Fitness After 40: How To Start When You’ve Never Exercised (The Man Flow Yoga Catalyst Effect) | Bobby B. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 190

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys. It’s seen. Welcome to the Better Man podcast. Today’s episode is an interview with Bobby B, who is a member, and he, up until he was turning 40, didn’t really think about fitness that much. At that point, he found manfully Yoga. He started making some improvements to his health and wellness. He went on a life changing hike in Japan, which inspired him to get even more into his fitness.

Dean Pohlman: And now he thinks of himself in a totally different way when it comes to fitness. He works out at the gym. He does yoga, he walks. These are all things that a decade ago he did none of. And it all comes back to his his reason for getting started and just wanting to be healthier and wanting to be able to do things as he moved through life.

Dean Pohlman: So this is a great conversation, I loved it. It’s a great example of what the typical progression looks like of moving from doing nothing with your fitness to living now living a healthy lifestyle. And I know that there are a lot of really great nuggets of information and inspiration that you can pick up from this. So I hope you guys enjoy this interview, and I hope it inspires you to be a better man.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean. Welcome to the Better Man podcast. Today is a member interview. I’ve got Bobby be here and we’re going to be talking about his his health and wellness journey. So Bobby, thanks for being here.

Bobby B: Hey, thanks for having me I appreciate it.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah.

Bobby B: And cool.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, it’s I always love doing these. And before we started our call, we were going over our shared love of of of beef jerky. Yeah, because I attempted to have a beef jerky for lunch as I was starting this call, which was a poor decision. But you make your own venison jerky. That’s kind of cool.

Bobby B: I do, I do, or, you know, beef jerky at times, too. It’s, you know, it’s not super hard. Just need dehydrator and some salt. All right. But, yeah, it’s good stuff.

Dean Pohlman: Exciting. Obviously, cubbies are good things. I’ve heard. One day I’ll get a hobby other than, working on that. Working on hobbies is not a never mind.

Bobby B: Okay.

Dean Pohlman: Anyway, so you are a you’re an occupational hand therapist.

Bobby B: Yes.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. Cool. So I saw your, you know, in the, the way that I usually picked these, you know, member interviews is I like to like, you know, I just I’m in our community, obviously. And I like to see, like, what’s going on in our Facebook group, what’s going on in our community section of our members area and app.

Dean Pohlman: And I saw your story kind of pop up and correct me if I’m wrong. This is like you had been part of the community for a long time, but you had only like just said hi, like recently.

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. So I’ve, I’ve been a member of Band Flow Yoga since the end of like 2023 and beginning in 24 and, you know, enjoyed it but didn’t really dip my toes much into the community part of it. Until kind of more recently. And part of that was I got one of those emails that was like a, like a check in email and it was like, hey, everything good?

Bobby B: And it was like, you haven’t logged in for a while. And the funny part about it was, is that I use an Apple TV downstairs to do my routines. And I was like, what? What? What the heck? I literally did one this morning. Like, I want credit for that, Eugene. I’ve been doing that. That’s right, that’s right. So I, I so I responded back, truly not thinking to get anything at all because it’s, you know, I think sometimes these emails are just keep you going and a little bit of marketing.

Bobby B: I totally get it. And you responded back and was like, oh yeah, the Apple TVs don’t always, you know, do that. And, you know, I was everything done, everything good. And it was kind of really cool to have, like I said, the, you know, you to respond back. It definitely kind of pulled it together. And so for some reason that just kind of said, all right, well, let me check out the whole community aspect too.

Bobby B: So I started with the app and then I haven’t had Facebook in over ten years, maybe maybe longer than that. And so I recently pulled the trigger to do that.

Dean Pohlman: We discussed the importance of not looking at things you can control earlier, Facebook being probably one of those.

Bobby B: Things for sure, for sure. And so I decided to jump in and just check that part out as well. And it’s besides the the I have to temper my doom scrolling. Otherwise it’s been great. So yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So I actually have I if you’re trying to temper your doom scrolling, there are plugins. That and the one that I have is called I kind of see what it’s called. So there’s some that just like blatantly shut down a tab when you open it and it’s a website that you don’t want to go on.

Dean Pohlman: So like sometimes if I’m trying to do work, I just naturally, you know, naturally open up a tab to distract myself and I’ll type in facebook.com, youtube.com, you know, like, big booty hos.com. No, no, not that one. But, you know, I’ll put it in like a random website. And you don’t even notice that you’re doing it right.

Dean Pohlman: It’s all in behavior. And so this is a thing. It’s a plugin that you can put a list of sites that you don’t want to go to. And so you can open that tab and press enter. And then it will just shut down the tab. It’ll.

Bobby B: It’ll just.

Dean Pohlman: Kill the it’ll kill the kill the website for you. Like. Oh thanks. And the other thing that I do is I have something called kill newsfeed Eradicator. Eradicator. And this makes it so that you can go to Instagram or you can go to Facebook on a browser. I know Instagram works on a browser to. Crazy, right?

Dean Pohlman: Right. But it doesn’t show the home feed, so all it shows are the buttons. So I can still cook and I can look at the yoga group, but I don’t have a news feed that I can like Doom Squirrel on because there isn’t one.

Bobby B: So yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Anyways, that’s my hack for getting around doom scrolling.

Bobby B: Well, I appreciate that because that’s I did kind of go complete, you know, social media exile for a while because it’s just, you know, you pick up your phone and it’s next thing you know, you’ve three hours of your life might be gone. And it’s like, Holy crap, I got nothing accomplished. And sometimes it’s good to get nothing accomplished.

Bobby B: But when you do that every day, you know, and it’s, and it’s they’re made to to, you know, keep you going. But you know on the, on the good side that truly is Instagram is how I found man flow yoga was from that. And and it was it was a great thing. And so kind of we’re on that topic actually this is kind of a cool segue into it, but as I was so, like I hit 40 like in 23, that was my that was when I turned 40.

