Hello, and welcome to The Outlifting Lounge.
This is the show that's all about pride, health and fitness, and everything in between.
I'm Derec.
I'm Alan.
And thank you so much for joining us for our very first episode of The Outlifting Lounge.
So, Alan, what are we going to be talking about today?
We're going to be talking about what we're watching on the telly just now.
We should probably touch as well on some of the news stories that are affecting the LGBT
community at the minute.
And I guess, since we're fitness coaches, we'd better talk about some health and fitness
stuff as well.
Yeah, sounds good.
Yeah.
I suppose, though, because this is episode one, it might be a good idea for us to
introduce ourselves and tell a bit about ourselves so that people know who we are
and what we're about.
Yes.
So, first up, we are, and I would hope that you know this already, but we are
a married couple.
What?
Are we?
A happily married couple.
Happily married couple.
Should we be talking about that time in the Gorbals when somebody asked if we were
brothers and Derec pointed to his rainbow wristband?
Wait, no, we're married.
Because that means you're married, apparently.
Do you know what?
It was such an embarrassing thing that I actually changed my rainbow wristband.
I don't wear it anymore just because I probably will do that again.
But it is quite an easy thing to do to point to your watch strap instead of your
wedding ring.
Is it?
I'm pretty sure there's somebody else that's done it.
Okay.
If you have that, let us know.
Thanks for getting that out.
I'm going to spend the rest of this podcast thinking about embarrassing stories I can
tell it about you.
So, yeah, we're a married couple.
And last year, we decided to start a brand new life together.
So we sold practically everything we owned.
Whatever we didn't sell, we put into our car, including our dog.
Yes.
Haggis.
He will make an appearance at one point.
He's upstairs sleeping just now.
Yeah.
We packed everything in the car, including Haggis.
And we drove.
We drove for nine days, including two ferries.
Yes.
You can drive from Glasgow to Gran Canaria if you ever want to do that.
Probably don't advise it because it takes quite a while, but you can do it.
It was.
It was quite an adventure, though.
It was magical.
We got to see quite a lot of Spain.
We did, yes.
That was really nice.
And then, yes, we drove all the way from Glasgow to Gran Canaria.
And we are here where this podcast is being filmed from today in sunny Masplomas in Gran
Canaria.
Yes.
We've been here now a year and a half, which is just crazy.
That is.
We're just about to have our second Christmas here.
But even better, our second Winter Pride.
Yes.
Yeah.
We'll talk a wee bit about that later.
We're very excited about Winter Pride coming up.
And as if we don't spend enough time together, we decided in January to launch Outlifting,
which is a queer fitness business to help gay, bi, and trans men transform their
bodies, their minds and their confidence.
And what better place to do it than the gay capital of Europe?
Yeah.
And I think the experience of doing that and working with so many different guys,
helping them overcome their obstacles and get really fit.
It's not just about getting fit.
It's about being happy and confident in your own skin.
And seeing that transformation in so many guys, it has been incredible.
But it's what spurred us on to launch this podcast so that we can reach more
guys out there who might benefit from the eventual health and nutrition and
fitness tips that we're going to give after we get through all of the chat.
Yes.
So this podcast is going out on Sunday, the 26th of October, 2025.
Have you put your clocks back?
I hope you have.
Yeah.
Alan gets really paranoid every time that the clocks change because he is a bit
old fashioned and thinks that all of the clocks in the house need to be manually
changed.
But it's not really like that anymore, is it?
Yeah.
It had to change the oven.
Well, you changed the oven.
I changed that.
I had to change the time on the mic...
I was going to say microphone.
Microwave.
Okay.
But our phones obviously do that automatically.
Yeah.
I think the car, the car, I think the car changed itself at all.
Didn't notice actually.
I need to go and check that.
Anyway, that's that done.
I unfortunately did not get an extra hour of sleep in bed last night because my
body clock woke me up an hour earlier.
Haggis was very happy about that though, because you still get out at normal time.
True.
I am not.
I am very, very tired today because I've not really been sleeping very well recently
and I was hoping for that.
I was really wanting that extra hour of sleep.
It was nice and light this morning.
It's been dark.
I've been taking Haggis out, although I'm not looking forward to tonight when
it's going to be dark at like half six.
No.
I feel sorry for anybody listening to this in the UK when it's going to be dark
at half four.
Yeah.
Sorry about that.
