Dynamic Dialogue with Danny Matranga - 395 - BONUS: Interview with Rich Fisher
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Transcript
Discussion (0)
Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Dynamic Dialogue Podcast. As you can probably
tell, I'm kind of sick. So in this episode, I'm going to be featuring an interview I did
with my friend Rich Fisher of the Fisher Fitness Podcast. It's a great fitness podcast for
beginners and mediates looking to improve their connection to fitness
and nutrition. I thought it was a really fun discussion. I think you guys will enjoy the
interview with me and rich enjoy the episode.
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Dialogue listeners.
How's things? How was your morning going so far?
It's kind of, it's kind of early, right?
My life is awesome.
I've had a great day and I, I, you know, I've,
I think often about like throughout the day,
how fortunate I am to have the cadence of a day that
I have. Like I got to go to my set my studio really quick for a couple hours. I got to work out,
got a good pump. My buddies were there with their clients. Then I get to come and talk shop with
other people for like four hours straight. So it's, yeah, this is like, it's his peak living. What the heck? It's so cool.
That is kind of cool. It's like social road studio.
Yeah. It's like, it's a, I, it's a, um, it's a collective in a way.
All of the trainers that rent that space from me were guys who worked for me
years ago when I worked in the corporate fitness world and they were always like the best trainers at the big box gym.
Um, and then before COVID everybody went, uh, and did their kind of
independent thing and then right around the middle of COVID I met with my
really close friend who's a physical therapist.
And I was like, dude, let's build a space that's perfect for like
PTs and physios or
physical therapists.
That's mostly just about training clients, not memberships, it's patients and clients.
And let's just see what happens because one way or another, just you and I can swing it
and it'll be so cool.
So him and I opened this hybrid space and then all of those trainers who we'd worked
together with for years, we're like, dude, can I come and train there
instead of training at the garage?
So it's like, it's like getting back together with all your old buddies
and doing what you love.
It's so fucking cool.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
That sounds awesome.
Nice.
Yeah.
I'm just like, I love, I like my, I like my life a lot right now and today, I
guess that's wicked.
Now it's going to feed off of me so that's good.
Sweet dude.
Nice. So we got until what 6 p.m. all right? Well your 10 p.m.
My time. I can give you about 40 let's say 45 minutes because then I'm on with Beth
Ferocco after this. I just got gotta basically be where I need to be.
But we should be good to go for a while.
Yeah, cool.
Just let me know when you need to leave and we'll...
Let's go 45 minutes.
Sweet.
Okay, that sounds good.
Okay, Danny, nice one.
So, I mean, I guess, yeah, like with most sort of podcast guests I have, I can sort
of ask them to introduce yourself really and just talk a bit about yourself
and what you do, who you help, how long you've been in the industry for.
Okay. Well, I think this will be 13 years this coming year. So I'm finishing up year 12,
heading into year 13 of working as a honestly a personal trainer and fitness coach. I'm doing today exactly what I did when I got started 13 years ago.
I think that's one of the unique things about me as a coach and as a trainer or as an online
fitness personality, whatever you want to call it.
I'm still doing the training thing.
I love working with clients one-on-one. So my path has taken me
many places, but ultimately I always end up back where I started, which is working with
people one-on-one. I started in a big box gym with a lot of clients that I got from
the gym floor or who came to the gym for a tour and worked there for years and met some amazingly
cool trainers and did every workshop and every certification that you could possibly imagine.
I got this big alphabet soup of certifications after my name and I really wanted to be validated.
The way so many of us do in fitness, I want to be the smart trainer, the impeccable, on the ball. I got the answer
for every client trainer. I really want to master it. And I honed my craft, eating shit,
working in a big box gym for like six years while I got my degree in pre-physical therapy,
basically out here. Instead of going to grad school, I just said, I'm going to quit my job
at the big box gym, my manager position, and I'm going to go rent space from somebody and train my clients there
and start making online content.
And so I just kind of started doing all that shit.
I did that for three years, super hard, and then COVID happened.
