You Don’t Always Have To Be Healthy To Be Healthy | Richard G. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 125

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys it’s Dean. Welcome back to the Better Man Podcast. Today we are continuing with our member interviews focused on reclaiming your fitness. Today we’ve got Richard G. Who is our web developer. So this is a pretty cool interview. Richard has been doing Man Flow Yoga since like 2013. Now 2014. He was one of the first people that I worked with through webcam training.

Dean Pohlman: Back when I offered that, in the early days of launching man for yoga and, yeah, Richard Scott, I like Richard Story a lot because he’s not going to sit here and say you have to eat healthy all the time, and you have to like, working out because he doesn’t like working out a lot. He also doesn’t like eating healthy.

Dean Pohlman: He’s, I think his his his is his, his real life aspiration is to start a full time baking company. Maybe. Yeah. Anyways, I’ll let you talk. I’ll let Richard talk. So, Richard, thanks for being here. Even though I, you know, required you to be here because you work here.

Richard G.: Hello. Thanks for having me on your podcast. To yell at you in front of a bunch of people as opposed to just normally.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, as a as opposed to and just normal team meetings when you yell at me. So, Yeah. Everything that we do with Mantle yoga has to go through Richard, in some shape or form. So. Yeah. It’s cool. Anyways, so where do I start this? So, Richard, what was your, When did you start doing Man Flow Yoga?

Dean Pohlman: Let’s start there.

Richard G.: When did you. When did your YouTube video, channel start? Because I’m pretty sure I remember, like, the first three videos. On your YouTube channel.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So I think I started putting YouTube videos out in December of 2012.

Richard G.: Yeah. It’s probably 2013 then. Because there weren’t there weren’t a lot. But I liked them. And yeah, that’s, that’s where, you know, just the, you know, used to be able to you used to be able to type into Google Yoga for men and find quality things instead of ads. But no, that’s that’s legitimately how I found man for yoga is just kind of like going in looking for yoga on YouTube.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Cool. What made you go looking for yoga?

Richard G.: Well, so I was I’m not, I was never an athletic, person. I’m. So. I guess I’m just. I never played sports. I read a lot. I read that.

Dean Pohlman: You are an athletic person. You do kettlebells. You know how to do difficult, like, complex movements.

Richard G.: That’s why I stop myself. I’m saying you’re leading up to it like, I. I’m a I’m a theater and library kid. Who I after at a certain point in my life, like I did, start to realize I was like I used to get like chronic sinus infections and be sick all the time, and I was overweight. And, it’s just like I always been, like, a big guy because I’m six.

Richard G.: I’m like six. Three. But it used to be a lot.

Dean Pohlman: Tarif terrifyingly large person like you. Just you look at his photos and you’re like, oh, yeah, there he is. And then you see him in person, you’re like, oh my God, I forgot how big you are. Yeah.

Richard G.: But no, it’s like I started working out and, I wanted, I’ve always been, I guess, more flexible than not. Probably because I wasn’t as athletic like, sports wise. So there was nothing holding any, like, muscle back or any. There’s no muscle holding any of the flexibility back. But like, yoga was one of those ones that was like, I could do that at home by myself, without, because I had tried classes before and they weren’t ever really my jam that I talked about this before, about how I just, I don’t like the music that a lot of yoga classes had.

Richard G.: It was just kind of like, I don’t want to listen to this while I.

Dean Pohlman: Feel your feet melt into the earth.

Richard G.: It’s not. It’s not, I can’t I’m like, I have this. Can you tell me where this where they supposed to go? Where they where they supposed to go? Please. So, Max, like, it was, like, really good for me because I could do at home and, as opposed to just saying where I it’s like, go into a pose and sink into opposed.

Richard G.: It was your your shoulders go here. Feel them kind of lock in. And I could actually understand what I was doing as opposed to just kind of being expected to know. Yeah. And so that was good.

Dean Pohlman: Was there a reason you chose yoga as opposed to another type of exercise.

