Phil Kaplan: From Fitness Icon to Health Innovator at Infinite Impact in Boca Raton
Jan 23, 2024
David Conway
When life threw a curveball at fitness guru Phil Kaplan, he swung back with a force that birthed the Infinite Impact Health Center. Join me on Local Living for a profoundly inspiring episode with Phil as he takes us through his harrowing journey from a peak fitness career into the depths of a Parkinson's diagnosis, and how the chaos of Hurricane Wilma unearthed a silver lining in his life story. His candid talk not only sheds light on personal resilience but also offers a beacon of hope to those facing their own health battles.
In the heart of Boca Raton, Phil's vision for a revolutionary approach to wellness comes to life at Infinite Impact Health Center, where the science of healing and the art of caring converge. As we traverse the facility's groundbreaking offerings, from high-tech therapies to individualized wellness programs, you'll hear firsthand the stories of transformation that redefine what it means to live well. Whether you're an athlete looking to maximize performance or someone seeking to turn back the clock on biological aging, this episode promises an enlightening glimpse into the future of health and vitality, all through the lens of one man's indomitable spirit.
Local Living is a community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. Are You A Local Business, Resident, Leader or Non-Profit? If so, we would love to have you on the podcast! Go to www.locallivingpodcast.com for all of the info.
When life threw a curveball at fitness guru Phil Kaplan, he swung back with a force that birthed the Infinite Impact Health Center. Join me on Local Living for a profoundly inspiring episode with Phil as he takes us through his harrowing journey from a peak fitness career into the depths of a Parkinson's diagnosis, and how the chaos of Hurricane Wilma unearthed a silver lining in his life story. His candid talk not only sheds light on personal resilience but also offers a beacon of hope to those facing their own health battles.
In the heart of Boca Raton, Phil's vision for a revolutionary approach to wellness comes to life at Infinite Impact Health Center, where the science of healing and the art of caring converge. As we traverse the facility's groundbreaking offerings, from high-tech therapies to individualized wellness programs, you'll hear firsthand the stories of transformation that redefine what it means to live well. Whether you're an athlete looking to maximize performance or someone seeking to turn back the clock on biological aging, this episode promises an enlightening glimpse into the future of health and vitality, all through the lens of one man's indomitable spirit.
Local Living is a community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. Are You A Local Business, Resident, Leader or Non-Profit? If so, we would love to have you on the podcast! Go to www.locallivingpodcast.com for all of the info.
Speaker 1:
Welcome, welcome everyone, to Local Living, the community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. I'm David Conway, your host for today's episode, and you know, when I first met today's guest, phil Kaplan, by the way, the first thing I thought was I need to have this guy on the podcast. Very interesting, great story, doing a lot of good out there. He's the owner of Infinite Impact in Boca Raton. His name is Phil Kaplan. Phil, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:
Thank you and you know, at first I was offended that you invited me because I thought it was called Local Living, but I've seen how it's local so I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1:
Well, for the record, you are eligible for both, and if I ever do start Local Living, you're going to be one of the first, so you know usually I get right into the business, but you can't. I know you have an interesting story. Can you just tell me and our listeners a little bit more about your?
Speaker 2:
background. I know it's a relatively short podcast so I'll really abbreviate it, but I was a fitness guy my whole life I was a fitness guy. I studied fitness, I went to school for fitness and I became a personal trainer. I traveled the world and they called me a guru and I was helping people get fit and there was really no separation between my personal life and my business life. It was just one big, cohesive attempt to help people learn what I call the fitness truth and the reason I called it.
Speaker 2:
That was what I found is when people fail to get fit or fail to lose weight, In the great majority of cases it's because they're misled. They're attempting to change with a flawed approach. It's like trying to dig a hole to China. You can keep trying, You're not going to get there, and I wish I knew that when I was seven years old. But I wasted a lot of time, but I developed some muscle trying to dig to China. When people understand the simplicity of actually taking control of your body and your metabolism, they go through a period where they say, aha, this makes sense to me now. So that's kind of what I was. I was the guy who makes sense in an arena where there's a lot of confusion.
Speaker 1:
So let me ask you this was pre-Instagram, pre-twitter. You are known as a guru of sorts. How were you getting your message out there? Were you doing newsletters? Did you have a membership? What were you doing?
Speaker 2:
I'm thankful I found I had a radio show, I had a television presence and then I don't know if you remember this is probably 1997 ish the fen fen drugs came out and I started sharing some truth about the fen fen drugs, specifically that people will die. It was a weight loss drug and people going crazy over this weight loss drug. So I became a hot media guest because I was showing up on television telling the truth about fen fen. So that gave me national exposure and from that forward I wrote a book and I started to do seminars. My audience just grew, so I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 2:
Now things changed in 2005, but prior to that I was sort of a media personality. That's how I got my exposure. And yes, there was Back then and don't take this the wrong way people couldn't just do a radio show, you couldn't just do a podcast. You needed a radio station to think you're good, give you a spot and in some cases, actually pay you. So it was a different world back then, but I'm thankful that I had that right no doubt that much more difficult Entry then, then current.
