33. Exercise Myths and How to Meet Yourself Where You are to Stay Consistent with Personal Trainer Edwin Solis

In this episode I have a conversation with Edwin Solis, my personal trainer who I have been working with for one year now. I share about my journey with exercise since I was in the twenties and why it's important to have guidance. We talk about structured fitness, discussing the transformative power of consistency, the science behind muscle growth versus strengthening, and why a diversified workout plan is important.

Pain and discomfort often turn people away from regular exercise, but what if I told you that functional movement could be the key to a pain-free life? Edwin and I discuss how pain can stop you from moving and how a functional movement can be your guide to a body that moves with ease. We confront the myths surrounding strength training for runners and emphasize the necessity of building a sturdy foundation, like armor, to safeguard against injury and enhance performance.

Finally, we dive into the personal side of fitness, revealing how crucial it is to meet yourself where you are in your journey. Whether you're a mother juggling family and self-care or someone standing at the crossroads of wellness and uncertainty, the conversation turns to strategies for integrating fitness into life's chaos. From selecting the right personal trainer to setting realistic goals, we cover the essentials of personal progress. It's a dialogue that not only encourages physical health but also tends to the heart of emotional well-being. Join us as we navigate the rich landscape of a life well-lived, and don't forget to tune in next week for another dose of inspiration.

You can connect with Edwin on Instagram:
@edmma7
@solis_fitness_academy

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Chapters

• 1:16 Importance of Exercise for Longevity
• 7:26 The Importance of a Workout Plan
• 14:21 Importance of Functional Movement and Pain
• 23:40 Importance of Strength Training for Runners
• 37:20 Fitness and Personal Training Basics
• 47:05 Wellness, Fitness, and Goal Setting
• 53:35 Personal Training in New York Area

Transcript

Naihomy: 1:16

Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of wealthy generation podcast. Today is a different kind of episode. Just because we have the very first male on the podcast, I invited my trainer, edwin, to come on here and talk to us about all things exercise as I and like personal training and just training your body and all that kind of thing. Throughout my seven year journey in my health and wellness journey, I've I've learned so much about exercise and there were so many things that I was doing wrong and I finally am in a place where I think I'm doing things right, even though I'm not doing it. I'm just hiring other people to lead me in the right direction. But anyway, I want to welcome Edwin to the podcast. Please introduce yourself.

Edwin: 2:12

What's up everyone. My name is Edwin Solis. As you know, I'm Naomi's personal trainer. I've been a personal trainer for over 10 years, also a MMA fighter as well. I've been doing that for close to 13 years and I'm super excited to be on the podcast and talk some fitness stuff.

Naihomy: 2:31

Yes, thank you for coming. So why is exercise important? Why should people be doing that?

Edwin: 2:41

Well, I think it's important for many, many reasons. Obviously, I think, when it comes to exercising, people tend to favor some forms of exercise versus another, which is fine. I think we all have a personal preference, but I think, regardless of your training style, training method or your goals are, everybody should be engaging in some sort of movement. There's obviously a lot of research behind people who exercise and longevity, so I think if you want to live a longer, healthier life, that's a good enough reason to exercise, and if that isn't a good enough reason, I don't know what is. So, yeah, like I mentioned, I think everybody should be engaging in some sort of movement, but if you want to live a longer, healthier life, then exercising is definitely something that should be mandatory and be part of your daily routine.

Naihomy: 3:32

So I want to break a lot of language down in this episode, because there's a lot of words that I use that I didn't even know what they meant myself, so I think it would be really good to just define and give examples as to what it looks like. So you mentioned longevity and living a good, healthy life. What does that look like? Like? What does that mean If you're somebody that's in your 20s and 30s and you can't picture what that looks like? What is an example of living a longer, healthier life versus not?

Edwin: 4:11

So I think some key elements to living a long, healthy life is having a workout routine and then, within that workout routine, having a well-rounded approach. So definitely strength training, conditioning I think the best way to really enhance your results is to engage in different forms of training. So I feel like I'm a good example of that. I do strength training, I do conditioning, I do boxing, I do jujitsu, so I engage in a lot of different forms of training. So I'm a big believer in not just doing one form of training. Like I mentioned before, you might have something that that's a personal preference that you favor over other things, but I think having a workout routine and then, within the workout routine, having that be well rounded.

Edwin: 4:52

Obviously, nutrition is a big, big part and obviously that's something that you're an expert in. I think eating well is super, super important, but I think also the way people view food and their relationship with food is important. You can't just eat for pleasure. You know we all like cookies and ice cream every once in a while, but we know that in the long term, if we're eating that way, it's going to lead to us being sick and out of shape. So obviously, having a good relationship with food and, I think, also having a good relationship with people. So a good workout routine, a good relationship with food and, I think, good relationships with people will ultimately lead you to where you want to be and it's going to lead to a long, happy life.

