Behind the Bluff
Uncover best practices to participate in life on your terms. Every week, hosts Jeff Ford and Kendra Till guide listeners with short conversations on trending wellness topics and share interviews with passionate wellness professionals, our private club leaders, and additional subject matter experts offering valuable tips. Each episode conclusion includes Healthy Momentum, five minutes of inspiration to help you reflect and live differently. Subscribe now and discover the keys to living your greatest active lifestyle.
Behind the Bluff
How Consistent Actions Lead to Big Results | Nader Mirtolooi
Our fitness journey is shaped more by our mindset than our workouts, and consistency rather than perfection is the key to lasting results.
• The concept of "maximizing the minutes" recognizes that formal workouts represent only 2.7% of our weekly time
• Small behaviors throughout the day—like posture choices and screen habits—compound to impact health outcomes
• "Consistently doing okay" is more effective than occasionally being perfect
• Success should be defined by inputs within our control rather than outcomes we can't control
• Progress isn't linear—it often follows an exponential pattern like lily pads that double daily
• The discipline developed through fitness translates to better decision-making in all areas of life
• Replacing phrases like "have to" with "get to" creates a powerful mental shift toward gratitude
• Your results should come as a surprise, emerging naturally from consistent daily habits
• Strength training and increasing VO2 max are positive trends making fitness more accessible to everyone
• The sled is an ideal strength tool because it's accessible, difficult to perform incorrectly, and involves horizontal movement
Join us next week as we continue our trainer series with more insights on living an active, purposeful life.
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, jeff Ford, and today I have the pleasure of being joined with Nader Martelloui, fitness specialist for our wellness team here at Palmetto Bluff. Nader is a certified NASM personal trainer and a pain-free performance specialist. Nader is also a proud and loving dad of two active boys and he leads one of our most unique classes here at the Bluff, called Primal Fit. Today, we're continuing our fitness trainer series and we decided to focus on mindset, but not in the rah-rah-rah sense you might expect. We're going to talk about what it really means to show up consistently to make progress, especially when life is busy, and how working out in the gym makes everything outside the gym that much better. Nader, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me, Jeff. It's good to be here.
Speaker 1:You are more than welcome and I'm just glad we have the chance to steal some of your time and discuss mindset.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me too. It's a fun topic, I like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, let's jump right in before we get to that main conversation. Give us the Reader's Digest version. There are a lot of members who know who you are. You've got a vast professional background and I'd love to help them better understand what inspired you to become a fitness trainer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so actually started off, you know kind of post-college Um. I worked as a cop in Savannah for about five years. Uh, did not like it. Um, I thought getting into it, like you know, you kind of pick a career and you're just stuck with it, that's just what you do for you know your career, um. But about you know, five years in um just having some conversations and just realizing like hey, this isn't really for me. Um wanted to do something else and so I stopped being a cop and pursued a full-time gig, um in the fitness industry, working at a gym, um, just full-time coaching group classes, doing a little bit of personal training. That didn't work out. So then I actually went back to being a cop again. Wasn't loving it, some other life stuff was happening and left a second time and decided to go into the military, which was kind of a hope of mine. You know, through like younger years and junior high and high school, long story short, for medical reasons that didn't work out and then ended up is right around the holidays getting a part time job just with Amazon. Just kind of make it through the holidays and kind of figure out what I was going to do, moving forward.
Speaker 2:And now, keep in mind I mentioned that one year I worked full time at the gym, but that whole that was about maybe like a eight-ish year span total.