This is definitely the time of year where I feel very smug and very happy
about the fact that I don't live so far north anymore.
Yes.
Because during the winter here, I think we get, we get more hours,
quite a few more hours of daylight and it does make a difference.
Yeah.
It really makes a difference.
Absolutely.
Makes me happier.
Longer on the beach.
Yes.
Not everybody's going to switch off because they're going to be so sick of
four of us on the beach all the time.
Right.
Let's talk about Traitors.
If you're from the UK or Ireland,
you're probably watching Celebrity Traitors UK at the minute.
If you're not from there and you're not watching it,
you are absolutely missing out.
Yeah.
And also, spoiler alert, maybe if we give anything away.
I don't think we will, but just put that out there because you know what
it's like when you get spoilers.
Yeah, definitely.
I don't think we'll give away who has not given the boot.
You've got loose lips sometimes.
Loose lips.
Very tight hips though, unfortunately.
I definitely need to stretch more.
It's old age.
It is old age.
I've started to creak.
Never mind moisturiser,
I think I need WD40.
So yeah, we have been watching quite a bit of Celebrity Traitors,
which is really, really good.
I think my favourite thing about this series of the Traitors is
how many memes have been born out of this one series.
And we're only like six episodes in.
I know.
It has been pretty good for that.
I mean, Alan Carr, icon, Tom Daley and his side eye, icon.
Tom Daley's side eye is just,
I think I've probably sent it to you on WhatsApp several many times.
Yes.
And can I just say if you've never done that in your life,
are you even gay?
Alan with his little lantern.
Were you going to put the bins out on bin day?
Or were you forgot to put the bins out on bin day?
That image of Alan Carr lives rent free in my head.
Honestly, I see it constantly everywhere.
And that'll be us now that the clocks have changed and it's getting dark earlier.
We will be doing that all the time with our phone lights.
Thinking that we're Alan Carr.
Although, as much as I'm loving it,
I'm really, really annoyed that they haven't caught a traitor yet.
That was a spoiler.
I don't know.
I think it's made the game interesting because it's not like other seasons.
So obviously we are absolute Traitors fans.
We've watched all of the UK Traitors, civilian seasons, American.
Yes, we've watched all the American seasons.
We've watched the Irish version, which is brilliant.
And that's going to be added to BBC iPlayer.
So if anybody in the UK hasn't seen that,
that will be on iPlayer soon.
We've also watched Australia.
Oh, yeah, we watched the Australian one.
Two seasons of that.
We watched the first season of the New Zealand one.
Yes.
And we've got the Spanish one to watch as well.
And Canada.
Oh, yeah. Oh, God. We've watched a lot.
We actually do something like lots more things other than watch TV, by the way.
I do. We are traitors obsessives.
So we watch it constantly.
I quite like when they encounter a first on Traitors.
So obviously I think Australia season two was the one where the finale was like
something happened that has never happened before on any of the other seasons that we watch.
And in this season of Celebrity Traitors, they had a draw at the round table
and they voted again and it was still a draw.
So they had to get rid of somebody by chance.
Spoiler alert number two.
Yeah. So that was that was quite cool.
That was fun. That was quite tense.
Yes, it was good.
Still very annoyed that they haven't got a traitor yet.
But I think this week, Joe, Big Joe, with his big dog theory is going to be gunning after Johnathan for sure.
Can we can we talk about Joe for a second, though?
Absolutely.
We do like a big rugby player. Oh, my God. Big Joe, Big Joe.
But what I actually want to talk about him is did you see the TikTok video
of Joe Marler getting transformed into a drag queen?
Not just a drag queen, but a phenomenal drag queen.
Phenomenal. Like, he looked amazing.
Absolutely amazing.
I commented on the TikTok video that the makeup artist put up with Joe being transformed into a drag queen
and basically made a comment to say in a world so full of toxic masculinity,
Joe is a phenomenal role model for young guys.
And that has like I woke up and my phone had like over a thousand notifications.
Yeah, like that that comment that I put on really seemed to resonate with people.
But it's true. There's like in a world so full of the likes of Andrew Tate and Conor McGregor,
just absolute scumbags.
I think the antidote to those manosphere toxic influencers is people like Joe Marler.
Yeah. And do you know what?
It's funny because like when he first was on the Traitors, like I think I'm a very good judge of character.
And I was like, I bet he's a good egg.
