There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
A Tip That Can Change Your Life
Could simply knowing what to do in fitness be the easy part? Join us as we tackle this intriguing question by navigating the maze of fitness myths and marketing distractions that many of us encounter on our wellness journeys. Through my lens as an exercise physiologist and personal trainer, we dissect the art of creating effective workouts even with limited time, drawing attention to the often-overlooked role of acute program variables. We challenge the outdated notions like "eight-minute abs" and underscore the need for taking personal responsibility in managing our health.
In a world often clouded by negativity, we explore the transformative power of positivity and the courage it takes to ask for what we truly want. Reflecting on a personal story about a significant book signing opportunity in the Hudson Valley, I highlight how taking initiative opens doors. It's not about being special; it's about being proactive and overcoming perceived barriers, such as negotiating with employers for schedule flexibility to prioritize fitness goals. This episode is your invitation to challenge pessimism and embrace the power of positivity, both in fitness and life.
Negativity can be a formidable barrier to personal growth, and this episode doesn't shy away from exploring that truth. We examine how psychological hurdles, like fear of failure, can prevent us from starting or succeeding in our fitness journey. But there's hope—through strength training and self-care, we can build confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Sharing insights from my experiences at a treatment center, we see how encouraging adolescents to take control of personal hygiene fostered a positive self-image and mood. With the inspiring story of Zach Hawk's weight loss journey, we demonstrate the power of taking responsibility and focusing on controllable actions to achieve personal success. Join us as we uncover the positive steps you can take to transform your own fitness journey.
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there's a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell, I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There is a method to the madness.
Speaker 1:All right, so we're going to have some fun today talking about some cool things. I hope all things in fitness, health, wellness, getting better, moving the ball, all those positive things. Before I get to that, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. Let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service and home sales. Why don't you just give them a shout and figure out what your house is worth? 386-451-2412.
Speaker 1:All right, so let's get to today's episode. You know there is such a distinction and fine line between definite how-tos. For the past few episodes, outside of the one that I did about running and ultras and setting goals and things like that, I've been covering a lot of the acute program variables and, just as a little recap, those are just the things that go into making up a workout, such as exercise selection, like whether you're going to use machines or dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, body weight, whatever. Then there's sets, like how much volume, like how many sets to do, how many total exercises to do, what repetition range you should focus on, what your load should be, what your tempo should be, what your rest time should be. Those are all like the acute program variables and they matter and they definitely help us, professional trainers, put together a workout that's most efficient for you. You, as in the clients that come to the gym or you know anybody really, but you know, in the clients that come to the gym or you know anybody really, but you know the clients that come to the gym we have to think about a schedule. They are scheduled for either 30 minutes or 45 minutes and we have to put together a workout that will fit within that time. So we have to consider all of those variables. We want everybody to get the most out of their time there, so we want to make sure it's programmed and those variables help us do that, you know.
Speaker 1:But I had this discussion again with a client this morning and like I like that, I really like when clients are into working out and you know you think, well, aren't they all? No, some just kind of want to get it done and you know they almost approach it that way and hey, if it works, you know that's fine. But you know, some really like to talk about human potential and getting better and I like that. I always enjoy those kind of talks. I'm a philosopher at heart, absolutely, and you know I had my psychology degree prior to my exercise physiology degree and I've always loved history and psychology and philosophy and all these great things. So we were kind of kicking the can down the road a little bit about uh, you know, do people really not know or do they just not want to do it? And, um, you know, I get this, I get it, I get. I wouldn't call it cynicism because this person is absolutely not cynical, but maybe a little skeptical of the human condition. Um, and I, and I get that, you know. But you know I did take the side of. Well, there's a lot of confusion out there. There's a lot of people that aren't sure.
Speaker 1:On diet, you know, the marketing has really, really pushed different things and the same with strength training. I mean, you know you can open up your social media, there'll be commercials, for you know this magic hack that will do it for you. You know, back in the day it was eight minute abs. I don't know if people remember that, but little commercial. If you just do this eight minute ab routine, you'll have, you know, an eight pack. You know which. Of course, I don't care. If you did a hour of abs, you're not going to get an eight pack. The eight pack, six pack, and it really is an eight pack, as Eleanor says, not a six pack. But you know, if you really want those nice defined abs, that's going to be made in the kitchen. But anyway, it was just a hack. And now the hacks are a little different, but different, but the same.