Bobby B: It was kind of a weird thing. And it was, you know, I remember being a kid and like, you know, my parents just being like, oh, man, you know, when you turn 40, everything falls apart and, you know, the world ends and, you know, you walk into a Spencer’s gift and there’s like, you know, over the hill and black balloons and all that kind of stuff.

Bobby B: And it’s just, it was a thing. And so like that, as it loomed, I was like, oh, man, you know, it’s 40. And which is weird because I don’t feel 40. I’m 42 now. I don’t feel that at all as much as I used to. But, anyway, all that to say is I as I was scrolling through, I kind of started getting more of like health and wellness and fitness things popping up on my feed, and it’s hard to suss out what’s good, what’s crap, what’s all right.

Bobby B: Like, everybody has an opinion, you know, there’s a whole there’s a joke about that somewhere, but it’s it’s, you know, it’s just something. Most of them are like influencers who are jacked and are likely on some sort of performance enhancing drugs, steroids or whatever. And they’re telling you, like, if you give me 12 weeks, I can turn your dad bought into, you know, someone looks like me.

Bobby B: And it just it was it just it’s hard to navigate through that. Yeah. Or like, you’re doing this exercise wrong or you’re doing that exercise wrong and like, but also, hey, you know, reply back swole and I’ll send you my, you know, 16 week, you know whatever thing. Right. And coaching program. And so it was it was a lot of that kind of stuff and it’s like hard to figure out what to do.

Bobby B: Okay. And, man’s logo popped up, like, as you know, through recommended stories and that kind of thing. And so I kind of looked into it a little bit more and I was like, this is, you know, it wasn’t it wasn’t that it was like, hey, do you want to do yoga? Do you want to be more flexible?

Bobby B: It’s kind of for everybody. Like, you know, doesn’t matter what you look like or how old you are. Just there was no there was no promises. There was no like, I’m going to make you, you know, fit and swollen. No time. It was it it felt genuine and original, if that makes sense at all. Okay. So and and so I appreciated that.

Dean Pohlman: I’m taking note here.

Bobby B: Yeah. No, it was good. It was, it was you know, it didn’t it didn’t come across like the other other stuff. Like you’re not standing in a grocery store telling me that, you know, the oatmeal that I want to eat is actually the worst thing in the world. You can put in your body, right? Yeah. Like, exactly. So because there’s just so much of that out there and it’s like, how do you follow what’s good and what’s bad?

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. So, so it was pretty rad. Yeah. And I had done one yoga class in my life before this, and it’s kind of a funny story. So, I, I work in healthcare and a bunch of my therapists, PT friends, we were like, hey.

Dean Pohlman: You’re out patient.

Bobby B: I used to work impatient. I currently am outpatient. So, Yeah, strictly like, from here to here. This is this is what I treat a little bit of the shoulder every now and then, but yeah, that’s my thing. So this is very natural to me. I sit, you know, two feet in front of people and talk to them all day while I been there.

Bobby B: Fingers. Yeah. And, so I’m an inpatient on the end this time, and, they were like, hey, do you want to come? You should come do this yoga class. And I was like, all right. Sure. Fine. I’ll fine, fine twist marble to do it. It was a Bikram yoga class. So you think? Yeah. This is the first time I heard.

Bobby B: Yes. I’m not a small dude. I’m short, but I’m not tiny, and I, you know, look like I do. My beard was not as big then, but, I go to this class and it just kicks my ass like it is. As you know, it’s hot. Everyone’s mouth breathing. You know, the this weird. This location actually had a carpeted floor, which is, you know, in carpeted floor.

Bobby B: It’s weird. It was so good.

Dean Pohlman: Ones with carpeted fours as well. Yeah. It’s just it’s gross.

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. And and, you know, the instructors like, oh, hey, you’ve never done this before. You need to be at the front of the class in case you pass out. And I’m like, cool. And fantastic isn’t going to go well.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Can I open the door? No, you can absolutely never open the door of Bikram class. Don’t even leave. If you feel like leaving, just lay down.

Bobby B: Yeah, well, I couldn’t even lay down. Like if you were laying down, they were like. You got to sit up. Yeah, because basically they were like, we want to make sure you’re still breathing. So in the only way to ensure that is if you are upright. Right. And so that was 90 minutes of torture. But it was, it was, it was cool.

Bobby B: At the end, some other dude came up and was just like, I’m shocked you’re here, but great job. And so as I’m bringing sweat out of my beard. Right. Great.

Dean Pohlman: That was my that was my intro to be Bikram yoga was my was my my baptism by fire to yoga as well. And I think being, you know, being a younger athlete and like really enjoying a challenge, I was like, I think that’s what made me come back. But yeah, I can I can see why, like Bikram yoga.

Dean Pohlman: Well, tell me about like, what was your afterwards? What were you what were your thoughts?

Bobby B: That was I mean, it was it was cool that I did a lot of it. I couldn’t do I couldn’t hold the poses for very long. You know, I was I drank all my water within the first 30 minutes, so I was like, yeah, quickly dehydrating it. I didn’t enjoy it. Let’s just say it was one of those things where I was like, hey, thanks for this, I appreciate it, but, I probably won’t be back.

Bobby B: Yeah. For that kind of thing. I not, I wasn’t, an athlete. I never really worked out. I had, I had my family dynamics were a little weird, so I took a lot, spent a lot of time taking care of my sisters. I worked full time in high school. Yeah, I was like a stock clerk and then a meat cutter for a while.

Bobby B: And then I did the same thing in college. Like, I worked two jobs and to put myself through. So a lot of time, that’s doing other things.

Dean Pohlman: That’s a lot, man.

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. You know, and it’s. But it added to the, you know, to the excuse of I don’t have time for this kind of thing, you know, to take care of myself. So, which there’s some things to be said to that.

Dean Pohlman: But, I mean, there’s, there’s validity to the. I don’t have time. Yeah. I mean, I, I don’t know, I think I never want to be that fitness guy who is like, yelling at people saying, you can make time for sure this, you know, I, I’m never going to be the guy that says, like, you need to make time for an hour at the gym every day, no matter.

