The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 181. Dr. Jonathan Leary: Why Cold Plunge & Sauna Social Clubs Are The Future of Wellness Communities

Starting point is 00:00:00 Human connection is one of the most important things for our health. And right now, it's plummeting. People are having more and more alone time than ever before. And then when they do socialize, they're going drinking alcohol, which is a depressed and a dissociative. Connection and community and purpose do not come through electronic media. And the more isolated a person is, the more they're accelerating towards the grave. And that's when I knew I needed to have remedy,

Starting point is 00:00:23 not just be this beautiful place with hospitality standards, but also what I love about being in an ice bath or a sauna, we're enhancing our physiology. So we're bringing out a better version of ourself, and it's also allowing us to have a higher chance to have a better connection. The other thing that I think struck me when I was at your place was you've added this component

Starting point is 00:00:41 of functional medicine. Functional medicine can analyze everything. And then you really get a full understanding of this puzzle that you have to figure out like all of this biochemistry, how do all of these things affect one another? As you built this and this thing started to take shape, what were some of the things that surprised you that were byproducts of that environment

Starting point is 00:01:01 that you didn't see going in? For five years, I got to listen to patients. What are all the things that they were constantly complaining about? I'm like, how do I just figure out a solution for these things? And the number one complaint I had for five years was... Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brekka, where we go down the road of everything,

Starting point is 00:01:32 anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today, I know I say this all the time, but today is a really special guest. I gotta find like another way to do intros and say it's a special guest, But it truly is because this man is on a mission to change the way that we view health care, and how we can integrate a lifestyle of wellness and longevity into

Starting point is 00:01:57 everyday events that we would think about socializing like drinking or going out or a nightclub or networking. And I think he was the pioneer of social wellness. In fact, I remember a few years ago reading about this place and I'll disclose it in a minute, reading about this place and going, what the hell is social wellness? And now the founder of Remedy Place, Dr. Jonathan Leary, is with us, man. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me.

Starting point is 00:02:26 It's an honor. I really think that what you've done, I think there's first movers in every industry that see ahead of these big trends. And I've often said that I feel like the pandemic in some ways did society a favor, maybe even did the world a favor. And it sort of rattled everybody's cage

Starting point is 00:02:46 and it woke people up to wellness. Hey, you know, maybe our governmental and so, you know, social elites don't have our best interests at heart. And maybe this journey to being the most optimal version of ourselves, we kind of have to take personal possession of. And I remember when I first heard about Remedy Place and I saw your first place in New York

Starting point is 00:03:08 and I looked at it and it reminded me of like a really cool kind of London speakeasy vibe. And hopefully that's, I mean that in a very complimentary way. And I was like, what, you go in there in cold plunge and sauna and groups and like, what, you go in there in cold plunge and sauna and groups and like, and I would love to hear about, you know, your inspiration for that, maybe what it was in your background

Starting point is 00:03:33 that made you take that bold step because now you seem like a genius, but then you seem like kind of a renegade, I feel like, you know? For sure, for sure. Yeah. You know, when I first started, I always wanted to be a doctor. And when I was doing my undergraduate and studying pre-med,

Starting point is 00:03:50 you have to volunteer in the hospital setting in shadow. And I had to build my resume. And I just quickly realized, I'm like, is this the environment that I imagined, like, putting my whole career and life forward in? And also, is this how I really wanted to take care of people. And by the time that couple years passed, I'm like, I'm just going to create my own type of practice. And I went into alternative medicine only because you're chiropractic degree in the state of California, you're a primary care physician and you can treat and diagnose anything. You just can't puncture the skin or prescribe meds. And I was like, I don't want to prescribe

Starting point is 00:04:23 meds and I don't want to be a surgeon, so I'm just gonna create Remedy Place. And I moved to LA when I was- Out of the gate, you were thinking that. Wow, so when was this? 2022. Moved to LA, started my doctorate, and every Sunday I worked on the business plan. And I knew nothing about business,

Starting point is 00:04:40 but I Googled everything. And throughout that whole entire program, I had a 158 page binder. And I just thought, oh, when I graduated, I went to Wells Fargo. I'm like, today's the day that I get this business loan. And I walked in and the woman laughed at me and she's like, sir, you have no money. And all this student loan debt, how am I supposed to give you a loan? And I'm like, what do you mean?

Starting point is 00:05:00 But this business is going to be amazing. That's why I need a loan. But it was great because at that time, you know, me talking about a social wellness club that, you know, 2015, people were like, that's the most LA thing in the world. That won't work anywhere. Right. So it was actually, I don't think the world was ready at that time. But then I went into private practice and I opened up a concierge practice in sports

Starting point is 00:05:19 medicine, not because it was fancy, but if I'm being honest, it was the only thing I could afford at that time. And I landed a couple big patients and then after three months, I had a waitlist and then for five years, I got to just travel the world with cool people and cool families and save them from surgery. And that's what I became kind of known for. And it was a blend from everything from functional medicine to chiropractic to physical therapy to Chinese medicine, but all in one.

Starting point is 00:05:43 And what was interesting was for five years, I got to listen to patients. What worked, what didn't work. What were they willing to do? What were they not willing to do? Common lifestyle habits, stressors, what are all the things that they were constantly complaining about? I'm like, how do I just figure out a solution for these things? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:06:00 And the number one complaint I had for five years was Dr. Leary, I feel incredible, my problem's gone, but all these lifestyle changes that you made me implement are ruining my social life, and now I can't have fun. Ah. So that's when remedy took... Because they're not drinking. Yeah, like how are you supposed to go on dates?

