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Health & Fitness Redefined
Health and Fitness Redefined with Anthony Amen. Take a dive into the health world as we learn how to overcome adversity, depict fact vs fiction and see health & fitness in a whole new light.Fitness Is Medicine
Health & Fitness Redefined
Simplified Health and Fitness Solutions
Wave goodbye to YouTube and hello to new beginnings, as we embrace the future of our podcast on Rumble, bringing you the same electrifying discussions and revelations. This pivotal episode not only marks a transition in platforms but also introduces you to Curtis, a fitness entrepreneur with a tale that's as much about defying odds as it is about deadlifts. Join us as we sift through his journey – from the pressure of opening a gym at the age of 23 with a daunting loan to the triumph of expanding his empire over two decades. It's a narrative steeped in resilience and the entrepreneurial heartbeat of the fitness world.
Step into the ring as Curtis and I tackle the trio of wellness: movement, nutrition, and sleep. We're stripping down the complexities of health to its bare essentials, shattering the myths that keep you from taking that first step. Forget the fancy gadgets and fad diets; we're talking practical strategies and real talk on how simple lifestyle changes can yield profound benefits. Whether it's understanding the role of intermittent fasting or redefining your relationship with food, our candid conversation aims to fuel your daily life performance and power up your path to personal health.
As the sun sets on this episode, we shine a light on the bedrock of health principles that should be everyone's North Star. Curtis imparts wisdom on the transformative power of a consistent sleep schedule and the often-underrated value of a walk in the sunlight. We wrap up with motivational tips to ease you from basic activities into structured routines, designed to bolster your life quality and journey towards longevity. For every end, there's a new beginning, and as we turn the page, we're here to support you every step of the way on this exhilarating fitness adventure.
Hello and welcome to Health and Fitness Redefined. I'm your host, Anthony. Amen and welcome to another episode. Happy Easter for all of those that celebrated yesterday. We are officially in April. Yay for those in the Northeast like myself, the sun is finally starting to come out. Oh my God. Thank God it's rained almost every day. So just a quick reminder to everybody this actually will be our final, final, final, final, final episode on YouTube. So this is it. Our lucky guest didn't even know this pre-plan. This is the last episode we'll be posting on YouTube. From now on, we will have all audio everywhere you guys listen, and video exclusively on Rumble. So if you want to watch the video, you're there only during that format. Get over to Rumble, guys. We're over there. It is free. It's a great platform and we can post what we want, which makes it even the better. So, without further ado, let's head to the show. Curtis, it's a pleasure to have you on today. Thanks for having me, Anthony. How does that make you feel You're our final episode on YouTube?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that. I like that Celebrate. Let's celebrate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been three years on that platform and we're finally leaving for the better Thank platform. And now we're finally leaving for the better, thank god, but without further ado. Let's just get to know a little bit uh about yourself, how you got into the fitness space, and then we'll hop into today's topic. So go ahead. How did you get into fitness curtis?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know, I, I, uh, I was an athlete all my life. Uh, I played on our national water polo team. I'm based out of Vancouver, canada, and as I was finishing off school, I focused on kinesiology in a minor business. I started training people on the side in my last semester and what I thought was going to be a stepping stone in the career, I ended up doing it for the last 22 years. So I built and scaled a chain of high-end boutique personal training studios we have 23 locations across Canada and then I have a digital platform that we have over 15,000 trainers that use our platform to help them engage with their clients and their customers. And so, yeah, it's been one hell of a journey, 22 years later and I'm still doing it. But yeah, there's a lot of history, experience and stories to share.
Speaker 1:I just out of pure curiosity, and I'm sure everyone else is one of my favorite questions. But at all 22 years of being in this space, is there one or two memories that really sticks with you, that you'll never forget?
