Latest / The Eye Believe Podcast / Men’s Health, Balance, and Living with Low Vision | The Eye Believe Podcast

Transcript

Men’s Health, Balance, and Living with Low Vision | The Eye Believe Podcast · The Eye Believe Podcast

0:03
hey everyone
0:03
I'm Megan with A Cure In Sight and with the
0:06
Eye Believe Podcast as well
0:08
and we are going live for Men's Health
0:10
so I want to introduce you to my wonderful guest today
0:13
we have Mike De Vivo hi Mike
0:15
hi
0:17
alright tell us a little bit about yourself
0:19
what do you do I grow beards
0:21
I did this at the beginning
0:22
I stopped shaving at the beginning of the month
0:24
and now I'm here um
0:26
nice I'm just kidding
0:27
I run Vivo Training Systems
0:31
it's a health and wellness company in the DMV area
0:35
and then
0:35
I also provide services to companies throughout the US
0:39
and individuals throughout the world
0:41
through our online services
0:43
and we do that in a myriad of ways
0:46
and I've been working let's see
0:49
full time with our company since 2016 with my wife
0:52
and then
0:53
she went full time with us in about a year and a half
0:56
two years later so we both run our company together
1:00
we got two kids we live in the Northern Virginia region
1:05
and I'm just trying to help people get healthier
1:07
build strong habits and help themselves
1:11
get into a routine that feels like they're training
1:13
for their life I love that
1:15
that's a great approach
1:16
that whole like full circle health and wellness
1:19
your whole mind and body I mean
1:21
it's so important
1:22
yeah I used to weigh about 300 pounds
1:26
and I'm in the low two hundreds now
1:29
and one of the things I noticed thank you
1:32
one of the things I noticed when I
1:33
when I lost the weight was
1:36
how much my motivation for losing the weight changed
1:39
as I kind of went through it
1:41
and at first a lot of times
1:43
people start for the reasons that are more related to
1:47
I wanna look better I wanna feel better
1:49
that kind of thing but then it became a lot of
1:51
I wanna be able to do things and I wanna be
1:54
and I don't wanna feel limited
1:56
by my health to do those things
1:58
and I've
1:58
I've really kind of run with that with our business
2:01
and that's a big mantra of ours
2:03
I would say that's amazing
2:06
do you have a lot of male clients
2:08
we have a good amount of male clients
2:10
I would say the the strength and conditioning field
2:13
especially online
2:15
is a little bit more skewed towards female clients
2:17
probably like 60 40
2:19
I would say um
2:21
when I do employ wellness programs and stuff like that
2:24
that's much more split that's much more like 50 50
2:27
I would say
2:28
but most of our individual clients are female
2:32
I would say and then about 40% of them
2:34
we actually have a higher male to female ratio
2:37
than most strength coaches though
2:39
but yeah men don't usually seek out um
2:42
as much
2:44
in terms of one on one or high touch kind of programs
2:50
I most of our men are
2:53
it might be this area too
2:55
because we got a lot of service members and whatnot
2:57
but most of our male clients we give them a program
3:01
we meet up with them every once in a while
3:03
and then they do their program and repeat kind of
3:06
and most of our female clients are more group
3:09
small group actually a lot of times and why
3:13
why do you think that is
3:15
ah I think the ladies got it right honestly
3:19
like they
3:20
they have better priorities most of the time
3:23
you know yeah um
3:25
health is a little bit higher on their priority list um
3:29
functional health especially
3:31
like functional strength
3:32
is a little bit higher on their priority list
3:34
that's what I hear a lot with my female clients
3:37
and then because I I think
3:39
one of the other reasons that numbers are that way
3:41
is my female clients tend to
3:45
want to do like
3:46
small group more
3:47
and the male clients don't really want to do
3:49
small group type stuff as much
3:51
I would say so if I have a group of three
3:57
ladies like to work out together
3:58
so I got I have a group of
4:00
an example of this would be I have a group of retired
4:03
uh women
4:04
one of them lives in DC one of them's in Georgia
4:07
and then one of them's in Washington state
4:10
and it's really crazy
4:12
to set up a time
4:13
that actually works well for all of them
4:16
at the same time but we
4:17
we find a time like late morning usually
4:20
and they all meet up
4:22
they're all sisters and group workout and what not
4:26
and I have two brothers too
4:27
but they both have their own programs
4:28
and they just meet with me individually
4:31
that's so funny yeah
4:34
yeah I mean
4:35
it's fun though it's a nice mix
4:37
I like I like the mix honestly
4:39
I used to work
4:40
I think I was telling you on a phone call earlier
4:42
I used to work with um
4:43
like cardiac and Cancer Rehab
4:46
as one of my first jobs out of undergrad
4:49
and so I went I went from starting with like elderly
4:55
uh rehabilitation type of clientele
4:59
and then after that
5:01
I went into like youth sports for a little bit
5:04
and I did college sports for a little bit
5:06
and then went to general population
5:10
and then I went to corporate wellness
5:13
and now I kind of do a little bit of all that
5:16
I would say yeah
5:18
very well rounded
5:19
it sounds like you've hit all the groups
5:21
yeah I feel
5:22
I feel pretty well rounded now
5:23
and we kind of wave through different demographics and
5:27
and psychographics I would say over time
5:30
I've been doing this since 2004
5:31
we even though we started our company in 2016
5:35
I've been in the field for a bit
5:37
yeah definitely
5:38
so if somebody wanted to work with you and they've
5:42
you know they're not really sure if they're a good fit
5:44
for you who would
5:45
would be a good fit for you
5:46
