somebody who says I don't even know where or what to start with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know there's a lot of information coming out right now where the blood glucose levels post meal have a significant effect on our overall health and longevity, and so there's something as small as doing 10 squats literally 10 squats post meal and a few times throughout the day has proven to shown that people who do that are going to be able to at least maintain and do a better job maintaining the muscle tissue they do have and also going to help with blood sugar levels. So it's ultimately don't overthink it right A 10 minute walk, uh multiple times per day, um doing a few body weight squats, uh in pushups, and starting with the calisthenic type of exercises that anyone can do anywhere, uh is going to go a long way just to uh stimulate that muscle tissue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, one thing that I've found, just personally, is, specifically, if I've maybe overeaten or had a big caloric meal, just going for a 10, 20 minute walk, I feel so much better and I think that's likely just burning off some of that excess glucose. So you're not trying to metabolize or store that quite as much because you're burning off and it's a very simple activity that, like you said, anybody can do. I want to transition a little bit. We talked about strength and I want to talk a little bit about mobility and I think this is overlooked Specifically. I overlooked this for a long time, always just said you know, I'm not very flexible and and that's just who I am, and I'm still not very flexible. But since I've started working with you, I have been working on that and it has increased quite a bit. So just for someone who doesn't know, like, what that term means, what is mobility?
Speaker 2:yeah, mobility is your ability to have strength and motion. So, extending your arms, your legs, getting into the bottom of a squat, you know those are all strength in movement joints as we age is back to what we originally stated and that is training through full range of motion under load, so under significant load, to create change. So it is so critical and this is why we put so much emphasis on it is getting as low as you can go, adding pauses in those end range positions that are totally uncomfortable for all of us, uh, but that that discomfort, uh, is critical for for mobility and healthy long joints.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's another thing I'd never done is and it's miserable is you're down in the bottom, let's just say for a squat, for example, and you have us hold it there for three seconds and uh, and you're down low and it is, it's hard and it sucks but it's definitely helpful. So that's a big one. Why is it critical? Why do we care? Besides, okay, I'm maybe a little bit more flexible, I'm a little bit more mobile. Who cares?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean, if you would have asked me five to seven years ago, I would have been there with you and not nearly cared nearly as much, because you don't really think about aging until you get to about that 40 mark, I feel.
Speaker 2:At least that's what it was for me. So now, ultimately, working with the crowd and seeing these individuals that come in in that 40 to 80 demographic and who have gone through, and we I don't know if this was said earlier or not, but we work with a lot of individuals who have joint replacements, tendon repairs, so we're seeing these individuals who lack significant mobility and they're a little bit older, and so we put a huge emphasis to try to get them to where they need to be. But I think about things like, as I get older, getting up off the floor with my grandkids and or having, worse yet, having to say no, oh, I can't do that, I can't get up right now. That is one of my greatest fears on the planet saying no to my child or my grandkids, future grandkids, and so having the ability to get up off the floor, having the ability to get things out of cupboards and getting in and out of cars, going up and down stairs. None of those things should be hard for anybody.
Speaker 1:I don't know at any age, in my opinion, right Even like tying your shoes right, Like Exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I think that you know that's, that is a huge thing that you don't think about until you get to a certain age, and so that's why we put so much focus on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean grandparents, you see grandparents missing out on things because they can't. They can't maybe walk through the park with their grandkid, or maybe you know they're in a, in a motorized scooter or something, because not necessarily because they have a disability, but because they're just, you know, so immobile, and those are things that we want to avoid for sure. Any connection between that you've seen, between mobility and injury prevention.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, yes. So if you think about this, the picture is if, what range of motion we currently lack, we're weak in that spot, and there's going to be times in life, especially in Northern Michigan it's icy outside, uh, we have a misstep. And if we don't have the ability to catch ourselves in that specific situation, uh, that could be a hospital run right. That could be a situation where, uh, you know, I have a tendon. Now I'm going to get surgery for a tendon repair because I tore my ACL stepping out of my car or whatever it might be. So that's why it's so critical to train, to exercise under load, to make sure that we put ourselves in those positions in the gym in a safer way, so that we prepare ourselves accordingly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean even picking up a box and twisting at the waist in your back maybe is strong, you know, in a normal circumstance, but you've twisted to set the box down or throw it in the back of a truck and that is not something you're used to. So I think that, just like you just said, that mobility part is key for injury prevention. How does poor mobility lead to pain or discomfort in daily activities? You know we hear people say as they age, you know my knees hurt when I walk or you know they can't do some of the activities that they used to do because maybe their shoulders don't move or their hips don't move. So I get to say the question more time explain the connection between mobility, sorry. How does poor mobility lead to pain or discomfort in daily activities?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean part of when we first get to meet with somebody and do an assessment.