Dean Pohlman: Because, like, no, like, yeah, like finding the middle ground of, like, what’s the balance of, hey, like, your really busy guy with. Okay, maybe instead of scrolling, you could do ten minutes of this instead, you know? But yeah, you know, that’s for other people to decide. Not me.

Bobby B: Well, you know, but but there is it as I got so it was it was truly a valid thing back then. Right. You know, working, going from one job to another, like one of the jobs I worked at was like a lab tech. And I would go in at like ten at night and stay until like one in the morning because the autoclave was available.

Bobby B: And I could, I could do a bunch of stuff there. But then I would get up at seven and go to class. And it was it was a lot of that kind of just bouncing around. But as I got older and work got more stable and the excuse became more, I won’t say is that reason for not taking care of myself became more of an excuse and less as a valid.

Bobby B: This is this is actually what’s happening kind of thing. Yeah. So.

Dean Pohlman: The question for you, like your, your family and the people around you like generally healthy, not healthy. Like, what’s the.

Bobby B: Not healthy. Well, yeah, I will say, my family in general, I are not anywhere close to the beacons of health. I grew up in North Florida and in the. You know, I grew up in the 80s and 90s and, you know, a s’mores pop tart or two. Was breakfast, right? Or like, you know, we would have breakfast.

Bobby B: There you go. Or you’d have, like,

Dean Pohlman: Just as good now as it tasted. Then it just.

Bobby B: No, it really does it. I had I had one of them like, and I’m like, yeah, this is, this really doesn’t hit this spot like it used to.

Dean Pohlman: It’s like cardboard with chocolate sauce on it.

Bobby B: Harder and weird. Weird goo that doesn’t resemble marshmallow at all. So. But you know, it’s time.

Dean Pohlman: Delicious.

Bobby B: Yeah. Oh, yeah. As a kid, it’s like this. Is this the best thing ever? Like, of course I get to have these for breakfast, right? You know, it’s part of a balanced breakfast with, you know, eggs and sausage and toast and cakes and all the other things. And then, like, liquid sugar was a huge thing in my in my house, like, it was sweet tea.

Bobby B: I think you’re in Texas, right? So, yes, I’m.

Dean Pohlman: You know, I’ve been here for 13 years now. I’m not growing up. Did not grow up here. But, yeah, this sweet tea is around.

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. So that’s that was like the only tea. If you ordered something unsweetened. It was kind of like, what’s wrong with you? And when we make it at home, I mean, it was it’s grotesque. Like, it’s like two cups of sugar for gallon, which is just, it’s it’s basically sugar water. Right? So that and sodas and all that kind of stuff.

Bobby B: So my dad was overweight, and smoked like a chimney. Drank. My mom and my stepmom were both overweight. My biological mom had type two diabetes. So it wasn’t something that was incorrect, wasn’t encouraged. I went out for football and was basically told, like, we’re not going to come watch you break your leg. It gets it’s fine if you want to kind of do that thing.

Bobby B: But in a sense, good luck. You know, so anyway, again, it’s not it’s stuff that kind of helped push me in this direction to say it’s time to do it now. But there was no sort of encouragement. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: So I always like establishing timelines. It helps me make sense of everything. So. All right. So not much, you know, not much. You know, background. Not much environment. A healthy environment growing up. Much focus on health, at least. So it’s 2023. You you see, man, for yoga. Like, where are you at your you’re said you’re turning 40, but like, what else is going on in your your fitness.

Dean Pohlman: Have you, have you made any, you know, changes or improvements at this point or is it, you know, what’s what’s happening at this time.

Bobby B: So I did you know, I, I was pretty heavy when I first graduated. I mean I’m still not not light, but I was like my highest weight was around 270 and I’m five six. So, and I was just out of school like 20, you know, ten I cut out. So we talked about liquid sugar. I stopped drinking all sodas and no sugar in my coffee, that kind of thing.

Bobby B: And literally, like, dropped 30 pounds. And just. That was the only thing I did. You know, from that, it was a lot, you know, and it kind of goes back to like, how much more are you putting in your body for a liquid when water, you know, or black coffee will suffice? Yeah. So up and down.

Bobby B: I’ve lost some weight. I’ve been trying to eat, you know, eating better. I tip to eat, you know, cook home cooked meals and vegetables or I’m not shot of vegetables and that kind of stuff. Trying to up protein and again to. It’s like, how much protein is too much? Well this guy says two grams per this and this guy says 1.5 and this one says, you’re getting too much and your kidneys are gonna fail.

Bobby B: So who knows.

Dean Pohlman: Eat two grams of protein per lean muscle mass. Pounding muscle mass per day. Like, good for you. Yeah. I’ve met very few people who say like, oh yeah, too much protein. Like, it’s so hard to get the amount of protein, even for me. Like getting the amount of protein that I’m supposed to get it on a daily basis.

Dean Pohlman: I definitely don’t hit it every day. Right? If any day, maybe if I go out for dinner, I have a steak that night, then I’ll do it. But like, just like the normal day to day, like it’s it’s so hard to hit your protein goals.

Bobby B: For sure. For sure. So, I’m like, yeah, yeah, it’s important to get it, I think. But you know, there’s don’t kill yourself trying to get it. So where was that? Oh, so I lost some weight. I’m trying to eat better. I’ve gotten some blood work for my dog. Nothing is critical, right? Right. I’m not. I’m not, like, pre-diabetic.

Bobby B: I my my cholesterol is like, fine, but it’s my ratios are not great. My LDL is are higher than they should be. My are lower than they should be. And my blood pressure is kind of borderline, you know? So I’m like, all right. Like, you know, the doc sends me a text and or a message is just like, hey, there’s your blood pressure.

Bobby B: This your cholesterol. You know, here’s what we can do. We can potentially start, you know, medications. You can have a CT scan to see what your risk is. Or you could try some diet and exercise. How do you want to proceed? And I was like, all right, I don’t really want to take any medications at this point. I know there’s value in them, but I would like to not.

