Franklin: [00:00:00] Right now, the world needs great men who will stand up and lead with honor, serve with purpose, and courageously fulfill their God given roles and responsibilities as husbands, fathers, leaders, and men. It's time we see more men thrive, marriages filled with passion, and families that flourish. So whether you're a man struggling to figure it all out, or an awesome husband and dad looking for the next level, you've come to the right place.
We're your hosts, Franklin Swan and Tanner Hayes, bringing you practical, applicable tools and strategies you can use every day to build yourself into the man God is calling you to be. This is The World Needs Men. Let's go. All right. Welcome back to the World Needs Men podcast. I am your [00:01:00] host today, Franklin Swan, and I have the honor and privilege of introducing today's guest, Lionel LuMarc.
He is the owner of Lionel Strong Fitness in Miami, Florida, originally from Haiti. He has over four decades in the fitness and physical training space. Thanks He's a U. S. Army veteran, actually spent some time in the special forces with the Army Rangers. He's got over 20 certifications in fitness and nutrition, and he takes a very active And holistic approach to fitness coaching.
Lionel, welcome to the show. It's a privilege to have you on.
Lyonel: Man, frankly, thank you so much for that introduction. I feel like some
Franklin: special guy right now. Thank you. Well, I'm really excited about this conversation. You and I've had a lot of talks before this, and I know that this is going to be really beneficial.
So I guess just start off, tell us a little bit about your background, where you came from, childhood, how you got into coaching, just whatever comes to mind.
Lyonel: Sure. Thank you. Thank you. I'm originally from Haiti. Um, [00:02:00] and, uh, I came to the States when I was 14 years old. So I guess here I don't speak English. I don't know anything and I basically get thrown in.
So just kind of a little bit of background here. My mother got remarried and so my stepfather moved us here to the States. And, um, he owned a business in Brooklyn, New York. He was an electrical contractor. And my first introduction to quote unquote, anything having to do with lifestyle in, in New York city was going to work for him as a telephone operator for the emergency line.
I understand I don't speak English. And so I'm having to answer the emergency lines for him. And this is literally my, how I got to learn how to speak the language. So I had a little script in front of me. It was pretty simple. I could read it, which was not difficult. Hello, this is speaker electrical. Can I help you?
And I just shut up. They'd say whatever they said. I understood absolutely nothing. And when they finished talking, the next thing I said was, is this an emergency? And I would keep, keep repeating that question over and over and over again until [00:03:00] I heard either yes or no. And then I knew where to go from there.
If the answer was no, then I'd tell them, okay, call this number. I'd repeat it two times to make sure they got a chance to write it down. And then I'd hang up, you know? What would you do if it was an emergency? If the answer was yes, okay, then give me your name, give me your phone number. And let's say someone is going to get back to you, you know, within the next 15 minutes.
And I'd call my dad and say, Hey, someone called the emergency. It's an emergency. Here's that information. Then he'd follow up with them. Make sure he was taken care of. But it was the funniest thing because people are always trying to give you some story of some sort. And I didn't understand what they were saying.
I just wanted to know, is this an emergency? I was literally waiting for yes or no. So this is how I spent my summer, you know, just like learning and try to learn. And I remember going home and watching Sesame Street anytime I get a chance to because it kind of helped put things together. And at night time, it was kind of a ritual with my mother and I.
We would get to sit there and watch three [00:04:00] shows, basically watch M. A. S. H., Honeymooners, and I Love Lucy. Those three were like back to back. And that's how you learned English. That's literally how I learned how to speak English.
Franklin: Sesame Street, Ash, Honeymover, Honeymooners, and I Love Lucy. Yeah, exactly. So, so cool.
And you speak pretty well, you speak great English now. So it must've worked. I guess it did
Lyonel: because when I started school, I started school November 27 and that was uh, Monday after Thanksgiving. That was my first day of school. So I'm kind of halfway through the semester already. And it was an interesting thing.
Going to school, they wanted to put me in English as a second language classes so I can kind of catch up and learn. And I thought that was the dumbest thing ever. And I fought for that. I fought against that actually, because my contention was, if you want me to learn the language, why are you going to let me learn in my own?
Why don't you put me in a position where I have to, the only choice I have is to speak [00:05:00] English or fail the classes. I'm going to learn how to speak English. Which is exactly what happened. So they put me in regular classes. I could understand what was being said. I could understand what was being written.
I may be not able to speak as well, but I could at least get what was happening. And within a couple of months, I was speaking English fairly well, at least enough to be able to get by and get through everything. And I was put in the wrong way. I should have been much higher than where I was and
Franklin: kind of changed everything.
It's interesting. It's like, it sounds like that when you get put into positions where You don't, you're not given really any, any help. You, you seem to kind of figure things out. Well, I don't know what we're supposed to do, isn't it?
Lyonel: I mean, that's always worked for me. Cause you know, I don't think, um, I don't know, I guess I'm fortunate enough because I've never really had to sit there and wait for someone to come and rescue me or someone to come and give me a hand or do it for me or whatever.
Just if you're in a situation and you need to get out of it, figure it out. I mean, there are things and people and whatever around [00:06:00] you, I just have to start. to think a little bit. You have to be willing to step out the box that you're in and say, okay, well, I'm here. These are my choices. What can I do?
Where can I go? Can I go this way? No, this isn't ideal. Maybe this way can take a step and you won't really know what's going to happen until you actually take a step in one direction or another. What's great about life is that you can go in one direction and realize this is not what I want. Turn around and go the opposite, or pivot, go to the left, go to the right.
The choice is always yours,
Franklin: just once you go out and want to take it, I guess. So once you learn, so you moved to the U. S., you're with your family, you learn English, and you're, you're working this job answering the phone for your dad's company. So kind of where do things progress from there? Well, basically graduating high
Lyonel: school, I spent two years in high school.
And so at 16, I'm, and, uh. It was kind of, that's a whole nother story on its own actually, because we ended up moving to a different state. We moved from New York to New Jersey. And for me to continue going to school [00:07:00] in New Jersey, I would have had to spend an extra year in school, which I didn't want to do.
So I traveled three and a half hours each way to go to school in Brooklyn to finish out my, my senior year. Um, I would get up at four o'clock in the morning to catch the train to a bus, no, actually catch a bus to a train to get to New York City, to catch a train to a train to a bus to a train to another train and another bus to get to school.
That was my routine every day. And some days I'd get lucky and my stepfather would be going in early. So he'd take me in, I'd save about an hour, so I'd get to sleep in a little bit longer. I did my homework on the tray on the way home, um, from either track practice or soccer practice, whatever sport I was playing.
I wasn't afraid of like playing sport and doing all these other things as well because I knew there were games and there were things that were going to be away and Again, I could study on the train or I could study on the bus or whatever, so I did all of that. I always made sure my homework was done and all the things that I needed to do were done.
So it wasn't a question of, well, I'm not home in [00:08:00] time for that, that wasn't, that was a nice excuse. You know, I always had a way, if I wanted it, I figured it out
Franklin: and I wanted that. It's so easy for, you know, in this podcast is geared towards men. It's so easy for us to find small reasons to make excuses, to not do the things that we know we should do.
And what I hear coming through in your story is you, you pretty much just took away all the excuses. I mean, to go three and a half hours each way to get to school, to do sports on top of that, to do homework in the train. I mean, that, that's a big commitment to, to continue to go through. So you didn't have to add that extra year of school.
And I think the, the great lesson in, in what I take from that personally is just stop making excuses.
Lyonel: Yeah, yeah, I guess, I think, yeah, yeah, I guess that's, that's simple, yeah. I mean, cause when you think about it, there's always a reason why you can't do something. Well actually, there's always a thousand reasons why you can't do [00:09:00] something.
You only need one reason why
Franklin: you should, and then just do it. So you, you get your high school degree and at what point did fitness kind of come into your world as something that you began to get interested in and fall in love with? Great question.
Lyonel: The day after high school graduation, basically, or I should say the day of, right?
When I was great, when I graduated, I was 16 years old. I was basically being about an inch shorter than I am right now. So I didn't grow that much after high school, but I weighed 118 pounds. strapping, you know, just massive muscle man.
