Next Level University
Confidence, mindset, relationships, limiting beliefs, family, goals, consistency, self-worth, and success are at the core of hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros' heart-driven, no-nonsense approach to holistic self-improvement. This transformative, 7 day per week podcast is focused on helping dream chasers who have been struggling to achieve their goals and are seeking community, consistency and answers. If you've ever asked yourself "How do I get to the next level in my life", we're here for you!
Our goal at NLU is to help you uncover the habits to build unshakable confidence, cultivate a powerful mindset, nurture meaningful relationships, overcome limiting beliefs, create an amazing family life, set and achieve transformative goals, embrace consistency, recognize your self-worth, and ultimately create the fulfillment and success you desire. Let's level up your health, wealth and love!
Next Level University
#1372 - What Does “Fitness” Mean To You?
Do you ever feel like physical fitness is an overlooked aspect of well-being? In this episode, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros explore the crucial role of physical health in our lives. They share their personal journeys and the transformational effects it has had on their self-confidence and self-esteem. They will help you redefine your fitness goals, understand your relationship with your body, and embrace the power of physical health. Discover how feeling strong and capable can skyrocket your confidence and self-worth, and learn the importance of balance in achieving a healthy lifestyle. They also discuss the potential dangers of taking fitness to the extreme and how to break free from negative associations with your body. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or just starting your journey, this conversation will inspire you to take charge of your physical health, and in turn, elevate every aspect of your life.
Links mentioned:
To learn more about group coaching - https://nextleveluniverse.com/group-coaching/
Next Level Monthly Meetup #19: "3 Things Everyone Should Know About Their Intimate Partner" on July 6, 2023, 06:00 PM EST - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/monthly-meetups/
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- Next Level U Book Club - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/next-level-book-club/
- Next Level Monthly Meetup #18: "How To Stick With Something For The Long Run" on June 1, 2023, 06:00 PM EST - https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sfuGopj0rH9BT_Utn_nq9Lk5-TtxeSpt4#/registration
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Email 💬
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Alan@nextleveluniverse.com
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Show notes:
[3:51] Fitness goals
[7:30] Insecurity
[12:29] Level of certainty
[13:38] Alex highlights how Next Level Business Solutions helped him optimize his time for maximum productivity
[14:17] What is your relationship with fitness?
[18:05] Taking fitness for granted
[22:11] What affected your relationship with fitness?
[25:03] Outro
All right, three things everyone should know about their intimate partner. Let's do this thing.
Speaker 2:You ready, ma'am?
Speaker 1:I would say that's a fair assessment.
Speaker 2:All right, let's do it. Here we go. Next Level Nation. Welcome back to another episode of Next Level University, where we teach you how to level up your life, your love, your health and your wealth. We hope you enjoyed our latest episode. It was episode number 1371. It's almost impossible to succeed with the wrong people today. For episode number 1372.
Speaker 2:What does fitness mean to you? One of the reasons I am actually excited for this episode is because, alan, i know when you and I talk about fitness, like if I said to you what have you been doing to practice fitness lately, i know what you're going to say. I know exactly what you're going to say and I can imagine you practicing fitness. I know what that means to you. I've done it with you. We've experienced that together.
Speaker 2:But if you are listening and maybe right now you're not as consistent with fitness as you want to be, i would ask what your definition is And, honestly, is it the definition that's stopping you from doing it? Is the definition I must go whatever 45 minutes, i must go to the gym and I must do X amount of time there, or I must do the treadmill, whatever it is? I think the label of that holds a lot of us back, especially if the label was different when we were younger. How hard is it for you now to go do a 45 minute workout, as opposed to back in the day you used to do like an hour and a half. The commitment to fitness seems different now even though it's what's best for you now.
Speaker 1:It was my whole world. not my whole world, it was a huge part of my world back then. So Kevin and I want to confess something to the listeners. We talk about health, wealth and love.
Speaker 2:I didn't say that Hold on, we're going to talk about this. I don't want to confess anything, i'm just kidding, i know.