Bobby B: And so at least at this stage of my life. And so let me try, let me, let me diet and exercise. So of course again the doom scrolling takes over. And what do I what am I, what am I trying to find. You know, for that. And so that’s where I was kind of at. So I needed to I wanted to be more active at what I was really looking for.

Bobby B: Yeah. And and. Yeah. So that’s where I kind of found this. I found your program and was like, hey, this is something I can try, you know? Let’s see what I can do with this. And it and it resonated. Cool.

Dean Pohlman: So and just so you know, you’re listening right now and you’re like, a man. You’ll get infomercial. It’s it’s not because the reasons why I invited you onto the show is because, like you mentioned, that this was a catalyst for you that led to all these other things that you now that you now do. And this is like, I think this is the and this is where I think where Mantle yoga has been really helpful for a lot of people similar to yourselves.

Dean Pohlman: It to yourself. It’s like this. How do I go from doing absolutely nothing to establishing phase one so that I can get to like phase ten? So like, tell me, tell me what happened when you first started the program, what what yoga program were you doing? And like, how hard was it for you to be consistent with that?

Bobby B: Yeah. So it was a it was around I think it was around New Years and and it was I think it was the, the strength Foundation challenge was what was happening and the barrier to entry was low. It was the cost wasn’t that much. It might have been like 20 bucks for like six weeks. And I was like, all right, I can I can do this.

Bobby B: All I need is a yoga mat and some blocks in a strap. So I got got some of those, got the things got ready to go. And I’m like, right.

Dean Pohlman: And some resistance.

Bobby B: Bands and so yes, which, which forced luckily enough because of my job I was just able to take something from work. Right. So it was great. Yeah. And I was like, all right. This is what I’m going to do, and I’m going to make this happen. And I had all these kind of like, roadblocks in my way in my.

Bobby B: But they were all in my head, you know, I don’t have time to do this. We kind of talked about that. Well, I’m going to make time to do this. This is important, and I’m going to do this. I know if I wait until I’m done with work because, in outpatient, like rehab. My day might end at four, but I might still be there doing other things up till six, sometimes 630, because of notes and all that kind of stuff.

Bobby B: And so, if I wait to do then, and then by the time I get home, I’m not going to I’m not going to want to do it. I’m going to I’m going to find another excuse, make dinner, do other things, and it’s going to happen. So I’m like, I’m going to get up early. I’m not a morning person, but let’s make it happen.

Bobby B: So that was step one. I’m like, all right, I’m going to start getting up at 525 and 530 and kind of go from there. And then there was other things too, like I have had and I’m not any more really, significant, like gym anxiety. Which is ironic because the where I work is attached to a gym, like, it’s I get a gym membership with my job.

Bobby B: And it’s a pretty, it’s a pretty good, you know, perk. There’s several of them around and I can go to any of them I want. But I was still like, I don’t want to be in there. I don’t, I don’t it’s not my world. I’m at a place. I don’t belong there. I can get to that. But, this was like, all right, it’s in my basement.

Bobby B: It’s just me and the only person have to look at, you know? Yes. I am not skinny. I’m, I’m I’m a big dude. But you know what? I can I can do this. The only person that’s going to judge me at this point is going to be myself. So all those things fit in. And the challenge, I think was like a six day type of thing.

Bobby B: I think there’s like at least a rest day in that. Yeah. And it was do this every day. So I did it. I’m like, I’m going to get up and I’m going to do that. And I remember like the first routines or they’re not I wouldn’t call them easy, but they are, you know, if you if you’ve never done yoga before, but, you know, they’re a good introduction, like lying on your back, holding your legs and kind of rocking side to side, I think was one of the very first things.

Bobby B: And then it just kind of builds a little bit from there. The whole darn is long. I think it’s only like 20 minutes and I’m like, I can do this. And then it just kept going and then it found like, all right, you know, some things were surprisingly easier for me than I would have expected, like boat poses.

Bobby B: I was like, oh, I’m actually I can actually hold a boat pose pretty well for, for longer than I expected it to. So I’m like, all right, that’s a win. And then it just kind of kept it just kind of kept going and I because it was in that routine. Excuse me. He says that routine. And I was doing it every single day.

Bobby B: It started to become addictive. Like, this is what I, I need to get up and do something. I’m waking up even on the weekends, like at before 6:00. And so my body saying get up and get up and go, so but yeah, that was the first thing. And I did the whole program all the way through it. So yeah.

Bobby B: Wow.

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Dean Pohlman: All right, back to the interview. So what was your you know, what was your motivation? Did you like give or get? You know, we talk about a lot this concept of like what was your why or what is your why. Did you did you consciously have a why or like what was it that really. Oh nice water bottle.

Bobby B: Thank you. Water is important. Yeah I so I didn’t really the why at the time was is strictly for me, right. I don’t have kids. I am I wanted I wanted to be healthier. And part of it too was the area that I live in is a it’s a very, I wouldn’t say maybe say fitness isn’t active community.

Bobby B: People here tend to be active in sports or running, hiking, bike riding, whatever it might be. The people here tend to be more fit and healthy in general. Okay, so it does feel kind of weird to not to not be one of those people. And so there’s a little bit of implicit, you know, pressure for that.

Bobby B: And I just it was kind of like, you know, look, you’re again, you’re 40. Everything is going to it’s not going to get any easier if you wait any longer. Like you have to tell myself, like I have to to start. Otherwise it’s not, you know, now I have a few regrets of not doing this earlier. But you know what?

Bobby B: I’m. I’m still going strong. That why kind of changed a little bit the end of the year or. Yeah. End of the year. Because I had I took a trip with some friends and to Japan, which, if you haven’t been to Super Rad and I highly recommend it. But it is. There’s tons of walking.

