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Why Sitting Is Bad For You with Kyle Gonzalez - E103
44 Plays1 month ago
If you spend more than eight hours sitting each day, your risk of dying from any cause shoots up by 47%.
Modern life makes it far too easy to slip into inactivity, even for people who try to squeeze in gym time or keep a step counter buzzing. Despite knowing movement matters, most of us struggle with where to start, how to keep going, or fitting it in around real-life busyness and setbacks.
This episode uncovers why daily movement - not formal exercise - may be the most overlooked health lever, and reveals simple, sustainable ways to break free from the all-or-nothing mindset that keeps us stuck. You’ll hear helpful strategies that anyone can use to reclaim vitality, drawn straight from someone who’s lived it, coached it, and made it accessible for others.
Kyle Gonzalez, M.S., CSCS, is a former D1 athlete, performance coach, and author of The Vitality System, with over a decade of experience helping people optimize health and performance through coaching, content, and start-up leadership. He’s been featured in Men’s Health, NBC News, and The Washington Post, and currently serves as VP of Performance at Coya and hosts The Vitality System Podcast. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
“Try sitting on the ground for 30 minutes. I guarantee you'll shift positions, you'll move, your posture will change because your body's figuring it out.” - Kyle Gonzalez
In this episode you will learn:
- Why too much sitting can raise your risk of early death, and how small changes in movement can help.
- How modern life has made us less active, and what this means for health.
- The key difference between formal exercise and daily movement, and why both matter.
- Why making movement enjoyable can help you stick with it over time.
- How your purpose, goals, and community shape healthy routines.
- Simple ways to add more movement to your day, even if you are busy.
Resources
- Connect with Kyle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kylegonzalez3/
- Lister to his podcast, ‘The Vitality System’: https://thevitalitysystem.buzzsprout.com/
- Buy his books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kyle-Gonzalez/author/B0BSGCKDRB
This podcast was produced by the team at Zapods Podcast Agency:
https://www.zapods.com
Find the products, practices, and routines discussed on the Alively website:
https://alively.com
Recommended
Transcript
Impact of Sedentary Lifestyle on Mortality
00:00:00
Speaker
When you get above eight hours of sitting, the research points to 47% increase in all-cause mortality. And so if you can go down to six, if you can go down to four, you're looking at huge increases in mortality. And this is just from not sitting. It's not necessarily about more exercise. Sometimes it's about less inactivity.
Introduction to the Home of Healthspan Podcast
00:00:24
Speaker
This is the Home of Health Spam podcast, where we profile health and wellness role models, sharing their stories and the tools, practices, and routines they use to live a lively life.
Meet Kyle: A Passionate Health Communicator
00:00:37
Speaker
Kyle, welcome to the Home of Healthspan podcast. Looking forward to the conversation and yeah, looking forward to being here. Thank you for having me. i am also looking forward to the conversation. you know, as someone with a treadmill desk and likes to stay moving, like it's one of my favorite subjects, so I can't wait to jump in. But before we do, how would you describe yourself?
00:00:58
Speaker
oof It's a big question. i would say I am a lively coach. I'm a lively author. I'm a lively science communicator. I'm a lively dad, parent, a lively partner.
00:01:13
Speaker
With all of those things, I just try to bring energy. try to bring enthusiasm and I try to bring passion to all of those things and hopefully that'll that'll show through as we get recording here.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yeah, and I do want to kind of
The Paradox of Modern Sedentary Life
00:01:28
Speaker
go down that. So as we're recording, you're standing up, I'm standing up. I think you've made the comment before of we live in the most technologically advanced age of human civilization and also the most sedentary time in human civilization.
00:01:43
Speaker
How did we get here? Wow. Yeah. it's ah How long do we have here? No, I'm just kidding. No, I think honestly, we we got here because we evolved to be outdoors all the time. We evolved to be moving all the time by necessity.
00:01:59
Speaker
And I think this was what life called for. And nowadays, we've kind of had this mismatch and flip-flop, if you will, where we spend... you know I've seen estimates close to 90% to 95% our time indoors.
00:02:13
Speaker
you know We used to come from a world of scarcity. Now we come from a world of abundance where or you know ah those of us in ah and a privileged place have access to food and shelter and all of these different things.
00:02:25
Speaker
And so all of that is a positive, net positive for the world and for humans and for lifespan and healthspan. But I think that abundance has put us into a world where we've compartmentalized exercise. And exercise and movement in general have become a luxury.
