This episode explores the multifaceted aspects of physical fitness, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through physical activity, mental resilience, proper nutrition, and community support. The discussion highlights how these elements contribute to overall well-being and the journey towards a sustainable fitness routine.
And man, if you're an adult and out of shape, you're not just tired, you're training toward weakness, disease, and a diminished life.
- Welcome everyone to episode six of the Leadership Ignition podcast, brought to you by the leadership team, where faith, family, fitness, and finance unite to help you level up your life. I'm Shane Beckham.
- And I'm Mike Hough, and we are both coaches owners of the Leadership Ignition team, and we are ready to help you get lit. Uh, so let me tell you what we're gonna talk about today, Shane. Uh, you know, adults, we tend to lose our fitness over time, don't we? And, uh, there's a high cost of that. There's a mental cost and a medical cost and a financial cost. And, you know, people as they become adults, there's a million reasons why that happens, we're going to talk about that, of course. And, you know, one of the things that, that I think about is then when adults start to figure out they've got a problem, they want to address it. The first thing they turn to is cardio. Cause that's what we've been trained, right? go run, go do it. And we're going to talk about there's other ways and other things that think about not just what you put out in terms of cardio, but what are you doing with your strength? What are you doing with your nutrition, etc. And so at the end, we'll give you some practical tips on what you can do to get strong to get fit starting today. How's that sound to you Shane?
So part of the problem that we see Mike is the slow decline in overall life. Everything I talk about a lot. Family commitments, the job, right? So why is it that that typically starts first? Well, the first thing that we typically lose control of, we start letting slide the most, unfortunately, is our physical, is our physical fitness, muscle loss starts to occur, weight gain, chronic pain, low energy. All of that is because we begin to focus on things that aren't truly congruent to who we want to be anymore. Because why? We start chasing everything else, attitude, the job, family, like all those things are important. However, every little thing has its own little piece of the pie. So in our opinion, which is greatly related to once we refound fitness, it changed everything in our life, right? It's when we let that piece of our life start sliding away, everything else started getting a little bit more complacent, a little bit more comfortable until all of a sudden we, what we saw in the mirror, we didn't like anymore. We didn't like the person that we were becoming because we had gotten loose with our, with our metabolism is changing and you know, everything's working against us. So if you don't make a decision at some point, the decline is going to keep going down, right? You're, you're, you're already on a slippery slope because father time is undefeated and father time will rob you of muscle, bone density and all the things. So what we want to talk about, Mike, is A, the cost of not only yourself, but medical that can happen when you lose that part of your body with that decline. It's not just the cost, it's the brain fog, it's the anxiety, it's the lack of confidence. All those things are happening mentally. And then when you go into that leadership role, what is happening as a leader when you you start losing that confidence because that's effectively what you start to lose. So your presence is lowered, your influence is less, your capacity is lower. All of those things are happening, A, because the physical effects of that stress without that avenue of fitness can cause that. So one of the key facts that we came up with is after 30 people start to lose 3 to 5% muscle mass per decade. So I don't want to get too deep in the weeds here, Mike. Sarcopenia, right, is muscle loss due to aging. So to that point, every decade after the age 30, you can lose up to 10% of your muscle mass. That is a compounding effect, sir. And 30 is not that old. 50 is not that old. But if you think about that, think about how much you're actively losing. So if you're not going to actually train your body, all of that can effectively start going And then what else is happening? Our belts and our pants sizes are usually getting bigger, right? We're getting more and more unhealthy by the day and that branches out into every other avenue of our life. Sir, that is part of the slow decline and it's a slippery slope that I don't want to see anybody go down to. So Mike, I would love for you to tell us a little bit about your story because you were on this path, man. You were on the path of the slow decline. You had a lot of great things going, but there was a part of your life, that missing puzzle piece. I want to leave you with this before you tell your story. When I'm with a client in the gym, I'm sitting at my desk and they're sitting across from me and I say, "Pretend that you and I just put together this massive puzzle and there's one piece missing out of this puzzle. If I open up the drawer and we spent all this time putting together and I had this piece in my hand and I put that piece of the puzzle in front of you, if you were to write one word on it to complete this puzzle, what would it be? You know, that's what the missing piece is. And sir, you have found it. And I'm curious to hear you tell part of that story to our listeners.
