Strength training and weight loss - Client Case Study: Curran Wong || Ep 68

Hear how my client Curran, struggled to lose weight and get back in shape after having his first son, to now losing the dad bod, and having the tools necessary to get stronger as he ages.

It's always a privilege to work closely with my clients, take in all the baggage, excuses and life issues we all face, and to see the transformation in one's physique and mindset.

Hope you find this to be a good listen!

Transcript

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All right. So welcome. I am Dr. Jason Won, a doctor of physical therapy, and I specifically help busy parents worldwide with either becoming the strongest version of themselves, something to get more mobile get in better shape and help, helping them overall to live a healthier, active, and more fulfilling life. They can enjoy more time with their family. So I have actually one of my clients here who I actually it wasn't just through Yelp or Google. We actually have known each other. What over man, it's been more than 14, 15 years. Back when we were in David's seems like such a long time away, but welcome in Curran. And how are you, man? I'm great, Jason. Thanks for having me. Yeah, crazy. 14, 15 years. It's been a long time. Yeah. Don't make me feel old, man. But any case, yeah, Let's you don't mind just like doing a brief introduction of yourself, just a little background on who you are as a person, what you do for a living and what ultimately makes you tick. Yeah. Name's current live out in the Bay area here. I work for sales strategy for a tech company called project rock. I've been in the tech industry for quite some bit now. So recently a new parent of just one got a son who keeps me super, super busy but in doing so, just trying to keep up with my physical and mental health, which is very important. Absolutely. And that's, yeah, as we were both in the same boat, I think that's what kind of the connection was just understanding the What sort of stressors and things you're going through and how I might be able to assist. So I guess just take me back to what inspired you to start working with me and what was ultimately the thing that kind of push you over. Yeah. Definitely prior to working with Jason I, I started off, obviously you can see behind me, I built a little home gym during COVID times and tried to keep up was mostly an avid, basketball player, runner, if you will. Mainly getting cardio in, but never really got to a very strong sense, if you will. After having my son, this routine of mine definitely came down, right? Which was a little sad because I always thought that was a big part of my life, but obviously through life priorities shift and, I wanted to spend more time with my family and obviously work. But. Knowing Jason's background and being his friend for quite some time, I saw that, he was a father of one for the meantime and soon becoming a father of two and man, seeing these pictures was ultra inspiring, obviously entrepreneur but seeing him in such great physical shape. Knowing the Bay Area mentality and supporting a family and keeping keeping tabs on your children is no small task. So definitely was inspired when I first saw Jason completely shredded at the beginning of the year. I reached out and said, how do I get on this program? What do I need to do? I want to get back into this and need to prioritize this. Yeah, for sure. And I'm not the biggest I'm actually not, believe it or not, I'm actually not the biggest fan of social media as far as how much time a lot of people utilize it or escape reality from but I do try to inspire people to, it's a platform for me to inspire people to, to live healthier. When it came to The onboarding of things and us being able to do you mind telling people like how that, how did that kind of start? What did we talk about in terms of goals or, setting the right kind of expectations on your end? Yeah. So in the beginning we kept it very simple, right? I told you my overall schedule, if you will, whether it be work or working with my family to give you what spare time I thought I could have. We started with the scheduling. We started with Even talking about a general diet general workout routine right now. And you created a customized schedule, if you will, for my needs and my benefits and sets a work from, you essentially worked backwards to say, Hey, you want to get to this state of how I look. And luckily you and I have similar body types in which you're able to essentially help me through your own journey, which was super, super helpful. So from that, you created a custom program with me in which you said, Hey, you can only provide X amount of days and X amount of time in a given day. Think about this diet, think about how many calories download macro factor as a kind of calorie counting app and keep track of everything. I think that was one of your most important pieces of advice was just, Hey, put pen to paper be truthful and really be prepared for a long journey. You got to be patient. It's a process and we got to go through that. It's been six months and, you see the progress slowly, but taking those pictures on a weekly basis, catching up with you on a weekly basis, just to make sure I had the motivation and I wasn't, didn't have any open questions. Kind of got me to where I am today. Yeah, for sure. I definitely see Obviously massive results. I think that we're our own biggest critics at times. I think our own kind of self image when we're looking at stuff from the mirror, I think that usually I oftentimes hear from other people we need like an external source to say damn, like you, you are completely changed from where you were before. And I think that hopefully as that journey continues for you, that you realize that it is still at the end of the day, it's a marathon, not a sprint. That's a. weird, weird kind of same because we really pushed strength training over kind of the cardiovascular activity. So yeah can we dive into just how the strength training look like? And how is it structured? What sort of maybe even like hurdles or issues that you faced and how did you feel like we were able to overcome that together? We went through the exercises one by one, right? You would, we started off with the double progression model in terms of solely building, in terms of adding more