Speaker 1:So I want to talk a little bit today about, sure, there's this are people kind of like just not doing what they're supposed to do, and are there some that don't know what to do? So I want to just basically kind of cut that down the middle and say it. I think it's a little bit of both and I want to get everybody to try to focus on what they can control. Like, what can you control? Have you done everything that you know to do for your own wellness. I read this great quote this morning. I read a couple different daily meditation books. I just like that. That's kind of how I start my day. I have a couple cups of coffee as I read some inspirational stuff, and then I write in a journal a little bit, you know, to get my mind right, and then I exercise. It's my typical morning routine. My mind right and then I exercise. It's my typical morning routine Sharpen the saw, both mentally, spiritually, and then sharpen the saw physically.
Speaker 1:To steal from Stephen Covey. I just like that line sharpening the saw and then my saw is sharp and I can go out and hopefully be productive. But the line said and it allegedly comes from where camels were transportation, so way, way back it said trust in god, but tire camel to a tree. So I don't ever get religious or even very spiritual on this and that's not the point. But you know it's a great metaphor, right? So yeah, you've got to kind of trust the gods, trust nature, however you view life in the things you can't control. But you still have to tie your camel to a tree. Now, I'm an animal lover so I don't exactly like animals being tied. But hey, I get the point, or somebody will steal it, it will walk off, right. So we have to do our part. So are we, whether we know what we have to do or not, are we doing everything we know to do? Are we tying our camel to a tree? So it's funny A lot of times I check my statistics on Buzzsprout, my server that hosts the podcast for me, and I check it and I'm sometimes very surprised at, like, what episodes get a ton of uploads and which ones don't.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's just a matter of luck and timing. You know there's nothing I can do. At the same time, I've also listened to people who do these things, you know, do them at a big time level and uh, you know they say, don't check your statistics, because then you will get like into what you think people want to listen to, and then you start kind of turning all of your information into that and then that's not the real way to go because maybe it's not very authentic. So I see both sides to that and anybody that knows me knows I'm way too hardheaded to be swayed by any of that. Anyway, like me, you know not not being the best at stuff like that might actually go the opposite direction of like, oh, they don't want to listen to it. Well, I'm going to continue to just do this over and over and over, you know, but I don't do that either.
Speaker 1:What I do is kind of like talk about things I either have questions for, or talk about things that are on my mind, because I just think that that's. You know. Hey, if I've got something to say, I'm going to say it. But where I was leading with that Is that it seems like people aren't into the psychology and the philosophy as much as they want to hear the hardcore science. That's real interesting to me. I also think it's really off base, because I've been doing this now just a little bit over 30 years.
Speaker 1:I can promise everybody out there that the problem is people are just not doing the simple things. You know, sure, there's information that people are still confused about, as I said earlier, especially when it comes to diet Low carb, not low carb. You know, should I eat gluten, not eat gluten? Should I be a vegan, not a vegan carb? You know, should I eat gluten, not eat gluten? Should I be a vegan, not a vegan? You know? Yeah, all these things that continue to get kicked around and largely a lot of it is simply just opinion, but there is some of that. But at the same time, people are not exercising the muscle of. I'm going to do everything in my control and that's just not the right way, and I don't know how to get people to do that Like. For me it's absolutely about that.
Speaker 1:You know, I don't know where I got that from, but I remember at an early age you know, I've talked about it before when part of my high school journey and junior high school journey, I was overweight. I ate whatever the heck I wanted to eat. You know, you can maybe call it self-soothing, I don't know. My dad died when I was 13, my grandparents the same year. We had just moved to Florida. A couple of years before. I mean, my life was upside down. This is in the seventies and it really. I mean, if there was counseling, we couldn't afford it, you know. So, like those were tough times. I guess that's why I did it.
Speaker 1:But I went through a phase where, you know, I just got chunky and ate whatever the heck I wanted to eat. Even though I was an active kid I was a competitive tennis player I still got chubby and I felt chubby, and that's the key. You know, I felt chubby, so I felt awful about myself and that's not the age you want to do that. And then somehow, some way, I just woke up. I don't know if it was a day or a week, I don't, you know, I can't remember it so long ago but I was like I don't want to do that anymore and I didn't know exactly what to do. I mean, how could I? I was 17 years old when I made this decision. How could I have known the best diet? How could I? I mean, I didn't, I just really used common sense and I just started eating.
Speaker 1:As I wrote in my book, you Cannot Run a Poor Diet. I mean, it's all about behavior choices versus diet. Like diet in the word of eat this, this and this. And I started eating three square meals a day, as balanced as I knew to make them at the time. No pure junk food, like no candy, no soda, no chips. You know no seconds, no desserts.