Just, uh, yeah, I was in the walking stick basically. So, you know, everyone thought that they could pick on me and do things. And, you know, I was kind of, um, bully slurry. I mean, that was just like a magnet for a bully, right? They're like, Oh, he's the new guy. And he's, Oh, he's a foreigner. Oh, he's the whatever, let's go pick on him.
And that was always a bad idea for them because when they didn't know is that I knew [00:10:00] how to defend myself. And I also understood in a situation where bullies coming at you and they're insistent on like doing things to you or taking things from you, you can't reason with them. And so the only thing I knew was either I'm going to get the crap beat out of me or I'm going to get my licks in first and, you know, maybe get out of this thing alive.
Franklin: So is that formal training that you had had, or is it just a matter of necessity and learning through trial and error how to defend yourself? Yes. I couldn't be sure of
Lyonel: both. I guess when we were kids growing up in Haiti, um, I had a couple of uncles that were black belts in judo and they had their own judo dojo.
So, um, from two years old, I remember just going to the dojo and just learning. It was just kind of a fun thing. It was more about play, not so much about being a, you know, judo master of any sort. plane. And then another one just got into Taekwondo. And so just naturally followed along with that and just started doing that too.[00:11:00]
So any type of martial arts that they would do, they would practice, we would just follow along. Cause I mean, as a kid, you just wanted to do what the adults would do. And that really helped me understand more about my body and how it functions and what I can and can't do. And really kind of gave me a love for realizing that we are incredible being physically, if we put ourselves in the right environments, it will grow.
You know, so that started that for me. And so by the time I got to school and got to this country, I, I'm, I knew how to move around. I knew how to navigate. I know how to negotiate an enemy, so to speak, if it needed to be that, but I also hated fighting. I hated violence. So I didn't want to do anything to put myself in a situation where something would happen.
I would always try to talk my way out of anything and every situation that came up, but also understood that if you got to the point where talking wasn't going to do, then that needs to be the one to strike first. Because I'm a little guy. If I get hit by some big guy that's trying to hurt me, I may not get up from it.[00:12:00]
But if I hit first, there's a chance I'm getting out of this thing alive, and I always understood that.
Franklin: And then based on that, you started kind of going to work on building strength and getting bigger. And so did you just start going to the gym and lifting and that out on your own or?
Lyonel: Yeah, kind of. So what was interesting is, you know, graduation, right?
I get all these gifts, you know, everyone's giving you presents and you get money and everything else. So I remember, you know, looking at the little stash of money that I got from that, and I ran, miserably ran, to service merchandise, which was a couple of miles away from my house. And I went and bought a Marcy weight bench set, that little hundred and whatever, three pound the bench with the plastic weights with the cement inside, you know, I bought that and remember they dropped the thing off for me outside and I went to pick it up and it was at that moment that I realized, wait, I don't know how I'm going to get this home.
First of all, this thing weighs more than I did. Number one [00:13:00] was, number two, I have no idea how I'm going to carry this thing. Remember, I ran to the store to go buy. So I'm standing, I'm standing outside like, okay, this is going to be interesting. And just as I'm kind of trying to figure out how I'm going to lift this thing, this lady pulls alongside and she says, excuse me, young man, do you need help?
I'm like, yes, actually I do. She goes, what are you trying to do? I'm like, well, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get this home. And she goes, where do you live? I tell her, she's like, that's a few miles from here. How did you get here? Like, well, I ran here because I was excited about coming to get this.
Now I'm not quite sure I'm going to get it at home. And so she's like, come on, let us help you. And her son got out of the car and some other guy came in to help. We carried this, put it in the back of the car. And I got in with them and they gave me a ride home. And I ended up getting that little thing at home.
That's how, that was the start. And uh, it's so [00:14:00] funny because I completely forgot about that until you just asked. And I, I get home, I set this thing up and I got the little bench and of course you took out this poster, right? That has all the movements that you're supposed to do with it. I have no clue what I'm doing.
And so I look at the posters and what it says and I try to mimic everything and follow it all. And of course it seems like this thing was ridiculously heavy. And then within 30 days, I mean, this thing was ridiculously light. Like I couldn't, you know, I couldn't do anything and everything with it. Now, granted, my movements were crap and I knew that, but I was doing what I saw.
I kind of followed along like most people do, right? Hey, this is what you do. This is the way it looks. This is what everybody else is doing. So just try to look at that example and follow that.
Franklin: No
Lyonel: rhyme or reason, no, no instructions, no specifics or anything. I just did what I saw on the poster. And I was constantly running back and to, because that was my way of, that was my transportation.
This is how I got everywhere. If I had to go somewhere, I could either walk, run, or [00:15:00] catch the bus. What I found is it usually took longer if I caught the bus than if I ran there. So I just ran everywhere. Yeah. You know, it just was easier. Now, don't get me wrong. Not like I loved running. I really don't. It's so funny because people are like, oh, you run a lot.
No. Not at all. I love sprinting. I don't like running just to go for long distance runs. But back then, I mean, that was kind of a necessity. It wasn't a what or like or not like thing. It was like, I either do this and get to where I want to go on time or I'm subject to getting there whenever because I'm relying on someone else or something else to get
Franklin: there.
Lyonel: And one of the things that I absolutely hated was making the excuse of, I'm sorry I'm late because something else made me late. It was okay if it was my fault. I own that. Look, I'm late because I didn't get up on time or I didn't do this on time. It was my fault. I caused it. I'm totally okay with that.
I've really had a problem with being late because I'm waiting for the bus and it didn't come on
Franklin: time.
Lyonel: I'd rather run and show up and be sweaty or walk or whatever and do whatever I need to. I'd get up an hour earlier if I need [00:16:00] to, just to make sure that that's not an excuse. And so I was running past this Nautilus gym.
I used to run past that gym all the time and never bothered stopping because I knew that gym was expensive. It was all the fancy equipment, all the stays that I couldn't afford to go into. And that particular day, I'm running past the gym and there was a sign on the door that said 30 days for 30.
Stopped me dead in my tracks. I went right inside and I signed up and said, here's my money. And I went to work out now again, doing the same things I knew how to do, which was not much, but I did it forever. And then I ran and continued. I went to my job and did my job. And the next day I ran over there again to get there early so I can go work out.
And when I got in there, there's this young man that stopped me. He started talking to me. This guy was shorter than I was. And he was massive. And I mean, massive, like, To walk through a door, he kind of had to turn sideways to be able to fit in because it was just so wide, right? And he got [00:17:00] just muscles all over and just impressive looking guy, you know, and his name was John.
And he literally changed the direction of everything for me without realizing he was doing it because what John did for me then was something that I'll never forget. And that really helped me continue on doing what I do today. John asked me a simple question. He said, I saw you here yesterday working out.
And you look like, like you were on fire. Like you had the eye of the tiger, like, you know, you were just born. Why are you training so hard? And I thought, that's a crazy question. Why would you ask me that? He says, well, because I've only seen one other person in here work out with such intensity. And he's a professional bodybuilder.
So what's your reason? And I remember what I did then was just look at him, look at me, look at him again and look at me. And I'm thinking, did you really just ask me this or are you being serious or you like just joking right now? And he goes, no, I'm very serious. I said, look at me. He says, I see you. So do you think I want to look like this the rest of my [00:18:00] life?
He goes, I don't know. That's why I'm asking the question. First lesson, right? You look back and it's just like, okay. I said, no, I don't want to look like this. I'm doing this. I'm working out so hard because I want to look like you. Second lesson I'm about to get. And he said, and that was probably the biggest lesson ever.
And his answer shocked me. He said, no, you don't. I said, excuse me? What do you mean? He says, no, you don't want to look like me. I'm like, yes, I do. I mean, look at you, man. You got all these muscles. You're like the kind of guy that nobody would want to mess with. Of course, I want to look like you. He goes, no.
