The Daniel Yores Podcast

James Gardiner (@firstar.therapy, https://firstartherapy.com/) is an athletic therapist by trade but really so much more than that. He's worked with athletes at the highest level across many sports and organizations and has also been able to connect the dots through yoga, breathwork, mindfulness, intentful movement and all the things that make us human.James went searching for more in the Bahamas and came back with a refreshed view of athletic therapy, training and life overall and has applied these new lessons to FIRSTAR Therapy which "is a philosophy and approach to sport performance, training and rehabilitation that places emphasis on education and empowerment of the athlete."I had the pleasure of taking James' Recalibration Workshops earlier this year and it was a game changer for me in beginning to understand breathwork on a deeper level, and by association understanding myself. Whenever you're listening to this, the beginner and advanced courses will be starting again soon, and you can find out more information here.James will also be speaking at the State of Mind Festival which is a mental health innovation festival, and you can learn more about that here.He also is the host of FIRSTAR Let's chAT: an athletic therapy roundtable podcast where James has excellent discussion with therapists, coaches, doctors and many exciting people on all things human performance. You can find it wherever your find podcasts or here, Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts. The third but certainly not last exciting project is the Performance Wellness Platform in partnership with MindframeFit which is a program where the goal is "to enable, empower, and enhance each athlete’s well-being on and off the field of play through a focus on intentful movement and mindful practices." This is one I'm really excited about, and you can learn more here.James is a really wonderful human, I hope you enjoy this and find as much value in this conversation as I did. Connect with James on Instagram @firstar.therapy and Youtube.I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss 

Matthew Arnone (@arnonematthew23) is a professional soccer player, the creator of @mindframefit (www.mindframefit.com) and the founder of Jason's Wish (@jayzwish) which supports Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, in memory of his brother Jason. He's also one of my best friends. Matt and I started working out together in university and did all the stereotypical things you could think of. Barely trained legs, pills and powders all over the place, and no real intention and thought went into anything we did except lifting heavier weight. Certainly not the most optimal way to do things, but it got the job done at the time. We both evolved on somewhat separate paths as Matt worked to fulfill his dream of becoming a pro soccer player and I worked through injury to then step into my role as a coach. We took different paths with our fitness but arrived at the same place. That there is so much more to all of this than bench pressing more than the other guy. There is so much more to being human that we seem to neglect. And as we both learned these things, and continue to learn through our own individual experiences it has become more and more apparent that this messaging has to be shared. In the episode, we dive into what it means to be a better human, the importance of practicing and training resiliency, the importance of working on yourself first so that you can give more of yourself and many more related topics. Matt has also launched his mental fitness program called Mindframe which aims to help guide athletes and all humans through the use of mindfulness training in order to achieve optimal performance in all things. You can learn more at www.mindframefit.com, or connect on IG @mindframefit or Twitter @mindframefit. This episode was a pleasure and there will be many more of these conversations that we have publicly in due time. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

Juan Salgado (@the_chosenjuan1) is a competitive powerlifter, personal trainer and business owner in Costa Mesa, California. Juan and I share a lot of similar thoughts on how to navigate fitness in conjunction with enjoying one's life. We both also got into coaching after career ending sports injuries and have learned so much about life through the lessons learned in the gym. This was a really great conversation that I thoroughly enjoyed. We spoke about what to look for in a coach, how consistency and outlasting the competition is the most common element to success in and out of the gym, how to reframe your training to focus on building strength and approach things from a place of positivity, and how to tie all this together in the context of living a full life. We also spoke about Juan's new e-book called Eating Out While Dieting which you can find here. I think this is so crucial to be able to get good at this so that you can always enjoy your life without derailing your health and fitness goals. I really enjoyed this and think there were a lot of nuggets in this episode! Once again, to get in contact with Juan you can find him on Instagram @the_chosenjuan1 or on his website. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