Naihomy: 5:40

Yeah, and I want to bring in some examples too, of like how not having this kind of discipline or routine can look later on and I'm sure some of you are experiencing these things now, where it's just harder to move compared to the past, or things that seemed easier for you to do before just seem a little bit more difficult now. And it can be as simple as walking a long distance or even a short distance. It can look like you not being able to go up and down the stairs, you not being able to reach over your head to grab something from a shelf down the stairs, you not being able to reach over your head to grab something from a shelf. It can mean you not being able to bend down to grab your dog or a kid, and those things can be pretty devastating where you are used to doing these kinds of movements on a regular basis and all of a sudden you feel like you can't dance and you can't bend down to pick something up, or, if you do, you hurt yourself in some sort of way. You pull your back or you hurt your knees or your feet are hurting. So just think about the way that your experiences, as you get older, will become more limited because your movement will become more limited, like maybe you're not going to be able to walk around Disney world with your grandkids because your body can't handle that anymore, or you might not be able to go on vacation and pull your suitcase, like when I'm training. Those are a few things that I think about of how am I going to make sure I keep moving the way I want to as I get older without getting hurt. So I just wanted to like highlight a few of those points.

Naihomy: 7:26

So when I started exercising, I was just doing random things, not random. I would just go to workout classes, which really served me because I went from doing nothing to then doing something and that allowed me to lose 50 pounds and keep it off and get stronger. But what I did not know was that I needed, as I grew in my journey, a workout plan. I had no idea that was a thing. I had no idea what it consisted of and why would it benefit me, aside from just doing random classes. So can you please explain to us what a workout plan is and why do you need one?

Edwin: 8:12

Yeah. So having a workout plan is very, very important. Most people when they go to the gym they just do a bunch of random stuff. But if you just do a bunch of random stuff, how do you get to your goal? So obviously, if you have a goal, then you have to have a plan in place. And that's kind of where the science of exercising comes in.

Edwin: 8:31

So what I do with Naomi and all my clients is I program for them and then every four weeks we change the program. So the goal, one of the goals with all my clients is once they get used to a stressor, we want to create a new stressor. So let's say, for example, if today was Naomi's first day working out with me and I gave her a 20 pound kettlebell and I had her do goblet squats, after a while her body is going to adapt to that. So once that happens, we want to create a new stressor so that we get a new response. That way we continue progressing and moving forward. But without having a plan in place it's hard to do that. So obviously, from client to client, their goals are going to change and everybody has different needs and what they want to accomplish, but a common goal for all my clients is to make sure that we're finding new ways that we can create those stressors so that they can continue improving, because we never we don't want to stay the same. That isn't the goal. So we always want to move forward and find those ways that we can improve, and I think that's one of the best benefits of having a plan is that it allows you, it gives you a roadmap to your goal and where you want to go.

Edwin: 9:50

But, like I mentioned before, if you're just doing a bunch of random stuff, it's like how do you accomplish your goal doing a bunch of random stuff? I can also relate that to my fighting. Every time I step in the cage, I have a game plan. That doesn't mean we don't make adjustments and some things may not change, but I'm not just winging it.

Edwin: 10:07

And I think one of the biggest problems in fitness is people just expect to do a bunch of random stuff and they expect an amazing result, and I always challenge people to show me somebody who just did a bunch of random stuff and became super successful, regardless if it was fitness or whatever the case may be. So having that program, having somebody who can provide a very clear roadmap and get you to where you wanna go super, super important, like you definitely need that. You can't get way to the top, so to speak. So I think that's one of the best benefits of having a plan is that it gives you a roadmap to where you want to go, and always keeping in mind that you know we constantly want to create those new stressors, like I mentioned before. So we constantly get those new responses because that's how we're going to continue to improve. But it's almost impossible to do that if you're just doing a bunch of random stuff all the time.

Naihomy: 11:06

Yeah, and something you told me about my program that kind of blew my mind and I was like what is that? There's a muscle growth period and then a muscle strengthening period. Can you talk about that a little bit more?

Edwin: 11:24

Yeah, so you know, I, like I mentioned before, a lot of people, um, you know, obviously, when, when they come in and they start from a low level of fitness, these aren't things that that they're really um, you know some of this terminology.

Edwin: 11:38

They're not things that that they're really um, you know some of this terminology. They're not. They're, they're not aware of and they're not used to. So, obviously, depending on on what the goal is will determine a lot of different things. So, um, and we've spoken about this so, for example, if I'm training somebody like you, obviously what goes is muscle growth. Um, so one of the things that we would focus on, a couple things, uh, tempo of the lift is important. So for you, somebody like you, you're focused on muscle growth. You're going to go at a much slower tempo because we want more time on the tension, because primarily, that's your primary goal. That's what you're looking to do. Let's say, versus an athlete wants to become stronger, more explosive, the tempo of the lift would be different. So, like for athlete, I would have them go at a faster pace because they have a different goal. And that doesn't mean they wouldn't get the muscle growth or they wouldn't develop the strength, but it really depends on the person's goal and what they want to accomplish, and that's also something people aren't aware of. If I have somebody whose primary goal is that muscle growth, um, the temples of the lift are going to be different versus an athlete who wants to maybe come faster, more explosive, then their training is is going to look different. So, ultimately, we all physically want to get stronger. That's a good thing, um, but when we get more specific with the goals, um, it's going to vary from from person to person.