And I said, I have the opportunity now to build my own studio and have taken
another step.
And so now I'm mostly just running my own studio, still training some of the same amazing
people I trained at that very first gym like 10 years ago.
And now thanks to social media and podcasts and other coaches like you, I have clients
all over the world, but I'm still coaching and I'm still really invested in enjoy actually
coaching people in any capacity.
So that's the long-winded way of saying my journey is circular and I'm right back where
I started, but I'm totally cool with that.
Nice.
Yeah.
So are you a bit of both, like half and half, half in person, half online, would you say?
Okay.
Yeah.
So a lot of people think this is crazy, but I really like to work.
I like to use up all of my day. So I'm probably like 50, 50 in terms of time,
but I'm still putting 30 to 35 hours a week into one-on-one clients, which a lot of people are
like, dude, why would you do that? You know, online coaching, you make more money. I get it.
I just was raised to, you know, come home feeling like you put in a full day's work. And if
there's clients who want to train, I'll put in a 35, 40 session week and still tack on
20 hours, 25, 15 to 20 hours of online work. So it's closer to like 50, 50, but it's a
lot of still one-on-one. And I really like that.
And you prefer face-to-face, do you think?
Or is it a bit of, again, a bit of both?
They're both, I think of them as totally different.
And so that's also what makes it easy.
Like I'm applying the same principles coaching wise to both.
Like I want to make sure that I'm making evidence-based nutrition prescription
and appropriate exercise prescription for this person's needs, goals, and fitness levels. Whether
they're a newbie in person or a newbie online, some of the principles for novice trainees is
going to apply to both, but the context is super different. And I think that that allows me to do
a high volume of work in both areas and feel like
it's not the same thing. You communicate with the same principles, but like when you have somebody
in person, it feels entirely different than when you're chatting with them over the phone or
having email correspondence. And both are great. It's just who they're for is a different type
of person and their time and their financial situation and what they
want out of the experience.
So I kind of like both.
So I do pretty high volume of both.
And if I could only ever do one, I really believe I would go back to just in person
because there's something really enriching about doing that.
But I also have this insane advantage of like the trainers who I share my space
with are my very closest friends who I love being around, who also have incredible, hardworking,
cool clients. It's a very different gym environment than from what a lot of coaches
coach in. So I understand that, but it makes it really cool to still do what a lot of online
coaches I think want to get away from, which is respectable.
That's kind of, yeah, that's kind of cool. Very similar to me. I mean, I've, I work in
a very small gym again with other coaches who are, who are my friends as well. The gym's
not very busy, but it's a nice environment and I do a bit of online coaching as well.
So you get best of both. I think that's, that's why I like it.
I agree. So do you have a sort of target market? Do you have a sort of niche?
Who do you work with? Who do you like to work with?
Good question. Who I like to work with fluctuates. I'm still pretty explorative, even like 13 years into this game. So I've had the most fun recently training athletes and golfers
But that was never my original niche like my original niche when I got into fitness was
advanced age older population general population fitness because I
Was too small and I was too dorky to like get like bodybuilder clients Even though I loved bodybuilding powerlifting because I was too small and I was too dorky to like get like bodybuilder clients, even though
I love bodybuilding powerlifting because I was small.
So I was trying to pack on size and it was like, who's going to train with the small
dorky guy who knows a lot about putting on mass, but doesn't have a ton of mass.
And so I worked with a lot of old ladies at first and that was like my home run niche.
And I still to this day love it. And here in America, like we have a huge epidemic
of osteopenia, sarcopenia, fall risks. We have a pretty old population. Our post World
War II baby boom population is huge. Like only recently did our millennial population
pass that population up in terms of like total population. So we just have a ton of older adults, 60 to 80, who are very
invested in their fitness and they're fighting bone density and sarcopenia. And they're really
fun to work with because it's not about vanity. It's mostly about just get shown up and put in
the work. And to me, that generation is really entertaining. They're very wise. They're very,
very... They're people that when you spend time with them and
around them, helping them with their fitness, every once in a while you'll just
get a golden nugget that you're like, whoa, that was a major wisdom bomb.
