The Movement Crisis Destroying Your Energy, Health & Performance | EP 75

Speaker A: Foreign. Be clear with where you want to go, but flexible in how you get there. If you can just sit down with yourself and understand why do I want to be healthy? And really grill yourself to get deeper and peel back layers of why do I want to be healthy? Ask yourself why again. Ask yourself why again? Keep going down when things get hard, when motivation wanes, which things will get hard? Behavior change is very hard. Motivation is not always going to be there. What can you call on those things? Whether it's a rainy day, whether it's travel, whether it's a hard work day, it does not matter. When I think of those things, it pales in comparison to what I want for that and those goals. And so I can show up when it's hard because I know what's happening internally and that flame is lit of like, no, Kyle, you have a bigger purpose for all of this. And and so as the saying goes, you can bear any how when you know your why. And so again, when you know your why, you can really grit through a lot of stuff.

Speaker B: Most people think movement costs energy. Kyle Gonzalez says the exact opposite. That movement creates energy. Today's guest is a former D1 basketball player, Performance coach, best selling author, startup executive, and one of the leading voices helping people reclaim their health in a world that's becoming increasingly sedentary. Welcome back to the Perpetual Growth Podcast. The show we explore the strategies, insights and stories to help you to continuous grow continuously grow in your health, wealth, relationships, leadership and life. Because if something isn't growing, it's dying. If you're enjoying the show, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone committed to becoming the best version of themselves. Today's guest is Kyle Gonzalez. Kyle is the Vice President uh of Performance and Coaching at UH Koya, author of the Vitality System and Move, Thrive and Come Alive. Host of the Vitality System podcast, former Division 1 basketball player and performance coach with more than a decade of experience helping people optimize their health, movement and overall performance. His work has been featured in Men's Health, NBC News, the Washington Post, and Real Simple. Today we're going to discuss things like why modern life is making us sick, the movement crisis Nobody is talking about fitness, misconceptions, longevity and performance, energy management, leadership through health, daily habits that create vitality and how to truly thrive instead of simply survive. Kyle, welcome to the Perpetual Growth Podcast.

Speaker A: Wow, what an intro. Uh, great to be here. Excited for the conversation and always, uh, when I get a chance to talk about health and wellness with great People, I am lit up, so I'm ready.

Speaker B: Um, me too, my friend. Now, Kyle, you. You, uh, you spent years studying health, performance, movement, longevity, and when you hear the word vitality, what does it actually mean in your mind?

Speaker A: Yeah, this is, uh, this is a great question and one that I've sat with a lot, uh, a lot of my work is built around this word vitality. I have an affinity towards this word. And I think, when I think of vitality, when of the definitions that comes to mind is the power giving continuance to life. And so like, that to me is just like bringing energy and strength and presence to everything that I do. And so when I think of vitality in my life, it is, can I be present as a father, as a coworker, as a partner, Can I bring strength and energy to what I do? Uh, we have a thing at our company, I work at koia, where we talk about being a thermostat and setting the energy and the temperature in any room that you walk into. And I love that because that is what I try to do, is be a light, be something that is going to set the tone for everybody else around us. And, uh, in this health and wellness space, we can't have enough people that are exuding vitality, that are putting this out as an example for other people to follow. And so, uh, hopefully by science, communication, by example, by how I show up, uh, that is something that I, uh, exude out as well.

Speaker B: Uh, it is for sure, bro. I mean, I, you know, we were chatting a little bit before, and like I mentioned, I. I spent 17, uh, years in the health and wellness industry. And you took out, you said, almost word for word. One of the same things that I used to say all the time is like, in my mind's eye, our health and vitality is the foundation to all of our life experiences. It affects all of our interpersonal relationships. It expects our experience of life. It affects our ability to perform in business, our enjoyment. I mean, literally everything is built on a foundation of, uh, outstanding health and vitality. What we put in the body is what comes out. Movement creates. Well, I always say emotion creates motion, but movement, you know, we got to keep the, Keep the, The, uh, the. The gears greased, right? I mean, why do, um, why do you feel like so few people experience true vitality today?

Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's. It's an interesting question because I think, uh, the world we live in now, to prioritize, like, convenience and starting to prioritize sedentary behaviors, and it's by design. And that's actually a good thing. That's a privilege. Back then it was like evolutionarily you had to hunt for your food and you had to be outside all the time and you had to be moving. Moving was a necessity. Now it's almost a luxury. And so we work out in air conditioned gyms. We have like, I uh, always laugh because I'm like, we can sit down to exercise now on like recline bikes and things like that. So everything is becoming a little bit more uh, efficient and uh, convenience based. Which again I think is what we call evolutionary mismatch. Our bodies are built to move, our bodies are built to be outside. But now evolutionarily in modern life, it's like we spend 90 to 95% of our time indoors. We sit to work, we sit to drive to, you know, uh, drive to work, we sit to eat, we sit to watch tv. And so, so it's like, I think our environment is now designed a little bit for lack of movement. When our bodies crave movement in everything that we do. And so sometimes it can feel like going against the grain, going against your environment to really actually inject movement back into your life. And really you have to be intentional when it comes to that. And so I think it's an environmental problem also mentally it's like again, going from scarcity to now abundance. And we're, you know, people in this country and people like you and you and me have the privilege to, to have abundance. And I think that's just a privilege in and of itself. But uh, it's like we don't have to. We can click a couple buttons and food will pop up at our door. We can do all of these things that we just didn't have access to. And it's like, so I try to like challenge myself to be like, Kyle, uh, you can go walk to the grocery store. You don't have to get in the car and drive or instacart or whatever these things. And so all of that leads to again, mental shifts in our mindset and how we approach movement as like something that is a. Ah, checkbox. I did my exercise. Okay, cool. I'm done with movement for the day. As opposed to like. No, movement is just something that should be injected into all of life and it should be something that flows through our days. And I think we're losing a little bit of touch with that. I'm trying to like bring it all back when it comes to that.

