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
Why Your Fitness Journey Needs Both Cardio AND Strength
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am 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:Before I get started today, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. 886-451-2412. Good afternoon, good morning, good day everybody. How's all my MaxFitters doing out there today?
Speaker 1:I'm going to talk to you a little bit today about the upcoming MaxFit Games. We have some time before the 2025 Max Fit Games. They are August 9th at the Sunrise Park in Holly Hill, 8 am same location as last year. But I wanted to kind of like talk about it a little bit, a talk about like what we're going to do, what we do it for and all that good stuff. So I was trying to figure out the other day with someone just how many years we've done this. You know, I think we took a break a year or two, maybe with COVID. Someone thought we've done it now for like 14 consecutive years minus the break. Not really sure. I kind of wish I knew that, but we've done it for a long time.
Speaker 1:Where it came from is the fact that you know there's a lot of different fitness events out there, which is good. There are bodybuilding competitions for those that are into the muscles and physique stuff. There are some powerlifting competitions out there For those that don't know, that is the weightlifting exercises of bench press, squat and deadlifts. They're not that common but they are out there. And there are CrossFit competitions. Of course there are probably more CrossFit locations like places to work out than there actually are CrossFit games around here, but there are definitely CrossFit games. And for the endurance-minded folks, there is running events like 5Ks almost every weekend and there are triathlons, there are duathlons, so there's like a lot of stuff which is great, but what I notice is, outside of CrossFit, is you pretty much it's one kind of fitness.
Speaker 1:Basically, I see these arguments sometimes over who are the most fit athletes. It's really none of those I brought up. In reality, when we've looked at different numbers and statistics and how they gauge fitness, which is really really hard. Not hard. How to gauge fitness? We know that it's a combination of strength, endurance and body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, mobility power. So we know how to measure those things.
Speaker 1:But how do you take a certain athletic group and decide who is the most overall fit out of it? And it's hard to do. But they've tried and they ranked MMA fighters and boxers right at the top because they need a combination of strength and endurance. They have ranked professional basketball players like up there in the top two or three, which I can see, because they do have to be leaner. They have to be very strong. It's not just run up and down the court and shoot baskets. You have to be able to box your opponent out, push the defender off of you and things like that. So it takes a combination of endurance and strength, probably more than any other professional team sport, I would guess. So they do rankings and all that which is kind of fun and just more or less just interesting to nerd out on, but it doesn't do us like a lot of good.
Speaker 1:So Ivo's kind of wanted to have fitness events that really push a balanced fitness approach, because I think it's very important to have a balanced fitness mindset. You know, I think anything that gets you out there exercising and getting healthier is a good thing. You know like. So if you only want to run because you want to be a runner and you used to be a smoker or a drinker and, by the way, that is very common then great. I mean, that's obviously better than smoking and drinking. Or if you just want that activity, that's great. If you want to be kind of a gym rat and go to the gym every day and build up your muscles because that makes you feel good, great, I mean. Again, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1:As an exercise physiologist, you know I look at like maximizing and you know what's perfect scenario and the best scenario is to work on all of your physical fitness. I mean that's what's going to lead to your greatest health outcomes, absolutely, and personally I've gone through it. I mean I've spoken about before I talk about it in intros to my book what got me into physical fitness was, early on, like I was really in the bodybuilding. I mean that was my very first entrance into physical fitness, after learning how to eat correctly and losing weight, and then in high school, my first entry into exercise was via the gym. And you know, then it turns out I have genetics more towards building muscle, so it was just the right fit. I mean, it was a great click for me. I mean I just uh, I loved it. I'd go to the gym, I'd work out, I felt good about myself, I uh wanted to eventually do a bodybuilding contest and then, many years later, I did so. Like that was my story.
Speaker 1:And then, when I got to UCF and started working on my graduate degree in exercise physiology, I started learning so much more about every aspect of fitness. I can't remember how many were in our program, but it was somewhere in the ballpark of, say, 18 to 24 students that started the graduate program at about the same time I did, and me and one other guy was the odd man out as far as strength training went. It was, you know, it's kind of funny when you think about it. Like we literally were like the only ones that lifted weights and everybody else was into cardio, like they're really into running and triathlons, including my professors. That's really where I first heard about it. So I don't know, I thought they were weird.