Starting point is 00:06:18 How are you supposed to go to these events? How are you supposed to hang out with friends after work? Yeah, network with peers, all that stuff. Yeah, and I was like, why is it that the most things I've documented of the five-year in practice was this one complaint? And that's when I knew I needed to have Remedy not just be this beautiful place with hospitality standards, but also a place that they could actually use as substitution for how they socialize.

Starting point is 00:06:40 And, you know, as a guest, when we opened the first one in 2019 in LA, everyone, you know, I'm like, are they going to use as a date? how they socialize. Like that's strange. You know, I think anything that's not ordinary is a little misunderstood. But then as people started to do it, that's what we really became known for. And what I thought was like, this is a maybe, like maybe this works, but even if it doesn't, it can still just be this place where you have self-care and it's amazing, it has hospitality standards, but it's completely changed. And I think you're right, with the pandemic, I think that was like the light switch that went on in the world for everyone to know

Starting point is 00:07:26 that no one can make you healthy, only you can make you healthy. Exactly. And then the awareness just shifted, and now like everyone's talking about social wellness. Right. And you know, like, even like I hear the word prevention, you know, self-care is all about prevention.

Starting point is 00:07:41 And I'm like, we've gotten so sick that the goal of health is to prevent not getting sick. But I'm like, we've gotten so sick that the goal of health is to prevent not getting sick. But I'm like, health is not the absence of illness. Yeah. You know, health like with my athletes, I had to get them in the healthiest state to not not be sick but to perform. Yeah, you and me are performing on a field. But we're performing in life, right? It might be trying to achieve happiness, it might be better relationships, it might be creativity, or it might be our work performance. But I think the future is gonna have health as a tool

Starting point is 00:08:09 to maximize your success, and we'll see how this transitions as time goes on. You know, I think you see a lot of the biggest brands in the world. In fact, I just came from a meeting with the CEO of Equinox, and you know, Equinox now has hotel brands. I'm staying at one here in New York, which I love. I stayed in their sleep lab. Love it.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Just the fact that a hotel even is conscious enough to have a sleep lab, right? An eight sleep mattress, horse hair and, you know, cotton fiber, I mean, coconut fiber and seaweed stuffed mattresses, you know, fully blackout blinds, like really kind of catering to the traveler other than just a place to get out of the public eye and lay your head, but actually, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:52 an environment that you could really benefit from. It's like, you're only gonna be in that bed six or eight hours, you might as well get the most out of it. And now I think there's just massive groundswell of interest in destination wellness. And sometimes we're, I mean, I know I select hotels by, first thing I look at is the gym. And then the next thing I'm like,

Starting point is 00:09:19 do they have a cold plunge? And if they do, I'd rather go to a four-star hotel with a cold plunge and a good gym than a five-star with like, you know, five star dining. And I see it in Miami too, you know, there's these sort of wellness movements like Coffee and Chill that are really taking off and we've sponsored a bunch of these events and it'll be 2,000 people. Yeah. You know, mainly just a really young, sexy, vibrant crowd. Your calling card is your physique, not your Richard Melee. It's going to be at a club, right?

Starting point is 00:09:51 Nobody's got a Louis Vuitton bag on because they're in a bikini. And it's not centered around drugs and alcohol. But all the other things are there, like a cool DJ and an awesome vibe, but then cold plunges and coffee. And it just seems like it's a really safe environment. They start at like nine in the morning, go to noon. And if you walked into this, you would think it was any other South Beach venture, right? Yeah, it's amazing. Beautiful crowd, great music, sun shining, and there's no drugs, there's no alcohol,

Starting point is 00:10:22 and it ends at noon, you know? and there's no drugs, there's no alcohol, and it ends at noon, you know? And so, but you know, when you started this concept, I think you filled a massive gap in the space, you know, that, you know, we've always gathered around drinking alcohol, food. I mean, what's your first thing you think of when you go on a date?

Starting point is 00:10:43 Where are we gonna go to dinner, get a nice bottle of wine, have some champagne, and realizing that there's a whole lot more to that kind of social interaction. How about actually leaving and feeling better than when you arrive? I mean, that's our promise at our club, you know? Because it's like, it's just such a habit.

Starting point is 00:11:02 And when they're passed down habits that this is what you do to socialize. But there's no reason why we need to connect over food or alcohol. We can connect over anything. We could be sitting having IVs, we could be sitting in a sauna, we can do a lymphatic compression,

Starting point is 00:11:15 we can do anything. But you kind of normalize that because IVs are so medical, so you think of sitting in a white room at a clinic with a nurse with the full nursing outfit and nobody talking to you. You don't think of it as a socially engaging thing. 100%.

Starting point is 00:11:34 And that's why design, especially if an environment is so important. You know, I like to say that we're designed to heal. The initial intention was to be the exact opposite of a clinic, the exact opposite of a white sterile. Oh yeah, you definitely pulled that off. But then I realized that treating patients in their homes, their guard was down. My initial intention was to be the exact opposite of a clinic. The exact opposite of a white and sterile. Oh yeah, you definitely pulled that off. But then I realized that treating patients in their homes,

Starting point is 00:11:48 their guard was down. And the more that their guard was down and they felt comfortable, the faster they were receptive to the care. So then I was figuring out like, alright, when people do design, they're always thinking about how do you want someone to feel in a space? But I'm thinking about how do you manipulate their physiology in that space? There's so many things that you can do to alter whatever sense you're trying to target

Starting point is 00:12:09 to start positively enhancing their physiology. And like you were saying in like the hotel, it's a no-brainer that no matter what, every environment in the future is going to be optimized to hopefully be working with you, not against you. Yeah. And I think no matter what the goal of that environment is, if it's a hotel room, to maximize your sleep, that would make so much sense that whether it's a hotel room or your bedroom, that design, that should be the number one focus of that room. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's so funny.

