Episode 328 Matt Priess Transforming Veterans’ Lives Through Fitness Transcript
This transcript is from episode 328 with guest Matt Priess.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Hey everybody, welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today, my guest is Matt Priess. Matt is a Marine veteran and founder of Body Ops Coaching, which primarily works with veterans to get them back in shape after leaving the service. Um, first off, I want to welcome you to the show, Matt.
Really glad to have you here.
Matt Priess: Yeah, man, I appreciate you having me. Uh, it’s an honor.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, for the listeners who aren’t familiar with you and your background and, and who you are, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. So I’ve, uh, been in the fitness industry for going on like 13 years now.
Um, I did. You know, four years in the Marine Corps. Um, after I got back, I got kind of fat, kind of lazy, like a typical veteran. Um, and kind of just got to a point where I got annoyed with it and uh, got myself back in shape. Um, at that point people started asking me like, Hey, how’d you do it? Um, and that really fired, uh, fueled the fire for my passion in helping people get fit.
So ended [00:01:00] up getting my certification, um, in personal training, did some personal training. Um, started a gym not too long after that. Um, and that did that for about nine years. Um, so that in 2020, um, went fully online around that time, um, with my personal coaching brand, um, for different reasons, but, uh, been doing that for about three years now.
So, uh, that kind of brings us to.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And that had to be a tough time period, uh, 2020 having a gym and, and all that with COVID and all the things that got locked down and shut down everything like that. Um, probably a good time to be transitioning into, uh, you know, coaching, online coaching and that type of stuff too, right?
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. Like at first I just kind of did my toes in the water cause I wanted to, you know, be able to pivot if I needed to. I didn’t. You know, nobody knew how long that COVID stuff was going to last. So, um, but I did find out surprisingly that it was a better, not only business model, but actually helped the clients more, um, just because we focus on [00:02:00] things outside of the workout, um, which, you know, inevitably just.
Uh, is actually more important than just getting the workouts to important, but it’s just not as important as, um, some of these other things that we work on now.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And that’s great too, because you’re able to have more effective coaching, uh, this way and you don’t need the. The hassle or the overhead of having, you know, the physical location.
You could do a lot of stuff virtually these days. And I think a lot of people are getting more comfortable with that. So, um, so it makes a lot of sense. Um, I want to talk a little bit more about the coaching that you do and, uh, the type of stuff that you experienced and what you went through, uh, in your transition out of the military, um, during this episode, uh, but we’re going to cut to a quick commercial break here.
So when we get back, we’ll, we’ll get into that type of stuff. So stay tuned. So everybody, welcome back to Drive On. I have Matt Priess here and we are talking [00:03:00] about, uh, physical fitness and kind of the journey that Matt took, um, after leaving the military, kind of getting out of shape like a, like a lot of us have and getting fed up and tired with that and wanted to do better for himself and now for other veterans.
Um, now Matt, you’ve, You witnessed the toll that, uh, combat and post deployment life can take on, on veterans. And you saw the need for support in that fitness area of their lives. So tell us, like, how does body ops coaching, uh, look at what the veterans are facing when it comes to their physical, uh, wellbeing and, and their overall wellbeing, really?
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. So the one thing about veterans is we’re kind of like ex athletes in the fact that we’re used to getting. you know, held accountable to, you know, the fitness aspect. We’re told when to do it, how to do it, why to do it. And then when we lose that coming out of the military, like typically our health goes with it, right?
[00:04:00] Um, so our goal is to implement that, you know, accountability system again for, for the veterans to be able to get themselves back in shape. Um, and so that’s one of the things with veterans. The other couple of things are obviously PTSD we’re dealing with, right? Um, prior injuries. Cause if you’ve done any kind of service, um, you’re usually pretty messed up somehow, like physically, like something’s always wrong.
You don’t, nobody gets out clean typically. Um, so those are the things we really focus on with the veterans. So, um, we do have, um, two coaches that have, um, degrees and like a, uh, mental health background so that they’re able to coach people through the PTSD, the anxiety, the depression, things like that. Um, with the injuries, we have everything.
Being able to be modified for, you know, whatever they need. Um, we, we had, you know, my, my guy, Josh, I always like to point him out when people give me the excuses about injuries or whatever, um, he’s a guy, both his legs blown off in Iraq. [00:05:00] Um, he’s wheelchair bound and he lost 55 pounds in our program. So I tell anybody like.
If this guy can do it, like you really don’t got an excuse,
Scott DeLuzio: you know, I, I’ve always said about, uh, people who make excuses about taking care of themselves physically and all, all of that type of stuff. Like there’s been amputees who climbed Mount Everest and who have done all these kind of amazing physical feats, uh, that it’s like.
Really, you can get off the couch. I don’t, I don’t care if you got a headache today, you know what I mean? Like, like, get off the couch, go do something physical and, you know, get out there, go for, just go for a walk around your neighborhood. If that’s like the bare minimum that you could do, you could do it.