00:02:42
Speaker
And so people look at this as something that they do when they need to, as opposed to needing to do it. And so with that, we... sit in our cars, we sit to work, we sit to watch TV, we are sedentary for a lot of the day, because we don't have to move a lot of the
Integrating Movement into Daily Life
00:03:00
Speaker
time. And so I think for me, I've been thinking a lot more about how can I get back to natural, joyful movement daily throughout my life, as opposed to just exercise and checking that box of exercise, which I think a lot of society does nowadays. So that's kind of where it's come, which is a good thing. But
00:03:21
Speaker
At scale, it's becoming something that they call an evolutionary mismatch where, you know, back then this was a thing that worked, but nowadays this is something that's kind of working against us.
00:03:31
Speaker
I do have a question on that. I've heard it and I haven't looked at the research myself, but I imagine in your book, you might even cover this. That's coming out tomorrow. Yeah.
00:03:40
Speaker
I've heard, so the kind of person that goes to the gym 60, 90 minutes, like gets an intense workout versus someone who never goes to the gym, but they're working in a construction site and they're moving the whole time, that it's actually that person, the one that's moving, that ends up having less mortality risk and better cardiovascular health and all that. It's the consistent motion rather than the specific, oh, I did my biceps and triceps today.
00:04:06
Speaker
That's exactly right. And it's one of the premises of my book is to, again, i say, like let us not like isolate exercise. Let's integrate movement daily. And so with that, your point is exactly right. of When it comes to daily movement, I would rather take the person who is... at like Let's just back it up. Look at blue zones. And you talk to these blue zone areas where people are living to 100 and higher at a higher percentage.
00:04:35
Speaker
and there's five areas throughout the world. You can talk to any of those blue zones. Rarely are you saying, what are they doing for exercise? They'll probably say nothing. And what they're doing is they're walking to markets to get food.
00:04:47
Speaker
They are daily and active working on their farms or on their land. They are walking to go see friends and bike riding and doing all of these things as a part of daily living.
Health Risks of Sitting and Natural Movement
00:04:57
Speaker
As opposed to, again, the day and age we live in now where like you said, it's like, I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to spend 30 minutes, 60 minutes at the gym doing one specific thing and then check the box and be like, okay, for the rest of the day, I did my exercise so I can actually be sedentary, which is the wrong way to look at it.
00:05:15
Speaker
I actually like take out the 60 minutes that you did with the exercise. What are you doing for the other 23? And kind of figuring out what that looks like. and and And so for me, it's been a big unlock for people because sometimes at scale, at the population level,
00:05:29
Speaker
looking at exercise can be ah intimidating. And I don't want to go to a gym where there's a lot of people and there's fit people and there are treadmills and I don't know what to do. As opposed to, hey, can you get out and go for 2-3 walks a day?
00:05:41
Speaker
Hey, can you stand 5 minutes every hour? Can you just work on not being as inactive? And so that's a lot more approachable at at a general scale.
00:05:51
Speaker
And it's been something that, again, like you said, is not just tied to sustainability, it's also tied to outcomes, mortality risk, cancer risk, cardiovascular risk down the line. An important point on those blue zones that you kind of referenced, but just to call it specifically, these people aren't just living to 100. They're walking to the market and carrying their groceries. This isn't what we think of the people in their retirement homes hooked up with to a bunch of tubes. They're they're truly living.
00:06:18
Speaker
like They're living through that whole life because they move. And I think less in Europe and some of those blue zones, but a lot the South America, Asia, you know, one of the lines I always talk about is there are no chairs in nature, right? That it is a incredibly artificial position to be in period, much less for prolonged periods. And it shortens our hip flexors. It gives us back pain. So all these people have pain. It's because you're doing something horribly unnatural to your body for the majority of the day. Whereas if you see a two-year-old, a three-year-old, a four-year-old, their squat form is perfect. They just pop down. And then you go see an 84-year-old in Okinawa and it's the same thing. Like that's how they use the toilet. So we all had that ability. We just lost it over time because we sat in these unnatural
Learning Movement from Children
00:06:59
Speaker
things. And my daughter, she's 10 now, but she would sit at a table and she would pop her feet up in the chair, both. So her knees are like up by her ears and...
00:07:09
Speaker
just totally unacceptable, right? And I would try to argue with her all the time. And it took me two years, maybe three years. And I said wait a minute, this is so much better for your body. And so I had the conversation. i said, look, for years, I've been trying to get you not to do this.