Bobby B: It is a, you know, Tokyo, Kyoto or both high pedestrian cities. There’s trains, but if you really want to see it, you’ve got to do it on your feet. And one of the trips we took was to Kyoto, to the Fushimi and Nari shrine, which for anyone who’s not familiar, this is the famous the Tory Gates, which are like the the vermillion, like orange red like Shinto gates.

Bobby B: And they are all stacked, basically one in front of each other until you have this like long tunnel. And it’s a very cool experience to do. Most people go the first, you know, 100ft into it, get a couple of pictures for Instagram, you know, for the gram, and then they leave like that’s that’s their thing. So it’s super crowded and that part.

Bobby B: But the cool thing is, is you keep going and the gates get a little more spread apart. So it’s not as tunnel like, which is why they do it in the front. But it’s also like 1200 stair steps. So it’s it’s hiking but it’s all steps. And I hiked all the way up to the top of it, and it was cool.

Bobby B: And I knew some people who couldn’t, for various reasons, but like, the whole thing up. Got to see the cool view, got to stop and see all kinds of neat stuff, and then came back down. And then, I was just looking it up. That day it was, I think. Let’s see here. Took overall like 42,000 steps, like 19 miles worth of walking throughout the entire that entire 24 hour period that day.

Bobby B: Yeah, yeah. And, and so it was a really cool kind of thing. And I thought, like, I still want to do stuff. I still want to experience things, and I don’t want to not have the health to have the ability to do so until there’s really no choice. Like, you know, yeah, time makes fools of us all, but I want to be able to do that.

Bobby B: I don’t want to be able to say, I don’t want to have to say like, you know, I can’t like, it’s not, you know, it’s not in me. I don’t have the breadth or the endurance to hell to do it.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. So you started doing manfully. Yeah, shortly after this. Like how many months after you started Manuel Yoga? Did you go on this?

Bobby B: The Japan. Let’s see here. I think that was like a year. About a year after it. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. And like, leading up to this trip, how how consistently were you doing, man? And were you doing like anything else in terms of lifestyle improvements or.

Bobby B: I was at that point like so we talked about the catalyst. Right. So yeah, I was doing man flow yoga and then I was like, all right, I need to do something else too. So I was probably doing five days a week, man flow yoga, jumping in. I really liked think it was like The Fix was a program that I really liked a lot.

Bobby B: There were some all standing routines I really enjoyed to, And then I started we have a treadmill, so I was like, I’m gonna use a treadmill, and I. I kicked it up to, like, the highest incline it would go and started, you know, walking on that, or taking my dog for a walk in the morning and then coming back and doing, like, a yoga routine.

Bobby B: So I was trying to keep that every day. Five, 530 in the morning. I won’t go to work until 830 9:00. Do something there before then. So I had done that. I had not started lifting weights yet. But that came after the trip to Japan.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. How did you start lifting weights? Like, what was the plan?

Bobby B: So it wasn’t. It was just like, okay, this is the next thing, like, I’ve. I’ve not mastered anything, right? I’ve not I’ve not mastered yoga. I’ve not. You know, incline walking is hard to, you know. Anyway, I did try to do a little. That’s right. I did try to do a little bit of jogging at one point.

Bobby B: I am it’s not. It’s not my thing. So, but I train.

Dean Pohlman: Walking is probably better for you than jogging. Honestly.

Bobby B: It’s what the influencers have told me, so I, I went and went a little bit of that, but it was, I was like, all right, I want to start lifting some too. I think that’s the next. That’s the next battle. That’s the next heap. Let’s do it. So I went online and I got some power blocks and, yeah.

Dean Pohlman: I actually met the Flower plucks daughter like the founder’s daughter at, like, a random party and not a party, but like a small get together in Austin a couple of years ago. And I was like, your dad is a power box guy. No way. Yeah. Anyways. School.

Bobby B: Yeah. So I got those. And little, little known fact to is there there outlet store is choice. Oh if you if you go on there they have, you know, not perfect or, or returned things and it’s, it’s a good discount and I got quite a bit of stuff from there too. So if it sells out power block, you know why?

Bobby B: But it’s a it’s a really great thing. So I got the 50. It was like up to 50 pounds. And so I had that, and, so I did those and I started working out every day, and I kind of started doing like a back and bicep chest and tricep like, kind of split type of thing.

Bobby B: And I threw shoulders in there after a while.

Dean Pohlman: Where did you find the exercise? Those are like the programs like the reps set like.

Bobby B: So literally just going I have a little bit I mean, I have I have a lot of anatomy knowledge myself. So I kind of know how to use certain things or like how to work specific muscle groups, especially in the upper body. But then it was just like, all right, what are some good what are some good exercises to do for if you if one were to do a back and bicep did it, did a couple searches, found some things and said, all right, I’m going to fit this in.

Bobby B: So it was like chest and tricep day I would do I got a bench as well. And just like one that I could adjust. So I was doing like a bench press and incline bench. Like a pullover exercise. And, some, like, skull crushers, that type of thing. And then maybe, like another tricep exercise bent over a row or a bent over kickback kind of thing.

Bobby B: So that’s what I was doing, like, like 4 or 5 exercises, you know, for those. And I was just trying to increase. So, so I was like, I’ll do three sets, I’ll see what I can do and do as many as I can with the weight. And then just try to increase, like if it was below, I think at the time I was like, if it’s below 12, I’ll go until I can get 12, and then I will up the weight and try to go from there.

Bobby B: Yeah. And then I was doing some things too. I started doing push ups, and that was actually pretty cool because I went from like, I can do six push ups and then and then it built and I was like, all right, I’m gonna do a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more. And then one day I got like a wild hair and I was like, I’m gonna do this thing where I’m gonna start with like 20, because I can do that.

Bobby B: And then I’m going to do 19, 18, 17 all the way down, right. Like to go from that. And I was like, and I did it. And I was like, it, it was, it was hard, but I didn’t I didn’t stop and I was like, all right. Like, that’s pretty rad. Like, I could tell this in one setting.