Speaker 1:And I mean I got skinny. I got skinny really fast, you know, right before my senior year of high school, which I'm so grateful for, because then I really got to enjoy high school. You know, it sounds crazy. You couldn't enjoy it when you're overweight. No, it was a different experience. Now I took it a little too far, my senior year and then into college, you know, enjoyed it a little too much, if you know what I mean. But you know that's not part of this story. So, like I exercised everything that I knew to do and I didn't really start working out until a little bit later, that year, that I was skinny, like I got really skinny. I was like five, 11, six foot, 135 pounds. I don't know what I was when I started that journey, like maybe 30 pounds heavier, but at the time that felt really, really big, you know. And uh, so I did everything that I knew to do and I just think that's so important.
Speaker 1:You know the Stoics always talk about the philosophy of Stoicism, that is, you know, control everything that's in your control. So tie your camel to a tree, you know. The rest, no, there's not much you can do so if you don't have the genetics to be skinny or have a six pack, so to say, yeah, there, you know, anybody can get thinner, anybody can get heavier, everybody can get more muscular, everybody can lose muscle. Everybody can get stronger, everybody can get more muscular, everybody can lose muscle, everybody can get stronger, everybody can get weaker, everybody can get faster, everybody can tree and do everything within your power to be the best version of you and I promise you you can do that. And I promise you that if you really, really, really do everything that you're supposed to do, you will be absolutely happy with the outcome. You may not get eight pack abs like you. May not be able to get up on a bodybuilding stage in your underwear, basically, and show those abs, so what? Maybe that's not in your genetics, but you can get thinner. You might not be able to run a 5k in 15 minutes and be up there with those world-class athletes, so what? You can run one at your best time and you will be happy for doing it.
Speaker 1:So how do I get people to understand that the philosophy, that the psychology, is more important than exactly the how-tos? How do I get it across to you that if we just picked up the tool of doing what we know to do each day, because we know what to do, I will agree with my client who said that this morning we know what to do. At the bare minimum, we know if we get up and go for a long walk instead of going and having some crap food breakfast at a fast food restaurant. We will be benefiting ourselves. We know if we make time in our day to get to the gym and strength train, we will be benefiting ourselves. We know if we decide that we've been drinking a little too much and we're going to stop, we will benefit ourselves or we're going to drastically cut down, like we know this. We know that if we quit smoking cigarettes we have cut our risk for lung cancer and other problems and other health crises. We have really lowered that risk and we know we will feel better. We know it and I know with addiction it's a little harder to just say stop, but people aren't doing what they need to do.
Speaker 1:And when I tune in on social media which I've joked about before, which is like stupid of me, but then again it's not because there does have to be I mean, maybe, maybe that's a God complex me thinking I'm going to change people's minds, I don't know, but there does have to be some truth out there on things and it just seems like there's so many lies spread everywhere and the thing I, the things I see the most, is that the negativity just the people believe in in every walk of life, not just fitness, but that they can't do things like they. Just there's this pessimistic attitude that I, I, I don't get it. I don't get it Like it doesn't work. The pessimism doesn't work. So we're going up to New York in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 1:I love to go where I was originally born and lived. My first 10 years of my life had spent a lot of time there growing up because I still had family there, beautiful, beautiful lodge up in the mountains. It's going to be cold and all that stuff. It's December now and I called the guy, the, the innkeeper, who was very nice. We spoke to him and talked to him a little bit when I stayed up there a month ago or so and I said, hey, I'm going to, you know, I've got a couple of books out. Method to the madness, you can't outrun a poor diet. You know, introduce myself, so to say. And uh said, you know, I'd love to come up and do a book signing up there. You know, I just thought it'd be fun. You know, turn my trip into a little bit of a work trip, you know. And he was like thrilled. He was like, oh, that'd be great, you know, we could put up flyers, you can talk about fitness. I mean, like, to me that is like so cool, like this is a pretty fancy hotel that I like to go to when the you know, the season's out so I can afford it. And uh, you know, here I get to do a talk up there on fitness.
Speaker 1:You know, and what, how many years ago, 40 years ago, here I am this overweight teenager. You know, who would have thought in 19, what? 83, 82, I wouldn't have been like, are you crazy? But so how does that happen? You know? Am I special? No, it's like I think one of the things I do have going for me, you know, thank God, you know, maybe parenting I don't know how it got there Good role models, but is I'm not afraid to ask, like I'm not afraid to do the next thing I need to do?