Speaker 1:Like I'm like what are you guys talking about. You know what you run you bike, like, why, like we did that if we had to cut weight we didn't do it because we wanted to. And then you know, like everything you get around it starts to, you know, become more important to you. Like you start hearing people's stories and next thing I know I'm running with those guys. Next thing I know I want to do a triathlon, next thing I know that's what I'm doing. So I did the Easter beach run as my first race and then I did a couple other 5Ks and then I did a sprint triathlon and then really kind of went in that journey for a while and ended up doing a half Ironman, did a lot of sprints like that was the thing I liked. I did a lot of half marathons, marathons, all of it. So like I really kind of like jumped all in.
Speaker 1:I still lifted weights. Like that was still a critical part of my fitness training, I still believed in it 100% and it was right in the heart in the middle of my personal training career. So I mean, obviously that still held value to me. But I did notice like mentally, like not pushing as hard in the gym, getting way into the ego side of things of oh, I want to do, great, I want to compete better, I want to win my age group or place in my age great, I want to compete better, I want to win my age group or place in my age group, I want to run this time or that time, and I think a lot of people fall into that. It's almost like we have to go through that journey a little bit. I wouldn't say that that's overly healthy, but there again are worse things, like drugs and alcohol. So you know, but you know that's just not the healthiest way to do things. And I wasn't pushing as hard in the gym because I felt like the more muscles I had, the slower I'd be. So I backed off there and then I didn't Like.
Speaker 1:Eventually, I think, like most things, if we pay attention and continue on in our journey with hopefully good motives, meaning we want to be better, we want to improve, because chasing that, where I only cared about like how well I was doing, that ego thing, it wasn't good for me. Like I didn't really like who I was becoming, I wasn't having a lot of fun. That's probably the biggest thing. Like I remember doing my very first triathlon with a bunch of UCF students and my professors and it was like a super wonderful day. Like I remember doing my very first triathlon with a bunch of UCF students and my professors and it was like a super wonderful day, like I was real excited.
Speaker 1:I was scared too, like I was really afraid I was going to have a panic attack out the swim, you know, because I'd had a couple in college and I thought, oh my God, what if you panic when you're swimming? I've drowned. So I had that running through my brain and so, honestly, the biggest challenge for me was that like I was way more afraid of that than anything else. So I can remember the swim was last in this one. I did the really old triathlon at Cypress Gardens and it was a reverse order, it was a run bike swim. So we finished with the swim and I can still remember like turning the final corner on the swim and realizing I was going to make it and then swimming up to the dock thing and I was so proud of myself really, just because I was afraid I was going to have a panic attack, and I did it anyway and I did it and so I was so proud of myself and I was like on cloud nine the rest of the day.
Speaker 1:And I can remember one of my friends who did the race with me was like hey, go check out how you did in the age group. And I looked at her and I said they, they scored these things like I had no idea. And I really, to this day, wish I still didn't have that idea because it ruined it for me. And I did okay in the age group, especially like for my first one. I was like pleased and I think that's why she wanted me to see it. She, she was like look, you did pretty good. And I'm like I had no idea that they scored these things. You know, I was just happy to be a part of it and to do it. You know, and thankfully it didn't ruin my attitude yet. And I remember driving home, I can still remember like the music I was listening to. It was you too, anyway, neither here nor there, but it just shows you, like how powerful some things we do are.
Speaker 1:And I just felt so good about myself.
Speaker 1:And then slowly it got ruined. Slowly I started chasing being better. It wasn't good enough to be good enough Now, I needed to be better and that just ruined it for me and it got to the point where I literally just didn't enjoy it anymore. So then I got away from it and then I learned and then, thankfully, I was able to, many years back now, kind of like go okay, you don't have to be feast or famine with this stuff, you know, have the best aerobic system you can have by doing cardio Cause again, when I was bodybuilding there was no cardio and then have the best muscular physique I can have and be as strong as I can be, which again, I wasn't pushing when I was doing endurance races because I didn't want to be bigger. So then I kind of just did some you know, not as focused maintenance work and I'm like, no, so many years back now, thank goodness, had the epiphany of do both man. You know who are you racing against? You're not, and I don't really do much of that anymore.