weight on a week over week basis. And candidly, in the back of my mind, I was obviously had the weights in the background and I was lifting the same amount of weight before working with Jason for God knows how long. And I never thought. It was possible without doing some crazy things reaching what I'm lifting today. But really it's a good push in what you're just adding little by little every week. The double progression model was very good in order to add. Constantly, but also not too much at once. And you gave obviously a recommendation on number of reps, number of sets in which it was very attainable. And if we, if I had any issues, I would just WhatsApp you and say, I'm struggling here. What do I need to do? And you would give me kind of recommendations on whether it's adjusting a technique or. Adding even nutrition, right from several sources that you tell me, you can get small incremental gains like this, or even offered like, hey, shoot a video of yourself. If you feel like you're doing something incorrectly, you always gave me that option too. So doing that slowly, obviously, like you said, marathon on a sprint. But it gets, yeah, it gets it to where you need to be. And it's something I never thought I'd be lifting ever in my life. Yeah. So where do you feel like you made the most gains? I'm just curious on can you tell people a little bit about, some of your numbers, obviously for some people with different lifts, different genetics, different archetypes. They're going to progress areas faster. I dunno, what are some of like your larger kind of personal records where you're like, okay, from where we started in the beginning to where you are, like six months down the line where do you feel like you made the most gains? I would say the most common exercises, either squats, deadlift, chest press those three specifically, I remember prior to this, Lifting literally just 130 pounds every time that was the go to. It was one plate on each side and that was it. Maybe I'll add in five pounds here and there, but I'd never gained more than that. I think on my deadlift now I'm up to two plates, which is incredible, right? Like double, double the result in just six months. Squat is very shortly behind that. And same with the chest press was a little bit hard. I will say I struggled there and your recommendation always was maybe it's mental and I came over to your place and you helped correct my form. So hopefully that helps me in my gains in the future, but that was also something you thought was a mental blocker for me to, which I'll have to explore as well. Yeah. Yeah. The other parts are like sometimes when it comes to deadlift squats and you obviously you put, we put a current on a. a pretty structured regimen of different compound exercises, namely exercises that cross multiple joints. And that yields generally more caloric output gave him some accessory exercises like bicep curls and things just to complete the overall aesthetics and even like lateral raises just to fill up the space and have a more like a wider appearance. That males usually appreciate. But yeah, when you're looking at the double progression model, it is a very sound model. It's the most basic model of just increasing intensity and volume over time. And the other parts are like, yeah, sometimes psychological safety. So sometimes, our safety, like our brain will perceive a certain threat, okay, I can't, I shouldn't go over this because I may eat it. I might hurt myself. All that. So definitely just having the right mechanisms of safety. Now, whether that's getting pins in order to catch the bar or whether you're having like certain things in your area where if you are working out by yourself, having the right safety so that you're not, incurring a really bad injury. I think those are really important. Another thing that we really talked about a lot current and maybe you can lighten people on it is more about pushing yourself to near failure, right? That one to four reps shy of failure, ensuring that you're really feeling making sure that you're providing enough of a stimulus. Can you take me through how we talked about that, but also what you developed over time the past six months as far as like mental grit, right? Because a lot of people aren't willing to push themselves to feel that type of burn or to push themselves to the point where that weight, your last reps are like moving. Like at a snail pace how did that kind of look like for you and what sort of what sort of mental achievements you get from that? Yeah, I think in the very beginning you gave me a story of your, my last rep should never look like my first rep, right? Even though you're doing a set, that last one should be a struggle. And I always, that always stuck with me. I always thought like I should get to a comfortable weight that I'm lifting or doing something with, and which that last two, three reps is really a struggle. And sometimes, and you'll track this in the tracker, like you'll, sometimes you'll make it, sometimes you won't, but that's okay. But seeing the week over week progression definitely helps your mentality of shoot, two weeks ago. This was heavy. Now it's not heavy. So just that feel good, feeling of oh, crap. Like I am slowly getting stronger and definitely gets you through the mental blockers. But I also think we went through other avenues of As an example, other equipment that I always ask recommendations with you on in terms of helping me get there and other exercises that I could focus on in order to get me to that specific weight was always helpful. But yeah you added resistance bands most recently. It's just different areas that. The typical equipment doesn't exactly target, which was, overall helping my body. Yeah, for sure. And then with regards to the last kind of part that we can talk about the strength training is just the programming in itself. Do you feel more equipped with regards to taking autonomy? Cause obviously like with coaching there are definitely some coaches out there that. They provide the program don't provide enough accountability or they provide the program, but they don't provide the why behind it or give you the right tips so that you can take this on yourself. Obviously, like we are boys, so we're definitely going to like still keep in touch and you're going to just continue to let me know about your