Speaker 2:We're looking at each joint and the range of motion and flexibility of what that person currently has. And I will tell you individuals who we put through, let's say, hip flexion, so your ability to get into a squat and and bend at the hip, if they get to a certain point where they ask us to stop because it's painful and they don't, they lack the ability to get in these positions. So, whether that's arm overhead, ankle or knee over toe, the big one, like you just mentioned, knee pain, either walking or going downstairs. Well, if they have super immobile ankles that doesn't allow that knee to translate over the toes, well, the knees like the garbage disposal between the hip and the ankle and the knees like the garbage disposal between the hip and the ankle and it's going to take all that pressure on the patellar tendon. So, having mobility, the sheer force has to go somewhere and it's going to go up the chain or down the chain. So it's critical for pain relief in general to train again through full range of motion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly One thing I appreciated when I first started is that functional assessment, that mobility assessment that you put me through. And again, this is definitely one of my areas of weakness, which I'm sure was very evident that day. But can you also explain your functional body segment and how mobility can be integrated into like recovery or rest days? So one thing I noticed when we first started was, you know, typically Mondays, tuesdays, wednesdays, we're hitting it hard kind of, you know tough training days, and Thursday was kind of like a slow down mobility, not lifting heavy weights, but lifting and moving with a load, as you've kind of kept continued to say, and I just know how much better that made me feel. Integrating that into my workout routine instead of every day is just, you know, hammer away with this heavy, heavy weights. I really enjoyed that part. Can you explain that a little bit better than I just did?
Speaker 2:Yeah, this was probably eight to 10 years ago when I started to experiment with this and realized we came from the school of thought where, you know, after a hard training day where you feel tight and sore and all those things, it was always like, hey, you need to rest, rest, rest, don't move, don't do anything. Well, come to find out it was terrible advice. So we now, in what we've been doing for quite a few years now, is is ultimately a I want to find sneaky ways to get you to move every day and get into the gym every single day, and I feel like that's part of it, right? So we need to have these hard training days, sort of these moderate training days, and then these recovery days, which are the days that people would typically use as an excuse to not do anything or, you know, not heading to the gym. And so it's critical to restore that movement that we had done in the few days prior and training under very slow and controlled setting and very light loading, and then, ultimately, some aerobic work to get the blood pumping and and allowing you.
Speaker 2:Think of blood as protection and new blood, new red, new red blood cells as a way to help clear out that soreness and and help you heal, because, ultimately, what we do in the gym is damaging. Whether you think it is or isn't, you don't grow in the gym. We damaging, whether you think it is or isn't, you don't grow in the gym. We damage our tissues in the gym, so recovery is critical and that's why we absolutely love those functional body segments. Those are the best days in the gym. I feel like for you you just mentioned it and I think almost every one of our members is like that's my number one favorite day. I feel so much better than when I came in, exactly.
Speaker 1:And just one thing to touch on, just in case someone doesn't know when you say damaging those tissues in the gym, can you explain what you mean by that, because you're not meaning that's a negative thing, correct? Can you explain what that means?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so ultimately, when we train and we lengthen and contract our muscle tissues under loading for multiple repetitions, we're creating these little micro tears in our muscle fashion and that's ultimately how we grow our muscle tissue is. It's slightly damaging through these micro tears through lifting weights or resistance training, but the magic is in the recovery. The magic is how the body adapts to stress. So we're putting a stressor on the body the day prior, but the day after we're we're putting a huge focus on that recovery and that's how we gain additional muscle tissue. So it's absolutely 100% a positive thing and so it's critical. I mean, it's the only way you're going to add more tissue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. Next thing I want to just talk about with the mobility is you know so many people have sedentary jobs. They are sitting in front of a computer Most of the they get home. A lot of times we're watching TV, we're on our phones. Do you have any tips for somebody who has a really sedentary job, anything they could do, maybe for two to three minutes while at work or when they get home or in the mornings, just to help with that aspect of things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, you're absolutely right, it's. I mean, I don't know how many times you've probably heard sittings, the new cigarettes or the new cancer. It's terrible for us to not move so with our jobs, a lot of us sitting at a desk. It's so important to set reminders. I mean, actually I've advised clients to literally put these reminders in their calendar, so there's no chance to getting busy Like it's going to pop up in front of you and say perform 15 squats, get out of your chair or get out and go get a drink of water. There's multiple little habitual things that you can promote by making sure, instilling them in your calendar taking a 10 minute walk or even a five minute walk it doesn't have to be 10 minutes, but adding whatever you have time for is critical. If it's 30 seconds, you can get 15 squats in, Right, so you can. It doesn't take a lot of time. It just takes significant discipline and effort.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one, one goal I set up for myself a long time ago when I became uh, when I went into med school and started working in the hospitals, I told myself I'm never going to take an elevator unless I like, absolutely do not have a choice. And so, uh, that's been about uh, almost 20 years 15, 20 years now, without doing the math, um, and I've not taken an elevator. So it is, uh, there's, I mean, a few very and few occasions when I didn't really have a choice, but that is one little thing that I said I'm going to Not take the elevator, just get those steps in and just keep myself moving because, a lot of times you are stuck in front of a computer 100%.