And turns out he's also a good egg, but he's also an ally.
Yes. Love it.
And as much as we're loving Traitors at the minute, we are actually loving Drag Race España.
And?
Drag Race UK.
Yeah. So Drag Race is in full force.
Slaysian Royale.
There are so many franchises of Drag Race at the minute that it feels like a full time job keeping up with them.
Drag Race, Drag Race, Drag Race, Drag Race.
So we still have the last two episodes of Drag Race Philippines, Slaysian Royale to watch.
Which is phenomenal. Again, if anybody hasn't watched it yet, watch it. It is brilliant.
One of the lip syncs on that season is one of the best lip syncs I have seen on any franchise of Drag Race.
It is phenomenal.
Yes, I can confirm.
Definitely worth a watch.
But yeah, so what we're watching at the minute is Drag Race UK and Drag Race España.
And if you haven't watched any of Drag Race España, it's phenomenal.
Probably one of the best franchises out there.
And it's probably made because of the judging panel.
Supremme de Luxe.
Los Javis.
And Ana Locking.
Ana Locking.
Do you know my favorite thing about Drag Race España is that judging panel?
Because they make it what it is. They make it feel like a family.
They really care, they probably care deeply about the contestants.
Drag Race America, the main Drag Race is good, but I feel it's not commercialized as such,
but it's just that RuPaul just sometimes seems a little bit insincere in it.
Whereas with Supremme de Luxe, she actually feels those eliminations, doesn't she?
She cries. There's been a few episodes where we've cried before,
because it does feel like a family. It's amazing.
Yeah.
It's got something special.
It does. I don't know what it is.
I think if they could bottle that special sauce with Drag Race España
and sprinkle a little bit of it on the other franchises,
it would make them way better as well.
There is just a magic that they have managed to get on the Spanish version that is phenomenal.
And we love it.
And it's also helped us learn a little bit of Spanish, but more importantly, gay Spanish.
Because there's Spanish, and then there's gay Spanish,
and then there is Spanish, and then there's gay Spanish.
And the gay Spanish tends to be delivered the same way the gay people walk.
Fast.
Yes, it's very fast.
The other thing that is really good about it is the pit crew.
All right, true, we're talking about that.
Wait till I get sat up.
Two Doors Down reference there if anybody watches Two Doors Down.
The thing I love about the pit crew on Drag Race España is there's all body types on it as well.
There's everything from bears to little twinks on it.
And it's just, it's special.
Yeah, I think the diversity of the pit crew is what makes it really, really good
because there is like a broad spectrum of the gay community in there.
I mean, I don't think he has been on this season just yet,
but there is a trans guy who's on the pit crew as well.
And it's really phenomenal to have that kind of representation
because there are so many people I think can feel overlooked in our community
or forgotten about or not made to feel worthwhile
because they don't fit a certain aesthetic or they're not in with a certain crowd.
And for me, the thing I love about Drag Race España is what I look for
in any sort of gay community or space, which is that there is real diversity there.
There's lots of different types of people and it's not just,
and I'm not bashing them because they are their own thing,
but that kind of like circuit gay who it's all about body beautiful
and there's maybe a perception of aloofness there.
And we've also been watching Drag Race UK at the minute.
That's really good because we have a kind of a local queen taking part in that.
Yes, another Sparkles queen.
Another Sparkles queen, that is the Sparkles in the Yumbo.
That is the third.
Yes.
The Vivienne, which is where we first met the Vivienne in Sparkles
before she was on Drag Race.
Michael Maroulli, who worked in Sparkles and then in Ricky's.
And now Bonnie Ann Clyde.
Yes, she's done amazing.
Her Thursday was amazing.
You will know this.
I'm going to address the camera right now because by one of my favourite sitcoms of all time is Ab Fab.
I absolutely adore it.
And for them to do an episode dedicated to it was amazing.
But what topped it for me was Bonnie Ann Clyde's Runway
because my favourite, favourite quote from that series ever is
Thursday.
It just gets me.
That was uncanny.
Yeah, it was uncanny.
I don't know why.
I just think it's so stupid.
It's so silly and it's so my humour.
And for Bonnie Ann Clyde to come out in that runway to not only do that,
but to get it so spot on.
She had the replica outfit.
It was created with passion, clearly, because it was so well done.
She deserved that win.
That was phenomenal.
Spoiler alert.