Speaker 2:Ah, good and bad. Uh, yeah, I mean you know what. There's the first one. I mean I was 20, I was 23 years old when I took $450,000 out and started my own gym. And you know, when you think about that, like 20 years later, that's probably a million and a half today and I will never forget, you know, the sacrifice and actually just the fear that ran through my body at 23 and going what am I doing? And so, yeah, I mean 22 years later, I still think about that today. That's probably one highlight and I would say, yeah, I mean everything from the first client to, yeah, some of the other histories of opening up the second, the third and the 10th location. That was a milestone. So, yeah, I mean there's been a lot. There's been a lot.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about that first one you mentioned because I think that's so appropriate. And you're telling me that and my brain is like flashing back to that exact moment. I'm going to go open up a gym when I'm completely broke and take out this giant loan, open up 15 credit cards to max every single one out, to give myself a year before interest hits and puts me out of business Like life changing moments.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, it was. I mean I look back, and it was just you know. I remember coming home. I mean I look back and it was just you know. I remember coming home to my folks. I had moved back with my parents and I walked in I said I'm opening up a gym. They're like you are nuts. And I'm just like come on, like now's the time to do it. You know the way I looked at it is, at 23 years old. You know I had so much runway in terms of time to make up for any loss or you know any obstacles I might have faced, and so I just felt like now is the time to take that risk. And you know I never looked back, really.
Speaker 1:And I think the important part is that's a huge loan For a lot of people. Looking at that, that's a house that's bigger than a house for a lot of people nowadays. But my point being nowadays, but my point being what made you make that decision, when people in general struggle to make even a simple decision like walk into a gym just to sign up. And you went ahead to one extreme I'm going to start a new business knowing nothing and screw it, we'll see what happens kind of deal yeah, you know, I.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think, at the end of the day, like you know, I think our mindset, you know, play our minds, play tricks on us and, and you know, puts obstacles in front of anything that we try to accomplish.
Speaker 2:And we try to think about the what ifs or what happens, or you know and, and we don't think about all the other items, like you know what if I um knock this out of the park, or you know the opportunity, or if the downside protection, like if, if you know what if I knock this out of the park or you know the opportunity, or if the downside protection, like if you know, if everything went south, you know what would that mean?
Speaker 2:Well, it would mean that I'm 23 years old at the time, you know, having a $450,000 mortgage, that I could figure something out, whether it's, you know, you don't want to always think like your worst case scenario, like bankruptcy or something like that, but the reality is that I had a lot of opportunity to make up for it and learn and and surround myself with great people that were going to support me. So, you know, for me, you know I didn't, I didn't hesitate too much and I think you know, if you look at working with clients every single day all the way to what I've tried to accomplish in my life, it's the way I live my life and it's it's just breaking down the barriers that people put in front of themselves every single day to to really prevent them from hitting the goals and and uh and the achievements that they want yeah, and I feel like the barriers are self-created, right.
Speaker 1:so a lot of people will make up things in their head of these things that they call barriers, that are excuses and they really just aren't even tangible. Saying I'm going to walk into the gym, everyone's going to stare at me, I'm going to be embarrassed. That's not what happens whatsoever. From any standpoint, the gym environment is one of the most welcoming environments almost out of everywhere you can go today, especially your smaller mom and pop studios. Like you were saying, you run a high-end personal training studio. It's basically what we do, like you walk into there as someone just off the street. I'm sure, regardless of which place you're going to, you're getting the warmest of welcomes and people are ecstatic that you're there because they know you're on the path to the right journey.
Speaker 1:So, how do you get in people's heads to tell them take that first step. What? What is the psychology behind? Hey, you're doing nothing. Let's create the interest and let's get you in the door to help change your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I don't think anybody can really make that decision for anybody else. I mean, the reality is is that people have to understand that, no matter what, things are gonna be tough, you know, it depends on if you need to lose 10, 20, 40, 50 pounds. If you wanna try to, you know, reach a milestone, like run a marathon, whatever those goals might be, you know it's going to come down to actually the individual of making that first step. You can have all the support, the motivation, the insights, the opportunity, but you have to take that first step and that first step might be daunting, but if you surround yourself with the right people, the right community, like what you said, anthony, like what people forget is that most gyms, boutique studios, are probably the most welcoming communities and environments that you could ever walk into, you know.
Speaker 2:But we put obstacles in front of ourselves, you know, thinking that. You know people are going to judge me. I'm not ready, I have to be fit to go to the gym. That's another classic excuse and there's a reason why I own the trademark. No excuse, like we actually own that trademark because there isn't any excuse, you know, if you have, as you know, as long as you have accessibility, which now, in today's world, access is more available than ever. You know it's a matter of taking that, taking that first step and knowing that you know that first step. It's only going to get easier as time goes on, you know, and yeah, I mean you know it's going to come down to really the timing of everything and really the outlook people have.
