Firefighter Reveals How Men in Their 30s and Early 40s Should Take Care of Themselves | Bob M. | Better Man Podcast Ep. 106

Dean Pohlman: Hey guys, it’s Dean. Welcome to the Better Man podcast. Today’s episode is a member interview with Bobby Metcalf from Rochester, New York. Bobby is a firefighter, and we’re going to be talking about his health and wellness journey and, how he got in demand for yoga and all that stuff. So, Bobby, thank you for, for being here.

Bob M: I’m glad to be here. We’ve talked so many times, virtually, but never directly to each other.

Dean Pohlman: So never directly virtually. Right. This is like.

Bob M: Meeting. This is like meeting Mickey Mouse for me. You know what I’m saying?

Dean Pohlman: This is. Yeah. This is good. Yeah. We need to. We need to develop a term for this. I was I’ve been talk I’ve talked about this a lot because I’m not a I’m not cool enough to be anywhere near a celebrity. So it’s not like, you know, it’s not it’s not that sense, but it’s just like there needs to be a term for people that you only interact with on a screen.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, with one way. And then you meet them and realize, oh, they’re like talking back to this is so strange, but, you know, two way.

Bob M: It’s good. So excited to be here. I’m glad. I’m glad we finally got this to to happen.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. And you’ve got a story that I, that I really like and that I think is going to be really interesting to a lot of guys. So, so you play hockey.

Bob M: Right? I do, I do very quickly, but, I still try to hold on hard. Yeah. Okay.

Dean Pohlman: Cool. And how old are you?

Bob M: I just turned 40 in August.

Dean Pohlman: Okay. So you’re like a you’re like a spring chicken of the of the members area.

Bob M: Honestly, I’ve noticed that I’m, I’m typically leaning a little bit towards the, the younger. Yeah. But that’s all. You know.

Dean Pohlman: It’s it’s kind of a shame I wish that, you know, and I get a lot of people who say like Dean, you know, you got to start marketing this more toward younger guys. I’m like, I can’t force them to do it. They haven’t gotten to that. They haven’t gotten to that point yet where they’re like, oh, you mean my body doesn’t work the same way that it does?

Dean Pohlman: When I was 17, right? Or maybe they just think that it’s maybe they just think that that pain is normal and they’re like, no, I’m working out. And my lower back hurts and my knees hurt and I’m doing a great job. And I’m like, you could fix that. You know, they’re like, no, no, I’m just going to go keep lifting weights.

Dean Pohlman: I’m like, oh come on man. So yeah. So for you, you know, but you actually did realize that. So so what was your kind of like your oh shit moment when you’re ready. Yeah.

Bob M: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: So I got change this.

Bob M: So I’ll rewind. The way that I discovered you, it was just, I want to say it was like a month or two before Covid hit. Right. Which, let me tell you, timed out extremely well.

Dean Pohlman: That’s a that’s a very familiar story, honestly. Covid. And then I found, like, found Marvel Yoga right before Covid. And then Dean became my best friend in my living room.

Bob M: Like literally man like is that is truly no lie. So it was a couple weeks before Covid and, so I was 30, we’ll call it 35 years old. Right. So again, you mentioned I’m a fireman. My goal is to get out of this career healthy, young and be able to enjoy my retirement. My kids. I’ve got three boys very active again.

Bob M: I still play hockey. I want to continue to do those things and.

Dean Pohlman: Is it is it common for firefighters to get out and be just like be beaten up and just like.

Bob M: So I would say in, in kind of the outgoing generation, right now. And when I came in, that was much more common. And I think I’m very fortunate in that I’m ingrained in a culture not only locally in my department, but nationally and worldwide, where, hey, you’re you’re they call us tactical athletes, right? And I love that term.

Bob M: Right. Like police, fire, even EMS, they’re in that. Right. So you, I want to be good at my job. There’s a phrase out there that’s like, you know, be the firefighter that you’d want to rescue you or your family. And when you like, actually sit down and deep dive into that. That makes really good sense, right? Like, I don’t want a fat slob that sit in a recliner his entire career to come rescue me at three in the morning when my two kids are trapped in a bedroom.

Bob M: So how do I make that happen? And, Dean, I can I can go and bench every day and I can go, you know, it’s we’re a brawny culture, right? It’s a it’s a boys club. You were a lax guy, right? Like very, very macho. And that’s fine and that’s totally cool. And I get that. But you know, and looking at myself in the books that I read and all that stuff, it’s like, man, longevity is a really good thing.

Bob M: So what does that mean? It means flexibility and it means, range of motion. I think in my career, those are the two big ones. So how I found you was I didn’t want to search yoga because I wanted the benefits of it without the, and, and really and I think I put typed in, in YouTube, like men’s men’s yoga, and you were the first one that came up.

Bob M: And I think I played your same free videos two, three weeks. And I was like, all right, cool. And you know, obviously you, you plugged your, your member program. I went in there and I was like, yeah, this makes sense. I also want to say to anyone listening, you, we’ve all purchased things online programs, buy this, this $47, blah, blah, blah lifetime subscription, all that you since day one have over, over, over delivered on content on improving your.

Bob M: I’ve seen your studio change. I’ve seen you add products and that are not just you trying to sell, but products that are really, really good and beneficial. And you do more than the yoga. You do the myofascial release stuff, you do the health and wellness, you do the nutrition. So, I couldn’t have been happier when you made a lifetime subscription.