Like, go, go find something that you can do, right? Um, but you’re right, like. We, in a way, are almost like ex athletes because, because there is that physical component to the military. And, um, an awful lot of us come out banged up, bruised, broken, whatever you want to call it. Um, and, and it’s [00:06:00] hard to get your mind back into that when it, when everything hurts, you know, it really is.
How do you address that? Like when, when people are, are really struggling with that.
Matt Priess: With that, with the injury part, you mean? Yeah, with
Scott DeLuzio: the, you know, the, the injuries and the, the physical issues that they may be having. You know, they may just not want to deal with the, you know, the, the pain and, and everything like that when, uh, they could just be sitting on the couch and, yeah, they’ll be getting more outta shape, but, um, you know, at least they, they won’t be hurting quite as much.
Right.
Matt Priess: Right, and that’s the thing I think that a lot of people have the misconception of, like, when you’re, they think that everything has to be boot camp, everything has to be kill yourself in the gym for two hours at a time, seven days a week, like, you, we can literally get you in shape 20 minutes at a time, two to three times per week, and, you know, with the injuries, it’s like, we just got to work around them, so there’s always something that you can do, [00:07:00] like, I have, I had back surgery at age 22, um, my one of my coaches ripped the bicep.
Um, you know, we all have different issues and we’ve all been able to keep, um, keep training during those times. We just got to work around it, right? And that’s why having a coach is super important because you don’t have to try to figure it out. The coach is going to be like, cool, you got a bad arm, do this, this and this.
All right, your back hurts, do this, this and this, right? Um, and the thing is, too, is like people think that it’s all about the workout. When the workouts like 10% of it. Right. And this is why I actually sold my gym and started going all in on personal coaching because I had a gym and I watched people come into me for two, three, four, five years.
And then they get zero results because it’s like, yeah, you work out, which is great. But like you’re not doing anything outside of the gym that you’re supposed to be doing. So you’re not, your body’s not changing. Um, and that’s actually making it harder for your body. So in our program, it’s, it’s inverse to where basically we’re really nutrition focused, we’re really habit focused.
We’re making sure that you’re doing all those [00:08:00] little things, right? So you don’t have to kill yourself in the gym. I got clients. All they do is walk every day. They drop body fat every single day because we got everything else so diluted around it.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And those are the things too, the, that have huge impacts, uh, the outside of the gym stuff that you were talking about, the, the nutrition and, and forming good habits.
Um, there’s a book I read, uh, years ago, a lot of people have probably heard about this, but, uh, Atomic Habits, uh, is, is the book, uh, that, that I’m referring to. And in the book, they, they talk about just like small little things, like, as opposed to having, uh, like. Uh, you know, cookies out on the counter, you replace it with some fruit or, or something like that.
Like because even if you do have the cookies in the house and they’re stashed away in a cabinet somewhere, the fruit’s going to be there. It’s going to be easier to see. And that’s the thing that you’re going to probably go to first. I mean, of course, yeah, you can open the cabinet and you can go get the cookies, but it would probably be a better habit just not to buy the cookies in the first place.
But, um, you know, but if, [00:09:00] if you have that out there, um, you’re more likely to go after that. that fruit there, which would be better for you than, than the cookies, you know, in that situation. Um, so it’s like small little things like that, which if you do those things, you’ll end up, you’ll end up changing your, your whole physical health just by, um, you know, making small changes like that.
Um, and, but then maintaining them too. Right. And I think that’s the key aspect is, is maintaining them.
Matt Priess: 100%. Yeah. It’s gotta be something that you can actually do. So I tell everybody, like, don’t start anything. If you look at something and you say, can I do this until I’m 80 years old? And the answer is no.
Like, you know, you haven’t got the wrong program.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. Um, yeah, because you know, if, if you’re gonna, Put all this time and effort and, you know, potentially expense into, you know, maybe a gym membership or, uh, you know, uh, [00:10:00] coaching and, and everything else, um, if you’re going to do this just for the short term, just to see some benefits over, you know, let’s say the next year, um, but you don’t maintain it throughout the rest of your life, like what, Really was the point of doing all of that, right?
Like you should maintain it because it probably wasn’t necessarily easy to get yourself to a certain point. Um, you know, why, why let that all go? Uh, right. I think you need to maintain all of that.
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. And I think the biggest problem is I see people that they’re disconnect. They’re going to try to go like balls to the wall on something, you know, even if it’s just like the diet, like keto fasting, like all that stuff is just like, it’s going to be super hard to maintain.
And some people do maintain it for a year, you know, two years. Um, but most people just can’t. So it’s like, you got to really find the thing that’s going to. Be a long term solution for you. Right. And, you know, getting, getting the help to figure out what that is, it’s super imperative, I think.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And you see that every year with [00:11:00] the new year’s resolutions, people signing up for their gym membership and they start in January and by mid February, they’re done.