Speaker 1:You know, if they it's like glass half full, glass half empty, right Like, if you're going to take that first step, you have to have the motivation yourself to do the work yeah, and a lot of the excuses you mentioned there, which is, I have to be fit to run a gym, I have to lose those 10 pounds before I step foot into the gym. Like it's totally just counterintuitive and self-created, barry, and I think part of the reason is people put all these things in front of them that they think they have to accomplish first, and then they just get overwhelmed with how many things there are that they have to accomplish in order to be healthier. It's not just, yeah, take a pill and lose weight or go get a shot of ozempic and get the weight off. Like that's why people are willing to spend thousands of thousands of dollars on these things, because they can give them a quick fist. They know they feel like they don't have a lot in front of the way to get there, but in truth it's very at least in my.
Speaker 1:There's very simple steps that you could take that are one free and two will change your life for the better over in the long run and not just be a quick fix that's gonna screw you up for the rest of your life and damage your kidneys, or gastric bypass surgery is gonna totally prevent what you eat and control what you eat for the rest of your life. Little tiny steps that can change your life for the better. So, in your opinion, what do you think are?
Speaker 2:those simple, free, attainable steps that somebody can take that are going to have way more impact than going the traditional route of surgery and medicine. Movement, nutrition and sleep those three things and they can be simplified more than most people can imagine. The reality is, like you said, most people go for the quick fix, the magic pill, or they go the opposite way they're already trying to optimize their health before they've even focused on the fundamentals. The reality is most people can't master the fundamentals. So you know, when we look at movement, nutrition, sleep, it's like are we moving three to four times a week, 30 minutes a day? As an example, general rule, it's not high intensity, necessarily zone two, zone two workouts. You know there's proof and studies that show for longevity purposes it's probably the one of the best you know zones from a heart rate zone to work in. So are you moving three to four days a week at 30 minutes a time? Number one. Number two nutrition. Like how do you actually eat? What does that diet look like? It doesn't mean that you have to subscribe to some sort of you know no carbs or or you know any of the diets that are out there. It's just are you eating regularly at the right time. Number one. Number two are you reducing the number of? You know, sugars and simplified carbs. And then, number three, you know what does that look like on a day to day, you know, from a snacking perspective. And so you know nutrition is another factor.
Speaker 2:And then sleep. A lot of people don't value sleep as much as they should. You know. It's this. You know, if you look at weight loss, it's the second leading factor of weight loss versus nutrition. Second is sleep. Third is movement, and what does sleep look like? A lot of people don't have proper you know, essentially hygiene around their sleep. Do they have, you know, protocols around their sleep? Are they consistent with their sleep? Do they go to bed at the same time? You know. And then there's some other tricks and tips that I would suggest around sleep, on how to optimize it. So, those three things you know. If you break it down and you simplify all those three things, and we can break them down even further um, that's where you got to start, that's where you have to start.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about this.
Speaker 1:It was nutrition, it was movement, it was sleep right, and you said, out of all three of them, nutrition being the one that fits on top, and I think this is the most heavily saturated one out of all three, where I mean, you can go on Instagram and everyone's giving you a different opinion about how their mother or their friend lost 10 pounds, and this is what you have to do.
Speaker 1:Eggs are good, eggs are bad, salad's good, salad's bad. I mean, every three seconds, your mind can get overwhelmed and changed and what I believe people have good intentions behind, like all the people in our industry, as an example, we have good intentions of putting this information out there that we think is best suited on how people can optimize their health is actually having an adverse reaction, where people are now getting overwhelmed with the amount of information. They really don't know what's truthful because they've never looked at it before, and they're just going off what we call social proof, which is asking your friend next door about how they lost 10 pounds and listening to that over everything else, because they're just so overwhelmed with what's actually considered factual that they're listening to that guy and these new crazy fat diets are coming out, or they're just not listening at all and just shutting it down and just saying, ah, it's too complicated, I give up. So how can we like simplify this for the general public while still a showing value by giving information, but be not making that value like overbearing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I, when I look at nutrition, I break it down to this. Number one um, you know, uh, yes, there's some great diets or programs out there. You know, cutting out certain food groups as an example, but it doesn't work. You know, it's not a one size fits all like it's, it's a one size fits one. And so you know, finding the right fit for you is is super important and people have to realize that just because it worked for you know, a paleo diet work for someone else, it doesn't mean it's going to work for you. Number one um, I wouldn't. You don't have to subscribe to some specific diet.