Speaker 2:I'd always been involved in gyms, coaching group classes, doing a little bit of personal training. And as far as where that desire to kind of work in that realm came from, is man, just from youth Like I just always, even to this day, I just love play, I love movement, I love being active, I love being outside, love getting to use my body, and so always grew up just kind of being in the gym and being active. And so it was always able, um, to stay kind of just part-time in gyms, even though it wasn't financially sustainable, you know, to raise a family and make a livable income, um, but I was able to do it on the side until you and I met yeah, you're able to bring me this way. It was a slow progression, right, kind of one day, two days, three days to five days, you know, and here full time now and I'm able to just make this a full time gig.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, we're grateful that we found you when you when we did, and it sounds like even though you weren't psyched to be a cop, fitness was still always that profession that you were super interested in from your early roots. What types of sports and hobbies did you have that were so movement focused growing up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, my main sport was soccer but it was literally, I say we, you know, me and the neighborhood kids, my brothers, just always playing. So grew up in Southern California, so going to the beach, I mean that weather and environment, it was just always playing. Um, so grew up in Southern California, so going to the beach, I mean that weather and environment, it was just very inviting to like literally always be outside. Um, and so a lot of me, the neighborhood kids, like whether it was an organized you know uh, playing baseball in the yard somewhere or playing you know football, or just making up some game a lot of pickup type stuff random activities, yeah, anything and everything.
Speaker 2:I mean, I just remember, we were just always playing.
Speaker 1:Love that. Yeah. Now, as you shifted gears into becoming a full-time fitness trainer, is it fair to say you've found kind of your, your passion and where you like to live. Like what? What do you enjoy most about working with people?
Speaker 2:My, what? I absolutely. I mean I love getting to do this job, but the thing that I see that makes me the most excited or here is when somebody and I'm so happy that this does happen when somebody I get to work with and that can be in group classes, that can be in personal training, that can be one instance, but I just love to hear when somebody tells me about how something outside of the gym walls, some aspect of life, was better, was improved because of the work that had been doing inside of the gym. And so what I mean by that right Is like, if you go to play golf and your golf games better, if you went to spend time with your kids or grandkids and you were able to keep up with them.
Speaker 2:I actually had, uh, just last week, one of the members that I get to train shout out to Tom. Uh, he mentioned that him and his wife Laura just uh, got back. Um, I believe it was in Tennessee, but they did a hiking trip. Not a hiking trip, but they went hiking on one of these days. Anyways, he mentioned that I believe about a year ago or so he did the same trail and this time it was like a breeze. He almost felt like there was no elevation at all, like he was totally fine, like it wasn't a physical challenge. Um, and I'm not saying it's just because of what I do with him he's been doing a lot of work on his own, but I just love when the work that we put in in regards to health and wellness translates to a better physical quality of life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. The ability to experience things in life with ease and to do activities that you don't necessarily relate to the work that you do in a gym, but it almost sounded like Tom was surprised by the impact that all that hard work he's been putting in has has made.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and there's a. I like a lot of quotes, but the one that I like to go to is it's a great shame for a man we can make that man woman but it's a great shame for a person to go through life without seeing the beauty and strength of which their body is capable. Right, and so I love what I said. When people put in the work and it's not just in the gym, as we're going to talk about later, um, but when you put in the work for your health and wellbeing, how it benefits and translates into your day-to-day living, yeah, yeah, that's right on.
Speaker 1:Well, let's go ahead and keep paving this way forward and how to cultivate this mindset, because I think your perspective coincides with how you go about training people, even the aspect of play I've watched you over the years yeah, almost multiple years at this point and the variety that you include in training sessions, but also how you try to maximize your time with people, because we don't have a lot of time to train and I don't think many people out there want to spend all their time training. Training isn't necessarily a means to the ends, if you will, but it is this opportunity to be very efficient so that we can make the most impact for some of these worldly activities that we're all involved in. So, finding ways to make health and performance fit into real life, not the other way around. What does maximizing the minutes mean to you, in both training and in life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's a phrase that I heard, I mean a handful of years back and I really try to take a hold to uh for my own life, but also when I get to work with others and try to instill this mindset into them. Um, so, if I got my math wrong, somebody can correct me, just let me know. But let's just say that you train 45 minutes a day, six days out of the week, like a solid 45 minutes. I think most of us would say like that's pretty good, right? If I got six out of seven days in the week, 45 solid minutes, right? And the type of training, we'll leave that irrelevant for this moment.