And I'm just going to keep that today.
And that was the most valuable thing I acquired all day.
No money, no interaction was more valuable than that little nugget.
So I when I was young and stupid, I was like, shit, these old ladies and even
some old guys, they are just here for the right reasons.
They're committed. They show up.
They bust their ass and they drop these wisdom bombs.
So that was like my first knee.
But when you do it this long and you have different interests and you evolve as a coach,
I think you can become more of a generalist.
So there's nobody that shows up in my studio other than people who I think I'd refer to
a physio PT that I would say not confident in working with.
Like we have a lot of high level sports out here, people who people really enjoy like in, you know,
the California Northern Bay area,
Southern portion of California football, basketball,
these big baseballs, huge, these big high level,
competitive, expensive sports,
and people will pay for their kids or their, you know,
collegiate level, collegiate aged kids to have a coach, a performance coach.
And those sessions are so different
and they're so fun in their own way.
And like when you're like me, you're almost 30
and you're working with a kid who's sick 15 to 21
and you know that you have the ability
to influence them positively as a young person,
like that's also amazing.
So I have a lot of niches, but there's so many demographics I like working with.
But right now I'm really enjoying sports performance and golf.
But I guess my always niche is general population, aging population, adults who just want to
move better.
Cool.
Yeah.
It's a good place to be working with those different people. You learn a lot.
It's more versatile. You learn a lot for yourself as well. In terms of general population, obviously,
I'd say 80, 90% of the general population come to you, me, coaches, and want to lose
a bit of body fat, right? It's a very common goal. So obviously, some people want to lose a bit of body fat, right? It's a very common goal. So obviously some people want to lose a lot more than others.
It depends on the person, their situation, et cetera.
So what do you think is the hardest part about achieving successful long-term fat loss?
And how do you help your clients overcome that barrier?
This is such a good question, dude.
And the more I work with people one-on-one, online, in person, whatever
context, the more discussions I have with them about weight management, weight
loss, whether it's high level, like macro consultation level or low level, like,
Hey, don't eat hot Cheetos and drink Coca-Cola
every day anymore. Like the amount of struggle we have with food because of our emotional states,
our mental states, our stress levels, and the environment that we're in, particularly in the
West, whether it's the United Kingdom,
whether it's Canada, but I think even more so in the United States, there are so many
seductive food environments where, you know, whether it's your workspace, the grocery
store, even out here, the clothing stores and hardware stores sell ultra-processed,
hyper-palatable food.
And people, I think writ large, struggle with managing stress, boredom, depression, anxiety.
And the easiest tool to tamp down on that is food.
So we have a lot of people, I think, who are living with some degree of food coping, high
stress.
They're over consuming ultra processed foods because that's what's around them and that's
what's talking to them.
Nutrition being such a 24 hour a day thing, when you're working with somebody, the biggest
thing is like, look, I can only change you so much for the hour I have you in the gym
or for the hours that you go to the gym, but we need to build a toolbox, a repertoire, an arsenal to
win this 24-hour battle against nutrition. And the thing that I think is hard for people is
admitting that it is a lifestyle. It's a 24 hours a day thing and that I am in an environment that's
stacked against me and I need to learn how to manage it.
And there's probably no fad diet or quick fix that will help me navigate this long term.
I'm going to need to learn skills.
And so that's a very long way of saying people need to ultimately learn how to regulate themselves
in the food environment in which we live and do they need
to learn the ins and outs of nutrition slowly so that they can make informed decisions for a long
time because it is a everyday battle. Yeah, sure. It's the psychological part of things,
I think of coaching, which is, I think, the most challenging for us. I don't know about how you think about that.
I do.
I think it is.
And I think for fat loss specifically, it is like, okay, you're not, if you are,
let's say it's body composition neutral, you don't care about your body fat level
changing performance enhancement is pretty easy, you know, progressive overload,
uh, periodization, protein. Yeah, that's like,
if you are body composition neutral, you could just live by the three P's and get, make most
people pretty fucking jacked and pretty fucking athletic. And they'd be like, I feel better and
I move better and I have more function. Like, okay, cool. But like you said, 90% of people are
like, yeah, but I want to look the part.