I would be honored to because I love to tell a story to all kinds of people, people who knew me before people who've known me after and see me now as a super fit person. They asked me, you know, have you always been this way, etc. The answer is no. And so I'm gonna walk us all through that. But a couple things you said that I just want to hammer home on that were true for me is as you lose muscle, it's a self perpetuating problem. You, you, uh, the more muscle you lose, the more likely it is that you're going to gain fat on, on your body because it's the muscle on your body that eats the fat. And if you get, as you, as you lose muscle mass, that just means you have less ability, natural ability to, to fight that fat gain. And that's absolutely what happened to me. And leadership impact. I'm sure people won't say it to me because they just won't. Uh, but you, you look, you're, you're judged based on how you look. We don't have to like it. We don't have to want to be that person that does the judging. But the truth is that's how our society works. And so when you stand in front of a crowd and you are 275 pounds, like I was, they respected, I'm sure me for my position. They respected me for the decisions I've made and not through the way I've treated them. I'm sure that's all true, but there had to have been some part of them that was saying, is that really the guy I'm want to follow? Right. That's all changed. That's all changed back to everything's now in sync. The one puzzle piece I was missing and what happened to me was what happens to I mean, I live on the road. I'm 40 to 50 hours a week on the road somewhere, three to four days a week. I mean, heck, I live half my life in Atlanta and half in Louisville. And so, you know, there wasn't time. At least I thought there wasn't time. And man, if you're an adult and out of shape, you're not just tired, you're turning toward weakness, disease and a diminished life. But it doesn't have to stay that way because that's what was happening to me. I was high blood pressure, high cholesterol, couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without sucking wind, right? And it was this idea that I've got everything else. I've got a great family, I've got great finances, I've got a great role and faith in my life, and I didn't have fitness. You know, we just got back from a weekend, Shane, and National Parks went to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, and it was awesome. We were walking around, enjoying ourselves, enjoying nature, doing million mile hikes and crawling up mountains, and we felt good because Michelle and I have taken a path towards fitness. But we're looking at the folks around us who are trying to enjoy themselves and are truly not able to. And I remember that being me. That's how I used to be. And so I just felt pleased about being able to get that fixed. And so all those impacts in your life when you lose that fitness as you go from a young person to an older person, all those things get in your way, they can be destructive. And if you don't grab a hold of them, that could be the end. I could have went from 275 to 400 to 500. Who knows what would have happened, but I do know I would have continued to impact my health and I would have continued to impact my ability to enjoy life. And I'm so glad that someday one day I woke up and got that all fixed. But Shane, so we all know that, but we still let it slide anyway. Why do we do that?
Well, before I get to that, I want to ask you one question. And it's something that I see happen a lot. You and I are approximately the same age. I do believe you are a month older than me.
No, no, but I'm better looking.
definitely got more hair. But so what I see a lot of, okay, and this is not an assault of anybody's, you're not taking it as that this is my opinion, based off observation. Social media is a wonderful jewel, right? We've talked about that last week, some it's a love hate thing, but there's no there's no hiding that America is changing in a pattern that's not conducive to health. Like, you know, maybe one out of 50, what what I would be considered to be and what what I would say is in shape. And I mean, I'm not talking ugly about anybody. It's just the reality of the situation that we're in. Now, the reason I bring that up until people won't throw daggers at me when they listen to this, it's the mentality is, well, it is what it is. I'm already here. This is just who I am. That's false comfort, sir. That is a reality that people get trapped in because of the hesitation to start. It's here. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm going somewhere with that statement. The false comfort trap. I'm too busy. Yeah, I don't have enough time. Okay. To me, that is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. You're not too busy to go outside and walk for 20 minutes a day. You know, you can't tell me that you can't find that time. I won't believe you because as the adage says, I'll say, pull your phone out and show me your screen time. When that is zero, then I will agree with you. You probably are too busy to do much of anything. However, it's, we tell ourselves we're just too busy or we're just too tired. And we're not. It's about the willingness to go, you know, reading that let them book. Yes. One of the main tactics that anybody could use starting right now is the launch sequence backwards. When you say you're too tired, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, get up, start moving. It's that simple. But people overcomplicate it. You know why? Because they're comfortable. They don't want to give up the food they eat. You know why? Because it's good.
Because it tastes good, man.
It's damn good, man. I mean, who wants to give up ice cream and cookies and all the things? It tastes good. You know why it tastes good? Because it's designed to taste good. Correct. It's designed to give you that dopamine hit, that reward factor that says, "It's okay. You've had a bad day. Eat the food. Relax."