The very first guest on the podcast is my friend and mentor Matthew Bousson aka Coach Boss (@boussytheboss). He's travelled all over and worked with some of the best athletes and programs in the world. From Stanford University to UFC champions he's worked with the best of the best and brings all of that knowledge and experience into who he is today working with many non-pro athletes like you and I. We spoke about many things but the main topic underlying everything was the differences and similarities between athletes and the general population. We're all humans first, and so you must coach the human before you coach the athlete, lawyer, or parent. Social media as we know is a blessing and curse for delivering information and this couldn't be more relevant within the world of health and fitness, and so we spoke a bit about how to evaluate things you see online. As well as talking about the trouble with trying to copy what athletes and influencers are doing without knowing all the details. We also touched on Matt's experiences in academia and where there is a gap between the classroom and the real world. Matt is currently living in Hermosa Beach, California. If you're in the area definitely hit him up on Instagram @boussytheboss or if you've got anything else you'd want to ask him. He's a wealth of knowledge and experience and always a pleasure to talk to. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

Recently there's been some buzz about the term progressive overload which seems to be the newest fitness word being used incorrectly to sell things. Whether it's just marketing, or genuine ignorance to it's meaning, I wanted to do my small part to help you understand what it means. Progressive Overload is the underlying principal that leads to success in fitness. In short, it is incrementally increasing the difficulty of your training so that your body will continue to adapt and improve. In this episode I go into more detail as to what it is, why it matters and most importantly, how you can utilize it correctly in your training from now on. It is not a very complex topic but extremely important nonetheless. If you're not utilizing it to some extent, you almost certainly will not see results long term. I also make the connection that progressive overload is a term commonly used in strength training but the principal of it applies to every single aspect of our life that we wish to make progress in. School, work, family, home projects, any hobby, everything. To get better you have to do better, simple as that. If you’re looking for more guidance or coaching for yourself and you’re not sure where to begin, I’d love to work with you and be your coach to help you achieve whatever fitness goals you have set for yourself. Contact me on Instagram or Twitter to get started. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

From the time I was 11 until I was about 21 I dealt with a whirlwind of knee injuries that eventually required a major surgery. Seeing as I'm currently only 26 years old, this entire ordeal was a pretty significant chunk of my life so far.I've reflected back on all of this many times and learned many lessons from it. I didn't necessarily realize them at the time, but in hindsight I surely did. It began by understand what makes a good practitioner. Letters beside one's name don't necessarily mean they are good at what they do, and I learned this the hard way. Secondly, I learned how to navigate the Canadian healthcare system and more importantly, that YOU must be in control of your own health. Nobody feels what you feel and you must take ownership of your health. This doesn't just mean playing games with doctors, but it mostly means that you have to take care of yourself on a daily basis. The biggest lesson I learned is as humans, we have to move simply because we can. There might be a day where you can't get dressed by yourself. It happened to me as I explain in the episode and I would do anything for that to never happen again. Not now, and not when I'm 90. So MOVE, because you can. Lastly, and most importantly, tell your mom you love them. Mothers are special and will do anything for you no matter what. I hope you're able to take some lessons from this story of mine. It was quite the experience overall that shaped me into who I am today as both a coach and a person. I wouldn't want to go through it again, but I'm grateful for the lessons learned. If you’re looking for more guidance or coaching for yourself and you’re not sure where to begin, I’d love to work with you and be your coach to help you achieve whatever fitness goals you have set for yourself. Contact me on Instagram or Twitter to get started. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

This episode is all about the mindset you need to adopt to successfully approach and achieve your fat loss goals. Fat loss is altogether not difficult as far as the physical things that need to be done: be in a caloric deficit and exercise regularly. The difficulty comes in actually being able to do these things for a long enough period of time to achieve your desired result. That's where the mindset before you even begin comes in to play. When you approach fat loss with the correct mentality the entire process becomes much easier, more sustainable, and more enjoyable... or let's be real, fat loss isn't enjoyable, so maybe it's just less bad. In this episode I go over some things you should consider before beginning a fat loss phase and how to think about whether or not now is a good time for you to do this. I also speak about some of the roadblocks and challenges you may face during the process so that you can be prepared to combat them when the time comes and are not caught off-guard. Finally, I spend a little time prompting you to think about what you're going to do after you reach your fat loss goal, and the value in being prepared for this beforehand to truly make this something that lasts from now until forever. I always believe that being prepared for any life situation is valuable, and fat loss is no different. It's a difficult thing to do, so we must be ready for what we must do if we want to be successful. If you’re looking for more guidance or coaching for yourself and you’re not sure where to begin, I’d love to work with you and be your coach to help you achieve whatever fitness goals you have set for yourself. Contact me on Instagram or Twitter to get started. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