You don't. Okay, now I'm intrigued. Like, well, why don't I want to look like you? Because, because all of this, this is for show. This doesn't do anything. And I'm thinking, okay, I'm, I'm confused. I don't understand. Isn't that what you want people to come and do is to do this? He goes, no, but not like that. He said, this looks good, but I can't do anything with it.
So what's the point of building muscle if you can actually utilize it in real life? That was the biggest lesson for me right there.
Franklin: So [00:19:00] you, you got introduced to the concept and the, the mindset around functional fitness at 16 at 60 from a guy who, who was. who knew the other side of that.
Lyonel: Yeah. Some of guys would look like what I thought I wanted to be.
Franklin: Yeah. And so he knew what the limitations were of what he had built. Correct. And there wasn't that transfer. And so and that's back when I mean,
Lyonel: this is 1985.
Franklin: Yes. And functional fitness one even wouldn't even a catchphrase. Yeah.
Lyonel: That wasn't a phrase. The only fitness there was, was bodybuilding, period. If you want to talk about fitness, you either did that or you weren't fit.
Because they'd done a great job getting everyone to believe that everything else wasn't fitness, bodybuilding
Franklin: was.
Lyonel: And so that was the only example of fitness that I saw. So I wanted to look like that. I wanted to be that because I thought that meant I was going to be
Franklin: fit. So how did that change your, how did that change what you did moving forward?
Did that immediately shift or did it, it was in an [00:20:00] evolution over time? No, immediately. And
Lyonel: here's why, because what John was saying, so it turns out that he was the owner of the gym and he liked my intensity so much that he said, I want to train you. I want to teach you something. And he said, before you answer, you should hear what I have to say.
Because I was about to tell him I can't afford your services because I could barely afford to come here. So how am I going to pay for things? And his response was, I don't need your money. I need some, I need your commitment. And these are the things that I want in return for you working with me. There's no such thing as a free thing.
I'm not giving you anything. You're going to earn this. But this is how I expected you repay. And these are my terms, and do you agree? Yes or no? And I thought, okay, I have a guy who knows stuff, who's willing to teach me, and he's telling me that if I have to do this, I have to work for it. I have to show up on time, I can't be late, I need to follow what he tells me to do, I need to do these things, I need to do my part around the gym to help clean up and do all the [00:21:00] stuff in return and whatever.
Yeah, absolutely, I can do that. And he says, let's be clear. If you don't show up, or you miss anything, or you don't do what you're supposed to at any one day, we're done. And I'm like, okay. Asking, I know what it's like to make a commitment, so yeah, I'm good. Let's go. He said, cool. And what he did with me changed everything because I'm in a gym, right?
That's designed to be able to help everyone get big. And there's all these fancy machines, you know, and you know, so typical machines that are in a gym when you use those were the new, the, that's what was there, like the initial versions of those, right? That were all the newest, fanciest equipment that all the bodybuilders were using.
And I mean, everybody was friendly and maybe how great they were. I wasn't allowed to touch any of them at all. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't allowed to touch a barbell. I wasn't allowed to touch a bench. I wasn't allowed to do any of the things that anyone else was doing. And he went to work for teaching me how to use my body first.
And then started using some additional equipment at a later date. [00:22:00] And it was interesting because the first time I bench pressed, like legit bench pressed, I was 46 years old. And you know, adult people, they always laugh, they're like, wait, what? What do you mean? Like, you went to the gym, you worked out, yeah.
But benching was never part of my thing. I mean, you know, I had people that wanted me to do that and I would kind of get on and try, but that was, that always sucked at it. So the first time that I legitimately went to work on learning how to bench, Was that
Franklin: 46? How is it that you're, you were trained by someone who was obviously a bodybuilder and followed that kind of programming, but, and, and that's what he gave and provided to all his clientele.
And yet he's training you so different. I'm just really curious, like how he even knew to take you through that kind of training?
Lyonel: You know, that's a great question. I'm not sure how she knew. I think it was probably for him doing it before because I don't think he did bodybuilding solely at the beginning.
I think that's kind of where he ended up going to and realized he probably should have never left what he was doing because he had the basis. of doing things correctly, but [00:23:00] then he got to a certain point where maybe because of money or, or sponsorships and things like that, where you had to kind of continue with the lifestyle and, you know, he wanted to make sure that I never got into that trap.
He said, look, you don't want to be a bodybuilder and it's not the way bodybuilders do it. You want to do this, do this the right way, learn how to move, learn how to actually utilize your body the way it was meant to. And so, my regimen was pull ups, push ups, dips, a lot of other bodyweight movements, like moving on the ground, crawl, jump, like, really things that forced me to, like, learn how to develop bodyweight.
Like fast switch muscles, slow switch muscles, all the different things that I would need to be able to function properly. I would do a lot of rotational stuff, things that were so unconventional and like I've never seen before and I've never seen anywhere else for that matter. So I was introduced to really a lot of movements that were like not normal for most people.
And that was great. That was a great [00:24:00] start to everything for me. Once we kind of got going on that, once I left him, continuing training was super easy for me because I didn't need to have any fancy things around me to do that. I can just simply move. And so it made a huge difference in how I looked. To the point that within a month, people were coming up and asking me, what am I doing for trade?
Can you trade with me? Sure. So I would do what I knew how to do. This is what jobs mean. And they would look at me like, Oh, this is hard. Or this is difficult. Oh, this is this. Oh, this is that. And you know, it's follow along. And they'd get all excited about the results that they were getting. So the more I learned from John, the more I turned around and implemented that with the people that would have followed.
And that's kind of how I started my whole career in training. Even though I never wanted to be a trainer, it just kind of went like a natural thing to do. Oh, if you're going to do this, do this right. Okay. You want to learn this way. You want to move this way. You want to engage these muscles. No, you want to feel this.
You don't know how to do that. Okay. This is [00:25:00] what you have to do. This is how you have to do it. So, and it went from there and it was such an exciting thing because That was fun for me. I never thought of this as being a career or being the thing that I would do 30, 40 years down the line. I just thought that that's just the, it's just the thing that I do because people want my help.
If they stopped, and you had fun with it. Absolutely. It was absolutely fun for me because that's something that I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed seeing people get it. Having the aha moment, like, ah, that's what that's supposed to feel like. Okay. Wow, I've been doing this strong this whole time, man, thank you.
You know, so that was, that was rewarding, being able to see that you made you, so you showed something to someone and they get it, and that makes an immediate impact into their lifestyle. That's kind of cool.
Franklin: Now thank, if you look at the typical gym goer, it's, it's drudgery or it's thought of as work or it's something that is not fun.
And a lot of that is the programming. But when you can. When you can make it playful, as you and I were [00:26:00] discussing before this, and really connect it to just your normal everyday life and the things that you would want to be able to do or should be able to do as a human being. And if you're being expressed in the natural way that God made our bodies to be expressed, you know, to run, to jump, to, to swim, to climb, you know, to, to pick things up off the ground, to throw all those.
Just normal things when you're able to incorporate this playfulness into it and make it fun, then it's something that's a lot easier to continue and make a part of your life forever.
Lyonel: Absolutely. It really is. And that's one of the things that I realized, which is why, like, my whole approach to training is not what most people are expecting.
It's not what people are used to. You know, people are used to just going to the gym and following the typical protocol that everybody else is following. Moving in the same manner that everyone else is moving. They have no idea if they're doing it right or wrong. They just see everyone else doing it that way.
So they just follow along. And what I've realized is [00:27:00] that if people took the time to understand what their bodies can do, they'd be so amazed at where their capabilities are and the kind of things that they can do and how well it transfers to normal everyday things that they go through in life.
Franklin: So define for us, just so that we have a good, uh, understanding and context.
Cause you hear functional fitness and I think crossfit probably make that a lot more popular. And that's a lot closer probably to what, I mean, it's not exactly what you do by any stretch, but it's, it's in that direction at least in, in getting out of the typical machine routine. Yeah. But what, like when you think of functional fitness, how would you define that so that we understand exactly what you're talking about?
Okay, that's a great question. What I would
Lyonel: define as functional fitness is the things that you do in the gym should be able to directly translate to what you do in real life. So if all your training is making you a badass in the gym, but yet you still have issues when it comes to your normal movements, like for example, you're reaching down to pick up something and you throw out [00:28:00] your back, that should never happen.
