Move, Thrive, and Come Alive: Kyle Gonzalez's Unconventional Path

Most people are overcomplicating their health. In this episode, Kyle Gonzalez (MS, CSCS), VP of Performance and Coaching at Coya, author of Move, Thrive, and Come Alive, and host of The Vitality System Podcast- joins Jack to break down why the basics beat the biohacks, how to stop chasing the perfect routine, and why he chose to build an unconventional career instead of climbing a traditional one.

We cover why you have to "earn the right to supplement," what 50+ countries of travel taught him about health, why he'll never stop coaching in person, how to avoid burnout in the fitness industry, the one habit that moves the needle more than almost anything else, and where AI actually fits into the future of coaching.

Kyle Gonzalez (MS, CSCS) brings over a decade of experience helping people optimize health and performance through coaching, teaching, and start-up leadership. A former D1 athlete, he's been featured in Men's Health, NBC News, The Washington Post, and Real Simple for his work in the fitness industry. He currently serves as VP of Performance and Coaching at Coya, a human performance start-up, and is also the author of The Vitality System and host of The Vitality System Podcast. He lives in Los Angeles.

Connect with Kyle:

My book: https://www.amazon.com/Move-Thrive-Come-Alive-Science-Backed/dp/1572843667 

The Vitality System Substack link: https://open.substack.com/pub/thevitalitysystem 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-gonzalez-032164a4/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kylegonzalez3 

My Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vitality-system/id1727272395

Want the quick takeaways? Read the blog post for a full breakdown of the episode. https://www.trueformpodcast.com/blog 

#healthylifestyle #longevity #personaltrainer #healthpodcast

Transcript

Kyle Gonzalez 0:00

For everything that's great about uh America, again, two out of three people are overweight or obese. We have 93% of people are metabolically unhealthy.

Jack Graham 0:09

There's a lot of BS out there. So what I'm trying to get at is how do we cut through all the BS that's out there and just focus on the basics that work?

Kyle Gonzalez 0:17

You have to earn the right to supplement, you have to earn the right to do all of these things. The quicker you gain something, the quicker it is for you to lose it. I didn't strive to be the best. I try I strive to be the almost. AI is not gonna do your workouts for you, AI is not gonna eat the whole foods for you, AI is not gonna sleep for you.

Jack Graham 0:33

What is up, everybody? Welcome back to the True Form Podcast. If you are enjoying this content, the conversations that I am bringing to you, then I would appreciate it if you could do one thing. Interact with this episode. Wherever you are listening or watching, like, five-star review, positive comment, subscribe. However, you can interact. Even if you just copy the show link and send it to one friend or family member that you think would benefit from this conversation today, then do that. It really does help this podcast reach more people, which helps them find their true form and live a life that is true to them. And that's what it's all about. Also, just want to thank the legends at Lumiflex for sponsoring today's episode. I'll tell you how this little red light therapy device can improve your overall health, wellness, longevity, and recovery later on in the episode. So let's get into today's conversation. I know you're gonna love it. Kyle, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Kyle Gonzalez 1:32

Thank you for having me.

Jack Graham 1:33

I appreciate it. Uh, and uh looking forward to the conversation. Yeah, well, let's start with what are most people getting wrong when it comes to living a long, active, healthy life?

Kyle Gonzalez 1:46

This is a great question and one that I get a ton. Um, and I think really it comes down to people overcomplicating things, and we're marketed at, and there's all this advertising and all the influencers and people telling us, you need these products, you need these services, you need these things to be healthy. And I think that couldn't be further from the truth. Some of the most uh best health interventions are free. Like get outside, be around good people, uh, you know, move more, eat good, whole quality foods, like sleep better, like all of these things are free. And I think what we should all first do is take an audit and see what we can do that is free, what can we do that we already have access to, and how can we start with the foundations, start with the boring basics, and then we can move into. And I I always say you have to earn the right to supplement, you have to earn the right to do all of these things because again, if you haven't crossed that barrier of the foundations, the basics, you're doing yourself a massive disservice, and you're probably leaving 90 to 95% of the good stuff that moved the needle on the table. So that's my longer-winded answer to that one.

Jack Graham 2:52

No, absolutely love that. I was at a networking event a couple of nights ago, and I ended up with a crowd of, I don't know, five or six young guys around me asking me all these questions. Oh, what about this supplement? What about this exercise? Should I worry about this? And it was just funny, it was just like one question after the other, and I'm like, guys, just focus on the basics. Like there's a lot of BS out there. So what I'm trying to get at is how do we cut through all the BS that's out there and just focus on the basics that work?

Kyle Gonzalez 3:19

Yeah, it it's uh it's harder. It's harder than it seems. Uh, and I think we're inundated with all this stuff. It's like anytime you pick up your phone, turn on a TV, go outside, talk to people, the conversations around all of these things, it's always surrounding us and it feels like engulfing us. But I think when you can start to stick to these things on a consistent basis, and now what does that mean? That means 30 plus days, six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks. Stick with these principles, stick with these routines. Now, it doesn't have to be perfect, like that's another myth that we see out there. Like, you got to have the perfect uh routine, the perfect 18-step morning routine to make sure you're productive and all those things. We see that often. But I think stick with these things and actually give yourself the chance to succeed. Give yourself the chance to feel the benefits. I think some people are like, Kyle, like I tried, you know, getting seven to nine hours of sleep for a week and like I couldn't do it, and that that was it. I didn't see any benefits. And I'm like, you got to give it more time, you got to stick with it. And so I think we've been sold this instant gratification and we've been sold uh this quick fix culture. But uh really where the true secrets are, and I don't think there are any secrets, is doing these things consistently and showing up, even if it's 50%, even if it's 30%, show up, do something, because those things start to compound over time. And so I think if people can get out of their own way and not think they need these massive changes, I always say the quicker you gain something, the quicker it is for you to lose it. And so if you can gain something over time and be sustainable with your practice, it's something you can actually build a life.

Jack Graham 4:58

That is a great takeaway. I I love that. The quicker you gain it, the quicker you lose it for sure. And taking your time and learning these skills, like you said, it's just we're advertised at to think there's something wrong with us. So we need all these weird and wonderful things when it's just the basics. So, how did you get into health and fitness? Where did it all start with you?