Speaker B: I love it. I always say a body in motion stays in motion, right? Like, we gotta keep moving. And I find myself doing those, those same things. I, more than ever, I'm stuck behind a desk too. So we got to be intentional about creating that space for movement. And like, it's, it's not only the movement, but you also said too getting outside. It's like people look at me like I'm crazy because I live in Arizona, brother. So, I mean, you know, we're already in the low, uh, hundreds. 105. It'll be 115 and I'll go out on a three mile walk. I'm like, hey, man, I'm getting my vitamin D. I'm getting my sweat in. I'm getting my moving in. I feel fantastic. Yeah, I'm pretty dang hot when I get back, but nonetheless, so still feels great. Body motion stays in motion. And we got to get outside in the environment and thrive and find ways to have fun doing it. I mean, look for the excuses to do it. Now tell me this. Like, I want to take a step back. Let's go back to, um, you were, you were a Division 1 basketball player. What lessons from high level athletics still influence your life today?

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, tons. Tons and tons of lessons. I think some practical ones like time management. I think when you're a college student, it's, uh, you almost get introduced to what professional life or all these, uh, other areas are like, because it's like you have practice, you have study hall, you have, um, we had to do breakfast as a team. We had film, we had weightlifting. And it's like you got to make sure you got all of your stuff in order because then we travel for games and we have class and then you have a social life. Guess what? You still have to do that. And so it's like trying to manage all of those things. It was great because you kind of had to get things done during certain times. I only had two hours to study or do my homework or do all these things. And so it's like, if it doesn't fall in this block, there's not even other times that it falls. As opposed to sometimes normal college students. It's like you have ample time to do all of this stuff and it kind of just gets pushed and pushed and pushed. So that was awesome. I think there's just this level of discipline and I think for me, I was a walk on. So I was not highly touted recruit. I was not this guy that was like coming in full scholarship and, you know, had the red carpet laid out for me. I had to Work for everything. I had to work for a spot on the team. And so that taught me this valuable lesson of like, you have to show up for yourself first and be consistent and make sure that you are making sure you're staying disciplined and doing all the things you need to do. I didn't have the room for error. To not push myself at practice, to not be on time and be punctual, to not push myself during our lifts that we had to not study film and know the plays like the back of my hand, to not get good grades, like all of these things helped me then not only make the team, but be a valuable part of that team when other people maybe you had a little bit more rope because it's like they're a big recruit, they're on scholarship, they can be a little bit lax. So for me, that was a big lesson of just like, hey, take care of what you can control and leave the rest to everybody else. I know I can control my energy, my effort, my attitude, my punctuality. And so those things I really try to keep in my domain. And then I think lastly, it's like, you got to be adaptable, um, you got to be flexible. And not just in life, but like mentally as well. There was times where I did all of the work, I did all of the things, and guess what? I sat at the end of the bench. You know, some things are out of your control in life. You'll have all the qualifications, the resume, and guess what, you might not get the job in. You know, when it comes to also just being flexible, it's like, okay, maybe we have games, uh, here and there. I missed Christmas with my family a couple years because we had games. I had to travel during spring break because we had games. And all of those things were great. But it's like you trade off certain things, social life, doing, having time, doing, certain personal things, all of that. You have to be flexible. You have to understand, you know, what trade offs you're making. And so, uh, yeah, for me it's, it's all valuable lessons that I take into life today of like now I know when I go into my own health and time management, it's like, I can be a little bit more flexible. I have an 18 month old right now. You better be flexible with an 18 month old. Because it's like you won't have two hours to work out. You won't have time to lay on the couch and read for an hour. It's like there's always something you need to be Doing. But that didn't discourage me. It just means, hey, Kyle, maybe the two hours working out and spending on myself is like now 30 minutes, but it's actually just more streamlined in what I'm doing, how I'm doing and all that. So tons of lessons. Loved my experience. And I think I still carry that walk on mentality into a lot of different things that I do.

Speaker B: Yeah, what I love about that is that harmony between, um, structure and discipline and adaptability and fluidity. Because I think that's one of the biggest challenges. I mean, one of many challenges that people face so often is they try to, they try to take the structure that served them yesterday and carry it into the life that we're living today. And guess what? We're different people. We're having different lives. We have different responsibilities. Now you're taking care of another little human. Like, stuff's got to evolve, but we got to evolve with it. Now, I, I saw, uh, what I, what I'm assuming on your finger was an aura ring. And I mean, yeah, we got to track our performance all day long. I mean, tell me, when, when did, uh, when did you first become fascinated by human performance?