And it’s like, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t quite understand that. Like you, you spent all this money on this gym, like just go, it’s really not that hard. And you, you make it. Make it a habit of just wake up at, set your alarm clock, wake up at a certain time every day and just go to the gym and just do it. Um, and like you said, sometimes you don’t even need that.
You could just be walking around your neighborhood, um, and you can still see those benefits if the rest of it’s dialed in. Right.
Matt Priess: Right. And the thing behind that too is, is like, it sounds simple, but it’s also like, it’s okay to need accountability. And I think a lot of people just, I should just be motivated.
Like what’s wrong with me. And it’s like, dude, get somebody that’s going to help you like stay accountable. And somebody that’s a professional that’s going to, cause here’s the thing is people are going to go and get their, Hey buddy, you want to go to the gym with me? We’ll meet every day at 5am. Even though we both haven’t gone in five years, like we’re going to do this.
Right. As soon as that first one falls off, [00:12:00] the other one’s falling off. So you got a professional in your corner. It’s their job to keep your ass accountable. Like that’s what they’re going to do. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I still got a coach that keeps me accountable. It’s not because I don’t know what I’m doing.
It’s literally because I’m, I’m human too, right? I’m going to have that extra cookie. I’m going to want to sleep in. But when I’m reporting to someone like. It ain’t happening.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Sure. Yeah, it’s just like in the military, like you have, you know, someone there who’s holding you accountable. Like you got to be here at a certain time, certain place, um, you know, with certain equipment and certain, you know, whatever.
And yeah, you’re going to be there if, if somebody is, is holding you accountable to that standard. Um, and it’s, it’s a hard thing for people to do. Just on their own, especially like you said, someone who hasn’t been to the, to the gym, they’ve let them, their body kind of, uh, you know, fall off. And, um, They haven’t done any of this stuff in the last five, 10 years.
That was a habit in and of itself, [00:13:00] not doing the physical stuff became a habit. And now you’ve got to create a new habit and get yourself back into that. And so, yeah, having that accountability, having someone there to, um, help you ease into it, maybe if you need to, um, but to me, that, that just makes a ton of sense to, to get that.
Get back into it and, and do the right types of exercise. Like you said, some people can go to the gym for years and see no results whatsoever because they’re doing the wrong exercises. They’re doing, you know, they’re focusing too much on one part of the body and not on another. And, and they’re, they’re just not going to get the right kind of benefits.
So having a coach there who knows what to do, um, knows the different. Exercises that may be more beneficial than others, um, that can can set you in the right direction. You’ll see results a whole lot faster that way too, right? Right on. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so this is, this is to me is, is an interesting subject [00:14:00] here and you know, you had your gym, um, and you had, You know, all this different experiences throughout the, the, um, the time after your time in the military.
Um, I want to talk a little bit more about your experiences and how you kind of now got into what you are doing now and how you tailor your programs to, to the, uh, the veterans that you work with, uh, in just a minute here. We’re going to take a quick commercial break though. So stay tuned. Hey everybody.
Welcome back to Drive On. Um, I’m here with Matt Priess and we’re talking about the. different physical fitness, uh, aspects that, that veterans are dealing with, uh, after getting out of the military. A lot of us have let our bodies slip and we are, um, you know, not in the type of shape that we were, uh, you know, just a day after basic training, maybe, but, but, um, so Matt, You had experience operating gyms for, you said, over a decade.
[00:15:00] Um, and you looked into, uh, you know, all these people coming into the gym, some of them getting great results, some of them not, maybe not so much. Um, and you’ve kind of figured out that. You could probably offer something better, uh, to these people through an online platform, which you’re doing now through your coaching.
Um, tell us about the, the platform and, and how it works and what type of programs you have to offer for, uh, the people who go through it.
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. So like everything we do is customized to the individual. So, um, I know the online space gets kind of a bad rep in, um, the fitness industry because it’s typically just like trainers, like.
Hey, I saw your Instagram post, like, can you make me a workout, can you make me a meal plan, and then they send the same cookie cutter crap to, like, everybody, and they charge them, like, 300 bucks for it, like, and I’ve done it myself, honestly, like, back before online training was even a thing, I I asked a bodybuilding [00:16:00] coach, Hey, send me up with a plan.
It was complete shit. Like you didn’t ask me like age, weight, like the basic stuff that you would ask somebody. And this was like, before I knew about any of this stuff. So I, you know, I did my education and I learned myself, but, um, but yeah, so that’s what most of the programs are going to look like when you go through an online coach.
And that’s why I’d never call myself like an online coach. I’d call myself a personal coach. Right. Cause it does dive into, um, The, um, um, what’s the word I’m looking for? Like life coaching almost. Um, and it’s funny because I say that right now. We literally just had a review on our Google and the guy was talking about how this is like damn near life coaching.
Cause all my coach helped me like with decisions I needed to make and things. So it really goes deeper than just the plan. Um, the fitness plan and the work, because here’s the thing is like, you could get anything for free right now. I could Google you. Any kind of fitness plan, any kind of workout plan you want right now.