Don't eat one chip. Eat the whole bag of chips because it's-
The second thing, Mike, is, "Well, if it's not too tired, I don't have time." It's, "Well, I used to be fit. I used to be a lot of things." Well, that goes back to what we've already talked about in previous episodes. You're looking in the rear view mirror, man. You live where your feet are right now. Guess what? Day one or one day, the decision is yours to make that difference. And all it takes is that launch backwards. Count to one and get up and go move. Go to that gym you've been thinking about. You've been seeing all these Facebook ads, somebody's paying a fortune for it. Go to that gym. Andersonville Fit Body Bootcamp is a fine gym if you're in the area, shameless plug. But you know, Mike, it's the truth. And then lastly, it's, we talked a little bit about this earlier, it's comfort and convenience is masking that slow decay. Your point, your story, exactly. You had a, you still do. You had a great life then. However, when you looked in the mirror, you didn't like what you saw back.
That's for sure.
And that weighed on you. You know, that was a part of your life that you had to put a smile on and pretend in times that you didn't feel like, you know, you just, you had to carry on. You had to do that. And then there's times you're like, yeah, it's okay. This is just who I am. And then finally the switch flipped and you're like, enough is enough. And you're a walking testimony. Like when you enter a room now, it's completely different than when you did back then. You were well respected because you are a good human being, a great leader and all the things that come with it. But I don't give a damn what anybody says. When you walk into a room now, you, it's not what you're trying to do, but you are respected in a different manner. Because of how you look. You show me five physically fit men, and I'll show you five men that have their shit together. Men or women, men or women.
- It's natural in our little reptilian brains, right? When you see somebody who's fit, you subconsciously think about the fact that they have discipline. And if somebody has discipline, They probably don't have discipline in one aspect of their life. They've got discipline in all aspects of their life and you know There's a guy who we both know who talks about living incongruously, right? And so that's what they see when they see an executive leader who is not fit is okay You're talking about all this stuff, but I see you and I'm not thinking about it consciously, but subconsciously I'm thinking about there's something incongruous in that message and that parts now gone away from me I'm super glad about that And, you know, look, there was a long time where I looked in the mirror and thought, "Ah, I look okay." Right? Sort of big frame, I can kind of hold it. And then even for a couple of years when I know I didn't look okay, I kept telling myself, "Ah, I look fine. I look good. It's good. People like me, I look good." Didn't look, did not look good.
It's not, go ahead. But what's the timeframe? Like, here's the second part of that problem. Yeah. You can't, you know, it didn't take you one month to do that. It did not. would it take one month for it to change, which is a whole nother episode. Yes. You know, it's just the unintentional decline is still a decline. Yes. Whether you're intentional about believing it or not, guess what? You're still in that decline mode.
Well, you remember Byron talking about how people on the 31st day feel like it's not working, so they give up. And that's, and that's the issue. You got to remember how you got there. And then it can, it's not about motivation. It can start with motivation. I think it always starts for all of us with motivation. But once you found the motivation, you better figure out a way to get disciplined because that discipline is going to keep you going whether you're motivated or not at the 31st day and the 72nd day. That's why with our coaching clients, Shane, we make them take pictures because the numbers don't move all that much when you're when you're recalling. Why? Because you're adding more muscle to the frame and peeling fat off. And it takes time for that to overcome the outcome. And so you can't see it on the scale as quickly as you can see it in the pictures. And we've got people that you can see it in two, three, four weeks. dramatically different, they weigh the same. So anyway, that's the issue is when you look in that mirror, man, and you finally figure out you have to own what's in the mirror. We'll talk about that more later and say, nope, that's really me. And I got to do something about this.
You know, lying to yourself, still lying, regardless of how you want it. You can put a, you can put lipstick on the pig all you want, buddy, but you know what? A lie is still a lie. We want people to realize it's not as complicated as it's made to be. Just get up and get to moving Because you know what? The last thing is the quote that we'll leave you with on this topic. Comfort destroys success and it starts with your body. When it starts there, it starts eroding everything else. It is just a poison that we want you to get rid of. So with that being said, Mike, let's talk a little bit now. We've talked about the decline. We've talked about the comfortable, false comfort. So how do you rebuild that foundation? Like you have a personal story that you did it. How do you do that? What is something and what's some things that somebody can do to regain control of their body and their minds? Because to me, there's a connection there. Without the body, the mind is, it's not complete. And when you get both of those aligned, you can walk a straighter line. So how is it that someone can regain control of the situation?
