Dynamic Dialogue with Danny Matranga - 388: how to get in shape starting from ZERO (8 tips)

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

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Welcome it everybody to another episode of the Dynamic Dialogue Podcast. As always, I'm your host Danny Matrenga and in this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you eight tips that I think are essential for anyone starting from scratch, starting over or just taking on a fitness journey for the very first time. These are going to be things I wish someone told me. These things are quite literally perfect for anyone who's a trainer, coach, fitness enthusiast, or frankly, you're just remotely interested in getting in shape. I hope you enjoy the episode.

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scroll down to the show notes and check out using the special link for Dynamic Dialogue listeners. Hey everybody, welcome into the show. This is episode 388. And today I really wanted to talk about how it is I would go about starting a fitness journey today if I were starting from zero. Or better yet, what I would recommend to someone who is starting from zero.

It'll be a little bit more axiom rich, wisdom rich than tactics specifically because I don't know your goals but if you were to come to me in my fitness studio and your goal was to get in shape This would probably be very similar to the types of conversation that we would be having with each other. And I think these can be the best conversations

for transformation and for really unlocking what it is that you're fully capable of becoming with fitness in your life, integrating it into your life. A lot of you guys are already fit, and you'll use this with your clientele and the people around you to motivate them. But for those of you who are listening who are like,

I'm ready to do it, it's time to get in shape, I think that these eight tips will make a huge difference. Don't try to meet you where you're at. So the first is quite simple. And I don't mean this to sound condescending, but if you're trying to get in shape from zero, odds are you're going to fuck up pretty bad with whatever it is you start with. You're probably not going to choose the perfect thing for you.

Maybe you'll get close. You know, there's so many good things out there. There's great resources like this podcast or the YouTube or my social media and all the other great trainers and creators out there, there's great resources like this podcast or the YouTube or my social media and all the other great trainers and creators out there. So you'll be like way less likely to start with something stupid, uh, like many of us did earlier before there were intelligent people on the internet. Um, but you have to pick something and just fucking go. You have to just pick something and fucking go.

It can be bodybuilding, crossfit, zumba, swimming, cycling. The list of options is truly endless. It doesn't matter to me, but if you have a goal of improving your health and fitness, the worst thing you can do is sit on the sideline idly, waiting to choose. So there's a truth to this too in investing that I think makes a great analogy.

You know, we could talk about the dynamics of cash and dry powder and why in some situations, it makes sense to have cash on hand. But let's say you have Billy and Billy wants to invest in the stock market and at 20 Billy starts investing in the stock market. Then you have Larry. Larry also wants to invest in the stock market but he keeps putting it off until he's 35. Now, they both buy the same amount of stocks for 20 years.

Larry until he's 55, and I don't even remember the other guy's name, Billy until he's 40. Even though they both invest the same amount of money, by the time they reach the desire, let's say 60 years old, the first one's gonna have way more frickin money because he got started way earlier and let time and the power of compounding take advantage or take effect, I should

say. And that's the problem that a lot of people run into with this shit. They're so petrified about starting with something suboptimal or something that's maybe going to get them made fun of, or they'll be the newbie or they're going to want to make sure they're perfect at it and have all the gear. So they're constantly delaying starting. No, just pick something and go. A great example. I don't know what gym to join. There's so many to choose from. Who the fuck cares? Pick the closest one to your house. Pick the one with the least fucking bullsh- amount of bullshit that you're gonna make excuses about. If it's cleanliness you

make excuses about, fucking pick the cleanest gym. If it's proximity to your work, pick the one closest to work. If it's your house, pick the one closest to your house. Pick something and just go. This is a huge reason that a lot of people don't reach their fitness goals. They actually sit in that pre-contemplation stage forever. And you know what's really fascinating to me is there's this idea, a lot of people have this idea, fit people, people who are already in shape,

that everybody who's not in shape is out of shape because they don't have the discipline to already in shape. That everybody who's not in shape is out of shape because they don't have the discipline to be in shape. And that sounds really good because it just, it works to project the discipline of the people who are fit and like inject it unnecessarily into the conversation, right? So a fit person saying that you're not in shape because you don't have discipline implies