Kyle Gonzalez 5:19

Oh, it's been a winding journey, that's for sure. But uh, I feel like growing up I was always around health and wellness. So my mom worked in hospitals for 20 plus years. Uh, my father passed away of cancer, so that was always something that I was it piqued my curiosity a little bit of uh what can we do to have a little bit of agency and ownership over our health? What could we do to steer clear of some of these things? You know, I I we definitely uh cancer and all these diseases, you go down the rabbit hole of what are the things you could have done differently, what are the things you can do to prevent these things, and you start to see heart disease, cancer, obesity, dementia, not uh uh like a large part of it is preventable. And if you're doing these lifestyle things, it's not 100% preventable, of course not, but uh you can really steer clear a lot of the symptoms and things that lead down these paths. And so for me, it started there, but I also was an athlete. So I was surrounded by trying to be better at sports, trying to be the best athlete I could be. I always tell people I was a late bloomer, I was never the strongest or the fastest or you know, the best at any one thing, but uh I was curious and I wanted to play all the sports and learn. And I think that led to a curiosity with human performance, that led to a curiosity with the body and anatomy and really understanding how people move and all this stuff. And so majored in that in uh in college, exercise science, get my master's in kinesiology, get out of college and realize, man, I went through six years of school and you know, the thing I want to do is be a personal trainer. And I'm like, I I know for my friends that are personal trainers that didn't even go to school. So it uh it was a good journey. I got to teach uh a little bit when I was in graduate school. So that taught me like I like teaching, but I want to like be hands-on with people. And so there was no better expression of what I had just learned than actually working with people and doing those things and applying all of that knowledge. And so uh, yeah, I worked as a coach, as a trainer, even before I got all the degrees and stuff. I was a coach and a trainer before that. Um, and that kind of stemmed into working in the startup space, online coaching, strength conditioning, performance coaching, basketball coaching, doing just about everything I could in the coaching realm. Uh and now fortunate to be at a level where I help to, I still coach, always, I will always coach to the day I die. And uh I lead coaches, uh I hire coaches, manage coaches, and we have a platform that basically helps offer coaching programs to people to help them live better across all areas sleep, mindset, nutrition, movement. Um, and so yeah, it's it's uh it's been a love affair with this thing that is health and wellness and fitness. And uh and yeah, no, I I just continue to try and express that love in different ways, whether it's writing. We both just talked about podcasting um and uh newsletter. Any way I can kind of talk about health and wellness, I'm I'm trying to do it. So that's a little bit of uh of the journey, but uh yeah, I'm interested to see where it goes next.

Jack Graham 8:22

Me too, for sure. And we'll dive into what you're doing at the moment because it's super interesting. But let's go back. Like you're a curious person and you just said that. And a lot of people aren't. And I always say you really need to be curious because, like we'll just say before, people are selling you BS left, right, and center, and what app works for some people might not work for others. So you've got to be curious and find out what works for you, ask the right questions, try different things. But for you, where did that curiosity come from?

Kyle Gonzalez 8:52

Yeah, uh, I uh I think about this a lot because my dad loved to travel, and he was the type of person that every weekend get the family together, go visit a new museum, go visit a new park, go drive somewhere, go take our bikes and go somewhere. And I think that's where it kind of started for me. And so that carried into one, being curious, curious geo geography, like just wanting to travel, wanting to see different places, but also like about the human body, about how these things work. I think if you can develop an understanding for how things work, it helps you understand the why behind it and it helps you with adherence. If I know why I'm doing these exercises, what muscle groups they're working, I can almost be more in tune to that process. And so for me, there's also a, and some people look at this negatively, like it's fun for me to know that I will never know everything about sleep, nutrition, movement. It's an endless quest for knowledge. I can continuously go any direction, books, things, certifications, but that excites me because again, that means I can continue to have this kind of unsatiable curiosity and continue to go in different directions. Um, and so I'm definitely uh a breath over depth person, but I do respect depth as well, which is why I've gotten my master's, which is why I'm highly certified in the fitness space. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't learn about nutrition. That doesn't mean I shouldn't learn about sleep. That doesn't mean I shouldn't learn about mental performance because I think they're all interplaying and intertwining. Um, but yeah, the curiosity comes from definitely my dad, and and I've I've been to over 50 countries. Me and my wife have traveled immensely. Uh, and uh yeah, we we carry that with us as a value that we take not just intellectually but professionally and personally and everywhere we go.

Jack Graham 10:42

Yeah, of course. Um I love that. And like looking at how different cultures do things, especially around health, wellness, or just living their life is just very interesting. And I'm the same. Like I'll sit there and like in a different country and just take the time to just understand how people are living and why they're living that way. And like you said, it can just add to your knowledge and the way you live as well. So is there any lessons that you've learned or uh any point where you were in a different country and you're like, oh wow, that's like just a just blowed your mind, and then that's you you've taken it away and used it yourself.

Kyle Gonzalez 11:20

Yeah. Oh yeah, this is something my wife probably hates me for because I'm always watching different health habits of people in different countries and admiring, like we we live in whatever bubble that we're in, and we think that what we do is maybe the best way or the most optimal way, but then you go to these other places and you see, uh, for example, in Japan, super, super clean in Tokyo, like not a trash piece of trash in sight. Everybody's walking. Rarely do you see someone who's overweight. They uh when they when they're like sedentary, usually they're like they're it's funny, they don't have like backs on a lot of their chairs in traditional, you know, even in Koreos the same way, but they don't have backs on their chairs or they rest in positions that are a deep squat or or different things. And so I notice that. When I'm in Europe, I notice all the time that the plates are smaller. And I'm like, like it's uh to me, I'm used to like these gigantic American plates and cups, and it's smaller plating, smaller portion sizes. You know, meals are a little bit longer in duration when you're, you know, overseas, especially in Europe and Italy and places that are very communal. Um, and so that's awesome. And then, you know, being in places like uh, you know, Australia, people are outside more and people do outdoor sports more and they're surfing and they're doing all these different types of things. So I pick up on a lot of it and I try to bring those things back and not just use them for myself, my family, my community, but try to write and podcast and do things to bring these principles to other people. Uh, because obviously, for everything that's great about uh America, again, two out of three people are overweight or obese. We have 93% of people are metabolically unhealthy. So again, what can I do to start to bring some of these practices and principles that reach far beyond just my community? But uh but yeah, no, it's it's something that I love to keep an eye out for and snag things that I can find from different places.

Jack Graham 13:24

Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Like you said, we just get caught up in our own little bubble, and I've got to be careful of that as well, because especially in the health and fitness industry, you just get caught up in what you're doing, and it's easy just to get just stay there and not open your mind up and look around. So yeah, that's what I think travel just helps with that a lot.

Kyle Gonzalez 13:45

For sure.

Jack Graham 13:46

You said you're always gonna coach, and I've said the same thing. Although I'm doing a lot of online stuff and I could go fully online, I think it just takes away from understanding people, that in-person contact, you just actually start to understand what people are struggling with rather than again the little bubble you could create online. So, why would you always coach in person?

Kyle Gonzalez 14:12

I think you you mentioned some of the points here. It's just like there's a level of relationship, there's a level of connection, there's a level of empathy that you have when you're in person with someone and when you actually like show up for them to have a session. And there's an accountability on both ends, you know, for the member or the client that's coming in, but also for you. And for me, I take it very, very seriously when someone trusts me with helping them navigate their health. That's a huge thing that's very vulnerable for people. It's emotional, it's you know, cultural, it's all of these different things. And so for me, there's no greater feeling than helping someone have more agency over their health and have more ownership over their health. And so that fills my cup up more. So then I am a better parent, am a better husband, and a better friend, and can show up for all the things in my life. And so uh it's, you know, it's part selfless, part self-ish, because I gain so much from it when I teach. Also, I learn. Guess what? When you teach something, you learn it better and you know it better and you can communicate it better. And so online has been great because it allows you to reach so many more people in areas that you might not have been able to reach people. I, you know, look at my podcast sometimes and I'm like, whoa, like there's people in almost every continent listening to this podcast. That's like insane. I don't know how I would have reached these people if not for this digital format. But again, there's just something unquantifiable, intangible about working in person with someone, seeing the look in their eyes, seeing the gratitude that they feel when you help them either reach a goal or understand something fully that uh yeah, I can't put into words, but I know it is something that uh for now it the flame hasn't died out. And uh I continue to, you know, every time I have these interactions, it just continues to renew that flame. And so I I hope to be coaching, you know, for for the rest of time and I hope that uh I can still add value because that's that's the main goal is to make sure I'm adding value, to make sure that I'm educating, to make sure that I'm teaching, inspiring, um, and all those things along the way.