Speaker 1:I still do a lot of 5Ks, but I do it, hopefully on my best days, with different motives. And I do a lot of strength training because I love it. I'm back to hitting it as hard as I can when I train as hard as I can. That day when I train, meaning I'm just like you, I have days where I'm not into it but I still do the best I can. And then there are days I feel like you know I can do anything and I still do cardio because I do love cardio. That's the thing I love. Cardio for cardio. I mean, I love going for a run and just, you know, zoning out and getting that, you know, conversation with the man upstairs, and that's what I get out of cardio. It's the time that I meditate.
Speaker 1:I was talking to a client this morning about that's why I like to swim. You know, I'm not a great swimmer because I'm fairly muscular. So I think I know that sounds like an excuse, but it's also true. I'm not a great swimmer, I'm an okay swimmer. I mean, I've swum over a mile before at a time. I think that's okay, but it's hard for me. But I still like it. Because when I swim, not only is it good for me because it's hard, but I stare at that black line at the bottom and I can zone out and I force myself to be bored, can't play on my phone, Can't check a text Right, can't scroll social media. I mean I hope they don't invent a way one day where people are swimming with their phones? Hope not, but you can't right now. And so that's good, because it forces me to be bored and I think sometimes being bored is really good for us. So I still do it. So I love cardio, I love strength.
Speaker 1:So when I wanted to start the MaxFit Games and this came after all this starting the MaxFit Games I'm like we need to do something that challenges everybody's fitness levels. You know, mostly for fun. Like let's just see if the runner wins when they have calisthenics involved. Let's see if the real strong gym guy who can crank out a bunch of pull-ups and push-ups wins when they're still running. Like let's throw everybody in and see who the most balanced athletes are. And it's a challenge. Like you do it and you say, oh man, that was hard. You know, hopefully kind of like my experience with my first triathlon and you know it has been a great thing doing that.
Speaker 1:I remember the very first max fit games. We had some of the students that I knew, nice kids. They built a wall for me like a big I don't remember 13 foot, does that sound right? But anyway it was pretty high. Like you'd need help to get to the top. Is the whole point of the wall. I mean some super athletic guys, like some of the basketball players and stuff that I was working with. I think they can jump to the top, grab their fingers on the wall and pull themselves over, but most people couldn't. So we built the wall on the very end of the games was you had to climb the wall, and I remember my daughter. So we built the wall on the very end of the games was you had to climb the wall, and I remember my daughter, joanna who maybe was only 11 or 12, won the whole race because it was right up her alley of being a little kid that can do these things. And then she gets the wall and you know we had guys at the top of the wall to help everybody because the idea was to get people over the wall, you know. So they had a jump and then people would lean over, grab your arm, help you over. But like it was right up her alley, so she wins the first max fit games and, ironically enough, angelica, who helps put on the games, her son Sebastian, won the mail. So it was kind of cool to see the kids win. He was a little bit older than Joanna, but they were still kids, he was maybe a teenager and she was, like I said, 10, 11, 12, something like that.
Speaker 1:But it grew from there and then every year we've done different things. I, you know, one of my inspirations was what they call the pump and run, which is an event that I think. Well, I don't know if Arnold Schwarzenegger started it, but I know, like, at his big fitness thing he does in Ohio, every year he has one and it's basically a 5K and then either before or afterwards is a bench press competition and you have to press a certain weight based on your age and weight, so many times and for however many reps you get, you take like 10 seconds or 30 seconds off your time or something like that. So I got the inspiration to do it, kind of from that. That's kind of what was running through my mind. I thought, well, this is a good balance of strength and endurance. And we all went a few of us went and did one to check it out. I think it was in Titusville, it was fun, and so each year we've done different things like that. You know we've had growing pains. You know I'm a kind of a perfectionist, for those that know me, so I'll sit there and I'll think I'll come up with the perfect scoring system that's the most fair for everybody, the most timely, and then, like last year unfortunately it took forever I'm like, oh, why do we do this, why didn't we do this, and you know type of thing. But yeah, everybody got through it and it was a great day, like you know. It was fun. You know, I'm sure people sitting around waiting for the results weren't overly thrilled because it was warm, but there was, you know, essentially no complaints.