Speaker 1:
You couldn't just start local living right and broadcast to whoever wanted to listen?
Speaker 2:
And I don't want to sound like a dinosaur, but what I really liked about that time Was you really had to be an expert to share information with the public. And today, between Instagram and again, don't take this the wrong way but podcasts and people can just get their own access and they become a self Claimed expert in whatever field they choose to be an expert, and that's part of why people are confused.
Speaker 1:
So you're currently the owner of infinite impact, but I know you went through Some revelations, some changes in your life which led you to where you are now. Can you share a little bit more about that for us?
Speaker 2:
2005 I had health clubs around the country, I had all the media exposure I was talking about, had books, had programs and I would travel internationally. And and Hurricane Wilma came and blew the roof off of my corporate office. I had 4500 square feet in Wellington, florida, and Big wind came at the end of the hurricane, took the entire roof off. The building got flooded and that hurricane changed my life. It took about six or eight months to get that building rebuilt and it looked beautiful and I moved back in and I brought back my staff, we brought back our clients and three months later I was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Now again, I'm making a long story short Sat in front of the head of neurology at a major medical institution and he said to me don't worry, phil, you can have a good quality of life for many years. There are medications. And he wrote me three prescriptions.
Speaker 1:
So let me back up one second. So so what were you going through that led you to be diagnosed with Parkinson's? What were your symptoms? What were you? What were you going through personally at that time?
Speaker 2:
It looked like Parkinson's. I mean, they called it Parkinson's and symptoms. So I had trouble keeping my balance. I was stuttering Okay, ed, tremors. I would sit on my hands. I was so embarrassed by my tremors I would hold a glass and suddenly drop out of my hand.
Speaker 2:
So it appeared as if I had Parkinson's, but for some reason I didn't want to believe that. I thought, yeah, they're gonna find something and fix it. So hearing it from a doctor, that's a moment I won't forget and day for the first time in my life, I felt what it feels like to be a patient. I was never sick a day in my life, so I never knew that feeling. But suddenly you're at the mercy of whoever sitting across the desk and all he did is give me some prescriptions and make another appointment.
Speaker 2:
And then I left and at the time I had a two-year-old daughter and the only vision in my head was my Daughter feeding her drooling dad in a wheelchair. That was a bad day. It was a really bad day. But the following morning, and I really don't know where this voice came from. You know, people are religious and people have spiritual beliefs. I don't know where this voice came from, but I woke up the next day and I had a thought maybe the doctor was wrong and it just started me on a mission and I started going to everybody who might have an answer.
Speaker 1:
What sort of feedback when you first started sharing maybe the doctor is wrong Did people think you were delusional? Did they think you were fooling yourself? What kind of response did you get to?
Speaker 2:
that, yes, my sister's a nurse. A lot of my friends were connected to conventional medicine and they said just take the medication and you'll be okay, do the best you can. And I thought, okay, if I do have it, I'm going to find Michael J Fox I'm not joking and do as much as I can to raise money, so at least there's a purpose in it. But I had that nagging. Maybe, just maybe, the doctor was wrong. So, yeah, people were not jumping on my bandwagon going, yeah, let's go find the answer. They were like feel your little crazy? Yeah, parkinson's, Sorry about that, deal with it.
Speaker 1:
Sure.
Speaker 2:
I'm sorry, quack charlatan, weirdo acupuncturist guru healer, I had people lay hands on me. Honestly, I was going anywhere I can and I wound up in Pocomoke City, maryland, meeting Dr Richie Shoemaker, who diagnosed me correctly I had mold toxicity. Here's the question he asked me that no doctor had prior to this. Were you in a damp building? Wait a minute. My building was destroyed by a hurricane. I was in that building for months while they're tearing out drywall and carpet and he ran some tests and he said you don't have Parkinson's, you have mold toxicity. And I jumped off the table and I hugged him and he's not a touchy-feely kind of guy and he backed out what are you doing?
Speaker 1:
I got a hug and he said why?
Speaker 2:
I said because you just told me I don't have Parkinson's. He said you don't have Parkinson's and within 10 days I was fully functional and within three months back to normal. Honestly, it was amazing. So here's what struck me. I started thinking imagine how many people are living their lives with the diagnosis simply because the doctor said it. How many people are living their lives with conditions that become their identity when the truth is, they may be able to reverse them. And that started me on a different mission.