Jack Graham 16:19

If you care about your health, wellness, and longevity, obviously you do, you're here listening to this podcast, you're gonna eventually come across red light therapy. And there's a few things you need to know before you go and spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on a red light therapy device. First, you need to do your own research. Don't just rely on a podcaster getting your information. So you need to go out and do your own research. But when you're doing your research, don't just put in red light therapy and skincare or recovery. You've got to put in photobiomodulation and then skincare. Photobiomodulation and then Alzheimer's or gut health or brain health, eyes. There's a bunch of research out there that's very exciting and it really does blow your mind on how light affects your body. So even if you're not interested in red light therapy or want to purchase one, it's probably worth you going out and doing this research just so you understand how light affects your body. We all know that blue light is bad for you later on in the evenings, and understanding why that is is going to help you make more informed decisions. Also, when you're looking for devices, make sure the red light therapy device goes through a full range of the infrared light. So a lot of the devices out there will just sit at a certain wavelength where the Lumiflex products go through a full range and you can actually control it. So if you're trying to do recovery or skin care, both are different wavelengths and you can control it through your phone. So if I'm trying to do muscle recovery, I just control it through my phone. It selects the right wavelength and the duration. I put it on the muscle that needs recovery and I go from there. If I want to do my face and get rid of those wrinkles, I can just do that. Different different wavelengths affect the body in different ways. So when you are doing your research, I strongly recommend you check out the Lumiflex products. And when you're ready to purchase one, use the code TrueForm to get 10% off your first order. That is true form at checkout for 10% off. Let's get back to the episode. I know there's uh there is a few coaches that listen to this podcast. So it'd be good to get your opinion on burnout. Like I know like personally, I know a lot of clients that end up well no, sorry, coaches that end up leaving the health and fitness industry, stop PTing because they just burn out and it's too much. Like you've got you've still got obviously a lot of passion for it and you want to keep doing it. So for those coaches out there that are starting to struggle a little bit and starting to burn out, like what lessons that you have you learned that just keeps that flame alive and wanting to get back every single day?

Kyle Gonzalez 18:57

Yeah, it's it's a good point and it's on it's an unfortunate point. I think strength conditioning, personal training, they're tough industries unless you're kind of at the top you know rung of all this in the top, you know, one, two, five percent, the pay is low, the hours are long, and it's it's a grind. It is a grind. And I I know I've done unpaid things, I've done personal training where I haven't gotten paid very well. Um, and so I think one, your heart's got to be in it, and you have to, you know, kind of understand what's your mission, is this truly what you want to be doing? Because any job you're gonna have to kind of work your way up, any job you're gonna have to start at entry level. And so there's no kind of skip level to just get to the top when it comes to this field, too. Second, I think something I struggled with when I first started in personal training was saying yes to absolutely everything. And I think you have a certain period of time where you can kind of get away with that, and that's okay. But uh with personal training, I was actually just having a conversation with coaches, I think it was the other day, and I was talking about how when I first became a personal trainer, I accepted every client that wanted to work with me, no matter what time. So I had a 6 a.m. client, I had an 8 a.m. client, I had a 12, I had a three, I had a five, and I had a seven. And like that was a terrible day. But they said yes. So I wanted to work with them. And so looking back on it, again, knowing to be a little bit more selective, knowing to protect my energy and my time, because if I'm only working and I leave no time for me, my improvement, my growth, my personal health, my, you know, all these things, then I'm gonna, it's gonna be a downhill slope pretty quickly. And so I would say again, how can you make sure that you are selective with what you say yes to? How can you make sure that you also still pour time into self-care? Um, and then lastly, I would say like you got to sample a little bit. You have to understand, is it strength conditioning, is it online coaching, is it doing content, is it working in uh, you know, kind of the private sector, is it military? Is it uh working, you know, in startup space? For me, I had no idea about this. It was way back, maybe you know, mid-2010s. There was not really a huge online coaching thing back then. COVID really switched that kind of gear and made online really, really popular. And so I did everything in person, had the opportunity to work for a startup. I lived in DC, the DC area in Virginia my whole life. And I went to college there. I didn't really travel too much outside of that. And this job was all the way all the way in California and San Francisco. So something told me, you know what, Kyle, you got to get out of your bubble, you got to see the world, you got to try something new. I took that job and that opened up my world of oh my God, there's startups, and you can work in marketing and you can do recruiting and you can work with management of coaches and software. So, like for me, it it really opened up my world of possibility of not just being A personal trainer and getting to the top of the personal trainer world, it was more of okay, how can I expand my skill sets, become a more well wound, well-rounded professional. Um, and it just uh the last thing I'll say to this is to me, and this has worked out well for me, it's like I'm I didn't strive to be the best. I try I strive to be the only. And so for me, I wanted to be the only person that had all of these unique skill sets and experiences so that I could work uh and create my own roles and do these things that maybe had never been done before so that I could sustain it, as opposed to trying to fit a round peg into a square hole and trying to be down one lane in my career and niche down. And again, sometimes that works for people, but for me, being uniquely me, understanding what I wanted to do, it it helped. But uh, but yeah, definitely lessons learned along the way. If I if I could go back, I don't I can't say I'd do it differently because I learned so much, but uh definitely could have saved myself some time and some money and some hours.

Jack Graham 23:03

Yeah, as as you're telling your story, like I was thinking back for when I first started, I was like, oh there was some long days. I thought it'd be a good idea to open up a gym straight away and phew, 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. every day. Yeah, yeah. But that's the thing, like you learn a lot what not to do by doing it. Um you just sort of passed over a really good point there that I'd love you to dive deeper into. Like, not the best, the only. That's yeah, dive into that. Just unpack that a little bit for us.