Yeah, but maybe we should have said at the start it was going to be spoilers for everything.
Yeah, it was a really, really good episode.
Loving the UK series, as always.
What's the season?
Seven.
That's mental that there's been seven seasons of the UK one.
As somebody who has watched Drag Race since season one of the US,
I remember all those years ago when it first started going back nearly two decades now,
I used to have to download it from dodgy torrent websites because you could not get it.
There was no UK broadcaster for Drag Race for a long time.
You couldn't get it on streaming services.
And the only way you could watch it from the UK was to watch it on some dodgy website or to download it illegally.
So I have legitimately been watching Drag Race since season one went out
and it is incredible to see how much it's evolved and it's become an empire that has launched so many careers
and it's furthered the gay agenda.
Yes, and anything that helps that is a win in my book.
Yeah, sequins and glitter is the real gay agenda.
So we obviously found out this week that Manchester Pride has unfortunately went into liquidation,
which is a real shame.
It being one of the biggest prides in the UK.
This year we have seen quite a few different pride organisations come into trouble, particularly financial trouble.
This week we saw Manchester Pride go into liquidation, which is a huge hammer blow for the community.
Manchester has always been such a gay mecca.
It's got a really vibrant scene.
It's where Queer as Folk was set originally.
And sorry to interrupt, but gays of a certain age, our age, Queer as Folk has such a special place.
Watching it in your bedroom with the volume down, hoping that your mum or your dad or whoever would not walk in
watching it because it was so ahead of its time at the time as well.
Hang on, I'm going to put my granddad outfit on and go before the internet.
Before the internet we didn't really have representation, we didn't see a lot of this stuff.
And Queer as Folk was a revelation.
I remember watching it as a young gay guy in Belfast closeted.
Not really knowing or being able to come to terms with my own feelings.
I'm watching it and suddenly I did not feel quite so alone anymore.
And the first time I ever took a trip to Manchester and set foot in Canal Street, it was like a pilgrimage.
It really did mean something to me.
If you've got any kind of link or association with Manchester, you've ever been there for a night out,
this news about Pride going into administration is really tough news.
Going to Manchester is like a rite of passage for gay guys our age because again, watching Queer as Folk
and seeing that and actually thinking, oh my god, this little bubble that you live in.
Because a lot of gay guys, they grew up in small towns like you grew up in Belfast.
I grew up just outside of Glasgow and you think that that is your life.
You don't realize that all this kind of stuff is happening.
So then when you see things like that on TV and then you travel somewhere like that and experience it,
it's really foundation memories that you have of first time being gay, first time going out,
going to the clubs, going to the bars.
So it's really, really sad.
So obviously they've been into voluntary liquidation and we don't know the ins and outs of it.
But in my opinion, is it that maybe Pride has just become a bit too commercial nowadays
and it needs to go back to the roots of being a protest.
Yeah, it's great and it's fun and in a few weeks we're going to be going out to Winter Pride here
and having lots and lots of fun.
But the message is always Pride as a protest first.
Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with going to Pride and having a party at Pride.
It's brilliant that we can do that because we have the freedom to party openly and be ourselves.
That is part of the protest as well.
It's about living freely without inhibitions and without feeling that we need to hide anymore.
But it can't just be a party.
It has to be more than that.
It has to be about pushing for equal rights.
And especially today when rights are starting to be rolled back.
I think we have seen quite a lot of corporations turn their backs on us
because of pressure from the likes of Donald Trump.
Definitely this year, more than others, fewer organisations were making small gestures
like putting rainbows on their social media avatars.
It was noticeable and we are definitely seeing less corporate funding being put towards LGBTQIA causes.
I don't know if that had anything to do with what's happened with Manchester.
I know certainly other Prides, that has been a factor for them.
We really do need to get back to our roots here.
It needs to be community focused.
It needs to be community orientated at all times.
And we need to realise that this is getting serious now.
Absolutely.
And we spoke about it during the week as well, about the artists that haven't been paid.
They support the LGBTQIA community year in, year out.
And for them to show up and support us and then not get the reward from that is really heartbreaking.
So hopefully something will happen with that as well that they get what they deserve.
It is a really bad state of affairs and I really hope that it focuses minds.
I hope we start seeing more people join the boards of their local Prides,
start to get involved in organisation and fundraising and awareness and all of these things
so that we can really get that sense of community back at Prides.