Speaker A: Oh, this goes way back. So when I was a kid, I was like, very curious about the human body. My mom worked in the health space. Uh, my father passed away of cancer. But that made me kind of a little bit more aware of, like, hey, there's these things that, like, can happen to us from a health perspective that some are preventative. My dad died of colon cancer. I don't think anybody should die of colon cancer. Get screened early. Uh, that's the simple solution for that. You can catch that. So it led me to believing, what do I have in my control that I can start to understand how to improve my health? That was one thing. And then you become an athlete and it's like, I wasn't the strongest, I wasn't the fastest, I wasn't the biggest. Uh, but I was willing to work hard and I was willing to learn. And so for that, uh, this is a long time ago, but I was doing cold baths before. They were cool. I was, you know, doing, trying supplements and things like, you know, all of those things way before, like, our day and age or, you know, kids that age shouldn't even be diving into that stuff. But for me, it was, how can I get an extra edge? But also how can I do things that I know everybody else isn't doing that can give me a little bit of a leg up? And so with that that got me into some of these spaces where it was like, oh, wow. Like I didn't know that you could get so much ahead on nutrition. Or I didn't know that sleep meant so much. Like if I just get this much sleep, I could be better at this. And so for me, that led into trying to be a better athlete, which when I got to school I was a walk on. So like it was. I picked my own classes. I did all of that. I didn't have like someone helping me out with all that. Some basketball players, uh, you know, I don't want to get a stigma here, but it's like they pick comms major or whatever's easiest and they don't really think about what they're majoring in. For me, I was like exercise science for sure. I love this topic. I'm passionate about it. I went to all of my classes. We actually were required to sit in the front row as a basketball rule. But I loved it. I take notes, I'm doing all the things. And uh, I ended up being the fitness, strength and conditioning student of the year at my school, which was awesome. I got my master's in kinesiology, but I was the health nerd. And that just to me, what's so fascinating about health and nutrition and sleep, there's just so much to learn and there's so much that we don't know. And so the space is ever evolving and so I don't ever feel like my thirst will be quenched, which is great. I can just keep drinking from the faucet of knowledge and keep learning. And uh, it's just awesome to me, like that is something that fires me up, is that I can keep learning and I can keep communicating that out to people to live better lives, to help out. And so that's uh, that's kind of the evolution of, of how it all started for me.

Speaker B: I love that. You know, there's so many parallels in our story and then so many divergent tracks. It's like we're talking about, man. I spent a near nearly two decades in the health and wellness industry. I didn't finish college. Um, but what started it for me was I, uh, on paper I'm legally disabled. I had, I have herniated this in my back. I had back surgery. It was a somewhat of a genetic predisposition that set me up from uh, compression related injury, which in my case. But it became, you know, that that pain became the uh, became my, my passion, my purpose and, and what I always found interesting. And I Feel like I'm hearing the same parallel is like, you know, when I started, first started, um, studying under various reputable certifying bodies in the, in the training and health space, I'd study one and then you'd read articles that completely contradicted the, the study there. And I ended up studying and, and certifying under virtually every major reputable certifying body because my whole thing was like, wait a minute, I got to put these puzzle pieces together. You know, I went on completed doctorate level medical terminology so I could communicate on a clinical level with other healthcare practitioners. Level one, level two certified kinesio taping technician, like list one. But it was, I was a love and thirst to learn. But even more importantly, what I see in your message is the application. And one thing I love about your message is you're not just talking about exercise. It's much more holistic. And it was another one of those things that for me was like, you know, number one, it starts up here.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: This is the first thing that we got to go overcome is the mind. And then that body emotion stays in motion. We got to get the right fuels. You talk about sleep. All these sciences are still evolving. I mean, we know as much about the body as we do the universe in many contexts. Like, we're still just scratching the surface now. You've talked about how we fundamentally disconnected from how humans are really designed to live. So what, like, why do you feel like people are more informed and also less healthy than ever?

Speaker A: Yeah, that's, it's, it's very well said. I often say, like, we live in the most technologically advanced era, but also one of the most sedentary eras, which is crazy to have both of those. So. Yeah, what, what's the disconnect? What's the divide? Yeah, I, I think it is one of those things where, like I said, it, uh, like you said, it starts in the mind and people have this mindse. They're over indexing a little bit on exercise and under indexing on physical activity and just general movement. And I think, um, it's, it's a good, it makes sense in your head. It's like exercise. Everybody talks about exercise and strength training and all these things, but guess what? The time you spend on exercise is actually trivial compared to how much time you just spend as a human overall. And so I look at, okay, you have the 30 minutes in the gym or the hour in the gym or what are you doing with the other 23 hours? That's actually to me more important than what's happening in that one hour? So I always, ah, you know, kind of help people break apart. There's exercise and then there's physical activity. Those are not the same thing. Physical activity could just be any activities of daily living. Gardening, going for walks, doing all these things. But guess what? People have this stigma around, oh, that's not exercise. That doesn't count. And I'm like, everything counts. And so I always say all movement counts, even when you aren't counting it. And we're big, you know, I'm sure you got the Oura ring too. We're big performance people. But even the stuff that's not being picked up by your aura or Apple Watch or Garmin or whatever, it's like those things matter just as much. And so I try to help people understand that all this movement is very, very beneficial. And I always bring up this study. There's a study by Dr. Aaliyah crumb out of Stanford. She works on what's called belief effects, what she calls belief effects. And she worked with these housemates and they would clean hotels and clean, you know, all of these things. And she basically put accelerometers on them, heart rate monitors and all these things, and tracked how many calories are burning, all the things we're doing, heart rate, blood pressure. And then she sat them down and was like, do you guys understand that what you're doing is exercise and physical activity and you're burning calories and you're doing all these things? Which they were like, oh, it's. No, it's not like it doesn't feel like that. So she told them that, educated them on it, put them back into their environment. They did the same things. And guess what? Blood pressure was better, heart rate was better, weight was down. All of these different things just from knowing that what they're doing is valuable activity. You just talked about it. The mind is a very, very powerful tool. And if we can get that on board, it is game changing. So that's my goal, is like, help people understand. These things matter and we should be doing more of them. We should be getting out because you might not see it show up in everyday life in certain ways, but it is working. So I thought that was a good one to share.