Speaker 1:So on the end of the last episode you'll hear Kev say this We talk about health, wealth and love on this show Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wealth how you make your money, how much you make and where you invest it. In other words, do you love what you do, do you love how much you make and what are you doing with it? And then love, which is friends, family, intimate relationship, all things relationships. We have a confession We talk about mental, emotional and spiritual health constantly, which I love.
Speaker 1:We don't talk often about physical health, fitness, sleep, hydration, nutrition, training, mobility, breath work, supplementation. We don't talk a lot about fitness, but in this episode, my intention is to help everyone understand what fitness means to them. What is your fitness goals? Do you have a fitness goal? If so, is it to lose weight or gain weight? Is it to build strength or to build muscle? Is it weight training, cardio? Is it long form, short form HIIT training? There's a lot of components and I do not want to turn this into a fitness podcast.
Speaker 1:Kev, but what I do want to do is have you and I actually talk to each other and talk to our listeners about fitness, because it's been a minute.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the other interesting thing too is you might not even have a quote unquote fitness goal. You might have a physique goal, maybe that's not what you're considering it. You might have a goal of what the number on the scale says, but that's only half the battle, not even really. I mean. that's a really good place to start, but it's the effort that you put in Even that. what is your relationship with fitness? What are your goals around health? physical health, i think, is a really good place to start, because it might be drastically different than It might be either way more simple or way more complicated than we're talking about. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:For me, it's so much to this Even just trying to articulate it on a show. It's like there's muscle mass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I think that's why we avoid it, because There's a lot of ways that we can go that I don't know, that most people care to know.
Speaker 1:I think they might care more than you think, but probably less than Less than you think. Yeah, yeah it's.
Speaker 2:It's what I really want for people If you're watching or listening, the level of certainty that you have. I just want the, the physical realm, the fitness, nutrition, getting results. When it comes to that, i want that to be something that you have certainty around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that that's the ultimate goal in other words, looking and feeling The way that you want to like, knowing how to do that knowing how to do that.
Speaker 1:One thing I want to share briefly is I I've come to realize this recently. Back in my fitness competitor, fitness model Fitness coaching days, i Lost sight of what it felt like to feel insecure in my own skin Because my whole world was surrounded around fitness. I had 10 plus fitness clients. I was doing competitions, i did 42 photo shoots and I remember being at the beach and almost wanting to be shirtless.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's almost like you want an excuse to be shirtless because you've put in so much work. Why, why don't you get to enjoy that? It's a very enviable thing, it's a very wonderful thing, and I always say this I mean, i've been, i've been very low in health before. Uh, i talk about some chronic illnesses that I had for lack of better phrasing. Uh, at the talent of high school, you know, i've been frail and weak and skinny and not athletic. I'm telling you, being a fitness athlete Who could do a triathlon on a whim and do decent like I, there's nothing better in the world in my opinion. Like being physically strong and capable and fit is like the best thing in the world. I mean, there's nothing better in my opinion. I think it's health is everything. And Recently this was too, not this summer, but the summer before I went on the lake with Emilia's family.
Speaker 1:We were on a boat, pontoon boat. I remember covering my stomach with a towel And I was like am I insecure? Like, is this like? am I insecure? Oh, i remember what this was like. I'm like fat kind of and again, fat is a relative term, so I want to make that very clear to everybody. Right, but compared to having ripped eight pack abs. I mean, i was definitely not looking good, feeling good. And then when you take photos, it's even worse. Hmm, you know, the sun shows everything and I remember having this real empathetic moment of like oh, it's been a minute since I've felt this way. It's the worst feeling ever. Maybe this is just a me thing, but I can't, i like, don't like that at all. Let's talk about that. What about it? feeling insecure about your own body?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, i'm, I feel that way right now. Probably I would say I haven't. I got surgery. Uh, i was really crushing the gym. I was dieting, i felt really good, everything was going in the right direction and I I knew I had surgery coming up and it was like, ah, whatever, we'll see what happens. And then I got surgery on monday, a week ago, and it's like, well, i'm, i'm not going to keep dieting, there's no point. Like let me just enjoy life. But right now I'm 185. Right now, like I don't feel great. I wouldn't feel great with my shirt off, definitely not.
Speaker 1:But here's the thing. Do you remember how awesome it was when you did, though? Definitely.