And it’s just not going to do anything for you, right? Um, because we got to dial in habits. We got to [00:17:00] dial in routines. We got to, um, know specific things about you as a person to be able to customize this plan for you. So I think that’s the key that stands out from a personal coach to an online coach is a personal coach is actually going to.
Customize everything around you and the plans actually going to change as your body changes most of these cookie cutter plans They just stay the same so you lose 20 pounds you lose 10 pounds the plans the same, right? You lose 10 pounds with us the plan gets to change, right? You lose 20, 50, 60, whatever.
We have people who lose over 100 pounds all the time and their plan changes 20 times during their time with us. Right. And that’s when, you know, it’s real is like that plan is actually always changing. So again, the customization is just key to key to everything.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And every person is going to be different too.
So having a cookie cutter plan that you just send out to everybody and just collect their money, that to me, that’s. Not very, uh, uh, that’s not [00:18:00] very truthful as far as, uh, saying that you’re going to be able to deliver X, Y, Z results. It’s not going to happen, um, with, with that. You may get that one person who happens to hit that, that plan, uh, just right.
But, you know, everybody’s bodies are different. Their, their needs are different. Um, maybe, maybe I’m not even interested in losing weight. Maybe I’m just interested in gaining muscle. And, you know, we’re also weighing more than fat. I’m going to end up maybe even gaining weight. Um, but you send a cookie cutter plan out to somebody.
Um, it’s, it’s not going to do that for, uh, for me, if, if they’re tailored towards, you know, weight loss or, or something along those lines. So, so yeah, you have to have a personalized individual plan and it sounds like that’s exactly what you guys are doing, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. Now we’re talking about, uh, you know, some of the issues that veterans have as far as You know, their their bodies are broken.
Sometimes even their minds are broken You know with with [00:19:00] different issues that they may have gone through. It could be, you know, a TBI, they could have, um, you know, PTSD, they could have back issues or neck issues or knee issues or, you know, any of those kinds of things. Um, so, so you tailor those, those programs to the individual.
Um, what does that look like? What does a session look like where you’re, you’re sitting down and trying to learn more about the person? What, what types of information are you looking for?
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure. So everybody that comes on to a program that go through an in depth, um, orientation with us where we kind of dial in exactly like what foods they like, what foods they don’t like, how many calories they’re intaking right now on this day.
Um, actually the first week they work with us, they don’t even do much aside from just do what they normally do because that’s how much we want to customize it to it. Cause I’m not going to sit here and tell you to eat. Chicken, fish and, and broccoli and you fucking hate fish. Like what’s the point of that?
Right? like, like yeah, force feeding you a bunch of stuff you don’t like. [00:20:00] So like my goal is to try to figure out exactly what you do, like, show you how you can eat that way in a systematic fashion to where we can still drop body fat each week. We can build muscle. Because when we do that, we know it’s a sustainable approach, right?
If I’m eating burgers and, and fries and you know, not eating like shit, but like, Making the better choices of those normal people foods and I’m still dropping body fat chances are I’m probably gonna stick with the program Right. So so that’s the first thing, right? Yeah, and the second thing is really just making sure like, okay What injuries do we have?
What workouts do we like? It’s the same thing You know a lot of some veterans think we got to go run working three miles a day again And it’s like we got bad knees bad back. It’s like they don’t want you running at all like You probably better do some body weight squats and push ups, maybe some pull ups.
Like, I probably ain’t gonna put that weight in your hand until we strengthen you up a bit, right? Um, and then you have other veterans that they’re coming in and they’re already doing CrossFit three times. Hey, I love your working out, doing your CrossFit. [00:21:00] You like it. Keep doing that. Maybe do a little bit more.
As long as you’re liking it, it’s not hurting you. Cool. Let’s focus in on the nutrition because you’re not at where you want to be because you’re working your ass off in the gym, but the back end isn’t right, right? So let’s fix this back end. So again, it’s really just, we’re meeting you where you’re at.
We’re not forcing anything on you. I want you to have fun with it. I want you to like what you’re doing. Um, but let me show you how to do it the right way to where we can see these improvements every week.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that’s right. Because again, you, you can bust your ass in the gym and. not be seeing the results that you’re looking for.
Um, basically you’re just, you’re buying your next meal. Uh, if, if, if you’re, uh, not focused on, on the, uh, the nutritional side of things, um, you’re, you’re working off your next meal essentially. It’s the way I kind of look at it, is it’s kind of like a down payment for, for that, that meal. And you know, you’re going to end up either staying at the same place or maybe you’re gonna, you’re gonna overextend it a little [00:22:00] bit and you’re going to end up having, uh, weight gain or other things like that, where that’s not exactly what you’re looking for.
So having a coach, I think ultimately coming back full circle on all this, I think having a coach, uh, on your side is just a smart thing to do if you’re trying to affect any sort of change. I mean, we, we get. Maybe they’re not called coaches, but we get professional advice, all sorts of things in our lives.