Speaker B: Oh, that's an outstanding one to share. That is absolutely fascinating. I mean, I mean, I always speak to the, to the power of the mind. I mean, I study behavioral psychology as, uh, as a, as a hobby. And as you heard, I got to, I got to work alongside some pretty brilliant people there But I mean, I find that it's just a perfect example, a great anecdote. I mean, they didn't change anything, but all of a sudden they bring awareness to the things that they're already doing, and things start to change. How fascinating is that? Like, we're not giving ourselves enough credit for the things that we are doing. Okay, now here's an interesting one, because we know health is a major challenge today. Do you. How often do you run on the other end of the spectrum? And what I mean by that is it's like this gave me a flashback. When I was in the. In the health and wellness industry, we had specialty fitness stores. And, you know, I think back these days where we'd be doing this massive gym installation. And, you know, the equipment is not exactly light. It's all extremely heavy, not designed to be moved or carried. You know, I literally could have moved hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of a day. And I would do that for 12 hours. And then my mindset was, if you actually just said it, I didn't get my workout in. And then I would go in and get a workout and everybody else. And I was insane. Which maybe I. A little bit was. Now I'm a bit wiser, and I'm like, okay, that was probably enough. But, you know, those are great polarizing examples of where there's. There's a harmony between. What would your takeaway be from that? Like, where, uh. What is the balance that people need to become more aware of and the fact that. That we actually. I want to add one more piece of this question, not to throw too much in it, but, like, you talk so much about the movement aspect, and as you were talking again, I started thinking about, like, when we work out, especially maybe this is more of a male, a masculine thing. But, like, I tend to think about lifting weights. It's more linear movements, and not enough people are doing stuff in the ways that the body was actually meant to be used, which is through multiple planes of movement. Our joints are very dynamic. I mean, that's why, you know, you get out on a tennis court. It's like one of the best things we can do for the body and the mind. Like, talk a little bit about that between, you know, one polar, polarity. How do we find this happy medium? And then that combination of awareness and different movement types. Like, where do you get people to start? Like, what is the. What's the journey you take people on?