Bob M: It was the easiest purchase of my life. And and I look forward to it for years to come. So that’s my shameless plug of you that you did not ask for.

Dean Pohlman: I, I really appreciate that. Thank you. It means a lot because I we do which I, I try to go above and beyond to the point that my team is like, really? Dang, do we need to do all of this? And I’m like, yeah, we do.

Bob M: Yeah, yeah. But it’s it’s and it’s there. And it’s like, just when. And I’ve never been bored of anything. Right? You have so many programs. If I started now I’d never be able to do all of them. But, it’s, it’s nice that it never gets stale. It’s changing. And how can you modify and and react to your community really well.

Bob M: Right. So you you are super engaged and whether it’s you or your team and obviously you’re only one person and you can only do so much, but regardless of that, you’ve always been responsive, you’ve always taken feedback or is seeking feedback. You created the the retreats, which I’m just waiting for a weekend where my kids don’t have hockey, to be able to do something like that.

Bob M: And,

Dean Pohlman: How old are your kids?

Bob M: I have twins that are nine. And then the little guys, two and a half years old. So.

Dean Pohlman:

Bob M: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Cool. That’s a it’s two and a half. That’s, that’s the fun. That’s like the I. Dude, I don’t know, one and a half to four. Yeah, that feels like that’s like we’re in it.

Bob M: Oh, yeah.

Dean Pohlman: We’re in it. So, I mean, I’ve got lots of questions, but first off, you mentioned you started doing the workouts 2 or 3 times a week. You were doing it on YouTube. What benefits did you notice within kind of the first month of doing it?

Bob M: Yeah. So the huge thing for me is I’ve consistently had like so tight hip flexors that it always ruins my lower back. And again, at 35, I’m like, I shouldn’t have a sore back, man. Like, this is crazy. What do I do? And I did research and I was like, yeah, you got to do the hip. You know, it’s the contrast, right?

Bob M: If this one is tight, you got to move the other one. That’s a key lesson that you always stress. So, I was really focused on that, and I did a lot of hip stuff, so, dude, pigeon is my absolute favorite. Just position and like to be in.

Dean Pohlman: I thought you were going to say nemesis. I’m so glad that you said favorite position and.

Bob M: Stardom started that way. But when you realize and that that’s a message to anyone listening here, starting out on the journey, right? Like you’ll find that the ones that suck the most are probably what you need most. Frog I, I sit and watch TV in frog position. That’s awesome. That’s a length. That’s a time based one, right? You’re not doing that for 10s hard.

Bob M: You want to, like, sit there and you can literally feel your legs sliding after five, six minutes, right? Like the older you get, right, the longer it’s going to take. Yeah. Sadly I’m getting older, which sucks. But, that definitely, like, without a doubt, is like pigeon and frog, which I know are two of the most hated.

Bob M: They can become your friend. So. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So so what did you in terms of the terms of the benefits, what did you notice, you know, like in everyday life or in your, you know, just in your how you felt on a day to day basis. Yeah.

Bob M: So the low back was the key, right. The low back I knew I was like it was little things would make it tweak. I knew it that I was really active or had a hockey game like the next 2 to 3 days I’d be sore. I haven’t had that truly since. Since I’ve done this. Or if I do take a gap and doing the yoga stuff on the regular, my back says, hey buddy, it’s time.

Dean Pohlman: And yeah, I know that.

Bob M: So I, I mean, I’m talking that’s like a direct, without a doubt, like no placebo like that. That is just proven. If my hip flexors are allowed to get tight, if I do a lot of traveling, then I need it. So, so instantly the low back stuff, but just general range of motion. My shoulders. I’ve always had bad shoulders.

Bob M: I’ve dislocated this and separated it twice. That was a lot of a pain source. A lot of clicking that’s gone away, man. Like this is no longer a fear factor for me. I was always worried because in fire, you know, we’re crawling and and doing things with our arms out in a vulnerable position. Just having that confidence and movement and no pain.

Bob M: That’s the big thing there. No pain. Like that’s what I love.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah.

Bob M: And I notice that. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: How long would you say it took to get to the point of not having pain?

Bob M: I would say I saw improvements in it within two weeks, way back, a month, month to six weeks. That’s the thing, right? Like that. Gotta stick with it, man. Like the consistency. And especially at the beginning, if you can prove to yourself that the juice is worth the squeeze, it’s there. You just. Yeah, you have to do it.

Dean Pohlman: So what enabled you to be consistent? I mean, I know you’re a guy you own, you’re an athlete, you’re a firefighter. You probably enjoy working out already. But yeah. Was there, you know, was it difficult for you to be consistent and you know, what enabled you to to stay motivated, I guess. Yeah.

Bob M: I’m fortunate. If we go back to the timing, it was Covid, right. So yeah, there was nothing else to do when I wasn’t at work. And when I’m at work, we are allowed to work out on shift, right? So I’m fortunate in that I’m not a 9 to 5 office worker, so I literally can go do a workout.

Bob M: We we encourage that. So I was really lucky. Covid it was pretty boring time, but I would squeeze it into first thing in the morning. If the kids were at school, I’d be able to hop in.