Speaker 1:How much time should we dedicate to mobility each week? Is this something you know? You kind of mentioned five minutes, ten minutes here. Should we be doing an hour a day? What should we be doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So here's the interesting part, and this is going to, I don't know, be a little bit different school of thought. So the number one way to gain mobility is going to be resistance training through full range of motion. So if you currently can't touch your toes, one of the number one things you could do is deadlifts and that's going to lengthen and strengthen your hamstrings. So it's if you have a great program that you're following, where you're hitting the fundamental human movement patterns of hinging at the waist, squatting, lunging, carrying, pushing, pulling, pushing, pulling if you have a great program that's going to hit all of those at least once a week, you're going to have a ton of time under tension that's going to promote more mobility. Now, additional flat out mobility sessions, like we do on our Thursdays. That is typically 45 minutes to an hour and it's probably going to be overkill for most people. So if they have a great program design already, um, they're going to get that mobility just in their training.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's you know. One thing I love about your program is we're getting it every day. Um, we, we start with kind of a warmup and mobility type exercises, you know, starting kind of slow and then they get a little bit faster but definitely increasing mobility there. But then throughout the workout itself, like you said, you know deadlifts to lengthen the hamstrings, a lot of things that you put into there. Not only are you building strength, but you're building mobility as well. So I want to transition a little bit again into nutrition and eating well to support strength and mobility. Do you have any specific philosophy? You know there's all kinds of information and, honestly, a lot of misinformation out there. What's your kind of overall philosophy?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, ultimately it boils down to muscle tissue philosophy. Well, I mean, ultimately it boils down to muscle tissue. That's the number one thing that's going to help you sort of fend off chronic disease as you age and be that glucose sponge to be able to help you on those days where we fall off track a little bit and go out for that pizza and beer or whatever. So if you are doing just a few of these things every week, every day, are doing just a few of these things every week, every day, and you're going to be in great shape. And that's going to be number one is starting your day off with a huge injection of protein 35 to 50 grams every single day to help start that muscle protein synthesis process. So in addition to that, I mean, the overall intake is critical. So there's information anywhere from 80% of total body weight in grams of protein per day would be like the bare minimum. And that is the individual who is training a few days a week. You know they're not the professional athlete, this is your everyday human to get the bare minimum, or I should say goal body weight if you're obese. So that would be, you know, terrible information for me to just blanket it to somebody who might be 50, 60 pounds overweight right now and have them eat even more calories, right, but ultimately, protein's king, that's what's think of protein as your repairing tool and the branching amino acids to be able to help you maintain and add new lean tissue as you, as you get older. That's critical for mobility and strength, because if we're dehydrated, we're going to have less fluid and synovial fluid around the joints and we're going to feel tighter. Our muscle tissue isn't going to have as much liquid in it. So, hydration, then general advice. There is usually 50% of goal body weight in ounces of water per day, and it's also, you know, when we do these things as a nutrition coach, when we give you these advice. Ultimately it's a, it's a management tool too, right? If I tell somebody to drink 50% of goal body weight in water each day, well, that probably means they're going to drink less Mountain Dew. That probably means they're going to drink less sugary energy drinks. Right, because they're in the people who take this seriously. They're going to hit their goal and do whatever it takes to do so. So these management tools are critical all the way around. Uh, to help us fend off sort of the bad habits that, oh you know that are in front of us every single day.
Speaker 2:So protein hydration and then, um, ultimately carbohydrates are the biggest topic of conversation I feel in, especially with type 2 diabetes on the rise and obesity on the rise. You know these hyper palatable processed foods are. They taste so good and they make our brain do jumping jacks and we want to keep eating. So it's very easy to overeat on those things, and so it's critical to promote a whole food diet, and when we get primarily our calorie intake daily on meats, vegetables, fruits, we're going to have less room for the McDonald's, we're going to have less room for the French fries and those type of things and we're not going to crave it because we're not eating it as often.
Speaker 2:So it's the you know, it's the 80-20 rule is what I talk to my clients about a lot. It's no one's asking you to be perfect, no one's. No one wants to be that perfect. You would go crazy if you were a hundred percent all the time. You're going to get incredible results and live a very long healthy life, being consistent with those whole foods and hitting your protein intake and hitting your water intake 80% of the time and still have room to be social, to be with family, to go out with friends and do those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I completely agree, and you said so much valuable information, so I'm going to restate a few things, or ask you to restate a few things. So tell me about the. You kind of mentioned a formula for how much protein a person should get, and you mentioned ideal or goal body weight. If somebody is curious of what that number should be, can you say that one more time?
Speaker 2:And were you talking pounds or kilograms? When you talked about grams of protein per somebody with more muscle tissue requires more protein. Somebody with less muscle tissue would require less, but ultimately, 90% of the people I sit with under eat on protein. That's number one.
Speaker 2:And so, if people can, I think some of the best habits to do are starting the day with a huge and when I say huge, 35 grams for women, 50 grams of protein for men. Starting the day with something like that is going to really kick off the day for you in a really positive manner and get you closer to that goal. So if somebody I would say to make it easy, for every hundred pound of body weight, we're looking to get at least 80 grams of protein in on a daily basis, and that is bare minimum. Right. When I put nutrition plans together for people, I do a percentage of their total daily calories.