Kyle Gonzalez 23:34

Yeah, I uh I've been thinking about this a lot because I uh worked I've worked in the startup space for a long time. And I started getting a job as a coach. It was like a performance coach role, and it was great. But when I got into the company, I realized like, you know, relationships are everything. And so you start to meet people, build connections. And again, like I said, my mind was blown that like wow, being in San Francisco, people are like very much driven to start their own companies and do their own things and they're very entrepreneurial. And that spirit hadn't really been inside me from a young. I was a personal trainer, so yes, you're entrepreneurial in a way doing that. But uh it taught me like just because you didn't go to school for this thing doesn't mean you can't do it. And people in San Francisco all the time have no schooling or whatever, and they're starting these big billion-dollar companies. And so that kind of flipped a switch for me of like, huh, maybe it's not about trying to run the race that everybody's running. Maybe it's not about trying to go down a path that everybody's going. Maybe I blaze my own trail because like I always say the only person that uh nobody can be is you. Like it nobody can be you, nobody has the unique qualifications to be you. So it's hilarious when you go on social media and you see people trying to repeat the same content and do the same things. And it's like, why not just be yourself? Because it's more authentic, people will resonate with it more, and it it's obviously going to be easier for you to keep doing if you're just yourself, as opposed to copying someone else. So, anyway, as I got into the startup world, I learned marketing and I did a lot of writing. And then I also worked in recruiting, I worked in operations, I did some sales, I did events, and I started to realize like, oh, I kind of like marketing. Like it's really cool to get the right message to the right person at the right time because guess what? If you can't, you know, market yourself as a personal trainer, you're not gonna have any any clients. And so uh for me, that started to become a love. And so I leveraged that job. I worked for almost four years at that first startup job as a coach. I ended that job and my title was it ended up being marketing manager. So I started as a coach, ended as a marketing manager, and then got hired at another at another company in marketing as the head of content. And so, like, if you would have told me that coming out of school in three to five years, I'd be working as a head of content, I would have been like, yeah, yeah, no, you're you're talking to the wrong person. But it then started to show me what else was possible and what other spaces and places I could work into. And so coming back to that point of just like, again, there's you don't have to stay within your silo. You don't have to stay within your lane. You can start to branch out of that and learn and talk to people who are in these spaces. Because for me, getting into the marketing space, I might not have had the background that was, you know, going to a school and getting these degrees, knowing all the principles. But I also didn't have really any bad habits of like staying kind of stuck in the normal marketing. Oh, you do this and then you do this and you do this. It was kind of looking at it from like first principles. It's like, okay, maybe I try things this way. And so I think a lot of people that I worked with gravitated towards he has a new perspective on this that we've never heard, or he's taking a different lens on this. I use that as a strength, not as a weakness that, you know, maybe I didn't have the traditional background. And so uh, yeah, it's it's been cool to leverage that. At two different companies I've been at, I've had a role that was kind of created for me as opposed to, you know, getting into a role because it's just like, wow, you do the coaching, but you do marketing and writing at the same time. And so anyway, it it all just comes back to if you are passionate about stuff, if you build the right relationships, if you put yourself in the right rooms, if you're willing to have a big a beginners and growth mindset, you're gonna probably be the person who doesn't know the terms. I remember I first jumped in first marketing meetings. It's like, okay, let's talk about CAC and LTV and these things. And I was like, I have no idea. They could be talking in hieroglyphs. I have no idea what's going on. Um, but you learn. You learn these things and you start to pick it up. And uh yeah, I I think it's it's something that I've carried with me and I've always kept an eye out for how can I add value? How can I make sure that whatever the mission is, whatever the service is that we're providing, how can we do that at a higher level? And so uh again, it doesn't have to be A to B to C to D. You can take your own path. And I think uh, you know, you see that a lot now with people that are doing that online and becoming content creators or building their own businesses. Um, but uh but yeah, it's it's something that I I I care a lot about and I try to mentor and help people with.

Jack Graham 28:24

I think that that's a great skill to have, but I think it comes back to exercising and well being an athlete. Like you just learn how to just stick with something or and if something doesn't work, you just change it, you learn new things, you have to adapt, and if it doesn't work, that's okay. Like exercising, working out, whatever you want to call it, it it's all about failing and just finding your own path through it because we're all different, all everybody's different, and every everybody has a different body. So I think once you learn that, it just automatically goes into what you want to achieve in life, and you hit on a couple of good points there where I I don't know what it's like. I think obviously the environment there in LA is very different to Australia. Like everybody's like you said, like you if you want to do something, you have to get educated on that one thing to then go and do it. But it's not necessarily true. As long as you have a passion for it and a desire to learn and be curious, I think you really can achieve anything. Um so when it comes to your clients, you said finding yourself. How do you help your clients find themselves and what they really want to achieve? A lot of the time, as we were talking about at the start, like people get influenced by social media, advertising, thinking that oh, that's the body type I want, or that's the marathon I want to run. But it's not necessarily who they are or what they want, it's just what's been influenced to them. So, how do you help people find out who they are and what they actually want to achieve?

Kyle Gonzalez 30:00

Yeah, this is uh is super important. I think a lot of people start with like what they want. And sometimes it's helpful to start with why you want it. And so I think getting peeling back layers of the onion and understanding like what's your purpose, why do you want to be healthy, what's your motivation, helps people to then orient towards, okay, now this is what I'm willing to do, sacrifice, this is the things I'm willing to kind of go through. And so I go through a why exercise or a purpose exercise with almost everyone I work with because I think for me as a coach, I need to know what levers to pull and and what I can kind of pull on when motivation fades, when the environment isn't perfect, when you're traveling, when you're stressed, when it's holidays, when it's you know, all of the things that we all run into. And those things are inevitable. And so trying to build a plan that is perfect and that it's not gonna work, those things, there's things that are gonna throw you off. And so for me, it comes back to kind of the the quote and cliche of, you know, when your why is strong enough, you can bear any how. And so for me, if you understand that, you know, maybe you're doing this for your kids and to be a role model of good health and to be uh functional and to be able to do travel and to be able to be a present husband or spouse or whatever the case is, those things are far more helpful when it comes to accountability and adherence than, oh, I have a goal of I want to lose X pounds or I want to have a summer body that's better or whatever. Because when a rainy day comes or when you know you're traveling or when you're tired, the summer body is not going to get you out of bed. And so I think when you think about my kids and my wife and my purpose, that is strong enough to get you out of bed and thinking, like, you know what, I can show up today. And so for me, I think getting to the white is a helpful start. And once you do that, then you can start to work on, okay, what's the plan to get me there? And what are the small steps I can start to take? I think a lot of people, they start too grand, they start too big, they're only thinking about the outcome, they're not thinking about the process, they're not thinking about the habits, the system to get them there. And so for me, it's almost it depends on who I'm working with, how much time I have, what their goals are. But I almost like to start with like, okay, what is almost the most simple thing? You know, we we have the term in our space, minimal effective dose. What's the minimal effective dose? What's the thing with a hundred percent confidence you could show up and do every single week, every single month, if it's travel, if it's whatever, start there. And I guarantee you, if you start there, half the time or more than half the time, if you say, okay, I'm gonna show up and do 10 minutes, uh a body 10 minute bodyweight workout every day in the morning. And I'm like, great, let's start there. Half the time when you show up to that workout, guess what? You'll probably do more because you're like, oh, I feel good. Like, let's do a little bit more. Or actually, you know what? I feel great. I'm gonna go out for a little run, or I'm gonna do a stretch tonight. Because again, you're telling yourself you're building confidence, you're building the identity that I am the type of person that shows up for these things, as opposed to what I see too often is the go hard, all or nothing, intense, like you know, uh you've all the things that you hear in cliches. But what happens with that is you have a day or two that's great, and then you have two days that are bad, and then you have a day that's great, and you have a day or a half that's bad. And that does horrible things to your confidence, horrible things to your belief, and then before you know it, you fall off. And so start small, know your why. I I also have been saying this a ton, and it's it's been resonating with people, but I always say be clear with where you want to go and flexible how you get there, because again, life is gonna throw you in curveballs in many different ways and shapes and forms. But again, if you're clear in your direction, clear in your why, there's so many different paths that can get you to your goal. And that's why people are like, oh, well, I saw online that this person did this to get this goal. Don't I have to do that? And it's like, you can do a thousand different things to lose weight, you can do a thousand different things to build muscle, but the methods, the tools are endless. So, like, as a good coach, I don't try to mash everybody into my system. I try to shape my system around people. And so that's what I think a good coach does is they mold into what this person needs, as opposed to saying, Oh, you know, this is my six-week system, like you either fit in or you don't. Like, oh, if you can't do these things, then you're just not doing it right. So, anyway, uh probably more long-winded than than expected, but uh, but yeah, definitely stuff I'm passionate about.

