The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
111. Alexia Clark: I Found My Purpose Through Fitness – Here’s How You Can Too!
Tue, 05 Nov 2024
Most people think catastrophic health events mean the end of their fitness journey. But what if it could be the beginning of something even greater? In today’s episode, Gary Brecka sits down with personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist Alexia Clark as she shares her personal journey from feeling stuck in a career that didn’t ignite her passion to discovering the profound impact that fitness can have on both the body and mind. She also tells the story of how she overcame her experience of having volvulus in 2021 through fitness. If you’ve ever felt hesitant to start your fitness journey or are looking for motivation to stay consistent, this is the video for you! Connect with Alexia Clark: Join Alexia Clark's program & start building your strongest self today!: https://bit.ly/4efl3Yz For more information on Alexia Clark, visit: https://bit.ly/3NVqwJc Follow Alexia Clark on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3UCdcNC Follow Alexia Clark on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3AqlGAK Follow Alexia Clark on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3UBsOku Follow Alexia Clark on X.com: https://bit.ly/40xLPs3 00:00 Intro of Show and Guest 05:01 Impact of Fitness on Mental Health 08:22 Misconceptions on Fitness and Resistance Training 15:28 What is a Bliss Point? 18:35 People Not Eating Enough Protein 20:09 Alexia’s Diet 22:47 Where (and How) to Start a Healthy Lifestyle? 25:50 Alexia’s Experience with Volvulus 31:57 Seeing the Positives in Your Workouts 34:10 Maintaining the Healthy Lifestyle While Traveling 38:15 The Queen Team Community 44:32 Travel-Friendly Workouts 46:43 Embarking on a Healthy Lifestyle 49:33 Mental and Emotional Transformations from Fitness 51:42 Exercise Tips After Injury 57:23 Final Question: What does it mean to you to be an “Ultimate Human?” GET WEEKLY TIPS FROM GARY ON HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR HEALTH & LIFESTYLE ROUTINES: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU EIGHT SLEEP: USE CODE “GARY” TO GET $350 OFF THE POD 4 ULTRA: https://bit.ly/3WkLd6E BODY HEALTH: USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF YOUR ORDER: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV TAKE YOUR STRENGTH TO THE NEXT LEVEL! SHOP THE ULTIMATE HUMAN STRENGTH TRAINING EQUIPMENT: https://bit.ly/3zYwtSl SUPERCHARGE YOUR RECOVERY AND OPTIMIZE YOUR WELL-BEING WITH THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp KETTLE & FIRE PREMIUM 100% GRASS-FED BONE BROTH: USE CODE “ULTIMATEHUMAN” FOR 20% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/3BaTzW5 Discover top-rated products & exclusive deals. Shop now & elevate your everyday essentials: https://theultimatehuman.com/amazon-recs Watch “The Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM ET on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 Follow Gary Brecka on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs Follow Gary Brecka on TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo Follow Gary Brecka on Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H Follow The Ultimate Human on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3VP9JuR Follow The Ultimate Human on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3XIusTX Follow The Ultimate Human on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Y5pPDJ The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The Content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the main theme of Alexia Clark's fitness journey?
Food can either be the most powerful medicine or the most deadly poison. Prisoners get more outside time than kids in school. It's really sad because we're killing these kids by keeping them stuck in a chair all day long and then we're not setting them up for success with health.
I never realized how far degraded just basic fitness was. The lack of physical fitness is just a pandemic right now.
You were born being able to do these things, but then we let these things degrade. And on top of that, they're getting fed poison.
The food that we have now is not meant to kill you quickly. It's meant to make you suffer over a long period of time.
Food companies have this thing called a bliss point. They want to calculate the exact amount of sugar, the exact amount of salt, and the exact amount of fat to put into food to give you the most dopamine release, to make it more desirable, to make you crave it.
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Chapter 2: How does fitness impact mental health?
What are some big mistakes that people are making on eating a healthier diet?
When it comes to diet, I think people aren't...
Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brekka, where we go down the road of everything anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today's guest is a really special guest. Right before the podcast, actually, she was beating up my wife in our gym. I walked in there and I was like, I want no part of this.