Edwin: 12:55

You know like you might have some one person who wants primarily the muscle growth, but when we get more specific with the goals, it's going to vary from person to person. You know like you might have one person who wants primarily the muscle growth, so they're going to have certain things in their program and they're going to perform things in a certain way, versus somebody else who, like I mentioned, maybe they want to become faster, more explosive. They're going to have certain things in their program and they're going to move the weight in a certain way. So knowing these things are important, they're going to move the weight in a certain way. So knowing these things are important.

Edwin: 13:21

And again, it goes back to, you know, having somebody who can guide you in the right direction and have you do the things necessary in order to get what you want. So, whether that is muscle growth, whether that's getting stronger, whether that's becoming faster or more explosive, you have to be very specific with what you have in your program so that you can achieve the goal that you have. And, again, that is going to vary from person to person. So when it comes to fitness, it's definitely not a one size fits all.

Naihomy: 13:51

Mm, that's good, and so you shouldn't be doing what all your friends are doing. Is that what you're saying? Like you should figure out what works for you instead of following along everybody else.

Edwin: 14:05

Yes, exactly, and you know it's funny. Unfortunately, we live in a culture today where social media is very big and people tend to follow, you know, what they see on social media, what they see other people doing, and that isn't a good thing because for a bunch of different reasons. So I'll use an example, a specific example, so it makes more sense. So you know, let's say I come to the gym I'm a complete beginner I see somebody doing barbell back squats and I decide, hey, I want to try that exercise, but maybe I shouldn't do that exercise. And then people would ask well, why not? Well, one, it's a pretty, it's an advanced variation of a squat and if I don't have a lot of experience squatting, maybe I shouldn't be doing that. I might have a movement deficiency. So maybe if I lack hip mobility or ankle mobility, I shouldn't be getting underneath a barbell. See, but this is information that the average person isn't aware of and it's important to know. And then, one of the things that I do as a personal trainer, which I think is extremely valuable, is we do a functional movement screen. So the purpose of the functional movement screen is pretty much to see if the individual has any deficiencies with mobility, flexibility and just overall movement, and then, depending on what we see during the functional movement screen as trainers, that allows us to program better for our clients.

Edwin: 15:31

I'm sure there's plenty of people walking around in the gym with some sort of deficiency and they have no idea, and the problem with that is if they perform certain movements they're opening the door for injury and obviously if you get injured it's not breaking news.

Edwin: 15:43

You can't train the way you want to train. So having that information is very, very important and it's also important not to follow the crowd, so to speak, because just because you see somebody doing a certain exercise, that exercise may not be good for you for all the reasons that I mentioned. And that's why, again, it's so important to have a trainer, to have somebody who can guide you in the right direction, to have a plan in place so that you can avoid these potential. You know negative things that can happen in the gym and obviously you don't want to have a negative association with the gym, because the gym should be a place of positivity and growth and where you become a better version of yourself. But if you don't have access to this information and you're just following what other people are doing. That usually isn't going to lead to good things in the bigger picture.

Naihomy: 16:37

Yeah, you mentioned. I'm going to try and define mobility and functional movement just for the listener, if they don't know what that means, because I even have a hard time, so you tell me if I'm incorrect. Functional movement is like movements that you, that you use with your body on everyday things, like the other day I was lifting up a mattress off the floor of my mom's house and I had to use my legs and my arms in a specific way. Is that correct, correct?

Edwin: 17:10

Yeah, that's all right.

Naihomy: 17:12

And mobility is being able to move your joints at their full potential. So you being able to lift up your arm all the way or rotate your arm all the way, or be able to use your legs in full function, like in their full capacity, basically, is that. Is that what that is? Yeah, that's what that is. I just wanted to put in like regular people's terms because I'm like what is that?

Naihomy: 17:43

You mentioned pain, and let's talk about pain, because it is what prevents a lot of people from exercising, and I know it prevented me from exercising for a long time, because when I was in my early twenties, I would have such bad knee pain that I would have trouble sitting down for a long time. I would have trouble going down the stairs and I would tell myself things like oh, my body's just not meant to exercise. I'm not, I'm just not meant to do these things, because I would always end up in pain and I would go to physical therapy and then the physical therapist would be like your leg muscles are weak, and I'd be like what? What does that have to do with my knees? So can you share a little bit more about why, realizing where you have limited mobility, so limited ability to move your joints in a specific way, like your ankles and your hips and your feet and things like that. Why is how? Is that correlated to you having pain, and can you get out of that pain?

Edwin: 18:52

Yeah, you can a hundred percent get out of that pain, and one of the ways you're going to do that is through corrective exercises, and the purpose of corrective exercises is to restore mobility, stability and then overall movement, and it's also something that people should have in their program. For me, and obviously for all my my clients, they all have corrective exercises in their program and those are really the exercises that are gonna allow you to get healthy, stay healthy, um, and and you know, work out the way you want to work out, um, I always use the example of like these old school, like bodybuilders who've been pounding weights for years and putting so much stress on their nervous system. You see, when they get, get older and it's definitely not a knock on the bodybuilding community, but some of these guys, they look like human band-aids when they walk in the gym. It's like you can see, like the lack of mobility, and then what happens is, when you don't engage in movement, the body locks itself away and then you lose the ability to be functional. So everyday things that shouldn't be difficult, like picking something off the ground, walking up the steps, you know, carrying something in your house become very, very difficult, and society will make you believe that these things are normal, and it's not. None of these things are normal. But, with that being said, people should treat that as a warning sign. Your body is warning you and you need to do something about it. And just in general, when you feel pain. So I think the perspective that people have when, when they feel pain or when they hear the word pain is it's a negative association, the word pain is it's a negative association.