so I mean it sounds like pretty much anybody
5:48
yeah I think uh
5:50
a lot of times
5:51
what I try to focus on is the psychographics nowadays
5:54
uh and
5:55
and the best fit for that is usually somebody who
5:59
feels like they're having a hard time getting into a
6:02
strength routine
6:04
and their priorities for their strength routine are
6:10
their daily
6:11
life and their weekly activities
6:14
and the things they want to do
6:15
or the things that they're trying to do
6:17
that might be hard for them
6:18
I would say that's that's our main group
6:21
our psychographic that we're looking at
6:23
and really that
6:25
that spans across a bunch of demographics honestly
6:30
when when we say it that way
6:32
but we don't really focus on
6:36
I would say the typical training
6:39
things like bodybuilding competitions
6:42
um we do work on fat loss and muscle
6:47
gain
6:48
but it's more as a side effect
6:52
I would say of moving better
6:54
feeling better having more energy
6:56
those kind of things than it is like a one specific I'm
7:01
I need to get my body fat to this level by this date
7:04
cause I
7:05
I found over time when I work with people like that
7:08
and that's really common in the field too
7:10
that one if they do get there
7:13
they bounce back really hard
7:14
cause they go so hard in the paint
7:17
um and 2
7:19
we don't really get that much
7:21
more efficient by getting super focused on it
7:25
I would say there's a there's a
7:28
a low return on investment once they get past like
7:32
I think of it like the 80% uh
7:34
seriousness Mark
7:37
and some coaches want their clients to be serious and
7:40
super gungho about things
7:43
you know and that's that's a certain kind of coach
7:45
but we're not we're not that kind of business really
7:48
we're really like the
7:49
how do we integrate this into your lifestyle
7:52
so that it's consistent and you really don't need us
7:56
but for the expertise and the assessment
7:59
and the program design
8:03
yeah and I
8:03
I imagine that like
8:04
flexibility and balance are probably a big part of it
8:08
exactly like if you're just trying to like
8:10
bulk up for like a bodybuilding competition
8:13
that's not your goal
8:14
but for the rest of us and for everyday life
8:16
those are super important yeah
8:19
and I think a lot of times
8:20
people think that they need to say something
8:23
like a bodybuilding goal or like a powerlifting goal
8:26
like I wanna get this strong
8:28
or I wanna get this much body fat
8:29
because that's the the pop way of uh
8:32
talking to a coach basically
8:35
but I think a lot of times when I ask why a couple
8:40
like two or three more whys after that
8:42
we really get to the root
8:44
you know yeah
8:45
and one of the things we do when we do
8:48
I just did a event
8:51
a local event in Purcelville where we set up a booth
8:54
and I just set up
8:55
like a little piece of paper with an X on it
9:01
or a cross on it like an X and y axis type of thing
9:05
think about your algebra days if you want to or not but
9:12
just having people stand on one foot
9:14
at different distances away from that cross
9:17
and then look left
9:20
but keep their eyes on that cross look right
9:22
but keep their eyes on that cross
9:23
is one of the balance test we do
9:26
and it's so funny when I do these events
9:28
and I just have people check out their balance
9:30
I just give them a little challenge like
9:32
how good is your balance can you stand on one leg
9:34
can you stand on one leg and look different directions
9:36
can you stand on one leg and close your eyes
9:39
those kind of things you would be surprised
9:42
and most people are surprised
9:43
how hard some of those things are
9:45
that they would think would be easy
9:47
and then it's just an easy like here
9:49
take my card
9:50
we'll talk about balance and strength and mobility
9:53
later if you want
9:55
and we do a free assessment for everybody
9:57
when when we uh go to those events
9:59
I'll give them a card for a free assessment
10:01
and then uh
10:02
even if we can't work with them for whatever reason
10:05
I like to try and give people a a general plan
10:10
or like a couple of action steps
10:13
maybe where they are
10:14
to help them get to where they're going
10:17
and that's something we do all I do that
10:20
I just did that about two hours ago with a potential
10:23
with the lead so to speak
10:25
but I'm not like a hard sell kind of person
10:27
I'm more of a
10:29
I'm gonna give you things to help you notice the value
10:33
and then if you feel like it's the right time
10:35
we can go forward that's very smart
10:38
that's that's the best way to do it
10:40
so
10:40
a lot of people in our community have ocular melanoma
10:44
which will impact their vision at in at least one eye
10:47
so if you're dealing with somebody with low vision
10:49
balance is gonna be a little extra difficult
10:53
what kind of tips do you have
10:55
for people in our community
10:56
anything that they could try to like um
10:58
you know
10:58
improve balance with low vision or anything like that
11:02
yeah oh yeah
11:03
oh yeah there's um
11:06
there's even eye strengthening exercises
11:08
I think of a lot of times um
11:10
for some people that
11:12
that show promise in kind of delaying that degradation
11:18
or at least holding on to a certain level of eye
11:20
strength
11:21
so there's different eye strengthening exercises
11:23
I've recommended before uh
11:25
examples of that would be looking at something close by
11:28
and then looking at something far away um
11:31
with both eyes and then maybe doing it with one
11:33
eye and then maybe doing it with the other eye
11:36
I actually had eye surgery when I was little
11:39
because I had these giant bifocals
11:42
um back in and back in the 90s they didn't look as nice
11:45
they were they had these giant split in between them
11:48
and my eyes looked humongous
11:51
yeah you were adorable