Richard G.: I don’t I have done a lot of different types of exercise in my time. Yoga is, the one that I can do that is, most consistently. Like, I can get through it. One, because there’s a lot more modifications. Especially in meaningful yoga, weight workout. Like, there’s a lot more ways of being like, okay, now you can’t hold this, do that.

Richard G.: And, like, if you’re doing calisthenics is how much is like, do 50 pushups? I’m like, I can do one bad push up. What else do I do? Do you feel like, okay, that’s not helpful? I don’t you understand this.

Dean Pohlman: Got it. Okay, cool. So you’re first starting out doing yoga. How often were you doing it when you first started?

Richard G.: Oh, that’s, I don’t really remember, honestly. Probably a couple of times a week. Okay. If I was doing it every day or not.

Dean Pohlman: What enabled you to, what enabled you to be consistent with it?

Richard G.: So I think I’ve tried, like you mentioned this earlier, it’s like I don’t enjoy working out. And I think part of it comes from the fact that I’ve just accepted that I don’t enjoy working out. And.

Dean Pohlman: You still not enjoy working?

Richard G.: I see every day I go into the gym, and I think if I had a pill that would make me instantly healthy forever, I would take it. It’s. Yeah. Okay. It’s one of those things. It’s like, I understand that I’m doing this. I understand that this is good for me, and I have never felt endorphins from working out.

Richard G.: I don’t understand people. People say, oh.

Dean Pohlman: You didn’t get that, gene.

Richard G.: I didn’t get that. It’s. And I think and I think to myself, oh, you’re lying. Oh, it’s that’s a lie. But like, I, it’s just one of those things, like, the reason I’m concerned is because I am doing this. Because it is good for me, and I want to be able to do other things and I also try and think of it more as like exercise is not a punishment and food is not a reward.

Richard G.: They are both good things. And I’m not going to, I’m not going to go say like, oh, in order to eat this thing I like, I need to do five miles on the treadmill, like, no, I’m doing I’m doing exercise because it’s it makes me my body better. It makes me able to function better.

Dean Pohlman: Was that was that always how you viewed it, or did it take you some time to develop that mindset?

Richard G.: Took some time to develop that? I think, just like starting out, it was probably just vanity was exercise, just like, I just want to look better. I mean, you know, gotta start somewhere. And then I got cancer. And that’s what that changes a lot of things. And it was one of those things like I realized, like exercising and working out and doing yoga, like I had surgery on my knee to remove a mass from the back of my knee.

Richard G.: And like.

Dean Pohlman: How rare is that? It’s like, not on a knee.

Richard G.: It’s it’s not the it being on the knee was weird because, soft tissue sarcomas are usually in your chest. Okay. So it was just kind of a something. Something traveled. And it was one of those, you know, doctors kept saying, I get dealt a bad hand. And I was like, great, thank you for the work you are doing.

Richard G.: I very much appreciate it. Stop saying that phrase to me because I’ve heard it from three different doctors now.

Dean Pohlman: Wow, that’s strange that they all use the same phrase.

Richard G.: Yeah. It’s I don’t know if it’s just the particular oncology department I was working with. But. Or it’s like, what do I say to someone who has a weird cancer condition? Yep. But no, since I was so active, since I was, like, consistently working out, before then and, doing yoga very consistently, my recovery has been, like I have, pretty much full function of that knee, even though it’s like there’s parts of it being held together with, you know, surgical glue forever.

Richard G.: I can’t I haven’t been able to do a, pistol squat on that leg anymore. But I that’s not something you need to be able to do. It’s just something that’s cool that you can do if you can’t, it is.

Dean Pohlman: It is cool to do. Yes, but you don’t need to do it. It’s a good description. And the cancer happened, so this is pretty long after you first started working out. This was like, when was this?

Richard G.: No, this was 20. The cancer was 2015.

Dean Pohlman: Oh, okay.

Richard G.: So that happened at the end of 2015. That’s when I had the surgery, and then I had chemo and they had radiation or I had radiation and chemo. And it’s like I was I’ve been working out pretty steadily for a couple of years by then. And, yeah, I had also had some severe back pain for a while that I was just kind of ignoring because I was like doing like Olympic barbell as well, like devils and stuff.