00:07:22
Speaker
I was wrong. I was wrong. You were listening to your body. You're doing the right thing. When we go to a restaurant or public or you're around your grandparents, we're going to have to do this like conform with society. But I want you listen to the voice in your body and know what you're doing is actually the right thing because I was wrong.
00:07:38
Speaker
And us recognizing we've been conditioned in so many ways. This is the right thing. Sit in this chair in your classroom for this amount of time. Like, actually, we're ruining these people's bodies.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's such a good point. I have an 18 month old and I watch him move so much, especially as a coach for over a decade. And it's just like flawless movement patterns and the way he just operates and figures things out.
00:08:03
Speaker
We kind of lose that ability to figure things out and we... almost just go to what's most comfortable or the path of least resistance when it comes to all that. And yeah, sitting, man, it's it's basically turning off all major muscle groups. And that's a bad, that's a problem when you have stagnation and major muscle groups for long periods of time. And some people are sitting three, four, five hours in one sitting. And that's, that's it's problematic. Inflammation, it's problematic for wide variety of reasons. Blood flow down the line.
00:08:33
Speaker
And I think for me, Even just, I think it's Kelly Sturratt in his book, Built to Move, talks about active sitting and how you can just you know move and put fidget in your chair, how you can go from standing to sitting, exercise, snacks, all of these different things.
00:08:47
Speaker
It doesn't take much. And that's the thing that people need to understand. like I'm not saying you need to be moving 24 hours of the day. Of course not. We're going to be sedentary. And I think there's a difference between, you talked about it, in Blue Zones and other cultures,
00:09:01
Speaker
Even sitting in a deep squat or being in a deep squat position as opposed to sitting in a chair or having a position where you're a little bit more active and engaged. I talk a lot about ground sitting. Another thing that I got from the book Built to Move.
00:09:15
Speaker
Sitting on the ground, try sitting on the ground for 30 minutes. I guarantee you'll shift positions, you'll move, your posture will change because your body's figuring it out. All of that is...
00:09:25
Speaker
your body touching different shapes and positions and keeping those muscle groups alive, keeping those muscle groups getting blood flow, and keeping your body saying to your brain, hey, I trust myself in these positions.
00:09:37
Speaker
As opposed to when you sit, everything is just stagnant. It is turned off and your body's saying, okay, if this is the shape I'm in, this is the shape I'm going to optimize for.
00:09:48
Speaker
And again, if you're sitting for a long time, I'm seeing stats now where people are almost sitting eight, nine hours a day. That's more than we're sleeping.
Practical Tips for Reducing Sedentary Time
00:09:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. It's crazy. I mean, i in look, i as a former Division All-American athlete, everything, like i I was guilty of this in college, and you're sitting there studying law school, even more so, right? And I would just be sitting, then was working and had horrible back pain. And I mean, it took me five years to learn how to activate my glutes. like They were just so turned off.
00:10:16
Speaker
I did not know how to use them, did not know how to turn them on. It was it was and a whole journey. But what I love about your approach to... is how freeing and enabling it is. Because I think a lot of people hear, oh, fitness or movement, and it is intimidating, is the gym. I don't know how to do a deadlift. I'm scared of back squats, like whatever. It was like, no, here's the thing. You know, every 60 minutes, you can do 10 air squats next to your desk.
00:10:42
Speaker
I mean, I'm the weirdo that I am fine in the airport. I go through my cars. I do everything while I'm there. i'm like, Hey, I'm going to stay here moving when I'm doing a flight every 60 to 90 minutes. I try to get the aisle. And if I don't, sorry, but I get up and I go to the bathroom and I do 20 30 squats. Yeah.
00:10:59
Speaker
depending on the length of flight. Like sometimes i had these eight hour flights and I'd be up six times, seven times going in there and doing that. Cause I don't want deep pain thrombosis and everything. And yeah you can do it and it's free and you can do it anywhere. And so I'd be curious as you were doing your research, like what are the options? What is the menu for people?
00:11:20
Speaker
Cause it's so easy to be like, well, I can't get to the gym or I don't have a gym membership or I don't have weights at home. but We're just saying just move your body. Right. Yeah. This is a great thought. And i yeah I resonate with so much, especially the fact that I feel like I'm a weirdo in some of the situations where I'm doing the things in the airport or waiting in line for certain things or even on calls where I'm not the the focal point. I'll use my walking treadmill desk and I'm the one bobbing and weaving. But there's so many things. i so I always start with walks. Walks, I think, are just...