Speaker 2:If we were to do that, there are 10,080 minutes in a week, right? So if I did my math right, that's of the whole week of minutes, you did 2.7% of focused, intentional work. Cool, we're doing something. But that's not a lot right If it's only 2.7%. So, with maximizing the minutes when we are in the gym, right, real, intentional, focused work, but also maximizing the minutes outside of the gym.
Speaker 2:And this isn't to say that we need to be anxious and worried and nervous and thinking man, I need to be doing something every single second, but realizing that this pursuit of health and well-being is a full-time job and what we do inside the gym really does matter. And again, if we can get those six days in, that's great, but that's still only 2.7% out of the whole week. So we need to do a better job, maximizing the moments, maximizing the minutes outside of the gym with the way that we think, with the way that we sleep, slash, recover, what we're eating, who we're choosing to spend time with, our community, our environment and all these things right. If we maximize all those minutes in all those other areas, it'll help support and build up the work and effort that we're putting inside the gym.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there I like that you've put the time allotment into perspective six days, 45 minutes, focused, intentional training. That does a lot for our wellbeing, but you're making it about switching your overall thought process with even the moments of how we're living, and that's not something that comes natural to people. Especially in a world where your environment is against you, where chairs are everywhere, unhealthy food is everywhere, slowing down is not the norm. So I'm excited to hear more about how you go about weaving some of these life activities that people could focus on. And so let's, let's go right there. What are two or three different ways that people can maximize their minutes outside of their training sessions?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So a big one that comes to mind is our. Is our posture? Is our mechanics right? How are we choosing? Like you mentioned, you know, we're in a world full of chairs, so how are we choosing to, just kind of say, position ourselves in that moment of idleness, right? So when we have, let's say, you know, we're somewhere ordering some food or a drink or something, and there's a chair, Do we opt to just sit in that chair, pull our phone out, slouch our shoulders forward and wait the let's just call it two minutes. Now that is not a big deal, but if we do it end over, end week over week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it adds up Um, so that would be one way that I would say. And then, real simply, um, I think Nutrition is like the easy thing to look at, but let's kind of just shift gears and leave that one to the side for right Now, because let's talk about going to sleep Right. There's a lot of research, and you probably know it better than I do, jeff, but about, um, blue light exposure prior to sleep, yep, again, it may not seem like a big deal, but this stuff adds up and so maybe we can take what is it? Maybe two hours?
Speaker 1:Yeah, your two hours prior to bed. Ideally we would reframe from all blue light. I always tell folks at least an hour. Start with an hour. Maybe you're reading in bed, maybe it's low emission reading light close by.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I think just making shifts and little things like that, that I would think maybe at first glance we wouldn't kind of look at those two things right. Do I opt to sit down, stand up, what am I doing with my shoulder Right Kind of before going to sleep, aren't really looked at as like this is going to make me fit and strong and healthy. But actually it might right or I'll say it, will you know, especially if it's compounded over a long enough period of time for the good or the bad.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yeah, we can kind of compound ourselves in the right direction or compound ourselves in the wrong direction, and I think we fail to understand this with health is that it doesn't come as quick as we might want it to when we're trying to shift things. But these small behaviors are the most important things. Those 45-minute training sessions are great, but if we can have these behaviors woven into our life, it goes a lot further than I think we give ourselves credit for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm not going to try to do the math live here, but if you take the six times 45, whatever that equals, right?
Speaker 2:Um, and just subtract it from that, 10, 80, all those leftover minutes, right, I'm just going to, I don't know, let's just call it 9,000. We're just gonna say 9,000. What are they doing? Are they supporting the work you're putting into the gym or are they taking away or hurting? Right, and so I think what we need to do is just shift the balance that it's more helping the work that we're doing in the gym versus the hurting. So that's kind of how I look at maximizing the minutes. Can we use these to support our effort inside the gym?