Richard G.: I think I, I don’t know if you remember the amount of sciatica pain I had to deal with.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. No, I remember that. I remember I developed sciatica routines. I, I actually used you as a template to develop sciatic routine. Like, does this hurt? Cool. Let’s not do that. Does this hurt? All right, let’s not do that. Does it feel better after we do this? Yes. Perfect. Got it.

Richard G.: Yeah. Weirdly enough, that, went away, after the recovery period, I think just because I simply couldn’t move for about six months because. Yeah. And I’ve been, a lot better about not enjoying myself. I think that what came out of that is in like I am now in this to feel good and not injure myself.

Richard G.: And those are the two most important things about working out.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. That was gonna be my question, but you answer it. Was there something else that that that, I mean, I, I’m always fascinated by people who go through these, these, these life changing experiences that have these significant, you know, significant loss or they go through this, you know, experience that teaches them that they’re not, you know, immortal or they have to give up a piece of themselves that they thought was integral to who they are and and the people who can make it through this, they come out better for the experience.

Dean Pohlman: So, you know, I’m curious for you, what was what else was there?

Richard G.: I think it’s not that.

Richard G.: Yeah. I think it was just a lot of that was just like, there was a lot. I was like, aiming for esthetically, that I just kind of decided, like, I don’t think I care about that anymore. And part of it was like, I was in the, I was in that kind of mode where I was like, doing that, like broccoli and chicken and only that thing, like.

Richard G.: Yeah. And and after that, I was like, I, I want to eat things that I like and enjoy, and I don’t need to I don’t need to worry about this anymore. It’s like if I’m if I’m feeling good then that’s good.

Dean Pohlman: So let’s go through your what did you start your weight loss. Because you used to be a lot bigger than you are now. So what were you at when you, before you started working out. And then let’s go down to like the cancer when you were and still in your esthetic focus. And then what are you now.

Richard G.: So the highest ever weighed was around to that high. So I remember weighing myself was around 280. I think I was higher than that. But after a certain point, I just didn’t weigh myself. Because, you know, you can you can put it you can throw a lot of stuff in the river called denial. And, yeah.

Richard G.: And the lowest ever was like, when I was, like, really pushing hard was around one 7175, like I had visible abs for a bit.

Dean Pohlman: Just. Oh, well, yeah. You got down to one 7170. That’s like but that’s, that’s like two small almost. Yeah. For your height. Okay. Yeah.

Richard G.: So yeah. Let’s do you want to talk about the history of, disordered eating? We can, that’s another that’s another fun aspect to, of coming out of figuring out how I feel about food. Because there was a while I was, like, strict paleo.

Dean Pohlman: Okay.

Richard G.: And, like, evangelizing paleo. And I look back at that as, like,

Dean Pohlman: One of those people.

Richard G.: You know.

Dean Pohlman: Oh, it’s great. You had different phases of life. You had. That’s cool.

Richard G.: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: And so now what are you or what do you like? What do you sit around now?

Richard G.: Right now I am around 220. And, you know, I’ve. For the amount of weightlifting I do, I think that is a good.

Dean Pohlman: Well, do you know what your what’s your body fat. Do you know what your body fat percentage is?

Richard G.: I haven’t done like a Dexa scan in a real long time. I think it’s anywhere around 10 to 20. Or somewhere. Somewhere in that.

Dean Pohlman: That’s a large range. But like but yeah, I mean, I think, well, I mean, people don’t realize that, you know, if you’re always below 10% body fat, I know from, from my understanding, a healthier body fat percentage should be at is in like the 12 to 15% range. Yeah. Like, if you’re, you know, always in single digit, it’s not it’s not the best for long term.

Dean Pohlman: I think it’s fine if you’re doing it for periods of your life, like let’s say you’re training for something. And even if you’re not training for something, maybe you’re just you’re just working out and you’re like, I want to get down to 6% body fat just to see what it looks like, just to get there, just to show myself that I can do it.