Starting point is 00:12:38 My mom used to always tell my daughter when she started dating, like, you want to go meet a nice man in a grocery store. You want to hang out in the grocery store, right for nice man. She was like, because you know, and I was like, Mom, why are you telling Madison to go hang out in the grocery? That's a first sounds a little creepy. And she's like, well, at least you know that he's shopping for good food. And you know, but, you know, but I think about the these remedy

Starting point is 00:13:02 places. And I'm like, you know, if I was single in a dating scene, if you're a young man or woman, or even an older man or woman, and you're trying to find a mate, at least you know that if you're meeting there, you have some like-minded interests in self-care. For sure. And I gotta tell you,

Starting point is 00:13:21 I was seeing these robotic massagers on Instagram at the time. It seemed a little creepy, but, and I was like, there's no way that that feels like a human massage and nobody doesn't like a massage. And I was like, it looks like that thing's gonna run right up my spine and it's gonna be painful. And so I tried it at your place day four yesterday.

Starting point is 00:13:43 And it was so incredible because I think it was better than any massage I've had because something about that thing it could track where my spine was and my bones not once did it like run over a rough spot and jerk me but and then the Those little arms the little the little hands. Yeah They're heated. And so I finished going through all the program settings, the pressure and all of that. And I laid there and then once I got used to it,

Starting point is 00:14:13 man, I passed out, my production manager had to come in and wake me up. You needed it. You needed it. I was out, man, it was a really pleasant experience. And I think designing an environment where people are over that, you know, that social stigma of, hey, I'm in a cold plunge

Starting point is 00:14:33 or I'm sweating in front of you on a date is really cool. And I think how far you've thought about socializing and community is, you know, shouldn't be overlooked because as I've kind of built a brand in this space and my brand is about messaging to the masses, I've sort of seen an erosion in the celebrity influencer, even the social media influencer

Starting point is 00:15:02 because a lot of people are not building a community. And I think this remedy place that you've built is really about community. By the time somebody is selecting to enter that community, they kind of know what they're getting into, and it already tells you a lot about that person's values. For sure. I think, as an alternative medicine doctor,

Starting point is 00:15:22 if I said 10 years ago, it's about human connection and community, people would have said that's the most woo-woo thing. Yeah, exactly. And I would have to be very careful, because I am so science-backed. However I delivered anything, no matter if it was saying the same thing,

Starting point is 00:15:35 how it's said is very important. But it's great that people are now realizing, whether it's Blue Zones to all of this new research coming out, human connection is one of the most important things for our health. So true. And right now, it's plummeting. You know, people are having more and more alone time than ever before. And then when they do socialize, they're going drinking alcohol,

Starting point is 00:15:56 which is a depressed and a dissociative, right? So then they're having false connections, and they're numb and they're not even sure, is this a connection? Yeah. But what I love about being in an ice bath or a sauna or getting an IV, and they're having false connections, and they're numb and they're not even sure is this a connection. But what I love about being in an ice bath or sauna or getting an IV, we're enhancing our physiology. So we're bringing out a better version of ourself, and it's also allowing us to have a higher chance

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Starting point is 00:17:03 Yeah, I totally agree with that. And what, you know, as you sort of, cause you were the pioneer. So as you built this and this thing started to take shape and come to life, like what were some of the things that surprised you that were outcomes and byproducts of that environment that you didn't see going in? Yeah, first, you know, seeing if it actually caught on.

Starting point is 00:17:26 Are people really gonna use these things? You must have been really like, yeah, did you raise money? I mean, how did you really get it off the ground? They're not inexpensive places, they're very well done. Thanks, thanks. You know, I think over the years in practice, my patients became my mentors and then they became my investors.

Starting point is 00:17:41 So there's a really beautiful story of either the individual was a patient or it was a family of the individual. So like all the money that went into it was also had a story behind it. I think that also gave us a cool, stronger platform. But we really never raised a lot. You know, we had one raise for our Series A, but we've been pretty quiet about our raises. But compared to most in a brick and mortar space,

Starting point is 00:18:06 we've been, you know, we haven't raised a lot. And I think it's just we're still figuring out the business. You know, I think like this isn't a like five-year plan for me. Like this is what I want to do to leave a legacy. And I'm 35 and I have my whole life ahead of me. I don't need to open a hundred of these rapidly. My goal right now is like there's so much to learn. I'm 35 and I have my whole life ahead of me. I don't need to open a hundred of these rapidly. My goal right now is like, there's so much to learn,

Starting point is 00:18:28 there's so much to also make sure that, you know, society also is receptive to. So if I go too far out there, I might lose some people. And especially with Alternative Medicine, I'm trying to make a lot of these things mainstream. And it's, I want to take it at the right pace and then get a stronger and stronger business. Because like I said, the end goal is so much bigger than just these brick and mortar clubs. There's so many verticals to this business, but at the end of the day, I just want to build a community that trusts us, that can lean on us, that we can be that reliable source of education.