Speaker 1:No-transcript group for my podcast on Facebook, and I really thought the question was a joke. One of the people wrote in and said I want to monetize my podcast. Anybody know how I can get sponsors? And I'm reading all these replies and I wrote ask, ask, like what do you mean? Just ask people. I mean, how do you think I got my sponsors, the Gildan Group. How did I get my sponsors overhead door? I asked them, like we have to tie our camel to the tree. We have to do our part. That's our part. We can ask for what we want. You know like, okay, so let's take that into the fitness world about asking you know, maybe you're struggling getting to the gym. You work for somebody.
Speaker 1:I hear this sometimes from younger people and they say that you know they can't because of their schedule. Have you ever asked your boss to maybe change your schedule a little bit? Maybe they will, maybe they won't. But most people these days, oh man, I can't do that. I mean that's what everybody says, I can't do that. I can't do that. I mean that's what everybody says, I can't do that. I can't do that.
Speaker 1:I mean people are just so negative and I think, because they're negative, they're afraid to start. I mean, is that the problem? Is that why people won't go to the gym when they know they're supposed to? Because they just don't think it's going to work? Like, are the expectations just too high or the expectations too low? Like you've just given up on yourself so you feel like, well, I can't do this, so I'm not going to do anything. I mean I don't know I and it's not just America, you know. I mean it's like sure we, we get a reputation for being pretty entitled, and you know, I mean we don't have the greatest reputation, right. But I just think people in general have just gotten really negative and really cynical, and I think the one thing you don't want to get negative and cynical about is yourself and your ability to do what you want to do, and it starts with physical fitness.
Speaker 1:You know, in my book that I'm finishing up now, which I'm really happy with, I listed the benefits to strength training and you know I was at 19, right, so we'll sneak preview here. I added 20. I said build your confidence because it does. I think, like when we work in the gym or when we run, or when we cycle, or when we swim, or when we climb or when we power walk, like we feel accomplished, we feel like we've done something. So like when you start eating better and you start tracking your food and tracking your weight and you notice after a week you look at your numbers and they're improving, you start to feel effective. You start to feel like you can do this when you go to the gym and you use more weight than you did when you started, you start to feel better about yourself. I have seen it over and over and over.
Speaker 1:It's a big reason why for years I pushed to try to get more strength training and exercise programs into the substance abuse centers and there just isn't the funding, which is too bad, because it is such an important tool to somebody getting back on the horse. It is such an important tool and I just wish the funding can be found or the resources can be found, because I just believe 100% that part of tying the camel to the tree is taking care of our physical self. And I'll close with this saying this when I did work in a treatment center one of the big things we used to and I was just out of college, my first degree One of the things that we did at Stewart Treatment Center it wasn't Stewart Marchman yet and I worked in the residential adolescent program One of the things that we did was we always made sure that the kids, the adolescents, put their best foot forward by making sure that they showered and, believe it or not, a lot of them did not want to Put on the best clothes that they had tucked in their shirts, clothes that they had tucked in their shirts, fixed their stains, fixed their holes, put the shoes on, shaved, put on deodorant, all those things Like they had to. It was a rule, and no, we weren't being dicks. It was important to make sure that the person knew that the better they felt, the better they projected themselves, and it was just a very positive addition to their day.
Speaker 1:If you know, it's the one thing they had control over. Like they may not be able to get out of their dark mood early on, but they can control whether or not they put their best foot forward by good personal hygiene and grooming, and we would notice a change. They'd come out of their room cleaned up and they were smiling. That just makes a difference. You know, when people are depressed, they don't always want to take care of themselves. So you know, I just want you to think about that and I know some of you out there only want to hear about the acute program variables and you want me to tell you exactly how many sets to do, what exercises to do, what reps and what load.
Speaker 1:Okay, great, great, great, great. But what if you're not going to do it? You know, the more important thing is to do what you can do. Take the positive steps you know to do and do it and I promise you you'll be happy with the results. So tie your camel to a tree and then forget about the rest, because you can't control it. Thank you. Overhead Door of Daytona Beach. Jeff and Zach Hawk absolutely do everything they can to better themselves. By the way, zach is now down 25 pounds. He was pretty stout before, stout as a muscular. Now he's just shredded why he's doing what he needs to do. So that's awesome and they have the best garage door company, the best product, the best service. Give them a shout OverheadDoorDaytonacom.