Speaker 2:So there's multiple ways to skin this cat. It all depends on somebody's caloric need. The triathlete who has a high, high level of activity, eating 4,000 calories a day, well then we go on a percentage base and we don't even look at body weight necessarily. It's all percent of caloric intake, but general information. I think the easiest for people to understand. They can take a calculator, take their body weight and then multiply it by 0.8. And that's going to pump out the sort of floor or basement of where you want to be on a daily basis in grams of protein.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect. And you know, one of the things you told me when we had our nutrition assessment is well, two things that I really took away is you know, eat whatever the protein is first, right. So let's say you are out and you're celebrating something, maybe you get a burger and fries. Eat some protein first, right, instead of going right to the fries, because by the time maybe that burger is gone. Now you don't eat the whole thing of fries because you're feeling full, and so if you can get that protein in first, then oftentimes you'll intake less maybe the fries or dessert or whatever else it is.
Speaker 1:So I really appreciated that piece of wisdom that you gave me. Another piece was kind of like you said that 80-20 rule right, like, do really well 80% of the time and then if you're out to dinner, you can have a glass of wine, you can have a little bit of dessert or whatever it is, have that slice of pizza with your kids on the weekend, but if you're doing well 80 percent of the time, you're gonna hit. You hit the goals you want to hit, absolutely yeah, um, so. And then the last thing I wanted to touch on was tell me again the your formula for how much water we should be drinking to stay hydrated Well yeah, and this again, there's a lot of variables in this one too, like blanket gen pop advice.
Speaker 2:Uh, for anybody listening, I mean we're looking at so 50% of body weight. So for a 200 pound male, you're looking at a hundred ounces a day in water, and you know we keep again get into the weeds a little bit for somebody who's more athletic and and and trains more. So there's another part of the formula where you add another 15 to 20 ounces for each hour of exercise on top of that. So, with not exercise aside just to stay properly hydrated, we're looking at 50% of body weight or goal body weight if we're obese in water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's something that's really undervalued is hydration, and oftentimes there's quite a bit of research around. This is our bodies oftentimes mistake being dehydrated for feeling hungry. So sometimes you feel hungry and really you just need some water. You need to hydrate yourself, and not only that is you know, a trick that some people use is downing 12, 16 ounces of water before they sit down for their meal to help fill up their stomach. Right as our stomach stretches, we feel less full, so you can trick your stomach or your body into feeling more full by, you know, filling it with water first before you eat. You can't share all my nutrition.
Speaker 2:I know sorry.
Speaker 1:Any you know some common challenges, nutrition myths that you see. Obviously there's always trends on social media. There's trends in the regular media. There's all kinds of diets and fad diets that have gone around.
Speaker 2:What's hitting right now Is it keto God, how much time we got here. So the big one. Right now. I think keto is seeing its day a little bit. I think people keto is seeing its day a little bit. I think people are starting to wise up a little bit.
Speaker 2:There's more and more information coming out that can be pretty harmful but also, you know, it's super helpful in specific situations. So my belief in how I educate people is there's specific situations where keto can be super helpful, and that's going to be the type 2 diabetic or somebody with prediabetes, because that's a great management tool to get them insulin sensitive again by not eating carbs. So it's an incredible tool. But it's a terrible idea for somebody who's healthy and trying to put on muscle mass and trains hard, because we need carbohydrates for energy and likely those people are already sensitive to insulin. But I would say the number one right now is carnivore and that's really popular. But it's again the high-level nutrition Doctors of nutritional science are coming out and saying, hey, people, you need to eat fruits and vegetables, you need to eat other items other than just meat because high levels it's just like with anything. I think it's like the american way to just go all in one specific thing.
Speaker 2:Remember when juicing was all the rage in the 90s, and then, whoa, there's an uptick in diabetes I I wonder how that happened, because you probably shouldn't eat 17 oranges in one sitting when you juice it right, Especially when you're not getting the fiber to feel full from it. Exactly so. There's everything. It's the old saying, everything in moderation.
Speaker 2:Eat enough meat to meet your nutrition goals, all right, but you need to be filling in vegetables and fruits and other items, like you know, cottage cheeses and other forms of dairy, like, um, yogurts and so on, um, and so the people who are just absolutely against vegetables, it just it's like a it's it's like a serious cult, is a serious problem. So it's, there's a ton of information out there and, but you know, just like with anything, you see this image of this somebody who lost 50 pounds and now is all ripped up and muscled up and and um, they did it doing carnivore right, and so they. They attribute a hundred percent of their success to this one thing. And reality is, all diets work. All diets do the same thing. They cook, they create a caloric restriction. Somebody who eats carnivore is going to eat less overall calories, likely because they're not eating all of the other BS, uh, like processed foods that they were overeating before.
Speaker 2:And keto works because I don't know how anybody could eat that much fat in a day. You would feel miserably full all day long. I don't. It would be uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable thinking about it. So there's, all diets work at the end of the day. Just at what cost? Yeah, there's a cost associated with doing business that way, and that's the high levels of saturated fat in the carnivore diet right.
Speaker 2:And that can cause yeah, that could cause issues for a lot of people too. So I think, ultimately, what I would challenge people to do is find somebody who is going to talk to you about what flexible dieting and what flexible nutrition looks like. And because that is a, that's a situation where the nutrition plan is built around things you enjoy, like, for example I always say this to people on the first day it's like I'm not going to tell you to eat chicken and rice every meal if you hate chicken. I would be a really terrible nutrition coach if I did that Right and it wouldn't be successful. No, exactly, they'd do it for maybe two weeks and sure they'd see significant results, but it's not sustainable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not going to be there for long, so it's it's finding that sustainability is critical, uh, and and still mixing it. You know, pick three to four vegetables that you love and you can eat them every week and make them in different ways. Pick three to four fruits, heck. Pick two or three fruits that you can eat daily one, one or two servings day and you can get your fruit intake, and so I think there's a lot of overthought on those when it comes to nutrition plans and diets and fad diets.