Dean Pohlman: And then I’m going to try and do, you know, whatever you try and max out on, on some sort of event and then you’re there for like maybe six weeks or three months or something, and then you say, okay, now I’m going to go back up to like 12%. But yeah. So but you feel good at 220 pounds.

Richard G.: Yeah. I, you know, I, there are times where I was like, I’m a little I’m, I’m fluffy, you know, I don’t I don’t got a lot of definition. But I don’t I’m also I just remember when I was down at like 175, I just remember I didn’t feel good, like what looked pretty good, but, like, felt kind of just, like, tired.

Richard G.: Yeah. Like I. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Voraciously hungry.

Richard G.: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, yeah, I remember that. I had that phase two when I was, I think I was like, I want to say it was like 160 pounds, maybe like 160, something like that. But I like I, I remember being I remember going to a health event once like a health expo, and I and I had my body fat percentage taken, and the, the, the in body assessment, which is basically it looks like a scale.

Dean Pohlman: You stand on it and then you hold the arms of it, and it runs an electric current through, through your body to figure out your body fat percentage. That said that I was like 4 or 4.5%. And the, and then someone did like a capa’s test, like the physical counters.

Richard G.: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Caliper. Yes. That thing keeper is a I believe that’s a, that’s an item that’s assigned to a, that’s to a pizza. Yes. Or not a pizza. Something else to and then that was like, I don’t know if that was like 5 or 5 or something like that, but anyways, I remember when I was there and like looking at myself in the mirror and I was like, wow, I’m really cut.

Dean Pohlman: But then like, I, I saw a video of myself taken out of context and I was it was like that. I was like, oh my God, that guy is really skinny. Oh that’s me. Oh, okay. I’m going to start eating more food. This is not good. So yeah. And I remember at the time I was eating, like, just veggies and like, meat and very few carbs, if any.

Dean Pohlman: And, yeah, I’m like, my physical performance is garbage. I was able to get through yoga workouts, but, like, I wasn’t able to get through any sort of other type of workout. So I want to kind of take things back to when you were first getting started with working out. What did you do when you didn’t want to work out?

Dean Pohlman: Like what? How did you motivate yourself to work? Was it was it purely the desire? Was was it the esthetics desire, or was there something else that encouraged you? And what do you think?

Richard G.: This kind of continues now, as in that I like to set arbitrary goals. And they’re not, they’re not like good goals. They’re not regular goals. It’s just kind of like, okay, I’m going to do this x amount of times I have a cheat, I need to fill this out and that’s it. It’s like it was just like, okay, this is just the thing I need to do today.

Richard G.: Like and that continues a little bit today. It’s like, okay, well I’m good. And yeah, I do.

Dean Pohlman: Those those printable sheets that we make for people for workout programs. That’s actually something you just made for yourself.

Richard G.: Perfect. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like I just it was just there. It’s like it’s something that I can check off and be like, I have done that. It is good.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. Yeah. So. And in that first month, do you remember noticing any. Oh no I’m or going back a long way. But I like to ask this question because people who are haven’t started yet. I they want to know like, okay, like, great. You’ve been working out for ten years, right? But like, if I’m just getting started working out, what can I look forward to within one month of getting started?

Dean Pohlman: So like for you, what it did you notice anything happening within one month or what was that minimum time that it took for you to start noticing improvements or the benefits of working out?

Richard G.: For yoga specifically? I think, it was the fact that I felt I didn’t feel as bad after other workouts. My recovery, like, I recovered better. And that kind of continues even now. I go I do, I think we mentioned before, like, right now I’m doing like, kettlebell five times a week.

Richard G.: Kettlebell training. And I am I am doing complex, heavy movements. But because I also do yoga 3 to 5 times a week, I am come in and I’m the only one who’s not sore. Yeah. Yeah. So like, it’s like it’s just that kind of thing. It was like, oh I, I can do things and I feel fine afterwards because I have done other things to make me fine.