Because your training should be able to help you with doing these particular things, or maybe reaching over to pick up your, your son or your grandchild or something like that. And all of a sudden you're finding yourself locked up. That shouldn't be a, that, that's a problem. That shouldn't happen. Or doing something where your knees start hurting because you're trying to do a specific movement.
Or you can't reach up into a cabinet to grab something because you're having trouble with your teeth overhead. Those things, right? Your training should directly affect your ability to do those things. If it's not, then you're missing something. And I think you're doing anything wrong per se, but you're missing something.
Franklin: And that's a connection. You know, typically you go to the gym, if you take a typical person, they're probably there because they have a particular image in mind of what they want to look like, but they're not. And, and that's fine, but it's, they, they're not connecting. Well, when I come to the gym and do this work, it allows me to express myself outside of the gym [00:29:00] in a better way, in a healthier way.
In a more holistic way, but we were discussing, you know, my wife brought my daughter home late the other night from a cheer competition. She was asleep on the back seat. So I move the seat up, I crawl in there, I lift up my nine year old inside of the car, kind of hunched over. I walk my way backwards out of that car, you know, with probably 60, 70 pounds in my arms.
And then I walk up stairs, I put her in bed like that is functional fitness like that is when, when I'm working out in my, in my driveway doing the things that I do, does that allow me to, to fulfill those real world scenarios in a way that's like, man, I'm really, I'm really proud and grateful that I can do that and be that kind of a father for her versus, well, I don't work out or I neglect my body.
And so I have to just wake her up and tell her she needs to go. Run upstairs because I'm just very capable of doing [00:30:00] something like that, but that's a real world scenario.
Lyonel: That is, that is. And you know what's so interesting in a scenario like that with what you just described, right? A typical person could go in the gym and bench 200 300
Franklin: pounds.
Lyonel: Or, you know, they can curl or whatever, but yet to be able to actually like engage the entire body to lift a child and carry them into what they, what you just described, that would be impossible for a lot of people that are quote, unquote, really strong in the gym.
Franklin: Or they're overcompensated or over trained in a particular area.
So you've got, on one hand, you've got the gentleman who trained you, who is all muscle, probably couldn't run very fast nor very far. But then if you look on the other end at. at a typical marathon or crossing the finish line, he can run for hours, but he couldn't, he couldn't lift a load to save his life.
Lyonel: He couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag. Right.
Franklin: That way. So, you know, when it comes to functional fitness, that's a well rounded holistic fitness that show that someone who can not only have the strength to do what they need to do, but the agility, flexibility, [00:31:00] endurance, speed, all these different components that are all required.
Exactly. Because in
Lyonel: any real life situation, you find yourself, you have the ability to be able to handle whatever is being thrown at you. And so in doing some, let's say, repetitive movements isn't going to allow you to get there. Having the ability to throw away some things that are completely different from the norm, right, that challenge you to engage muscles that you probably don't even realize you don't use on a regular basis.
And getting them to turn on and getting them to be functioning all the time, that puts you in a completely different position. When you're now faced with whatever situation, your body knows how to respond. You don't have to say it, you just act. I've
Franklin: trained for quite a while, and so it's, a lot of times it seems hard for me to get sore, but I started jujitsu a few months ago.
And I remember after the first day of going in there, I mean, I consider myself to be fairly fit. I mean, I've done, you [00:32:00] know, plenty of training, plenty of workouts. I, by 10 o'clock in the morning, that first day that I did jujitsu, there were muscles that were sore that I didn't know I had. And so to your point, it's like when we, when we are only doing the same repetitive movements every time, our body just kind of gets used to that.
And so it's, it's so important. To mix things up and to really get creative with how we're moving in our workouts in order to make sure that there is that balance.
Lyonel: Absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing is, you know, it's great. Jiu Jitsu is fantastic. I mean, very similar, Judo, same idea, but I love that learning and grappling.
So anyone who wrestles gets a good understanding of what's involved, you know, with that. But without going to that extreme, you can still get people to engage muscles in the same way just by simply training them differently. And so I don't have to put you on the mat in order to be able to give you that same kind of a feedback, right?
Get your body to engage in the same way. I can get you to learn these things. I can get you to be [00:33:00] able to function more and get you to be engaged for muscles so that if you do get on the mat, you won't be as sore as you were. You will be able to actually move better and more engaged because you're not just turning on these muscles when you're in that position having to use them.
You've learned how to turn them on in any and everything else That makes a big difference now when it comes to reaction time and, you know, strength and everything else, right? So that's such an important thing that is totally overlooked, unfortunately, in the fitness industry. And I kind of aim to make a difference in that sense.
I want people to be more aware of what their bodies are capable of. If you become more aware, you start paying more attention, because you're paying more attention, you start realizing more and more things that are missing. By finding those things that are missing, you start searching for what it takes to be able to make those connections.
And when you do that, that's when you really start finding out that your body can do way, way more than you ever thought it possible. And it gets super exciting. Because as you get older, [00:34:00] you don't get worse. You literally get better. So that whole aging, like fine wearing. Yeah,
Franklin: definitely put that, that that's a mindset that I believe is so scarce in this world to even, even think that you get better as you get older.
I know in my forties right now, I am way stronger, faster, more capable than I was in my twenties and even in my thirties, but talk a little bit shifting just slightly on that note. Like the idea of how our body impacts our mindset and then at the same time how our mindset impacts our physical body and the stories that we believe and buy into related to our health and getting older and, and just how you've seen that shift.
make such a difference in the people that you train?
Lyonel: Absolutely. So what's so great is that, you know, I'm, I'm a gen expert. I'm 55, I'll be 56 this year. I know I look like I'm 20, right? That's right. But I definitely, I can tell you one thing, I moved better than I did when I was [00:35:00] 20. I'm a lot stronger, faster, but in every possible way than when I was in my 20s.
And I was a pretty high speed guy in my twenties. I mean, this is back when I was in the military, all kinds of crazy things. And I'll tell you that guy would be scared of this guy right now, which is kind of cool. You know, I never thought that I know most people don't think that that's possible, but it is.
And what I've seen with my own life, but more importantly with my clients, because most of the clients that I serve are in their forties and above, right? So I have a ton of Gen Xers, a ton of baby boomers working with me. And we're talking about people, some have had experiences their entire lives where they've trained and done things, but the majority of them never worked out before.
They've never gone to a gym, they've never done anything physical until they got in their 50s and 60s and 70s and so on. And so for them to start something because they know they have to and then fall in love with the process and realizing that what they're capable of right now at their age are things that they've never been able to do their entire lives.[00:36:00]
That's pretty exciting. To see someone that's 74 years old, for example, and tell you that he's never been as strong as he is now in his entire life. He's never been capable of doing the things that he can do in his mid 70s when he was 40 years younger. It's pretty impressive. When you meet someone that's 78 years old, that tells you exactly the same thing.
That's like, yeah, I've fixed my movements. I can do these things. And I'm realizing that I'm getting stronger as I get older. That's pretty exciting. It's like a new lease on life. It is. Because I say this, I really believe that we have the capability of living for, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years, even though most of us don't think so.
And I think the reason is because people have accepted that at 80 you're supposed to be old and you're supposed to be decrepit and you're supposed to move slow and not be strong and have all these things. And I'm thinking, why? Who said that? Who gave you that idea? Who made it possible for you to believe that?
And this is where the conversation we're having about mindset and physical are intertwined in [00:37:00] such a way that people don't really get it. I think everyone's focused right now on developing their mindset, right? Working on, you know, Hey, you got to stay positive. You got to have all these things, which is great and fantastic, but they're spending all this time and energy working on expanding their mindset, but they're doing absolutely nothing on the physical.
And then they're wondering why it's taking long and why they're not able to get there because this vessel that we have is what allows us to be able to make what you're thinking in your mind actually happen in real life. So if you're not willing to put in the time and effort to make this vessel the best that it could possibly be, you're going to have a hard time seeing everything else that you're trying to manifest in your mind, actually.