Speaker 1:It sounds like the basic takeaway here is balance right. For sure. Balance fruits, vegetables, proteins. Balance your exercise with your mobility and your daily life. Balance, basically, your hydration. All these things are balanced. It doesn't have to be 100%, because what happens is 100% lasts, like you said two weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's got an expiration date on it, All right. One thing you know that I've found is I have a high stress job and when I'm stressed or lacking, sleep, tired, that's when I really struggle. Like that's when the pizza looks great, that's when that ice cream cone really is calling my name. Any tips there for, like people who are either really busy, you know, uh, or have kind of work in a high stress environment? Like here's how you don't um sabotage yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's yeah, I mean there's nothing. There's not a better way to sabotage yourself than you know lack of sleep, which is going to raise that cortisol and make you, when we, when cortisol is raising, we, we scream for carbs. Give me that Snickers, give me that piece of pizza, give me the alcohol, all the things. So I would say one of the best things you can do is prepare when you do have the time. So preparing when we have something in hand and close by, and that's keeping high protein snacks on hand at all times, something that's convenient, that you can reach for and snag it at a moment's notice when hunger strikes, because you're 100% spot on, that's where I see people fail the most is when stress is at its highest and sleep's at its lowest, and so preparing meals ahead of time, cooking in bulk, meaning like if you're going to make steak for dinner why wouldn't you make three steaks?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You cut it up and you have it for your next meal. And if you're going to make rice, why not make 10 cups of rice?
Speaker 1:Yeah, make it for the week yeah.
Speaker 2:So leverage the time you do have, because someone like you, in the career you're in there's very little time. Time is of the essence. So or you know another. If you don't even, let's say you don't have the time whatsoever, that's when I think it's a really smart choice for people to lean on the factor meals or the you know the meal prep, if you have a local meal prep company, to have somebody is that those prices have really come down a lot and are more palatable now. They're not nearly as expensive as having a personal chef, like it was a couple of years ago. So having those prepared meals is absolutely pivotal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. I don't need to expand anymore. You hit it. What about traveling? You know, some people hit the road and it can be really challenging. Some people hit the road and it can be really challenging. They're eating out, which is oftentimes larger portions than we need, very dense, caloric foods, maybe challenging to find a gym Anything you can say like hey, here's what works, get in that 20-minute walk instead of a gym day. What piece of advice can you give to people who travel a lot?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a tough one. I struggle with it personally. So in finding foods on the go is extremely difficult. Again, there's gas station pulls that you can get. There's protein forward items. So I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but coming back to prioritizing protein is absolutely critical and sticking away from drive-thrus, so taking the extra time or calling it in to a local spot that has healthier options that aren't all on a sandwich bun or something to that extent, yep. So having protein forward thinking whether that's in the form of protein snacks at a gas station, you know, hard boiled I've seen hard boiled eggs at gas stations jerky beef jerky.
Speaker 2:All these items you have the ability to. You just have to be able to execute on it, right? You have to be willing to execute on it.
Speaker 2:Right. And then choosing the restaurant down the street to get a takeout order over McDonald's, right, and that's that you have a little bit more opportunity to customize it and say, hey, if I'm ordering a burger no bun, and you know, and vegetables or fruit side, and, uh, you know, in vegetables or fruit side, I have the ability to say, hey, can you, um, can you use a pan spray versus butter? Right, can you use X, you know. So you have the ability to make requests and I think that's kind of a a long, uh, lost art that people don't even consider is even if they're sitting down at a restaurant. It's like you have the ability to ask the extra step. You have the ability to say, hey, can you go light on the butter or the oil, or can you use olive oil over margarine or some kind of seed oil? So choosing those items over the convenience is really critical. And over the convenience is really critical.
Speaker 2:And on the fitness side, on the exercise portion of it is, you know, again, it comes down to don't get paralysis by analysis. There needs to be an easy entry. Most hotels have gyms, right. Most hotels have significant floors with a lot of stairs. Yeah, like you mentioned earlier. I think that's one of the I think that's an awesome thing is choosing the stairs and choosing to get more steps in Taking the action to walk everywhere you go, versus jumping in the Uber.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think just doing something over nothing right, like it might not be your normal gym routine, but maybe a 20-minute walk instead of just watching TV, exactly Right. And one thing on the nutrition for me and maybe this isn't great advice, so take this with a grain of salt but I found, you know like when I'm in a real desperate and there's nothing else, like I'll hit Chick-fil-A and get their chicken grilled, chicken tenders. Yeah, and it's 400 calories and like 45 grams of protein. Not probably the best thing to do every day, but if no other options, getting something that's really protein and not deep fried in my opinion is a pretty good choice.