Bobby B: Yeah. So so that was pretty cool. And yeah. So then I just, I then I had to get like, I upped up for weight that I had to bump up and get to like another, expansion pack for the power blocks. So up to 70 pounds.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Nice. I think that’s a like that. You laid that out and obviously, you know, you have more knowledge than most people as a physical therapist do. Do you have a do you have a deep at like what’s your what’s your what are your letters?

Bobby B: So I’m, I’m an occupational therapist. So we’re we’re we’re all on the same the same vein. Like there is some I think you I think you said your wife’s a physical therapist. Yeah, yeah. So, there’s a there’s a big diagram in the two of us that we share some things, but we have around different things. Yeah. So most OTS and I have a master’s degree in occupational therapy, and so most OTS work in with pediatrics, the elderly, like, you know, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, community.

Bobby B: There’s a ton of stuff everywhere that we do, and we’re all over the place. But my credentials are as a certified hand therapist. And so I had to I devoted my entire career to the upper limb. And so I know anatomy of that really well. I can make fingers bent, and I don’t know why.

Dean Pohlman: I don’t know why that phrase made me laugh, but it did. I’ve devoted my life to the upper limb. Yeah.

Bobby B: Truly, truly. It’s the thing. So, So yeah, I’ve done that. Which which again, I think I mentioned to you at 1.2 is that doing these routines has also helped me treat my patients better to, which is pretty rad. That’s cool about that. Yeah. So yeah, I do have some, some kind of knowledge base with that, but we don’t learn like exercise physiology in school.

Bobby B: So while I know the anatomy, like, I can tell you the origin insertions and all that stuff. Yeah. And what they do, I don’t, I don’t know, like the basis of, like, building muscle and things.

Dean Pohlman: Gotcha. Yeah. And I bring all that up because I know that based on my wife Marissa’s experience, she’s very particular about who she trains with. Because if they don’t know the muscle groups or if they’re using, you know, improper terminology or they’re like, not, you know, structuring the workout program in a way that’s like, smart, like if you’re doing all pushing and no pulling exercises, right?

Dean Pohlman: Like she’s like red flag for her. And then she’s like, you know. So, anyways, I guess I’m saying I feel validated that you’re able to go through my programs and like, okay, this guy least knows enough of what he’s talking about to, to say, like, yeah, this is not a this is not a dumb influencer who doesn’t know anything.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bobby B: No for sure, for sure. There is a there is a funny moment though if, if I’m allowed to bring it up, I’m going to anyway. Is is in one of the routines that you are doing, you mentioned something about like knees cracking and, and I had to chuckle. Like I literally laughed out loud whenever, whenever I heard it because you’re like, oh yeah, my wife says that, you know, as long as it, you know, joints can make noise, as long as it doesn’t hurt, it’s fine.

Bobby B: And you’re like, you’re like, I don’t know about that. And like I think and I’m like, no, she’s right. He doesn’t matter. So, so yeah, anyway, it was just it just. But truly though, like it like you, it makes sense. You do know it like and to kind of go with that even though. Yes, I know all this stuff.

Bobby B: There’s a term we call it the motor morons. Right. We.

Dean Pohlman: Yes. About them a lot.

Bobby B: Yes, I in some ways I have been that person and it is like not knowing where things are or like how to move it and suffering.

Dean Pohlman: Your arm across your body.

Bobby B:

Dean Pohlman: Like, no, that’s not what I said.

Bobby B: Exactly, exactly. And, and then the scapulars and the, you know, the back, it’s a tough spot for a lot of people. Like I’m like, all right I want you to protractor scapular. And they’re like, what now? Like square or like whatever, you know, do this. I would squeeze your Skoda blades together I know, don’t hike them up, squeeze them back and down.

Bobby B: Right. So it’s tough. So that that was that. And what I realized is that what I didn’t know because as I’m doing these things and you’re like, all right, you know, plant your foot on the floor and I want you to think about like activating your glute, doing this, this, this, and some of the things that you do, the cueing that you do to say this is what it is.

Bobby B: And I’m like, all right, I, I know I have a glute. I have not really felt it do its thing before. So now I know that that’s, that exists and it’s there. And I did get some muscle soreness from these. Right. Because it’s like an especially first off because I’m like, I’ve not used these muscles in any sort of real capacity for a while.

Bobby B: So it was it made me more have more kinesthetic awareness and body awareness to my own self, including posture. So I sit on a stool in front of someone on a little table while I’m, you know, assessing and working on the wrists or hands or elbows and, I am like, I’m, you know, people are listening, won’t hear, but I’m clutched over a lot.

Bobby B: And so I being able to go, okay, I have better posture and I can sit up straight more and I’m like, okay, now I can activate those muscles on command is a huge benefit.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s awesome. So what’s kind of the next thing in your in your fitness journey. Like what are you what are you looking forward to doing next.

Bobby B: So I have been I’ve, I’ve progressed from the at home power blocks to actually going and using the gym membership that I have. Okay. So and this has been kind of a recent development.

Dean Pohlman: You are one with the gym Bros.

Bobby B: I am one with the gym bows now. And so I, I go, I’m now going in the mornings. And that’s happened like the last three months. It’s kind of happened. And it took it took a lot because I was like, I, you know, I had all that, like internal fear. It was, my gosh, I’m going to, you know, they’re going to make fun of me or whatever.

Bobby B: It’s like I’m the I’m the short, fat dude in the gym trying to lift the weight or, you know, I don’t belong here. In my head, it’s like, oh, these people have been working out forever and they already know what they’re doing. Why do I need to be there, realizing that everybody’s got to start somewhere? So that’s been that’s been my thing now is doing that and just really progressing that while also making sure I don’t hurt myself.

Dean Pohlman: So it’s is there a do you think there’s there’s an identity shift that occurred somewhere along the way?

Bobby B: Oh, 100%. Yeah. And and that that kind of speaks to the OT side of me. Because we talk a lot about, roles, routines, habits and identities. And I do think it’s important to. Let yourself say, oh, hey, I’m, I am someone who does yoga. Now, I am I or a Yogi, or I’m someone who works out.