And so it's like, okay, well, that shit is an all day affair and it is way harder than
a like one hour workout.
So that is the forever battle, I think, for coaches is the challenge of nutrition, how
it truly is psychological and lifestyle dependent. And we inspire people to reach a level of autonomy there
by giving them some formulation of boundaries and constraints,
but also not too many so that they don't stick to it.
So it's quite a psychological thing.
And I think when you talk about the art of coaching people, that's really where the, um, the good coaches separate themselves. They can help people make those
connections in a way that's going to ultimately work for them.
Mm hmm. Yeah. I mean, you know, if you think about a, a stressed out single dad or mom
who's got a eight hour job,
you tell them not to go for that glass of wine
or a couple of beers in the evening
and not go for that takeaway food.
It's gonna be, it's not as easy as just them saying,
okay, I won't do that today, you know?
Super hard.
Yeah.
So how do you, cause this, I don't know about you,
this happens a lot with me. And it must,
must happen with you as well. How do you deal with the inevitable loss of client motivation,
which may happen after a few months, because at the start, obviously, the motivation is high,
they're good to go, they want they'll do everything possible. And then once it starts
to get difficult, they start to get tired. They realize how difficult it actually is to achieve a goal.
Then motivation will reduce.
How do you deal with that?
It's a really good question.
And I think the way I do it now is what I would recommend most coaches do.
And you kind of laid it out, which is the truth of the motivation waivers.
It is a deep, replenishing resource.
You will only have it for so long.
And most coaches are less motivated to train than they were when they first started training.
And I think that's an amazing point of connection for a coach and a new client,
which is like, Hey, I'm so stoked.
You're motivated right now.
I'm actually inspired to train by how inspired to train you are and how inspired to make
changes you are.
I've been working on my body for X number of years and I had that same excitement in
the beginning that you had.
And look, I'll be honest with you, this might waver, but I'm going to be here to hold you
accountable when the motivation you have now,
ultimately, wavers because of stress, friction, adversity, slowing of results.
I just want you to know it's normal. It's going to probably come at some point. Once you reach it,
that's a great indicator that we're getting really close to forming a habit.
If you can show up for two, four, eight, 10, 12 weeks
with no motivation, you will probably for the rest of your life, work out at least a
couple of days a week. You're really close when it starts to sting, know it's coming.
I don't wake up every day screaming like, I'm so pumped to work out.
And I think it's just a really good point of relatability.
And it just totally humanizes you as a coach.
And it totally humanizes this like, cause a lot of people like, shit, I'm hiring
a crazy motherfucker.
This guy's motivated to work out every day.
It's super easy.
And I think a lot of coaches and fitness personalities and even professional
athletes are like not as motivated as you
would think to do what they do, but they do it because they know the value and they've
connected with it for so many years and they realized that to not engage with it would
be stupid.
And I don't know, I think that's where most people miss.
You can end up cutting out like this suffering through through having to explain to them, it's actually
normal to lose motivation. I don't want you to worry. And you're just like, hey, remember when
I talked to you about how this was going to happen at the very beginning, this is a great sign that
you're actually closer to forming the habit. Now the friction is present and this is where the
solidification of this dietary tracking habit or this walking habit
or this resistance training habit, whatever you're working on, it's getting closer to
sticking.
The motivation's gone, but you still show up.
You're still casting those votes to become the person you want to be.
You got to stick it out.
And they have a way better response to that if you front load the fact that it's coming. What's going on guys, coach Danny here,
taking a break from the episode to tell you
about my coaching company, Core Coaching Method,
and more specifically,
our one-on-one fully tailored online coaching program.