Jack Graham 34:58

No, no, perfect answer. And I I had a few follow-up questions and you answered them all anyway. So I was gonna ask about yeah. So I was gonna ask about this agency and I guess um execution. I find a lot of people f find it hard to execute, they'll get excited about the social media reel or podcasts they listen to, they get everything ready, and then when it comes to actually executing, they struggle a little bit. But I think you you hit the nail on the head and it's just what's the minimal effective dose? Like what's the s easiest thing that you can start doing? Start there and start building from that.

Kyle Gonzalez 35:33

I had a thought on that. Uh it's funny because I I mean, I'm human. I coach and I do all these things, but like I seek out coaches, I seek out help, I seek out motivation, I seek out all these things just like everybody else. And so my like uh, you know, with kids on social media, my toxic trait is I think of a goal and I come up with the most like immaculate plan and all the things, and I write it down, and I'm you doing all of these things, and then it's just like none of that stuff actually help. Okay, I can't say none of it helps, but none of that stuff actually helps you take the first step or is taking the first step. And so I think people sometimes get so much, you know, call it dopamine, call it, you know, whatever from that feeling of like, oh, I'm so motivated and I have the plan and I have all these things. I'm gonna go buy shoes for my marathon. I'm gonna go buy the gels, I'm gonna do all the things. But like, really what you need to do is get your butt outside and go run if you're doing a marathon. And so for me, I struggle with that a lot. And what's helped me with that is again, progress over perfection, consistency over intensity. We hear these things a lot, but what's helped me for that is like, how can I break this down into the smallest thing I can do right now? I can show up for every day. And for me, I actually did train for a marathon two years ago. And I, basketball player, I don't say I'm not a runner because now I I I'm starting to, you know, lean in and embody that identity that I am a runner. But uh I started running and I figured out I actually loved it. I was always like, oh no, I can't run over five or six miles. Like, I can't do that. I only do high intensity stuff. And I actually enjoyed it a bunch because I started off slow. I didn't get injured in the process because I, again, followed correct progressions, started slow, did what my body could handle. Um, and now it's something that's like a big part of my life. And I love running and it's like, you know, mental space for me, emotional space for me. But I think for people, it's just again, you have to run your own race. You have to make sure that you understand what your why is and what your purpose is for doing all these things. And then you just have to break it down into what is something I can sustain. Because uh, you know, doing something and changing lifestyle habits and you know, building these things that last for a long time, it is hard, but I promise it's worth it when you can actually start to change these things for the better, as opposed to yo-yoing up and down and left and right.

Jack Graham 38:00

100% agree. So, what are you working on at the moment? I'd love to dive into that.

Kyle Gonzalez 38:06

Oof, okay, so from a professional standpoint or from like an exercise standpoint, or I could take this question in so many ways.

Jack Graham 38:13

Let's start with exercise. So I like myself as well. Like when you start doing exercising at such a young age, being an athlete, sometimes it can get boring and monotonous. So how do like you I think you just answered it before again, like about running, like you just started something new and fell in love with it? But how do you keep going? Like I find a lot of people will start the gym like and work out, but then get bored with it and either drop off or this isn't working anymore. So your body does need different stimuluses and you do need to stimulate your mind as well to actually enjoy it and want to turn up each time. So, how does that evolve for you? And like how do you take on new exercises, workouts?

Kyle Gonzalez 38:56

Yeah, it's a it's a it's a great question. And I think adherence by far and away is is the most important thing when it comes to exercise. And so for me, especially working with people who maybe don't have a training history or an exercise background or anything like that, enjoyment shoots to the top of the list as a variable that I have to prioritize. And so if you hate showing up, even if it's personal training or whatever, if you hate showing up every time, this is not something that's gonna be a staple in your life. And so, yes, I think there's a caveat to that. Sometimes there's a little bit of what you want and there's a little bit of what you need. And a great coach can help mix those together because yeah, there's gonna be things that you don't love. Like I hate uh dead hangs, I hate, you know, like I hate certain things uh exercise wise, but I do them because I know I need them. And so anyway, I think for me, what keeps it interesting for me is again finding that enjoyment. And sometimes for me, that is through, and again, people are like, oh, well, you're the fitness guy. Of course you're gonna say it's like it's through pushing myself. I did a high rocks this year, and I've never done high rocks or trained that way. And so I tried that, that was super fun, loved the whole process. Uh, I did a half marathon this year, and then I trained for a marathon a couple years back. But I tried to dive into different realms that I've never really touched or tried or done because there's something about being a beginner and learning and getting better at something that people just crave. And so even when you see someone who's new to strength training, sometimes you see they come in, you start them at a you know, comfortable weight that they're good at, and then like next session they do better. And the next session they do better. And of course, it's like newbie gains, you can get fast gains in the beginning, but like you see like how much they get bought into like, oh my God, like I can do this thing that I thought I could never do. And you know, that's awesome and powerful, that feeling of improvement and getting better. But I also think I always tell people, like, you, you know, people who come to me and they're like, Well, God, I just don't love exercising. And I'm like, no, you just haven't found the right exercise yet. There's running, there's rowing, there's swimming, there's hiking, there's rucking, there's all of these different things. There's strength training, there's kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, bands, whatever it is, find your kind of movement flavor. And I think with people, and if you've been coaching for a while, you know the tools and the levers to pull to say, okay, maybe this person doesn't like running because they've had, you know, X injuries before. So maybe we go towards something less load-bearing, or maybe this person has been scared of traditional strength training. So I'm not gonna bring them into a gym with meat heads around. Maybe they train at home to start. Again, you just have to kind of know these things as a coach, but for me, it's always about how can I dangle a little carrot out in front of something new, something that challenges myself, not just physically but intellectually. Um, and again, it does not have to be something grand like a marathon or whatever. It can be, hey, I'm gonna test myself and see how fast I can run a mile, or hey, I'm gonna test myself and see how long I can hold a plank or whatever. And you train for these things and then you do it and it and it gives you something to look forward to. But uh, but yeah, it's it's one of those things where if you don't have some level of enjoyment of what you do, it's just very hard to you're using so much willpower, and willpower is such a fatigable thing to where, like, if you're using every ounce of willpower to show up to the strength training session, you're probably not going to be great with sleep or nutrition or all the other things because you're just using so much energy to do that. So for me, how do you make it frictionless? Does that mean working out at home? Does that mean, you know, doing things that you enjoy? Start there because, like James Clear, atomic habits, I love the saying he says, like, standardize before you optimize. You have to build the habit before you can improve the habit. People want to jump straight to like, what's the best thing I can be doing right now? And it's like, all right, go to the gym four times a week, do cardio for three hours, and I'm gonna do six stretches a week. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like, are you actually going to be able to do that? Why don't you start with like, you know, I'm gonna go to the gym twice a week, I'm gonna do the again, standardize before you optimize so that you can actually improve this habit in a way that's sustainable. So anyway, it's uh enjoyment goes to the top of the list. Definitely want to find things that are uh give you the variety, but also help you build the foundations. And uh the goal is not to win the game, the goal is to continue playing the game. And that is what all of health is about.