Speaker 1:Yeah, this concept of maximizing minutes is outstanding. So I'm just thrilled that you're able to take it with these real life examples that our listeners can practically start doing right away, because it is much more than training when it comes to what's going to actually move the needle in our lives. So I think we've stumbled onto this a little bit and there's sort of this feeling that at least I feel this in the world of fitness and health right now that you have to be perfect and showing up consistently can be difficult for a lot of our members, especially maybe when they can't do it the way they want to do it or the way they used to do it. So for people in general, you know, even outside of this fitness program, I don't think established routines come naturally. You often say that it isn't about being perfect.
Speaker 1:I've heard you share this with members in between sessions in general especially, you know, as they're continuing to go after their goals. You have this concept outside of maximizing minutes that is called consistently doing okay and it's so simple. You tell folks consistently do okay. What does that mean and why do people struggle with this idea?
Speaker 2:So what this means is the analogy I kind of like to think about is I imagine that I have a huge sack, just a huge big bag, and every time I do okay, and that's not just in the gym, but that's a nutritional choice. That's how I, what words I used to say, my mindset, how I recover, and every time I do okay. That's like putting a piece of paper in the bag. You can only put in, let's say, three pieces of paper a day. You can only put in, let's say, three pieces of paper a day.
Speaker 2:Your health, your success, your wellness correlates to how heavy that bag is. You can't ever just dump a full stack of paper in there, right? And if you put three sheets into that bag, you pick it up, nothing. But the next day you put in three more, the next day you put in three more, and so it looks like you're not really doing anything, right, but? But it's again this compound effect towards the good. If you keep doing that consistently enough. Just do okay, because what I think a lot of the trap a lot of people fall into, and we'll get into that in a second. So why is people try to dump that whole stack in, right, they try to do something amazing especially on day one.
Speaker 1:Especially on day one, too right, Especially on day one. Yeah, they want that one session.
Speaker 2:They want that one meal, they want that one night of sleep to do so good with it, to make it just the absolute best to try to dump 200 pieces of paper into this bag. For my analogy, that works for me. It just doesn't work like that, right? Because what's gonna happen is you can't, you can't dump. We said max of three pieces of paper a day, and so what I need you to do is just put in those three and then put in three again tomorrow, and then just put in three, and it'll add up. And too often and this kind of gets into the why we're not okay with that, right, we're not okay, we want to, we want to do we want our bag to feel full a lot quicker, just right in that moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Because we live in a very transactional society. Right Almost every other aspect of our life. Right, you do X and you leave with Y, right? So if I go into the gym and I do 100 sit-ups, I'm not saying it's a good workout, but if I do right, I love sit-ups, it shows I wanna go home and see a six do right.
Speaker 1:I love sit-ups.
Speaker 2:It shows I want to go home and see a six-pack, yeah, right, if I do the bicep right, I want to see a result of the work that I just put in. But this type of this health and wellness, it's not a transactional type of relationship, it's a transformational, and so we have to just trust. Just put in the work, good, do it again tomorrow. Put in the work, good, do it again tomorrow. And that's why I try to propose to people just do okay, cause it's going to be. It's not realistic and it's it's yeah. It's just not realistic to try to do perfect, and you and I know right there isn't there, isn't perfect.
Speaker 2:Right, there isn't perfect. So if you had a air quote, perfect strength doing back squats. Well, there's some other stuff you didn't work on. There is no perfect, so just do okay and do okay again tomorrow and do okay again tomorrow. It's a transformational type of relationship that will pay, I think, our population here, palmetto Bluff right, it'll pay dividends. You'll get that return.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's a gradual relationship is what I'm hearing. It's this consistency of just being doing okay to the point that you will start to see the results. You will start to see the bag start to fill up further and I almost am hearing patients with the process. Have restraint as you go about your changes, whether it's in fitness or in life. And as you were discussing that, that's where I kind of took it in my brain, where, man, if I just have a great conversation with my daughter or go out to ice cream with her or any small impactful life account behavior routine that you put in for that day, it it does pay dividends later on.