Speaker 2:Isn't it a different game? It's hard to explain without sounding like an ass A little bit.
Speaker 1:Try without sounding like an ass, because the truth of the matter is, i think that if people believed it would be worth it, they would probably work for it. It will be worth it. It's the best thing in the world.
Speaker 2:As long as you have the right association with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a level of certainty. When I was in the best shape in my life, odds of anybody being in better shape than me was very low. Like if I took my shirt off, i most likely was going to be the most in-shape person in the room.
Speaker 1:Just statistically, i remember playing bags with you. This was years ago. And you were just ripped man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i was in very, very good shape.
Speaker 1:And I was in great shape then too.
Speaker 2:But like not good for you You were another level. It can bring you a level of confidence. It can bring you a real level of confidence and significance and certainty, and it's almost like, in a way, you do want to show it off, i think a lot of people think it's an ego thing.
Speaker 1:I think it's more than that. I think it's a self-esteem, self-belief, self-worth thing. There's something about being strong and capable, that you hold yourself differently and you feel differently about yourself, and I think that that's what I want to get across on this episode is I remember feeling frail and like not going to the gym and not being in shape and being weak. It doesn't feel good, you don't feel good about you And you kind of have to protect yourself from that truth And instead I just finally, after that car accident and after I got jumped one time I'm not going to go into it, but I just started going to the gym and I just started to feel better.
Speaker 1:I think you build self-esteem. Bodybuilding. People take it way too far. I do agree with that, especially with all the drugs and all that. That's not what Kevin and I are talking about, but what I am saying is like physical fitness is at least one fourth of the equation Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development And if you're missing the physical, i'm telling you it's holding you back And there's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own skin.
Speaker 2:Remember when we went to Brennan Bouchard's event and Doc Gen Fit did a thing where if you sit down on the floor and you can't get up without using your hands I don't remember the numbers, but you probably will you're X amount times more likely to have a heart attack or something, or the mortality rate, i don't remember what it is, but just think of that. If you pause this episode right now and I do this all the time, every time I sit down on the floor, i make sure, because I remember thinking like I used to do jiu-jitsu. When you do jiu-jitsu, you're on the floor and you have to get up, i never used my hands, i would just cross my legs and stand up. That's what I did, and I remember when Doc Gen was talking about it, i was like, interesting, that is so easy for me. I can't imagine not being able to do that, but I've also been training for 16 years. Maybe you don't want the feedback right now, i don't know, but I do think it would be a really good practice to pause this episode right now, sit on the floor and try to stand up without using your hands. That's a really good piece of awareness, at least.
Speaker 2:Here's the other thing Right now I'm not. Yes, i felt very secure in the past where it's almost like I know this is going to be a cred build. If I take my shirt off, people most likely will be impressed. Right now I don't think anybody would be impressed. I definitely am not, and that's really, at this point, what matters the most. But there is also a level of certainty where I told Taren today I was like I'm so excited to be able to go back to the gym on Monday. I just know I'm going to have to start doing a lot more cardio. I already have the plan, i know I have the strategy, which is a level of certainty that I'm very blessed to have, based on all the experience. That is what I want.
Speaker 2:If you're watching or listening, i want you to take that away. Here it is. What does fitness mean to you? Maybe it means a black hole of lack of knowledge that you don't think you can ever fix or figure out. Maybe it's something that you haven't quote unquote practiced in years. Or it's not your current identity, but it used to be. Or maybe you had some negative I used to over exercise and maybe I dealt with some eating challenges. I completely understand and empathize with that. Maybe this podcast is the first step before you go seek some other help. What is the relationship with fitness? What is the relationship with exercise? What is the relationship with your body? I think that's really my thought process in this episode, and this is going to obviously be one where you and I go back and forth because I don't really know what the tactics are for this.