00:11:54
Speaker
the probably number one thing for me in terms of like being a gateway habit and also being ah like what we call like a keystone habit that just leads to so many other things. When you think about a walk, mentally, what it's doing for you, physically, what it's doing for you, but also just actually creating space to get outside if you can. I have a walking treadmill. Sometimes it's a walk indoors, but getting outside and what that does for you stress-wise, mentally, cognitively. So that's the number one thing I'd point to.
00:12:22
Speaker
We see 10,000 steps. We see 7,000 steps. Most of the research points to the majority of the benefits happen at 7,000. So if you can get to there, that's great. Even for me, what I say is like, wherever you are, can you add 1,000 steps? That's about 10 to 15 minutes of walking.
00:12:38
Speaker
So like if you're at 3,000, 7,000 could feel far. So again, can you add 1,000 and continue to be sustainable from there? Other tools for me would definitely be something I call like the stand to sit ratio. And again, some people may have heard of this of just, can you stand as much as you're sitting throughout the day? So let's say you're up for 16 hours of a waking day, you slept eight hours.
00:13:01
Speaker
Can you be standing for over eight hours of that day? And not just standing because again, if I were to be standing at my standing desk completely still, that's not a whole lot better than sitting sitting completely still. So can you be moving throughout the day for eight plus hours?
00:13:18
Speaker
When you get above eight hours of sitting, I think the research points to 47% increase in all-cause mortality. So above eight hours is like the average.
00:13:28
Speaker
And so if you can go down to six, if you can go down to four, you're looking at huge increases in mortality. And this is just from not sitting. So I always say like for us, it's not necessarily about more exercise. Sometimes it's about less inactivity. And if we can tip the scales to think about the easy wins we could get,
00:13:48
Speaker
exercise, snacks, jump roping, you know doing things where we're we're getting walks, doing things where we're moving, those little things, they really do add up over a long period of time. Yeah. And I want to be clear with the listeners too, that it's this is a menu.
Incremental Changes and Enjoyable Actions
00:14:02
Speaker
And the the answer is start with just picking one. As a prior guest of ours said, Tommy Woody says, anything greater than one is oftentimes zero.
00:14:09
Speaker
So just pick one and don't let perfect be the enemy a good. If you're 3,000, you're like, well, 7,000, that's undoable. So I'm just not going to do anything. like Do you know if you went to 4,000, that's a 33% increase. That is such a massive improvement. So look don't look at the gap to where you're not yet. Look at the gain. Look where you came from and give yourself credit for that.
00:14:31
Speaker
And then you can worry about what comes after. But just take that first step and the the improvement from... nothing to something is way bigger than the something to something more.
00:14:44
Speaker
The nothing to something is the biggest lift you're going to get. Yeah. two Two big concepts I talk a lot about in the book. One is like an exercise science term, minimal effective dose. Most people have probably heard of this. And I think it's such an important tool because for me, it's like, what is the least amount of work I can do to get the most effective benefit?
00:15:06
Speaker
And i think sometimes people want to start with ideal or the the buzzword these days is optimal. Can I be optimized and optimal and optimized and optimized? It's like, what is realistic for you right now?
00:15:18
Speaker
And so if you can start with realistic, we can always build and get better and get better. But if you try to start with ideal, guess what?
00:15:28
Speaker
All or nothing, usually most times for people, it ends up nothing. And so I always shift people to always something. And that's such a big concept for people as well as to take the mental burden off of yourself.
00:15:41
Speaker
Us former athletes, we live in a perfectionist world where we want to do everything at the highest level. We want to be the best. Guess what? I, as much as I like to think, I'm not a basketball player at the division one level anymore.
00:15:53
Speaker
And so I had to shift my mindset from Kyle, I'm not going to be smashing hour and 30 minute workouts and doing these practices and doing these things. It's like, I have 18-month-old. have a partner. have a dog.
00:16:06
Speaker
like You got to make it work for your environment. and You got to make it work for your life. And you got to make it work for your goals. And so I think for me, mentally, was the biggest a shift because it's easy for me to want to push hard and go longer and do all those things.
00:16:20
Speaker
It's harder for me to take a step back, swallow my pride and be like, today, I'm going to get a 15-minute walk outside and I'm okay with that. And sometimes I can shift these things. I always say, You want to be clear with where you're where you're going, but flexible in how you get there.
00:16:34
Speaker
And that's been a big unlock for me of like not being so tied to, I need to do this much zone two and this much during my strength workouts. It's like, hey, can I just touch some of these things and make sure...
00:16:46
Speaker
overall all that I'm getting a good amount of movement in. That makes a lot of sense. I wanted on that minimum effective dose. Yeah. we We talk about another Emmy. ah We have a minimum of enjoyable action.