Starting point is 00:18:58 Yeah. You know, I talk about the Blue Zone research a lot, and when you look at Blue Zone research, there was no continuity between diets, right? So it wasn't like a certain dogmatic diet, like keto, paleo, pescatarian, vegan, vegetarian, carnivore that said, okay, well, all the people in the carnivore or all the people on paleo or all the raw food vegans lived the longest. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:19 It was the, they were all whole foods, but what's not exchangeable was this sense of community and purpose, which I think goes a long way, and it also goes undervalued because connection and community and purpose do not come through electronic media. And we knew in the mortality space

Starting point is 00:19:43 that if you wanted to cut somebody's life expectancy in half, at any age, put them in isolation. Wow. And the more isolated a person is, the more they're accelerating towards the grave. And isolation doesn't mean you're in solitary confinement. Isolation means that you lack connection and you lack community and you lack purpose.

Starting point is 00:20:07 And so that was a non-exchangeable in all of the blue zones. So we can learn a lot from the people that are living the longest in the simplicity of this sense of community and human connection. And sadly, what's happened with electronic media and social media is we're isolated in plain sight. We're entertained, but we don't have a community.

Starting point is 00:20:33 I mean, I could pick up my phone and just get lost in Instagram or TikTok videos for hours, but I've built no connection, no community. I just saw three guys get knocked out and one woman slaying with her dog and whatever it is. So I was entertained, but I lost that connection. And so I wanna bring you back to that question of like,

Starting point is 00:20:57 what have you seen evolving from Remedy Place that maybe you didn't expect that you're like, wow, this wasn't how I intended, but this is what I see coming out of this. Do you see communities relationships? Do you see? Like, was this a surprise to you? Maybe that corporations are now holding events there? Yeah, I would say two things. I would say, you know, about a fifth of our business is events now. We used to to say when we opened, we could remedy any event.

Starting point is 00:21:28 We'd go to any event from Cannes Film Festival to the Kardashians' backyard and host these events. And I was like, okay, it doesn't matter what the occasion, we can add something. We would bring our ice bath class everywhere. And that gained so much momentum. And that was our natural marketing that we got paid for to put on these events. But then everyone went nuts. And I think we started getting so many views online on these ice bath classes. And then we transitioned from all these external events to just using the club.

Starting point is 00:21:56 We're like, the clubs are these beautiful venues. And all of these companies don't want to just have another open bar or another dinner. They're looking for experiences. An experience that makes people better and they're more memorable. So it's cool to have companies like Saint Laurent to Nike that are coming and renting out the club and they're doing open self-care. And they're figuring out a way that they want to make their event unique

Starting point is 00:22:19 maybe it's their product launch or whatever it may be, but it's fun. And I think it's interesting for me. I'm like, every single industry is trying to figure out what their wellness edge is. It doesn't matter if it's like fashion till we partnered with Kolar, which will probably manufacture. Yeah. I saw that announcement the other day.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Yeah. And it's to see like automotive airlines. Like, I'm like, how cool is it that we're in an industry that everyone right now is trying to figure out how they can add some type of wellness component to their vertical? And that gets me excited because to be able to partner with people like Kohler, that have 150 years of experience. They've been building this business and they have such a reputable reputation. To be able to have that and then be able to speak to their audience and shed awareness around something like Icebats that you and me both love.

Starting point is 00:23:12 And then have their audience now more aware to like, you know what, maybe I'm going to try that now. And if we can cross into every single industry and use their platforms to also educate, I feel like it's our responsibility, right? to every single industry and use their platforms to also educate, I feel like it's our responsibility, right? To be able to give more education to as many audiences as possible. And that's why I love these partnerships that are initially maybe I thought,

Starting point is 00:23:40 you would think you'd partner with companies that aren't in the health industry because I think we can add so much more value and there's more of a compliment, where their expertise and strength, we can combine and do something powerful that others can't. You know, I think most people watching this would say, man, I wish my company would host an event there. I mean, I think corporate events are so, you ever see the movie The Office?

Starting point is 00:24:03 Yeah, of course. It's one of my favorites. Yeah. Where but you know, they they make a spoof out of all of the traditional corporate boxes there. You know, there's a birthday party. So somebody goes to the supermarket and gets a you know, crappy $6 birthday cake. They're like, happy birthday to you. And there's the water cooler in the you know, in the corporate kitchen with the Keurig. And but there's nothing special or

Starting point is 00:24:31 communal about that. You know, my mom, my mom worked for Delta Airlines for 30 years. And when she graduated, I mean, when she retired, they gave her like a Seiko watch that was probably a $200 watch and a and a sweatshirt. Said Delta Airlines, thank you for your service. I'm like, wow, 30 years of sweatshirt Niseko. That's awesome. And, you know, and, and she doesn't have any connection with any of the people that she worked with for all all of that time, because

Starting point is 00:25:02 the environment was so sterile. So corporations I think are realizing, dude, you can build a lot of community and a lot of comradery in your staff, your employees, bring a lot of joy to them by doing some of these things that are outside the box. And building a stronger team. Yeah. You know, like it's crazy to me, you see,

Starting point is 00:25:22 especially in New York City, like everyone's working so hard and they're drinking all night. I'm thinking, why would I take my team out to drinks? That's gonna slow them down, it's gonna affect their mental health, and they're not gonna perform as good the next day. Where if you think about doing something impactful that's bringing them to have a stronger connection and amplifying their physiology, doing something healthy, it's like treating a sports team like I would treat my work team.