Dean Pohlman: As as anybody in the station. Ever been like mid, mid, mid set and like the alarm goes off and they’re like, hold on, hold on. I got one more superset and then I’ll get in the strike.

Bob M: There are weird timing issues where a lot you could be doing a lot of activities but yes. Yes. So there’s always that like last push. All right. Now I can go. So yeah. Yeah. We’re generally pretty quick though.

Dean Pohlman: Where’s Bobby. He’s getting a protein shake. Bobby, get in there.

Bob M: Absolutely. I still have two more minutes left on this. No, we do respond instantly, but, but yes, yes, it does seem to come at the most inopportune time, so. Okay.

Dean Pohlman: So sorry I had to I had to interrupt that. But you can go back to what you were saying.

Bob M: No, no, it’s it’s it was it was just timing really works well for me. So it was a very boring time and I had to do something active. So this worked out really well because you can do it in your house with minimal equipment. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Nice. So, you know, I’ve got I’ve got other questions that I want to ask, but I’m just curious about fire. The firefighters that you work with, have you been able to turn them on to doing yoga or a lot of them like, nah, dude, I’m not doing that.

Bob M: So so I can point this back at you. You grew up in a lacrosse community, right? I’m sure it was super easy to spread yoga to all those guys, right?

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. It was it was not. Well, it was easier because I was the workhorse and the guy on the team who was in the best shape. So when I said, we’re going to do yoga, most of them were like, okay, if Dean says we’re going to do yoga, then there must be something. There was one guy, I remember him.

Dean Pohlman: He was one guy. He was really, really talented, really naturally gifted, athletic and he was the one guy who was just, like, pretending to do the poses. But then just, like, watching stuff go by as we were outside and. Yeah, and I was like, come on, dude. And a year after that, he had like, he had injuries in both of his knees.

Dean Pohlman: He like, messed up both of his knees in the same go. And he never played lacrosse again. Yeah. So do your yoga.

Bob M: Do it. And that’s and that’s it. So yeah. So again, going back to the culture of fire, brawny, I mean, the generation before us was almost they didn’t even really stress a ton of working out. Right. They’d lift. We had a gym, but it was poor. Like, we’ve really improved our facilities. So the fitness is there. The, I would say the value of the stretching and the range of motion and all that, that I do.

Bob M: It was almost one of those, like, I knew I was going to get ripped, man. Like, I roll out a mat. I’m in a large meeting. We’ve got to have a large meeting room. It’s not really in the gym because our gym is very tight. So I really can’t like be in there while other people are lifting weights and stuff on the floor.

Bob M: And I took a ribbing and I knew it. I knew I would get it, but then there’s some benefits. And, you know, some of the older guys like, hey, I’ve got this issue. Do you know something I can do? And here’s a couple poses and like, let’s do it. I had one group that I was on where we actually did.

Bob M: We threw your screen right up in our meeting room right on there. And we did them. And they were really good about it. And man, they actually look forward to it. So yeah, there’s a mix of in and out of the guys. I would say generally I’m, I’m the go to for if you need a little bit of a stretch idea offer for various issues, but I want to go back to that and why I’m thankful I found you when I did is, you know, I’ve got a lot of guys are similar age to me.

Bob M: Even younger than me, that came on the job at the same time as me. And they’ve had orthopedic injuries, knees, shoulders, back, stuff like that. So I sit back and I’m like proud, you know? I’m proud that like, hey, I made a smart choice a few years ago to, like, take care of this. And I haven’t had, knock on wood, any major orthopedic injury.

Bob M: The only one. And it’s very funny that like it right after we planned this, we were doing we do monthly. We’ll get in full gear on air, and we’ll do a series of stations that are all firefighting activities. And then the whole idea is to gas you and consume your air and get better at consuming your air.

Bob M: Which again, thanks for the breathing stuff that you do. Nice. And there was one where you swing a sledgehammer at a tire and you’re sliding it, and I yanked, man, I’ve never felt it before, but like right at the lower right, probably like my lat or something like that. And dude, you’re not lat, oblique. And so that’s I’m dealing with that right now.

Bob M: I’m kind of in recovery, but I’ve been stretching it and I know certain certain things. I can do that, through you. I can help with that. So. But other than that, really, man, nothing. I didn’t miss work because of this is just sore and sucks, but, yeah, I have not missed work because of an injury, and I’m proud of that.

Dean Pohlman: So. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. So I, I felt this rather than to mention, but we actually have a, one of our members is a he’s either the chief or he’s, he’s a higher up at his fire department in Highland Park outside of Chicago. Yeah. And he actually reached out to me and we set up, like a, like a mass number of memberships for, I think 65 of the firefighters there to volunteer to who said, like, yeah, I want a membership.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah. Anyways, we have yeah. So this is kind of making its way into the tactical athlete section. Yeah. Which is pretty cool. But yeah, it’s, it’s, Good. Good for you to answer. Like, you know, what is the perception and what is the experience for, for these guys and yeah, hopefully. Yeah, hopefully they can keep doing it.

Bob M: Yeah. Yeah. Well, just being able to manipulate my body and in very tight spaces, we practice going through the studs of walls. We practice getting in and out of our gear in a 24 inch tube. Like it’s not fun. I’m fortunate because I’m a short guy too, and I’m just generally smaller, but like, I can move and feel comfortable in those positions, you know, certain there are some people on the job that they can’t turn on their own air pack, right?