Speaker A: Yeah, this is. This is a great question. I got a lot of thoughts here. I think as far as the polar, uh, polarity works, I think I want people to do what's right for them and what fits for them and what's sustainable. And I think just understanding that that can look wildly different for every single person. And there's no one set program. I always say the best program is the one you'll do consistently.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So we have AI, we have all of these tools to build you the perfect program and all of that stuff. And then guess what? If you're not doing it doesn't mean squat. And so, uh, for me, how can I meet you where you are? How can I prioritize something? You brought up earlier enjoyment. And I say the best program is something that includes a little bit of what you want and a little bit of what you need together. And so for me, I think a lot about, okay, what are the activities of daily living? What are the hobbies? Hiking, gardening, swimming, Doing all of these things that might not look like traditional exercise, but guess what? They're putting our body through various shapes and positions that we need in daily life. Bending over to pick something up, picking something up off the ground, reaching up for your cabinet. It's like all of these motions. If you don't touch certain shapes and positions, your body is not going to prioritize or be ready for them. And so guess what, what is typically the position we're in for most of the day? It's sitting. And so we're sitting hunched over, neck forward, rounded back, turned off glutes, turned off, quads, turned off, hamstrings. That's what you're telling your body to prioritize by being in that position. And so, of course, you have the person who tries to go play in a rec league and boom, they tear their acl. Or you have a person that tries to go bend up to pick their kid and boom, their back goes out. Well, guess what? You're not prioritizing for these positions. You're not putting yourself in that. And so there are so many activities that are just more fluid movement, more daily movement as opposed to. And this is still great, being in the gym, doing a specific movement on a machine or on a thing. It is great to have both. You need to build local strength, but you also need to build fluid and general strength. Just doing all these different things. And not just strength, mobility, flexibility, all these types of things. So for me, I start people with one of the simplest things I love is just walks. Get outside and go walk more. I think it's free, it's accessible, it's scalable. It's easy to, easier to track. Like, you don't even necessarily need a wearable. If you have your phone in your pocket, you can track it. You can kind of have proxies for all of that. And so people are like, okay, yeah, but Kyle, like walks, you know, I need to be doing exercise. And I'm like, I guarantee you, you up your steps. I always mention the stat, a thousand extra steps above where you are right now per day is associated with a 23% reduction in mortality risk. That's like insane to think about. And so that's not much either. That's not much. That's 10 to 15 minutes of walking a day extra.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And so it's, uh, like for me, where are these little injections that you can have so that it becomes a lifestyle so that it's sustainable for you. If I tell you, all right, you got to do five days of strength training and you got to go into a gym and you're a person that doesn't like the gym and you don't like strength training, it's going to turn you off. You're not going to sustain that for the rest of your life. And so I have to meet people where they are. I've worked with athletes, high level executives that have no time, parents. I've worked with youth athletes. Totally different approach. And I take the approach that's best for the person in front of me. And so some coaches, they try and ram their principles down a person's throat. And some coaches have principles that they go into it with, but they flex and fluid and make sure that they mold to that person. And for me, it is so important to take a personalized approach. There are foundational things that I think can work for multiple people, but you have to make sure that again, you're meeting someone where they are. You have to make sure that you're setting up things that are sustainable, are accessible, are digestible, are practical. Because if not, you're, you're kind of, uh, you're in a world where we see it nowadays, nutrition, fitness, it's like 30 day abs. Or this diet will get you where you want to be. But it's like, I talk to people and I'm like, okay, that diet's great. Like, what are you going to do after that? They're like, oh, I'll just go back to normal. I'm like, well, what do you think is going to happen when you go back to normal? You're going to get back to the same problems and Things you had before. So for me, consistency is a huge principle. And I think when it comes to just getting, uh, people moving more, there are simple tools. Walking more, standing more, doing more things you enjoy, getting outside, more exercise, snacks, uh, you know, simple, simple tools. And guess what I. Like you said earlier, uh, in the call, like, I have put so much time and energy to building credential behind my name in terms of certifications and all the things we call it, like, the Alphabet soup after your name. Everybody's like, what do all those letters mean? I'm like, it means I dedicate myself to my craft, and I want to be as up to date on the research. I want to be as up to date and credible with what I do. And that helps you understand. Kyle cares about what he does. He's not just like, oh, I got a weekend cert, and I'm ready to now train you. And so, anyway, with all of that, there's so many different tools that we have because we've gone through all of these certifications because we know the space so well. I'm not stuck to. I've only been certified by one body, and they told me to do it this way, so I have to do it this way. It's like, no. Um, I can pull from experience. And guess what? Better than any certification that I've gotten is working with the hundreds of thousands of people that I've worked with online and in person and solving problems that are in no textbook. And so that's.

Speaker B: That's what I love, dude. I love that. I love that. I mean, there's so many things I could peel back the onion on there. I love that. That relatability. And we talk about the fact that we should. We tend. We get stuck in one position, we shut the whole body down. I mean, there's two pieces that we shut the whole body down. Then you get up, the back goes out. I mean, there's. All it takes is one neuromuscular misfire and one miscommunication between the mind, the muscles, because we close down those pathways, and boom, the back goes out. And. But the other side of it is, too. There's the other physiological components that people don't think about. They wonder why they're feeling stressed all the time, and they wonder why they're anxious. Well, when you're sitting like this, you're closing the whole body off. Are you taking deep breaths from this position? No, we got to stand up. You're standing right now, as we're having this conversation, I have better energy When I'm standing, my shoulders are back. I can breathe deeper. And guess what? When we breathe, all of a sudden the body and mind start to breathe and they start to relax, and we can let go of that stress. Because I know so many people are thinking, I'm busy. I'm building businesses, we're raising families, working long hours. You're trying to do everything. They feel exhausted. But what I love about your message is find the things that you enjoy doing and do more of it. It's like, yeah, your best friend might have go done the military boot camp thing and crushed it, and they absolutely love it, but you might hate it. That doesn't mean it's right or wrong. It means it works for them. You got to find the things that you enjoy doing. It's finding the joy in the emotion. I mean, I think that's one of the biggest. The biggest takeaways is not to overcomplicate things. Look for where we can create more movement through the things that we already need to do, getting things done, and just get the body moving more. Now, uh, you wrote the Vitality System. What inspired the book? Like, what problem were you trying to solve?