Starting point is 00:25:47 And every corporation should be thinking about that. I mean, I've spoken for JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs and all these banks, I'm like, you guys should be treating your teams like I would treat a pro sports team. Yeah. Because healthy, happy, vibrant, connected. And then think about how much better the company would do

Starting point is 00:26:06 if everyone was performing better and was happier. Yeah, I totally agree. I've heard you talk about like a seven pillar lifestyle. What is that about? Like these pillars of lifestyle? Is that kind of Remedy trying to fill in this? Yeah, for us, you know, like I'm trying to figure out our way to educate in a way. Remedy's a luxury experience.

Starting point is 00:26:30 And I'm like, how do we make things more accessible? And I think that's where us just providing free education, right? Any opportunity that there's a time to educate and teach someone. I think your body's your number one asset, and most people don't even know how it works, never mind how to take care of it. So we just need to teach people what those foundational pillars are. The body is your number one asset and most people don't even know how it works. Never mind how to take care of it. Right. It's like we just need to teach people what those foundational pillars are. And I think what's interesting is you don't have to go to Remedy to be healthy.

Starting point is 00:26:52 You know, Remedy is an amazing experience. It's like you're going to feel better. It's going to amplify you. But the foundational pillars of health are so much simpler. And I think we're overlooking, you know, like how are we teaching them how to eat? How are we teaching them how to move? How are we teaching them how to move? How are we teaching them to really focus on their thoughts? How are you controlling your thoughts? And how are we rewiring your brains

Starting point is 00:27:12 with like these simple practices and routine? And then learning about things that might not feel as traditional. Like, how are we teaching people to have better relationships? How are we teaching people how to create communities? How are we teaching them to have better relationships? How are we teaching people how to create communities? How are we teaching them to audit all of their environments? Because if I believe that every environment can either work with you or against you, how are we looking at that?

Starting point is 00:27:35 No matter what your budget is or what you have access to, figure out whatever you can do, as long as we're making small little changes and moving it in the right direction. But I just think it's so important, you know, of course, all of the fancy technologies and red light and ice baths and I bear it all amazing. But like you said, like who's teaching people about human connection? Yeah. As people are having, especially the younger generation with that grew up with

Starting point is 00:27:58 only social media, who's teaching them those skillsets to rebuild human connection. And that's where I see there's so much opportunity, because that's what we need to really be focusing on. Over the last 20 years in human biology, one compound I've trusted again and again is NAD+. It's critical for energy, focus, and cellular repair. But your levels drop around age 30.

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Starting point is 00:28:46 at checkout for 15% off. Just put in ultimate 15 at checkout, you'll receive 15% off and your cells will thank you. Now let's get back to the ultimate human podcast. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I have a 16 year old and I have, she just turned 17, I have a 27 year old. And have, she just turned 17, I have a 27 year old. And even though they're only 10 years apart,

Starting point is 00:29:08 they had vastly different experiences going through grade school, middle school, high school, and vastly different experiences than when I had. I still remember like in eighth grade, if you wanted to ask or call out, like we would usually like write a note and there'll be like a little box like yes or no. And you would pass it to your friend

Starting point is 00:29:28 and then he would pass it to the desk in front of him and he'll finally make it up to the girl. And then you're like sweating, your heart's pounding and then they would open it up, like check a box. Or you actually had to have, you know, the wherewithal to walk up to someone and ask them on a date or tell them that you like them. Yeah. And, and, and that sort of

Starting point is 00:29:49 palpable fear and, and I mean, it's sort of gone now in social media because you don't like my youngest daughter will be like, yeah, you know, five guys asked me out in the last month. I said, no, I'm like, how'd they ask you out? They sent me a text message, you know? Yeah. You know, so, so that's this whole connection thing that's, you know, the, the, the absence of that real. And it's, it's kind of beautiful, like meet somebody, start to vibe with them, have a real connection, you know,

Starting point is 00:30:18 grow that maybe into a relationship, maybe into a friendship or maybe into nothing, but you know, having a sieve like, like a remedy place where at least you know that you have like minded interests. Maybe why my grandmother told my daughter to go to the grocery store, like stand in the avocado aisle or something. He's picking up an avocado, at least he's healthy. You know, it's like, yeah, so funny. Judy Brekka. Big shout out, mom. The

Starting point is 00:30:43 other thing that I think struck me when I was at your place was you've added this component of functional medicine. Yeah, right. Where not as a requirement, but if you wanted to sort of up your game to the next level, because I think there's a, an increasing level of curiosity in, okay, this made me feel great. I took a sauna took a cold plunge, I feel clear and clean and awake and like, you know, sort of switched on, I call the cold plunge my drug of choice for a reason because

Starting point is 00:31:16 nothing makes me feel better for longer. Great. I'm so excited that Equinox had a cold plunge this morning. And so but you've graduated to like now these additional services and functional medicine. What is what is that platform like? And do you see that being something that you're going to integrate as you go forward? Huge? Yeah, I mean, half of my practice before remedy was functional medicine. And you know, for me to actually treat

Starting point is 00:31:43 someone to the best of my ability, it would be naive of me to think that I would be able to do it without knowing what's under the hood. And I just think that functional medicine can analyze everything. All of these blood tests, right? We can look at every organ, every system, every deficiency, every toxicity, every sensitivity. And then you really get a full understanding of this puzzle, that you have to figure out, like, all of this biochemistry, how do all of these things affect one another? And then what can we do to naturally get that to the right spot? And I just think it takes out all the guessing.

Starting point is 00:32:18 You know, I used to do it, you know, when people would be like, why do you have to do my blood work? And my patients, I'd be like, listen, because half of what's going on could just be biochemical or nutritional. And especially when I was talking about patients that were recovering or in pain, they're like, why are we talking about my diet? I'm like, because your diet is gonna play a major role in this recovery process. Oh, so crazy, yeah.