Richard G.: Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Dean Pohlman: So, so outside of your working out, outside of physical fitness, in terms of the exercise, what results have you noticed just in terms of your everyday life?

Richard G.: I think it’s just kind of a general it’s weirdly it’s the same thing. It’s like I don’t have a lot of pain day to day. Do.

Dean Pohlman: You have pain day to day?

Richard G.: Yeah. Well, because like I, as I mentioned earlier, I, was a book and a book kid and a reading kid and a sitting at a computer all day. Kid. And.

Dean Pohlman: Borges, don’t forget board games.

Richard G.: Yes. All these things sitting, hunching over. But like I am, my posture is pretty great, honestly. And we used.

Dean Pohlman: To. I just remember we used to used to describe yourself as, like, the man for yoga gargoyle or. Yeah. Because that’s your typical position during the day.

Richard G.: Yeah. It’s to, let’s be honest, still is. But like, I stand up and like, oh I can I’m good.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah.

Richard G.: Like I can move in and out of those positions. But yeah I do still hunched over like a.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. We need a new keyboard situation. I’ve seen the keyboard that has like it’s a split keyboard. Right. So you could, you could spread your arms and then it does.

Richard G.: Require you to be able to like touch type. And I, oddly enough, cannot do that.

Dean Pohlman: You know, I think now I’m, I’m wondering like, you know, an actual ideal keyboard. So if anybody is listening, this is a is a, is a is an inventor of some sort. If you could actually turn your fingers the face up right, and you could bring your arms like kind of along your sides with like, like this basically like doing, I don’t know, this the only thing that I can think of here is like, you’re, you’re you’re just you’re you’re testing yourself for cancer.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah. Anyways, if you could have like, you could have a different keyboard set up and that could potentially improve, improve posture. But anyways, that was a, that was a long tangent.

Richard G.: Or you could just do yoga in the morning. Yeah. Well and God.

Dean Pohlman: I mean it’s that is like that is so that is I mean I think that is probably one of the best things that you can do for your body in the morning, as opposed to waiting for it later in the day. I know that that’s been my experience. Like sometimes I don’t always have the motivation to do morning yoga, but when I decide that that’s going to be what I do in the morning for, you know, a consistent period of time, body feels so much better and I don’t have to warm up as much for my other workouts.

Dean Pohlman: So anyways, if you’re not already doing yoga in the morning, just a few minutes that can be can be super helpful. So you you eventually went on to do, you know, you talked about kettlebells already, but, how did, starting yoga, doing that consistently lead into you making other improvements in your health and wellness?

Richard G.: I think a lot of that comes from just being able to be like, I can do this. And therefore I can do more, that’s that’s that’s kind of a it’s just kind of just that confidence, saying like, oh, I can do this. I can hold the plank for a minute. I can do, I can go start lifting a kettlebell.

Richard G.: And, it’s it’s one of those things like yoga prepares you for a lot of other, strength movements just because it’s the core. It’s being aware of what your body is doing and where your body is moving. In the planes of movement. Your body goes through, and that kind of branches off into almost every other hyper thing you’re doing, whether it’s martial arts or Olympic, Olympic lifting or kettlebells or, throwing, hugging logs.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s cool. Yeah. All right. So how did, So my next question is, how have, external support systems helped you along your fitness journey?

Richard G.: Okay. So this is a bit of a weird one, because the question for me to answer, just because I don’t, I like doing yoga alone. It’s it’s like, I don’t I don’t. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: So so Richard has been to some of the retreats before, and he literally just sits in a corner by himself and doesn’t talk to anybody. Yeah. So I think even during the group workouts you’re just like, no, I’m good, I’m good over here.

Richard G.: So I don’t work out. I’m there to work.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Dean, there are things to build. Shut up and leave me alone. Okay, fine.

Richard G.: I’m too. I was there too. I can’t do the workouts as, like, oh, something needs to be done. All right? Okay, I, I can figure that. Or to stand ominously in the background holding up a clock.