But you're also going to be limited in that too, because. If you don't think that your body is capable of doing these great things, then you're not going to do the work necessary to make it happen, number one. Number two, it's also not going to help you expand your mindset to a way, in a way that's going to make you believe that all of these things that you want to happen are going to actually happen.
Franklin: Let's get [00:38:00] real. Why do you think it's so common for people to buy into the narrative that they're too old That they're on the downhill that, you know, it's just too late to do anything about their physical health, but that then at the same time, you've got men or people, as you say, 74, 78 years old who are showing up and rewriting that story and turning that whole narrative around.
But why is it that so many people just buy into this? this story that doesn't serve them to show up and live a full, complete life.
Lyonel: I think it has to do with the fact that when you look around, almost everyone is speaking the same language, regurgitating the same information. So between the media, between the experts, quote unquote network experts in real quotes, because yeah, I don't think they really are, right?
The ones that have the degrees and the doctors and whatever, all saying the same thing. People starting to believe that while they're saying it and they're the experts and they're saying it and they're the news [00:39:00] and they're saying it and they're the media and they're saying it and they're the whatever, then it must be true.
So who am I, a little person to maybe think differently than they are? They're all saying it to be true, then it must be. And so they'll follow along. I saw something the other day that really kind of helped illustrate this. There was an experiment that was done where there were three actors that were taken into a room.
And basically what they were told is that they're going to be in that room and they're basically filling out there to fill out an application for a job, right? And every time a bell rings, they'll stand up. When the bell rings again, they sit down. So the actors knew this because that's what they're there for.
And they would bring in the applicant. to sit there with them. So the actors are moving up and down as the bell's ringing. The applicant is first looking at them and like what the hell's going on. And then by the second time the bell rings, the applicant starts moving right along with them. Not knowing why, but just following along.
Right? And then they bring in another applicant and same thing happened with the other one. They bring in a third one. The third one doesn't move. When the third one doesn't [00:40:00] move, when everybody else is moving up and down, they've removed them out of there. They bring in another. So by the time they got the room filled with like 10 people, they removed the afters now.
They're gone. The bell's ringing. Every single person is standing up and sitting down as they're filling out the application simply because everyone else is doing it. They had, they were never given any instructions. They don't know why they're doing it. They have no idea what's happening, but they're just following along because that's what they saw.
Wow. Wow. I thought, man, how powerful and how easy it is to manipulate people into believing whatever it is that you want them to believe, right? And get them to do whatever if you can just simply get those around them to follow along. And so, because people didn't want to go against the crowd, they just simply started doing what everybody else was doing, because, well, I don't want to stand out.
I don't want to be the oddball that's doing something different. And for that particular experiment, they removed the oddball, because what would have happened if they let that one person stay, someone else would have [00:41:00] actually sat down and someone else would have done that. And eventually everyone else would have been like, no, we're not going to follow him on, because it doesn't make sense.
There was nothing told to us. So why are we doing this? So I think I'm one of the few that gets to question your narrative and most people don't do that, which is why they just kind of simply follow along, even though they may not necessarily believe. That's the case. It just go along with it because, well, that's what everybody else is doing.
Franklin: Well, and when you don't have a, a different narrative to, like, you take that person out of the room who's refusing to stand up and then fill them back in with people who do stand up, you know, there's no alternative for them to look at. So if all they hear is that one narrative. Then they're not given a choice of something that's different.
And when you talk about us training ourselves physically so that we could roll around on the ground with our kids and play with them, or I even carry it out and think, man, what if one day I need to be able to [00:42:00] lift up my child if, if they're in an accident or take care of my wife when we're an older age or anything, it's like, okay, am I going to have the ability to do that?
That's just such a. to me that there's so much purpose behind the training when we, when we connect it to those ways that our bodies are able to be used in service to other people, but it makes so much sense. But when all it is is lose 10 pounds or look this particular way and, and, you know, only have to pay 10 a month at this cheap gym, Like, that's just a narrative that doesn't get us anywhere and it doesn't really connect spiritually to, to what our bodies allow us to do in this world.
Lyonel: True, true. What people have learned, right, is that vanity sells, you know, sex sells, that kind of thing, right? So it kind of gets you to focus on that, the way you look, quote unquote, instead of what you can do. That's a much easier thing to get people to buy into and pay money for. then actually work to be capable of doing something that can serve them.[00:43:00]
And so few people are being driven by that purpose. And even if those others are their family members and their immediate loved ones, they don't quite make the connection to that. Because when you think about it, the reason why most people go to the gym has nothing to do. They tell you they want to be healthy, but ask them, what does that mean exactly?
They don't really have an answer, but the answers will surprise you. You know, when you go to the gym, what's your, what's your purpose? Well, you know, I want to be healthy. Okay, what does that mean? Yeah. I want to lose weight. I want to get in shape. Okay. I want to be healthy. Again, what does that mean? Well, you know, I can eat whatever I want.
I don't have to worry about like getting weight and then they're like, it look good. Okay. I get it. But what does being healthy mean to you? That's as far as it goes. They kind of get stuck in that loop. They can't really define what healthy means. Can't really define what that means in service to others.
They can't really define how they're going to affect the way that they live and the things that they do when they get old. It's been quite an interesting day. [00:44:00] Versus someone that actually goes and they want to do this because they want to be physically strong. They want to be physically able to do things that right now might be a challenge for them.
Whether that thing is as simple as getting off the ground on their own, or that thing is maybe helping someone else get up without feeling like they're going to fall, right? Because some people have to care for maybe a parent or things like that. And God forbid, if they have to help lift them up out of a chair or get into something, they'll hurt themselves trying to help the person they care about.
Now what happens if you hurt and they're, they're incapable of doing anything and you just hurt yourself in trying to help them, who's going to help you? If you don't have the strength and the knowledge on how to move correctly to be able to help them, where it's an extra distinct for you, that's a problem.
And so you find, you have people that find themselves in those positions, right? Because they're kind of forced into it and they don't really have an out, they don't really have a [00:45:00] solution. They're just doing the best they can with what they know. So they'll go to the gym to work out to hope that that will help them be strong enough to do what they're doing.
But because they're not moving in a way that mimics or supports what they would be doing for the person that they're with, they still find themselves in a compromising situation. So
Franklin: what would you say to A man who maybe is in his forties and believing the story that he's just on the downhill and getting old and, you know, that he's just past his prime or the man in his fifties that knows he needs to get working out, knows he, you know, in his mind, he tells himself, Oh, I need to lose a few pounds, but he's not like, what would you say to that person to get them moving and to get them showing up and, you know, Investing into their body so that they can be there and support and love their families the way that their families deserve and so that they can also be proud of [00:46:00] themselves and enjoy life and experience what a full life feels like when their body is in alignment and has the capacity to do the things that they want to do.
Lyonel: Yeah, that's a great question. First thing that I would say to them is that you capable of way more than you think you can. You just haven't given yourself the opportunity to find out. So let's start with that. That's the first thing. Second thing that I would also tell them is that the narrative that you've been told has been lying to you this whole time, you know, making you think that you are, you're just getting started.
You're not even in the first, like you're literally in the beginning stages of your life. You're not even close to finding out what your prime is or, or getting to the downhill part, right? Or so you have another probably 15, 20, 30 years of growth. if you're willing to put in the work to kind of learn. So that's, in learning these things, a lot of people kind of get excited.
Like, oh, so you mean it's not over for me. It doesn't have to be paid. And no, not at all. It can be a lot simpler to do than you think. And it doesn't require all the [00:47:00] effort that you see. Being portrayed and going to the gym doesn't require you going in and sweating for hours, putting in all this work, doing all these reps of things to get there.
What if I can teach you how to play and get in shape? What if I can teach you how to actually do what you used to do as a kid? And not only get in shape, but now you have the ability to move in a way that you never thought possible. Is that something you'd be open to? Most people think, well, how can you do that?