My online coaching program has kind of been the flagship
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Of course, we do have PDF programming,
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But if you want a truly tailored one- one experience with a coach like myself or a member
of my coaching team, someone who is certified, somebody who has multiple years of experience
working with clients in person online, somebody who has licensed to provide a macro nutrition
plan, somebody who is actually good at communicating with clients because they've done it for years,
whether that be a be via phone call, email, text, right? This one-on-one coaching program
is really designed to give you all the support you need. With custom training
designed for you, whether you're training from home, the gym, around your
limitations and your goals. Nothing cookie-cutter here. As well as easy to
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We keep our rosters relatively small so that we can make sure you get the best support
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one-on-one coaching with me and my team today. Yeah. I mean, I haven't been motivated to work
out three or four times a week for years, literally. And if you sort of relate that to them, to them, they're sort of like,
okay, if well, if you're not motivated, then it's cool for me
not to be motivated sometimes. And then don't know about you.
But what I sort of go through is essentially say to them, just
remember why you signed up in the first place, why are you
doing this? Write out all the things which could literally
change in your life. If you stuck to this goal of training
two, three times a week, you know, and stuck to your calories or improve your nutrition,
etc, etc. And I think if I, the more they think about that, the better it comes and
think, okay, maybe I don't have to be motivated, but if I just do the things I'm supposed to
do, I can build habits and then that will change my life and that will give me the goals
I am here for a hundred percent. I think that that's a really good tactic to just remind them
What this is really all about. It's so easy to get lost in
Like the day-to-day
mundane tasks associated with trying to change how you move, look and feel.
I got my protein, got my macros, got my calories, got my water, my sleep, my training, blah, blah,
I'm on this routine. I'm going through the motions. I'm not even connected to what this is all about.
This is because I want to have more time with my grandkids or I want to look at myself in the mirror
and be proud of what I see or I want to look at myself in the mirror and be proud
of what I see or I want to, I do not want to develop heart disease or diabetes.
That shit is really powerful.
And when you're working and have kids and have other things in life and the fitness
thing you're working on, you've really easily lose track of what this shit is all about.
And so I like the, I like what you said there. You can really bring people back to
a more powerful motivator or driver of ultimately results by continuously reminding them why you
started in the first place. Absolutely. So what are your three best fat loss tips, which are easy to follow for most people and
which seem to work best for the average person, do you think?
Sure.
Okay.
So I'll give you three that I like.
I don't know if these are my best, but these are the ones that are bombarding my brain
when you said three.
Okay.
The first is the only liquid calories you should ever drink are protein shakes. That is a great rule for fat loss.
A lot of people get caloric intake from non-satiating beverages like coffee and alcohol.
While caffeine might help with fat loss, I'm very confident that alcohol will not.
I think abstaining from liquid calories, with the exception of protein shakes
or smoothies that are a meal replacement, I don't think you should be drinking your
calories. They just aren't going to give you the right macronutrient profile 95% of
the time. They're going to yield almost no satiety unless it's protein rich. And it
becomes a very easy way to just slash surplus calories from people's diet.
And I think it's a generally very applicable behavior, like our very applicable directive
because of most people's behavior. Here in the States, most people have a coffee from a coffee
shop every day and most people go home and kick a few drinks back every day. So it's like, boom,
there you go. And if they're dumb and drink soda, I shouldn't say dumb. I really shouldn't. But it's like, soda is really popular here
too. Like people like will drink like 160 calories of like pure carbohydrate. And it's
like, God, that is just giving you no satiety. And it's just like, you'd be better off eating
a Snickers that's 160 calories, at least it'll hit your stomach. And so it's, liquid calories are a huge
one. The second one I would say is to actually have a fiber target every day. You know, I like
additive nutrition tips where it's like, hey, this is more of a focused positive thing. It's not a
takeaway thing, but like most adults don't eat enough fiber.