Edwin: 20:37

For me, I like to think of pain as like a warning sign. My body is warning me that hey, there's something wrong and we need to troubleshoot, we need to fix this. You know, whether you take the warning or not, it's up to you, but that's pretty much that's like my perspective on pain. So if my knee hurts, my ankle hurts, my elbow, whatever the case may be, in my mind I don't view that as something that is necessarily negative.

Edwin: 21:01

I view it as, hey, my body's giving me a heads up like there's something wrong and we need to fix this, because if we don't fix this, it's going to lead to something worse. And obviously, if you don't fix it, it definitely does lead to something worse. So I I think you know, regardless of your training goal, training method. I think corrective exercises are so, so important and everybody should have that in their program, regardless of um what their overall goal is or what they're looking to get out of their training. Um, because I mentioned before those corrective exercises, those are really the exercises that are going to give you the longevity and allow you to stay healthy.

Naihomy: 21:42

Yeah, absolutely. And something you mentioned is your body locking into place. And you might be thinking, oh no, that's not happening to me. But let's be real. If you're sitting at a desk all day, working in an office, your body's locking into place. If you're just driving everywhere up and down doing drive-thrus and pickup services, your body's locking into place. If you're just sitting in your couch all day, your body's locking into place. If you're working from home all the time, your body's locking into place. These are areas, unless you're being intentional, that will have you lock into place. Like these are like areas, unless you're being intentional, that will have you lock into place.

Naihomy: 22:19

When I worked in the office, I would go into the bathroom and do squats every hour because I just needed some movement.

Naihomy: 22:25

So the way that society is built all the way around is just not conducive to what the human body needs.

Naihomy: 22:33

And the reason why this is becoming so important now is because in the past, this is not what you did. Everything was super physical, like you had to go to the river to get your water and carry heavy ass water jugs and you had to go harvest your food and you had to walk for miles to get what you needed, and you had to pick up the kids and and, and you had to carry logs and branches to build the fire. So the way that humans lived their life before kept them active, kept them carrying heavy things, kept them moving in ways where it just kept your muscles active, your joints healthy. And now everything is so sedentary you can literally sit on your couch all day and get everything delivered to you Food, I don't know what your groceries, like you, can do work, everything is at the touch of your fingertips and it's cute and convenient. And at the same time, we don't realize how detrimental it is for our overall health. Okay, moving on after my rant is for overall health.

Naihomy: 23:37

Okay, moving on after my rant Awesome, thank you, thank you, okay. Something else that comes up a lot is that people go from not doing anything and then they're like I'm gonna go run a 5k, so, and they believe that the only training that they need to do because the action is, let's say, running or jogging or whatever is just building up their endurance or building up their capacity to run for three miles, or whatever is where. Where does that lead to If you think the only thing you need to do is run to train for something like a 5k?

Edwin: 24:16

yeah, for most people that's gonna lead to a lot of pain, and it's funny because I've spoken about this so many times and I'm not a competitive runner, um, so I want to throw that out there first. But to me it makes absolutely no sense that you have these people who've been running their whole lives, or people run competitively. Competitively, don't do any strength training, you just. You have to think about the pounding that you're putting your legs when you're doing these long distance and you need body armor as a and you've heard me say that a thousand times and I've had conversations with people running their whole lives and running marathons and sometimes they'll tell me oh, my knee hurts from all these years running, my ankle, shin splints, the list goes on and on.

Edwin: 25:07

And then a common question that I have for them is do you strength train? And then they look at me like I have three heads. I have a big head, but I only have one head. So the question is like so foreign. I'm like well, why not Think about the pounding you're putting on your legs?

Edwin: 25:22

You need body armor to withstand that pounding. And if you don't have that body armor, of course it's going to lead to pain. Of course your knees are going to hurt, your ankle is going to hurt, you're going to have these shin splints. Your, your knees are going to hurt, your ankle is going to hurt, you're going to have these shin splints. Your body's going to break down eventually. I mean, I've been running since I was 10 years old. Definitely not competitively, but I've never had any issues from running and that's because I strength train. I have strong legs so my legs can withstand the pounding. Now I'm obviously not training like somebody who's getting ready to run a marathon, but I know, if I wanted to do a marathon or do that type of training, that my body could withstand the pounding of it because I have body armor. So I think that's important for lifelong runners, competitive runners is to develop that body armor. They should 100% be strength training.