I am in shape because I do have that trait. But there's a huge misconception here. A lot of people are not in shape because they don't start. They are actually extremely disciplined in maybe other areas of their life, could be their work, could be their school, but they are maybe terrible at taking initiative and starting something. They are maybe the kind of person who goes, uh, I don't have time for that. I'll do it later. I'm really focused and disciplined on my school work or my actual work and just getting started and feeling the benefits of exercise and being like, Oh

shit, here's that endorphin everybody's talking about, here's that mobility that I've been lacking, that strength I've wanted, my clothes looking better, whatever, my libido's way up, I feel awesome. Once that starts happening, the rest tends to take care of itself. And yes, you do need discipline to reach the highest levels and stick with it, but a lot of people

could improve their lives massively by just generally engaging with exercise a few times a week and not necessarily being the picture of like dedication. That being said, none of you are gonna get anywhere if you don't get started. So the first piece of advice I have to anyone who's starting from zero is pick something and go. Pick the thing with the least friction that you might friction that you think you have the highest probability of sticking with and go. And if you don't know what that is,

go get a fucking trainer. Like literally, if you don't know what that is, go pay for a trainer to figure it out for you based on your health, your goals. It could be an online coach, could be an in-person coach, but if you're like, I don't even know where to start, sick, but you know you should start, right? Good, go get a professional. Okay, number two, this is super common amongst people who are not yet in shape. They believe

and feel way too much reverence for people who are in shape. They hold them up as being perfect, as being, you know, like they must work out every day, they must never eat a car, blah blah blah blah blah. I don't want to be like that. I can't do that. Okay, first of all, many of the reasons people believe that fitness influencers or fit people are perfect is because they project that they're perfect on the internet when in fact they're very human and enjoy food and have, you know perhaps in body image days that skew negative they might you know miss a workout here and there but

because we can self select how we present ourselves on the internet and really edit what it is that people see not just in the photoshopping sense but literally like we don't have to share any of the negativity we can act like we work out every day We can do whatever people on the sidelines waiting to get started have these have a rep an idea in their head Of what it takes to be a fit person and it it's pseudo perfection They assume that like oh if I can't be perfect or I can't go to the gym every day Or if I can't not eat these few things

I like then this just isn't for me I'm not a fit person because I'm not a perfect person and in the myth of perfection That has been created by social media and by people's selection To you know only share the positives and and project that they are, you know Walking this righteous path of always being fit and only sharing the most perfectest little meals. Look, I get it. It's so intimidating if you go on the internet and see what the fittest people are doing to improve their health and aesthetics and you're eating and moving the way most people eat and move and going,

well, I have to go from this to that. I can't do that. That's not for me. And I get you. We actually just had an episode last week on exercise snacks, you know, the power of small, non, you know, intense, but small, meaningful bouts of exercise sprinkled across the day and how that can add up enough to really improve your health and really improve your metabolism. Now, is it going to make you look as good as committing to the full-blown routine and going two hours a day? No, of course not. But is that what you want as you're getting started?

Is that what you want at zero? Or do you just want to build a little momentum and just get going. Just get started. Right? Do you want to say today is like the worst health I'm going to be in, the fattest I'm going to be in, the least confident I'm going to be, the weakest I'm going to be for the rest of my life. I'm going to start today. I'm going to get going on this thing, right? We're going to pick something and go, pick topic one or point one, and we're going to drop the idea that it has to be perfect.

It can be exactly what works for you. It just has to be something. OK, number three, and this is true in life, but I think it's super true in fitness. Remember what I call the rule of long levers. And pull as many long levers as you can. Long levers are things that when you pull on them just a little, they create a shit ton of torque

That's the physics of a lever, right? You want to launch a cannonball or whatever the fuck you launch with a catapult Well leverage is key and leverage is how you launch a stone with a catapult longer levers can hurl stones like crazy And in the metaphor we're using here long levers are fitness habits that when you trigger them, they launch an awesome boulder into the castle of poor fitness. I don't fucking know. You're launching these badass boulders of gains and health with your catapults, your long levers.

Great example, a really long lever, seven to nine nights sleep. You pull that lever every lever, seven to nine nights sleep. You pull that lever every night, every day, your seven to nine hours of sleep every night, you're going to be super healthy. Another super long lever, getting enough water in throughout the day. You implement that habit, you get huge outsized returns. It's another example of leverage. Leverage is, example of leverage. Leverage is, I know if I can build these widgets, I can sell these, I can build them for $1 and sell them for $10, but I don't have enough dollars to start the project. So I'm going to borrow some money. I'm going to pay interest, but I'm going to win on the other side of that leverage because of how much I can sell these widgets for.

You know, eating a ton of protein, very, very high leverage. You want to get the protein in because it prevents you from eating other crap. What's going on guys? Coach Danny here, taking a break from the episode to tell you about my coaching company, Core Coaching Method, and more specifically, our one-on-one, fully tailored online coaching program. My online coaching program has kind of been the flagship for Core Coaching Method for a while.

Of course, we do have PDF programming and we have app-based programming. But if you want a truly tailored one-on-one experience with a coach like myself or a member of my coaching team, someone who is certified, somebody who has multiple years of experience working with clients in person online, somebody who has licensed to provide a macro nutrition plan,

somebody who is actually good at communicating with clients because they've done it for years. Whether that be a VV, a phone call, email, text, right? This one-on-one coaching program is really designed to give you all the support you need with custom training designed for you, whether you're training from home, the gym around your limitations and your goals. Nothing cookie cutter here, as well as easy to follow macro nutrition programs that are non-restrictive. You'll get customized support directly from your coach's email or they'll text you or their WhatsApp view.