Speaker 2:I think what you have to subscribe to is a mindset around your nutrition. Number one it's fuel for your body. It's that if you treat what you eat as fuel for your body, you're going to rethink of what you're putting in your body. Like a lot of times we forget that. You know why we eat is to actually move effectively and efficiently, to wake up, to be engaged, to have, you know, the staying power to, and the cognitive abilities to, you know, be engaged in some level of work as an example, and we treat eating and nutrition not not aligned with that philosophy like well, we just, we just eat for the sake of eating. We have breakfast snack, lunch snack, dinner snack, go to bed, and so when you think that food is designed to actually fuel the body, I think what you put in the body will change. So that's number one. Number two I look at the times that you eat.
Speaker 2:You know a lot of people, intermittent fasting is a really hot topic. It has been on and off for over the last 20 years. I feel like it's really popular right now and you know all over social media because some of the leading experts are claiming that you know fasting is good. Here's the reality. We are not. Our bodies are not designed to go 24-7 of eating Like nothing is you know, just like you wouldn't. You know things break down when you overuse them, where our bodies and gut is not designed to actually digest, you know for long periods of time.
Speaker 2:And so when we talk about intermittent fasting, like the 16 eight principle, I think that's a great philosophy to just land on where you give your body and your digestive system a break to actually do the work and recover, and when you understand that, it's like, okay, wait a minute, you know 16 and 8 as an example that you, you know, eat in a period of time and then you take a break for a period of time. You know that's that just provides time. And then you take a break for a period of time. You know that's that just provides. You know goalposts and really structure around your diet and so if you're eating between 11 and seven, as an example, or 10, and you know as a 11 or seven, or 10 and six, that's a great you know boundary that you can put around your diet and your eating to give your digestive system a break and allow your body to recover.
Speaker 2:So you know, when you think about intermittent fasting, like I treat it like that. You know I treat what we put in our mouth as a fuel. Number one. Number two I treat intermittent fasting is a recovery, like you're designing a recovery or a break period for your body and your digestive system. And then you know everything else like. Number three is you know how do you realize that you're not just snacking for the sake of snacking, like eat when you're hungry, you know, fuel your body to perform, um, fuel your body to recover after I eat a workout and and then you're not going to think about, you know, just snacking throughout the day for the sake of snacking. And then you have to ask yourself, like, why are you snacking? Are you consuming time? Are you, you know? Maybe your mindset's not right and that fulfills something to you know, some sort of depressive kind of characteristic, as an example. But yeah, if you follow those three things, I think nutrition becomes a lot more simpler.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about those two topics real quick because I just think it's important to really clarify some things on there. One, the fuel aspect. Love that, that is so true. Once you get that mindset shift of food is fuel and this is going to help me in my day. It changes everything. So that's one of the big reasons I pretty much cut drinking out altogether out of my lifestyle because that's bad fuel that's going to make me not be able to be a high performer.
Speaker 1:And I'm not talking about just in the gym. It actually more impacted me owning a business. I need to be on 24-7 because you never know You're going to get a phone call. That's going to be. What are we doing? Abcd, efg happen and I need to make a decision. That's gonna greatly impact our gym for the future. So having that aspect has really shifted me away from there. And the flip side of it is, if you want to bring it back to the gym I know I want to get a good lift in I have to increase the amount of steak I'm eating, like I'm not talking some shitty fried one up the road. I mean good, high quality steak, make a nice sandwich, have time to digest that through and the protein and the creatine you're getting from that that steak, you feel great at a lift, your veins are just like pumping like crazy and it's the best power thing you can do. So I highly recommend you go and try that.