Starting point is 00:32:39 And I just think for me, I do my full functional medicine screening every six months. I'm like, my life changes so much almost on a monthly basis. Whether it's work, travel, work stress, whatever I'm building. Your body's changing and ever-changing. And because our lifestyle is not the same, we need to keep looking back. And I think everyone, my main focus with every patient first is like, you need to understand you. Whether it's the wearable, whether it's the blood work,

Starting point is 00:33:07 whatever you have access to, the more data that you can have, the more you can start understanding so that we know what's the fastest, most effective way to get you the results that you want. But what's wild is like, to think that functional medicine is not covered under your insurance. It's so crazy. I mean, I think that's my change under the new administration. You know, I think Bobby Kennedy is doing a good job of opening

Starting point is 00:33:29 some of these lanes. And I think we're going to see those get wider. Peptides, what I would call lifestyle medicine, not even functional medicine, lifestyle medicine, or just the, you know, back to the basics recommendations of drawing people's attention to the importance of sleep, drawing people's attention to the importance of sleep, drawing people's attention to the importance of hydration, drawing their attention to the importance of this basic movement.

Starting point is 00:33:52 You know, I think walking is the most underrated exercise in the world. I say that all the time. It's one of the most important. That's why I think, you know, when I moved to New York, one of my favorite, my top three reasons why I love New York more than living in LA is just the walking. And I think it's harder to have as good of a diet here, but I think because you can walk more,

Starting point is 00:34:13 my rule is like the more you eat, the more you walk, and if you cheat, walk a little bit more. Yeah, that's a great one. And I think it's so cool, because it's like if you have to walk, if you walk to every meal, like say I go out to dinner most nights, just because that's my current life right now, I wish I was cooking at home, but I make sure that I walk.

Starting point is 00:34:32 If it's under two miles, I walk there and walk back. Yeah, that's great. And I just think that's completely changed my digestion in the, actually the best my digestion and GI health has ever been. and I owe that really just to the amount that I walk and the amount of steps that I have. You know, it's funny, I noticed when I pass women on the street in New York, half of them have like the high heels sticking out of their purse

Starting point is 00:34:56 and they've got their sneakers on. So, you know, they've got their work gear and their dress on and you can tell, you know, they're walking to work, then they'll get to their office and pop the heels on. But you know, it's that mobility is so important. You know, our lymph system is a static system. It doesn't have any pressure behind it. It's not like our arteries and veins that have the heart to move it, you know, move the fluid. The

Starting point is 00:35:19 lymph moves by muscular contraction and by motion. And the more you move, the more you're just naturally detoxifying. And I think just the old school, I have a saying that aging is the aggressive pursuit of comfort because I believe a huge component of aging is that we aggressively pursue comfort.

Starting point is 00:35:43 We wanna regulate our temperature in our car, in our house, in our office. We want to regulate our lighting. We can make it the surface of the sun at one o'clock in the morning if we want. And it's so unnatural and so out of sync with our circadian biology is to have whatever you want, whenever you want and feel exactly how you want

Starting point is 00:36:01 at your demand. I often say we gotta stop telling grandma not to go outside because it's too hot, not to go outside because it's too cold, just to lay down, to relax, to eat at the first pang of hunger. Because you're just collapsing all your natural defense mechanisms.

Starting point is 00:36:17 Well, that's where like, I think aging is the result of adapting to stress. And the healthier you are, the better you adapt to stress. And I think it's really interesting that being healthy is about figuring out how to be more resilient and adaptive no matter what we're exposed to. And I think that's kind of what you're saying is just like those stressors or those moments

Starting point is 00:36:38 or those things that we interact with, being able to get more resilient and more adaptive to be able to handle those makes us healthier. I totally agree. I mean, a lot of the things that are stressing us in our life, there's not a lot we can do about it. I mean, if you're a young mother of three, that's stressful.

Starting point is 00:36:57 Full stop, you know, or a young father of three, or even of one. And, you know, your career is almost always going to stress you out. You got a boss that you don't like, you got a coworker you don't get along with, you have a job you're not particularly happy with. So there are a lot of these stressors, family, that are going to be there,

Starting point is 00:37:21 whether we arm ourselves to deal with them or not. And it's incredible now the correlation that research is able to draw between physical resilience and mental resilience and our ability to be adaptive to stress and have stress be less impactful on our bodies. You know, well, that's why I'm fascinated with stress because I think like, you know, people say how bad stress is. I'm like, a certain level of stress, I think is good with stress. Because I think like, you know, people say how bad stress is. I'm like, a certain level of stress, I think is good for you.

Starting point is 00:37:48 You know, like... Hormenic stress. Yeah, exactly. We go to the gym and we tear our muscle fibers to become stronger. And we think that's normal. But I think every single system, us going in a sauna or a cold plunge, our body is adapting to a stressor in an extreme. And I think right now we've been in such a period

Starting point is 00:38:05 where people are avoiding all the things that are hard. Especially, and I think that's affecting our mental health more than anything because, you know, just like you were saying earlier with the kids having to ask a girl out. Like that amount of stress and anxiety and nerves, like that made you stronger. But if you didn't develop those skillsets. I still literally remember the feeling,

Starting point is 00:38:29 how they say like, you might not remember what happened, but you remember how it made you feel. I remember being in eighth grade, or ninth grade or 10th grade and problems coming up and you've got to ask someone if they want to go with you and just the loss of breath. Well, that heightened emotional state, right? Is what imprints that memory.