11:52
yeah it was great
11:53
I mean for a 7 year old it wasn't too bad
11:56
but I just remember um
11:59
afterwards they gave me a bunch of eye exercises
12:03
and I've since looked into it and I know the
12:06
the process and why they did it
12:08
but it was amazing to me how much
12:11
you could actually grow the muscles around your eye
12:13
to help you with stabilization
12:16
and that stabilization
12:17
actually can help a lot with the balance
12:19
and then if you don't have that
12:21
you can work on that in other ways
12:23
you can go away from the eye
12:24
you can work on your hearing in balance situations
12:27
and you can look at your other senses
12:30
and try to build those up as much as possible
12:34
which is the obvious answer
12:36
but there's different exercises you can do for that
12:38
there's different things you can do for your ankle
12:40
and your feet which your ankle and your feet
12:44
I would say I've become a little bit of a zealot about
12:48
over the years it's pretty amazing how much stronger
12:52
and how much better people's balance can get
12:55
if they can improve their foot health
12:57
and because most people's foot health
13:00
is so in the dumps it's not that hard to improve it
13:05
so
13:06
then you'll see a drastic difference by improving it
13:09
a little bit
13:10
so what what's like
13:12
an example of something that improves your foot health
13:16
we could do passive things
13:18
and we could do active things actually
13:20
so um depending on what we see in a general
13:25
like physical assessment
13:27
a lot of times I'll see people
13:30
whose ankle will collapse inwards
13:33
or their arch will collapse
13:35
it sounds worse than it is
13:36
cause if I have somebody balance on one leg
13:38
you won't see it as much
13:39
unless you're used to seeing it
13:41
but then if we do like a slow motion video
13:43
and we draw some lines
13:44
and show you straight lines versus not straight lines
13:48
and how those lines change uh
13:50
you'll see it real quick
13:52
but there's one of the exercises I really like doing
13:55
this is a little bit complicated
13:57
but you tie a band to your big toe
14:02
and you anchor that band
14:04
to something low on the ground
14:05
like under a couch or something like that
14:08
and what that does is it pulls your
14:10
big toe away from your foot a little bit
14:13
and what you have to do is you have to
14:14
practice pushing down on that big toe
14:18
and so and and that will engage your arch a lot more
14:23
and it'll keep that collapsing inwards from happening
14:26
a lot more
14:27
but for a lot of people it's gonna feel really funky
14:31
basically but at the same time
14:33
that's something anybody can do
14:34
like no matter what your mobility is
14:36
you're sitting right so anybody could do that yeah
14:39
that's huge yes yeah exactly another thing um
14:43
you could that's more active for example
14:45
I really like that drill but then there's passive um
14:48
ways you can I wish I wore them actually
14:51
but you can get uh I forget what they're called
14:54
I think they're called magic toe socks
14:56
you can also get toe separators
14:57
or if you do pedicures often
15:00
you can just grab those toe separators
15:02
that you have in your pedicures yeah
15:04
uh kit
15:05
but just giving your toes a little bit more space
15:08
in between um
15:11
podcast sessions for example
15:13
or even during podcast sessions
15:14
you could be doing it right now
15:16
you know you could wear the magic socks
15:19
which have a little bit of a toe spacer in them
15:20
or you could get some toe spacers or get a pedicure
15:24
like those foamy ones
15:27
and it's very relative
15:28
cause some people are so used to wearing like my heels
15:31
clients
15:31
my female Washington DC executive types I would say
15:37
yeah um that are like younger or middle aged
15:41
they haven't gotten old enough to be like
15:43
f the heels yet basically
15:46
um
15:48
they a lot of times have these really
15:51
like pinched feet
15:53
and just a little bit of separation throughout the day
15:56
I mean makes their ankles feel better
15:59
a lot of times
15:59
I'll hear like their low back feels better
16:02
cause that pressure from every step is
16:05
is getting squeezed up a narrow pathway
16:09
if you if you think about your
16:11
we're gonna go through all your old classes
16:13
we went I forget what we went through earlier
16:15
went through algebra so now we're going through physics
16:18
the force production on your joints
16:21
when your feet are squeezed
16:23
versus when your feet are open
16:25
is multiples higher in in
16:30
in small specific areas
16:33
that you're repeating thousands of times per day
16:38
yeah it's amazing yeah
16:40
so if you can change that
16:41
if you can just get better at that
16:43
you're gonna see a drastic difference pretty quickly
16:46
it's crazy to me
16:47
that you can do something so beneficial
16:49
with such a ripple effect
16:50
that's that could be as simple as like
16:52
wearing a certain kind of sock
16:53
and I know the socks you're talking about
16:55
cause my husband has a pair
16:56
he's got a foot issue and he
16:57
he wears those from time to time
16:58
and it's like
16:59
your toes are like sticking out of it like this um
17:02
and they are they are very cool
17:04
so it's it is really cool that something so simple
17:07
can really help you and not um
17:11
you know something super complicated yeah
17:14
well so that's really that's really amazing
17:16
so you were saying your husband has the the toe socks
17:21
toe socks yes
17:22
and I that's awesome it's still good to hear
17:25
by the way one of the things I was gonna say is
17:28
I think a lot of people have
17:31
already taken like
17:33
the first one or two steps to making a drastic change
17:38
or they're really
17:40
or they're within like striking distance
17:41