Speaker 1:The second part we're talking about was the fasting and I just I agree to an extent and I think this is where I think I like difference of opinions. This is fun, where I think I like difference of opinions. This is fun. But you do need to have an aspect of fasting. But I think the second aspect of that is it needs to be directly related to your sleep.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I see a lot of people misunderstand intermittent fasting and they tell me they're on this 12 hour, 12 hour whatever, and they do it from the point they wake up 12 hours of not eating. But I'm like we just went nine hours of not eating from sleeping, so you got to add that back and I think that's where a lot of people lose it. I'd much rather you see you eat an earlier dinner, eat 5.30, 6 o'clock and then don't eat again, but the most important time to eat is when you wake up. Like to me, that is bar none. I don't care if you're in this, I don't feel like eating blah blah. No, you need protein, you need carbs, because your body is banished at that point. So that's the clarification. The fasting needs to be from breakfast a dinner to breakfast, as opposed to just giving people leeway to make what they want. And I don't know how you feel about that, but I wanted to get your opinion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, the reality is, the most important meals of both days, especially for protein intake, is the first meal of the day and the last meal of the day because your body goes into, you know, a catabolic state. So, you know, for me I agree with that Like if you, if you went to, if your last meal was at six o'clock, as an example, you know, and you fast anywhere between you know, 12 to, let's call it, 16 hours, and then you wake up in the morning and your first meal is protein, like that's a good, you know that that's a good general rule. Like, the reality is is that a lot of times people will have a, you know, let's say, a dinner at six or seven, and then they'll snack at eight, nine, 10, and then they'll go to bed and usually those snacks are carbohydrates, not protein based. And so that's where your body, you know, then also processes those carbohydrates, stores it as, as you know, a glycogen, and then it gets stored as fat, stores it as, as you know, uh, glycogen, and then it gets stored as fat.
Speaker 2:So, you know, depends on what your goals are. Are you looking to gain weight or lose weight? You name it. Most people are trying to optimize their, their nutrition, I would say you know, just put boundaries around what you eat after, after dinner, as an example. Um, you know, because those are the things that are going to kill you in terms of, you know, gaining weight, um, not losing fat, as an example, and not optimizing your nutrition.
Speaker 1:And even optimizing sleep. If you eat too close to bedtime, you're going to totally screw up how you sleep. Eating big, heavy meals an hour before bed, two hours before bed, is your body's going to be up digesting that, so it's really not sleeping and you're going feel groggy and cranky, like I've learned and trust me, we're all human. I've eaten dinner at 9 30 at night and I go to bed at 9 30, so yeah, who hasn't right?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, yeah get it, but try to eat. The earlier I try to eat dinner, the better my sleep is that night. I know that, know that was the second pillar and we can move on into that. But I think to optimize sleep you need to optimize your last meal of the day and truly your last meal, not the snacks you're shoving in before you go to bed, like that's it. Maybe some water or some tea. You should have that just personally. But getting that in at 530, going to bed at 930, that gives you four solid hours to really break that food down before you go to bed and then wake up and do it all over again.
Speaker 1:But personally, mealtime, bedtime, like you said, and then avoiding electronics in our room for bed is huge. And if you feel yourself on your phone or on your computer a little life hack try to put the little warm filters on and keep the lights on in the bedroom or keep the lights on in the office you're in. You turn the lights off. It's actually going to stream your lights more. So if you want to watch that movie, I mean it's probably going to screw your sleep up, but try to keep some lights on around so it's not as straining and direct. We try to keep some lights on around so it's not as straining and direct.
Speaker 2:But I wanted to hear your tips for sleep, because I do think it's one of the most important things to do. Yeah, well, I mean, I think the first thing is I've been an Aura fan since 2018. So Aura is a wearable. You know there's some phenomenal wearables on the market right now. Whoop is one of them. Aura is a wearable. There's some phenomenal wearables on the market right now. Whoop is one of them. Aura is another one.
Speaker 2:I'm a big fan of the Aura Ring and I would highly recommend getting for all those listeners recommending, looking and considering getting a wearable that measures your sleep. It's the one thing that's really hard to really quantify and measure, because you're sleeping so you can't really determine how effective your sleep was, unlike when you go to the gym. You probably know, generally speaking, like either how hard you ran or how much you lifted. You know you're awake. To actually tell the story, when sleeping, you don't know the quality of sleep that you've had, generally speaking. A lot of times we wake up in the morning and we might be groggy or tired, but we don't realize that. Maybe it just we woke up during a certain part of the sleep cycle and that's why we're a little bit more quote unquote tired than we typically are, it doesn't mean that you actually had a poor sleep. And so that's number one I would. I would you know what. What you measure is what matters, and so I would definitely recommend getting a wearable to measure your sleep. But some factors that improve your sleep number one, from a sleep hygiene perspective, is ensuring that there's regularity with your routines. Like that is a really big thing. A lot of people don't realize that. You know your body adapts quite quickly and depends on regularity. So if you go to sleep or go to bed at different times every single night, it actually has a drastic impact on, you know, not only your, your sleep score and quality of sleep over a long period of time, but even you know, every single time that you, you know, shift that and change that, it will impact the quality of sleep. So that's number one. Number two, you just mentioned it. So not having technology, any kind of blue light that right before bed, is a very, you know, stimulating thing for the mind, and so it's really important that you reduce any kind of artificial light before you go to bed, whether it's on your phone, whether it's on the TV, you know, ensuring that you remove that as much as possible. So having you know and trust me, I am the guy that you know likes to watch a movie and wind down for the day, but it is definitely, you know, something that does impact your sleep. So that's number two.