Speaker 1:What is your relationship with your body? What is your relationship with fitness? What is your relationship with food? What is your relationship with exercise? Are those positive things? You can kind of feel it. I tell the story about I was coaching a couple and one of the partners in the relationship really loves fitness and they're killing it and they go to the gym every day and they really want to go to the gym with their partner. Their partner doesn't like exercise very much. They had a negative relationship with weight training. They were very comfortable, Understandable. We were talking about it and she was like, yeah, I don't know. I said, well, who's someone who's like really fit in your circle? She names the name and she says, yeah, she's one of those fit chicks. I was like, ooh see, you have a negative association with fit chicks. What's dangerous about that is that you're never going to try to become something that you unconsciously are judging as a negative, that you have a negative association with Everyone. Think of a brand they have a negative association with. What's a good example of that?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Kia. I don't ever want to drive a Kia.
Speaker 2:You ever driven a Kia? Kia's coming up.
Speaker 1:They are coming up. Deangelo's, the number one. We were DeAngelo's.
Speaker 2:There was a DeAngelo's downtown in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. I used to go and get a chicken Caesar salad and there used to be a long black hair in almost everyone I ever got. It was disgusting. I can't ever eat DeAngelo's again.
Speaker 1:There you go. What's your relationship with the DeAngelo's?
Speaker 2:Not good.
Speaker 1:What's your relationship? I want to read this really quickly because this was a tough time for me and this is on my blog. Real quick. Above is a picture of my downward spiral. I didn't understand this at the time, but I was avoiding all of my own truth. This is a story that so I was in a movie. There's this one scene where Superman gets out of a lake shirtless See figure two below And, by the way, i'm taking a lot of this out of context so it'll make way more sense in the blog, which I'll link below.
Speaker 1:After seeing his physique, the feedback was too much. I had to leave the theater. I went to the bathroom by myself and started to cry. Looking in the mirror, the man staring back at me wasn't who I aspired to be anymore. I didn't see a bright, confident young man capable of great things. I saw a frail, cowardly and deeply unfulfilled kid living outside of his truth. I cried alone for quite some time that day, and that changed my life's trajectory forever.
Speaker 1:Not long after that evening in the theater, i got in a car accident that had me questioning everything even more. This was another massive amount of truth all at once, where I once again faced how much. I was not living up to my true potential. The car accident is a long story for another time, but the short version is blah, blah, blah. After that, i went on a self-improvement spree. You know those movie montages where you see a character finally getting their act together. It felt a lot like that, but instead of a 10 minute scene it was a several year process, the only reason I bring this up, and if you are interested in that article, it'll be linked below. But I remember being in that theater, kev. I went to dinner earlier that day. I was with my friend Manu and we went to see the movie. This was back in, i think, 2012, something like that, 2013, 2014. What's the Superman guy's name? Henry Cable. Henry Cable, quite the stud. He's a specimen.
Speaker 1:He's a specimen I'm drinking at dinner and then I spiked my huge movie theater, Mountain Dew, with Captain Morgan. I'm drunk on a weekday. I'm not drunk but buzzed.
Speaker 2:On your way.
Speaker 1:I was just not working out, not feeling good about me. I was working hard in corporate America, but I wasn't physically fit. It's about fitness. I wasn't practicing fitness, i wasn't doing mobility, i wasn't eating right, i wasn't training consistently. I see the scene of Henry Cable come out of this lake and the dude is jacked. I just remember I had to leave the theater. I was like I can't. I left the theater, i went in the bathroom, i cried and after that I remember vividly, saying I'm done living like this. I need to train again. I need to get back in the gym. I've had a couple of moments like that in my life, because physical fitness means the world to me. You have a strong, capable body. If you're listening, you may not. I know we have some friends who got in bad accidents and they can't go to the gym.
Speaker 1:Eric LeGrand. we interviewed him several times. He was a rock star football player and he got hurt and paralyzed. Now he's doing other amazing things, but we take our physique for granted. We take our physical fitness for granted and I never want to do that For our listeners if you don't have a positive relationship with fitness and a positive relationship with your body and a positive relationship with food and the scale and this kind of stuff. I'm not saying to change all that overnight, but I am telling you that I was there. I was there and I had a great relationship with alcohol and I had a terrible relationship with fitness. I'm telling you I flipped that script and I'm still working on it, but it's a way better life You will be. I think being in shape is better than people think I do. It's the best thing in the world and maybe I'm biased, but it's the best.