Fiber is closely associated with better hunger regulation, better blood sugar regulation,
multiple different markers of cardiovascular health, whether it's lowered LDL cholesterol
or lowered bad cholesterol, fiber actually binds to cholesterol and helps us regulate
it. It's a very valuable
nutrient that we get from really nutrient dense things like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
And I think if you're trying to eat 30 grams of fiber, you're going to eat more fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains. You're going to eat a lot less refined food. You're going to
feel better. You'll digest food better. You'll be more full. And you could swap that with a tip like have a protein target and you would generate
a very similar effect. So that could be a 2A, 2B, have a fiber target, have a protein
target and try to hit those and you'll indirectly end up being very full and have good fuel
for lean mass, which is awesome
for losing fat mass, probably intake less calories too.
And then the third tip, probably the most obvious one is heaven forbid you have to track
your food here and there, right?
It really helps to know how much you're eating, so much more than you could possibly imagine.
And it acts as a really good safeguard against boredom eating too.
Because you're like, I'm going to grab a little snack,
fuck, pick up the app and track this shit.
Fuck it. I'll just sit here and be hungry.
I'll just sit here and let this transient boredom pass.
And oh, it turns out I wasn't even hungry to begin with.
That's really powerful.
And so those are the three big ones, dude, that really were for me. Cut
the dumb calories that provide no satiety in liquid form. Have a protein goal. Have
a fiber goal. Those are additive. Those don't feel restrictive. And then track and account
for your food the same way you would if you had a financial goal, track and account your
perhaps spending.
And I do think that that's a good way to level with adults about changing their food behavior
that will really drive changes in body composition, gains in lean mass, and usually substantial
losses in body fat.
The first one you mentioned, you mentioned on one of your podcasts, I listened to it
the other day, and about the coffee and the alcohol in the evening.
And it makes such a big difference.
But for a lot of people, that can be the hardest thing to stop doing, especially
the alcohol in the evening, you know, it's common sense, right?
If you want to reduce your calorie intake, don't drink the beers or the wine, or
don't go out at the weekends and get smashed every weekend.
But it's like, everyone's, I've got clients who are trying to figure out, or asking me
some ways around it.
And I'm like, there's no way around it.
It's common sense.
Just reduce the amount of alcohol you're consuming.
Yeah.
It's hard to get people to abstain from alcohol because there is a genuine dependence formation
that will happen even at moderate intake levels that can make
it challenging to, let's just say quit cold turkey or just stop as we say over here, cold
turkey means like I'm just not going to have it anymore.
That's hard, especially if you're kicking back one or two a night because you might
have a form of habitual dependence all the way to a chemical dependence.
And honestly, just stopping alcohol sucks for a lot of habitual dependence all the way to a chemical dependence. Honestly, just stopping
alcohol sucks for a lot of people, but there are guidelines that in moderation, I think,
will allow you to have some level of alcohol intake without paying too much for it on the
health side of things. There is no amount that is health promoting, but there is an amount that can
be included in a fat loss diet, but you better
account for it calorically and you should opt for alcoholic beverages that allow you
to get a high reward for your consumption with a low alcohol by volume.
You really want to prioritize volume in a way.
A shot of tequila is a very high alcohol by volume for low volume.
But if you had that same tequila with a diet sprite and a lime and a salt and several large
pieces of ice and you make this same volume of alcohol a lot larger without enhancing
the caloric intake level, you might be able to cut from two drinks down to one and over a year,
save yourself 365 servings of alcohol.
So if you learn how to get creative, you can really spread it out and pay less for it,
but you have to have a plan of action if you're going to choose to include alcohol.
I think abstinence is best, but if you're not going to abstain,
then you need to have a game plan.
And a game plan can still include it.
It's just, you have to have a thoughtful inclusion
and you have to carve out how many calories
you're going to allocate to that budgetarily every day.
And then, you know what,
maybe periods of the year where you're not as tight with it and maybe that's
on vacation, you allow yourself a little leniency and that might be the balance you're after.
Yeah.
Really good tip like that.
So what are your thoughts on spot reducing body fat?
It's been a big, you know, a bit of big sort of subject over the last few years.
I'm not sure if you've seen or you've heard the Stronger By Science podcast recently with Dr. Pak. I'm not sure if you've heard of that.
I love that show.
Cool.