Speaker 1:
And well-intentioned doctors too, right, absolutely. That's just incredible One second. That's incredible what you just told us. Incredible, out of nowhere. He just happened to ask that one innocuous little, simple question have you been exposed to damp conditions in a building or some sort? And the answer was a resounding yes on your part.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and it wasn't really out of nowhere. He wrote a book called Mold Warriors, so I found my way to him. It was a long journey, but I found the right guy and I attribute my life today to him. I mean, you say my life, dr Richie Shoemaker.
Speaker 1:
So you went through that, and what's the next step? Where did you head after that?
Speaker 2:
Well, I felt like helping people get great glutes and great abs just didn't seem important anymore. I felt like there's something bigger here. How many people are just living lives of compromise? That don't have to. So I started researching and working with some medical professionals and scientists and the question I had was can we reverse chronic disease naturally? And the answer is yes. So I conducted a landmark study where we had 187 people go through the study. In order to be in the study, they had to be on at least three medications forever medications. Most of them had type two diabetes or metabolic syndrome or hypothyroidism. Dave, 85% of them got off their medications in eight weeks, using an exercise and nutrition protocol. So it's a specific protocol. But that's what led me to this place, where I felt like it's called. I've been called a medical fitness pioneer. I don't love that term because people here are medical fitness and don't know what it is. But the fact is, 65% of American adults have been diagnosed with at least one chronic disease and what conventional medicine does is medicate them, and there is not a single medication that reverses any chronic disease. So the paradigm itself is flawed. So if I could develop a strategy that could get people back their power to reverse chronic disease. There's a great need for this Now.
Speaker 2:
Some of the things I used to recover were hyperbaric oxygen. I'll tell you this. I paid $250 per session, three times per week. I'll tell you that I took on a lot of debt to cure myself of the multi-accessity. I did intravenous glutathione things I never really heard of before and that's what led me to this time and place where I said I wanna open a healing center where I could have hyperbaric oxygen affordably. I could give intravenous glutathione but combine it with the nutrition and the science, and my business partner, dr Kristin Camilla, is a renowned stem cell scientist. We have a tremendous functional medicine doctor, dr David Blywys. I put together a team and a facility where we can take people from where they are now to where they wanna be, and really it amounts to helping people heal. So my journey, as challenging as it was, led me to this place where I'm able to help thousands of people.
Speaker 1:
So I wanna transition a little bit and really focus on your current business, which is Infinite Impact in Boca Raton. First off, what's your exact location?
Speaker 2:
Next door to Dunkin' Donuts Isn't that ironic.
Speaker 1:
The one Dunkin' Donuts in Boca Raton.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, 98.74 Yamada Road. It's West Boca and it's in a big CVS Plaza. We'll write next door to Dunkin' Donuts.
Speaker 1:
And so what do you do at Infinite Impact? What goes on there? Who would benefit from coming to see you?
Speaker 2:
I'm not being facetious when I say everybody, but let me break it down. I call it a human betterment facility because I don't have a name for it. When I introduce the concept to people, they go so it's like a gym? No, we have a gym. We have a great fitness center, but it's not a gym oh. So it's like a wellness center? No, it's not really that. So I've called it a human betterment center. I think it's a first of its kind. When I say everyone will benefit, I mean it. But let me give you examples.
Speaker 2:
We've got a mixed martial arts fighter who came in with severe concussions and he went through several months of using hyperbaric and some of the other therapies PENF, that's pulsed electromagnetic field, lots of really cool stuff, cryotherapy, and anyway he just won a major fight. So I look at the recovery from a guy who's a top level athlete. On the flip side I had an 85 year old woman who came in bent totally forward. She was a 90 degree angle bent forward, supporting her entire weight on her cane, so she walked like a stool. You know, her cane was one of the legs and then she had her other two legs. Her daughter dragged her in and the mom was so resistant. She had fallen off the couch. She injured her hip and her knee. She said this isn't gonna work. The doctor said I need surgery. Anyway, four weeks later she walked in carrying her cane. Eight weeks later she threw away the cane. So it's really everybody.
Speaker 2:
What do we do? We help people better oxygenate every cell in their body. That helps somebody who's struggling with chronic disease, helps somebody who's an athlete, wants better performance. We can help muscle tissue heal and recover. This kind of sounds like an off the wall claim, but I've seen people regenerate nerve tissue using some of our therapies. So it goes from exercise all the way up to, at times, stem cell therapy, and we've got lots of I don't even wanna call an alternative, just amazing therapies that lay in between. How about?
Speaker 1:
a relatively fit, occasionally Ake 57 year old man like myself.