I know how. I'll show you if you're willing to go through the process. So what I'm asking you simply, are you open to that idea? If they are, it's amazing what happens at that point. We get to do a few basic things, right? Just, okay, let's find out how strong you are. Let's find out how real life strong you are.
No, I'm not going to have you bench or curl or do any of those other things that anybody else would have you do, but let's do a couple of little tests and see for yourself, right? What you can do. How about this? Let's get on all fours, right? You can get on your [00:48:00] knees on the ground, you know, and get on all fours and basically just if your knees up.
And hold yourself up, let's see how long you can last. You can hold yourself up for 30 seconds or longer and you're doing pretty well. Most people won't make it to that. Most people will start shaking at 10 seconds if they make it to there. And find themselves strumming just to be able to hold their body up.
Now, there's a couple ways, right, when I say hold your body up. You can kind of like let your body sag into it and fall in. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, tightening everything from your fingertips all the way through your toes and make sure everything's engaged properly. Yeah, it takes a little bit more effort than most people realize.
And they'll find themselves incapable of doing that. Another simple test, walk up to a bar, you know, maybe like one of those bars at the playground that you can kind of get on and do like a pull up or something, but I don't need you to do a pull up. I simply want you to just go on and just, hey, grab onto the bar and hold on just like that.
Let your body hit. Let's see how long you can do that. Again, if you can make it 30 seconds or [00:49:00] longer, you're doing pretty good. If you really want to find out if she's strong, she'd be able to hold on for a minute or two, but chances are that probably won't happen. Chances are that within 10 seconds, you'll let go.
And you're like, oh, my hand slipped, or my grip wasn't tight, or my fingers hurt, or something to that effect. It doesn't really matter what the reason is, the point is you are unable to actually hold yourself up. Nothing to do with lifting anything or going anywhere, just two basic things, right? Pushing your body off on the ground and holding it up with your hands and feet, and holding your body up off the ground basically by your hands.
That's it. Those two little tests will reveal so much to you about your ability to be able to control what's going on with you. So now if you're able to make it to that timeframe, then we can add a little bit more to that. It can make it a little more challenging to be able to see really what you can and can't do and know I still don't need you to do a pull up.
I don't care if you have the ability to do that on that one, you start, you should be able to hang at least for 30 seconds on one. I don't care if you [00:50:00] have the ability to be able to do a pushup, you should be able to hold yourself up in that
Franklin: position for at least 30 seconds on one. So a couple of really just easy assessments for yourself if you're listening to this, just how long can you hold a plank basically, you know, I, let's make it even
Lyonel: easier than the plank.
So tuck your knees in like, like you were going to do a pushup from your knees and then back. Right. And then hold yourself up there, just get the knees off the ground. So your toes on the ground, the hands on the ground, the knees are tucked in,
Franklin: hold yourself up there. And then the second one is just hang from a bar, like from a playground and just see how long you can hang.
Those two simple tests
Lyonel: will tell you so much about what's going on with your body. And it's shocking for most people because most people, especially if they've been most men, if they've been athletic in their lives at any point, if they've played any sports, I've been in the weight room. Doesn't matter where they're at now or how long ago it's been or how they look, they all still believe that they have the ability to do those same things that [00:51:00] they used to be able to do back there.
Oh man. I used to lift and I was putting pretty good in the gym. I used to be able to bench, but wherever I used to lift this much, I used to do these things. So in their mountains. Well, yeah. I haven't gone in the last five years or 10 years or however long it's been. Mm-Hmm. . But you know, I'm still, look at me, I'm in pretty good shape.
Right. I still got this and I can't move, but I'll be okay. And then they go try and reality sets in and it's usually not feeling very good. And a lot of times they get embarrassed and they realize, Oh man, I didn't feel like I let myself go that badly. And to them step back into a gym environment to go do that again, that does not feel good.
So they don't want to go and be the weak link over there. They don't want to be the one that everyone is looking at and whatever. So that makes it very difficult for a lot of them to start, which is where I think what I do has come such a long way, because whether I'm working with people in person or working with them remotely, there's no judgment by me or anyone else for that matter.
They can be literally in the comfort of their own home, doing their own exercises [00:52:00] without having anybody's prying eyes, looking at them and making them feel a certain way for their ability or lack of ability. Or if they actually come into the gym, if they happen to be local to me and they come into our facility, there's zero judgment.
There's one thing that is not allowed there. Everyone is there in support of each other because we're all from the same mission, trying to become better people. So why would I want to make you feel like you're not capable of, or you're not good enough if you're not, don't have the ability to do something yet?
Instead, I'm going to come grab you by the hand and show you what to do and how to do. And have everyone else there to support you on that. Because you know what? We're all there at one point. We've all had to take that first step, then the second, then the third, then the fourth, right? To get to where we're at.
So we'll all be there with you to help encourage you right along the way to make sure that happens.
Franklin: So if someone signs up with you and you take them through that assessment, you kind of get an idea of where they are from a physical fitness standpoint. What is your process then? Like how, what's your approach?
when you work with someone to [00:53:00] get them to be a well functioning human.
Lyonel: First thing, thank you for that. The assessment is really thorough for me because I go through a lot of different things with them to be able to actually see what's going on in their bodies. The main reason why I do that is because I want to be able to identify what issues that they have that they're not aware of.
And so as I'm looking at the way they walk, for example, I'm looking at the way that they stand and looking at their different postures and little things that are there, I'm pointing out things to them that are happening in their bodies. And they're looking at me like, how do you know I'm experiencing this?
And it's because the way that they're moving is telling me that. And so when they realize and recognize that, okay, maybe I know some things that they don't, they're now more open to the suggestions I'm going to give them to be able to help make the changes happen. And so that assessment is critical because it gives me the specifics of where each person is starting from.
So when I'm designing what I'm designing for you, it's not based on what Joe's doing down the street. It's based on you specifically, where you are and what you [00:54:00] need to get you to the next level. And then we keep building on that and we keep reassessing and keep adjusting and keep reassessing and adjusting and getting you to where we want to go.
So it makes it much easier to start because we have, uh, the starting point for you is based on where you actually are and the exercises and things that I'm going to give you are going to be something that's suited for you at your ability, whatever that is. You don't have to worry about, well, I can't do this.
This is too hard. Now, what I will do is I will show you things. Okay. This is where you are. This is what I want you to do, but I want to give you something to look at, right? This is where you should be able to get to. And so you'll be able to see a starting point and then see where not necessarily the end of it is, but where else you can go with it and kind of keep things exciting.
It's like, wow, okay. And I think what happens a lot of times when people are seeing their starting point, then you think, well, that looks too easy until they start, of course, and they realize, okay, not easy at all. It requires a lot more work [00:55:00] than they expected. But the great thing about that is seeing where they can go with it.
in comparison to where they are now, that makes it really, really exciting because they're like, Oh wow, I'd be able to do that one day. That's kind of cool. At first they don't believe it because of course, you know, they haven't been able to all along, right. And as they go along and they see some improvement in what they're doing currently, and they realize I can do this part, then they start believing that they'll be able to get there as well.
And that changes everything because a little bit of result that they've gotten all of a
Franklin: sudden makes that mental picture. possible. It seems so much more inspirational to from a, uh, thinking through that for the things that you're going to be able to do versus just the way you're going to look. And it's like, if you can, if you can do those things, you're probably going to look pretty good too.
It's like, it'll be a natural byproduct. It'll be a natural byproduct product of it. But it, to me, it, it makes it exciting when it's [00:56:00] like, Oh, you mean I can, I can run again, or I can go on a hike, or I can go for a swim, or I can pick up my grandkids, or, you know, just fill in the blank with whatever gets you excited, but that's so much more motivational and inspirational than simply an arbitrary amount of weight to lose or a particular, you know, image you have of yourself that may or may not even be accurate, but either of those things you get them achieved and it still like doesn't fulfill you because it's not, you know, It's not correlating and transferring over to how you get to experience life.
Sure,
Lyonel: true. I think it's so much better if you can just really regain your life or gain your life for some people because they never had it, you know, they never had the ability to all of a sudden they're not capable of doing things that were impossible before. That's a whole new life. That's a whole new lease man.