Naihomy: 26:14

Yeah, absolutely, and I totally noticed the difference as well. The personal trainers in my early 20s were totally right I no longer suffer from knee pain from running and now I run well, I don't run, run, but I do sprints and things like that and my legs, my knees, don't bother me anymore, and if they do, like they did a few weeks ago for me, I know that it's because of something else. So something I've also learned is that where you are in pain is rarely the source of the pain. So the other day my knees were hurting me and I was like oh, what's wrong with another part of my body? And it just turned out that it was like my hip flexors and they were too tight, and as soon as I started to release them, my knee pain started to go away. So I think that one of the common areas of pain is me and back. So what does that mean? When your knees are hurting you or your back is hurting you, where is it that that's normally coming from?

Edwin: 27:23

Yeah, so when it comes to lower back pain, and that's something that's very, very common and and kind of what's what sucks about that is that when most people have lower back pain, kind of what sucks about that is that when most people have lower back pain, they get an ice pack and they pop a pill, but if we look at it at a deeper level, it's a Band-Aid on a wound.

Edwin: 27:44

So if somebody comes to me and they have lower back pain, I know that their hips are tight, I know that their hamstrings are tight and they probably have a weak core. So, like you mentioned, the site of the pain is really the source of the pain. I have a weak core. So, like you mentioned, the site of the pain is really the source of the pain. So once we can identify what's causing the pain, then we can fix the issue. And that is also something that people aren't aware of, because the average person, their lower back rest, they have no idea it's because their hips are tight. They have no idea. It's because their hamstrings are tight. They have no idea. It's because they have a weak core.

Edwin: 28:12

So again, they go back to the bandaid on a wound.

Edwin: 28:17

If you had a giant gash on your forehead, you wouldn't get a bandaid. You need stitches to close that wound. And this is where, again, having somebody who's knowledgeable, who can put a plan together, who can identify these things, is so, so important so often, and I think this is where you got to kind of just put your ego to the side and admit that, hey, this is something I need help with and I'm going to find somebody who can help me with this, because ultimately, of course, yes, we all have a little bit of ego, but ego can be a killer of progress if you're not willing to humble yourself and realize, like all right, in this area I'm not knowledgeable and I need help. Let me find somebody who can help me. You know, but that right, there is something the average person they have no idea, they have no clue, they have no idea their back hurts because their hips are tight, you know, and and these things really aren't complicated to fix, it's just people don't have access to this information.

Edwin: 29:17

You know you don't know what you don't know, and having somebody who knows this information can help you. It literally can and I'm not exaggerating can literally be life-changing, can change the quality of your life Like nobody wants to live the rest of their life with their knee hurting, with their back hurting or whatever the case may be. So having this information is important. And then going to the knee if somebody has knee pain. So, for example, if I have somebody comes to me they have knee pain, a couple of things that we'll do. We'll look at their ankle mobility so their tight ankles could be the source of their knee pain. We'll also look to strengthen the muscles around the knee. So those are a couple of things that I'll do with somebody who has knee pain. But it all goes back to identifying what is the source of the pain, because very rarely the site of the pain is the source of the pain. So once you know that, then you can fix the issue.

Naihomy: 30:11

Yeah, something you mentioned was accessibility. So there's two things here. One is accessibility to information, which, for me, I never knew these things Like. As I mentioned, I'm seven years in and I'm still learning new things, just by being in conversations with experts in the field and just being curious and wanting to learn more about it. So if this is the first time you're hearing about any of these, like methods or language or strategies, then I think it's like an opening gateway to the knowledge that you should be thinking about.

Naihomy: 30:49

And another thing is financial accessibility, right, and maybe location too, and what kind of resources are around them. So, for someone who is like I, really don't have, first of all, I just want you to think about where you're spending your money, right, and what's important to you and what you want to make a priority. That's number one, because oftentimes when we're spending money on ourselves in this way, it's very triggering and we don't think it's worth it and we might think it's a waste and feel shame and guilt about it. So that's one side of things where knowing that you are worthy of it and it's necessary, it's not a waste, it's not a luxury. However, if somebody's like, no, I really like, it's not within my budget and I can do a personal trainer right now. Where is a good place for people to begin doing something for themselves until they build up to probably mentally and financially being like I want to hire somebody to help me?

Edwin: 31:56

Yeah. So I think the best thing that people can do if they're starting from a low level of fitness and they're not ready to invest in themselves in terms of hiring a personal trainer is keep it very, very basic. A lot of people try to hit the ground running too soon. So so me personally, if I was in that situation not very knowledgeable around exercise and maybe mentally or financially or whatever the case may be not ready to to hire a personal trainer I would keep it very simple Squats, push-ups, go for a run, go for a walk Super, super simple in the beginning and honestly, that's what most people need in the beginning.

Edwin: 32:39

Just keep it basic. I always say the basics will take you to the promised land. So do squats, do push-ups, do pull-ups at home, crunches, just something. Just get the ball rolling. The key in the beginning is just showing up for yourself. Get the ball rolling, keep it simple. Keep it super, super simple, and it's just like anything, it's just like everything else over time it'll organically build up and and you'll get to where you want to go.

