If you’re looking at the overall fitness equation right now, and are feeling overwhelmed at where you are, and where you want to be – I want to help make it a little easier for you.
I’m not going to tell you a quick fix. Or “the only 3 things you need to know”. Or some other super catchy but totally inaccurate way of looking at things.
Instead, I want to tell you what I’ve learned from creating, managing and nurturing a wellness-focused community for men in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s (mostly in their 50s and 60s) for the last decade –
And that is that the big changes don’t happen quickly. The results usually aren’t dramatic, in terms of a super fast timeline.
The real results happen as a result of little changes that happen over time. Changes that happen in a manageable way, instead of total lifestyle overhaul.
There also isn’t linear growth – you don’t get better and better and better all the time. Usually there’s backtracking. That might be because you eased up and didn’t stay on top of your nutrition / workouts, but it might also be because ‘life’ happened, and you weren’t able to keep all the balls juggling in the air WHILE maintaining your fitness.
That’s all normal.
What HAS worked – is when you make a long-term commitment to improving things over time. Not all at once. Not drastic changes. But little, manageable changes that you feel motivated to do. And I’m not talking about motivation from a herculean sense – I’m talking about motivation that feels just little bit out of reach. A little bit more than what you’re doing now.
It’s making little guidelines for yourself that modify an existing behavior, rather than getting rid of it altogether. Instead of saying “no chips or no pizza EVER again”, you start changing the way you consume those foods. Maybe it’s not eating them after 8PM, or having 2 slices instead of an entire box.
Because when you create a goal that’s too difficult, you not only fail at the goal – you also reinforce the sense of failure that’s prevented you from being successful with fitness to this point. You’re basically reinforcing the idea that you can’t be successful with fitness.
In reality, you’ve just been approaching it the wrong way.
I’ve heard about experiences that line up EXACTLY with what I’ve described above over and over again through the Member Interviews I’ve conducted on the Better Man Podcast. The goal on those interviews isn’t to talk about how great Man Flow Yoga is, by the way – it’s to explore with curiosity how the Member I’m interviewing made changes, how they improved, and how they did it.
It usually starts with an ‘oh shit’ moment (or series of moments), when you realize that things need to change. (This could be physical appearance – looking in the mirror and not being happy with what you see; but it also be a health scare from a doctor’s appointment, an ache/pain that doesn’t go away, or some version of you just not feeling like yourself.) Whatever the reason, there’s this sense of you being fed up with how things are going, and you’ve reached a point where you’re motivated enough to make a change.
From there, you channel that frustration into just one thing. ONE thing – not 10. You try that out for a couple of weeks, or a month. And you realize, contrary to past experience, that you CAN be consistent and stick with something.
After that, it becomes more of a game. There’s a sense of fun. “What else can I do?” instead of “what else do I HAVE to do”.
There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not incapable. You’ve just been approaching it with the wrong process, the wrong mindset.
Once you stop doing things the way you’ve been doing, and you start doing them in a way that actually leads to gradual change over time, you’ll start noticing the results you want. And it’ll happen more quickly than you think.
Related Posts
- Fall in Love with your Future | Scott K. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 174
- Your Journey Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect | Alan S. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 171
- 5-Minute Yoga for Complete Beginners: No Flexibility Required
- How To Finally Be Consistent After Years of Inconsistency | Lee D. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 157
- The Snowball Effect of Small, Consistent Change | Russ H. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 117
About Dean Pohlman, Founder & CEO of Man Flow Yoga, Author of Yoga Fitness for Men, Expert on Yoga Fitness for Men.
Dean Pohlman is making yoga more accessible to fitness-minded men. A former collegiate lacrosse player, Dean discovered yoga while recovering from injuries and quickly realized its potential to boost strength, mobility, and overall performance.
Since launching Man Flow Yoga in 2013, Dean Pohlman has built a global community that speaks for itself:
- 195,000+ customers
- 42+ million YouTube views
- 200,000+ followers across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
Dean’s book Yoga Fitness for Men has sold over 50,000 copies, while his Body by Yoga DVD series has surpassed 120,000 units sold, earning him consistent #1 rankings on Amazon and thousands of five-star reviews. He’s also been featured in Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, GQ Magazine, Fox Tampa Bay, The Chicago Sun, and on influential podcasts like The Ready State and Ben Greenfield Fitness.
With a focus on real results, community, and technique-focused instruction, Dean Pohlman continues to change the conversation around yoga. He’s not just teaching poses—he’s helping people build stronger, more capable bodies for life.