00:17:00
Speaker
And so where does enjoyment come into this? Cause it's a, you know, I, we think a lot about there are people that care about too many things.
00:17:10
Speaker
Right. And whether it's the news cycle, they're just so many things and trying to keep up. And so you're just fried because you care so much about so many things versus for me over time, it's taken me a long time to get here. They're like, it's actually a very small universe of these things are important to me and they get a lot of my attention and I'll put more effort and time and attention. Right.
00:17:32
Speaker
daughter, my family, like all these. And then these other things of, but I have seven lively shirts. That's what I wear. I'm just not that worried about it. What I have in my refrigerator, it's pretty consistent when I'm making lunch and dinner.
00:17:43
Speaker
Those aren't as important. These other things get a lot of mindshare. And is there something as somebody is somebody's thinking about the movement where where they're looking to optimize. Don't optimize the thing that feels like a horrible grind. Maybe optimize the thing you're really enjoying putting the time into and look at that MED where it's less enjoyable. and You're like, hey, I do need to just tick the box here to get something done.
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, man. There's so many things that come to mind. There's such a good point. I love ah minimum enjoyable action. And I think... For me, I write about this concept in the book called the fit principle, which is how you think about programming your exercise or your movement and its frequency, intensity, time, type.
00:18:23
Speaker
That's like the exercise science version. Kyle's version is frequency, intensity, time, type, and enjoyment. Because I think you can't put together a program and not think about enjoyment.
00:18:34
Speaker
And for me, the best program is one you'll do consistently.
Enjoyment and Mental Health in Movement
00:18:40
Speaker
The best movement practice is one you'll do consistently. And so I get a lot of people that are like, all right Kyle, like I you know built this program on ChatGPT or I did this thing and it's like, I had this perfect program, but then they don't do it or they don't show up or they're not sustainable. And it's like, is it the perfect program then? And so for me, taking a step back and saying, what do you enjoy doing?
00:19:03
Speaker
I always come back to like ah the story of me like as a kid. When I was a kid, I would get home from school, I would drop my backpack off, and I would go outside and play for hours. There was no agenda. There was no, oh, we're going to do this.
00:19:19
Speaker
It was tagged. Am I getting my 60 minutes of movement in? like No, it was just, I want to go play. None of that. It was just get outside and play. i think technology and screens and social media has changed the nature a little bit, but we still have access to that.
00:19:32
Speaker
And guess what? When we become adults, we can still play, whether that's dancing, whether that's yard work, whether that's going out and being with friends and doing something sports-wise. like All of these things we still have access to.
00:19:45
Speaker
And I think for me, if you can enjoy what you're doing, it adds another element of stress relief. It adds sometimes a social connection. which both... I mean, Harvard Health Study has been going on for 85 years and they've identified that your relationships are the number one predictor of your health. So again, you'd be wise to do things socially with people and have people that you connect with.
00:20:07
Speaker
So for me, that is the secret sauce is actually enjoying movement as opposed to... Now, i granted, I'm a coach. I always say like a great program and a great movement practice is probably going to have a little bit of what you want and a little bit of what you need mixed together.
00:20:22
Speaker
But it should never only be, oh man, I got to go exercise today. Oh man, I got to go on this walk or again, find things that you enjoy because that's a force multiplier with this whole thing that is movement and it'll help you continue to show up consistently, which is the key.
00:20:39
Speaker
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00:20:53
Speaker
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00:21:07
Speaker
This movement for life concept is distinguishable and needs to be distinguished from elite athleticism, right? So we've had people on the show, world champions, world record, all this.
00:21:21
Speaker
And what you do and do suffer through and put your body through, it's fine that you're not enjoying it because you're, kids say I want to be the best in the world. And so this is a thing versus this is a thing because I want to live life. I'm moving and taking care of myself because of all this other life around here. And so I don't need to make it a grind. I don't need to be the best. like What is that minimum effective dose? What is fun? And how do how does it fit in to my actual purpose here?
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah. I think tying things back to your goals, your lifestyle, your values is very, very important. like I think for everyone listening, it's it's very impactful to think about your purpose and your why.
00:22:04
Speaker
Because that is something for me that I call on a ton Now, I have an 18-month-old, I have a dog, i have a wife, I want to be present, I want to bring energy, I want to model good behaviors.