Edwin: 33:06

But in the beginning, you know, it's like the saying Rome wasn't building one day, so we don't. We don't need to hit the ground running right away. I think the most important thing in the beginning is to build a habit. You have to. You have to build that habit first and then, once you build that habit, just over time, things will start to come together for you.

Edwin: 33:26

But definitely if you are in a place where you can, you know, hire a trainer, you should do that because in order to you know not even fitness related in order to, to you know, become better and improve yourself, you have to invest in yourself and and I understand that's scary for a lot of people, but the alternative is to be mediocre so you have to get to a point where where you have to invest to get information that's going to lead you to being better. And I know you can speak to that, naomi, how, how much you've invested in yourself and business coaches and and and fitness coaches, and I'm in the same boat as well. But what people don't realize is that, like somebody like you, somebody like me, if we didn't invest all this money in ourselves, hiring people who had information that we didn't have, that we needed, we wouldn't be here today helping other people absolutely not no so eventually you have to take that leap.

Edwin: 34:26

You know it's. It's like the saying goes, like what you want is on the other side of fear, and I get it like the gym can be an intimidating place for a lot of people like. So I'm not going to pretend that it's necessarily, you know, from a financial standpoint, emotional standpoint, an easy step to take, but it's definitely going to be much harder if you don't take that step, because if you don't't, one thing I can guarantee it's going to lead you down emotions that you don't want to feel. Eventually, you're going to feel sad, depressed, you're not going to be happy with yourself, and that's going to affect your life in so many different ways. So eventually you have to take that step. You have to set that fear aside and do it Because ultimately, ultimately, we know that it's going to allow you to be your best self, and if your best self, and if you're your best self, you're going to live a better life, your relationships are going to be better, everything's going to be better.

Edwin: 35:20

Nothing happens, nothing happens in a vacuum. So when, when you really invest in yourself like that, like aspects of your life that you didn't even think could get better, get better. And it's funny how how that works. You know it's like a, it's like a domino effect in a positive way. You know, you, you invest in one area of your life and then next thing you know, another area of your life is better and then another area of your life is better and then you just create such a great momentum that leads you to a place that maybe you couldn't imagine.

Edwin: 35:50

But without making, without taking those steps and making those investments, you never, you never open those doors. You know, I always tell people like hard work will create the keys to the doors that you want to open, but if you do the hard work, you never get to open those doors, you never get the key to the door.

Naihomy: 36:08

You never get to open those doors. You never get the key to the door. Yeah, and we're talking a lot about the physical aspects of exercise, but what you mentioned about mentally how it really does help you mentally it's a really big deal Like exercise actually helps me with depression and PMDD and so many other things, and I do feel it in my mood and my emotions when I haven't moved for like a week for whatever reason, and I crave it my brain like it's just the chemical reactions that happen. I need it for that. And talking also about accessibility Now we're in a place where there's a lot of things out there for free.

Naihomy: 36:51

I mean, yes, use the best judgment, but you can start on YouTube Like most of the time, everybody now has access to internet and YouTube is free. Granted ads are annoying, but you have that accessibility. Have that accessibility. There's also apps like the Peloton app that, yes, there's a paid portion, but now they have a free section where they rotate out workouts and you can get a full range of workouts from the stuff that they have available there. So if you make a decision that this is something that you want and you meet yourself where you're at mentally, financially and physically, you can start making the progress and seeing the results that you want to see. So I don't know if you want to add anything else to that, but yes, it's a piggyback off what you said.

Edwin: 37:43

It's so true. It's funny how life works, because when you really want something, even if ducks aren't in a row, it's like the universe will conspire to make it happen for you. If you truly try your hardest and try to find a way, it, in most cases, it tends. It tends to happen. So I would encourage people who maybe aren't in the best place to make that step is to look at all avenues and get all your ducks in a row and try your hardest, cause when you do that, things tend to happen. Things tend to happen. It's like the saying if, if you know, if, if you help yourself first, others will help you. You know, and and that's important as well Um, not just sitting around and feeling hopeless, because that's not going to get you very far. And also what you spoke about YouTube. You know people have access to all of these free resources and it's a click away, and people are still so lazy Amazing.

Naihomy: 38:48

Yeah, I think, honestly, though, too, is like a lot of mindset that gets in the way. Like I talk to people who really, really, really want them this for themselves, and then there's just these very strong thoughts that prevent them from taking the action. So I just also want you to be mindful of what those things are for you. If this is something that you really want, like what, what keeps coming up for you that keeps you stuck in, not taking action. And yes, there's the things like we mentioned YouTube and all that, but there's also your two feet. There's also outside. There's also, like if you live in a building, there's stairs. So just taking a look around your environment like maybe there's a big hill by you, that you live nearby, that you can really use your environment to do movement, and being outside can also be very, very beneficial for your mental health as well.

Naihomy: 39:45

Now I wanted to ask, too what about if you do want to hire a personal trainer? How do you know that this trainer is knowledgeable enough to help you? And I ask this because I've seen so many people on Instagram and other places just posting videos of them exercising, and they are in communities where there are trainers there, and their form is terrible and it can lead to like you mentioned, like pain or whatever else, like it's just not good form. So how, what questions can you ask a potential trainer that you want to hire to know that they're knowledgeable enough to make sure that they are equipping you with corrective exercises, that they are looking as to where you need more mobility on that they are going to correct your, your what's it called your form when you're doing workouts? Like what would you ask?