Bobby B: I, you know, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an athlete, but I, I’m, I would say I’m active now, I truly do. You know, I try to my Apple Watch says I burned 500 calories before I go to work. You know, it’s something that I do every day now. So I think that constitutes those things. So. Yes. Yeah.

Bobby B: Truly an identity shift. And, going to the gym didn’t kill me. So I still go.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, that’s awesome. Anything that surprised you about, like, going into the gym? Like, I think a lot of people have, and I bring this up because a lot of people have gyms or gym anxiety. And so is there anything that, like when you started actually going to the gym that you were like, oh, what was I so scared of?

Bobby B: Truly. Like, no one cares. Like everyone, especially now, everyone has headphones in and they’re doing their own thing and it’s really not, you know, it’s not a it’s not a big deal. I haven’t really been like, no one’s ever come up to me or said anything. It’s like it’s it’s you just you just do your thing. So.

Bobby B: And I’ve been going long enough now that I can, I can get irritated when someone has thumb day and they’re just sitting on the the bench, like.

Dean Pohlman: Never heard that.

Bobby B: That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s like, all right, you know how many sets you got? Like, I like to, I would like to, to also use this now. But no, it was, it was chill. And you don’t have to no one’s looking at the weights or lifting. So if you’re not sure, just. I’ve just walked over to it.

Bobby B: I know it’ll lat pull down. Does I’m going to pull down laps and see what happens. I’ll start with a low weight and then increase it from there. Like it’s just you’re the only person you have to compete with is yourself. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Well said. All right. I’ve got some rapid fire questions. Are you ready? Yeah. Okay. What do you think is the one habit, belief or mindset that has helped you the most in terms of your overall happiness.

Bobby B: Overall happiness?

Bobby B: I would say for my overall happiness, it really is.

Dean Pohlman: We can pivot to overall success with fitness if if you want.

Bobby B: Oh, well, I would just say I feel like truly just getting up and doing something every single day has truly increased my happiness. I am better at work, I, I roll into work feeling great. I’m usually a person anyway, but I’m ultra chipper now. Annoyingly chipper. And, it’s it’s it’s it’s pretty good. Like, I feel good, like moving my body.

Bobby B: I feel good challenging myself in new ways. Seeing another rep, seeing a increase of, you know, two and a half to 5 pounds on whatever, you know, set I’m doing. Or I can hold that pose a lot longer than I could or I now I can go from a, you know, bent leg boat pose to like a straight leg boat pose, like things like that that’ll like right on like this is this is a good thing.

Bobby B: This is, you know, this is my successes. So it kind of rolls into both like it is truly, I am enjoying challenging myself. Okay.

Dean Pohlman: What is one thing that you do for your health that is overlooked or undervalued by others?

Bobby B: I thought a lot about that. I don’t know if I’ve done anything new, but I do think something that has helped me a lot is cutting back on alcohol. We haven’t talked about that, but I wouldn’t say I drink a lot, but, you know, coming home, having a nip of bourbon or a glass of wine with dinner or something like that, you know, was pretty common.

Bobby B: But I found that when I stopped and now it’s basically only like a Friday Saturday type of thing. I sleep better, my workouts are better. I’m not as inclined to get up and go and even have the thought of like, I don’t know if I want to do this today kind of thing. Yeah, you know, we all have them, but I have less of them that I used to.

Dean Pohlman: What is the most stressful part of your day to day life?

Bobby B: Sure, this is common for a lot of people’s work. You know, I, I want the people. I work with people who sometimes have had, you know, their in their with the worst times of their lives, you know, subjectively. And it’s lots of I see people with all kinds of hand injuries, you know, it could be a table saw.

Bobby B: It could be, you know, just a fall. And they broken their wrist, but they want to get back to playing tennis again or picking up their grandkids or something. And my job is to guide them through it and to help them. Whereas I like to say, I’m your Sherpa and I’m going to help get you, you know, over this hand injury mountain.

Bobby B: Right? And then of course, I’ve, I’m an admin a little bit too. So having to manage is also fun. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. And what do you think is the biggest challenge facing men in their wellbeing right now.

Bobby B: I think support I think having having people around, having other guys around to say, you know, great job or, you know, keep it up. I hear you, you know, or just sit there and listen for five minutes, without necessarily trying to solve a problem, maybe, or even just just being there, like, and being okay with that.

Bobby B: And that’s something I’ve now experienced a little bit more with the, the community aspect. But it is, you know, I know we’ve talked there’s a lot of talk about the loneliness epidemic among men. And I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of friends in my life. But I think that that’s, you know, it’s a sad I look back at someone like my grandpa and my dad, and, you know, they didn’t.

Bobby B: I have friends, they, you know, it was the people around them at home, and they even talked to them, so. Yeah. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Well said. Great answers, great conversation. Great, great examples from your own life I think are super helpful at other people. I loved all of it, man. Thank you for coming on and telling your story, Bobby. Thanks for being part of the mantle yoga community. Yeah, man. Anything else you want to say?

Bobby B: No, I just I appreciate it. I’m. I’m glad to be here. And I hope to continue to, you know, be a part of this thing. I am now a lifer, so I really can’t go anywhere at this point. Like, otherwise, I’ll just, you know, wasted all that money. But, but, you know, it’s it’s cool. And then I just have to go by myself.

Bobby B: A mat like a cork pat. But, yeah, it’s great.

Dean Pohlman: We do have a member. Deal. Message me afterwards. I’ll give you the code. Great. Thank you, sir. Sweet. All right, guys. Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview. Bobby, thanks again. I hope this inspires you to be a better man. And I will see you on the next episode. Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed that interview with Bobby B.

Dean Pohlman: I hope it inspires you again. Like I mentioned, I really enjoyed this interview and I hope you got a lot out of it. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave a review. It helps out a lot. I know I’ve said this at the end of every episode, but seriously, if you have not left a review yet, please go leave a review now.