00:22:17
Speaker
But guess what? When I have to wake up to a crying sun at 2am, it's a little bit harder to hit the gym the next day. Or if it's raining outside, it's a little bit harder to go for that run. But when I take a step back and think, Why are you doing this, Kyle? Oh, because I want to be more present and have more time with my son. Oh, because I want to live a healthier life and be more passionate about you know ah the things that I'm doing in my life. Oh, because I want a role model.
00:22:41
Speaker
It's a no-brainer. I'm showing up for that because there's nothing that can beat those things and what I want from that. As opposed to, oh, I'm going to the gym because I want ah summer abs or I want a beach body. ah It's like, I'll be like, okay, the bed sounds better. I can i can wait on that or that can wait till tomorrow.
00:23:00
Speaker
And so again, the famous quote, you know he who has a why to live for can bear any how. And so that is how I look at it is the stronger your why, the easier it is to sustainably show up, even when it's hard because the mark of a consistent person, the mark of someone who's really wants to show up for themselves is that they will show up At some level, again, shifting from all or nothing to always something, they will show up at some level, no matter the conditions, whether it's a good day, a bad day, a medium day, show up and do something for yourself to show yourself that I'm the type of person that shows up.
Understanding Client Motivations and Goals
00:23:35
Speaker
I'm the type of person that wants to do these healthy things.
00:23:37
Speaker
I am curious on that because you're not just ah an elite athlete that does this in your life. And you're not just an author that documents, but you're a coach. You work with people that are coming in at all different stages and with different objectives as they're saying, hey, here's here's what my motivation is and here's where I want to get to and here's the kind of timeline. And they, I'm sure vary. So what is, when you're working with a client like that, what is that intake process to then figure out what is the right journey and path and program?
00:24:08
Speaker
One of the first things to do is to get ah clear on why you're in this and what you're looking to get out of it. So thinking about the why, thinking about the purpose is very, very important to me.
00:24:20
Speaker
And do you do you get them to dig? Because you know one thing is, oh, well, my ex is getting married um and I really want to look super hot at the wedding. And and so that's why. And you're like, is that really why? like Is there some probing if they give you kind of more flippant answer like that? 100%. use this exercise called the five whys exercise. So it's like the curious kid who you just, you ask why, you ask why again, you keep digging down deep into really, what's that core reason why this is showing up?
00:24:49
Speaker
Because even somebody that says, oh, I want the gym body. It's like, okay, is it a confidence thing? is it ah you know And you can kind of peel back those layers. And so I think that's that's really, really important.
00:25:00
Speaker
And then for me, I think it's it's helpful for people to talk it out. It's helpful for people to get it out. Sometimes it it lives inside your mind and you don't ever talk about it. And when you do talk about it, then it kind of gets some life behind it.
00:25:13
Speaker
After that, I think it's super, super important to understand goals and what are you trying to achieve and what are the things and helping to anchor them towards what is realistic, which gets into the next thing of like, okay, these are your goals. This is what we want to get to. Where are you right now, honestly?
00:25:31
Speaker
And sometimes that takes an audit with nutrition. That takes an audit with exercise and and movement. That takes an audit with sleep. and all of these different things to get a real place of like, here's where you are.
00:25:43
Speaker
My goal is to help you take the next step. We're not going to take this massive leap and get you to where you want to go. any Any person that's promising you 30 days for this and 60 days for that is usually either trying to sell you something or it's something that they're, again, trying to put you in a position where the faster you lose these things or the faster you gain these things, usually it is the quicker that you're going to lose them off. And so I work in sustainability as opposed to extremes.
00:26:11
Speaker
And so for me, if you want to sustain these things, if you want to optimize for health span and lifespan, how how ah you know well you're living as opposed to just living long, how well you're actually living, actually see this metric called peak span, which I like as well, of like how long you're at your peak, which I think is really cool.
00:26:31
Speaker
So for me, again, your why, your purpose, your goals, thinking about where you're starting, doing a little bit of an audit, and then getting into how can we build the program from there moving out, whatever it is, nutrition, movement, sleep, mindset, all of these things are big tools.
00:26:48
Speaker
And you can't look at one without the other.
Balancing Goals with Readiness and Education
00:26:50
Speaker
And so it's impossible for me to look at nutrition without knowing a little bit about your sleep habits, without knowing a little bit about your movement, your mindset, and vice versa. So for me, they all play together.
00:26:59
Speaker
It makes a lot of sense. I mean, you just covered them, but we talk at a Lively, at these five pillars, right? Movement, nutrition, and body composition, and recovery, stress management, mindset, and then social connection and purpose.