Gyms are FINALLY opening back up in Ontario, or so it seems. Regardless of where you are in the world, or whether gyms actually stay open for an extended time now, this will always be relevant after any layoff time from training. In this episode I highlight the thing you need to be most careful of when getting back in the weight room. Hint: It's you and your ego... I also give a reasonable strategy to approach the first few weeks back with a progression into what I think the next couple of months of training should look like. This is what I'll be doing with most of my clients and with my own training as well. I also give a bit more detail in to the specifics of how my own training will begin and the reasons why I'm choosing to progress in that manner. Lastly, I go over some things to expect upon your return. It's been some time, so some things have changed. This is based on my personal experience from the initial lockdowns with myself and what I saw with my clients. There are going to be some parts that are a bit disheartening and others that are going to light you up. Either way, it helps in knowing what to expect so that you're neither shocked or panicked when things progress the way they will.Above all else, this is as good a time as ever to fall in love with physical fitness and allow it to forever be part of your life. As we get back into the gyms, it can be extremely valuable having a coach to help guide you. Whether you're in Toronto or elsewhere, I'd love to be able to work with you and get stronger together. If this is something you might be interested in, send me a message on Instagram @danielyores and let's get started!I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

Supplements are often mistaken as a replacement for maintaining healthy habits of exercise, nutrition, sleep and everything else. However, they really should just exist to supplement everything else that we're doing.Supplements are a wonderful and messy thing to begin to understand. There are endless different kinds and all can be marketed to tell you they are somehow EXACTLY what you need to finally get you healthy and have the body you want, and all you need to do is to use it and it will solve your problems. Unfortunately, this isn't true. No supplement or vitamin will magically build that dream body for you. Fortunately, we do have the knowledge and the tools to get everything you're working towards... just not in pill form. In this episode I explain how I think about supplements and some of the things you should also consider before looking into taking anything. I also cover my 3 favourite supplements that I've always got on hand and use for myself for various reasons. They are:Whey Protein Powder: Not special or different, simply unbeatable convenience. Creatine Monohydrate: Allows me that extra 1-2% of gas in the tank to really push through tough periods of training. Vitamin D: Living in Canada I certainly don't get enough vitamin D from the sun and supplementing year-round with it always improves how I feel and perform. I also touch on a handful of other supplements, some of which I use and some of which I personally think are a waste of money. The overall message here is that supplements and their dosages must remain specific to you as an individual. What I do works for me.What I hope you are able to take away is to use a more critical approach to the thought process around buying and using supplements. As well as the comfort in knowing that I, a fitness professional, don't take hundreds of pills a day and that this is simply not necessary. Important Note: Everything that I've mentioned here is simply my opinion. I am not a medical professional and none of this should be taken as medical or nutritional advice. Please seek the guidance of an appropriate practitioner to determine what might work best for you. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss

Have you ever really considered that you can't train your body fat? When you exercise, you are training your muscles. Of course exercise plays an important role in weight loss, but it might not be the one you think it does. In this episode, I go on to explain why your training goal CANNOT be fat loss, by definition. I then explain the important role that strength training plays during weight loss. The ability to maintain muscle mass is crucial while losing weight, and training with the goal of increasing strength is the best way to do this. All while eating in a caloric deficit, as that is how fat loss occurs. You can't train your fat to "melt away", we simply must create an environment where a caloric deficit is maintained. I also share my thoughts on how framing exercise positively - gaining strength - is much more beneficial than constantly framing exercise negatively - losing fat. After all, this is supposed to be fun and add to our life! Not something that should we should resent. I would greatly appreciate any comments, questions or feedback. If you could share this with a friend, that would mean the world to me. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be extremely grateful if you subscribed and left a short review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the message and ultimately help more people.  Connect with me on Instagram @danielyoresConnect with me on Twitter @danielyores Podcast Cover Art by @octopuslegss