Speaker 2:So it's like it's not only transformational but you're having a relationship with yourself every time you do okay that I think that's a perfect example, like where you talk about um with me, like that is, it's a hundred percent, like that, right. And I think sometimes you know I have the, my two boys, you know I think you may relate to this as well Right, but sometimes you feel like you know you're doing the things you almost kind of want to get more out of it, like I want to see more of a response, I want that transaction right, like I want something. It's not the way it works. Just keep building the relationship right, just keep and it will pay dividends down the road. So I think what you said patience with the process I mean spot on, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, no, I appreciate you sharing this concept of consistently doing okay and I'm so glad that you set that expectation up front with our members here. Let's let's take just a little further deeper. Besides it being transactional, we know this is a difficult mindset to create within ourselves. How can someone go about shifting to this concept if they've been that perfectionist I want to see results now kind of person?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think the two things that come to mind with that are redefine and remind, and so when we want results, unfortunately results or maybe fortunately they're not in our control. They're not, and so I like to operate by factors that are fully within my control, and you know right, that's not a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1:You know this surprises me about you.
Speaker 2:And so for redefine, what I would encourage folks to do is redefine success right, because I think we look at results as success, whether that's five more pounds on the movement or we look like this right, or the numbers go this way. So let's redefine success into terms that are fully within our control. For instance, I'm going to go to the gym for 30 minutes a day. I'm going to eat 120 grams of protein right, let's just label or put it in terms that are fully within our control. And when we focus, when we define success with inputs things that we have full control over, as opposed to the outputs I want to look like this I want to weigh this much, I want to be able to lift this heavy run this fast. So let's shift from those output focused uh terms of success to those input focused right on.
Speaker 2:The other thing I would say, um, that I do to try to help folks when they're on this battle is give them right. There is the uh remind is give them that reassurance, remind them occasionally that they are doing the right things Right. And even if we don't feel like it, even if we're not seeing anything and sometimes and I'm sure you've witnessed this too, jeff is, folks will let you know like they feel, like they're actually going backwards. Yeah, right, hey, I want to lose five pounds and I gained two. It's okay, right, and you know, and maybe there's the one off where we do have to check some things, maybe make some tweaks, but it's not, it's not a like red flag. Oh no, everything's going wrong.
Speaker 2:If we isn't just this perfect linear progression on our way up. There are moments where things kind of dip a little bit. Um. So I just like to try to remind folks and that can be just like talking about the nutrition and talking about the sleep and just letting them know hey, cool, like you're doing the right things. And then also real, practically like hey, jeff, you know, last week we were squatting 25 pound goblet squats and this week we're doing 35, and just let them know like things are kind of going in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. I think it's important to identify specific, sometimes with the behavioral aspect of things that someone is doing. Well and you're telling folks. Just to kind of rephrase here don't focus so much on the outcomes, focus on the process, and the process is is those specific grams of protein that you might be targeting, the number of workouts in your week, the time you spend with your family, and being very specific about the actual behaviors, the process and giving yourself credit for those victories, sticking to those types of goals versus being caught up in the outcome that's distant in the future.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Um, now you kind of alluded to this a little bit, that we can sometimes backtrack and we can sometimes not see success as linearly as we might like. How do you help our members, or what would you advise to people in general, from a reframing perspective, when the progress feels slower than expected? From a reframing perspective, when the progress feels slower than expected, what would you tell them to do?
Speaker 2:So one of my favorite anecdotes and I think I was talking to Dave. You were there, yeah, but it's just the other week, so I'll pose the question again. But there's a pond and it has lily pads in it and every day the lily pads double in size. On day 30, the pond is completely covered in lily pads in it and every day the lily pads double in size. On day 30, the pond is completely covered in lily pads. So on what day was the pond half covered 14 days in? I'm not tracking, no, you're good. So the standard answer is if we say on day 30, it's completely covered. So what day is it half covered? The typical answer people go to is 15.
Speaker 1:Okay, Right, so I was one day off half.
Speaker 2:It's not right, though, hold on. So half covered, right, yeah, but the answer is day 29, because the lily pads are doubling in size every day. So what that means, right, is on day 29, 29, the pond's half covered. Right, so they double in size every day, gotcha. Day 30, it's 100 covered.