Bob M: It’s behind you and you got to turn on the bottle like, I can consider that’s something you have to be able to do. So, I’m never going to let myself get to that point. I know that and makes it a lot easier. So.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. Yeah. So, so you’ve always been, you know, so a lot of these questions that I have, they’re kind of geared toward people who are who have struggled to be consistent. But as someone you know, who has always been consistent with working out. Yeah. Did do you think that this led to you making changes in other areas of your life?

Dean Pohlman: You know, maybe, maybe for you it wasn’t working out, but maybe, you know, I don’t know, maybe the emphasis on breathing did that, did that like start new things for you or how is this led into other improvements in your oh my gosh, health and wellness.

Bob M: Yeah. Yeah. And I I’m if we rewind even again pre finding you and all that I was that guy that loved Tim Ferriss loved you know the Huberman tight people before Huberman was who he is now. So I’ve always been very inward looking since about probably like age 30 or so. Right. So I read a lot of that type of stuff and, yoga was something that, you know, I’d kind of come across or whatever and then like meditation.

Bob M: Right. That’s not like that’s front and center now. But I was into it when headspace was like launching, you know, and, and really just starting to get into that stuff. So breathing has been huge. It, you know, box breathing I I’ll wear I test everything. I’ve worn an aura ring since like they came out with second generation.

Bob M: That’s over five years ago. Like I track my sleep and inputs and outputs and I like I’m a nerd. I’m science.

Dean Pohlman: You have a do you have a spreadsheet for all this stuff?

Bob M: I don’t spreadsheet like I’m not that level, but like, I definitely am very well tuned. But I look at the benefits of things. So breathing is huge, right? Like I can watch my heart rate. We have all the medical equipment at the firehouse, like Pulse ox and stuff like that, and like I can drop. I was on the peloton the other day and I was I started box breathing and I dropped my heart rate.

Bob M: I’ve been doing a lot of zone two training and effort to try to again maximize my air consumption abilities in the firehouse.

Dean Pohlman: So just, tell people what zone two is really quick.

Bob M: Oh, zone two, it’s, depending on who you read, 60 to 70 or 65 to 75% of your max heart rate based on your age. So you take 220, subtract your age. So for me, 40 easy round number 180 would be my max heart rate. I’m looking for 60 to 70% of that. It’s, they describe it as conversational.

Bob M: So if I’m walking, jogging or biking, I would be able to have a conversation. You’d know that I’m working out, but I wouldn’t have to stop and gotcha. So it’s really it’s just it’s long term, easy pace stuff. I throw on a movie, you know, Netflix on my peloton, and I’ll ride for two hours and not I’ll feel tired.

Bob M: But not you’re never gassed. Okay. And I wear the heart rate monitor to kind of do that. The whole idea is it reprograms your mitochondria to allow you to have, it increases VO2 max, which is how much oxygen your body can use. When I have a limited air bottle on, I want to be able to use all of that.

Bob M: It’s a fixed amount. I want to use that as much as I can. So I’m just starting out in that journey and probably like a month end. And they say you don’t see results for a little while. Yeah. But I have seen that like, because, peloton tracks your, your total output. So that’s a good judge of work.

Bob M: I’ve seen that my heart rate in keeping in that same range, my output hasn’t been increasing by a couple points, week over week, which is really cool. So that’s like I’m getting some early results with that. So. Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: But anyways, I think it’s cool that you bring that up because a lot of, just you would think that the best way to increase that is to push yourself as hard as you can, and in reality, it’s to do it at like a much more moderate pace. Yeah. You know. Yeah.

Bob M: So and if you’re a go getter, if you’re a go getter, it’s painfully boring, right.

Dean Pohlman: Right, right.

Bob M: Like it’s it really. I don’t get excited by it. And I will still do those high intensity, you know, peloton rides and workouts, but for what I’m trying to achieve, I’m like, all right, I’m going to do this for for a good amount of time and try to try to see what my results are and while doing everything else.

Bob M: But so that’s a work in progress. But I am seeing, you know, a little bit where my work output is increasing, by, you know, 4 or 5W over the course of a couple weeks, which in that realm, that’s pretty good. No one has a point of reference, but it’s pretty good. So. So yeah, but yeah, breathing. Breathing is huge in in everyday life, in bringing myself down when I’m going crazy.

Bob M: I’ve got kids, I got twins. They love to fight like you get, you know, you’re a parent. You know, I I’ve listened enough for the podcast and get enough right. Like we’ve had our ups and downs and to be able to find that place, to bring it back, breathing is a huge part of that. But breathing when actually doing your workouts is.

Bob M: It’s weird because when you first start out, you focus so much on the, the, the, your body and the movements. And then when you do a workout two, three, four times, you’re like, all right, now I’m going to listen to just breathing instructions. And like all I love your phrase, breathe into the muscle. And it’s hard to explain.

Bob M: But when you breathe in like even your shoulder. Right. Like how you figure this is a big cavity. Like, I can move air around it sort of, kind of. And that’s that was kind of cool where I like, breathe in when we’re doing like, frog like I love breathing into, like, that pelvic area. Right. Yeah. And you can feel a difference.