Chapter 3: What common misconceptions exist about resistance training?
Like the fifth round of Russian split squats. I was like, yeah, I think I'll go to the kitchen. Yeah. But Alexia Clark, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm such a huge fan of yours. I love Sage. I had so much fun with you guys at dinner and the workout I did with her was so fun too.
You had a great time. No, it really was. And she's a fan of yours too. And we're so appreciative that you came across the country. You know, originally we were going to go have this meeting for, to try to make America healthy. Yeah. And, but we're so glad that you came and it was, it's been amazing getting to know you and, and, you know, watching your journey and,
You know, I went back and did a little research on you. And, you know, a lot of your content is from the early 2000s, 2000, 2001, when you were doing podcasts before you had this major life event that we, if you're comfortable about talking, I'd love to talk about it. But, you know, a lot of my podcasts have a very similar theme. And I find that the people that
are making the greatest impact, that are the most passionate, the most purpose-driven, they've solved some kind of problem in their life. Maybe it was a drug and alcohol addiction and they really struggled with it and they overcame it and then they become a powerful voice and a powerful force for that. And you're obviously a powerful voice and a powerful force in the fitness industry and
So what, if anything, was the tipping point in your life or was there anything that really just lit that purpose on fire that gave you that drive and you said, you know, this is my niche?
Right. Yeah. Well, when I graduated from my university, I was in marketing and I knew right away I did not want to be sitting in an office.
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Chapter 4: What is the bliss point in food?
It's like when I lived in Chicago, I was like, I don't know where I want to live, but I don't want to live in Chicago. Exactly.
Exactly. I just knew I didn't want to do that. But one thing that I would always find myself doing, which I probably shouldn't have been doing, was I was passionate about fitness. And every day I'd go to my job, I'd sit at my computer and just research fitness stuff.
Really?
Yeah. Just research all day long. And I was not doing the work I should have been doing. So I thought... I have to quit this, I have to follow my passion. So I decided to become a personal trainer and one of my very first clients, I think it was a 5 a.m. session, she came in and I could just tell something was off. I had trained her once or twice before.
And we started the session and we were doing step ups and I could tell she was almost about to cry. And so I asked her, is everything OK? And she said, my husband left me last night. And this was hours before the session because this was like 5 a.m. Right. Right. And so this just like blew me away. And I thought the last like. we have to talk about this, you know, like I let her vent.
We, you know, I told her I'd be, I was there for her if she needed anything. And just over a few set more sessions, cause she kept coming back. I saw such a change in her. She became more confident. She was actually smiling. And I thought, man, fitness can impact so many people in so many different ways. I have to share this with as many people as I can. And that was when the passion started.
Yeah. So what time frame is this?
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Chapter 5: How can someone start a healthy lifestyle?
This was probably 20, I think it was 2011.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
So a while ago. Yeah.
Chapter 6: What was Alexia's experience with volvulus?
And I love the fact that you talk about an area of fitness that most people don't talk about. And obviously we know like working out and fitness is going to make you look better. Right. Right. And maybe even feel better or certainly make you feel better. But we rarely talk about the mental impact.
For sure.
Right? I mean, we don't... There are even studies out right now. I've talked about them on the podcast. I even read an entire podcast short on it about how exercise and relatively small amounts of exercise were more prolific than SSRIs, than actually antidepressants. Definitely.
I'm glad that we started with this story because it's so emblematic of how exercise and fitness can actually change people's mental state. I wonder if you'd talk about that a little bit on your journey. What have you seen?
I mean, I've just seen this across my entire career of clients and people that do my program telling me like, my life has changed because of this. You know, I wasn't feeling great about school. I didn't really have any friends. And just by sticking with a workout, sticking with keeping exercise a part of their daily life, their life changed.
Like they started feeling more comfortable in the gym or feeling more comfortable meeting people. And I think that A lot of people don't realize all of the benefits that there are with fitness just by working out 10 minutes a day. It doesn't have to be go to the gym for an hour. Also, I got to do my cardio.