like they can grab that resource
17:43
or they can go to that place
17:44
or they have that friend that they could work out with
17:46
but right they may have only done it a few times
17:50
and they're not getting that frequency overtime
17:54
and that and that um
17:57
repetition over time
17:59
in that short enough period of time
18:01
to really see dramatic differences
18:04
so a lot of times
18:04
when I talk about these dramatic differences
18:07
they're right there for a lot of people
18:10
it's just that it's hard to identify what those are
18:13
and then it's hard to implement that
18:16
and at a frequency and a consistency
18:19
that's really hard for them well
18:21
that makes sense
18:22
because you don't know what you don't know
18:23
so like I might have a foot pain
18:25
and I don't know what's causing it or how to fix it
18:27
but I might be able to tell you what it is
18:29
and you would know exactly like oh
18:31
and maybe it is a simple fix
18:33
like wearing these socks or doing a band exercise
18:35
that I could do seated at home
18:37
and I don't have to go to physical therapy
18:39
and I don't have to buy fancy equipment or
18:42
you know do something super strenuous
18:45
and you know what it usually is
18:46
it usually is something like that
18:47
for about six to 12 weeks
18:51
and then you need to figure
18:52
and then people will hit a standstill
18:54
where they won't be able to squeeze as much juice
18:56
out of whatever
18:57
the thing was that was useful
18:59
and then sick you you figure out do I need to progress
19:03
do I need to regress
19:05
do I need to keep doing what I'm doing
19:08
or do I need to stop doing what I'm doing
19:10
replace what I'm doing with something else right
19:13
and that and that's a lot of times
19:16
what I'm trying to tell people
19:17
or help people within our first meeting is like
19:20
where are you what's the frequency and consistency
19:22
that looks good for you
19:25
here's some suggestions
19:26
which ones look the most likely for your lifestyle
19:29
and then six to 12 weeks let's check back in
19:33
let's see where you are
19:34
and then other people like my my uh
19:37
male clients will check in like every week
19:39
but it'll just be like one on one
19:41
and then my female clients will check in
19:42
like every other week for example
19:44
we'll do the group class every week that kind of thing
19:48
that's awesome
19:49
but that's that's how I'm trying to communicate
19:54
I guess health behavior change
19:56
that's what a lot of my master's work was in
20:00
and the research we did there
20:02
and I think that's really
20:04
like the missing link for a lot of people
20:38
yeah and they
20:39
they need someone like you who can come in and
20:41
and be that link for them and fill that gap
20:44
yeah and you don't need a lot either
20:46
you know
20:46
you just need to know what is the right fit for you
20:49
it's kind of like finding a shirt in a way
20:51
you know yeah
20:52
or finding an outfit definitely
20:54
and I think like in this day and age
20:56
so many people go to Google and they search
20:58
like what their symptom is
21:00
and 10 things might come up
21:02
and you you know
21:03
it could be this to this to this to this
21:05
and you know
21:06
sometimes even going to the doctor
21:07
you go get a second opinion'cause
21:08
you're not really sure if they're right or not
21:10
so I think just having someone like you
21:12
who can really help
21:13
versus trying to do the self diagnosis and
21:16
and you know
21:17
Google your own symptoms it's never a good idea
21:19
we never wanna do that
21:21
yeah cause you can
21:22
you can kind of get stuck in the
21:23
the woods with a lot of that stuff
21:25
even coaches
21:26
it's funny because you can get stuck in your own biases
21:29
even as a coach honestly
21:31
I think it's a really good sign
21:34
when coaches actually are coached by other coaches
21:38
if that makes sense yeah
21:40
versus coaches
21:41
who are always just doing their own thing
21:42
writing their own program
21:44
assuming that they're going to be able to have
21:46
an unbiased view of what
21:49
what things look like you know
21:51
and how things are progressing
21:53
I think it's just really hard to get out of that
21:56
mindset get stuck in a rut too
21:58
yeah sure
21:59
we just you know
21:59
go through the motion and do the same exercises
22:01
and it's kind of this blanket thing
22:03
you wanna keep learning new things and sort of
22:05
you know in any profession
22:07
you wanna have continuing education and keep learning
22:09
like what's new and
22:10
you know somebody might have a brilliant
22:12
idea that you just didn't think about
22:14
that's something super simple like um
22:16
like one of the things my husband does
22:17
which I'm
22:18
I'm sure it's probably something you're familiar with
22:19
he just takes a frozen water bottle and
22:21
and like rolls his foot over yes
22:23
a frozen water bottle that's old school
22:25
that one stuck around for a long time now
22:27
yeah right
22:28
but I would have never thought to do that
22:30
and then I I saw it on like TikTok or something
22:32
someone was like oh
22:33
if you're having these foot pains
22:34
do this and I was like
22:35
oh my gosh that's brilliant
22:37
and so he started doing it
22:38
but we wouldn't have thought of that on our own
22:40
even though it's simple it's free
22:41
I mean everyone has a water bottle
22:44
mm hmm yep
22:45
I really like there's a book called Foot Pain Relief
22:48
it's by a biomechanist so that's someone who studies
22:52
like the physics of the body um
22:55
her name is Katie Bowman
22:57
certified strength conditioning coach and all that too
23:00
but that has a great set of pictures
23:03
sometimes I'll give that book to people a lot of times
23:06
so if your husband wants to check that out
23:08
or if anybody who's working on balance
23:11
um
23:12