Bob M: Especially to like when we’re doing twist and you’re like, breathe into, like, you know, the left side of your ribcage, like, that’s where you you can feel a difference. And I would say it’s not a beginner level move, but it’s more like, you know, intermediate and advanced. So.

Dean Pohlman:

Bob M: Breathing in your, your exercises really does translate well to other places. So but yeah, the journey going back to the original question, sorry, I strayed breathing meditation stuff which and again in a brownie world, that’s kind of a weird thing, but, you’re starting to see a lot of people. There’s some some guys that I would never thought would admit meditating once they knew I do was like, oh, you do too.

Bob M: I’m like, yeah. And that train for a long time, and, I don’t want to be. I’m not like, I don’t want to be the guy that’s like, take. Hey everyone, try this, you know?

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. It’s like it’s like, oh, you take bubble baths on Friday nights too. Yeah. Yeah. Right, right.

Bob M: Listen, dude, I got Epsom salts sitting right next to me, right here in my bathroom. And they’re they’re great. I want to take one now. I haven’t done in a while, so, but yeah. Yeah, I’m, I’m constantly trying to like, self improve and, and again, I think you and I are a lot of like in a lot of ways and, and, it’s you can overdo it.

Bob M: You can focus on the wrong things, but focus on what works. Breathing. Everyone here, it doesn’t cost anything. And you have total control with it, right? You just have to have a little instruction which you can YouTube a zillion things. You do a lot with breath. What’s his name? McCowan.

Dean Pohlman: Brian Ryan hatchet.

Bob M: You know, we’re talking about McCowan. He’s a British guy. He does?

Dean Pohlman: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that sounds familiar. Okay.

Bob M: Dude, his book, his new one is, like, super thick, but it’s like it’s deep. It’s crazy. But if you ever want to dig deep into breathing stuff, he Patrick McCowan, that’s what he’s.

Dean Pohlman: He’s done some like he didn’t he likes didn’t he’d do like some ridiculous like Arctic swim.

Bob M: That’s Wim Hof. You’re thinking Wim Hof.

Dean Pohlman: Now Wim Hof is the. This isn’t him. This is like he. This guy also did like, some crazy cold ocean thing. But anyway.

Bob M: This dude, this dude, this dude’s nuts. His book is. It’s right over here. It’s like one of the thickest books on my shelves. But like, I, I’ve only. And it’s like.

Dean Pohlman: Hey, if I see Supple Leppard there.

Bob M: Dude, I.

Dean Pohlman: Love I see something, I see, yoga for yoga for athletes. It’s great. It’s a terrible book. Throw it out.

Bob M: That wasn’t. And look, it’s at the top. Which means I have looked at it recently and let’s do that. Place those on purpose.

Dean Pohlman: Thank you. Yeah, yeah.

Bob M: So, Jocko up there, you know, you got to have Jocko in your life, and. But, Yeah, well, leopard’s a good one. Yeah, I.

Dean Pohlman: Read extreme ownership, and, and then, I remember I was at, like, a, a Thanksgiving with my family and, just everyone together, and I think this is like, we went around and said, like, here’s what I want to work on. And I said, I’m going to take extreme ownership in my life. And my sister, like, looked at me and she’s like, you’re going to say that you’re in control of everything because, you know, now I’m like, I’m not in control of everything.

Dean Pohlman: That’s like not a that’s not a concept that works for me. But,

Bob M: Anyways, I love some Jocko. It applies like military to to fire leadership because yes, it is. It is linear like it’s 100%. So it’s really cool. But you can apply it’s to business to, to any of that type of stuff.

Dean Pohlman: So that’s what he’s doing.

Bob M: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah yeah. Well to.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. So so another question I like to ask is how has community been helpful to your overall health and wellness.

Bob M: Yeah. So you mentioned two, right. Like I’m on the younger side of things and it’s very cool to see you’ve got a, you’ve got a really big mix. But I would love to see more young, young people in there. That aside, I think your community is really good at support. Right. So like I got I got a lot of these online purchases.

Bob M: We have this online Facebook community and blah blah blah. And it’s like it’s filled with like you can tell like auto planned by eye posts, not personalized. The interaction from the people is that you’ve never I don’t think you’ve ever had negativity, but and if you have and you’ve done a really good job, there’s never been any negativity in there.

Bob M: It’s very it’s very forgiving. It’s hey, I’m proud that I finally made this progress and check out this pose I filmed myself feedback.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah, every every like couple of months we get like a post where like it gets deleted so quickly I don’t even know about it. And like a message me, I’ll get like 3 or 4 messages. Like someone made a negative post. Yeah. And or like yeah. So yeah, if it does happen it’s very, very irregular most. And that’s like you said, super supportive.

Bob M: And that’s good and that’s good. And here’s the deal. Like you can have net dude. You can the internet’s the internet right. Like you can find negativity and I’m cool with you scrubbing it. Like if I’m looking up reviews on Amazon, like I need to see the negatives with the positives. But in your space there’s there’s no need for it.

Bob M: Right? And you don’t allow that. And I haven’t seen that. So not even a vibe but you know like oh it’s a positive community but like the vibe is just not there. Yeah. Your vibe like I guess the overall vibe of it is just hey like compost here. Come tell us what you’re doing. Great job. Try this one.

Bob M: I think it’s a lot that I’ve done. More is like when people are looking for things that like this one works for me.