- Well, I'm gonna say a word you use all the time. And I love this word for this purpose and it's reframing, right? So when you first start thinking about, oh man, I gotta lose this weight, I gotta do something, it feels so daunting. It feels like a thing you gotta go do, a punishment you gotta put yourself through. I'm gonna have to eat less, I'm gonna have to work out more, I'm gonna be sweaty, I'm gonna be hot. That all sounds terrible, I don't wanna do any of that. But when you reframe it from a punishment to a leadership discipline, and you say, look, fitness is a leadership discipline, whether you're leading your organization, your family, yourself, if you're not fit, like I just talked about, people aren't going to believe the same way they're going to believe in you when you're fit. And so if you're a leader and we're all leaders, we talked about that already. Think about it as a leadership discipline that you have to do. It is non-negotiable. It's part of what you do, like brushing your teeth, like whatever, paying your taxes, going to work. It's it's just part of what you do to become to be that the leader that's expected. And, you know, everybody's got different philosophies on what fitness is. I will tell you that based on my experience, I think based on your experience, Strength training has to be the foundation of fitness. It is the foundation of vitality I was just reading an article about this gym that opened up in New York by a doctor and and he a Great training program that I like is starting strength and he learned from the starting strength program and he opened it up for for older people people in their 70s 80s 90s who couldn't get off the couch and All he did is strength train with them under the starting strength program three days a week deadlift squat overhead press bench press And 92% of his clients are now living extremely comfortably, very, very healthy. Some 85 year old woman dead lifting 200 pounds off before had never touched a weight in her life. And so it's not about going to punish yourself for two hours on a run. It's not about getting on the stair stepper for 20 minutes and then moving over the treadmill and then moving. You don't have to kill yourself to do this, but you do have to do this intentionally and with strength as a background. And then you work in the cardio stuff to get your heart rate strong, but it isn't the total training program.
- So something you said earlier is, you know, strength training itself, you know, strength training is not optional. It is your insurance policy. You wanna live a long life, Speaker 3 that's your insurance policy, man.
And you have to find the blend that works for you. You know, three or four strength workouts a week mixed with some cardio type movements in there as well. It's simple, you know, Quality it take this pencil for example One of the analogies I used to about regaining regaining control, right? Yes Strength training and all that is essential, but it's just a piece, right? If you want to regain control, but you still have to start with the first piece Then you start what we say on the top then you start hitting those cycles habits Yep, you start stacking the habits because unfortunately, you know, that's only one part of the pie. It has to change However, get the strength training sessions in, get the workouts in, move your body. If it's, listen, if it's to where you can only go for a walk in the beginning, go for a walk. If it's one time a week, two times a week, build off that success. Don't get discouraged because you can't go to the gym and rip out four strength days. That's not what we're saying. We're saying that is the ultimate goal to fully restart regaining all that composure. Start where you feel like it fits. Protein, man. Water is the first floor of the elevator. Protein is the rest of the floors of the elevator, man. And I tell people that all the time. Like, you're not eating enough food. You're not eating enough. And it just, it blows their mind because you think, oh,
I got to lose weight. I have to, I have to stop eating. I can't eat enough food to meet my goals, my objective.
You have to eat more protein focused food.
Well and why is that? So people think that they probably do eat way more calories than they should, but when we put folks into macro controlled diets where we're giving them higher levels of protein than they've ever been used to before, they're eating less total calories, but they feel way more full. What is that? Why does that happen?