Shall we talk about those transphobes, Roisin, Murphy and JK Rowling?
Let's not talk about them too long because I don't want my blood to boil.
Yes, they don't deserve our time to be honest.
No.
But again, there's an artist that has made her career on the back of the queer community
and she has just completely turned her back on us.
Roisin Murphy has gone full MAGA.
Yes.
She is sharing MAGA propaganda, showing, and for those who don't know,
she shared a graph which supposedly demonstrates that fewer and fewer people are now identifying as queer.
And that is on the back of a complete clampdown by the very far right US administration.
And so it's no surprise that fewer people are identifying because they are scared to identify themselves
for fear of backlash, for fear of what this administration is going to do.
But she's putting out there that it's some sort of gotcha
because her and all her little terfy pals are fighting their case and their corner.
And that actually is just like you said.
People are too scared to now identify as queer, trans, non-binary, whatever it might be.
Totally. And you could not put a fag paper between TERFs and racists at the minute
because they are one and the same.
This proves it.
The MAGA agenda that we're seeing play out in America,
they're coming after queer people, they're coming after immigrants.
We've seen ICE agents do horrific things.
You sent me a video yesterday of a blind guy being picked up by ICE and dragged.
It made me feel sick when I watched it.
It was just unbelievable.
I actually couldn't believe my eyes.
This guy was sitting on the ground peacefully protesting
and they picked him up and dragged him along the ground,
banging his head off the ground and took him into I think it was an ICE facility.
I can't really tell from the video, but I'm actually lost for words because it's so scary.
Anybody who doesn't agree with the administration's agenda
is getting labelled as Antifa and as a terrorist.
And we're seeing people who do not have white skin being rounded up,
being thrown into what are essentially concentration camps without any due process.
Some people are being deported to countries that they've never been to before.
And it really is the case of first they came for the immigrants.
Because who are they going to go after next?
Exactly.
They're clearly going to come after trans people.
Then once they've been able to do that, they're going to come after the rest of the rainbow family.
And what happens in America then comes over to the UK, doesn't it?
It's really worrying.
Super, super scary.
And the amount of people that I recently have blocked on social media
because there's LGBTQIA people and this blows my mind that are supporting Reform
is just...
I can't wrap my head around...
Flabbergasted.
Tom Daley would not like you at all.
Yeah, I can't get my head around anybody who is gay, lesbian, bi, trans,
whatever part of the queer spectrum that you occupy.
I can't get my head around you voting against our interests.
It is scary.
Yes.
Take a hard look at yourself.
Take a hard look.
There's a wee Glasgow phrase.
Take a hard look at yourself.
I will say though, we are sitting here in Gran Canaria, very lucky to be here.
And we can walk down the street holding hands and not bat an eyelid.
So we are sitting from a place of privilege at the moment.
I do need to say that because before we left Glasgow,
so Derec and I have been together eight years.
Eight long years.
And when we first started seeing each other,
we'd walk about Glasgow holding hands, absolutely no bother.
But probably a couple of years before we left,
we wouldn't do it because we just felt that shift.
And we would feel uncomfortable doing it in Glasgow city centre.
Glasgow on the whole is quite an accepting city, I would say.
But we experienced homophobia a few years back.
We'd just finished lunch.
We're up the West End, which is a really nice area of Glasgow.
We were holding hands, crossing the road.
And a guy in a van started hurling some abuse at us.
And of course, me bringing in my five foot five Scrappy Doo energy,
wanted to start a fight with him.
Because you know, you need to fight back.
Let's go back to that thing about Pride being a protest.
We need to fight back.
We need to show people that the more you push us,
the more we're going to push back.
Yeah, but you can fight back and you can stand up for yourself.
But you will know after that incident,
and it was a hate crime incident that we experienced,
we didn't freely just hold each other's hands in the street anymore.
We always looked over our shoulders first
to see who was around before we held hands.
So that incident changed how we behaved.
And it really annoyed me that that changed us.
Yeah, yeah.
And that I felt that I had to do that.
And that's just like we experienced that on a small scale.
Now fast forward to now and everything that's happening in the world
against queer people.
Like I'm sure lots more people experience worse things than we do.
So yeah, let's stick together.
There are forces at play who want to divide us.
There are forces who quite openly, every single day on social media,
are posting images showing the TQ being cut off, the LGBTQ,
trying to make it LGB.