00:27:12
Speaker
And as you're working with people, that they all matter. But back to if it's greater than one, a lot of times it's zero. Is it finding the one they most want to work on now or the highest leverage point? Like, hey, I get you want to work on fitness. Like you want the six pack out of this, but you're sleeping five hours a night.
00:27:30
Speaker
And until we start dealing with this, you're not going to have the energy to be able to do this properly. So we actually need to start here. How do you work with people on that? That's exactly right. I think it's ah it's a give and take. I think coaching is an art and a science. You can never force your agenda onto someone who's not ready.
00:27:49
Speaker
And I think readiness is a big thing that's overlooked in the coaching world. It's like, I could have the best program and this person could think that they need one thing. If they're not ready for that change, it's probably not going to happen or it's not going to happen at the pace it needs to happen. And so for me, I do think sleep is one of those areas where it's almost it's a non-negotiable to where, again, no amount of supplementation, movement, nutrition is going to fix you sleeping a certain amount of time that your body needs. and so
00:28:20
Speaker
Again, for me, there are certain pillars, but I think you have to invite people into that process and help them understand why you're going in a certain direction or why you might be leaning them towards a certain direction, as opposed to telling them what to do. Because again, what we really want to create is a culture of education as opposed to a culture of compliance.
00:28:41
Speaker
And you want to create a culture of ownership and agency so that guess what? When there's no Kyle there to help you or when there's no product or service or thing, can you make more informed decisions most of the time? And it's really this 80-20,
00:28:58
Speaker
I really think people need to let go of this idea of perfect because it doesn't really exist. Even the highest level elite athletes, they're not perfect. They're just really good at balancing. When they're on, they're on. When they're off, they're off.
00:29:12
Speaker
And I think There's just just this pervasive message of like, all right, you got to be perfect if you want to achieve x Y, and Z. And so I think for me, it's helping people drop that, think about what's realistic, think about how they can build sustainable habits. Because ah ah you mentioned something similar earlier, but like anything over zero compounds. And so if you're doing something, guess what? If you continue doing that something, it's going to compound.
00:29:37
Speaker
And we know that James Clear... 1% better every day equals 30 to seven times better. it It works. And if people do that, it works. I do wonder too, if there's something to this like professional versus amateur mindset of the amateur golfer hits a bad shot and it's with them for the next several holes, right? It's in their own head. It's impacting what they do from there. And so the the amateur person slips up on the diet or slips up on the workout. It's like, oh, well, now there's no point. I'm not going to do anything.
00:30:05
Speaker
Versus the pro, okay, it was a bad shot. Now I'm clean. I'm starting from base zero, the next shot. Miss a jumper, okay. Baseline, like next, I'm getting back on defense. i'm That's behind me, I'm now moving forward. I can go watch game tape if I wanna learn better next time, but like right now, it's behind me, I'm here.
00:30:23
Speaker
And how with clients are you able to cultivate that? Because I've seen, it seems to be one of the biggest things that gets in people's way. This all or nothing, that becomes an excuse of, oh, well, I'll start Monday. Oh, I'll start the next month. Oh, I'll start next January. Like we're right now, right? There's no, like who cares what happened five minutes ago? You could start right now. That's always a possibility.
00:30:46
Speaker
I love Steven Pressfield and his work on the War of Art and Turning Pro. And i don't know if that's what you're referencing. I love Steven Pressfield. um I think one of the things that's huge for me is ah two things, identity and community.
Identity and Community in Fitness Habits
00:31:00
Speaker
These are two very, very powerful forces when it comes to making sustainable change last. Identity you know Again, James Clear talks about It's like casting boats for the person you want to become. The way you do that is to really shrink things down into the small, into the realistic, into the sustainable.
00:31:19
Speaker
So when you show up for a walk, when you show up to do this small thing, that is a small vote of confidence for yourself that builds momentum.
00:31:29
Speaker
And that momentum then turns into the I go to to the gym you know four times a week or whatever. That's a big piece of it, the identity piece of seeing yourself as someone who does XYZ. I see myself as someone who sleeps better.
00:31:41
Speaker
I see myself as someone who goes to whatever it is. Community is the second piece that I've seen work very, very well. Now, community, I use this as a broad term. This could mean a coach.
00:31:53
Speaker
This could mean a class. This could mean Strava. This could mean you know all these different types of things that people gravitate towards. And finding that for people can be a process of like figuring out what is their community.
00:32:06
Speaker
But being in a silo, being on this journey alone can be tough when you do face those hard moments. But guess what? If you have a coach that you have to show up for, that's going to help your accountability.