Dean Pohlman: Well, honestly, it took like it probably took almost ten years for it to get to that point. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, it’s I don’t know if I started the Facebook group probably back in like I would say I started it back in like 2013, 2014, maybe as late as 2015. Yeah. Like it really wasn’t self-sustaining until 2020.

Dean Pohlman: Sure. For maybe 2021. And now it’s like, you know, really self-sustaining. And I could probably leave for like six months and come back and it would still be doing great. But yeah.

Bob M: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: You know, I don’t, but I could but it took a while to get to that point. Yeah. It’s it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a testament to the, to the quality of people that are coming into the community. So yeah, it’s really cool.

Bob M: Yeah. By the way, I, I, I was looking up, this is a funny story. My feet are absolute trash right now because I’ve just been doing a lot of on my feet training. I do a lot of rocking and stuff. So anyways, I forgot I always carry a lacrosse ball every time I go to the firehouse and all that stuff, and I roll it.

Bob M: Man, it was crunchy and I was like, it was just looking up again. I’m a nerd. So like.

Dean Pohlman: I just have one of these. Yeah.

Bob M: What is that.

Dean Pohlman: We got, man, for yoga, lacrosse balls?

Bob M: No, I didn’t know, but I’ll get one.

Dean Pohlman: I’ll send you one.

Bob M: Sweet. All right. Perfect. And I was looking up, like the interconnectedness. I like, like like, you know, will it loosen up my calves and my low back and blah, blah, blah? I was just at the firehouse, just digging around and shit. Like, I roll down a little bit and your video pops up one of yours for your like.

Bob M: And I’m sure I don’t if it’s the algorithm and nope. But either way, it was just like, yeah, it’s funny, there’s Dean without me even trying to look for him, you know what I mean? So we,

Dean Pohlman: We make a lot of effort to get fat. Yeah.

Bob M: Yeah. By the way, congrats. You 500 K subscribers. Yeah. And, YouTube, I saw.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah.

Bob M: I clicked on that video a few days ago, so.

Dean Pohlman: Yes, I saw that.

Bob M: When did that happen?

Dean Pohlman: Well, if you start a YouTube channel, you know, one day and maybe you two within 12 years might be able to hit 500,000 subscribers. 12 years. Yeah.

Bob M: So that’s awesome.

Dean Pohlman: But yeah. Thank you.

Bob M: They send you, you’re like they don’t they send you a you’ve got to get a plaque for that earlier I do.

Dean Pohlman: Well I have a plaque for. So they do it at 100 K 1,000,010 million. So I have the 100 K I think I got that back in like 2017 or 2018. Yep. So yeah the next one’s a million. But you know.

Bob M: Is the curve speeding up. Is it like.

Dean Pohlman: It has it changes I think during the pandemic we were running a lot of ads. So we were growing at like maybe 10 to 20,000 subscribers a month. I think right now it’s closer to we’ve had a lot of periods where it’s just like 3000 per month. I think right now it’s about 6000 per month. Some of our some of our sexual wellness videos are going viral right now.

Bob M: I noticed that they were like at the top of your when I went into your channel, like, yep, they’re like the most viewed 2.2 million views. And yeah.

Dean Pohlman: Well, you know, like, sometimes I feel kind of weird about putting them out there, but then I actually have like one of the previous member, interviews that I just did, last week was a guy who literally, like, went from not being able to perform sexually to having sex, you know, spontaneously for the first time in decades, multiple times in that week, just as a result of doing like three manual yoga workouts a week for less than a month.

Dean Pohlman: So, like, it works like it’s, you know, so I, I sometimes I feel weird about like putting out that content but honestly like it works. So it’s it’s working.

Bob M: And that’s awesome. Well, dude, you can’t go anywhere without seeing like 25 Hims commercials and.

Dean Pohlman: Oh yeah, I mean.

Bob M: So obviously out there in a thing and like, it’s like I’ve seen more of those ads than anything. I mean, again, if the algorithm caught something, I’m good.

Dean Pohlman: But like.

Bob M: Yeah, man. Like that’s, that’s got to be front and center of the world. And if you can make a connection to that.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s just it’s, I think it’s just a super widespread but not talked about issue. It’s just it’s just I think more people than not experience something by the time they’re in their 40s. Sure. And there’s just a lot of shame behind I’m a man. I should be able to do this. And you know.

Dean Pohlman: So, yeah, you know, without getting on my soapbox for men’s being more open about their, their, their wellness. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. So, what’s your next what’s the next thing you want to work on with your health and wellness? What’s the next, like, the next big hairy audacious goal for you?

Bob M: Yeah, yeah. So I set you know, I mentioned I turned 40 recently, so. Okay, a year before my 39th, I’m like, I want to be in the best shape of my life by 40. So I was like 10 pounds above where I wanted to be. I lost that, which is great. Now I’m saying that how, for me, I it’s a firehouse, so there’s always food around.

Bob M: So just being more aware of not like blankly just crushing food. Right. Okay. I, I also switch to I really try to do salt packets of some sort, so no sugar. I don’t do fake sugar. I hate anything with like. And he’s. I love tall any of that stuff.

Dean Pohlman: So yeah. Must be on the lookout for that. Dude is everywhere. Everything I.