This idea that the trans people and queer people
are not part of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community.
And it is absolute nonsense as I have been out for a very, very long time.
I've always been involved in the queer community wherever I've lived.
It has always been for me just a melting pot
because there is so much intersectionality.
I think as a rainbow community,
we need to remember that all the people that fought for our rights before us
and actually a lot of those people were actually trans people
that stood up and started the riots,
started the protests,
and we're able to sit here on our couch in Gran Canaria because of them.
We stand on the shoulders of giants
and quite a lot of trans people who have gone out there
and put it on the line to fight for our rights.
So we owe it.
We absolutely owe it to fight for everybody's rights here.
So how's your week been in the gym?
My week has been great because the gym we go to is full of talent.
The gym that we go to is full of Spanish talent.
I was going to say, yeah, not just talent, but Spanish talent.
Yeah, I know.
The gym that we go to, there are a lot of very beautiful people.
It makes you feel very humble.
Yes, yes.
If anybody has been to Gran Canaria,
specifically Maspalomas,
it's Titan Gym down in Meloneras.
It's a brilliant gym.
If you're ever coming over and you need a gym,
we'll always recommend you because it is a top notch gym.
But apart from the talent, my week in the gym has actually been very, very good.
I started a couple of weeks ago a new upper-lower full body push-pull program,
and it's going very well.
I am seeing a strength increase quite a bit over the past few weeks as well.
It's two weeks from tomorrow until the start of Winter Pride.
So it's nice to have that target because you want to feel confident.
I don't particularly go to the gym specifically for the aesthetics of it,
but that is a nice bonus.
I like what I see in the mirror and that gives me some confidence.
It puts a little extra pep in my step.
So having that target of Maspalomas Winter Pride to attend,
to feel like my best self is really, really good,
it's pushed me a little bit too.
Confidence is different for everyone.
It could be that you want to feel confident in your clothes.
It could be that you want to feel confident when you're on the nude beach.
It's different for everyone.
I think we've had a good focus the past few weeks with our health and fitness.
And for me especially, I am a lover of routine.
And when I'm out of routine, that really, really affects me.
I know.
So knowing that Winter Pride was coming up, I was like,
this many weeks, which means I'll get this many gym sessions in,
and it really, really helps with my mental health.
If I am out of a gym routine for any more than a couple of weeks,
I'm a nightmare to live with.
I know.
So I, on the other hand, opposites do attract because I am a creature of chaos.
Yes.
Pure chaos and uncertainty.
I know.
Not that I thrive without a routine.
I just find it very difficult because I have got diagnosed ADHD.
I've got quite severe ADHD.
And so for me, there are times in my life where I have the routine
and everything runs perfectly and it's great
and all the plates are spinning perfectly.
And then one by one, they start to crash down and that routine is gone.
You know how much I struggle with this.
And I think it's quite important to talk about it today.
I wanted to talk about it on the podcast
because I have had a really difficult couple of months.
So you know that since we moved here,
it's been difficult for me because I've lost my primary care in the UK.
Since we moved here, I didn't have access to my medication and things.
So it's been really, really difficult.
But as of this week, I am medicated again.
Yes.
And you're very happy about that.
Yes.
So do you know what, I actually have them here.
So this is, these are my magic pills.
These are my Concerta.
It's methylphenidate, slow release.
I take one in the morning and then for the next 12 hours, I am a normal human being.
Do you know what?
It's been great this week because I do the morning dog walk with Haggis
and I've came back and Derec has been basically on his hands and knees
cleaning the place with a toothpick.
And that is no word of a lie.
Alan comes back to a clean house in the morning.
Alan came in and found me and I was on my hands and knees at the shower
because there were, it just wasn't clean enough.
So I was using a toothpick to do some detailed cleaning in the shower.
And I had a stark realization about how bad my ADHD had gotten unmedicated
when that was what I was doing medicated.
There's a little insight to my life.
Yeah, but it has been good.
It's been a sudden change this week.
It's not been all plain sailing, but I feel like I am getting back to where I was again.
I feel like I'm getting back properly into a regular gym routine
that I am able to bring a little more structure to my life and a little less chaos.
Yeah, you're getting back to Derec.
Getting back to the best version of me.
Yeah, it has been great.
It's been good that that difference in you this week has been crazy.
Particularly as somebody who works in the fitness industry,
I feel this pressure to be a certain way and for people to see me a certain way.