Speaker 1:And every year I believe it's very important to give back. Last year we gave to the recovery group that helps out and helps with overdose and things like that, and they came out and they gave us Narcan to give to everybody and we did Narcan demonstrations how to use it. So I thought that was extremely important and we gave a check to them for $500. The year before we donated I think it was a thousand dollars that because we raised a little bit more money that year for Ellen's daughter, leah, who had a cancer diagnosis and thank God that she's in remission now. So we raised money for that.
Speaker 1:You know, each year I've thought of a group that I think you know would be good, because my belief system is that I think it's very important to give back. That's just my own personal feeling. So this year we're using Sophie's Dog Circle. Sophie's Circle, oh man, did I just butcher the name? And yet I see it all the time and I have it on my posters at the gym already. Sophie's Circle, but you know it's a dog rescue that Kathy's the owner and she has such a great reputation in the community. Kelly, my ex-wife, who was a front runner last year in the games and she's super fit and does well. You know she speaks highly of her. My client, joanne, speaks highly of her, and so I thought, you know, that's something we need to do, because if you know me, you know how much I love animals and the poor things are just, I think, forgotten about, you know too often, and there are groups out there that just man, it tears me up to, you know, see what they do and help these dogs get homes, and there's so many good groups out there. So they're going to be the beneficiary this year and you know, this year I think I've nailed it. You know I'm going to have.
Speaker 1:It's going to be more like relay style instead of like doing these events and then moving to the next. It makes it really hard to score and not relay. It's going to be more like a um, a continuous event to where, an obstacle race style thing. So the clock never stops and you have to go to each station and crank out what you're supposed to do. That way the scoring is very easy First over the line, and then we are going to have our typical age group, so we're going to have over 60. We're going to have overall male and female. We're going to have under 20, so 19 and under. Then we're going to have 20 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, and again over 60. There are going to be individuals, so male and female winners in each group, and then teams. If you want to do a team, if you're on a team, you have to take the highest age of the person on your team to go into that age group. So it's going to be that. So when you finish, you finish it's going to be really easy to score.
Speaker 1:There is going to be running in it. There's going to be what we call a lunge lane, so you're going to have to be able to do so many walking lunges. We haven't determined the numbers and distances on everything yet, but, like the walking lunges might be something like a hundred yards. So it's not going to be short, but everything is going to be doable. It's probably going to take the winners 45 minutes to an hour, so it's definitely going to be a workout. It's not like going out for a 5k. I mean, it's not that a 5k is not a workout, because it is, but it's going to be a workout and it won't be over in 15 minutes.
Speaker 1:There's going to be a push-up circle. We haven't decided how many yet, but it will be somewhere in the ballpark of 200 or 300. So basically, there will be scorers there to help you and score. And you know the push-ups got to count, they got to be legit. When you get your 200, so to say, or 200 as a team, you go to the next station. There's going to be what I call elbow plank up downs, and that kind of works your core and your triceps. So think about getting into an elbow plank position and then lifting yourself to a pushup position and then back to the elbows. So we're going to do that. There's going to be a couple hundred of them, so, and then back to the elbows. So we're going to do that. There's going to be a couple hundred of them, so those are rough, ladies and gentlemen. There's going to be air squats, so you're going to have to do so many air squats like 300. You're going to have to be able to do that. Then you go to the next station.
Speaker 1:There is what else do we have here? Oh, we're going to have our classic farmer carry again. That seems to go over well. And this year last year we did public's bags or actually they're donated to us by halifax hospital, which was really nice but grocery bags, um, this year we're actually going to get bags of salt because they don't break and that is pretty like adl activities of daily living style. So you're going to have to carry that probably the same distance of the walking lunges. Drop the bags, you're done with that one.
Speaker 1:I know I'm not thinking of a couple here. I probably should have had this out in front of me as we did it. I know we're going to have like a Frisbee golf at the very, very end, because we have these cool Frisbees with my logo on them. So you're going to have to that part's more for fun. So basically, it's going to be I don't know a hundred or 200 yards where you start. At one end you throw the Frisbee I'm sure you know how to play golf you run up, grab your Frisbee, throw it again and then there'll be a garbage can at the very end that it's got to go in. So you know that'll be like the final event and then you will run in and I know I am missing an event or so here, but you get the idea. So it's going to be a great time and I really hope everybody comes out and supports it and supports Sophie's Circle and the cause and comes out.