Speaker 2:And the reason I really like that antidote, again, it goes to our, to our results, right, we're, we're, uh, transactional. If I put this much in, I should get this, but that's not the way that it works. Um, so, with this the story right, and the way the guy phrases it, so if day 29 we're half covered, that means day 27, the pond is less than a quarter filled. So just over that period, going from day 27 to day 30, we've gone from less than a quarter filled to completely covered. Just this idea of like, that's the way that it works. Let's keep putting in the work, keep putting in the work, and, as people like me, I, like you, know you might be at day four, you may be at day 26, day 20, like we don't know. So just keep putting in the work and it will pay dividends, it will pay out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it almost sounds like there will be this big shift at a point, and that shift is unique to every single person in their journey and where they're kind of beginning on whatever they're working on and the journey they're taking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think I think it's a beautiful thing, right? Three quick things on this. Um, so kind of I love like analogies and stories and quotes, so two very brief um is, is I mean think of like like being a farmer planting a seed? Is I mean think of like like being a farmer planting a seed? You plant it and then you do stuff every single day. Right, you don't see anything until I don't know I'm not a farmer. There's no reward right away. Well, yes, correct, there's no reward right away. And you're also not seeing anything right away. That doesn't mean that nothing's happening. Right, when you bring Shane back on, you can maybe get some more scoop on this, but I don't know. Stuff's going down right, so you're not seeing anything. Right, you're putting in the work, putting in the work, putting in the work, and then all of a sudden, right, you start to see something and it all that time before doesn't mean nothing was happening. You just didn't see it. It's below the surface, below the surface right.
Speaker 2:And so just keep putting in the work. The other thing I like to think about is just your results should come as a surprise, right? You consistently do okay for long enough, and it's like one day you're walking by the mirror or one day you go to pick up this object and you're like, oh, oh yeah. For the past blank amount of time I've been eating this way, I've been getting this sleep, I've been going right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah right, you kind of get surprised almost, and the last thing I'll say is like I think it's a really cool thing that it's not this transactional. I just do X and I get it back, because when you do have it and it being like your health and your wellness and your physical strength and being able to do everything you want to do, yeah, you've earned that. It's not just this cheap. Oh, anybody can get it. No, you put in the work, you earned it and that's to me a really cool thing.
Speaker 1:That's a powerful way of looking at it. I think we forget sometimes what hard work leads to, and it seems like in this area of our world, like health and wellness and fitness, that we feel like it shouldn't be as hard as it is and that it actually is. And if you apply this same level of work in health and wellness, fitness whatever we might be working on in this domain if you apply that same level in any other area of your life, you will see that seed grow. You will start to see things come above the surface and for some reason we we just don't realize that it is going to take that effort. But to your point, it's powerful knowing that when we do put the effort in and when we do consistently okay, great things will happen.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent yeah man.
Speaker 1:Well, these analogies are outstanding. I mean, finally, we could sit down. You didn't have a training session this afternoon, so that's pretty cool. Um, let's go ahead, shift gears a little bit, we'll. We'll kind of put a bow on the mindset conversation. How does showing up for a workout, even when it's not perfect, translate to showing up in life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that just results to to your character Right. And I think, like you were just alluding to, is this topic we've been talking about, with mindset and hard work, consistently doing okay, that's in anything Right. And so I think back to what you talked to a moment ago on, you know, with your relationship with Mia, um, and so when you're able to do it right in this area, it's helping develop, um, those character skills that'll then translate to how you handle other situations. And so I think the big thing is how well we can do with executing on values even when the feelings aren't there.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, let that sink in for a second. So even when we don't feel like doing what we know we want to do for ourselves, if we can push through and stay true to our values, that's going to build our character for other situations. Yeah, and we're digging into this concept that when we're in the gym it's hard work. We're showing up, even when it's a day when we don't want to show up. How does showing up on those days translate to values we can uphold today outside of the walls of the gym?