We'll find the communication medium that best supports your goals as well as provides you with accountability in the expertise you need to goals as well as provides you with accountability and the expertise you need to succeed as well as biofeedback monitoring, baked-in accountability support, and all of the stuff that you need from your coach when you check in. We keep our rosters relatively small so that we can make sure you get the best support possible. But you can apply today by going over to corecoachingmethod.com, selecting the online coaching option. And if we have spots available, we'll definitely reach out to you to see if you're a good candidate. And if we don't put you on a waiting list,

but we'll be sure to give you the best shot at the best coaching in the industry. So head over to corecoachingmethod.com and apply for one-on-one coaching with me and my team today. Eating a lot of vegetables and fruit for most people has a very high leverage health behavior. Lifting weights, walking more, these are the long levers. Medium to short levers is my food organic. Do I have all the right supplements? Should I wear the blue block glasses? What's the best water to drink? What time should I wear the blue block glasses? What type what's the best water to drink?

What time it should I do fasting should I like all of those things all that shit is a medium to small lever? Don't even go into the medium to small lever section If you're just getting started go to the long lever section and launch the biggest fucking rocks You have at that goddamn castle of unfitness. Hurl that shit. You want to make a dent, and you're making way more of a dent with, I'm going to fucking eat enough protein

and I'm going to track my calories. How about that? The two longest levers you can possibly find if you're overweight and want to lose body fat, like 70% of people. If you never fucking learned about a blue light blocking glasses, red light therapy panel, cold plunge, fucking sauna, ashwagandha, fucking not even dishing any of that stuff. Let's

say you never learned about any of that. Never learned about how to do a deadlift, never learned nothing about no exercise, didn't learn a damn thing about any of that. But in your journey to weight loss, you pulled the calorie control lever and getting enough protein lever, guess what? You're gonna get there. Like the long levers are the simplest habits. Am I eating the right amount of calories for my goals?

Am I getting enough protein? Am I getting enough nutrient-dense plant matter? Am I moving with resistance? Am I moving to improve my heart health? Bing, bing, bing, bing, Start there. Start with the long levers, folks. Uh, on the flip side of this, antithetical in that you could have a lever that goes the wrong direction. But let's, let's call these, we're going to plug the biggest holes.

So we want to take advantage of the long levers and we want to plug the holes. So we want to take advantage of the long levers and we want to plug the holes. So look, every team in football, baseball, basketball, whatever, they draft players and typically they draft players to fill holes on their team. Hey, we need a guy to do this. Hey, we need a guy to do that. We're going to bring someone in to fix a problem. Well, a lot of you guys have holes that you need to fill Behaviorally when it comes to improving your health and so what I would what I suggest doing in this Place isn't drafting a professional athlete to do it It's to cut out whatever those holes are metaphorically speaking So let's say you want to live healthier and you smoke cigarettes eat McDonald's every day

You use Regular degree deodorant and you drink soda every day for habits, okay For habits soda daily deodorant daily, McDonald's daily. I don't even remember what the first one was, but it wasn't good. It was obviously one of the bad ones. So of the bad ones, you're not going to, like of these habits, if your goal is health, are you going to worry about the fucking deodorant one? Probably not. You're going to focus on the obvious glaring shit.

And I think a lot of us suck at introspection. So we pretend that the smaller levers matter and we're, oh I'm gonna get to that big stuff, I'm just focused on the little stuff. You probably know exactly what the top two or three things you do that are fucking up your health are. I bet you know. I bet it's no secret. I bet if you're listening to this, you're probably nodding your head

like, yeah, I know exactly what I drink. Way too much alcohol, right? Way too much fucking fast food or I slam those chips or I'm smoking too much weed or I'm vaping way too much these days or whatever the hell people do. a lot of people make questionable decisions with their health You got to say hey How can I rework these behaviors? I want dial back these behaviors eliminate these behaviors. Where are my holes where my three biggest drains my three biggest problems I'm gonna take that shit off the fucking table. I'm gonna give you an example That's political here by the time you guys hear this it'll be closer to the election, but I'm recording this

in August. Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential election in the United States about a little over a month ago. His vice president Kamala Harris is going to take his spot a sensibly running for president as the Democratic Party nominee. Now he was voted to be the nominee of the Democratic Party in their primary, and Kamala Harris was his vice president, so it's sensible that she would take his spot. If you're at all familiar with American politics, you'll probably know that one of the chief narratives

in both the 2020 and the 2024 election were the ages of the two candidates. Now, we have the same two candidates in both the 2020 and the 2024 election were the ages of the two candidates. Now we have the same two candidates in both elections, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Okay. Donald Trump is running with a different vice president in 2024, but the two men, the heads of the ticket have been the same for the last two election cycles. And they're both old men. And they both got much older in the time between when they started running against each other to even just when Biden chose to drop out. And one of the chief, if not the singular chief issue for Democrats who want to win the presidency was Biden's age. Biden's age was an issue. I think a lot of people were concerned about how his age was affecting his ability to govern.