Speaker 2:Well, you'll definitely be grateful in the future. That's the interesting thing about health. We talk a lot about mental health and we talk a lot about self-awareness. That's stuff that you're going to get to work on forever, and it's not necessarily as challenging to work on self-awareness when you get older. When you're 50, working on self-awareness probably isn't that challenging, but when you're 50, working on your physical health is more challenging, especially if you've never done it before. Fitness is one of those interesting things where you have to and I won't say you have to it would benefit you to be more proactive, because when you start to get reactive, it's almost too late. The ship's already taken on water and you're trying to plug holes and it's like look, we are in trouble here. You and I are noticing that 33 and 34. It's not like it used to be. It's a different game. Huh, it's humbling.
Speaker 1:It's humbling.
Speaker 2:It's humbling. Yeah, it's humbling Again. I think this is one of those deeper understanding episodes and maybe just an episode that allows you to ask yourself some questions when we get to the end of it, but I really think that's a really good place to start. Last thing, because I have another podcast, i'm getting on My relationship and you probably have noticed this and even if you're listening on the show, you've probably noticed my relationship with the gym changed dramatically after physical therapy because before Every time I went to the gym I was in massive amounts of pain.
Speaker 2:I had a negative relationship. Then started going to PT, went back to the gym, started lifting heavy, feeling good, feeling like a bodybuilder again, feeling strong. I'm excited to go back because now I miss the opportunity. I was so grateful to have my body back and feel good and my body was working, and now I lost that for a short period of time And it's just a friendly reminder of, like, make sure you stay grateful and get back after it when you have the opportunity. But sometimes it's something that doesn't even seem connected. That has really affected our relationship with it. I love the gym, but not when, every time I go, i'm getting negative feelings. My shoulder hurts, my neck hurt, whatever. It's obviously not sustainable that way. So that's another question too is maybe it was something external? What affected, if something did, what was it that affected your relationship with quote, unquote fitness, with health, with goals, body food, whatever it may be, that's. It's a deeper, deeper understanding episode, for sure.
Speaker 1:Very, very powerful. So everyone before we go just check in.
Speaker 1:What is your relationship with fitness? Zero to 10. And it can be whatever fitness means to you. It can be cardio, it can be weight training, it can be physique goals, it can be body composition, it can be whatever. And if you need help with this, just reach out. We have a long history of bodybuilding and fitness between the two of us. I mean, we've been doing it between the two of us for a combined. I've been doing it for at least nine years, yeah probably 20, 25 years between the two of us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then even before that I was dabbling, but I wasn't doing it right until nine years ago. But if you struggle in this arena I mean there's so many people that are, you know reach out, just reach out and get started, because you'll be surprised how much confidence you build when you know what you're doing. You don't have to be worried about your wedding coming up or that next wedding coming up. You don't have to be worried every spring season or whatever. You don't have to be worried about going to the beach. You'll be pumped to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and if you listen to this and said I do know what to do, i just can't stay consistent. I keep struggling, i keep falling off. Our next round of group coaching is July 11th. So in there, you can literally set this as one of your goals, exercise 30 minutes, whatever, whatever the label for you that would get you the most results or get you the most self-worth or self-esteem, whatever that is. We can help you stay accountable and consistent in that. So Link for the next 11th round.
Speaker 1:yeah, 11th round of group coaching is July 11th July 6th 2023, 6 pm Eastern Standard Time the three things everyone should know about their partner. You cannot have a great relationship if you don't understand your partner at the deepest level And if your partner doesn't understand you at the deepest level, it's the teams that know each other best that win. Join us The link will be in the show notes to register And it's totally free.
Speaker 2:Tomorrow for episode number 1373. I'm like a robot. I just the second. You're done, i'm ready. We were going to do this I think we're going to do this last week, but it was very connected to another episode we did, so we're going to do it tomorrow. Overly abundant versus overly scarce. So we talked a lot about fitness today. What's your relationship with fitness, health, all that? I want to approach a relationship with money in that episode. What is your relationship with making money, spending money, all that you know, saving money, all that? happy jazz, as always, we love you, we appreciate you, grateful for each and every one of you, and at NLU we do not have fans, we have family. We will talk to you all tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Keep crushing those fitness journeys, next time on nation.