Jack Graham 43:32

On that as well, right? So when I say like what are you working on when it comes to health and fitness, but think um thinking about longevity. So for your body, your mind, your overall health and wellness, like what are you working on now that's gonna benefit you in fifty, eighty, depending on how long we lived for?

Kyle Gonzalez 43:52

Yeah. Oh man, so many things. I love reading, and so I love nonfiction reading. And my wife loves fiction. So like we kind of balance each other out. But I think for me, you can learn so much from reading. I like just posted on LinkedIn today, so it's fresh on my mind. But uh like it's so crazy when you think about books and reading. Like somebody took years sometimes to distill research, wisdom, ideas, complex topics into this nice little package thing that you can read in a month or two months or whatever. Like they're doing such a service to do that, and we have access to it all. And you know, some of it's free, you can find online. Some of it, yes, you pay eight, 10, 15, 20 bucks for a book. Like, I think it's like the most uh like incredible thing that we can just go and access and become experts, not become experts, we can become well-versed in so many different fields if you're just willing to put in the time to read and to look up on these things and to meet people. So reading is one that's big for me. I'm trying to read a little bit more.

Jack Graham 44:57

Any recommendations? Any recommendations for books?

Kyle Gonzalez 45:01

Oh man, so many. Um I I try to read outside of just health and wellness and fitness, but like I always try to come back to that at least, you know, once a month. So a couple recommendations. If I had to rattle some off, there's a book, Range, by David Epstein, that's great. It's like talks about being a generalist in a world that wants you to specialize. I love that book. That's been super transformative to me. The Health and Wellness Realm, probably the most influential book of the last 10 years for me, is Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. I used to be the, oh, I don't need sleep, I'll sleep when I'm dead type of person. Now I'm like, oh my God, I need my sleep. It's my superpower. Um, Breath by James Nestor on just breathing and how that impacts our health is a big one. Um, there's Mindset by Carol Dweck. She has a great book on growth and fixed mindset. That's where that originated. Um, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, just super introspective, stoic book. Anything by Ryan Holliday is great. He has so many great books. Discipline is Destiny, Courage is Calling, uh, Ego is the Enemy. Uh, I love those books. And uh what I'm reading right now is a book called On Muscle. It's basically a book about muscle and why it matters and the history. And so again, I try to, you know, do some stuff that's in my space, but then veer out parenting, psychology, philosophy, uh, technology, and stuff like that. So again, comes back to our conversation earlier about you got to expand your skill sets and you know start to dive into other areas. Um, because if you do, then you realize, like, oh, I'm actually intrigued in this thing, and maybe there's a way I can start to, you know, mold professionally around that. But uh beyond reading, uh, me and my wife recently did uh whole 30, which is a it's kind of like a diet, I guess you could call it a diet. I'm not a big diet person. We usually eat fairly well, clean, all of that. But whole 30 is a diet where you basically eliminate all things that cause uh intolerances and allergies and normal kind of disruption in people. And so no added sugar, no alcohol, no uh, I think it's no like dairy, no grains, no beans. So it was something for us we knew we weren't going to be doing whole 30 for the rest of our lives, but doing it could help us learn a little bit about ourselves and our body, but also, you know, change some of the principles that we, you know, normally have and do. And so we did it. It was great. We learned so much, and now we've changed a few things that we normally do that are for the better. And so totally we love doing these little self-experiments of like, oh, let's try this thing or let's do this for a month and see how it affects us. And then slowly you start to integrate that into like your normal lifestyle. And uh, and so yeah, those are a couple things, but always writing and always trying to push the boundaries on, you know. Uh, I I recently had a book come out on exercise and movement. And so that's like my latest project that's always still ringing in my head. Um, but yeah, I think books are uh a crazy uh torturous journey, but uh once you kind of come out of the other side, you uh you're so happy and proud of what you've done, you leave a legacy, and hopefully it's something that can help people and empower people. So uh those three things are the first things that uh that come to mind.

Jack Graham 48:26

Yeah, I love that. I've had these little red lights, the Lumiflex Body Pro for a few weeks now, and it goes with me everywhere and it goes on me everywhere. I love putting this on my belly in the morning just to help my digestion get rolling. Any little niggles I've had from training the day before goes on there a few rounds and I'm ready to jump back into the gym. It's absolutely crazy how fast you can feel the effects of this red light therapy device. It comes with these amazing little straps that you can literally strap it to any part of your body, joints, limbs, anywhere. So anywhere you need a little bit extra recovery, it can do that. A couple of rounds of the red lights, and you are good to go. And you can get access to Lumaflex Academy, where you can actually start learning about the benefits of red light therapy and how to use it properly so you can actually see the benefits in your body as well. So check out the link, lumiflex.com.au, use the code TRUEFOM and get 10% off your Lumiflex products. Let's talk about professionally then. Dive into what you're doing professionally.

Kyle Gonzalez 49:28

Yeah, uh, so I work at a company called KOIA. Um, we've been around for a little bit now, and and what Coya does is basically pairs people with a wearable and a coach and surrounds them kind of with I call it like the athlete or celebrity experience. You know, they have a chef and they have a you know mental performance coach. We try and do that at a smaller scale and bring a team around people. And so we give you a registered dietitian, a mental performance coach, a sleep coach, and then a fitness coach. And you go through this immersive 12-week program, it's all virtual, and you basically go through the foundations of health, like we talked about sleep, mindset, movement, uh, you know, mental performance, all these different things. And so uh you get the wearable, so you get some of that objective data. And really, what our goal is, we see it nowadays, we're inundated with data. There's wearables, there's CGMs, there's DEXA scans, there's VO2 max tests, and like people are doing it all because they're like longevity, like let's do all the tests, let's get all the things. But like rarely do people actually understand the results or understand what to do with the results. Quia exists to really bridge that gap, to help people take action, to really be on the other side and apply all of these things. And so we interpret all of that. We help bring real human coaches around people to help you kind of develop relationships, build these habits, and build them in a sustainable way. That's why it's 12 weeks as opposed to, you know, a month. But uh yeah, it's it's awesome. I'm the vice president of performance and coaching. So I help lead the team of coaches, I help build our curriculum, and I help kind of facilitate these 12-week cohorts. It's awesome because I've worked in the space for a while, and a lot of the space is siloed. It's like, okay, a fitness app to work on only fitness things, or a nutrition app to only do nutrition, or you know, whatever the case might be. And so every coach out there generally knows it takes all of these things to really sustain some of these changes. Guess what? You could be personal training 17 times a week, but if you are eating like crap or eating in a caloric surplus, you're not gonna lose weight. And so, again, I think for people to understand that all of these things play together, how can we take off, you know, small habits, small bites of each of these areas and have them work together as opposed to, all right, I'm gonna work on fitness and then you know, I'm gonna try and work on nutrition next year. And so it's like bringing it all together. And so um, it's an app. You get to track your habits, you talk with your coaches, you go through this curriculum. Um, and yeah, throughout the whole process, people get to see objective results because you're tracking it, you have a wearable, but you also get to see the subjective, more energy, better capacity, better emotional regulation, better stress regulation, all these different things. So it's really cool. Like I, you know, we we joke around, but it's it's it's something that we truly feel. Like we say it's not an occupation, it's a vocation. Because, like, what better job could you be working where you're just helping people improve their health and helping people get more access to their life, more access to spend time with their kids or to work more, whatever the things are. So, anyway, that's coy in a nutshell. And it's uh it's something that uh yeah, we we're super passionate about building and continue to grow.