And there is a sense of shame that comes along with not being this super disciplined fitness guy.
I think though that we put that pressure on ourselves.
Yeah, true.
It's a little bit of imposter syndrome as well sometimes.
True, because we fall into that trap of comparison
when we see other fitness professionals on Instagram, social media,
and then we compare ourselves to them, you know, which is very unhealthy.
And we tell our clients not to compare themselves to other people, you know,
but as humans, we do it, don't we?
I think that's why it's really important to talk about this
and to give the raw, unfiltered version of what my life is like with ADHD.
It's not all plain sailing.
It's not all meal prep at a certain time every week
and get to the gym at a certain time every day.
It just doesn't work like that for me.
I have accepted that and my life is better for coming to terms with that
rather than trying to push myself to be somebody that I am not.
Absolutely.
And I think that that's something that we coach with our clients as well,
because it's not realistic to expect somebody who is living a busy life,
who has multiple commitments, who has perhaps medical issues,
to be in the gym sometimes, you know, five, six times a week
with a really intense program and a really strict diet.
It doesn't always work.
That's for some people, it's not for everybody.
Yeah.
And like I mentioned earlier on,
like that new push-pull upper-lower full body that I'm doing,
I'm lucky enough that being self-employed,
I can pick and choose when I work and I can go to the gym and do that,
but that doesn't work for everyone.
You know, you need to find what works for you.
And I always say to clients, especially new clients that come on board,
you tell us what you can do and we'll build that around what you can do.
I say you need to be in the gym X amount of times,
because if you can't do it, you won't stick to it and then you'll hate us.
Yeah.
You do, well, this week anyway,
you have really benefited from having a live-in cleaner.
Yeah, it has been nice actually.
Giving you a bit more time in the gym, less for you to do.
It's been quite nice actually.
So this is something that we want to do as a regular segment in the podcast,
which is talk about things that we've seen on Reddit,
particularly some of the fitness Reddit stuff.
There was a post that I saw this week that I loved
and I wanted to read some of this out and to share it and to chat about it,
because I think it will really help some people,
particularly people who are beginners
or who suffer from some sort of anxiety going to the gym.
And can I just preface this with,
we also suffer anxiety going to the gym as well.
Sometimes, like I was saying, the gym that we go to,
it's kind of like a semi-professional bodybuilding gym
and everyone that's in there, all the guys, all the women,
they are all absolutely stunning.
And if we take a break from the gym, even for a couple of weeks,
we feel quite anxious getting back into it as well, don't we?
So even though we are fitness professionals,
we also get anxious going to the gym as well sometimes.
You know what it's like if you go down to the free weight section
and there's Big Muscle Marys there,
you're like, I'm not going anywhere near that?
For us, we know better.
We know to kind of talk ourselves out of that
because we've been doing it for so long.
But it still does, it can be an intimidating place.
I think especially for queer people, the gym can be an intimidating place.
Absolutely, absolutely.
But there are ways around it.
I think you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone
and you have to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
And when you keep doing it consistently over time,
it becomes less and less intimidating.
And I think what you're just about to read
kind of hits the nail on the head for that point.
This post is in r/beginnerfitness
and it's titled, "For those afraid to go to the gym, please don't".
I'm going to bring this closer because my eyes aren't what they used to be.
She old.
For those afraid to go to the gym, please don't.
I went for the first time today.
Just some slight encouragement,
mostly for people scared to go to the gym
because everyone else will laugh at this.
Six or seven weeks ago,
I finally started to do something to lose weight,
be in a deficit, walk more, et cetera.
But this time I wanted to do it properly.
So I also started to eat more protein
and thought about strength training.
Amazing. All very good so far, yeah.
I thought about the gym, but hell no.
As a total couch potato, introvert,
over 40 year old, obese dude,
can you imagine stepping foot in the gym
filled to the brim with young fit people,
power lifters and whatnot?
What would I even do there?
Probably just be awkward.
Try to do some stupid ****
and end up in a funny gym fails compilation on YouTube.
But I still wanted to do some training.
So what I did was bought a pair of adjustable dumbbells.
Two dumbbells up to 10 kilograms each
should be good for a couple of months, right?
No. I ran out of weight in like two weeks.
Amazing.
And that is what it's all about.
It's about that progress.
10 kilograms isn't really much,
not even for a total beginner.