is trying to get better with their balance and they're
23:14
it's hard for them because their eyes and
23:17
you know you can get better with your foot pain
23:18
or your foot health or your ankle health
23:21
that that can make a huge difference
23:23
and that has a list of
23:25
a bunch of different resources in there
23:27
yeah I think
23:28
especially for people in our community
23:30
with a vision issue I think balance and flexibility
23:32
right and
23:33
you know
23:33
hand in hand with balance is gonna be so important
23:36
and
23:36
it might be something that they're not even thinking
23:38
about that they
23:39
you know they're thinking about more their sight
23:42
not really like how balance
23:43
could play into a low vision situation
23:48
another thing I think about for your population too
23:51
is getting up and down from the ground yeah
23:55
right yes
23:56
that's a big one
23:57
and that's really scary for a lot of people
24:01
and when it gets scary it really sucks
24:05
cause you have that fear in the back of your mind
24:08
a lot of times
24:09
that's something I really like to work on
24:11
if that is an issue with people
24:13
because just getting that fear to calm down can make a
24:17
large difference for a bunch of other parts
24:19
of your life as well
24:22
but it can also really help with mobility
24:24
training'cause a lot of times
24:26
people's hips are so tight
24:29
that they're very surprised
24:30
at how hard it is to get up off the ground
24:32
because of that hip tightness
24:34
because of sitting at computers all day
24:35
for example or sitting at a desk all day
24:38
um and that that's something we focus on with our
24:42
pretty much everybody because I don't know anybody who
24:47
actually can get up off the ground really well
24:50
at first except for maybe my gymnast athletes
24:53
I've had come through right
24:56
but I think for your population specifically
24:59
that
24:59
that's probably something you might see and hear a lot
25:02
and that can be really
25:03
really helpful for improving your hip mobility
25:06
even just sitting on the ground
25:08
actually is kind of one of those passive things
25:10
going back to like a passive or active intervention
25:14
just sitting on the ground
25:15
can do a bunch for your mobility
25:19
and it seems so obvious it's silly in a way
25:25
but I've seen people just replace certain times
25:27
when they were knitting for example
25:31
with sitting on the ground
25:32
and then hip pain that had been around for like
25:35
10 years
25:36
after a few months of just replacing probably an hour
25:41
a couple times a week
25:43
sitting on a chair versus sitting on the ground
25:46
and that could be with a bolster
25:48
that doesn't have to be like flat on the ground
25:49
you can sit on a yoga block
25:50
you can sit on like a meditation pad
25:52
you can sit on multiple pillows
25:54
doesn't have to be super like strict on the ground
25:59
no support either
26:01
that's awesome I would not have guessed that
26:02
I would have thought sitting on the ground would like
26:04
make it worse so that that again
26:06
like you don't know what you don't know
26:07
that's amazing yup
26:08
and it can make it worse a lot
26:11
and a lot of interventions can make things worse
26:13
but a lot of that
26:14
worse and better is related to the dose
26:16
the dose kind of makes the poison or the medicine yeah
26:19
that makes sense that's a that's a big thing
26:23
that plays into the frequency
26:26
that we need to figure out
26:28
what is a good frequency
26:29
a lot of that's related to what's the correct dosage
26:33
over time for you
26:35
with these passive and active interventions
26:38
for example exercise interventions or even just uh
26:41
habit interventions same thing
26:43
dose makes the poison
26:44
because a lot of times you add a habit in
26:47
you don't think about the mental load that
26:49
that habit will have for you
26:52
and how much energy you have to devote to it
26:57
so that's why things like um
27:01
Atomic Habits have you heard of that book
27:04
no
27:06
check out Atomic Habits like New York Times best seller
27:10
top of the charts across the board
27:13
um very smart people love it
27:16
it's got a lot of really good reviews it's all about
27:21
such small habits that they're the size of like an atom
27:26
basically and it plays off of research
27:28
that's come out of Stanford
27:29
from a professor BJ Fogg
27:31
who is also amazing wrote a book called Tiny Habits
27:36
but I like the Atomic Habits book cause it's a
27:38
it gives you a little bit more actionable
27:40
less research backed
27:42
I mean less uh research jargon
27:46
I guess is the word I'm looking for
27:48
yeah and the reason he called it Atomic Habits is 1
27:52
because they're so small but 2
27:54
because you think of an atom or something atomic
27:57
you think of something like a giant explosion right
28:02
and that's because something so small
28:04
can become something so dramatic
28:07
once you get that dose and that frequency right
28:11
he breaks it down it's really good if you check
28:13
check out that book
28:13
I wish more of my clients would read that
28:15
book honestly alright
28:16
so since this is such great information for everybody
28:20
but since it is Men's Health
28:22
what would you say is the most important thing to you
28:26
going into Men's Health
28:28
what do what do they need to know
28:29
what do they need to do
28:30
what are your thoughts on men's health man
28:33
I was thinking about this when I talked to you earlier
28:35
too there's a lot of
28:39
areas of men's health that
28:42
a lot of voids in men's health
28:45
that I think can be filled with men
28:50
working out together
28:51
that I wish I could get them to do more
28:54
but uh one of the things I like to recommend a lot
28:58
especially around this time of the year
28:59
is getting outside
29:02