Bob M: I hate, I can sense any fake sugar. I could do this test of 40 different Coke cans, real or fake. I’ll pick them out every single time. 100% like it. Just. I don’t like it. So getting away from, like, just if I can sub a little bit of sugar out and just be more active. So I added and rocking more, more frequently.

Bob M: And drinking, drinking place part. I love IPAs, which are generally higher calorie beers. So slow that down. That’s that’s an easy modifiable thing. So those are the big ones to lose the weight. Yeah. But but my next goal I talked about the VO2 max increase. That’s that’s because again I’m on a fixed air bottle. So I want to be able to perform for as long as I can.

Bob M: We don’t have long. You’re only talking 17, 18 minutes of working time before the alarm goes off to say you have to get out. So that’s short, man. And if I can add 2 or 3 minutes to that and that that’s, that’s a that could be the difference. Literally. I know it sounds taboo, but between life and death.

Bob M: Right. Whether it’s for me rescuing somebody or me getting my butt out of there in a bad situation. So I’m working on that, which seems like it’s gonna be a long haul. That’s kind of like my goal going into the winter. And I do have to do some strength, I don’t, I you can see, but like, I’m like, I’m small right now and I want to get.

Bob M: What do you want to get a little bit bigger.

Dean Pohlman: What do you how tall are you. What do you weigh? Right now I.

Bob M: Am five, eight and a quarter. I don’t know, it depends on my hair.

Dean Pohlman: I mean, yeah, you got to add that I, I, I round up, I say I’m five, ten but six for the presents.

Bob M: Yes. Right, right. So five, eight, 171 right now. And that’s, that’s like I like to be between 168 and 171 is kind of my, my sweet spot. That being said, that’s what the frame I have. If I’m putting on that weight in muscle, I’m cool with going wherever that takes me. So but I was like, I was weight one, 81, 81 and it was all midsection.

Bob M: So, I’m fortunate I got a good metabolism. I can lose weight pretty easily. And I know some people may be swearing at me right now, but. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s effort.

Dean Pohlman: I found that it’s about half, half and half. So, like, you know, I make a lot of content assuming that most people are trying to lose weight and they are, but 40% of people are trying to put on muscle.

Bob M: Yeah.

Dean Pohlman: So, like, it’s the, it’s the, it’s the silent, what’s the what? That’s not the term that I want to use. It is the, it’s, it’s yeah, it’s a large amount of people who are, you know, they have a goal that’s not as important as losing weight. So they’re not as vocal about it. Right. But it’s still that’s the goal.

Dean Pohlman: So. Right.

Bob M: Yep. Yep.

Dean Pohlman: So, All right I want to get into our rapid fire question. And then, just to make people stick around, I’m going to ask you to tell us, just a cool story as a, as a firefighter. So we’ll, we’ll do that after the rapid fire section. But I’m, I’m teasing it now. So just, you know, in the back of your mind, your subconscious start, start coming up.

Dean Pohlman: So start coming up with that okay. All right. So first question here, what do you think is one habit, belief or mindset that has helped you the most with your overall health and wellness?

Bob M:

Dean Pohlman: It’s the belief or mindset, I.

Bob M: Think the belief and mindset. So I’ll tie those together. It’s it’s that you’re never too far in to something to to not fix it. Right. Like you can always improve your situation where you are. And I think the other part of that is just never stop experimenting like try things but also measure them, right? Like just just be willing to try things.

Bob M: Under my desk, which you can’t see right now. And this is the dude. Maybe people tune out so good thing it’s at the end of the podcast, grounding. So I sleep on a hello. I my I have the workstation thing. I’ve got the patches for me, it works. And it could be the best placebo in the world.

Bob M: But I tried it. I measured it with the aura ring and all kinds of various things, and to me it at least works. So I don’t sleep at night without being grounded. That was a big voodoo thing. But I tried it and it worked. And I’ve tried a lot of things, supplements and things. It was a total waste of money.

Bob M: So just be willing to be open about your health and wellness, right? Like that’s the thing. And overstep that being a macho man in a lot of ways that that’s if we talked about the sexual health, we talked about, the breathing, the meditation, all things that don’t seem like manly things to do have been the things that have benefited me the most.

Bob M: Right. So, so awesome. Be willing. Just be open.

Dean Pohlman: All right? Yeah. What’s one thing that you do for your health that you believe is overlooked or undervalued?

Bob M: Drink a ton of water.

Dean Pohlman: Drink a ton of water.

Bob M: I crush water and I always have like a hydration pack or two, depending on the time of the year. Every day I think, hey everyone, I know when I’m dehydrated my sleep goes to crap my my strength. You know, like I can do your same workouts and like, hey, I’m gassed or I’m shaking and like, you know what I mean?

Bob M: Like, I get I give you direct feedback and it it hurts your flexibility. I found man when I’m dehydrated, I feel like just in general, not as flexible. So, that’s an easy one. Water. The other would be, do you put.

Dean Pohlman: Anything in your water?

Bob M: Yeah. So. So element has been my favorite one for a long time. Element?

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. My wife just got some of those to try them out.

Bob M: Yeah. So, I just did a bulk order for the firehouse. They wanted to have them, like, as as, like basically in a jar that we could grab them and there’s a new brand I’m going to try out called Salt Salve.