So I bought additional plates
so I could have two times 20 kilos,
but I still ran out of weight in three weeks.
Brilliant.
So they go on to say that
they realized they needed to go to the gym.
I thought about it for a couple of days
and finally got myself together to go to the gym.
Fine. I'll be a laughing stock. So be it.
Holy ****. It was not what I expected.
Turned out that the gym was massive
with maybe 25 people in it.
Loads and loads of very weird machines,
benches, weights,
just insane amount of everything.
Zero scary power lifters
or ultra fit influencers.
Literally no one cared about me
or even looked at me.
Some girls watching YouTube on treadmills,
some skinny teenagers trying to lift.
One absolute unit of a dude.
They just went in,
bench pressed some ridiculous weight
and bailed.
One older guy trying some light calisthenics done.
And they go on to say that
they had lots and lots of fun.
They'd been back and
it just was not what they had
built it up to be in their head.
I love that because
it's the fear of the unknown
that's stopping people from going to the gym sometimes.
And that person there has just
quashed that by saying
it was absolutely fine.
I say to clients all the time
when you go in the gym,
if you're worried about going to a new gym
or starting a gym,
when you get there,
have a look around,
people are doing one of three things normally.
Working out,
doing their exercise,
checking themselves out in the mirror
or they're on their phone.
Alan checks himself out in the mirror quite a lot.
In between gym exercises.
Yeah.
No, absolutely, absolutely.
When you take the time to stop and look around,
you realize that's actually what the gym is
and what we spoke about previously
about all of these really beautiful people
with amazing bodies in our gym.
They're not looking at anybody else.
They are just getting on with their workouts.
And do you know what?
Sometimes I find it quite inspiring in our gym
because it's like,
well, that's maybe a level that we could potentially get to.
Because there are a lot of big, big guys in there.
Don't want to be that big,
but it's kind of like a next level thing
surrounding yourself by people that inspire you
is really true.
Totally, totally it is.
You could feel that you'll never get to that stage,
but it really is just about consistency.
You keep going, you keep going, you keep going.
You do what you need to do.
And eventually you look back and you'll think,
God, I've come so far.
Yes.
The big goal is always the big goal.
It's the small steps that get you there
that are the most important.
And I always say to clients as well,
progress photos, for example,
this is a really good, good example.
When clients first come to us,
they're always really scared
to take their first progress photos.
And I totally get it.
I understand that a hundred percent.
However, you will kick yourself
if you do not take your first progress photo.
Because see, when you take your last progress photo,
the comparison is unbelievable.
And you need to look back to see how far you've come.
I think most people can relate to a time
when they have had some personal change
in their lives, some physical change.
And it's not until you bump into somebody
that you haven't seen for maybe six months
and they see the difference in you
that you can't see yourself.
And that's what progress photos are for.
It's so that you can look at both side by side
and literally be that stranger and say,
Oh, you've changed.
I think that's probably one of the best
job satisfaction feelings that I get
when doing this job for people
is when they look at their photos
and they see the difference.
It's like, holy ****.
Yeah, holy ****.
Because you've put in that work.
Look at how different you are.
And I'm going to give a shout out
to one of our clients, Fraser,
who has had an unbelievable transformation.
He went out for his brother's birthday the other week.
He went shopping before it.
He bought himself new trousers,
a new shirt, a new jacket.
And he sent me the photo.
And I was like, holy ****.
You look absolutely unbelievable.
Like you look incredible.
And I hope that you can see that
and he could, which was great.
Good, good.
I think Fraser's transformation has been inspirational.
It really has.
For anybody watching this on YouTube,
we'll put some before and afters up
to show Fraser's transformation.
It has been just amazing to watch this guy
change from the inside out.
It's unbelievable.
I'm so proud of him.
And I know you are as well.
He is a totally different guy.
And he is so much more confident in the gym now.
Going back to the Reddit post,
it's that fear, it's overcoming that fear
of what people might think of you,
of what might happen in the gym.
And it always comes back to fear.
No matter what it is in life,
it always comes back to fear of something.
And it really is about overcoming that.
Yeah.
So I think we've maybe rambled on for long enough.
What do you think?
I think so.
Yeah.
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We'd love to hear what you think
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Also maybe some ideas for future episodes as well.
Yeah, absolutely.
We'd love to get feedback.
If people want to tell us what the content
for our future episodes would be,
that would save me a job.
I would love that.
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