Jack Graham 52:58

It's a great concept because, like you said, a lot of people will as a PT, it's hard to be a sleep coach, like your nutritionist, a personal trainer, like a life coach, all that sort of thing. Psychologists say, oh, yeah. So having it all in the one spot and working together for the client is I think that's a big powerful thing you can use because a lot of people will have those coaches but separately and they're not talking to each other. So it's it's still good to have those coaches no matter what, for sure. But when they're all working together and talking together to help you, that's a big powerful thing that's going to help a lot of people like live a long, healthy, happy life. So I love that concept. That's awesome. Um when it comes to data, I I did I have in my notes I got a little question about data because people just obsess about it. And I I'm not wearing any wearables at the moment. I sort of go back and forth on them. How should people think about wearables, data, and yeah, what should they be using it? How should they be using it?

Kyle Gonzalez 54:07

Yeah, it's a great question. I uh have Apple Watch and an Aura Ring on right now, and like you said, I definitely teeter back and forth between like, all right, no wearables and wearable and you know, tracking and non-tracking. I think wearables can be a great tool, and they have been a great tool for people generally as a whole. Accountability, understanding where you're starting with some of these things. Um, you know, really like I talk a lot about the uh Hawthorne effect, which is basically when you can track your nutrition or when you track your steps, generally you do better because you're like, oh, maybe I'm lower than I thought I was, or you track your nutrition, you're probably gonna eat better when you're tracking it because you're observing it, you're more aware. And so there's an awareness factor with some of these wearables. But I caution people because I think the wearables are reliable, but not always perfectly accurate. And I think there's a difference there. Reliable means you're going to get trends and patterns that you can track over time that are great, but maybe not accurate. And what that means is like maybe your step count you see on your wearable is 7,000, and after a month of you know trying to boost it, you see it go to 8,000. But that 7,000 might actually be 5,000 to 6,000 as opposed to 7 to 8 because it's not as accurate as you think it is. And so generally they over-predict calories, they over-predict steps and things like that. Uh, of course they would because they want people to feel better about themselves and all of that. But I think it's no knock on the wearable companies or anything like that. It's hard to try and you know calculate some of these things, and they're all using algorithms and sleep scores and all of that, and even you know, sleep data and all of that is not going to be perfect, a perfect science. And so sometimes you get the people that uh get what we call orthosomnia, where it's like my wearable data is causing me to sleep worse because I wake up and I'm like, what's my score? And I see it's a 65, and I'm like, oh my God, my day is going to be horrible, everything's going down the you know, crapper. And so for me, if you can use it as a tool and not a dictator or not the rule, great, it's a great tool, it's a great accountability motivation, all of those things that I mentioned. But if it starts to become something that is causing more stress than it is, you know, helping, you don't need it. And I think you don't need a wearable to, you know, work out, you don't need a wearable to get better sleep, you don't need a wearable to get better, you know, nutrition, on and on and on. I just think there's some people that are motivated by these things and they're motivated by data. So it is cool to have and to use, but uh, you know, also it it can be something where, again, we don't always know what's going into the algorithms and the scores and all of these things. And so you're kind of outsourcing this to something that might not be you know resonant with what you're actually looking for or what you're going for. So be cautious with data, be cautious with wearables and all of that. Doesn't mean it's bad. Just like, what are you optimizing for? What are you actually trying to do? And is the wearable helping you get there? If so, great. If not, maybe it's time to reevaluate or reassess. Or sometimes, guess what? It's okay to just take it off for a couple weeks or take it off for a month. Like you're gonna survive. It's funny because uh me and my wife, we go on walks and like we leave out of the door, and the first thing we say is like, oh, start your outdoor walk. And like, that's crazy. It's like we're going on the walk regardless, but we want to track it and we want to see. And so uh I always joke with people and say, like, all movement counts even when you're not counting it. And I think people get this anxiety of like, oh shoot, I just did this and I didn't turn my watch on or I didn't turn my whoop workout on or whatever. And so again, rest assured the workout still happened or the things still happened, and you can uh you can be okay.

Jack Graham 58:02

So yeah, I was gonna say a lot of my clients like halfway through the workout, they forget to start their workout, and I'm like, oh well, we'll have to start again because it didn't count, but yeah, it counts.

Kyle Gonzalez 58:13

Yeah, no, it's funny.

Jack Graham 58:15

Yeah. Um, so let's I want to sort of start wrapping up. Got a couple of follow-up questions. If you could get every single person on earth to start doing one habit each day, like that would like a physical habit, not just sit there and think about this. So they actually have to go and do something, what what one thing would you get every single person do that would move the needle the most?

Kyle Gonzalez 58:41

Uh this is uh funny because I just talked about it, but walks. I think walks are for me the most accessible, scalable, practical, simple habit that can move the needle a lot for people. And so I always talk to people about like, okay, we hear 10,000 steps, you know, maybe it's more around 7,000 where you're starting to see a lot of these benefits, which is great. But lose all of that, even going 1,000 steps over where you are right now, which is about 10 to 15 minutes of walking, the data shows that that can lead to a 21 to 23% mortality reduction risk. Just 1,000 extra steps. That's massive. Like, and so for me, with people, it's like, can you walk more? And like 95% of the time, it's like you have to have a really crazy complicated life if you can't walk more. And you could buy an underdesk treadmill, you could do it inside if you needed to. But I think getting outside and walking, if you can, and again, some people are not in the right place to be able to go outside and walk. But of course, outdoors, sunlight, nature, all these things are going to only add to it. But it is something where people don't understand the aerobic benefits, the blood flow benefits, the creativity benefits, the uh mental stress relief benefits. It's just like it seems so simple, it seems so trivial, like, oh, walking, like, eh, whatever. But me and my wife, we go on three walks a day, and we're able to because we live in a great climate and space where we can do that, and it's awesome. I don't know if there's any other high-leverage habit that's better than that in terms of what it does for us. We leave the phones at home. We can have a conversation face to face and talk about life. We try not to talk about work when we're on our walks, but sometimes it invades those. But again, I think that is what it's really all about for me is mixing habits that check a lot of different boxes. And for me, walks check so many boxes that it's just like impossible to not want to keep doing it because you feel so much better physically, mentally, emotionally. And so I'm a huge advocate for walks. Walk when you're bored, walk when you are feeling a little sluggish, walk after meals is great for digestion and you know, blood uh blood sugar, on and on and on. So walks, walks is my unequivocal pick.