Well, it's part of the density of the food that we're eating, right? A lot of this stuff is filler and just, it's just, I don't wanna get down that row. But when it comes to protein itself, what I like to tell people is think about protein as an IV drip, okay? Think about that analogy. So people talk about fasting and all that, okay? As we go to bed at night, what is technically happening during the time we lay down and the time we wake up? We are in a natural fast. Also, what is happening during that time we are into a natural state of recovery and regeneration of muscle cell. Well, what do we need to do to maximize the opportunity to feel better the next day and eat a lot of sugar? Exactly not what you want to do. However, what do people do before they go
to bed? Eat a lot of sugar, eat a lot of carbs. And what happens? You're not gaining anything
by this. That is not your reward for going to the gym. That is has the absolute worst opposite effect of what you can do because your body is going to break all those simple sugars and sugars down completely different. You're going to wake up with the brain fog, you're going to feel terrible, your muscles have not recovered. So A, before you go to bed at night, typically 2-3 hours before you sleep so you can have proper digestion, quality protein. Quality protein, 20-30 plus grams of protein. Guess what? That's going to start the process at night. What's the first thing you're going to do in the morning? You're going to hydrate? What's next? protein. Get that first good dose of protein. Why? Because you're coming out of that fast and you want that natural homeostasis protein synthesis effect to start over again of that muscle regeneration and repair. So at that point, Mike, and I like I said, I can get deep, deep in the weeds because I love nutrition. People that go and don't eat food, okay. I'm not eating. I should be. Well, here's the problem. If you are not eating and you're effectively living a busy life and you're adding in workouts, which is great. Guess what your body has to do to get through all these things? They has to have energy. Well, if you're not fueling your body with the proper foods, where do you think it gets the energy from? Gets it from your muscles. Feel what you've already built. So what are you doing in the gym? You're doing this. You're gaining this much. I'm telling you, I talk to a lot of people about nutrition every single day. And protein is the key ingredient. Eat protein forward meals. 20 minutes a day. We want to get some data, 20 to 30 minutes on top of our working out. That's where your walk can come in. Be intentional. Take your kids on a walk.
Well, you had a little short on this earlier this week on movement. Right. And I think folks go back, take a look at that spot on 20 minutes of movement a day will change everything. gives you clarity, gives you the ability to prioritize and focus on the things you want to get after, but it also adds this bit of cardio to your life that you really need.
Absolutely. And then, you know, with that weekly structure, once you start getting everything nailed in, add in that core and conditioning, you know, build that part of your body. The core is the strongest piece. To me, that's what I tell everybody. That is your tree trunk. That is the foundation from how your body will maneuver top to bottom. Strong core means that you are effectively strong from top to bottom. So build that part of your body, which can be done a variety of ways. You know, we're not gonna get that deep into that episode today, but those are just simple things that you can do to start regaining that control of your life. It all starts with one step at a time. So Mike, when we go back and break some of these down, strength is a non-negotiable starting point in how nutrition fuels that leadership. So from there, if that's the case, the tactical steps for our listeners, how do we want to proceed with that? You know, how do we go from the decision to start to the discipline to continue? And I love how that was framed because that's what it takes. I deal with motivation every day, necessary piece of the puzzle. However, motivation fades And it fades a lot quicker than we think it will. And that's when you know, who's going to survive because the discipline ones will be the one to say, this is just who I am and this is what I'm going to do. So if you was to give me a few steps of your opinion of what, what can somebody do from the going decision, decision to discipline, what would you say that would be?
Yeah. I step one is own the mirror. Like I talked about before, what you see in the mirror, you have to own it and you You have to, it's very easy to look in the mirror and dismiss it. You have to actually look at yourself and say, "Okay, I see the problem and I'm accountable for the problem. It's not my schedule. It's not my job. It's not my family. It's not my dog that keeps me up at two o'clock in the morning. It's you, the decisions you're making in all the other hours of the day." With you have to have awareness and you have to have honesty about what's going on. That's step one. Step two, okay, now you know what the problem is. like everything else in life, pick a plan and commit to it. Make it part of your daily non-negotiables. It's not easy at first. People say 30 days to build a habit. I think in this case, when you're talking about trying to make a lifelong commitment to something, it's probably more like 60 or 90 days until you really, truly start to understand how it's going to help you build and how it's going to help you to live a better life, and then you've got to build a calendar discipline, right? You've picked a plan. You know what you're going to go do. You've committed to it. You've got to put it in your calendar. like we've we've discussed before, you've got to calendarize this and protect that time. It's very easy to figure out that there's something else you should be doing instead of getting your workout in. I know you like to get your workouts in bright and early in the morning. I don't. I like to get them done at the end of the day. The vast majority of people like to get their workouts done in the morning because it's protected. No one can interrupt that time. What I do instead is I should block that time and don't let anyone disrupt it. And on the odd day