and it doesn't seem like a
29:06
like a male or female thing as much
29:09
but when I can get my male clients to go outside more
29:15
I see a much larger change in their mental focus
29:21
if that makes any sense
29:23
There's a lot of grounding that happens when you're outside
29:27
yes and I think that grounding effect yes
29:30
I feel like men need it more so I have a tip for that
29:36
um I don't know are you familiar with grounding sheets
29:41
uh maybe maybe are these like the electromagnetic ones
29:46
if you if you want to work on your grounding
29:49
and you don't have time to go outside
29:51
or it's too cold or whatever
29:53
they have sheets that you can get that you
29:55
you plug them in but they're not electric but the um
29:58
when the plug goes in it attaches to the ground
30:00
wire that goes into the ground
30:02
and that runs through this little
30:05
you know I don't know if it's some kind of a
30:07
metal or something that runs through the sheets
30:09
like you don't feel it
30:10
but it you ground all night while you sleep hmm okay
30:14
okay yeah
30:15
I like that I haven't tried them yet
30:16
but it's on my it's on my Amazon wish list so um
30:19
maybe a Christmas that's more of a passive one
30:21
I like that yeah
30:22
yeah yeah
30:23
but I'm really excited to try them
30:25
so I think I
30:25
I might buy them for my husband for Christmas
30:28
since we share sheets anyway
30:29
so I don't know but um
30:31
I'm so excited to try them because yeah
30:33
I mean I
30:33
I can't really go stand outside in the grass
30:36
in my bare feet in the winter
30:38
or for as much time as we need to
30:39
to really get that grounding
30:42
you know but but it's so beneficial well
30:45
even if you can't stand outside in your bare feet
30:48
there's there's a method I really like to use um
30:51
when people are outside and it's
30:55
was originally popularized that I believe in Japan
30:58
and it's all about using your senses
31:03
to bathe yourself in the nature that surrounds you
31:09
and this is this is a good one
31:12
I think cause it's a little bit easier
31:13
to convince people with this one
31:15
yeah um
31:16
where you go just go anywhere outside
31:21
like you're walking from your house to your car
31:23
you're outside right
31:25
a lot
31:25
unless you got a garage that you're going in your car
31:28
for example
31:28
but once you get out of your car to go groceries
31:30
you gotta be outside at some point right
31:32
right um
31:34
just pause and think about your senses and think about
31:41
what do I smell
31:43
what do I see
31:45
what do I hear
31:47
what do I feel
31:49
all those things you pause and you think
31:52
and you absorb that a little bit
31:55
and it gets your body to take the cortisol
31:59
that stress hormone and take your nervous system
32:02
and tell them to chill out
32:04
because we're focusing on the nature around us
32:08
in the now versus all the subjective
32:11
little things that are kind of running
32:13
like tabs on a computer with way too many windows open
32:17
basically
32:18
I think that is extremely useful
32:21
I try to do that as often as possible
32:23
I'm really lucky
32:24
cause I kind of live out in the country
32:26
so I can get outside a lot
32:28
but that you can do anywhere
32:31
you don't need any equipment
32:32
and it takes a minute at minimum
32:36
but a lot of times I'll tell people to do that
32:38
and they'll stretch it way farther
32:42
and that's kind of like a Keystone tiny habit
32:46
is what I would call that one
32:47
cause a lot of times
32:49
I'll give somebody that habit to work on
32:54
and from that
32:56
a whole bunch of other habits will flourish basically
33:01
and it's just super simple
33:02
it's one minute it's very atomic
33:05
I would say and anybody can do it
33:07
and I think it's really useful for
33:09
for men especially
33:10
cause I see when I get men to do that
33:13
and when men do that a dramatic change honestly
33:18
across multiple levels
33:22
and it's good for your it's just good for you
33:24
it's just straight up good for you
33:26
get outside breathe some fresh air or some traffic air
33:29
depending on where you are
33:31
Castle Biosciences is a proud sponsor of this
33:33
Eye Believe Podcast
33:35
Castle's innovative uveal melanoma tests
33:37
provide
33:38
valuable information about the risk of your eye cancer
33:40
spreading to help you and your healthcare team
33:43
individualize the management of your disease
33:46
to learn more visit Castlebiosciences.com
33:49
just slowing down and taking a few slow breaths
33:52
will reset your nervous system
33:53
I mean just no matter where you are
33:55
but especially to do it outside
33:57
I mean yep
33:59
and it and it ripple benefit
34:00
you do that you calm yourself
34:02
and then you go into the next situation
34:03
a little bit calmer a little bit more open
34:06
and it's a huge ripple yeah
34:09
and I find that that specific one
34:11
like I've done um
34:13
breathing habits with people
34:14
and I followed up with them and I worked on that
34:16
with that
34:17
but I find that I give someone something like a um
34:21
like they call it forest bathing I believe yeah
34:24
or nature bathing mm hmm
34:26
I give the men that more than the
34:29
just the breathing exercises much
34:32
but I feel like
34:34
one of the reasons I might be doing that is because
34:36
it's a little bit more direct
34:39
if that makes sense like do this this way
34:43
go in this order haha
34:45
you know haha
34:46
some of us need that yeah
34:48
and and it clicks a little
34:50
it's a little bit it clicks more
34:52
versus
34:52
when I try and give them the breathing exercises
34:54
it doesn't click as much
34:56
which the breathing exercise I love box breathing
34:58
by the way do you know about box breathing
35:00
no no
35:01
so box breathing is is a simple one that
35:06
don't do when you're operating heavy machinery
35:08