Speaker 1:You know I got so many great sponsors Overhead Door again, the Gildan Group again. I mean they're the sponsors for the podcast and they're the sponsors for fitness. I can't appreciate them enough. We got Cars again. We have Executive Circle. We have Pickleball Realty who else? We have Brent's Biscuits, the great dog biscuits. We have Angelica's brother, roman Don't make me try to pronounce his business, which is in Germany, but he really wants to support it and it's called Tankstill or something like that. I don't know, it's German, but we appreciate him and I'm sure he'll listen to this and be somewhat appreciative to the shout out, even though I butchered the name of it. We have Beach Vision down in New Smyrna. So, dr Sullenberger, susan Sullenberger, who always helps us out, and she came to our event one year and she supported us this time. If I forgot you, I'm just going to look at the email later and I'll mention you in the next podcast, but we got a lot of supporters. I hear we have the new coffee shop that's across the street from there Aurora's. I think that they're almost official which will be awesome because, from what I hear, they are a fantastic coffee shop. So it's going to be a lot of fun and I really, really, really want you to come out and do it. We always give a cash prize and let me tell you, we give good prizes, like I ordered them today. We're doing coffee mugs again. We've got Frisbees. But back to the coffee mugs. I mean they're useful and they're nice. You know, I mean gosh.
Speaker 1:I do some of these races. I did one over the weekend, I did a 5k and, for those that listened to my one podcast, which everybody seemed to like, that thing got like 70 downloads but it was on. What was wrong with the race endurance business? Because so many of them take your money and you don't get anything back. And I did this 5k over the weekend for Mother's Day Cause. I like to do that, cause I think of my mom, who passed several years ago, you know, and she loved to do 5K. So I like to do a 5K in her honor. So I wanted to do one.
Speaker 1:It was way over in where was it? Winter Garden, so closest one I could find, but anyway, they had over a thousand people in there, right, and they did 10 year age groups. I'm like, are you serious? Serious, you're so cheap. You got over a thousand people paying over 40 bucks I think it was 44 bucks a head and you're only going to give out so many awards. I mean I don't get it with some of these groups and what I really don't get is how many people continue to give them the business. I mean that's the bottom line. And let me tell you, ever since COVID it's gone downhill and they blame COVID.
Speaker 1:A lot of these race agencies are like well, the county made us not do it, we're trying to recoup. It's like, eh, I don't know man. I mean I know some people got hit pretty hard, but I know bars that never came back in the business. So I don't know, man, I think that's an excuse. I think races have gone up and the quality and the service has gone down and that is never, never the recipe for a successful business. So when I put on a race, we don't do that. I just don't believe in that. You know, I get sponsors money for a reason and I get good sponsors and I get good sponsor money and it's for a reason. They know we do a good job. Like we get t-shirts to everybody, we get mugs to everybody. Like if you don't win your award, I mean you get a lot when you leave.
Speaker 1:We're having Wawa giving soft pretzels. We're having that coffee place across the street. They're going to be giving out samples. We got gift certificates from running elements that are going to be given out. Oh, we have Aldi's giving out food bananas. We have more coffee from the 7-Eleven. I mean last year we had so much food it went uneaten. One year we had Olive Garden, because of our good friend, teresa McFerrin, who is the general manager for Olive Garden, donated the food.
Speaker 1:I mean we put on an event and if you guys don't show up, you're stupid because you're going to pay $45 for a 5k with a super like scratchy material shirt. You're probably, you know, going to be in an age group with like 50 people and they're going to like not give out awards. They're going to run out of water. At some of these races. Their food is maybe like a granola bar and a banana, if you're lucky. I mean, come on, people, we do better than that.
Speaker 1:Speaking of better than that, it really really helps me, if you're listening to this podcast for the first time, to please hit subscribe and please send this to other people. I text this out to people because I want it to grow and I would appreciate it if you did the same thing. If you don't like it, don't. But if you like it, if you like anything in it, please share it on your social media. Share it with people. Let's all help each other.
Speaker 1:All right, we're all small business people just trying to make it All right. Have a great one. See you at the games. Thank you for listening to today's show. I ask you to please follow this show on wherever you get your podcasts and also please hit automatic downloads. It really helps me and it helps the show. Now I want to thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, the premier garage door company in Volusia County with the best product with the best service. I can vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great people. If you need any help with your garage doors, give them a shout 386-222-3165.