Speaker 2:I think it's great advice. I think life in general, parenting life in general comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils, and what you just mentioned is a much better choice than grabbing the 1500 calorie Whopper at Burger King.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly, all right. So wrapping up, nutrition hydration. I think we hit that one pretty hard. So a couple of takeaways. Strength training what would you say? Where do we start? Is it start with body weight? Is it, you know, maybe somebody, probably two schools of people somebody who said hey, I want to take this seriously, I'm going to get into the gym, maybe come over to StrengthRx, get an actual full analysis. But maybe there's somebody who you know they don't have that option. It's either financial, maybe they live in a place that doesn't have a gym where they can get to. Where do we start?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a big one. Best case scenario. I'll try to give both ends of the spectrum. Best case scenario is to hire a professional and get exposure. I can't tell you the value that our clients see just by seeing what it's like to work with somebody and have that guide. Take all the guesswork out for you and allow you just to focus on your movement. And so, in this world, you're going to pay for it in the long run or you're going to pay for it in the short run so you can shorten the time it takes for your education on fitness, on movement and by hiring somebody. So, starting with finding some online options, there's a lot of freebies, there's a lot of online aspects, even, I think ChatGPT even does this now where you can, hey, build me a workout, a full body workout, for 15 minutes, and so using this new AI and using some of this tech is going to be a game changer for people. I think so.
Speaker 2:Ultimately, it may be body weight right. Right, in a perfect world and this is something that we take to heart at the gym we're not going to load somebody until they show us control. So if they can't go through a full range of motion, squat or they, they just about fall over, or whatever it might be. We have to make some modifications for them and then gradually, progressively overload them. And the day one, maybe week one, maybe week two, that might be body weight week one, when we're moving just with body weight if anybody loads you and your body weight, movement is difficult for you, I'd run for the fences. And then maybe week two, we're adding a band around the knees.
Speaker 2:Bands are like one of the most overlooked tools to use and they add just a touch more of resistance than your general body weight does. So, taking the proper steps of going from body weight to eventually getting some dumbbells, a light set of dumbbells, a moderate set of dumbbells and a heavy set of dumbbells, and that might be a set of 10s, a set of 25s and a set of 40s, and you could go to your local Play it Again Sports and now you have a personal home gym with everything you need for, who knows, 100 bucks.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So it's a very low entry. So I think too many of us go to the thought process of like if I can't go 100%, I'm not going. So I think we need to meet ourselves where we're at Right. So I think we need to meet ourselves where we're at.
Speaker 1:Right, and I think you know one way I like to look at this is you know, some people say, well, a hundred bucks, that's a lot of money. Well, you know how much money are you going to spend on your diabetes medication every month, how much money are you going to spend on all those co-pays, and you know the surgeries that you're going to need, so you can either spend it now or spend it later every month on the medication, whatever For sure. All right, we talked a lot about nutrition and, if you don't mind, I'm just going to quickly summarize. We talked about focusing on whole foods, we talked about a balanced diet, we talked about really focusing protein forward and you know we didn't touch much on this. But if you could just give me a real brief summary, People are fat, was for a long time. You know. Avoid fat. Everything's fat-free Fat-free ice cream, Fat-free butter, Fat-free yogurt Is fat bad.
Speaker 2:No, it's. Yeah, that was a big myth and I think it. You know, one of the maybe positives, the silver lining out of keto was a lot of the information that came out saying, yeah, saturated fats, animal fats, aren't bad. They're actually super helpful from a I mean especially from a hormone profile standpoint too, for healthy hormonal profile. Uh, it's no, fat makes us full, which is a really great tool from a weight management standpoint if you're, if you're going to. And that goes back to eating your protein first, because there's a lot of times if you're eating animal-based, a lot of saturated fats in there. So if we eat our protein first and eat our fat first, we're going to feel more full, likely eat less food. So it's a great tool and it is healthy for you. And fat doesn't make you fat. An excess amount of calories adds weight and leads to obesity. Of calories right, adds weight right and leads to obesity.
Speaker 1:It's not a specific macronutrient like fat, like fats or carbohydrates or or protein, yeah, and I think we need all three. We need carbs, we need fats and we need protein. And I still go to, you know, at the grocery store it's oftentimes still hard to find full fat yogurt or, you know, full fat items, because people still want the fat taken out of everything and oftentimes they are adding other substances, chemicals, processed things to those foods to make them palatable, because they take the fat out, and I think that's significantly more harmful than having the fat in there. All right, enough about nutrition. Well, one last thing.
Speaker 1:We talked about hydration as well, so making sure you're staying hydrated. Um, one thing I really like that you focus on a lot is progress, not perfection, right, and it is a it's not a weekly or it's not going to happen in a week, it's not going to happen in a month, probably not going to happen in three months. You're going to see some progress, but this is a lifelong, you know, journey. Um, can you just touch on that a little bit more?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I do my best to meet people where they're at and and try to almost, you know, not scare them off, um, by chasing this perfection and this specific body image. So one of the parts where our initial consult and conversation is when people come to me with specific body image or body weight goals. I talk to them and show them body composition and the importance of it and say, hey, listen, body composition and the importance of it. And say, hey, listen, the five foot four 140 pound female at 35% body fat, um, looks a lot different than the five foot four 130 pound female at 20% body fat. Uh and so, but you know how do we get there? And I, and I show them that a significant weight loss and we classify a significant weight loss of more than four pounds in a month, so a pound a week is can be detrimental, and I mean that by a muscle tissue.