Dean Pohlman: It’s a huge help wherever you listen, whether that’s Apple Podcast on Spotify or whatever platform. If you want to learn more about our community and get inspired to start working on your own health and wellness, we do have a free seven day trial. You can sign up at join, and if you just want to make sure that you like the workouts, I’ve got a free seven day challenge called the Beginner Jogger for Men Challenge at seven DC, and then you’re not ready for any of that.

Dean Pohlman: I’ve always got the free YouTube channel YouTube.com yoga. Go do some workouts, see if you’d like them. Other quick notes. So during this episode, yesterday I had to go to the E.R. because my wife and then my mom also who was not here but saw this on video, noticed that my eyes were being a bit different, not symmetrical.

Dean Pohlman: And, she thought that I was having a stroke. Good news. I’m not having a stroke. But there was definitely something funky happening with my eye. So now I’m being treated for, Bell’s palsy, which is some ocular nerve damage caused by stress. And so I’m good. No, hopefully, you know, long term damage. I’m being treated and all of that stuff now.

Dean Pohlman: But if it looks like my eyes are doing something weird and my face is not symmetrical during the interview, that is why. So, and I actually recorded a whole solo podcast on my experience with this because it was pretty. It was it was a lot. And so a lot of how I make sense of my life is by talking about it.

Dean Pohlman: And that’s what I did here for this whole podcast. So check that out if you want to hear it. It is here on the Better Man podcast as well. You can also watch video versions of the podcast if you’d like, on the Better Man Podcast YouTube channel or in the Mantle Yoga app and members area. All right guys, hope you’re having a fantastic day, week, month, whatever and I will see you on the next episode.

Dean Pohlman: Hope this inspires you to be a better man.

Dean Pohlman: Okay guys, I hope you enjoyed that interview with Bobby B. I hope it inspires you again. Like I mentioned, I really enjoyed this interview and I hope you got a lot out of it. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review. It helps out a lot. I know I’ve said this at the end of every episode, but seriously, if you have not left a review yet, please go leave a review now.

Dean Pohlman: It’s a huge help wherever you listen, whether that’s Apple Podcast on Spotify or whatever platform. If you want to learn more about our community and get inspired to start working on your own health and wellness, we do have a free seven day trial. You can sign up at join. And if you just want to make sure that you like the workouts, I’ve got a free seven day challenge called the Beginner’s Yoga Ferment Challenge at Yoga.

Dean Pohlman: Com and then if you’re not ready for any of that, I’ve always got the free YouTube channel youtube.com yoga. Go do some workouts, see if you’d like them. Other quick notes. So during this episode, yesterday I had to go to the E.R. because my wife and then my mom also who was not here but saw this on video, noticed that my eyes were being a bit different, not symmetrical.

Dean Pohlman: And, she thought that I was having a stroke. Good news. I’m not having a stroke. But there was definitely something funky happening with my eye. So now I’m being treated for, Bell’s Palsy, which is some ocular nerve damage caused by stress. And so I’m good. No, hopefully, you know, long term damage. I’m being treated and all of that stuff now.

Dean Pohlman: But if it looks like my eyes are doing something weird and my face is not symmetrical during the interview, that is why. So, and I actually recorded a whole solo podcast on my experience with this because it was pretty. It was it was a lot. And so a lot of how I make sense of my life is by talking about it.

Dean Pohlman: And that’s what I did here for this solo podcast. So check that out if you want to hear it. It is here on the Better Man podcast as well. You can also watch video versions of the podcast if you’d like, on the Better Man Podcast YouTube channel or in the Mantle Yoga app and members area. All right guys, hope you’re having a fantastic day, week, month, whatever and I will see you on the next episode.

Dean Pohlman: Hope this inspires you to be a better man.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean interrupting my own podcast to talk about Magic Mind. Magic mind is a caffeine supplement that I’ve been using for the last few years. It’s something that I use as a alternative to coffee some days, and also something that I use maybe right before I do a podcast or from a video as a way to get an energy boost without the crash that usually accompanies caffeine.

Dean Pohlman: If you want to try it out. I put a link in the show notes below, but it’s a nice little supplement. It’s a drink two ounces that you can take just for a little boost of energy, a little more focused throughout your day. Give it a shot. Let me know what you think.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean interrupting my own podcast to talk about Magic mind. Magic mind is a caffeine supplement that I’ve been using for the last few years. It’s something that I use as a alternative to coffee some days, and also something that I use maybe right before I do a podcast or from a video as a way to get an energy boost without the crash that usually accompanies caffeine.

Dean Pohlman: If you want to try it out, I put a link in the show notes below, but it’s a nice little supplement. It’s a drink two ounces that you can take just for a little boost of energy. A little more focus throughout your day. Give it a shot. Let me know what you think.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean interrupting my own podcast to mention a firm tech. If you’ve heard of Firm Tech, you’ve heard this episode before. This is basically an aura ring for your penis. It helps you measure the health of your penis. It helps you measure the strength of your erections, blood flow, how often you’re getting erections at night, which is great for sexual health as well as your overall health.

Dean Pohlman: If you’re interested in learning more, check out the link and the promo code that I have in the show. Notes.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean interrupting my own podcast to tell you about some upcoming Man Flow yoga events. We have wellness weekends that are happening in Phoenix, Seattle, and Atlanta. If you’re interested in joining me there, meeting others within the Mantle Yoga community, this is an amazing weekend full of yoga improvement, inspiration for your fitness and community connection. Link is in the show notes.

Dean Pohlman: Super early bird is going on now.

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, interviewing my podcast to talk about rapid release. This is a mobility tool that I have been obsessed with for the last few months. It’s something that I use when I’m watching TV. It’s my go to pain relief tool. If I have muscle tightness or soreness, that’s causing pain. And it has been an amazing complement to my overall fitness and my mobility practice.

Dean Pohlman: If you want to learn more, go to the link in the show notes below, and then use the Mantle Yoga Code there for a pretty nice discount.

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