00:32:16
Speaker
If you have a class that you're going to, that's going to help your accountability. if you're paying for something, that's going to help your accountability. And so there's many different types of communities online, in person, coaching, whatever.
00:32:29
Speaker
Those two things of identity and community are super, super powerful in keeping you locked in on, I am going to show up for myself and for my goals and for my why consistently, as opposed to I'm going to have this yo-yo relationship I'm on, where I'm off. It keeps a little bit more of ah a steady line of sustainability, as opposed to kind of that up and down nature.
00:32:53
Speaker
Those two buckets... make a lot of sense, right? The internal be clear on who I am what I care about everything, but then does also in so much life, like with the Harvard study of, yeah it has to be something outside of us, right? Whether it's in recovery, in AA, like the best thing you can do for yourself is help someone else.
00:33:13
Speaker
And so if we make it too much about ourselves, it becomes an empty purpose. And if we want to help ourselves, we have to look at that community that bigger. And that's why I think that fifth pillar, that social connection, and that purpose is so important.
00:33:26
Speaker
It's something that I admittedly, like, As someone who does a lot of research in this space, like I didn't give it a lot of airtime 5-10 years ago. of like, Oh yeah, social connection, like whatever. like That's cool. That's great.
00:33:39
Speaker
Now I'm like, what was I thinking? like this is always I've been on teams. I've been in group classes. I've been in running groups. That's where I feel most alive. That's where I feel like sometimes I can reach goals that were beyond myself. And sometimes...
00:33:54
Speaker
ah Yeah. Again, that's put me in a place where I just feel like all of these things are connecting at once. And so for me, it's cool to kind of do research on these things now and like be like, Oh, it's like kind of a bezo bozo head moment of like, Man, I wish I would have actually known what was happening back then. But now I understand it so clearly. And I've seen it hundreds if not thousands of times with people having the right community and relationships and connection can in any category, whether it's you know sleep or movement or nutrition or mindset can help immensely.
00:34:27
Speaker
And it's something that I think is ah is an as a necessity, finding your type of community. Yeah, it's amazing. look i I really, really enjoyed this conversation. can you Can you share more where people can find you more about the book? I want people to be able to find that and learn more about. Yeah, no, 100%. One, appreciate you having me on. i As you can see, I think we both cut from a similar cloth and and our enthusiasm and just wanting to have a platform to talk about these things and get them out to people to help them understand that
00:35:00
Speaker
health can be a little bit more accessible than it might seem on social media or on places that you're
Kyle's Book: Reclaiming Joy in Movement
00:35:05
Speaker
you're looking. And so for me, my book is called Move, Thrive, and Come Alive. It comes out actually tomorrow, June 2nd.
00:35:11
Speaker
And so it is really a call to rethink fitness. Everything we've talked about today, how can we really reclaim movement in the modern life? So not just exercise. Exercise a small little bubble inside the whole movement picture, how can we reclaim the joy of movement? How can we reclaim practical, accessible, sustainable movement so that we can live healthier, so that we can have the energy to do the things that we love, and so that we can physically function better? Because I think that's part of ah you know a lot of people's why and purpose is to be able to pick up their grandkids or to be able to go on a hiking trip when they're in their 70s, 80s. And so
00:35:51
Speaker
For me, I want this book to be something that is practical, that people can pick up. And it's very digestible. I try to write it in a way that each page is a different tip, tool, or habit.
00:36:03
Speaker
And it's broken into sections like building a routine, expanding your horizons, training the mind, training the body. And again, hopefully, it it helps people find something that resonates. Because not all 125 tips are going to resonate.
00:36:18
Speaker
But you'll find 5, 6, 7 in there. that will definitely hit home and hopefully move you from where you are to where you want to go. And and I think that's the goal of it. But for me, ah you can find me on Instagram at KyleGonzalez3.
00:36:31
Speaker
You can find me on LinkedIn. I try to post there a lot, but Overall, it's ah anywhere you i can scream from the rooftops about health and movement, you'll find me there. Well, I really appreciate the time today and all the work, especially that goes into creating a book like that.
00:36:46
Speaker
There really is not just a tool, but a gift to those that are able to pick it up. So i hope our listeners do. And thank you again, Kyle. Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on. And yeah, no, I appreciate it.
00:36:58
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on today's episode of the Home of Healthspan podcast. And remember, you can always find the products, practices, and routines mentioned by today's guests, as well as many other Healthspan role models on Alively.com.
00:37:11
Speaker
Enjoy a lively day.