gains, but yeah, what how, as far as like from a, Autonomy standpoint how do you feel as far as equipped with taking this on your own? Yeah. Luckily I have you as a friend, so luckily you're just, a call away if anything, but in terms of the autonomy, I think you were always very good at giving the little extra motivation and making it realistic, right? Multiple times I went on vacations or work trips in between in which you said, Hey, that's great. Fine. Let's work around that. That is just normal human nature and things aren't always going to be perfect. And you gave me the autonomy to essentially get to my results that I have today based on what my life needs to be. So luckily, like I'm able to, I have adjusted through the consistency of this program to be It's part of my life now, right? I'm still going to track my calories. I'm still going to track how much I'm lifting on a week over week basis, and it's now just second nature. And it's a rhythm that I'm going through, and it's a rinse and repeat type thing versus in the beginning. It is a little uncomfortable in which I'm like, oh, crap. I got to. Weigh this piece of chicken, or I got to weigh this and that. And it's weird in the beginning, but again, once I saw the results, I was like, oh, okay. I believe in this mental shift and it just becomes second nature. Yeah, I love it. And the second nature part is what, we, I always talk about how it takes. Generally, a lot of people that don't know about this type of system, about tracking the data, tracking your nutrition, tracking strength. It's treading through mud, right? It's like clawing your way into a system that you're not accustomed to. It's like starting a new job and then all of a sudden you have to start a new software, right? It's you just have to learn a whole new system. But just like a rocket ship, it takes a lot of mental energy in order to get there. But if you have the belief or you start to see the results, eventually that becomes. Automatic, right? Because it's a new skill that needed to be ingrained into you and a lot of my other clients in order to see those results and those results, you gotta admit, like they weren't like super quick results. Even for you you're like nine, 10 pounds down, but what sort of, I guess with that type of. mentality consistency wise. I guess what would you recommend other people? Would you say as far as like being patient? I guess like from your own journey, like what were some of the recommendations to those that may be on their own, either weight loss journey, or they're just trying to reclaim their life. They're a busy parent as well. And let's say, They're trying to get into strength and nutrition. How would you coach them or break that down for them? Find your favorite foods being able to track very specifically. I, I go out all the time for food. I'm not a very big cooker, so finding something consistent that I could buy at a grocery store that I knew the calorie count every time was a go to in order to keep me consistent that was one number two was you were always a big advocate of. Whether it's a, scoop of ice cream or some candy on the side, you can have all that. You just have to, essentially massage the rest of the day in order to incorporate it into your diet, which at first is hard, right? If you don't count calories, you're just oh 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate, no problem. But it all adds up as long as you're very patient and you track things, you can incorporate it. And it's actually not bad, right? Like you just start to realize what you need. The biggest part I think was the biggest hurdle was how much protein you need. I think on a normal human basis was just like, Oh man, like this is hard to overcome. I, you always told me there was nothing wrong with, Supplements. So like that was the biggest, easiest way to get through things was just protein powder. It was delicious. And it was a easy way to consume as much protein as I needed to versus what I used to do. It's just, I thought I was getting enough protein or you think about it, but it really, truly isn't enough. Yeah. Did you notice, did you notice honest question. Did you notice a difference? And maybe you didn't, but did you notice a difference either aesthetically or performance wise when you start to actually get enough protein in that was necessary? Like you actually started to hit the mark that we set forth. Yes. Definitely the recovery the next day, I was still able to continue increasing weight on different parts of the body because it I felt less fatigued. And that was, I think the biggest thing was like, cause sometimes you'll work out so hard. You're like, Oh man, next day, I'm just beat. I can't do this. But I did feel the biggest difference in that category. Yeah, for sure. The research shows that it's really hard to over consume protein. There was myths that were debunked around like protein straining your kidneys and like it caused like renal failure. Which is all just a hoax. Some people eat upwards of two grams per pound, which is. Which is that's an insane amount of protein, but you can actually consume that and have pretty much no detrimental effects to your health. So protein is just the building block of muscle and people fail to realize that when you're getting older, which we know every decade, We lose strength. We lose power output. We lose speed. Doesn't have to be the case if you're resistance training and when you're getting in a protein, you can greatly steer off the physical decline of your body as we are both like 35 years of age, or anybody that's listening to this, that's older is you can steer off that decline tremendously through adequate amount of protein strength, training and maintaining a healthy body weight. And those are just, those The three pillars we always hit on currents, like caloric deficit caloric deficit, if that's a weight loss goal, protein, enough protein, and also resistance training with regards, like the other people in your life whether it's wife or kids, have you noticed. Performance increases or have you noticed other people speaking to the results that you've gotten because again, sometimes we need the external validation. We don't need it to like, be like, ah, I feel so good. But have people spoken about your results? Absolutely. I think the first time I saw a group of friends