machinery by the way
35:09
but you work on exhaling for four seconds
35:16
usually that means through like pursed lips
35:18
so you don't blow all the air out
35:19
in the first two seconds
35:22
then you hold for two seconds
35:23
you don't breathe in or out
35:25
I mean for four seconds sorry
35:26
don't breathe in or out so 4 4 I'm getting oh
35:30
I get like little balloons if I do fun things
35:32
did you see that oh yeah
35:34
I did see it I didn't know what it was though
35:36
if I do this does it do it again
35:38
no that was funny
35:40
so four seconds
35:42
exhale 4 seconds hold 4 seconds inhale 4 seconds hold
35:48
okay and then repeat four seconds exhale
35:52
four seconds hold four seconds inhale 4 seconds hold
35:57
and that will get you to really focus on the current
36:01
moment
36:03
and it's a little bit more direct
36:05
so and it's easy numbers to remember
36:08
and that it's called box breathing
36:09
cause you can imagine like a four sided square
36:13
oh I you know
36:14
I was gonna ask you why it was called box breathing
36:16
but that makes sense
36:17
four seconds four seconds hold four seconds hold repeat
36:24
nice and that's so simple
36:26
I love that anyone can do it anywhere
36:28
it's free love it
36:30
yep yep
36:32
it's a great one what else for men's health man
36:35
I mean there's the typical like go get a physical
36:38
go to the doctor
36:40
you know
36:41
I don't think um the numbers have improved a lot
36:44
they still are pretty low
36:45
I have seen improvements over time
36:48
I have my masters in public health from GW
36:51
so I used to
36:52
have all the statistics memorized and everything
36:54
it's been a while now though
36:55
but most men just don't go into the doctor
36:58
they don't get their preventative um screenings done
37:01
they don't get their physicals done
37:04
they don't um go in regularly and um
37:08
check your blood pressure
37:10
or even if you're not gonna go to the doctor
37:12
go to like the local grocery store
37:14
and get your blood pressure checked
37:15
a couple times
37:16
and don't just rely on that one measurement either
37:18
like get multiple measurements go a couple times
37:22
yeah definitely
37:23
cause you wanna find a problem
37:25
before it becomes a big problem
37:26
by the time
37:27
you're suffering enough to go to the doctor
37:29
you probably waited a little too late yeah
37:32
yeah and that happens way too often
37:34
for most men in the US these days
37:37
I would say and it's getting better
37:40
but it's really
37:40
like 2% better than maybe five years ago
37:43
it's really not getting as good as it needs to be
37:47
so that's that's still something to check on yep
37:50
definitely so for everyone who's watching
37:53
whether they're male or female if they are like man
37:56
I I would like to work with Mike
37:58
this sounds amazing he's got a great energy
38:00
he's upbeat he's fun
38:02
and I need some exercises to you know
38:04
maybe just live a more full life have better balance
38:08
better flexibility or I have a goal
38:09
I wanna you know
38:11
do X y or Z
38:12
how can people get a hold of you
38:15
yes so you can reach you can email me my name
38:18
my email is Mike@vivotrainingsystems.com
38:22
you can find me on Instagram @coachvivo VIVO
38:28
then we have our corporate wellness website
38:30
but you can contact me through that as well
38:32
it's called planyourstrength.com
38:36
so
38:37
if you're trying to convince your business to give you
38:39
maybe
38:39
some discounts on some fitness and health services
38:43
or maybe you want to run a small wellness challenge
38:46
for a group of friends or business
38:49
or division in your business
38:51
we do that a lot and then you can find me on Facebook
38:55
our uh business page is Vivo Training Systems
39:00
and you can just friend me on Facebook too
39:03
I don't care awesome
39:04
and we'll link all of these for you
39:06
so you can find them
39:06
I'll put them in the comments of the live
39:08
and then we'll also when this is edited
39:11
and re released as an edited version
39:13
we'll have everything in the show notes
39:15
so you guys should be able to find all of these things
39:17
and um what any is there anything else Mike
39:20
before we wrap it up do you feel like we hit everything
39:23
I feel like we hit pretty much everything yeah
39:26
I would say just remember what
39:28
remember what time of year it is right now
39:30
that's a big message I'm trying to get across to people
39:33
you know remember what that mental load looks like
39:36
around this time of year
39:37
remember what that physical load looks like
39:39
this time of year a lot of times
39:41
people will set their expectations really high
39:45
for their uh
39:46
health habits
39:47
and then the season will start and it gets much harder
39:52
so just
39:53
just try and I would say find things that are your
39:58
your anchors you know your foundations
40:01
what are your anchors
40:01
and your foundations at this time of year
40:03
and can can
40:04
you hold on to those and build those or fortify those
40:09
I think that's really important
40:10
around the holiday season
40:12
going into New Years and what not
40:14
and then if you have a really hard time
40:15
feel free to contact me in January or February
40:18
like most people do
40:21
that's your busy season that's my busy season yeah
40:24
thanks
40:26
I think we get so busy in the holidays
40:28
and we drop so many things
40:29
and we eat too much and we drink too much
40:31
and we we lay around too much
40:32
watching the Christmas movies and the holiday movies
40:34
and then January comes and we all go
40:36
oh dear I gotta fix all the
40:38
the last four months and and I think it's okay to like
40:42
take it easier over the holidays
40:45
you know and I'm not trying to just give
40:46
people permission to just be slobs over the holidays
40:49
or anything like that you know