Starting point is 00:38:50 You know, like, so that's why that feeling of being anxious and being nervous, like that's what made it so sound in your brain to be that memorable. Yeah. And I think if we numb all of those strong feelings, we're going to lose a lot of memories. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more.

Starting point is 00:39:05 So when you're, you know, one thing I find tough for people like me, and it's gotta be for people like you too, is I'm so intellectually curious about what's going on out there. Like, what is the latest and greatest? I mean, are there new functional labs that we should be pulling? Are there advances in genetic testing?

Starting point is 00:39:23 Is supplementation being refined? How do you go through the sieve of what lands in a remedy place? Because you could get paralysis of analysis of the possibilities. Yeah, I mean, PMF, oxygen, red light, you know, cold punching sauna, vibration, acoustics, you know, you could just go down this insane road and then eventually you don't have a business model anymore. Right? No, for sure.

Starting point is 00:39:54 And I think, listen, we get to pitch things every week. The latest and greatest technology, this new technology. And for me, like I said, remedy is so important to me and not just the short term for my whole life that we don't add a lot of new things to remedy. You know, everything that's in remedy is there because now I've used it for at least 10 years and I know that it works.

Starting point is 00:40:15 And I want anyone that knows like, when they come in remedy, I want them to know that anything here is here because they know that it works. And like something like an AI massage, I haven't been using an AI massage for a decade, but I know the power of massage. So the delivery of the modality might change and how people experience it or the design

Starting point is 00:40:35 or like how people socialize it will change and evolve. But for us, we haven't changed much. And these are things that I was using in my practice before Remedy. And that's an important thing. Because if I start doing things to test out in the clubs, we could lose credibility. And right now I just want to make sure we're gaining as much trust as possible and making sure that people just know that it's there because it's the best

Starting point is 00:40:59 and it's the safest version and because they have the data to prove that it works. I think there's something interesting about the robotic massage because like I remember my father started in the Navy as a pilot. He was telling me stories about this years ago, obviously, but he told me stories about how like autopilot was just coming into the cockpit of some of these jets. And at first, like all the pilots were like, there's no way in hell I'm getting in a cockpit with a computer flying the plane. And two years later, they wouldn't get into an

Starting point is 00:41:30 airplane that didn't have an autopilot, right? Because of the level of comfort with the technology. And the truth is, autopilot safer than a human pilot because of the number of independent variables that it can, it can assimilate and create an actionable results like AI. I think there's something to be said for these kinds of robotic massages because there's you know, there's potential, you know, social stress like, oh, my wife is going to get a massage by this really good

Starting point is 00:41:58 looking dude. You know, I mean, my husband's going to get a massage by this really attractive woman like, and they're gonna be oiled up in his underwear. So I mean, my husband's going to get a massage by this really attractive woman, like, and they're gonna be oiled up in his underwear. So, I mean, you're trying to normalize that, but like the robot is like, hey, you get up and leave. He's not asking for your phone number, you know? Yeah. It's just you and the AI massager,

Starting point is 00:42:17 nothing freaky is going down. So kind of, you know, I might require my wife to only get AI massages now that I think about it. I'm really comfortable with that I think about it. I'm really comfortable with that. Sage, sorry. So funny. But I think the acceptance of artificial intelligence technology, I feel like it's 25 years ahead of where mainstream medicine is right now.

Starting point is 00:42:39 Yeah. It's not an attack on mainstream medicine, but it takes a long time for the regulatory environment to capture. And as I've traveled the world and met with literally the top functional medicine physicians, leading experts in anti aging, biohacking, longevity, wellness, whatever you want to call it, researchers, PhDs, MDs. What's fascinating to me is that a lot of this research is bringing us back to the basics. They're like, by the way, you can't sort of eat your way

Starting point is 00:43:09 around not exercising, and you can't exercise your way around a poor diet, and nothing will supplement for lack of sleep. So there's like some foundational things and that human beings need if you want to live a long, healthy, thriving life. And I wish I could patent them, you and I'd be the wealthiest guy in the world. But you can't because they're widely available. They're basic. I gave

Starting point is 00:43:36 it to us every day, sunlight, grounding, breathwork, movement, sleep. And sometimes I find that it's hard to emphasize the importance of that to people. Because it seems so basic. But the truth is, we've gotten so far away from that. And it's that simple. Yeah, it's that simple. Like I saw a video of gym classes in the 50s.

Starting point is 00:44:04 Insane, I've seen those. Have you seen those? Yeah, like that's how it should be. Everybody's in crazy shape. Guys are just ripping pull-ups for no reason. And it was amazing. Like you play find the fat person. Everybody, they're going up the walls with the little,

Starting point is 00:44:20 with like the sticks, doing push-ups. Everybody's running a mile and under nine minutes. And now three quarters of our military age men and women can't enter the military because of poor health. I mean, that's 77% of the population that's of the age to enter the military. Like we are in a crisis. And I think a lot of this crisis could be solved by getting back to the basics.

Starting point is 00:44:46 So I really, I can't see anything other in remedy than you guys just continuing to explode. Yeah, thanks man. Yeah, I think it's like you said, it's that simple and we've made it so complicated. And like alternative medicine's been around for a very long time. And those were the foundations of those.