Dean Pohlman: Yes. I don’t have it on me, but you have definitely sent me passive aggressive signs before about.

Richard G.: What was aggressive. Aggressive?

Dean Pohlman: Aggressive aggressive. Yes. Sure. True.

Richard G.: Yeah. But, I think because okay, so, you know, the question is like what is what is what is the best type of exercise you can do if you know the correct answer that.

Dean Pohlman: Whatever your, whatever allows you to be consistent. Whatever. Yeah.

Richard G.: Whatever. Whatever you will do. Yeah. And part of that is kind of just like what it is. It’s like with yoga, I like doing that alone and like doing that, just in my living room, just with my music, with kettlebells. A lot of that is, since I do work from home, that’s kind of my only social interaction, during the week.

Richard G.: So it’s nice to, like, go and see people, and, like, that keeps me going there. Just like meeting people and just hanging out with the people in my kettlebell class. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s cool. So what’s the next thing you want to work on. Your in your fitness is there like is there a next level for you. Is there something that you’re excited about that I know you do. You do push up challenges. You have a do you still do that.

Richard G.: So yeah. No, I’ve been doing I’m trying to get 200 push ups under ten minutes. Is is there a reason behind this? No. I’m just doing it because push ups are easy to do at home. And if I have an arbitrary goal, I’m going to try an accomplishment, accomplish it. And, I’ve just been doing this by, like, steadily increasing the amount of push ups, amount of reps I do for sets.

Richard G.: I do ten sets. Right now I’m up to 25 reps per set. Today I got it in like, 16, 16 minutes and 39 seconds or something like that. Can’t quite recall, but, you know, and just just try trying to trying to get it in there and yeah, I’ve been going up like just one rep per set for months.

Richard G.: Like last month. It was 24. This month it’s 45. Next month I’ll be 26. And eventually I hope to get under two minutes just naturally or I’ll die. But you know one of those.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So jumps are tough when you’re doing that many do you do do you have to do anything for your shoulders?

Richard G.: I do, man for yoga.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. That helps. Yeah. I just know that if I, if I started doing that much pushing exercises, I would have to really do a lot of a lot of scapula work. Like a lot of pulling exercises just to offset all that push ups. But I did way too much bench press when I was younger. And so, like, I have to just every time I work out, I have to deal with whatever I did to my body when I was doing too many, too much bench press three times a week, instead of doing other exercises.

Dean Pohlman: So, Anyways. Yeah. Oh, well. All right, let’s get into our, our fun section. Rapid fire questions. So, what do you think is one habit, belief, or mindset that has helped you the most with your overall health and wellness?

Richard G.: Treat yourself with self-compassion. Just be kind to yourself at all. Just in everything. Just. It’s okay if you fall off that if you fall off the wagon, you didn’t. You’re just taking a little. You’re just detour. It’s fine if you eat a whole cake, it’s fine. This is a great cake. Probably just eat the cake. Enjoy it. Yeah.

Richard G.: Enjoy it.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. And again, I want to clarify. You didn’t always think. You didn’t used to think like that when you started working out, right.

Richard G.: Yeah. Yeah. Now it’s it’s been a, it’s been a process to kind of reset, to, to change my relationship with food, to make it to where I am. I can be just happy with what I’m doing.

Dean Pohlman: Cool. What’s one thing that you do for your health that you think is overlooked or undervalued?

Dean Pohlman: Just,

Richard G.: Okay. That’s weird. I don’t know if it’s because, like, every year I would go to say like, exercise. Do you? I’m not like, I don’t know, I do all of thing. It’s just like, I think just, be willing to be bad at things.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah.

Richard G.: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: No, I think that’s great.

Richard G.: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah I mean yeah I always I think having that mindset is important. I mean I mean I’m extrapolating on that by saying I think a lot of people get frustrated when they can’t do things. And recognizing that when you find something that you can’t do is something that have the potential to make you a lot stronger versus you just continuing to do the same things that you already know how to do.