that something does come up, I've got a client meeting or dinner or something that I've got to navigate. I will know that well in advance, not if that pops up. And I just reshuffle my schedule to make sure that that can happen. I'll go at noon, I will go early in the morning, whatever. Not my preferred avenue, but I'll get it done because it's not negotiable. So that's step three, build a calendar. Step four, we talk about nutrition and protein and macros, it sounds like a lot. Work with somebody who understands this stuff because they can really simplify this down for you. It's really just eat as close to the to the to the base product as you can. If we're talking about protein, we're not talking about protein bars and shakes, although you might have to get your total content. We're talking about steaks and chicken and eggs and stuff. That's really close to the source. And we're talking about carbohydrates. We're not talking about rice-a-roni and, and, you know, mama's noodle dish. We're talking about white rice. Very simple. We're talking about, uh, simple carbohydrate choices that, that don't make things complicated. And by the way, fat's not bad. You need fat. We're talking about how the types of fats that you should have and not, Polyunsaturated fats and those sorts of things but you know good oils and and and Clear butters and things like that are really important for your diet And frankly if you prioritize protein, you're probably gonna get the fats you need anyway, just so your protein source So again people can help you sort this out simplify your nutrition. Don't go into crazy diet mode You don't have to pick up the latest Atkins or the whatever There's a really easy way for you to get there And I think this was probably the greatest breakthrough for me, by the way, you can work out all dang day You could work out 24/7. Maybe that's an exaggeration But you could be on a great program and do absolutely everything under that program and not modify your nutrition Not track your macros not track your calories and nothing will change I mean, can we go to the gym all time and see people that look the exact same? They've been in the gym three years. They look the exact same as the day. They walked in. Yeah, why is that so I
Want to I want to go back to one thing you said a couple things Speaker 3 - Okay.
- 'Cause you had some really solid points there that I wanted to pick apart here a little bit, not pick apart, but add on to. So step one, you said, "On the mirror." Going back to your, you put me on this, you know, and it's funny, I told you the pastor actually referenced this book in the sermon the other day, which I found to be remarkable, but "Let Them" by Mel Robbins. One of the things in the book is, when you're looking in that mirror, give yourself a high five. So not only you're on in the mirror, Once you start to make that decision to change, celebrate yourself, man. And I feel like that's where some people still get this so wrong, is they have such high expectations for theirselves that they don't give themselves any grace for the changes that they're making. So on the mirror, first you realize, okay, there's a problem I need to rectify. But once you own it, celebrate that as a win because guess what? That is the hardest part typically is recognizing the problem.
Yeah. You know what? That's a good step. Give yourself a damn high five, man.
I agree. Yeah. Celebrate the wins and don't get lost in social media perfectness because nobody's perfect. But then the second thing I wanted to bring up is you were talking about the simplifying of nutrition and, you know, eating the protein. What my recommendation to people is, is once they get a little bit higher understanding of macro understanding is, First of all, you are the puppet master. Meaning what? When I get told I can't hit my proteins, fats or carbs, okay? Who controls that? You do. How do you get ahead of it? You put it in the night before, right? Then you control everything, but that's getting deep in the weeds. My point of this is, you said not always protein bars and shakes because now I get hit with, well, I'm not eating a lot of whole food, but I'm drinking a shake for breakfast, lunch and a bar for dinner. I'm like, you know, that's better than nothing, okay? You're getting protein, but you're getting a lot of synthesized proteins at this point. You need real food. So here's my point to that is once you have your baseline set breakfast, lunch and dinner, okay, you know, the total compounding of amounts of protein you're getting in those three meals. Where's the gaps? How much protein do I have left to hit my target for the day? That is where you feel with the shake and the bar. That's when you say, okay, these are ancillary things that I'm going to do, not the primary things because unfortunately, that's another problem. Again, it's opinionated, is people rely way too heavily on these products and there's a lot of value to them, but those are not going to change you the way you want to be changed versus eating real quality food protein. Okay, so that was my point on your protein. Lastly, back to my wonderful pencil. You didn't know I was gonna be using props today, did you? Speaker 3 - No, I didn't. You should've brought my prop docs.
I didn't know. - So back to the pencil. Your point was, if you don't change your nutrition, you will not change. I agree with that 100%. And it took me a long time to understand how properly fueling your body and understanding nutrition can completely shatter any limitation you thought was possible with your body. I'm in the best shape of my life, at almost fixing to be 49 years old. You know why? Because I finally understand nutrition and I respect it. So back to the pencil. Exercise is a vital, important piece of nutrition. It's 10% of the battle. If this pencil represents total caloric burn for the day, you're only getting 10% of the battle with exercise. That means what? Mike, you control the other 90%. I can't help you. I can't hold the spoon. I can't hold the fork and I can't put the food on it for you. But until you're willing to change this other 90%, you, my friend, as they say in the country are pissing in the wind because it is not going to get any better. You might feel better, but if you can just, just take small bites of that apple, man, small bites.