Speaker 2:Going with that right right, we specifically focus on showing people how to maintain and build muscle tissue because of how important it is to retain that while minimizing body fat. So that's such a critical component to this journey and if we take two biggest steps and jump into a significant weight loss situation, we're going to lose all sorts of tissue, including our highly regarded muscle tissue. Highly regarded muscle tissue. So I can't stress that the importance of that enough. Where it is long and steady, wins the race, right. It's not the quick, the quick hitter and changing quite a few different things. So put the focus on a significant timeframe six months to 12 months and if you, if you do the math on it, four pounds at 12 months, that's 48, 50 pounds a year. It's huge. And you can do that while adding or maintaining the current muscle tissue you have. And now you're going to live a longer life. You're going to be less sick, right. You're going to have less issues for joint issues. You're going to have more mobility.
Speaker 1:And you're gonna be able to keep that weight off because of the muscle tissue that you have and your higher metabolism. So it's huge and I think I like what you touched on there. Because it's such a hot topic, we're not going to get into it. But all the GLP-1s, the Ozempics, the Wigovis and these people are losing such significant muscle mass and I think there is, you know, while there's some benefits to losing that weight, the amount of muscle mass that they're losing, I think a lot of these people are actually going to turn out to be more unhealthy after the weight loss because their muscle tissue is gone as well.
Speaker 2:I'm honestly terrified of the next 12 to 24 months for these humans, because it's when you take those things you end up becoming a smaller version of what you are currently. So if you are currently 35 40 body fat and you take this drug and you maintain that 35 to 40 body fat because you lost a lot of tissue, um, that is a recipe for a very mean bounce back weight gain, because our muscle tissue again, that is what drives our metabolism. That's your Ferrari car engine and it takes calories. It takes more calories to maintain that tissue. And so I'm begging and pleading people on a regular basis to if you are going to take those GLP-1s and I think they, when done right, I think they can be useful Absolutely but you need to make sure you're eating your protein Right. You need to make sure if you're resistance training and training, and that's just it.
Speaker 2:If you hit those two things, you could have a really great result and not yo-yo, like you'll see a huge number of these humans do yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm going to put you on the spot here Number one piece of advice for people starting their fitness or nutrition journey. Any one piece of advice you can.
Speaker 2:Oh boy, yeah, if I had to boil it down to one thing, it's going to be movement, honestly. So then, that is as simple as taking walks, taking the stairs and I'm just trying to make this as simple as possible because I want people to. If they're going to take action tomorrow, what's the number one thing that they could do that's going to help them for the rest of their life? Well, movement's going to allow you to be in a caloric deficit, potentially, and it's going to help you stimulate muscle tissue. So it's the catch-all number one thing. So, whether it's walking, taking the stairs, joining a gym, whatever it is, take the step, don't be scared and just make sure you do it and see it through.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and I think movement I like that. You said movement because also the endorphins that are released with that movement make you feel better, make you a happier person. It's such a huge impact on our health in general just to get out and move a little bit. 100%, all right. Number one piece of advice for someone who's fallen off the wagon and I've been there we all have yeah we all have.
Speaker 1:You go six, eight, maybe months, maybe years where you used to have it together and it can be so challenging to get started again once you've fallen off Anything that you could say hey for that person who was there and you are so depressed that you let yourself go or fallen off. How do you get started again?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think in that situation specifically, a community is hugely beneficial for that person because they've been there before, they know what it takes. They're just terrified to take the leap again, take the leap again. Um, so, having like, if you have a singular friend or um, uh, you know somebody who knows, somebody who is, has a group fitness class or works out every day at, just ask to join them. Yeah, literally just ask to join them and then it's going to help you in, you're going to feel less judged, cause I feel like that's probably what's stopping a lot of these people to get back in is like the judgment's not going to be there. Judged, because I feel like that's probably what's stopping a lot of these people to get back in. It's like the judgment's not going to be there.
Speaker 2:People in the fitness industry I should say most people in the fitness industry we're not judging you, we want to help you Right. So we want to do whatever we can to remove these roadblocks for you and so you have a genuine conversation with somebody you know, who you know is not going to put the judgment eyes on you and um, and get you moving again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, accountability, I think you know just having someone who you're checking in with daily, weekly, whatever it is, say, hey, are you doing what you said you were going to do it? Just, there's so much research out there just saying having somebody that to be accountable to, and this is totally side note. But there's so much research out there just saying having somebody to be accountable to, and this is totally side note. But there's nobody in the gym that I have more respect for than that person who's you know, really overweight. Yeah, because that is so challenging to show up, because you feel like you're going to be. You know, I'm sure they I've talked to these people they feel like they're going to be judged, they feel out of place. It's easy for the guy who you know can come in in a tank top and look ripped right, like everyone's like dude, look at that guy.
Speaker 2:I want to be like him.