Speaker 2:Number three the temperature. So temperature, I think an ideal temperature, they say is, is between 19 degrees Celsius. So I think that's like 67 or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the ideal temperature.
Speaker 2:A lot of people think that they have to have like a warm room and warm blankets. It's actually the opposite. Nice and nice cool temperature is really important for an effective sleep. It gets you into a deep sleep, sleep earlier on in the night, and so that assists with that. And if you have troubles, if you have to have, like you know, a hot tub or a shower before bed, that actually helps.
Speaker 2:A lot of people don't realize that, like this whole movement around cold tubs and plunges and cold showers, don't do that before you go to bed.
Speaker 2:Like that is the last thing you should do. You should actually have a warm shower, a warm bath or a warm like hot tub, as an example, before you go to bed, because then when you go into into bed, into your sheets, the temperature your body's cooling down versus heating up. If you have a cold shower before you go to bed, your body, actually your system, will then turn on, the thermostat will turn on and it will start producing heat and you actually want to be cooler going into bed. So, like that's another trick and tip. And then ensuring that you have, you know as much you know darkness as possible, like that's super important.
Speaker 2:A lot of people don't realize that, like you know, these blackout blinds and certain other things is is, you know, eye masks as an example. I prefer not to wear an eye mask but if, if you want, you know, really to cut out all the you know all the light in the room, like it is a good and effective way to do that. So those are some tips right there on how to effectively manage your sleep. And then there's some technology like eight sleep as an example. You know it's, it's a cooling mattress that you know allows to adjust the temperature throughout the night based on your body temperature and your body movement, and that's, you know, some great technology out there that can help out with that, yeah, laughing, you said 67 and how it's cold.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, laughing, you said 67 and how it's cold. You guys should never come over to my house. My wife keeps her bedroom 61 60. We put it up to 65 like it's set the thermostat. It hits 65 where we go to bed and right when we wake up as the warm-up to get out of the sheets now, but at night I think it's dropping down to the low sixties. That's awesome and I hope she doesn't listen to this episode, but I freaking hated it when we first started living together. It was absolutely miserable. I'm like a 70 plus guy, but I've been sleeping a lot better, with it being colder.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't tell her she was right. No, yeah, but that's that. One's huge. And then, like I mentioned before, the food. And then you. We talked about a blue light, which is definitely important for those that get a lot of direct sunlight into their windows. Making sure that it is black out, especially if we live in a city, it definitely you have. All that artificial light coming from the outside Definitely plays an impact. We were in Texas for our honeymoon and we stayed in a yurt, so we were in the middle of nowhere. It was the place where there's the least artificial light in the whole 48 states and I slept like a freaking baby. Yeah, you're just out like there's nothing from a distance, all you heard was coyotes and you're just totally in another world, like back to the way it used to be. I guess, right, there was just when to get dark oh yeah, nothing, yeah, so very interesting.
Speaker 1:And the third thing we talk about a lot in the show obviously is movement, which is something you mentioned, and a lot of things with movement. I've said it over and over and over again and I'm not going to tell you what it is until Curtis repeats it, and then you'd be like, oh my god, he said it again and they didn't prep this show. But Curtis, go ahead. What is the simple, barren entry breakdown? To add movement to somebody's life, to what? Sorry, and movement? How does someone simply add movement and not over complicate it?
Speaker 2:um, and movement in life. Like you're uh, yeah, I mean, I I think at the end of the day, like you know, for if you're not moving you're losing, like you're stopping right. So it's like you know, you gotta continue to move and the one way to do that is obviously the easiest way to do that is walking. You know, walking every single day, like 30 minutes of activity, you know, is the easiest rule 30 minutes of activity every single day. You know, whether it's walking, it does not have to be intense, does not have to be strength training, like that is the. You know, get your shoes on and go for a walk and you are going to maintain, um, you know, a level of cardiovascular endurance and and uh, and health, you know, for the rest of your life. And the minute that you stop doing that is the minute you're gonna. The minute you stop moving is the minute you're gonna stop stop living.