I got a client and I'm coaching him now and he's doing all the work, all the work. And he'll track two days. I'm old track for 70. And I'll send him, I'm like, why aren't you tracking? He said, I'm doing okay. So you have no idea how you're doing. First of all, we'll get into tracking that whole thing. Another episode, cause just protein alone, we could talk for days. But I, I, I closed my comment to him with, you can work out all day long, all you want, and you're making small progress. Look at your pictures, but imagine where you would have been by now. Two months in, had you followed the damn program and done the other 90%. Yeah. He's pissing in the wind. So
there you go. That is a little bit stack wins, build the momentum, man. Atomic habits, breathe, you know, marathons weren't ran in one step. You're gonna take a lot of steps to get there. So Mike, a little bit more about what we do, how we do it. You know, what's something that somebody could do right now today if they wanted to count down backwards from the launch sequence, five, four, three, two, one, how could we help somebody make a radical change in their life today? What's something, what can they do that we can help with?
- Well, I think, you know, we're probably a little partial to the best way to do this. We'll share some of that. But first is choose any legitimate plan. Don't pick up an off the fly by night, some Instagram coach who probably hasn't, he's probably 19, it looks that way 'cause they're 19. So find somebody who knows what they're talking about. And you happen to have two guys right now talking to you because we know what we're talking about, about this topic. That's why we're here. We got together through this, this learning and engagement of our own. I happen to be a professionally certified coach. Shane runs a gym. We know what we're talking about and we can help you. So if you go to our website, it's www.leadershipignitionteam.com. You click on that fuel and focus section, you can learn about the programs that we run, Shane, right? So we've got our own app. And so we'll pre-program your workouts for you. They'll show up daily in your app. You don't have to wonder what's going on tomorrow. You just open up the app when you get to the gym. all there. There's videos on what to do, the rep count, the set count, the rest periods are all there. We'll program your macros for you. We'll talk to you about, you know, what do you have access to? What kind of gym equipment? What, you know, what do you, what are your interests? Because your interest might be to get bigger. It might be to get smaller. It might be to get, you know, in shape for that 30th high school reunion, whatever, that's six months from now. So we want to understand that so we can build a very clear, both strength and nutrition based program for you. And in our app, you can track your nutrition every single day. So you'll be able to track against the targets we give you and protein, carbs, fats, etc. And then it's when I say we, it's really we, it's Shane and I, we're your coaches. So you get a chance to talk to us on a biweekly basis. We'll schedule 30 minute calls with you. We'll go through what's going on. How's it going? What progress are you making? We'll look at those pictures, which is part of what no one likes to do. But in the end, they love that they did them. I certainly didn't. But now I've got that sequence of pictures I can go back and look at and kick my own butt from time to time. And you know, our program is great man. I think this is built for our kind of audience. It's built for high performers who are short on time. It's super simple to follow. It's strength based like we talked about strength is the foundation. It's macro based. We're talking about how do you control those things? They really give you that other 90% of growth and boiling it all down. It's built specifically for adults who want to take back their fitness, want to take back their health. Any other thoughts on our program from you Shane?
No, I think that was an excellent summary. I think that's, you know, like I said, it's, it's not rocket science, what we're doing. It's just a greater understanding and appreciation because I had no idea. I truly had no idea. I had to be taught this. The same as people-
We've had doctors in our program who had no idea, right? And they, you know, they just didn't understand it. I was just, they didn't understand macros. They didn't understand, you know, how strength was more important than cardio, etc.
You think that you're not doing that bad until you actually start truly understanding the fundamentals and tracking a little bit, then you realize this is not good. I was way overeating in the wrong areas. So again, it's being taught the skill and having someone that will truly hold you accountable, but also lift you up in ways to help you along the way. Right. That's that's what we want to do is we want to give back in all four of the F bombs. Today's episode covered a lot of the of the fitness portion of it. But, you know, that's where a lot of our change started. You know, I'm not saying one's more important than the other, obviously, but that is a very important aspect that seems to be left on the shelf too much these days. And not a lot, not enough people are saying it. You're either in shape or you're not. You're either getting fitter or you're getting fatter, Brother, that's I mean, that's the reality of the situation. Now, obviously, there's certain situations with health and all those other. We're not saying that these are people that make active choices to not engage in physical activity that are more than capable to do so. So with that, Mike, it's. Start today, man, you know, if we got a final call to action or a final takeaway, it's just launch, just start today. What's stopping you? Why are you gonna wait and say, well, the funny thing is when you get in the middle of the month, I'll start September 1st. No, you won't. No, you won't.