That's amazing. That's incredible. As being able to go and enjoy things that you've seen and dreamt about and thought about and never thought possible [00:57:00] for you, all of a sudden you're not capable of doing those things. It's so cool for me. Like, um, there's one of my clients, I remember one of the reasons why she came to start with me.
It's because she knew she was going to retire soon and she wanted to be able to have the ability to buy an RV and go travel around the country with it and be able to operate that on her own. And she realized that she didn't have the strength to be able to maybe lift up the awnings or move the things around and do just the basics every day around, you know, like if she's in an RV and she's by herself, how is she going to be able to do all these things?
There's no one else, you know, to move these things around. She doesn't have the strength for it. That was her motivation to start had nothing to do with wanting to lose weight and getting shaved or anything like that. Just wants to be able to go and enjoy her life. Well, benefits that's come out of it is not only does she have the strength now and the ability to move in ways that she couldn't before, totally capable of handling that RV everything possible with it, but she's also looks incredible, lost weight, built some muscle, completely [00:58:00] redefined her figure, looks like a completely different person feels.
Like a completely different person operates like a completely different person simply because she took that step and got started.
Franklin: That's
Lyonel: kind of cool.
Franklin: That's, that's a really awesome story. And for people listening, it makes me think like, if you've, if you've struggled to find the motivation and, and the discipline and the drive to get to the gym or to start working out or to get healthier or whatever, it's like, well, maybe.
Instead of thinking through how many pounds you want to lose or what way you want, particular way you want to look like, what if you got out a piece of paper and just started going, you know, when I'm 50 years old or I'm 60 or I'm 70, like, what are the things that I would love to be able to do in my life?
You know, can you, can you travel the world with your spouse when you're 70 years old and go to those places that cars can't get to that? That you [00:59:00] get to experience. Can you, you know, could you go backpacking? Could you river raft? I mean, I'm just throwing out random stuff, but like, what are those amazing things that you would want to be able to do and use that as the purpose and the drive and the And the reason that you start investing in yourself physically so that you can live life and enjoy the gift of, of every breath and every day that God's given us and not squander it away because we believe this, this narrative in this story that we're old, that we're going downhill, that we're whatever age and things just aren't working and you just buy into something that's a lie, pure, plain and simple.
It's a lie. It's not the truth. And. And I think that there's just so much more for us. I mean, to me, that would be just like a great way for someone to really find a better, deeper sense of motivation and inspiration to start doing that work.
Lyonel: I absolutely agree with that. You know, as you were mentioning this, as you're talking, I'm, I'm [01:00:00] really thinking of Martin, who, when he started with us, Martin's 62 now.
Uh, Martin started when he was right around 60. So what's interesting is at 24, he had an accident, um, doing some work and he kind of messed up his back, basically just lifting incorrectly. And he babied that thing for years and years and years 40, he had surgery on his back to try to help fix things and made it even worse.
And so imagine this, right? For the last 30, 40 years, this guy's really babied all these taking little steps because if he sneezed too hard, he'd throw out his back for a week and wouldn't be able to move. He tried to reach up to grab something, he had to be really careful in how he turned and what he did because if he moves too rapidly, his back would go out, he'd be in pain, he can't move far.
I mean, just a crazy way of living, but that's where he was. Until he came to us, long story, we worked with him and just changed everything. And Martin just recently went on a trip to Portugal with his girlfriend and they were on a 12 day hike, literally. 12 days [01:01:00] walking everywhere, up, down hills, I mean, just off mountains and everything else.
And it was like, man, it is so refreshing to be able to have my life back. I can do things that I couldn't do in my twenties and thirties. To go on this hike, to like walk every day, go everywhere, do everything. And not once was I worried about my back. Not once did I think about this thing is going to hurt me or what's going to happen.
I did everything. And it is so cool. You can't put a price on that. No, it's priceless. Yeah. I mean, it's like, wow, cool. I'm glad I had, I had something to do with that. Just, all I did was just. was the catalyst, right? Put him in the right place, you know, just like John was for me, you know, put the right information in my head and the rest of it I did.
And same with him. He did the work. And so it's so interesting because a lot of times people would thank me for what I did for them. And I'm thinking, I really didn't do anything. You did the work. All I did was just put you on the right path. I was the guide. I kind of helped you. I made sure I held your hand, gave you the motivation, the support, all that stuff.
But at the end of the day, you have to be the one willing to do the work. If you're not, there's nothing I can do for you. So there are a lot of [01:02:00] people I know that will listen to this and see this and think, well, I don't know if I can do this. You can do anything you want. You can't do anything if you just willing to go through the process.
I think what's hard a lot of times is people don't have the support they need to be able to go through it. Because if you go into something that you've never experienced before, it can be pretty challenging and pretty daunting, right? Because you may think, man, I don't know what happens if I fail. And that's a, that's a legitimate question that you want to ask.
But the cool thing is in an environment like ours, you don't have to be worried about that because we're here with you the whole time. You're not on your own. You're not trying to figure this out by yourself. You have someone guiding you along with it. So there is no worry about failure. There is no failure.
The only time you would fail is you just simply quit. But then there's no saving because you're not doing anything anymore. As long as you have the willingness to go through the process, we're there to be able to help make the fine tunes and the guidance and the handholding and the support and the clapping and the whatever it is that we need to provide to you to help you along to make sure that you're getting [01:03:00] what you need to make sure you actually get to the end result that you want to have.
It's not difficult. But it's something that I think a lot of people aren't aware is available to them because the experiences that a lot of people have had, I mean, think about this, what you do might be different, you know, Franklin, but most people don't go through training and working out in the same way, right?
They have the typical, go to the gym, work on the machines, do what they see everybody else doing. Most of the times they're worried about if people are looking at them or looking at themselves in the mirrors, make sure that they look the right way, et cetera. All right. And so if you're, that's the only thing that you're used to and you want to go and try to do something that is different and you don't feel confident that you know what you're doing or you're going to look the right way or you're going to live the right way, you're not going to put yourself in an environment where all the eyes are on you to possibly make you feel even worse about yourself than you already do.
Why would you? Yeah, you know, you need to go to the gym. Yeah, you need to work out, but why would you want to go put yourself in an environment like that where, you know, it's not conducive to [01:04:00] really helping you get to where you want to go? It makes so much more sense though, to have something that's supporting, something that's loving, something that's just there.
It's like, Hey, we got you. You're not alone in this. You don't have to figure this out by yourself. We're here for you. We're here with you. Here's what to do. Here's how. Let's go. Okay. That was good. Let's make this adjustment here. Okay, cool. That was good. Let's make this adjustment there. And we offer that in so many different ways to people.
It's able to help support them along their journey that they don't have to feel that pain of trying to do it alone, trying to figure it all out by myself and, you know. Yeah, it's not fun. I've been fortunate my entire life because there's a lot of things that I've been thrown in situations where I had to figure things out by myself.
And I've been super fortunate to have other scenarios where that should have happened, but there was someone else there to help guide me along. They didn't do it for me. They just simply pointed me in the right direction. I still had to do the work, but that was so much easier doing the work that way than trying to figure it out on my own at the same time.
You know, so anytime that I work with a [01:05:00] coach, I mean, I remember I had a brief stint in trying to make it to the CrossFit Games. I remember trying to train for that when I really figured out that, hey, maybe I could actually do this thing and be one of those people that is going to be the best in the world.
Mind you, I had no experience in doing anything and no reason for that, but I thought, well, why not? So I hired a coach and what was so interesting, I remember asking him the question because, um, I had just qualified in the Masters division, um, the year before doing the CrossFit Open. I think I was ranked like 3, 000 something in the world, you know, out of like 19, 000 people in my division at the time.
I thought that was pretty good. I mean, 3, 000 some like in the top, what, 15, 20%, something like that. Not bad,
Franklin: right?
Lyonel: Considering, you know, 20, the top 20 going to 3, 000 something. I'm nowhere near the best, but hey, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I remember asking my coach the question, do you think it would be possible for me to actually qualify to make it to the game?