I actually listened to the first hour and a half of that when they were discussing some of the
different research around body fat spot reduction of body fat. Go ahead, continue.
So yeah, sorry. It's a long podcast, right? Maybe two, two and a half hours.
So what are your thoughts on body fat spot reduction? Is it a thing? Is it a complete myth?
I'll say similarly to what the researchers on that show said, I have kind of vehemently been a proponent of like, there is no such
thing as spot reduction or we just don't have enough evidence to be
confident about this.
So why bother talking about it when the fucking same thing, you know, you,
you want to spot reduce from your belly or you want to reduce globally, you
need to be in a deficit.
So like, let's just get into a deficit and pray to God it comes off where it comes off.
But now, now I'm like, look, honestly, if wrapping your waist with a band, and, you know, they were, they were talking in this podcast about different creams, different chemicals, all is a hemorrhoid cream.
And I've actually heard about that for years.
And that bodybuilders, bodybuilders looking to dry out, they would rub Sarant.
There would rub preparation H on the midsection and the low back where typically fat accumulates.
And then Sarant wrap that shit on the body and do like a waist trainer over that and
then go hammer an hour of like fasted cardio.
Wow.
And like, dude, if let's just say that equals 3% more meaningful fat loss and
it's not, it's negligible statistically.
Fuck it.
I bet money that anybody who's willing to wake up and rub hemorrhoid cream on
their fucking abs and wrap it in, in saran wrap is cool.
It's going to be way less likely to cheat on their
diet later because they're like, dude, I fucking rubbed hemorrhoid cream on my stomach this
morning.
I am not gonna fuck up my diet.
So I think some of these, these interventions that you hear about that might work or maybe
they work so, so negligibly, it's not worth it.
Or maybe they do work a little bit, but it could be, if any of them improve your nutritional
adherence or they decrease the rate at which you deviate,
oh my God, then it might be worth it to believe in it.
So there's a power in belief.
I still think the research is mixed, but interesting.
And I'm totally open to changing my opinion on it.
If I see convincing evidence continue to come my way, I've just seen such a lack of evidence
for so many years and functionally, I haven't seen that many people ever meaningfully target
reduced body fat, even with some of these interesting tactics like lymphatic drainage,
massage, all these different techniques that people use manually
or like compression or creams.
So I would say I'm, I am curious and more receptive and that a lot of my original pessimism
and my current pessimism stems from my practical approach of why the fuck does it matter if
you need to be in a
deficit anyway?
So just get into the fucking deficit and hope whatever happens happens.
And if you want to add anything on top of that, go for it.
I don't give a shit.
You do what you want.
I kind of listened to it thinking, well, before I listened to it, I thought, I mean, I think
I know the answer, but I'm going to listen to it anyway, just in case I've missed something. And then by the end of it, it's almost like, well,
it's not going to work unless you're a deficit, but it could work if you work on a specific
area, you know, high volume or something. So it's basically, it won't work unless you're
in a deficit, but you could get a little bit
benefit from it.
Yeah, it's always been intuitive.
It's always made a little sense and I think we all pray for it and we all would love if
it were present, but even if it were, it's very negligible.
So just do whatever you want and eat right.
Good answer.
Good answer. Good answer. So this is sort of my, almost my final question about carbs.
So a very common misconception is related to carbs and how they are.
Bad for some reason and will cause fat gain.
So why are carbs still feared by a lot of people, even though with all this
new information and all this new evidence out there, why, why are so many
people still afraid to eat carbs?
I think it just, again, it goes back to a lack of nutritional literacy.
Carbohydrates in a healthy, balanced, mostly whole foods diet are potatoes, rice, oatmeal,
legumes, beans, raspberries, blackberries, apples, oranges.
They are healthy foods.
They are nutrient-dense foods.
If you were to look at the carbohydrates that most people consume most days, it's cookies,
cakes, candies, cereals, chips, ultra-processed foods.
