Kevin takes listeners a bit behind the curtain with a personal reveal.
Kevin takes listeners a bit behind the curtain with a personal reveal.
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
Have a fitness question? Email Kevin at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com or leave us a voicemail at (510) 353-3014.
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Get-Fit Guy is a part of Quick and Dirty Tips.
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Hello everyone, Kevin Don the ‘Get-Fit Guy’ here and the big reveal this week is I’m going to do this episode with my real accent and my real personality (OMG). Now, believe it or not, just like most people, I have different personalities. This is normal, please don’t call the hospital. I have one personality with my dog when I am home alone, I have another personality with my clients, another one at karate or judo training and another one here, where we meet in the auditory realm.
Get-Fit-Guy is just a hat I wear to write these episodes and to record them also. But it might surprise you to hear that in spite of all the amazing coaches I have trained with, athletes I have trained alongside, places I have visited, I’m still a pretty shy guy and if the “Kevin is a bit weird” comments are anything to go by, more than a bit socially awkward.
I used to think to myself that it would be totally epic to be able to have a platform to share my thoughts and the things I have learned. I looked at coaches and athletes that had audiences of tens of thousands up to millions and think that if I had such a large audience too, I could really help people and the larger audience would be like swinging a larger axe at the fitness disinformation. But now I am in the position where I have tens of thousands listening to my voice, it’s a lot of pressure!
As you know if you are a regular listener, I am also at university where I am doing a degree in Philosophy and like all academic students, I have to write essays for my course. It’s tough going and with this show, I have to also write a script each week. This is usually 1500-2000 words long, so it’s like doing another 52 essays a year! On top of this, I have to think of new things to say about a finite topic which hasn’t really changed much in the last few decades. My goal is to get people more healthy and well as we all age together. So, basically, go lift some weights to increase muscle mass and bone density, so some mobility so you have range of motion and so some aerobic work for your cardiovascular system. Job done. However, if I were to just say that every week, it wouldn’t be very long before I had no listeners.
I look at other creators or influencers and you can see a pattern across time, where they say or do more and more outlandish things. It’s not really because they created this exaggerated version of themselves across time, but because creators have to create and if you don’t feed the tamagotchi, then it dies. With me, it’s maybe a bit different, because I don’t care about algorithms or staying relevant, I only care about what is true. So, sometimes you guys have to listen to me go off on tangents about things that may not appear directly to be super related to fitness, but it’s either I get the space to do that, or I end up making episodes about sunning your butthole to activate a chakra or which crystals are best to detox your aura ORRRRR you don’t get an episode.
SO, yeah, that’s where I am with my explanation of why I sometimes get some emails calling me a pedant or that I’ve overstepped my role as a fitness coach. I’m just trying to walk the line between making everyone a podcast whilst not just repeating the basics of resisting entropy every week or becoming a version of fitness that I don’t like, namely one that parrots every single trend out there just for the likes.
Also believe it or not, I don’t go to the gym and see people doing crazy weird things and think they are stupid or that they should be doing something else which is more impactful. I’m happy to see every person in the gym, because they are there trying to make a positive change to their bodies, their health, their moods and that’s really awesome. I also don’t listen to people and where there are words, think to myself “that is illogical, that was fallacious”, and so on, again, I’m a very boring and normal person and I’m always happy to have chats with people I meet. Burning emails that I get for validity of argument is just a personality I have for the podcast. Amazing isn’t it?
So, why share that information? Well, because I think it could be healthy. Not just for me, but for you. It’s really common to hear comments like “I don’t like King Charles” or just insert another name there as you please. But, you don’t know King Charles. You are familiar with a public face of a famous person that is controlled by the marketing of the palace and additionally, a side that is presented by the mainstream media, who also don’t truly know the person in question. Just like your own work colleagues don’t know how you behave with your partner at home or with your friends. So, we can either choose to be more authentic, choose to be hyper-curated OR we can choose to recognise that the people we follow or come into contact with are more nuanced than we can ever know. This, I think, is really healthy.
Now, since That’s only 1000 words (I’m old….this gig is brutal!) let’s go to the emails and see if anyone has trolled me this week.
Nope, no trolls, but I will share a listener email about training!
Hi Kevin
Love your show!
My question is about cycling and bone density. I am aware that cycling, while seated, is low impact and has no positive effect on bone density, and can even decrease it, if it is all one does. But what about cycling while staying up on the pedals? As the body is no longer fully supported is this a way to add some impact to a cycling workout?
Thank you
Brianna, in Australia
Hi Brianna
Great to hear from you. I emailed you a study on cycling and bone health. As you can see from the study, the results showed conclusively that cycling showed no effect on increasing bone mineral density. Indeed, as you noted, cycling actually decreased bone mass in areas crucial to healthy movement, such as the lower back.
The study did note that other types of cycling, such as mountain biking and BMX would do the opposite, due to the impact absorption. Standing on the pedals on a normal road bike or a stationary bike in the gym would only shift mechanical effort to another area of focus. It wouldn’t add any compression or impact. Therefore, my answer is no. If you were in a gym setting and looking for aerobic work with some impact, then the treadmill would be the top of the list.
Hope this answers your question!
As always, thank you for listening and send any fun emails to me at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com and SMASH like for more of my real personality. I’ll play the bagpipes at 5 million subs.
Get-Fit Guy is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Thanks to the team at Quick and Dirty Tips Morgan Christianson, Holly Hutchings, the director of podcasts Brennan Goetschius and Davina Tomlin. I’m your host, Kevin Don. If you have a question for me, leave me a voicemail at 510-353-3104 or send me an email at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com. For more information about the show, visit quickanddirtytips.com, or check out the shownotes in your podcast app.