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Starting point is 00:45:58 Just select a vibe on the HapB app and let the soothing electromagnetic waves wash over your body. At HapB, we believe a more rested world is a better world. It's time to change the vibe. Now let's get back to the ultimate human podcast. In a functional panel, because I think a lot of my audience is very woke to functional medicine, but a lot of them are new to it. They're sort of on this journey. And they're on this platform trying to figure things out. What does it mean to you, like functional medicine

Starting point is 00:46:26 or when you say that you pull these functional panels, what are you kind of looking at? Yeah, I think what's important is like people like, a lot of people think that their annual blood work that they do when they're primary care doctors, they're functional medicine. But that's just diagnostic tests. The point of those-

Starting point is 00:46:43 Do you have disease? Do you not have disease? Exactly. It's not telling you, hey, is there things that are concerning that could be a disease? Are there other things that are causing the symptoms that you're experiencing? A lot of people get blood work and their blood work's fine when they get just their diagnostic blood work. They're like, I can't figure out why I feel this way.

Starting point is 00:47:00 I have all of these symptoms. I don't understand why, you know, I'm always bloated. I have all these GI problems. But then they get the blood work and they're like, everything's fine. But it's just very surface level. Functional medicine will look at it at a very detailed level in ways that your normal panels won't. And I think that is what's really missing where it's like,

Starting point is 00:47:20 you know, they'll do a couple vitamins in your normal panel, but they're missing, there's so many more to be looking at. Right. And a lot of the times, simple imbalances or deficiencies are causing the symptom that you're experiencing that no one can figure out. Dude, you are singing my tune. I've said for years, we are not as sick or diseased or as pathological as we think we are. We are nutrient deficient.

Starting point is 00:47:41 When you deprive the human body of raw materials, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, nutrients, you get the expression of disease. I mean, a lot of brittle bone disease, our mineral deficiencies, osteopenia, osteoporosis, a lot of the expressions of deficiency, hypertension, hypothyroid, autoimmune, are deficiencies that have gone on for a long period of time where the body can't defend itself and then eventually it breaks.

Starting point is 00:48:07 For sure. You know, and you will eventually blow a motor if you don't put oil in the engine. And so if you're deficient in oil, the expression is blown motor. Yeah. If you're deficient in radiator fluid, the radiator overheats. And it's astounding to me how we accept these things in mechanics and in plant physiology, but we don't believe it in human physiology. And the psychological component, right? That symptom that turned into a disease and then

Starting point is 00:48:36 you're labeled. People feel handicapped because I have this disease and I'm like, wait, you know that we can fix that. It's not a permanent thing. And let's look at what's under the hood. Oh wait, you know that we can fix that. Like, it's not a permanent thing. And let's look at what's under the hood. Nobody thinks that. And then, you know, then sometimes people get stuck on these medications for their whole life and they didn't know that there was a simple solution. And unless it's an emergency,

Starting point is 00:48:58 like don't come to me if it's an emergency, but for a first line of intervention, for anything, functional medicine should be the first thing that we do. And if you still have to do all the other medical interventions, you should still do it to be co-managed. Because there's no more guessing anymore.

Starting point is 00:49:13 I totally agree with you. Dr. Leary, first of all, this is amazing and I'm definitely gonna have you back on the podcast. I wanna spend a few minutes going into our VIP group because my VIP community has some very specific questions for you. But for those folks that are watching this that want to find out more about you or more about Remedy, how do they find you? Best way is Instagram, you know, at Dr. Jonathan Leary or at Remedy Place. We try to keep everything up to date there, whether it's the events, the education, or what is going on that's new in the club.

Starting point is 00:49:47 So, you know, either come and stop by. And where are you located now, and where are you anticipating to be, let's say, in the next six months to 12 months? Yeah, I'm mostly here. So I live between LA and New York, but New York I'm trying to make my main home base. It's easier. We have the two clubs here.

Starting point is 00:50:02 We just opened in Boston. So now it's easier. And I love it here. I really, you know, I grew up on the East Coast. It feels nice to be back on the East Coast. Yeah. And I just like I'm trying to reel him down to Miami right now. We had a little talk about it. So I'll put a little more pressure on him. When we open there, I'll be there all the time. It'll be great. We'll fill the East Coast first, you know. This is amazing. Dr. Leary, I pray every day for pioneers like you, and I'm excited for your success. And I'm really more excited for the impact that you're making on the world and what you're giving people, which is a way to

Starting point is 00:50:38 normalize being optimal in a social situation, give them an alternative to just food and alcohol. And I really appreciate that mission. Thanks, Ben. That means a lot. I wind down every podcast by asking my guests the same question, and there's no right or wrong answer to a question. And that is, what does it mean to you to be an ultimate human?

Starting point is 00:51:01 I think it's to constantly pursue change. You know, for me, I think personally and professionally, in order to continue to be better than your environment, allows you to grow. Yeah. And I think without challenge and without new obstacles, without new learnings, we plateau. And I think to get you get one time on this planet.

Starting point is 00:51:24 Not all stress is bad. I totally agree with you, you know, and I just think, everyone has their uniqueness. And I just think the more that you're able to allow yours to come out by being healthier and by challenging the norms, you get to like add your value to this world. That's amazing. Well, I'll link everything that he referred to in the show notes below. If you're interested in becoming a VIP, just go over to the ultimate human.com forward

Starting point is 00:51:47 slash VIP. It's 97 bucks a month and provide tremendous value really trying to build and cultivate this community. Dr. Leary and I are going to go in there and answer some of your direct questions. But definitely make sure you check out the podcast. And until next time, that's just science.

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The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 181. Dr. Jonathan Leary: Why Cold Plunge & Sauna Social Clubs Are The Future of Wellness Communities

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