Speaker 1:And everybody looks up to that person or gal, but the person who comes in and they don't fit in because they are significantly overweight, that's a hard place to be in and so I hope you know if that's you, I think most people in the gym are looking at you saying, dude, good job, oh heck yeah, they're applauding you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are applauding you and want nothing more than for you to succeed. So I'm sure there's people out there who are good humans, but I think the majority of the community is cheering you on Absolutely All right. I don't know if there's anything here, but what's one piece of advice for someone who's was doing well? But they're really losing steam. They're like dude. I just don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that goes down to the, the consistency and sustainability conversation, and I would say I'm just I'm a huge advocate of fitness and nutrition in general. So I always tell people even my current members who are maybe I've had that conversation with them Like I don't care if you cancel your membership here but go somewhere else. You know, like search, try every gym in town for at least 60 days. Give it 60 days, though. Give every gym in town 60 days. Find out which one you enjoy the most and choose that one. So sometimes variety is super helpful to help keep us on track. If you did that with every gym in town and went 60 days, that's damn near the entire year, right?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So you're going to stay consistent and you're switching things up and it's new and exciting. If that's you and you need that, I think anybody who is a true fitness and health advocate wants to see you succeed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that, that's great. Some final thoughts here. I agree with that, that's great. Some final thoughts here. Share a motivational message or philosophy about achieving a healthy, pain-free life. Anything you know and we've kind of touched on this so it may be a little bit redundant, but anything you could you know. Short couple of sentence about hey, maybe not pain-free, maybe that's not the right word, but reducing pain, being able to get through your day, getting in and out of the car, getting up off the floor, those sort of things.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I mean first, none of those things should be hard, and if they are hard for you right now, that is your call to action to do something about it. Right, and that's exactly how we look at anybody who comes to us that's currently in pain is the approach, is this we are going to make you, we're going to make you stronger and add lean tissue surrounding that joint pain or wherever you have that, wherever that pain is located, and a stronger human, a more formidable human being, has less pain. All in all, that's what it boils down to. Human being has less pain all in all, but that's what it boils down to. So, if you, if you can, you need to pick up some weights, you need to strength train. That is the most critical form of exercise that you could do and and that needs to be a part of every single person's regime.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think you know, I think this goes without saying. But just to be clear, you know, people can have pain for other reasons, right, maybe you got in a car accident, maybe you got some issues, but we're talking about, I think, just kind of chronic joint pain. There's not really a specific injury there, it's just maybe either lack of mobility or lack of proper technique, things like that's kind of what you're saying, right, totally.
Speaker 2:Or overuse, or overuse, yeah, think about how many people in jobs, in very physical jobs, who have elbow tendonitis, shoulder tendonitis, even carpal tunnel Carpal tunnel, yeah, anybody that's using their hands on a daily basis guarantee, if they're 40 or older, they have some sort of chronic pain. And so those are the people I think probably, if they have a physical job, they look at strength training, they almost look down on it a little bit. Right, they're like yeah, I've got a physical job, I'm a UPS driver, I'm this, I'm that, so I don't need to work out. Right, your body is able to adapt to that easily and quickly and becomes more efficient at what you do on a day-to-day basis. And so, if you found pain at an overuse standpoint even more critical to weight training.
Speaker 1:Yeah, give me two actionable items. We talked a little bit about it, but can you reiterate two things? If you said, hey, someone actually listened to everything we had to say today and maybe they don't really know where to start, what two takeaways do you want someone to start tomorrow?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm going to break this down into two categories nutrition and exercise. So let's go with nutrition first. Nutrition and exercise. So let's go with nutrition first and the number one thing you can do that's going to carry over into all aspects of overall a healthier, longer, more active life. And that's going to be eating, hitting your protein goals, eating more protein. That's going to check so many boxes for you and make you have a far better life and make you have a far better life.
Speaker 2:On the exercise component, I always try to make this as simplistic as possible. But performing body weight, squats, push-ups, sit-ups if you have a band at home, band pull-aparts hitting those foundational, fundamental human movement patterns, pull-aparts, hitting those foundational, fundamental human movement patterns, lunging every single day those have carryover into your life. So making sure that you hit all of those components every single week, multiple times, is going to pay huge dividends. So even if you're at home, you don't have anything and no equipment whatsoever, you can still do something. And just don't let it, just don't overthink it. You know you don't have to go to the gym to get it done, Just get it done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are great. Chad, where can listeners find out more about your program? Name of your business, the gym social media website. Where can people find some more information?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're strengthRxGmtraversecity. You can find us on Instagram, but strengthrxgymcom is our website and we do have remote coaching and program design that we have plenty of people who work out at home or at other gyms. We just wanted to make sure that we give people a plan that they can follow and have less thought. So it's going to. It's again removing one of those barriers that might be stopping somebody from moving today. So strengthrxgymcom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's great, and you know I use the app all the time. If I don't make the class together, I can, you know, hit the gym on my own and use the app, or use the app at home or when I'm traveling, so it's really helpful. I love that there's videos attached to each exercise. Maybe I'm not familiar with the term, so there's a. I don't know if it's a YouTube video, but there's a video attached and I can watch someone do the exercise with the proper form and then you can track your progress in the app as well. So I found that really helpful. Well, chad, thank you so much for joining us. You are one of the most intelligent people I know. Specifically regarding you know strength, training, mobility, nutrition I really value your insight and your expertise. You've taught me a lot over the past few years that we've been working together, so thank you so much for taking the time for joining us and for all your expertise today. Yeah, thank you very much.