He thinks it was interesting. [01:06:00] He didn't say yes, he didn't say no. What he asked me was simply this, what do you think? I was like, well, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. He goes, no, it's not important what I think you can do. What do you think you can? Do you think if you put in the work necessary that you could actually get there?
I'm like, well, yeah, he goes, good, then let's get you there. We went to work. The following year, I qualified 23rd in the world. Oh, wow. From 3000 something, 3, 900, whatever it was, to 23rd, simply because he just asked me if I believed that I could, and I did. And if I was willing to put in the work, which I was, and then he just guided me.
And all he did, he never did the work for me. I did the work, but he just said, keep giving you the direction. This is what I want you to do. And sometimes the things that he would require of me seem like, there's no way in the world I can do this. This is more than I can lift. This is more than I can do.
I've never done this before. I don't think I'm capable of it. But every single time this was my attitude, like, so wait, so you really want me to do this? Like, [01:07:00] yes. And you really think I can't? Yes. Okay. All right. If you think so, then let's go find out. And I'd go attempt. And sometimes wouldn't be able to.
Okay. And it was okay. So whenever I failed, he come back and says, well, you gave it a good try. We know you're not there yet, but you're close. And I'm like, yes, I guess I am close because I've almost got it. So even though I failed miserably, I still felt great about the fact that I was almost able to do that thing that in my mind was completely impossible.
So I didn't look at it as I failed. I look at it as, man, I'm almost there. All I have to do is just a little bit more and I'll be able to do that. But on the occasions where I was actually able to do what I didn't think was possible, what do you think it did for me? Man, I just did this. Holy crap. Wow. So I guess I'm stronger than I thought.
Well, I guess I'm better than I thought. I guess I can do more than I thought. Man, this is exciting. So now I'm going to just even more like, yeah, let's go. What else you got? How much more are you going to throw at me? Because if I this, whatever else [01:08:00] you got, I got this. It wasn't scary anymore. It got to a point where if I was going into a competition, I wasn't scared of competing at the time, you know, and before this competitions were a scary thing because it's going to be doing more than I'm doing, but I'm afraid after training with him, I realized that competitions was nothing more than a training session, no different.
And the things that I typically did in my training sessions were always harder than whatever it was that I would do in a competition. So, what did I have to do to get it? Change my mindset, change my outcome as well. Because of that, every time I entered a competition, I knew I was going to podium. I'm walking away with a medal of some sort.
I'm either winning this thing or I'm going to be in the top three. And I just believed that. It didn't matter who it was that I was competing against. I knew I was going to beat whoever I was against. Not because I'm better than they are, just because I know I'm willing to do the work necessary and whatever they're going to throw at me can't be any harder than what I've
Franklin: already been through.
So you built your physical body through the training and then that helped to build your mindset. A longer way as well, but [01:09:00] one had to follow the other.
Lyonel: One had to follow the other. And I think a lot of times people focus on the mindset and they ignore the physical. You can't ignore the physical. The physical will help make your mind so much stronger.
Because when you realize what your body can do, then you understand where your mind wants to go. It's not impossible. It's
Franklin: so powerful. That's awesome. Lionel, man, what a powerful conversation this has been as we begin to wrap things up and land this plane. So to speak, what would you say to someone listening to this that's getting some value and not sure where to start, but, but wants to, wants to improve their fitness and their health and like, what, what would be a practical first step that they could take?
Lyonel: It's a lot. Well. A lot of things that they can do. The very first thing that I would recommend that they do is actually just like get more information about what it is that they want. Be more clear, right? Because again, this idea of I just want to get in good shape, that doesn't really say anything because Really, if you can do [01:10:00] one more thing, for example, if you couldn't do a push up since you can do one now, you're in good shape, you're in better shape than you were before.
Is that the goal? Is that where you want to be? If that's not, then get clear on what it is that you'd like to have. And by designing and defining that, that makes it easier now for you to decide who and where and how you want to be able to achieve that. Because I believe this, that who you work with is probably just so more important than anything else that you do.
Because they're going to guide you either in the correct way down the right path for you or they're going to guide you to do what everybody else is doing, which may or may not be the right thing. So you can either go in and guess that you're going to do the right thing, or you can find someone that you vibe with, find someone that like resonates well with you, that you know is going to take you down the right path that you want to be on.
Because at the end of the day, here's the thing, if you don't like the person you're working with or the person who's guiding you, it's going to be really difficult for you to follow their lead and let them take you [01:11:00] to where you want to go. But if you feel good and you have that connection with them and what they do and what they work and how they think and what they believe in resonates with you because that's on the right path with you, then absolutely go for that.
You know, I think I've always said this, I'd love to work with the whole world, but I realized that the whole world doesn't want to work because some people may find me too brash. Some people may not like my approach to things. Some people may not like the fact that I'm going to tell them the truth about where they are instead of what they like here.
Right. So it might be a little bit put off by that and that's okay. But those that actually want that, those that actually know and understand the value in that, oh man, those are my kind of people. Those are the people that I vibe totally well with and we go far and we have a blast together because what people also don't realize is that this whole thing with training and working out and whatever, that's not a chore.
It doesn't have to be. This could be one of the most fun and exciting things you've ever done in your life. You could literally look forward to every day going to do your workouts because it is [01:12:00] absolutely fun. It's like being a kid in a playground, playing again, laughing, enjoying yourself while you're actually doing something that's physically beneficial.
There's nothing like it. And so when I find those kinds of people that vibe with me, this is literally what they get to experience. Because kind of the right, you know, I mean, that'd be funny, but I'm funny looking. So either way, it's
Franklin: such a good perspective and such a good, it just reframes things in such a really positive, powerful way that, that I hope is going to bless and benefit a lot of people listening to this show and hopefully a lot of men to help them show up as better husbands, fathers, and leaders.
Yeah. We definitely need more of that. We need more men, strong men, capable
Lyonel: men. Yes, we do. I know what's so interesting when men really truly find out like where they are and how they are in here, like what their physical bodies are capable of and they get to be like, [01:13:00] they own that, they own that strength, they show up in ways that's so powerful
Franklin: in everything that they do.
Well, and to, to end on this, Men, when you show up and you can, and you can have that physical capacity in yourself, you will be more attractive to your spouse and you will be a greater inspiration to your children. Absolutely. Like, if that's not enough motivation in and of itself to get you off the couch and, and out, outside and, you know, And getting your body healthy, I don't know what is and so, yeah, but our families deserve that they deserve our kids deserve men that they can, that they can look up to and be proud of and want to be like, and our wives deserve men that, that they're attracted to and that make them excited and that, that they're confident and, uh, and can trust in and so, You know, in our physical bodies all play into that.
Lyonel: They do. They do. And again, it's not about how you look, it's about how you [01:14:00] feel because of your abilities to do things.
Franklin: That's beautiful. Such an important thing. So Lionel, if someone listening to this show wanted to connect with you, follow you, reach out, how would they find
Lyonel: you? Um, a few ways. They can actually go on my website, which is getlionstrong.
com, that's G E T L Y O N Or they can follow me on all social media platforms at, at GetLionStrong, G E T L Y O N S T R O N G. So Facebook, they'll find me there. They can find me on Instagram. They can find me on Twitter, all at GetLionStrong. They can
Franklin: reach out. Perfect. We'll, we'll include links to all those in the show notes here.
And so, man, what a great conversation. Thank you for all your perspective and wisdom and experience that you shared. Thank you for taking the time to come on the show. This was a blast. Thanks.
Lyonel: Man, thank you so much for inviting me. This has been an absolute pleasure for me as well. I really, really
Franklin: enjoyed this.
Awesome. Well, with that said, [01:15:00] this is Franklin Tuan and Lionel Lemarque signing off and thank you for joining us today. Thank you. We ask that if you found value in this that you subscribe to the podcast and share with someone that you think would find value in this as well. If there's a man that you know who would benefit from this, please share it with them.
We want to get these messages and these tools and resources out to as many men as we can so that marriages can be thriving. Families can heal. So kids have great dads so that wives have great husbands and one man at a time in this world we can make a [01:16:00] difference.