Like we, our car starts making a funny noise. We go to a mechanic, you know, while that’s not a coach, you know, that’s not a coach, but that’s, that’s just a way to, uh, have an expert on your side, helping you. Um, you know, we, we do that with all sorts of things. So, you know, but a lot of times we don’t look at ourselves as, uh, needing that level of.
help or assistance or, or anything like that. And that to me, it’s just doesn’t make any sense [00:23:00] why we wouldn’t, um, you know, invest in ourselves a little bit. Um, you know, the way we do other things like our car or house or, you know, even other people in our family, but we don’t, we don’t look at ourselves the same ways for some reason, you know?
Matt Priess: Yeah, for sure.
Scott DeLuzio: Um, so. You’ve tailored all these, these programs to the needs of, of the, you know, individual person. Um, how do you help them with the longterm results? Keep it, you know, make it more sustainable. Um, you know, how did, how do you have that accountability built in so that they will keep this going longterm?
Matt Priess: Yeah. I mean, I think it gets to the point where you need to, uh, um, You almost feel not right doing it. Right. So like the best way I can describe it, like you’re, you work out Scott, so you know, like what you feel like [00:24:00] when you don’t work out, you know what you feel like when you skip a workout or like you go on vacation and you just didn’t work out for a week.
Right. You feel like shit. Right. And so my goal is yeah, to get people to basically be doing this for so long and feel like it’s so much a part of their life that they just don’t feel right without doing it. Right. Whether that’s. Eating healthy, whether that’s working out, whether that’s, you know, we have meditation as part of our program.
Like it’s a requirement. You got to try to meditate every morning for at least five minutes. Um, weighing yourself every day, all these habits we want basically ingrained in you. And, uh, it does take some time to really form those habits. So. Um, you know, I want everybody to have a coach for like at least a year because at that point it’s so ingrained in you that like you’re just not going to not do it because you just won’t feel right about it.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And I think when you talk about those types of habits, uh, in my mind anyways, it’s one of those things where like if I didn’t [00:25:00] brush my teeth in the morning and I just forgot or something like that at some point during the day, I’m going to say, Oh my God, I gotta go do that. Like, I can’t, I can’t just like walk around with.
This nasty smell in mouth, uh, going around and like, I need to go take care of that. And so if you’re in a similar situation with your, your physical health, whether it’s, you know, eating right, if it’s exercising or it’s, um, meditating, whatever it is that you’re trying to do, um, you make that habit, uh, almost to the point where if you don’t do it, it feels uncomfortable.
Like you need to go and do that. Um, and then. It sort of takes care of itself, right?
Matt Priess: Yeah, a hundred percent. I love that analogy of like the brushing your teeth, because one of my coaches actually says that it’s like, you know, when you’re younger, your parents have to tell you to go brush your teeth. But as an adult, they don’t have to tell you that.
Right. So he basically said it was an external motivator to get you internally motivated. Right. [00:26:00]
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. And it’s very similar to what the coaching is, is supposed to be doing here. It’s, it’s, Getting you started, right? The way a kid needs to be reminded to go brush their teeth by their parents. You know, that coach is reminding you, Hey, go to the gym, do this exercise or eat this, you know, certain meals, uh, whatever it is that they’re telling you to do there, they’re helping you to get back on that, that path.
Um, we’re going to take a quick break here, uh, to, um, for a commercial break here, uh, when we get back, we’re going to talk a little bit more about. Um, just fitness in general and, and the ways that, that veterans can get off the couch and start doing the right things for their own, uh, physical health. So stay tuned.
So Matt, before the break, we were talking about how people can kind of invest in themselves, um, the way that you might invest in your, your car, your house, or, you know, other things like that. But a lot of times we, we look at ourselves [00:27:00] and we’re, We don’t feel quite as, um, uh, motivated to invest in ourselves that way.
We don’t see ourselves the way we might see other, maybe physical things, our car, for example, I was using that as, as kind of the analogy before. But, um, you know, what are some. piece of advice that you might have for people who are, uh, you know, thinking about maybe I need to do something, but I just don’t know what to do.
And, um, you know, maybe they’re not quite sure if, you know, get hiring a coach is the right thing for them. What kind of advice might you have for
Matt Priess: Yeah. Um, you know, I have this conversation on a daily basis. So a lot of times we’re just, um, we’re putting our money in. And so I have a big saying that’s like, you vote with your dollars, like what’s important to you.
So if you pull up your bank account right now, you’re going to see exactly what’s important to you. Um, the typical American family is spending 150 to 200 per day on fast food. So you’re [00:28:00] essentially voting against your health with that kind of, uh, spending. Um, and yeah, I mean, it’s so true. Like you said, it’s like we buy possessions all day long.
You know, America is a consumer nation. Like we all know that. Um, but then when it comes to our health, like we. And I think it’s not the person’s fault. It’s more of like, um, the media or like the marketing behind fitness that, hey, here’s a quick fix, or, hey, this is common knowledge now, right? Like you should already know this.