Dean Pohlman: There’s so much more area of opportunity, there’s so much more growth opportunity in the things that you can do, rather than just continuing to do the things that you know how to do in a comfortable with. So I think that’s great advice.

Richard G.: Yeah. That’s that’s basically it’s like you have to it’s not even it’s not even that you, you are necessarily doing things that you are bad at. It’s just accepting that to learn is to fail at things a few times. And that’s great. That’s that’s how you learn things is be the first step at being really good at something.

Richard G.: Is being really bad at it.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. I keep saying that to myself whenever I play Settlers of Catan and it just I just yeah I still suck at it. So now I play Bananagrams instead. Yeah. All right. Last question. What is your oh wait, we talked about not stressful. Part of what’s the most stressful part of your day to day life?

Richard G.: Some of that I was talking about, it’s like it was it’s it’s work. It’s it can be difficult. Is it the most stressful these days? I don’t know, there’s always, I’m 37 at. Remember, going, I’m 38. And this is like, as I’m getting older, it’s like I realizing like, oh, there’s a bunch of health stuff I need to like, be mindful of now that I didn’t have to worry about for the longest time.

Richard G.: And now it’s like, oh, I need to get blood work. I need to do probably think about getting like, colonoscopy for I think all this stuff that’s, that’s it’s also, you know, the fun fact about the chemotherapy they went through is they’re like, yeah, every year you live you’re like point 1% closer to getting leukemia. I’m like, great, right?

Dean Pohlman: Geez. Yeah. I mean, if we I don’t know, there’s something to be said about, recognizing the, you know, the impending, you know, your mortality and I haven’t gotten into that yet, but, you know, I know it’s apparently helpful for you. Stoicism. It’s a thing. All right, so my last question here, what is your best advice?

Dean Pohlman: Best piece of advice for men who want to be healthier?

Richard G.: I feel like I already said this, but it’s just like, be kind to yourself as you’re going through. Realize that you you are your your body is your body. It is not Dean’s, it’s not mine. The way I react to things are not going to be the way that you necessarily react to things. For me, macro counting and just being mindful of what I eat works.

Richard G.: If that’s not what works for you, then find something else. No one is. If someone is trying to tell you that there is only one way to do things, run away. Run! Yeah. Is. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: That’s fair. So give an example of what being kind to yourself sounds like an internal dialog, versus how you used to talk to yourself, when you were first starting out. And now how do you talk to yourself in something exercise related?

Richard G.: So, good example of being kind myself is understanding that my body today is different from my body yesterday. And that’s fine. I think earlier on in my like exercise journey, if I was if I was doing deadlifts and I couldn’t do the same weight that I could the week before, I would get like mad at myself and berate myself and be like, what am I doing wrong?

Richard G.: Why can’t I? Why am I not getting stronger? And now it’s like if I am working, if I’m doing snatches the week before with the 28 K and I this week, I walk in. I’m like, today’s a 20 K day. Today is I need to do what’s right for my body today, as opposed to thinking about what my body did some other day.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, that’s great advice. As someone who is continually on and off sick because my children bring me home special diseases, yeah. Yeah. Like my my workouts are not linear. They’re not linear. And there are it looks like a it looks like a it looks like a it looks like a very unwieldy stock market. In terms of, like what my resistances that I use, and my.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So, definitely, the consistency over like, limiting meeting like your best standard every day.

Richard G.: Progress isn’t a straight line. It’s a series of ups and downs.

Dean Pohlman: Yes. All right. Cool. Well, Richard, thank you for joining me for, this interview. We appreciate everything that you do for me and for yoga. I can say that it would not be where it is now without you. And, you do a lot for us. So. So thank you. And if you are, you know, on the website or on the app, know that Richard built that somehow.

Dean Pohlman: So, give him a shout out in the Facebook group if you’re if you’re here and you want to say thank you. So yeah. Thanks again Richard.

Richard G.: My pleasure.

Dean Pohlman: All right, guys, I hope this inspires you to be a better man. Be on the lookout for more episodes on the topic of reclaiming your health.

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