Dean Pohlman: I think I’ve heard of that one.

Bob M: That looks like they have a little bit better ingredients. Okay. Again, I’m a nerd and I look way too into things, and it seemed like the cost was a little bit better. So those haven’t arrived yet, but, but, yeah, just just some form of a. And again, keep away from the sugar. If you can keep away from fake sugar.

Bob M: That’s that’s just my personal and not medical, but just my personal recommendation. So. But drinking water is a huge thing. I think that that’s. And it’s so simple, right? Like, you talk about the overlooked things that we. It’s right in front of you, right? Like breathing is in front of you, and you can change it right now.

Bob M: Water. Go grab a glass of water.

Dean Pohlman: Right. Yeah. This is this is my giant 40, 46 ounce water bottle that I lug everywhere. So get yourself a nice giant water bottle and it’s easier to drink.

Bob M: This is what I’m drinking out of right now, right?

Dean Pohlman: Nice. Yep. Here we go. All right. What’s the what’s the most stressful part of your day to day life?

Bob M: If I took a snapshot of right now, I’d say probably parenting two nine year old boys that are alpha males. Okay, that’s that’s tough. That’s tough. It’s fun. You know, we I coach their hockey and we have lots of outlets, but they just have a lot of energy. And, you know, they live in the same space.

Bob M: We don’t have a ginormous house, and they’re on top of each other, so that’s the biggest stress. But if we if I zoomed out of the family that I love my job, that’s the thing. Like it is stressful while I’m there, but like, I don’t I love my job, so I can’t even say my job, man. Like it’s it’s crazy.

Bob M: I don’t have a lot of stress in that regard. It’s just managing children. You’re a parent, you know. Yeah, I really I think that’s the hardest part of my life right now, honestly. Yeah, it’s crazy.

Dean Pohlman: All right.

Bob M: But it’s enjoyable too. So I don’t want to say it’s all bad.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. All right. And then my, my last question is, what is your best piece of advice for men who want to be healthier?

Bob M: Oh, that’s a broad question. A lot of managers, it’s it’s be open. Don’t don’t take all the assumptions. Science is so on our side right now. And all the things that we thought were true from our parents telling life’s tales and stuff like, like we have we have the most easily accessible health information out there. Is there a lot of bad stuff?

Bob M: Yes. Is there a lot of good stuff? Yes. And that’s on you to kind of figure that out, but find avenues like yours, right? Where, hey, this is proven. There’s a lot of members, see what you like, try new things. I go back to that kind of earlier questions, try new things. But your health is like, don’t let it go either, right?

Bob M: Like, I feel like I’m holding onto mine. I’m 40 and I’m. I’m not bragging, but I’m very fortunate. I tell so many people, like, I just turned 40. I’m like, really? And I’m like, that’s really cool. Now, if I lift my head off, I’ve got the gray racing stripes. I’m like, oh, now I see it. But with the hat on, I feel like I look a little younger.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah, that’s. Yeah, that’s why I get this fade, right. That’s the if I get the sides cut then it’s not as visible.

Bob M: It’s good for like a week before. Before it looks great. So yeah you know I, I’m very fortunate. I’ve got pretty good genetics on my side. But to be able to be 40 and not and like look in the mirror and be like, okay, I’m doing pretty okay for this right now, you know. But yeah, it’s taking work to do it.

Bob M: Like that’s the thing is dude, there’s no pills. You can take every supplemental role. Nothing changes. Right? You have to you gotta move. I think it’s a movement, right? Like it’s more just movement. Anything. Yoga. I like to ruck. It’s walking with a heavy backpack. But again, the benefits from that, lifting. Just movement. Movement. That’s that’s that’s huge.

Bob M: Right. Like when you sit still, you die and I see it and, you know, it’s a fireman, man. I know it’s a rapid fire question, but I see it in the medical field when when people move out of their home, elderly people and they go into, you know, an assisted living or whatever it may be, unless they’re very, very active there and going on their own to stay moving, you see them die really fast, like once you lose the purpose and once you stop moving, it just doesn’t work anymore.

Dean Pohlman: Yeah. That’s that’s that’s, I think that’s a good summary. Yeah. No purpose, no movement. Yeah. It’s tough at that point. Know? Yeah. All right. Bobby, thank you for being a, a shining example of how men in their 30s and early 40s should be taking care of themselves, and, really cool. I’m finally. I’m glad that we finally got to have a conversation.

Dean Pohlman: I do feel, a kindred spirit, from you and, Yeah, I, I, I hope God’s with you for your the raising of your twin. Twin boys. I’ll be praying for you. You know.

Bob M: Everyone understands it has him, so. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s good, it’s good. So you guys.

Dean Pohlman: And hopefully I can make it up to the northeast. I’d love to see you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll have to.

Bob M: We’ll have to send you a schedule. And I mean, not to plan it around me, but like, hey, man, I’ve got a whole year or whatever. My schedule is wacky with the firehouse, but I think openings. I’d love to love to get together with you and other members and. Yeah. And, be in person. So.

Dean Pohlman: Awesome. Yeah. Cool. All right. Man. Well, thank you again for doing this. I appreciate it, guys. Listening in. I hope you, hope you enjoyed this, this member interview. I hope you got a lot out of it. I hope it inspires you to be a better man. And I’ll see you on the next one.

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