Speaker 2:Well, I just think that principle is going to carry over into the other aspects of your life, whether it's in regards to your job, relationship, um, I mean maybe just morals, with doing the right thing in a certain environment.
Speaker 2:But the reality is is right, we're all going to face those situations, um, constantly throughout life, where the, the demand at hand doesn't match with how we're currently feeling. And can we shift that feeling to the side? I'm not saying, ignore your feelings, right, feelings are super important and feelings are information, they're not the driver. And so let's acknowledge those feelings, let's recognize them. But then can we still make the right decision based off our values and what we know to be true, and what we know when this moment passes Because it's going to pass, it always passes right. And so when that moment passes, we're going to be able to kind of reflect back and we're going to go hey, did I operate just how I was feeling in that moment, or was I able to stick to my values and do what I know and have established at a prior time? Hey, this is important for me.
Speaker 1:And Dar know, and I've established at a prior time hey, this is important for me and, darrell, that makes complete sense. Yeah, it's almost being able to recognize those feelings, acknowledge them and then make the right decision in that moment for that situation. That challenge, you know you apply it to anything.
Speaker 1:Yep, all right, well, let's go ahead. This has been lights out, man. I've really enjoyed talking about mindset. It's not something that I think comes up where you show up to PB Strong. We're not jumping into reflection on how to think about your workout. So I'm just glad we had the time to do that today For all of our trainers coming on. Just love to get perspective for members, our listeners, on just some key training questions that will help people out. So this is our rapid fire round what's a fitness trend right now that you love and one that you think is incredibly overrated?
Speaker 2:this with saying that I got my answer established before. I listened to Gemily's podcast. I agree, and I think wearables are overrated. However, if it works for you, if it keeps you coming to the gym, keep eating the right thing, sleeping well, cool, like, don't stop it. Um. But I think, like Gemily had alluded to, there's just kind of like this like it creates stress and it potentially creates stress and anxiety, and like there's too much concern with seeing the numbers and I just I don't want to see the numbers just for the numbers sake. If I'm going to use that data to then make a change in my life, okay, I accept, but I think they're a little overrated.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Tracking can get in our heads Now. What's a trend that you love in fitness right now?
Speaker 2:So right now it seems that there's this greater emphasis and awareness of the importance of strength and VO2 max.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's on point right now. For sure, Everyone's after muscle, everyone's committing to a new way of working out. I think, and it's exciting Um, not that we've known this, you and I, for for quite some time but you can see it becoming more inviting, more let's, let's do this in the way that's going to work for you.
Speaker 2:I think that the the prior strength was right. Like Venice beach guys in these tank tops that are too small kind of thing, you know drink a protein shake, you know mid set kind of thing, um, but now it's no, it's like strength is for everybody to help your quality of life. Yep, so right on.
Speaker 1:All right. What's your favorite cardio machine?
Speaker 2:I think I gonna go with jacob's ladder only because now we're gonna have to get one way to go I don't use it that often, so if you get one, then I'll probably shift, but uh, yeah, I would say jacob's ladder for now and for listeners who don't know what a jacob's ladder is, can you give a brief description?
Speaker 2:yeah, think of like uh, maybe 45 degree angle, of a of a ladder made of like wooden dowels that's a treadmill style, so you're just kind of climbing right Treadmill so you're not really moving anywhere, but you're climbing up this dowel ladder at a like a 45 degree angle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good stuff. I haven't been on one in like 15 years, but my first facility had a Jacob's ladder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I said if I got my hands on one and use it 10 times then I'd probably be over it.
Speaker 1:But you are a big fan of crawling, so I shouldn't have been too surprised by that answer. Uh, how about strength movement? You only get to choose one strength movement. Like you're on a desert Island and they're only going to allow you to move your body for strength in one way. What do you choose?
Speaker 2:Okay, my initial answer. Before you said desert islands. Now I'm thinking of sand. Uh, was the sled? Well that's. Is there a paved road on this island?