I'll leave it at that because I don't want to get too partisan. So in stepping aside politically, they took their, or in Biden stepping aside, which I think is, you know a personal choice, do what you want. I think it could be seen frankly as a relatively heroic choice down the, down the road, like say what you will about Trump. He's not everybody's favorite. I certainly am not a fan of the man, but anyone who decides to like give up power, relatively rare, pretty interesting. Uh, we don't see this too often. I think it's pretty cool.

I think it speaks to humility and you know, I, I don't know. I've always looked up to people who are able to say, Hey, I, I don't need to be in charge and I think taking your biggest weakness off the table, which was Joe Biden's age, uh, really makes it harder on your opponent. So politically speaking, we can say that, hey, look at what happened. And after Joe Biden stepped aside, the race tightened dramatically. And if you look at the polling and the betting markets, it's essentially a toss up at this point, August 22nd. And that's because one political side took their biggest weakness off the table. And if you take your biggest two or three

weaknesses off the table, rework them, it will change the race. I know that was a long, probably overly political way of trying to explain something, but that's one of the ways in which my brain works and I am fairly politically inclined. I try to pay attention to it. I'm quite interested in government. That being said, what would your life look like? What would your health look like if you took your three biggest, let's call them weaknesses off the table?

In a political example, the opponents are two different parties. In your example, the opponents are who you parties. In your example, the opponents are who you want to be and who you used to be. And if who you are now and who you want to be, like the guy you want to be, doesn't smoke cigarettes, doesn't eat fast food all day, and you know gets nine hours of sleep, guess what? You need to drop some habits. Okay, Fifth tip, never miss two days in a row. I know that sounds so simple, but it's extremely profound and very, very easy to remember. Never missing two days in a row is actually a permission structure for taking a day off,

which I think is really cool and frankly, really important. A lot of you guys need to know it's okay to miss a day and knowing like, hey, as long as I can not miss two days in a row, I'm gonna be okay, I can take today. That's such a powerful permission structure that a lot of people need as they on-ramp something. They can actually be pretty addictive. Okay, number six, you gotta get friends and you gotta get a cohort.

Find people at your gym, find a couple buddies, just find people who are generally living healthier. Get close to them. Proximity is key. You want to be around people making good decisions. You want to spend a little less time around people making the decisions and behaviors you're looking to drop on your journey to getting in shape. Seventh tip, probably my favorite tip, just ditch the time horizon or make it a lot longer. Like don't put an unnecessary time horizon on yourself. I love smart goals, which are, you know, by nature time bound, the T and smart is time bound or or time constrained for a lot of you. You tell yourself I need to be in shape or way this much by a certain day when in fact I believe fitness to truly be kind of

by a certain date when in fact I believe fitness to truly be kind of a never ending journey type of thing. So if you could just give yourself infinite patience to get there knowing that it's not something you're ever gonna stop, you're always gonna be a work in progress, can really soften the blow when you're struggling. Okay, the final tip. Do not fall victim to the over-corporatization of fitness.

When you get started, when you get into it, you are going to be bombarded with the most bullshit ever. And a lot of that comes from supplements. And I think there are some supplements worth taking, like protein powder, creatine, vitamins, greens powders, electrolytestes even maybe there's some but there's a lot of junk out there that gets thrown in the face of every new person the minute They start working out because of the algorithmic environment. We live in where frankly your phone knows more about you than your friends that's crazy and I

Need to tweet that but it But it's a problem. And if your phones are constantly sharing your data so that advertisers can hit you with a bunch of bullshit, you need to remember, hey, I don't need to buy a bunch of crap. If I buy anything, it's like protein powder, creatine, electrolytes, vitamins, basic shit, maybe some pre-workout, whatever,

but like really simple shit from good companies, good manufacturers, no garbage. All right, folks, that does it for the episode. The eight tips again, pick something and go. Drop the narrative around perfection, hit on the long levers, drop the two to three biggest drains, never miss two days in a row, find community, shorten or lengthen or eliminate the time horizon and save money on garbage. I hope you guys find this helpful. If you did, leave me a five star rating and review

on Apple podcasts and Spotify helps more people find the show. Catch you on the next one.