And so I think the number one reason the confusion exists
is because people don't understand what the fuck a carbohydrate is. A carbohydrate is a molecule
that is found in foods that have cellulose, that have fiber, that have lactose, that have,
you know, all these different foods contain the molecule
carbohydrate. But when you remove carbohydrates from your diet, you remove colloquially what we
call carbs. And I think carbs means, you know, ultra processed, refined package junk food.
And most people eat less of that, they lose body fat. So that has influenced public opinion and consensus forever.
It's like the same, we do the same thing with don't, you know, red meat causes cancer or
red meat, too much red meat's bad. And it's like, well, what appears to be the most true
is that ultra processed, cured red meats have a particularly negative health effect, but relatively humanely raised,
grass-fed red meat is highly nutrient-dense and extremely health-promoting in the right
amounts.
So can we really say that meat is bad?
We can't say carbs are bad.
What we should say is ultra-processed, refined carbohydrates that
don't satiate you are a great thing to remove for fat loss and a terrible thing to include for
feeling full. And that whole foods carbohydrates, particularly plant-based carbohydrates and fruits
and vegetables and legumes and whole grains are amazing to include and you should eat more of them.
amazing to include and you should eat more of them. But because we're throwing things in the umbrella like under one term, and then we have diets that are like, don't eat carbs or don't eat any
vegetables. They might influence or confuse people in that way. I just think it's always been and it always will be a nutritional literacy issue.
And when people understand that carbohydrate is a food, a molecular food structure, a category
of foods, and there's a shit ton more good ones in there, there's probably no category
with more nutrient density than the carbohydrate category.
You have such a diverse array of foods that can yield all these different
nutrients.
Once you really understand like what you're avoiding and what you should be promoting,
the removal of carbs seems fucking insane.
It's like it just takes forever.
Why would you want to take that sort of that delicious food group out of your life as well,
right?
Crazy.
I sure wouldn't.
Oh yeah.
It's just, I think it's about educating people and you know, you continue to put out good
work and I'll try and continue to put out good work.
Good coaches putting out good work on social media.
I think gradually it will filter through and get to the right people.
Hopefully.
That's the plan, right?
That's all we can hope for.
But we know that for the most part,
the most sensational, the most,
shall we say performative shit finds people.
And it's a lot sexier and it registers.
And that's unfortunate, but that's how the human brain works,
but we can't give up.
Just got, yeah, just got to keep going. can't give up. Just got to keep going.
Got to keep going.
Got to keep going, baby.
Do you have time for one more question?
Yeah.
Cool.
So what is, what's your plan for the future?
Are you going to continue to grow your online and on your face to face business or what
else is there on the horizon for Danny?
Well, I actually want to build a larger space eventually for doing more in my community to
help promote fitness in my community with more people. And I think a larger facility would help
that. I definitely want to keep making content that helps people.
I do not have a grand vision for this. Like I do not see myself, you know, ascending to
some like level of fame on social media or things like that. Because I don't, that's
not really a goal, but I really would love to see, uh, like five years from
now, some of the things that I'm really passionate about that I really think make a big difference
reaching more people, whether it's from me or through other really good coaches like
you.
And we're on the same page.
And like, if, if a lot of people are healthier and happier and we're cutting through the
bullshit, like I'm going to be pumped one way or another.
And in five years, I think if I keep doing good work and keep trying my best,
I'll be happy where I'm at.
And whatever that looks like, like five years ago, I didn't have a goal.
And I love where I'm at.
Fuck. Five years later, I just sort of try that again.
That's wicked. It's a great answer.
And you what? You're only 29.
Not even 30. I'll be 29 in the main
Oh, well, you're not even 29 yet. So yeah, you got a long way to go and I think you're the work you're doing is awesome
So just yeah, keep it up and keep putting out the good work and keep the podcasts up and everything and I'll try and do the same
Thanks brother. Yes, you will. We got this. Let's do it. Yeah, but yeah, Danny has been a pleasure to have you on
Thank you for agreeing to come and chat with me. It's been, it's been awesome. I'm glad we got it done,
dude. Thank you for having me. Definitely. Cool. I'll speak to you soon.