You should be able to do it by yourself. So getting the help and paying for what the help is worth is like, So far out to some people that they can’t even comprehend, like spending, you know, a thousand dollars on fitness, let alone 20 on fitness for a gym membership. Um, but it’s very, like, but here’s the thing too, though, if people were spending thousands of dollars on health insurance, right?
But health insurance is doing the opposite of what we really want. It’s just kind of like [00:29:00] the reactiveness of our poor health versus the proactiveness of like trying to be in good shape. So we don’t need that. Right. Same with medical bills, right? Like we get, you know, we get that a lot where it’s like, Oh, I got these medical bills.
It’s like, dude, if you weren’t, you know, 70 pounds overweight, you wouldn’t have had those medical bills. Obviously it’s a little late for that now, but like these are the decisions you’re making. on a daily basis to why you’re in this position. Right. And so like, it is a lot of come to Jesus talk with, with some people, um, some veterans, um, you know, and I think just the veterans have never in the military that you’re not taught finances very well too.
So that’s another thing is like a lot of veterans are living paycheck to paycheck, or they are living, you know, disability check to disability check. And it’s like, You know, I think that’s something that we got to tackle too. And we actually did a financial, uh, health. So we do monthly, monthly, um, seminars every month with all of our clients.
And it was over finances last time. Cause they’re like, [00:30:00] this is important. And I got on there and it was like, look, this is the number one reason people get divorced is over finances. This is the number one, um, thing causing stress, depression, all this stuff. So if you can figure out the money problem, right.
And you can figure out the health problem. You solved two really big problems potentially in your life, right? So like those two things are gonna, are gonna allow you to have a very, very fulfilling life, right? If you take the time to figure them out and don’t be afraid to invest. and in yourself and you know, getting those people who spend 200, 000 on a college education with the degree that won’t get them anything.
But they won’t, you know, a thousand dollars on a course that’ll teach them how to fucking get fit. Sorry for the cussing, um, just passionate about this. So, um, so it’s funny the way that, you know, that stuff works out. Um, so, but yeah, I mean, if anybody’s listening to this, like invest in yourself, you won’t ever regret it.
You if you don’t hit your goal or you know, you don’t get what you wanna have, like you’ve still gained something, [00:31:00] you’ve gained knowledge, you’ve gained a work ethic. Um, so there’s a lot to be said for people that actually believe in themselves enough to invest in themselves.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And I, I think to your point, uh, what you were talking about earlier, we have so many quick fixes and or society in addition to being very materialistic, uh, that consumer culture wanted to buy all the, the latest and greatest gadgets and everything else.
Um, We have the, the Amazon culture where we order something, we get to get it the next day or even the same day. Uh, it’s like instant on demand. I want it here. I want it now, or I don’t want it at all. And that’s where you get the, the fast food. You need a quick meal, you go to McDonald’s or you go to, uh, you know, some other place that’s really quick and it’s convenient and it’s, it’s fast, cheap and easy.
And that’s that knock against your, your physical health. Um, Whereas, if you spent [00:32:00] just a little bit of time making something, uh, that was healthy for you, um, it would have such a bigger impact on your, your, well, the, the fast food has a big impact on your health, but in a negative way, um, it would have a big impact in a positive way if you, if you just took a little bit of time and didn’t just rely on those, those quick fixes, the, the, um, uh, you know, the fast food type stuff and, and.
and everything else. Um, and, and to the point of, uh, where you’re, you’re actually hurting yourself if you continue doing that. Um, and, and that’s, it doesn’t, doesn’t make sense. Right. And we, we, we invest so much time and effort into these other areas and other aspects of our life. We, we don’t focus on the physical, uh, nearly enough.
Um, but you, you all guys also coach on other things. You mentioned finances. Uh, are there other things that you guys, uh, focus on, uh, through, through the program?
Matt Priess: Yeah, definitely. So we’re big in just, uh, living a high [00:33:00] quality life in general. So again, like the meditation has to happen, um, every day we’re teaching on how to, how to meditate, you know, what to do.
Like most people don’t know how to meditate, right? But with meditation, it’s just such a big benefit that you don’t even realize the benefit until you stop doing it. It’s like working out, right? Like we all know working out is good for us, but like. Until you’re actually like working out for three times a week for more than a six month period of time, like you really don’t notice.
And then you take that week off, you’re like, holy shit, I feel like shit, right? Like meditation is the same way, man. I can tell when I haven’t meditated for the day, I’m a lot more irritable, I’m more anxious, things like that. So that’s a huge, especially in today’s world, like mental illness is so, um, crazy right now that you need to have those skills.
And I think a lot of people don’t realize, and this is why. I call it Body Ops University because I try to look at it like a college course. Right? And nobody would ever invest in a college course and just not show up to class. Right? So I’m like, everybody better be on this live. Like I tell all [00:34:00] my people, we got 150 members.