or, Okay. Even you yourself, the first time you saw me in just a normal t shirt, I think your first comment was, wow, the t shirt is really fitting you now. It's you can see the curves, if you will, on your body versus beforehand, it just looked like a t shirt. Things are a little bit more tight in a good way. And you can see the pops, I think actually some of the biggest results were my lats, which was pretty crazy cause I didn't think they were insane beforehand. But yeah, now that I look at before and after photos, it's like, Oh man, it's like you, you definitely see a huge difference My ultimate goal was the abs, which is mainly a diet piece, but on my way there, which you can see much more definition and most importantly I think one of the first goals I told you was like, Hey, I want to lift more. And that was a big goal that was checked off which was, which is a great people pleaser, if you will, as well as just my own mental insanity as well. Just like it's a feel good feeling. Yeah, for sure. So when you're actually seeing the results and you're seeing the numbers go up it's always gonna keep you more on track versus the people that they perceive that one 35 pounds, 45 on each side is like the only thing that can do, there's a huge kind of like mental hurdle that you overcame, which I'm very appreciative of like you just putting in the work because if you didn't put in the work Then we wouldn't see results. So you're looking at you've hit a lot of prs. Your clothes are fitting better overall, I think that one aspect that we both really appreciate is just the parenthood side of things and I think that Let's move away from the strength and nutrition, which is all great but just you as your role as a father you just caring about your health so much So that you're willing to You know, invest in coaching and to be able to just be more, more of a figure or like being there for your kids. So can you just share with me now that you are healthier now that you're clicking on all cylinders? How does that play into your role as a father? How does that play into your role? As you get older and as your son gets older and he's playing sports, what does that kind of mean to you? It means a ton, right? It's some, it's a mental state that I want to incorporate into my son as well as just living a very good physical mental state. And you see everything behind me, like he's very interested in everything that you see, right? He's just what is that? That looks cool. Anytime I'm doing exercises, he's very curious, even walking on the treadmill. He loves to do now. And it's It's a new thing that was never done prior. And man it makes me feel better when I get up every day, to know that I'm able to do this and create the space and time that's dedicated to family and dedicated to my own individual wellbeing. That's exactly what I want to instill in my son. And I think it's going to go a long way. Yeah. Same thing here. I think every time I dropped down to the floor, I think my son's expecting me. That I'm going to put them on my back and do pushups or it's really cool. And then the same thing goes, I was like, I have a walking treadmill in this room, which I'm actually standing on not turning this on right now for the, for that, for the sake of this recording. But yeah, when my, when I'm on the treadmill, my son's yeah, let me get on that suit and let me do it. And I think That's a product of the next generation is because most of our generations even before us, Asian generations, it was all just about working hard, but it wasn't about the exercise or taking care of your health or nutrition. It was all about just good food, work hard. But yeah, it's like, it's a new generation. We're trying to instill the fact that exercise and strength and nutrition and all this is you're instilling this at a very early age to the point where it almost becomes subconscious for your son to be like, yeah, this is just a normal thing. I see dad, I see. Dad doing this all the time. This is just what I'm supposed to do. That's what I'm trying to do as well. It's just not just working my clients, but instill the habits, the discipline so that it inspires future generations and if there's a bleed over effect to your relationship with your wife, relationship with your friends. And yeah, you just be hearing as a, a stronger individual leader overall. I guess the last thing current is, for anybody that's maybe Changes that you have made mentally, physically weight loss, strength. What would you recommend as far as like having a coach? You never really had a coach like this, but what would you say is that person that's considering, having a coach and what benefits can they get from that? I think I learned best from A story, right? And seeing your story was truly inspiring. And so my recommendation to those out there is see the story, look into it. If it's something that interests you, just start on the journey, right? It's a mental flip of a switch in which you're trying to, you got to start somewhere and everyone starts somewhere. I used to be the chubby kid at school throughout life. And it's just one day you're like, Hey, I'm going to change my life. And if you stick to it you'll get to a very good results. But all you got to do is start. And that's all I can truly recommend is be consistent, be diligent. And really it will change your life. Yeah, definitely. Current, I don't want to take up too much of your time. I know you got father duties and you probably got a little bit more work to do, but always appreciate. I appreciate our friendship even more. So I'm sure that I'm going to continue to be on this journey with you. And. Just hear great results over time. And nonetheless, I appreciate you also just being on this being on this recording right now just letting people know that, changing your habits and everything, it just starts off with day one, right? And you just actually got to put on your shoes and actually get your foot on the starting line. Cause most people are just looking at the starting line from the sides and not actually taking the actions necessary to. Make a difference in their life. I appreciate you actually putting your foot on the starting line, starting this with me and nonetheless, I look forward to seeing more gains and thank you so much for your time. Absolutely. Appreciate the time. Thanks for having me.