40:50
but I do think you're going to have seasons
40:54
in your year
40:55
and in your life that you need to plan accordingly
40:58
for you it helps to know yourself well in those seasons
41:02
for example so if you don't know yourself well enough
41:05
um it's actually really useful
41:06
to take some personality test
41:07
we do a little personality assessment when we uh
41:10
meet with new clients for that reason as well
41:13
but uh
41:14
work on knowing yourself
41:15
work on building your foundations
41:17
and whatever healthy habits you're doing right now
41:19
um enjoy the holidays
41:21
but just keep your foundations there
41:24
keep your routines there as much as you can
41:25
so you don't have to dig yourself out of a hole
41:29
as much when we get to the end of the holiday season
41:32
yeah maybe have a little bit of balance yeah
41:36
work on a little bit of balance
41:37
on one foot with an eye closed maybe
41:41
I meant I meant balancing your
41:43
your healthy habits and your bad habits
41:45
but all the balances yes
41:49
yeah like don't go off the rails and just go crazy
41:52
but indulge and give yourself some Grace
41:54
but then also you know
41:55
go for a walk
41:56
do something that's on the healthy side as well
41:59
so then you don't beat yourself up so much
42:00
you don't feel so bad about when you did indulge
42:04
right like what are the things what are the things that
42:06
you know you can do when things get crazy and you know
42:09
that help you when things get crazy
42:11
and you've been doing for a while
42:12
and keep doing those basically
42:15
that's that's really what I'm saying right now
42:17
and if you're trying to start new things right now
42:20
that's okay too
42:22
but try to keep them at the atomic level basically yeah
42:27
yeah and
42:27
and don't put too much on yourself
42:29
going into the holidays
42:30
it's stressful and it's hard and for everybody
42:33
but also for men because I feel like
42:36
men aren't as good of a communicator as
42:39
as the females are
42:40
and so if you're not talking out those feelings
42:44
and you're kind of holding it in
42:46
and you're you're
42:46
you know
42:46
you're stressed out because the holidays are a lot
42:49
it's financially overwhelming
42:52
it's you know
42:53
a lot of guys don't like to be around a lot of people
42:55
and all of a sudden
42:55
you're in holiday party after holiday party
42:57
and there's this and that
42:58
and it's just an overwhelming time
43:01
so give yourself some some Grace and
43:04
you know just try to take some time for yourself
43:08
and I do think it's just a very overwhelming time
43:10
but I do think it hits men a little bit harder
43:13
yeah yeah
43:14
I think a lot of times um
43:16
I don't see my the males until February
43:19
I see the females in January
43:21
and I see the males more in February
43:23
basically it's
43:24
they have to recover before they can come to you
43:26
yeah exactly exactly yeah
43:29
yeah that makes sense
43:30
uh yeah
43:31
there's a myriad of reasons
43:32
and that's definitely probably one of them
43:34
I would say yeah
43:35
so keep that in mind keep that in mind
43:37
I would say that's my closing remarks
43:39
alright well Mike
43:41
thank you so much for coming on the podcast
43:43
thank you for all this amazing information
43:45
this was so beneficial
43:46
and I hope that everyone out there watching
43:48
really got a lot out of this
43:50
and please reach out to Mike
43:51
if you'd like to work with him
43:53
if you want him to
43:54
kind of
43:54
give you a rundown on some things you can work on
43:56
I mean I
43:56
I feel like every
43:58
single person can use a little bit of help
44:00
especially with those things and um
44:03
please subscribe to our YouTube channel
44:05
please follow us on Facebook
44:06
Instagram
44:07
LinkedIn all the platforms that we are on
44:11
it really does help us when you subscribe
44:14
it really helps us we are still trying to hit our goal
44:17
of 1,000 subscribers
44:18
so that we can monetize our YouTube
44:20
and we are getting close
44:21
so if you haven't subscribed yet
44:22
please do or if you have
44:25
and you have a second email address
44:27
or you have a friend um
44:28
maybe ask them pretty please to subscribe
44:30
maybe buy them a coffee if they subscribe it
44:32
it really doesn't hurt anything
44:34
it doesn't um spam them or do anything
44:36
they'll they can do it and forget about it
44:38
and never even know they did it
44:39
if they want to or they can sign up for notifications
44:42
and get our notifications
44:43
when we do have a new post
44:45
which we encourage you to do
44:46
if you want the information
44:48
and we have a newsletter on our website
44:50
please go to a current site.org
44:52
click at the top to join the newsletter
44:54
and you'll get a newsletter once a month
44:55
it's not overwhelming it's just once a month
44:57
but it has a lot of great information
45:00
and kind of keeps you in the
45:01
loop of what's going on with us
45:02
and what we're bringing to you
45:04
we have a ton of free resources
45:06
we have a zoom meeting every Tuesday night
45:08
that we invite you to come
45:09
and just be part of the community
45:11
and connect with people who are in your same situation
45:14
and you can either
45:15
be there for the people who are new to the community
45:18
or you can have somebody as a mentor to you
45:20
who's a little bit older or well
45:23
I shouldn't say older
45:24
but has been in the community a little longer
45:26
a little more experience and we do have a
45:29
um program that kind of matches you up as buddies
45:32
if you want somebody to kind of help you
45:34
or if you've been around and you want to return that
45:36
you can sign up for that program Mike
45:38
thanks for being here I've enjoyed this
45:41
this was amazing and everybody
45:43
we will see you guys next time bye everyone bye