Speaker 2:
Well, you'd sit down with our medical fitness coordinator and he would ask you some questions and get to know what is the vision, what is it that you really want to achieve, and then we help you get there. So you would answer those questions. You might say I want to lose a little bit of fat, I want my waist to be smaller, clothes fit differently, more energy, whatever it is, and then we develop a protocol based on that and that's exactly what we do for people. You know this whole idea of I don't like the term anti-aging, because I think aging is better than not. I mean, you do want to, I'm with you, but reverse aging in terms of biological aging. So chronologically we want to keep going, but biologically we kind of want to put the brakes on. And we've learned a lot about reversing biological age. So we do a test called a body age test, so that 57 year old man might test at 57,. Three months later he might be 50,. Three months later he might be 42.
Speaker 1:
Wow, and so I know you're always working, you're always moving. Is there ever a time when you're just chilling? What do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 2:
I have to tell you that I'm super thankful that I love what I do for a living. So you know, a lot of people feel like they have to escape work. Even in my career I've had the ability to travel all over the world, so I don't know if that's an accident. You know, maybe I'm sort of wired that way, but I love the people I work with. I developed a great team. They feel like family to me. I got a very rich social life, so everything that we do is my enjoyment and my passion and my work. They all sort of overlap and it sounds like a cop out, but it's not. I mean, there's nothing I love more than when somebody says thank you, Phil, you gave me my life back. Or what I hear is thank you, you gave me my dad back. Or you gave me my husband back. You know, and I don't do it, I just give people the power to do it and they do it themselves, and that's exactly what Infinite Impact is. It's empowerment.
Speaker 1:
So how can our listeners reach you? What's the best way to contact Infinite Impact? Give you a call, should they go online.
Speaker 2:
Yes and yes. Infiniteimpacthealthcom. Infiniteimpacthealthcom, and the phone number is 844-IMPACT-9. 844-impact-9. 467-2289 for people who don't wanna look for the letters 844-467-2289, Impact-9.
Speaker 1:
And are we going to set up an initial consultation, or how does that work?
Speaker 2:
We've got a number of kind of first visit options. So we have a red light therapy, which many people have heard things about. We have a certain energy healing therapies that people have heard things about. We have cryotherapy, which people are intrigued by. So we typically will set up a three for 79. So first visit, somebody pays $79, we'll sit with them, understand their goals, understand what they're looking for. They'll spend about an hour, maybe an hour 15 minutes, and they'll experience three of the therapies.
Speaker 2:
So that's the intro, that's the let me come in and try this thing. Best bet call make an appointment, you will. I mean, it's kind of mind blowing. You walk in there a little skeptical and you're like can this be true? Nobody walks out without a massive smile on their face. Honestly, I mean it's true. The only reason that we call this an experience because people could I come in for a tour. Now we don't do tours, we do experiences Because you can't know it unless you feel it. I mean you get a rush of endorphins, your body just works better, you take in more oxygen. You walk out knowing you just did something amazing.
Speaker 1:
Sounds incredible. I know I've been there. Actually, folks, it is incredible. It's a really really cool place and, phil, can you give the phone number one more time for the listeners?
Speaker 2:
844-Impact 9. I'm going to say it in numerals 844-467-2289.
Speaker 1:
Phil, one last thing. Anything in particular or a message that you want to leave our listeners with regarding infinite impact.
Speaker 2:
Well, better, I'll leave them with something about their own bodies, because we live in a society now where people are searching for something Exogenous, something outside of themselves. You know, I told you I went on this crazy trip through Every weirdo and quack and practitioner on the planet. I meant some good ones along the way.
Speaker 1:
A lot of us have been through that journey, by the way.
Speaker 2:
Well, because we're looking for someone who has the answer, and in my case, I needed the answer. But the truth is, ultimately, when I got it right, my body healed itself. I just had to know what approach to use, what therapy to use. So the human body is Amazing. You know, when you were four years old, you fell off your bike. Your skin Junaid. The skin grew back. You still have that healing power. We've just moved away from it. So what we do is we restore that innate healing power. So the message is really this when you find the right Mentor, the right therapy or the right practitioner, ultimately you heal yourself, and there's no, there's no limit to what you can do. So when people looking for a drug or or something they can swallow or inject, they need a little more information about what their body is capable of, and that's what we do for people.
Speaker 1:
Phil, my intuition was correct you were a great guest. Thank you very much for coming on local living today.
Speaker 2:
What is it called? Again, local living, local right, okay, I thought it was local, but no local living. I'll be back when you start the local living. I'm ready for that one too.
Speaker 1:
You got me.
Speaker 2:
All right, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Okay, everyone, thanks for joining us on local not Not loco living a community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. Once again, I'm David Conway, your host, and we will see you next time you.