Speaker 1:So just simple as that like I've said time and time and time and time and time again, just walk. It's the simplest way. You don't have to over complicate anything. Get outside, but when you wake up, go for a walk or even at night, go wind down instead of watching tv with your family, go for a family walk with the sunset. Look at that bonding time winding down for the night. It's casual, it's leisurely and you're getting outside and then you're going to get naturally tired because you're going to watch the sunset and your body's going to naturally start winding down instead of being exposed to artificial light it's funny you mentioned that, because it's actually there's signs that say that the first thing you should do is is getting natural sun exposure to your face.
Speaker 2:So the first thing you should do when you wake up is actually have exposure to the face, and the last thing you should do is getting natural sun exposure to your face. So the first thing you should do when you wake up is actually have exposure to the face, and the last thing you should do before you go to bed is actually get exposure to either the sun setting or, obviously, the moon rising, and so those naturally actually put your body into a, you know, into a state of assisting with, you know, your sleep and your regular circadian rhythms, and so it's, those things are phenomenal tips, anthony. Like you, you know the first thing you should be doing is doing that. And if you want to combine that exposure with going for a walk, even better. Like there's nothing better than going for a walk on a regular basis, either in the morning or the night, for those multiple reasons, and if you're saying to yourself it's so cold, curtis, where do you live?
Speaker 1:again, vancouver, yeah, yeah, vancouver, canada. And he's doing it. So if you live in Florida and Texas and you're not outside walking at night, guys come on Right Way warmer there. But just simply get moving, get walking.
Speaker 1:I have a dog. I take my dog for a walk a week. It's great for her, it's great for me. Sometimes she has a pain in the butt and pulls on the leash the entire way and I yell at her, but we get over it and then we love each other again.
Speaker 1:So just simply start moving and then, when you get that down, when you get down the not overcomplicating the food, you get not overcomplicating the food, you're getting out overcomplicating the sleep, you're getting out overcomplicating the movement and you feel, wow, my life is changing for the better. I went from nothing, now I'm doing something. Then the next step is let's take that into the gym. Let's do efficient workouts. Let's get you in, let's get you out. Let's not have you sit there for three and a half hours texting on your phone and be like, oh my God, I don't have time for the gym because it takes so long. Now you're just sitting on your phone. Let's end.
Speaker 1:One, two, three done, move on and you will be in better health than 95% of the population, which is an outstanding number, but that is just. Those simple things will ultimately help you live longer, help you have better quality of life while you're alive. Even if it doesn't add years, those years will be better years and have less health problems, save you from going bankrupt from medical bills. So many different aspects in there. And, curtis, do you have anything else to add to any of that? Because I think it's just. And, curtis, do you have anything else to add to any of that?
Speaker 2:Because I think it's just perfect. Yeah, I just think, like you know, let's not jump into optimization until we actually can focus on prioritization. Like, let's prioritize the fundamentals, which is nutrition, movement and sleep. Understand that, first cover the basics and then start optimizing after that. Like, if you can do the basics, there's no point to go to the next level. And that's what you know, generally speaking. That's what overwhelms people. It's all the content they see online, it's all the fact that they think they have to optimize to the next level before they've even, you know, mastered the fundamentals. It's all about, you know, on the theme of walking, it's, you know, crawl, walk, run. You know you got to crawl, walk and run. You know, like, don't think you got to run before you walk, and so, you know, let's prioritize the fundamentals and not think that you have to optimize yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And, Curtis, I'm going to ask the final two questions. I asked everyone at the end of the show. The first one if you were to summarize this episode in one or two sentences, what would be your take home message?
Speaker 2:There is no excuse. You know, the only barrier that's between you and your health is yourself.
Speaker 1:I love it. The only barrier is yourself. That is so true. There's definitely no excuses. And then the second one how can people find you get ahold of you? Give us your information.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can find me on on Instagram, linkedin. I'm pretty active on both of those platforms. Curtischristophersoncom also got a website and then my two businesses, innovative fitnesscom and workoutcom. Uh, but yeah, generally speaking active on Instagram, LinkedIn and my own website, curtis Christophersoncom.
Speaker 1:Love it. Thanks for coming on, curtis, and thank you guys for listening to this week's episode of health and fitness redefined. Don't forget, hit that subscribe button, share this with a friend. It's something we're going to grow and don't forget, fitness is medicine. Thank you. Outro Music.