Speaker 1:There is a paper road We'll stick with the sled Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, Tell us why the sled uh you, it's very hard to get it wrong. It's very hard to mess up pushing a sled. All right, We've all been to the grocery store, so it's just a heavier grocery shopping cart. You can load it very heavy, so it allows you to build a lot of strength and it's a horizontal movement pattern. Most of what we do is just stationary up and down, which is great. Don't stop those. But we should be moving from point A to point B.
Speaker 1:This confirms that every desert Island will have a place where you can push a sled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's also probably the uh what airports land on runway? Yeah, yeah, it's just a runway. Come pick me up.
Speaker 1:We made it work for your favorite movement. Um, I love those points, though, because we do get caught in just going up and down in fitness, and the more we can create variance, the more we can move heavy loads away from us in different patterns. Gosh, it's a game changer, and for those of you who don't live here at Palmetto Bluff, there is a lot of sled work going on, and so, as our program expands, we were looking for different ways and avenues and places to push those sleds. Okay, last rapid fire question, and then we'll wrap up here what is one small daily action and let's do one that you haven't mentioned in this episode that you believe compounds into lasting health and performance?
Speaker 2:So if we're going to shift away from something I haven't mentioned, then I'll say be aware of the words we say. And real, specifically, I would challenge and encourage anybody who's listening to shift away from the phrases need to and have to and shift and replace them with get to and want to. This is something my family and I are currently working on and doing, and we very lovingly remind each other when we, when we miss up. But shifting our words will shift our actions, which will shift our mindset, and so it's a cyclical pattern here. So that would be a very seemingly small, insignificant thing that I believe has very powerful and lasting impact.
Speaker 1:Across all areas of your life. I get to and I want to. All right, nader. Well, thank you for taking the time to be with us here today. I'd love to just ask you what does wellness mean to you?
Speaker 2:I'd love to just ask you what does wellness mean to you?
Speaker 1:It's a measure of physical ability and mental acuity relative to one's age. A level of physical ability and mental acuity relative to one's age, a measure, yeah, okay, well, dude, thank you so much once again, and, uh, you probably got to get back out there and have someone push a sled here in a second. So, um, listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, we've got more trainer episodes coming your way soon, and feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. Gosh, I am so grateful to work with a gentleman like Nadir, his perspective. It not only simplifies things, but it challenges us to be better humans, to look at things differently and to practice patience as we go about not only training but trying to improve in our lives. And I love that we stumbled onto this concept of focusing on what you can control. And I love that we stumbled onto this concept of focusing on what you can control. Focus on the inputs, the behaviors, the strategies that are going to take you to that next level, the strategies that are going to fill up your pond with lily pads, instead of focusing on the outputs, the outcomes, the things that you don't have control over. And it sparked for me the concept of internal change versus external change. So I wanted to quickly share the breakdown, because this is something that I was diving into just this past weekend.
Speaker 1:So internal change originates within. It is driven, reflection and our evolving beliefs. We have to know and deeply understand that something can be different about how we operate personally and from within. And the impact of internal change here's the difference. It actually lasts. It's going to be the thing that sustains any of the outputs that you achieve, any of the external changes you make.
Speaker 1:And so the flip side, the breakdown of external changes. Usually it originates outside of us. It can be driven by our circumstances, our environment and even other people. Who wants to do things for other people, especially when it comes to our own habits? And the impact of external change is visible, it is immediate and Nader said it best. Things are not linear all the time and we have to understand that and accept that. Otherwise the external change that you do make will not sustain.
Speaker 1:So, to keep it simple this week, since the whole conversation today was about mindset, let's remember that external change is what happens to you and internal change is how you respond to it. I'm going to personally take this with the understanding that if I want to be a better husband, a better dad, a better fitness director for Palmetto Bluff, focusing on inputs and how I can internally change will make the most long-lasting difference. That brings us to the end of this week's episode. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to listen in on part two of our trainer series. We have so many amazing people who work here at Palmetto Bluff that the content is honestly endless. I hope you remember to actively participate in life on your terms and we will see you next week.