Speaker A: Yeah, this was, uh, a big undertaking. I did not see myself as a writer, but, uh, you overcome that imposter syndrome by learning, by doing, by experiencing, and all of that. And so, uh, yeah, this was like before AI, right before COVID I started writing this book because I looked a lot of the health and wellness space, and you can find a lot of, like, niche books or books that go deep in one topic on sleep, on nutrition, on a diet, on a movement type of program or plan. I didn't really find many books that talked about all of those things and in a framework that helped you understand why all of these things matter. And guess what? All of these things depend on each other. People are like, okay, Kyle, like, I want to improve my movement or I want to do better with nutrition, but they're sleeping four or five hours a night. I'm like, stop, stop right there. Full stop. Let's get on sleep. Because if you're not sleeping, none of it is going to matter. And so for me, I didn't find a book that talked about all of these categories in an integrated framework, but also in a simple and digestible way that wasn't very science heavy, very rigorous, like, over top of kind of the general population. So that was my goal, which is a daunting task of, like, how do you talk about all of health and wellness and how it all plays Together in a book. I called it the Vitality System. Again, a system that works together, that's fluid, that's flexible and that people could pick up the book and feel like, you know what, I am now literate on health and wellness and I can navigate my environment a little bit better as opposed to navigating what is a very noisy, scary, marketing heavy, fear based just environment that is health and wellness. There's new products popping up every day, there's new villains every day. Something's going to kill you. Every time I go on Instagram or LinkedIn. And it's just like for me, I want people to have a resource that they could go to and be like, you know what, I actually want to learn more about environment or I want to learn more about sleep or I want to learn more about nutrition. They could go to a resource and have something that makes them feel a little bit more confident. And again, I try to write in an unbiased way. There are things in that book that was written four or five years ago that I'm like, oh my God, it's already evolved, it's already changed. So I have to come out with another version because it's like, that's the beauty of it is like it is ever changing. And if you aren't staying up with it, this is a resource to say, hey, look, you don't have to know everything, but do you know the baseline of all these things?

Speaker B: Yeah. You know what's so crazy about this, Kyle? I literally started writing a book with the exact same mentality, all the aspects of health and wellness and how to create the integration. I got about 80% of the way through over a two year period and I started looking at it and going, crap, I don't believe out this stuff anymore. And then I started writing again. And then life took me a completely different direction. So the fact that you finished it, one, I love the fact that you're now thinking about part two, love that even more. But what I hope everybody hears is it's the importance of, of integration. It's like, I look at it this way, it's like you go to the doctor, doctor is going to prescribe medication. You go to a surgeon, surgeon is going to say cut. You go to a naturopath, naturopath is going to say eat your vegetables. Right? I mean like, obviously I'm being gross generalizations, but it's that same principle is people execute on the things that they know, but that's not necessarily knowing what is best for the person. And what I Love about what you're doing is you're going all, ah, right, let's look at the lowest hanging fruit. Or maybe it's the biggest challenge at this particular point and we start there. And I think that's a good, important way to look at it too, is sometimes it's the thing that you are willing to do first because motion, we got body motion stays in motion. We got to start doing that thing. And then sometimes it's the thing that we need to prioritize first because we don't resolve that like sleep, then everything else is going to be a disaster regardless. But brother, thank you for putting that together. And I love the fact that, that, uh, uh, the volume two is already in the works. I mean, now when you, you, we were just saying, you say movement creates energy. Uh, explain that. Like, like, why has, why has movement become something we just schedule instead of live? Like, what happens, ah, physiologically when movement disappears? What happens psychologically? Like, give that, give that. Paint that picture for our listeners.

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, I was, I was writing my, my new book and it's called Move, Thrive, Come Alive. And I was writing this book and I kept coming back to this feeling of like, whenever I move, I feel better afterwards. Like, that is like, uh, anecdotally, almost 100% of the time when I'm 100% better. And I challenged a lot of the people that I worked with. I say, like, you know, you, maybe you don't love exercise, you don't. But when you do it, how do you feel after? Like, oh, I feel great. I have more energy. I did it. And I'm like, hm. So like, there's this kind of thought or this prevailing wisdom that like, that goes around of like, when I move, it's a cost of energy. And I'm like, that's not what I experience. When I, What I experience is like, I actually create energy and I feel more energy, whether it's neural energy, whether it's physical energy. Yes. Sometimes I go through a grueling workout and I'm a little bit like, beat up, uh, like physically. But even I did a, I did a hyrox in February. I finished the hyrox. I was amped. I was so excited. The energy, the atmosphere. I had just gone through one of the most physically demanding things, but, like, I felt energy. And so this concept makes a ton of sense when you look at the research in terms of exercise is constantly. And physical activity too, is constantly associated with better blood flow, less inflammation, increased productivity, increased resilience, uh, down the line. You can just keep going and going. And so for me, it's this concept of, like, you know, hormesis. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger in the moment. Exercise is doing things that you would look at and be like, oh, my God, red flag. My blood pressure is raised, my heart rate is raised. This is happening. There's inflammation, there's stress. But guess what happens after your body says, oh, I got to be ready for this. Next time it comes up, it builds better. Your increased mitochondria, uh, increased blood flow increase. And those are all incredibly good for you. And then on the neural side, of course, there's research behind that. Endorphins, endocannabinoids, dopamine, all of these things are increased when you exercise. Of course you would feel good. Your body's natural feel good chemicals are all going through the roof when you exercise. And so for me, helping people understand that logic of, like, hey, you want more energy? Guess where you can find it. Go for a walk, see how you feel after. And even for me, I would, uh, uh, my wife always, uh, thinks I'm crazy, and my dog always thinks I'm crazy because I'll do, like, exercise snacks, where sometimes I'll be writing, and I'll get into a little lull, and I'll just stand up and I'll bang out five squats, I'll do five lunges, and then I'll do five pushups. And, like, the blood's flowing, you feel better, and my mind is clear. And so just something as simple as that, when you actually think about what's happening when you're stagnant, blood flow is stagnant, you're building, it's inflammation, your joints are getting stiffer. It's just all kind of bad for the body when you're thinking about being in one position. And I also challenge people, even if you have a standing desk and you're just stagnant there, that's the same thing. But me and you are both standing. You can see us both moving. You can see us both changing our posture using our arms. That's a result of just standing and being, you know, people that are trying to just grease the. Grease the gears. Like you said, it's like it happens naturally. I also challenge people, sit on the ground for 30 minutes, see how much you move when you're sitting on the ground without a chair, without anything. So anyway, all of these things just come back to, do you feel better after you move, yes or no? That should be the. All the evidence enough of like, I should be doing this more because it creates the things that I want, which is being more effective, being more present, being more energetic with all my interactions.