Edwin: 40:52

yeah. So for for me personally, if, if I was somebody coming in, especially from a low level fitness, and I wanted to hire a personal trainer, I think, first being completely honest about not only what you want, but things that you feel that you really need help with, because, as a trainer, the more information I receive, the more I can help my clients. So I think, just being very transparent with the person that you're talking to, and I think, once you lay that out to that person, if they can set a very clear plan in terms of how you're going to get there and be able to explain that, then that's usually a good sign that that person can get you to where you want to go. So, for example, if I um, you know, if I'm talking to a trainer, I'm like, hey, my right shoulder, like my shoulder's, messed up, I don't know how to fix this, and then they show me a couple corrective exercises and they lay out a clear plan, like, okay, this is the issue, this is what we have to do to fix it, and they provide that also that educational component, not just I'll do this, and that I think that's also a good sign that, all right, this person can get me to the promised land, so to speak, because you know, like, for example, like if you come in for your training session, I can tell you all right, do squats. All right, go do a press variation, carry those dumbbells, but I'm not teaching you anything. You know, like, telling and teaching are two very different things and people tend to conflate the two.

Edwin: 42:22

So I think, once you communicate what your goals are, what your need, what your needs are, once all that stuff is identified, I think if the person lays out a very clear plan that you can understand and they're providing that education, not just do this and that that's usually a good sign that that person can help you. And I think also, if you're able to build a good rapport with that person and it clicks, that's also a good sign as well. Obviously, it's not the end all be all. You can definitely click with somebody and they can help you, but that's also, I think, very, very important as well to have that rapport and to feel comfortable, because, like I get it, that could be a scary step.

Edwin: 43:07

For a lot of people it's like all right, I'm going to hire this trainer, I'm spending, like I don't want it to go to waste, but I think usually just based off the conversations and then the information that you receive back, you can usually get a kind of the indication of whether, like all right, this person's legit they can help me or I don't think this person can get me to where I want to go. But I think a lot of that will be determined in the conversations and in the communication, and really what they communicate and what they show you will really be that determining factor of whether or not that person can help you or not.

Naihomy: 43:43

Cool. And my last question is it ever too late to start? I know, I know you want to go right away, but I just want to say, hold on, because I hear so many people, including some of my family members, and they're like, oh, just a movie, or no, it's too late, or whatever Like. Is that true?

Edwin: 44:10

Is that true? That true? It is not, and what I would, first thing I would, tell those people to do, is go on YouTube and you'll find 70 year old men, 80 year old men, 90 year old men and women. A crazy amount of weight, men and women because it's funny, because like right now, if you go on youtube and you see like a 90 year old woman dead, lifting like 300 pounds and she moves pretty well, it's like well, what's your excuse?

Naihomy: 44:42

honestly like I mean, I'm sorry, I'm so passionate about this. I just want to mention everybody needs to follow train with Joanne on Instagram. She's my Instagram grandma and she started training at like 70 years old.

Edwin: 44:57

So I just want to say yeah, and people gotta get out of that mindset like, oh, it's too late, it's, it's, it's nonsense, you know, and and it's, and it's really, and it's really just a lazy response. You know, if you think about it like, oh, no, it's too late, no, it's just just a lazy response, you know, if you think about it Like, oh, no, it's too late, no, it's just being lazy, because I feel, like a lot of these people, they know that it's not too late. They just don't want to do the work to fix it because they understand they have a big hill to climb, which is true, like a lot of those people have a big hill to climb, but that doesn't mean you can't climb the hill. So I think and I don't think you hear a lot of people talking about that I think it's also a matter of just people just being lazy. It's like stop being lazy and get off the couch, pretend like you care about yourself and start moving, and then you're like it'd be awesome.

Naihomy: 45:44

I can't with the males, cause there's another male in my family and he tells me all the time that people are lazy to, but I'm like I don't know if that's it, like sure it can be part of it, but I just feel like there's just so many factors in between. And, to be fair for women, they have so many responsibilities, like the kids and their caretakers for their family members and all this. So sometimes I feel like I they're so exhausted that they don't have the energy to go ahead and do it. But what I coach women on is how to create that space for yourself, because sometimes you don't even have the space to do it.

Naihomy: 46:17

And and from like a female perspective, especially if you're a mom and you're a caretaker and all that, then there's just so much guilt and pressure because, like we're going to get into gender things here, but like for the guy, if they go and they leave and they go for the gym and all that, it's like, oh yeah, like cool guys, they work out, but if a woman does it, it's like, oh, my gosh, you're. We're like who are you gonna leave your kids with? Like how are you taking care of your kids? And your mom needs this and your cousin needs that, and your sister needs this and I feel needs that and your sister needs this, and I feel like there's so much pressure where, like, let's talk about people pleasing to where you go and you're like, oh my gosh, I need to do this and there's just no space for you, there's no space.