You know why?
Because you're gonna talk yourself out of it.
- Yeah, the easiest is I'll start Monday. - Once it gets to September, guess what?
I'll start January 1st. It's the year of me, baby. - Right. - It's the year of me. Don't wait, just start today.
Well, and we say this stuff because we're guilty of it. We did it too. We did the same crap. And then the freedom, the breakthrough on the other side is so worth it, I'm telling you.
It's so worth it. You gotta start today. - It is definitely worth it. You take control back of your life. Your children need an example to look up to if you have kids. If you don't, I guarantee you there's still somebody else out there watching you. Be the lighthouse, man.
- Shane, how many times did people just stop you and say, man, you inspire me. I'm going to start because. And I'm going to do this now, and I see you. It does happen to you all the time?
You know, more than obviously that it used to. And it always catches me off guard a little bit, because I don't feel like I should be in that spotlight. But I also recognize that I am willing to take the initiative to do those things that put me in that area. And I love to hear that. I'm like, I love that. Well, the reason I ask is not to boost your ego,
But to get other people to understand the kind of demonstration they can create in their own communities, their own families, when they take control, people will notice and they'll want to know how. And if you like to help other people, man, there's no better way. And here's one last point that I want to make, and then I'd love to have you just go down the action challenges one more time. Is I was always afraid of that big guy in the gym, the guy who was ripped, who was huge, who was, but I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to be in the gym at the same time, because I don't want to be judged about the way I was lifted into my form. And I'm telling you, those are the people in the gym who you'll get to become one of those people, by the way, one day, if you get committed, you stay focused, who want your success more than you do. So don't be afraid of the people in the gym. That's one of the reasons people don't go. They're worried about what's going to happen when they get there. The P those people in the gym are going to be your guiding lights. Jane, go ahead and finish this chat show.
Absolutely agree. So a couple of action challenges for the week we want to issue. Okay. Simple, not complicated. If you don't have any technology that does this, that's absolutely okay. Guess what you do have? A pencil. Man, this baby's coming handy today. That's strong. A pencil and a piece of paper works just fine because that's how we used to all have to do it. Track your food for three days. And if you're not willing to track your food, here's my other thing. Track your protein. Track your water intake and track your protein. If you do nothing else.
You don't need to realize how little protein you actually consume.
See, you could get a quick snapshot off the label. like or that's not asking for much and in fact that's probably the easier action than anything else if you're not used to it. Write down how many ounces of water you drink and how many grams of protein per day you're taking in. Do you know how much protein you need to be taking in? You know there's a lot of questions there but it's probably not near enough. The second thing is define what a workout means for you. If you're a beginner that's clearly different than someone that's been moving around but define what a workout is and try to get two or three workouts in this week. If that's walking for five minutes, guess what? That's five minutes times three that you didn't walk last week. That is a compounding win that will eventually have you running if that's what you want to do. Right? I'm not saying you know what I'm saying. Go to the gym. Stay in there for ten minutes. You know, whatever it is you're going to do. Find time to do three times this week. Lastly, Mike, is we love to share victories. We love to share wins and we love to celebrate people. If this has inspired you to do any of these things or you have any questions for us, you know, ask. We promise we will definitely get back to you. Post that workout, post that walk, tag us, DM us, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, all the ways that we have. We want to hear from you. We love to celebrate you. So those are some action challenges for the week, Mike. How can people find us?
Well, I love that, Shane. You can find us on our website. Start there first. Leadershipignitionteam.com and then obviously all the socials. But I think that that ends it for us today. And another great episode, man. Thanks for doing this with me. Why don't you close this out?
All right, Mike, that's going to put a bow on this week's episode again. Thank you guys for joining us. As always, put yourself in position to win with your fitness. Follow those action steps. Let us know how it's going. Speaker 3 And it is always let's get lit, baby.
Bye, everybody. See ya.