Speaker B: One of the biggest takeaways I just took from that one is, well, there's two things. I'm like, I always figured it's just because I'm add and then I'm also a really super animated person. But when you put a little bit more of a container around, I think there's truth to that. I, uh, know my body organically knows I got to just keep moving. The other thing that I like though is like the simplicity in what you just pointed out. Most people start sitting, they recognize they're sitting. They're like, I don't have time to get up and go for a walk. You don't need time. How long does it take you to stand up? Do five push ups, five squats. What was the other five?

Speaker A: Five push ups. And you can do those with your desk lunges, push ups, squats, uh, whatever. The movements are 30 seconds to 45 seconds. That's it. Boom, done.

Speaker B: Can we all squeeze 30 seconds in? I mean, and again it starts priming the body because people don't think about it. It's like our, our heart is a pump, right? Like, we've gotta, we've gotta keep everything moving. But it's not just the heart. You know, we have veins and capillaries and guess what happens when we don't move? Those things start to shrink and collapse. We gotta keep those lines open, we gotta keep everything flexing and mobile. The muscles that, uh, like everything is so important. The body in motion, stays in motion. Now you talk about reclaiming ownership and agency over health. Like, why do you feel like that's important? And where have we outsourced? Outsourced. Too much responsibility.

Speaker A: Yeah, this is, this is a huge one. I am passionate about this one. This is why I love science communication. Because I think there's so much noise and misinformation out there that I think pushes people towards thinking they need a product, a service, a person to reach their goals. And I always advocate people towards the best things that we can do are free. Get outside, go for a walk, get some sunlight, go to sleep on time. You know, all of these things are free. We have access to them. We don't need a, uh, special gadget that we don't need an app. We don't need all of these fancy things to achieve some of these things. And so that's one. It's like, it's a Tough marketing world out there. Marketing. They're paid a lot of money to get in our brains. We spend a lot of time on screen, social media, tv. And it can be easy to fall into that trap. But I think generally speaking, I want to educate people. That's the first line of defense, is when you're educated, you understand, okay, maybe I need this or I don't need that. I can navigate this complex environment. I can make a good decision. All I ask people is like, uh, can you make more informed decisions more often than not? And so nobody lives, wants to live in a world that's perfect. Nobody, maybe Brian Johnson, but nobody wants to live in this world where you have to eat everything perfectly, you have to go to sleep on time every night, you have to move in this certain way every day. That's not the world we want to live in. But guess what? You don't even need that. Try 70% of the time, try 80% of the time. I guarantee you it'll change your life. And backing up a little bit because it just popped into my head, we were talking about time and 30 seconds and all of these things. I always tell people this. CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. Okay, take that 150 minutes. There are, uh, over 10,000 minutes in a week. But if you look at it at hours, breaking that 150 minutes out of the 10,000 hours or 10,000 minutes is 1% of your week. Can you dedicate 1% of your week to exercise and activity? That to me is like, that's a, that's a no brainer. That's like, I should be spending way more than 1% of my week on that. And when I give people that, it's like, this isn't a time problem, this is a priority problem.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I think check, check your screen time on your, on your iPhone or your, or whatever. Check your screen time. I can guarantee you it's an hour or two hours or three hours or four hours or higher. Check how much time you spend on social media, how much time you spend on email. Again, it's not a time problem. It's more of a priority problem. And that's why I call it the rule of 1%. It's like 1% of your time can change 100% of your life. And I think when people start to internalize that, it's like a look in the mirror moment of like, oof, yeah, I should probably spend more than 1% of my time on this super, super important thing that can change My life, my mindset, my health. And so again I think back to your question. It's just really helping educate people, really helping people feel confident in, empowered to understand how to make more informed decisions. More time. And it's like it's not every time, it's not all the time more of the time. Can you make those better decisions?

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that, uh, 1% of your time can change 100 of your life. That is such a great way to look at it and it's so simple and so objective. Now, uh, Kyle, as we wrap up today's episode, I mean if you could give someone one piece of health advice that would improve the rest of their life. And I know this is like that question that just, I mean it's like this is a dark question, but if you could hit them one, what, what would that be?