Jack Graham 1:01:06

I love that. And I well, I can't talk about walking it. Like all my clients, I just tell them to start walking more, however, you can. Like I said, it's just so simple, but just so effective. But a lot of people won't do it because it's so easy. Like it just seems so simple that they just won't do it. Um, so where can people find you, what you're doing, and connect with you?

Kyle Gonzalez 1:01:29

Yeah. Uh I I try to post mostly on uh LinkedIn and Instagram, uh, and that's under at Kyle Gonzalez3. Um I have a podcast that's the Vitality System. I have a book, The Vitality System. My most recent book is called Move, Thrive, and Come Alive on a lot of the concepts we just talked about today. And so it's really a guide to navigating movement in this modern world where it's kind of feels like we're pushed into being sedentary and sitting and, you know, not moving as much. And so practical tips, tools, habits, uh, and things to get you moving more. And uh yeah, I do a newsletter called the Vitality System on Substack. So again, I think for me, it's all about empowering people to live healthier lives, giving people more agency and ownership over their health, and really helping people like either define or redefine what it means to be healthy. I think a lot of times people take in what they're seeing as their definition of health, but health can mean physical health, it can mean intellectual health, it could mean, you know, all of these different things. And so, what does it mean to you? That's really what longevity and health span is about is using the years of your life to live it the way you want and how you want, and being healthy enough to do the things that you want. And so uh again, living long is great, but uh you know, living well is something that I think is uh is under underrated.

Jack Graham 1:03:00

Yeah, a hundred percent. Um just gonna open it back up a little bit, but yeah, please, please do um so like in the world of AI and you know, everybody's looking I don't think AI is taking any jobs or anything like that, but I just think personal training, coaching is just an industry that is going to get more and more needed or expand more in person, and I think you're just a good example of that. Like you just the way you come across, the way you coach, but also everything you're doing now, like it all comes through well, and you're actually using the technology to help people live a better life. So I appreciate everything that you're doing. Like, where do you see the future of health and fitness going?

Kyle Gonzalez 1:03:46

Yeah, uh, I appreciate the kind words, and uh I I try my best. Any conversation, anytime I get the privilege to be on any platform, like I take it seriously because like it is uh, like I said, we talked about it earlier. It's vulnerable, it's emotional, this thing that is health. Some people are struggling with it, some people are kind of confused by it. There's a lot of noise in the industry. So anytime I can come on, I try to be passionate, I try to bring energy, I try to bring clarity and simplicity to it. But where do I think the space is going? I do think AI is gonna play a big role. I would say you're and I can't say never, but I would say the human is always gonna be at the core of change, of behavior change, of psychology of all of these things because people deeply connect with people. And so I don't necessarily think right now, if you have a highly motivated person, maybe you can go to AI and see behavior change and sustainable behavior change. But what I've seen, and we actually at COIA, we've you know put this into practice is a human plus AI or a human using AI as a filter, sure, it's gonna help with you understanding patterns and trends and having information at your fingertips. But all of that needs to be filtered through a human that can connect with another human because I think that's really what changes behavior in the long term and helps people sustain it. Because I could tell you right now, you could go on Chat GPT, Gemini, Claude, whatever it is, you could get any type of program you want. But guess what? We just talked about it. I do this all the time. The program isn't going to help you reach your goals. It's actually showing up. It's actually having the accountability, the adherence to actually execute that plan. And so for me, it's not about AI or humans, it's about AI plus humans or humans plus AI and how they can work together to improve outcomes, to make sure that you're getting the best research, to help people meet you where you are. Like I think for me, I love AI because it's like this research assistant that I can use to find different things and collect. Information and really uh satiate some of my curiosity when it's like I want something quick information, I can go find it. But I still have not lost the skill of again gritting through and showing up and doing some of the hard things because I think that's also, you know, AI is not going to do your workouts for you, AI is not gonna eat the whole foods for you, AI is not gonna sleep for you. So again, you still have to understand how to build those systems and habits. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a great tool and there's not so many different use cases. So I don't, I don't agree with the people who are like, oh, anti-AI, and no, we should never do this and we should stay pure. There's so many applications for it, but it is easy. It is easy to like slippery slope it and get into a point where it's like, oh, maybe I can use AI to do this and maybe it could do that, and then next thing you know, you're using it for everything. So anyway, long-winded way, but I think I I see a more positive future where like it works together, they both help each other, and and I think coaches will become better for it.

Jack Graham 1:06:59

Yeah, I 100% agree. And like you said, you're not gonna start relying on it because if you rely on it, it's not gonna really help you. Like a message from an AI bot telling you to get up and go do your workout's not really gonna motivate you to get into the gym. Um, and that's what I said at the start, like people like yourself, like coaches, PTs, in person doing the work you're doing, like that's what motivates people, that's what gets people into the gym. So, and I I don't think AI is ever gonna replace that. Like, like you said, c humans connect with humans, so you just need that connection, however you can get it. Even if you're just going to the gym and just being around other people, not even talking to people, it's just still that being around other humans doing the same thing that you're doing is just a motivation in itself.

Kyle Gonzalez 1:07:46

Totally agree.

Jack Graham 1:07:48

Um, well, Kyle, I appreciate you coming on. Like I said, I appreciate everything you're doing. I love your work. Um, you're very inspiring, and I just you're looking forward to continuing following it.

Kyle Gonzalez 1:08:00

Yeah, no, I I appreciate you having me on. It's been an awesome conversation. I always uh leave these things feeling ready to go run through a brick wall and and uh I appreciate you giving me the platform. I appreciate the deep conversation about all these things. I think it's uh important, useful, helpful, practical for people out there. So uh yeah, any way I can help, I'm always uh I'm always up for it. And uh yeah, I know I know we'll be keeping in touch. So look forward to uh continuing the conversation.

Jack Graham 1:08:25

100%. And like I said, I'll link everything in the show notes for people to connect with you.

Kyle Gonzalez 1:08:31

Awesome. Appreciate you.

Jack Graham 1:08:33

What is up? Thanks for being here at the end of the episode. Obviously, you've enjoyed it and it's helped you find your true form. And I bet you know somebody that's gonna help find their true form as well. So I'd appreciate it if you could copy this show link, send it to one friend or family member and say, hey, have a listen to this. It's gonna help you find your true form. They'll probably have no idea what you're talking about, but it will help them. And I appreciate if you could do that. Uh, also, all podcast platforms these days have some sort of algorithm. So the more you interact with this episode, the better it's gonna perform and help reach more people and help them find their true form as well. So, five star review, positive comment, like, share, comment, however, you can interact with the episode. I'd appreciate that. And everybody listening that hasn't heard of the true form podcast is gonna appreciate it as well.