Naihomy: 47:05

So when I coach my ladies on on really making their wellness a priority, there's a lot of work in thoughts and feelings of shame and guilt to spend money on themselves, to make time for themselves and to share their responsibilities with other people in their family who are very able to do so. But because you feel like everything should fall on you, then you don't. So is this whole journey of like creating space and asking for support and managing your emotions like? It's just a whole different avenue of where things go into. But, yes, you can make the decision to want to do that or to not want to do that. So I think that that's where the devices like like the dividing factor is, and being willing to process those emotions and to create the space for yourself because you know you're is important versus not.

Edwin: 48:09

So I don't know if you have any piggybacks well, well said yeah and yeah, it's a piggyback off that obviously everybody um their situation is a little different and you know it may be harder for some than others. Um, I think one of the biggest keys is creating environments that are conducive to what you want to accomplish. So, and and listen, I'm. I'm not a mother, so I'm not going to be a father and to have kids running Like I know and listen.

Edwin: 48:43

God bless all the women out there. God bless all of you and everything that you do in your responsibility, and obviously it's it's it's tough. You know when you're doing, you're responsible, and obviously it's it's it's tough, you know, when you're a mother and you have kids running around all these responsibilities. Um, in a situation like that, my advice would be you know what if you can't get to the gym and things are just going crazy?

Naihomy: 49:02

you know what?

Edwin: 49:02

do some push-ups and make your kids do it with you. I think that's an example of creating an environment that's conducive, uh, to your goals. You know, and you know I'm not going to pretend like it's easy. It's most certainly not even for somebody like me has been doing it for for such a long time. But I think it goes back to what I was saying before is just like really finding a way and trying your hardest, because when you do that, I feel like the universe just conspires to make it happen for you.

Edwin: 49:31

And you know, even if you don't do like a full-blown workout I talk about this a lot I always tell people like do something every day. That way you stay connected to your routine. So, like an example, I have a day, just crazy day, working all day or whatever the case may be, and I didn't get to the gym, I didn't get to do my workout. All right, we'll do 50 push ups or squats before you go to bed. No, that wasn't everything I wanted to do, it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do, but it helps me stay connected to my routine. So, even days like that, like do something, go for a walk, do some jumping jacks, jump on a trampoline, whatever the case may be because in the long run, that's gonna help you stay on the path and that'll prevent you from falling off and letting like all your progress and go to weight.

Edwin: 50:17

So always and you've heard, and I've said this to you too do something that that keeps you connected to your routine. So if you have a crazy day and you're exhausted, do 10 push-ups before you go to bed. That doesn't seem like much, but in the bigger picture, that is that's a victory right there, and we want to victories from day to day.

Naihomy: 50:37

Yeah, that's the habit building piece, right there to remind your brain that this is important to you. And I love what you said about using your environment, because there were definitely like now my kids are super heavy, but there were times where I would squat with them or I would dance with them or I would do the routine at home with them. It didn't look perfect because I had kids like crawling all over me, but I got something done and it starts to build generational habits that you are modeling in front of those who you love. And if you have older folks in your life, I know a lot of my clients have invited their parents and their grandparents to do things with them, like they invited their parents to walk. They've spoken on the phone with their parents while they walk in separate areas.

Naihomy: 51:28

So exactly what you said if you want to, you will find a way, and I think that's very available to every single person is just making the decision if you want to access that or not, if you want to find that way or not, because I can promise you, whatever your circumstance is, there's always an option and it's just. Maybe you don't see it or you need help figuring that out, but it's there, okay. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Any last words? And where can people find you? How can we support you?

Edwin: 52:07

So I want to thank Naomi for having me on the podcast. I was looking forward to this day for a very long time. Yes, this was awesome. I want to encourage everybody to stay focused, to come up with a plan for the goals you're looking to achieve in your life, not even necessarily fitness related. Find a way, because, like Naomi said, if you really want it, you can find a way, and it's about creating an environment that's conducive to your goals and being around people who will help you get there. I think that's important, so I really want to encourage people to find a way to get out of life what you want to get out of, because there's definitely, like Naomi said, there's always a way. People can find me on Instagram at uh ed mma7 that's my personal page and they can also find me at the Solis Fitness Academy page, where you'll see some clips of Naomi training too yes, yes, yes, I'm there.

Naihomy: 53:05

Um, thank you so much and and do you want to share about your podcast?

Edwin: 53:10

Yes, so I have a podcast that I started. My podcast is called the Conquering Talk podcast, which you can also find on my social media. It's in my bio. Just started the podcast two episodes in so far. Both are about my life story. It's a good lesson and I think there's a lot of things in those two episodes that people will resonate with and they can take some lessons and apply it to their own life.

Naihomy: 53:36

Yeah, and if you're in the New York Westchester area, feel free to hit him up for personal training. All right, thank you so much for listening. If you have found this helpful or you need you know your BFF that you always start like workout challenges with needs to hear this too go ahead and forward this to them and come out with a different plan together. And if you really love it, feel free to leave a review, share it on Instagram, tag us and we'll be sure to say hi and repost you. Thank you again for tuning in. I'll see you guys next week. Bye.