It’s like, y’all better be on this cause you’re going to learn some nuggets. You’re going to. Learn about how to do this the right way. And, um, the thing about fitness and health is people don’t understand it is a skill set, right? And they don’t look at it as a skill set because of the way they’ve been marketed to, um, oh, it’s general knowledge you’re supposed to know.
Like, no, you need to actually learn your ass about this stuff because, um, you don’t know, right? And that’s why you’re going off of all this cookie cutter crap or just going off the latest fad thing. And it’s like if you actually just took the time to learn how the body works, to learn how nutrition works, fats, carbs, proteins, calorie intakes, you know, sleep cycles, um, this is something that plagues the veteran community as well is the sleep cycle.
So I’m really big on. Sleep cycle, like how to unfuck your sleep, right? Like we all have terrible sleep patterns. We’re all getting up at different times. We’re going to bed at different times. We got PTSD. We’re waking up with, you know, [00:35:00] nighttime things. And I can tell you there’s ways to alleviate it, but you gotta be willing to like learn the knowledge and actually implement what, what we teach in the program.
So. So yeah, I mean, to answer your question, we go into all that stuff, man. It’s just a well rounded, um, nothing’s off limits because it’s just about being a better person and leveling up in every aspect of life.
Scott DeLuzio: You mentioned how, uh, the, all this stuff is a skill that you need to learn. And a lot of us, you know, we, we get out of high school, joined the military, uh, and we sort of learned some exercises.
as we’re, we’re in the military, but a lot of it was just like, Hey, you need to do this. You need to do PT today. You need to, you know, you know, whatever. And it, it was basically like dictated to you as opposed to, Hey, you need to look at your body and say, Hey, what does, what does this body need? And what do I need to do?
Do I need to go for a run today? Do I [00:36:00] need to lift weights today? What is it that I need to do? Um, not really taught very well how to. figure out what you need. Um, it’s kind of more of a, a lot of times it’s a group activity, um, which isn’t necessarily quite as helpful. Um, and, and oftentimes you might be led in your, your PT session that you might be, uh, taking part in by someone who doesn’t really even know what they’re doing anyways, when you’re in the military.
So then you, then you get out and all this, this time you had experience with people who. Maybe didn’t really know what they were doing. Um, and then you try to apply that to your life and surprise, surprise, it’s not actually doing anything beneficial for you. Uh, maybe it worked when you’re in your twenties, but now you’re in your forties or, or whatever.
And it’s, it’s not going to be quite the same thing. So, um, So, so getting that coaching and learning, I think, um, uh, is, is super important, especially like you said, [00:37:00] sometimes, um, you need to readjust the program for the individual. Um, you know, they, they lost 10 pounds. Okay, great. You hit that milestone.
Let’s, let’s adjust it to do something else so we can, we can continue getting the, the benefits out of this. But if you are just kind of staying stagnant and not… Taking advantage of, uh, the, uh, the unique opportunities for each individual. Uh, you’re not going to see the results that you need to see, right?
Matt Priess: Yeah, a hundred percent. I think that’s what kind of gets people in that rut, man, is because they, uh, they, they hit that plateau. Like you’re going to hit a plateau, like depending on what your goals are and how much you need to lose or what muscle you need to gain, like you’re going to hit several plateaus throughout your process.
Right. And most people don’t understand what got them there. So they definitely don’t understand like how to get past that point. Right. And that’s where they get stuck. They give up, they go backwards, six months down the road, they get motivated again, they lose that 10 pounds, get stuck again, they [00:38:00] go back, you know, so it’s just a repetitive cycle.
And it’s like, had you just had the knowledge of what to do in that point, right. Um, you wouldn’t have been able to not only hit that goal, hit the next goal and the next goal. Right. But like, again, We’re going off of cookie cutter stuff. Nobody understands it, um, and you’re not willing to invest to get the knowledge to do it, right?
Even though it’s arguably the most important thing in your life, it’s your health, right? We’ll invest in that car, we’ll invest in that house, we’ll invest in our kids fuckin you know, sports leagues or whatever, but it’s like when it comes to the health, it’s like, oh yeah, it’s the last thing on our list, so so getting that You know, kind of switching your mind around that and understanding like it is valuable, right?
It is valuable to know exactly how your body works and be able to read certain things about your body and be able to understand like what to do when something’s not feeling right.
Scott DeLuzio: And. When you look at your, your body and [00:39:00] as an investment, like a lot of times we, we look at it and say, Oh, well, I’m fine. I don’t need that.
I can handle it. Uh, you know, I’ve, I’ve lost weight before, you know, I’ve, I’ve gone on this diet and I’ve, I’ve lost weight before, but, but then you end up with the, the yo yo diets where your weight goes up and down like a yo yo and you’re not achieving anything that’s sustainable. You’re going to get this up and down, uh, um, situation.
And, uh, you might as well keep two different sizes of pants, your, your skinny pants and your, your fat pants in your, in your closet, because you’re going to be back into one of them at some point. Uh, and, and possibly even need to get a bigger size cause you’re going to, probably go up even higher than what you were at before.