Also, you know, I have to do all of these things like you just have to take a tiny bit of time out of your day to see the results that fitness can do for you, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
Yeah. And I think a lot of people, I think it's the starting point, right? I mean, I, when I talk to people about dieting, you know, for example, I'm like, look, you don't need to be a vegan, vegetarian, keto, carnivore, paleo, you know, pescatarian, vegan overnight, right? Like those, those massive shifts are too much for people to stick to.
And I think a lot of times it's the way people view fitness. I either have to commit to 90 minutes a day of crushing myself in the gym and I got to do so much cardio and I have to
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Chapter 7: How can fitness change your emotional state?
But I also think that a lot of reason why there's all of these misconceptions, and even for beginners too, maybe they're afraid to go to the gym. I think it's because... There hasn't been a way where we can keep fitness up throughout life. You know, a lot of people are afraid when they go to the gym. They're like, what if I don't do it right? I'm embarrassed in front of people.
But you are born being able to do these things. Like you look at a baby, they can do a perfect squat. They can hold on to a bar, like basically do a dead hang. They can roll over on the ground, but then we let these things degrade over time. You put kids in school, they're sitting for eight hours a day.
Then you put them in high school, college, then you go straight into work and you're not keeping these things up. And so then you're in your thirties or forties wanting to take your health back and you're afraid, but you know how to do these things. Like they are in you. And so we like something needs to change when it comes to physical activity just throughout life.
Like, I don't know if you know this, but did you know prisoners get more outside time than kids?
You mean people that are in prison?
Yeah. Maximum security prisoners get more time outdoors than kids in school.
I mean, I won't say that I'm shocked by that, but I'm shocked by that. I mean, that is astounding. You know, when I was growing up, and I'm dating myself a little bit here, I graduated high school in 1988. You know, PE, when not only was it a required class, but you actually had to pass it. For sure. Definitely, yeah. And it wasn't like...
hard to pass i mean you had to run a mile in like under nine minutes i think we had a dead hang for 30 seconds we had to do 20 push-ups 20 sit-ups it was fairly basic it was yeah but every you had to pass pe and if you couldn't do 20 push-ups or sit-ups or we had over uh the you know over um whatever you call those bars that you kind of go hand over hand the monkey bars yeah monkey bars okay good i didn't want to use a non-fitness term with a fitness expert but
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Chapter 8: What diet mistakes are people commonly making?
So, you know, we had to do the monkey bars and now, you know, we were having a conversation the other night at dinner last night.
And, you know, what was astounding to me for a very short period of time, I owned a CrossFit gym and I was telling you that we, for community outreach, we would allow these kids to come in fourth graders to eighth graders after school and the parents could drop them off and we'd run these classes for them for free. Yeah. And I never realized how far degraded just basic fitness was.
I mean, forget athletes and sports. But we had these kids put through a basic physical assessment. And one of them was they had to dead hang for 30 seconds. And the other one was they had to sit down on a one foot high box jump and just stand up. And my partner in the gym and I were so tired. blown away by how many kids could not sit onto a foot high box jump and stand up.
Yeah. It's sad.
They would fall over and roll to the side and put their hands down. And I said, no, no, no, no, just, just stand up, you know, and they couldn't stay. I thought they were not like,
getting my instructions right and then we would hold them up on the bar and they would hold on they would just fall and then i would say no no hold on as long as you can they just couldn't hold right and you know aside from all of the risks to that child's future um because you know i i believe a lot of chronic disease i mean there's evidence to support this you know being very early in life yeah um you know the lack of physical fitness is just a pandemic right now
It is. It is. And history is honestly repeating itself because during World War I, the government looked around and they saw that the citizens weren't fit really for military. And so then they put in a physical education system and then it happened again 50 years later with JFK. And he reformed the- Yeah, JFK was big time. Yeah, he was huge on it.
Some of his speeches are amazing.
They're amazing. And so, I mean, it's the same thing you were talking about. You had to do a certain amount of pushups. You had to do a certain amount of pull-ups. You had to be able to run a mile in a certain amount of time. And they measured body fat percentage.
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