Speaker A: Yeah, this is a big one. I, I would say is to start where you are and uh, to elongate that of starting where you are of like kind of running, running your own race and not getting too caught up with what you're seeing or your friends or all of that. I always also say something that sticks with people is be clear with where you want to go, but flexible in how you get there. And so I think it's super, super important to like understand where, but know that there's so many different paths, so many different ways and to not get too caught up in. I have to do it this way because this is what I saw on social media or my friend or this thing or that thing. And so that is one that always resonates with me. And the last piece I'll put in there because I think it's so, so important is like we talked in the beginning, I think before we recorded we were just talking about purpose and why and some of those things. And like if you can just sit down with yourself and understand why do I want to be healthy? And really grill yourself to get deeper and peel back layers of why do I want to be healthy? Ask yourself why again. Ask yourself why again. Keep going down. When things get hard, when motivation wanes, which things will get hard? Behavior change is very hard. Motivation is not always going to be there. What can you call on? For me, I know I want to be a better parent, a better partner, a better friend, a better coworker, a better uh, science communicator. And I want to be present for my 18 month old son and for my wife and for my dog. I want to bring energy to all of my interactions. I want to Set a good example for my family. Those things, whether it's a rainy day, whether it's travel, whether it's a hard work day, it does not matter. When I think of those things, it pales in comparison to what I want for that, for that and those goals. And so I can show up when it's hard because I know what's happening internally and that flame is lit of like, no, Kyle, you have a bigger purpose for all of this. And so, as the saying goes, you can bear any how when you know your why. And so again, when you know your why, you can really grit through a lot of stuff. So long winded answer. But, uh, I thought it was important to get all those out.

Speaker B: No, I totally agree. I mean, one, I always say, fuzzy targets don't get hit, right? We gotta get clear on our outcomes.

Speaker A: Love it.

Speaker B: But the. But the. And you almost said it near word for word. The exact quote I use all the time is, you got. We have to be resolute in our outcomes, but flexible in our approach, coach, because there's so many different ways. And actually, sometimes we need to be flexible in those outcomes too, because you might find fulfillment comes from a slightly different place than the expectations he had for ourselves. I mean, if we can trade our expectations for appreciation, that makes the process a hell of a lot more fluid. And the importance of why, brother, like, I love you, started leaning into seven levels deep. I mean, the more we can get deeper into those whys, it works even better. Y', all, if you guys have somebody actually ask you the questions, we tend to stay in our head. Another thing I would say, stay in your head, you're dead. You got to tap into the heart. Uh, have somebody ask you those questions and get a layer deeper each time. And when you hit emotion, when the tears come up in the eyes, now we found what's real. And when we can stick with that, that becomes. Instead of that anchor, that propeller. Now, Kyle, last question I gotta ask. We gotta squeeze this in. Give me this in 60 seconds. Imagine it's decades from now. People you've coached, the readers, your books, your family, your friends, colleagues, they're reflecting on your life. What do you hope they say your life's work stood for?

Speaker A: Yeah, I. I hope they say that my life's work stood for helping people to redefine what it means to be healthy on their own terms. And I hope that it stands for helping to empower people to live healthier, happier, more active lives and more present lives. And so, yeah, that. That's what My work is all about, and that's what my mission is. And I'm gonna continue writing books and doing podcasts and creating, you know, ways to help people get to those places. Um, and because when you do, you get access to your life back, and there's nothing better. There's no better investment you can make in yourself, and there's no better gift you can give someone else than empowerment in their health. So that's. That's what it's all about for me.

Speaker B: I love that, brother. But now, Kyle, for our listeners who want to learn more about your work, your books, your newsletter, I mean, everything you're building, where. Where can they find you? I mean, you got the Vitality System, you have the Vitality System podcast, you have your newsletter working with Hoya. Um, where's the best places to find you, brother?

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, I. I'd say Instagram or LinkedIn. On Instagram, it's Kyle Gonzalez 3 on LinkedIn. Just finding m. Me on LinkedIn Kyle Gonzalez. Uh, but, yeah, it's. It's been incredible journey. I will scream from the rooftops about health and wellness in any way, shape or form I'm given. Um, and it's, uh, been awesome. I just came out with the new book Move, Thrive and Come Alive, based on the principles we've talked about, trying to get people to move more, live fully, be present, and just giving them practical tips, tools and habits to apply to be practical in their everyday life. And so, uh, yeah, it's awesome to see the reception for that and the feedback for it all, but I, uh, appreciate you. I feel like we're kindred spirits and we, I don't know, maybe we knew each other in a different life because it seems like we got, uh, a lot of synergies and a lot of similarities. But it's, uh, it's been a pleasure to, to talk and to just go through these things because I think it's important and I think I need to hear them a lot of the time. And I've been. Been in this space for over a decade, and so I can only imagine what it's like for everybody else.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I, I wholeheartedly agree, Calvin. And this has been an incredible conversation. One of my biggest takeaways that I hope everybody really heard and connected with is that health isn't just about living, uh, longer. It's about living better. You know, it's about having the energy to show up for your family, pursue meaningful work, build great relationships and make an impact, and ultimately to fully experience life. Because we all got to remember, growth isn't just about what we achieve. It's about who we become along the way. And it's measured by how fully we live. So, Kyle, thank you for sharing your wisdom, your passion, your mission with us today. It's been an absolute pleasure, my friend. And, uh, uh, look forward to, uh, uh, having you back sometime in the future.

Speaker A: Zach, appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for giving me the platform. It's been, uh. It's been a pleasure, for sure.