Right.
Matt Priess: Yeah, that’s a, that’s a sad truth, man. You’re right. And people do have that. Like, Oh, I got my fat pants now in the basement. I’m wearing my skinny pants now. And then in the winter, it’s like, vice versa. It’s like, man, I just, [00:40:00] Hey, I’ve been there. And that’s why I understand. Like. What my clients are going through, because I’ve been the fat guy.
I’ve been, uh, the real skinny guy. I’ve been a little bit in between. Um, and now, you know, I can, I can manage my way. And I think that’s what people need to understand. It’s about managing your weight. It’s about managing your health, right? You shouldn’t have these huge fluctuations. Um, because if you know what to do, it’s like you, you’re always just going to stay around the same weight.
Right. And most people, and like a lot of people, it’s just genetics, right? Like they’ll just, they just kind of stay where they’re at. And that’s nice. Um, but like most, like we don’t all have good genetics. Like we all weren’t born with that. So you gotta pay attention to what you’re doing. And again, you just got to manage your weight and your health, right?
It shouldn’t be huge fluctuations all throughout the year. It should relatively stay the same as, as you continue to age.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and it’s hard as, as you get to get older and. In life without the right plan and the right, uh, you know, set of, uh, [00:41:00] nutrition and fitness and everything like that. Uh, you know, it’s hard to, to do.
Um, but with the right coach, I’m sure it’s, it’s definitely doable. We’re going to cut to another quick commercial break here. So stay tuned.
So Matt, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you today. Um, I really do appreciate you coming on and sharing all of your insights on the, uh, the physical fitness and other aspects, uh, of improving veterans lives altogether, uh, where can people go to get in touch with you? Find out more about the coaching that you offer and everything else that you do.
Matt Priess: Yeah. So I’m most active on Instagram. So, uh, my handle is, uh, body underscore OPS. Um, so send me a message, um, check out some of my, my clips. Um, another good place to go would be, um, our website. So thebodyops. com, you can get a free macro calculator there as well. So, so I have free, [00:42:00] um, free tools. Um, Basically in any of my socials as well too.
So, um, I got a free Facebook group. Um, I got a YouTube channel. So, um, anywhere you want to check out or just get free help, just check out those channels, um, Body Ops or the Fit Veteran. That’s my podcast as well too. Um, Scott’s been on there as well too. So check out our episode and, uh, yeah, that’s the best place to kind of get more info and, uh.
See more of what I have to
Scott DeLuzio: offer. Yeah, absolutely. And we’ll have links to all of that in the show notes for the, the listeners who are wanting to get in touch and get involved and, um, improve their physical fitness overall. Um, and, uh, yeah, so we’ll have those, those links there in the show notes. Um, all right.
So. I like to close out these episodes with a little bit of humor. This is time for what is becoming one of my favorite segments on this show. It’s called, Is It Service Connected? Uh, for anyone who’s not familiar with the segment, Is It Service Connected? It is where we take a look at a [00:43:00] video of a service member doing something stupid.
Um, pretty much like a America’s Funniest Home Videos kind of situation, uh, try to predict whether or not whatever happened in this video is going to be service connected somewhere down, down the line with a VA disability rating or not. Um, so like I said, trying to end each episode with a little bit of humor, um.
And for the podcast listeners, uh, you know, the audio only listeners, uh, who can’t see the video, I’ll do my best to try to describe the video for you, uh, or you can tune in at WTSMTV. com to see the video. I may also post it to social media later on too. So follow Drive On Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and all the socials, uh, to check that out.
So let me get this video, uh, set up here. And, um, this video for the audio only listeners right now, it starts off with a, um, service member. It looks like he’s about to get up on a camel, um, which could only go one of two ways. And, [00:44:00] you know, I don’t think any, any of the situations are going to be a good situation.
I don’t think he’s going to be riding a camel across the desert in a very good, good manner.
Matt Priess: This is what happens when, uh, service members get bored.
Scott DeLuzio: I mean, like he’s in, he’s in full kit and everything. Like you got the, the Afghan police vehicle in the background. So, you know, he’s outside the wire somewhere, um, with this camel that, I don’t know, he just came up on a camel somewhere.
Um, so, all right, let’s get, let’s get this video going and see, see how, uh, this turns out for this, this guy who clearly the good idea fairy came and visited him. Oh my God, the camel’s not even so sure with this guy and flat on his back. Now the camel did not step on him. It actually stepped over his leg.
Like his leg was underneath and then the camel started walking forward and it, it missed him by [00:45:00] like just an inch. It almost stepped on him. Um, I would say if a camel did step on him, that leg injury probably would have been service connected is my guess. Um, Cale didn’t step on him, but he did land pretty hard on his back.
I don’t know. Well, Matt, it’s been a great having you on the show again. Thank you for taking the time to join us. I really do appreciate it.