Order of Man - OoM 056： Why Every Man Should Consider Yoga with Dean Pohlman

00:00:00.000 Yoga. It's not typically a word we associate with masculinity, but that is about to change.

00:00:05.020 My guest today shares with us the stigma around men and yoga, how it will make you stronger,

00:00:09.880 and why every man should consider implementing yoga into his fitness regimen.

00:00:13.980 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart

00:00:18.760 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:23.880 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is

00:00:30.860 who you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:00:36.580 you can call yourself a man. Ben, what's going on today? My name is Ryan Michler and I am the host

00:00:42.380 and founder of Order of Man. I'm glad you're tuning in today. If you haven't heard this podcast yet and

00:00:46.960 you're new here, we talk about all things manly when it comes to your relationship with your family

00:00:51.040 and community, your health, your fitness, your wealth, your business, and most importantly,

00:00:55.500 how you can take care of yourself. You're going to want to tune into this one today because we

00:00:59.960 are going to talk about a topic that we have not yet covered on the show, and that is yoga. We're

00:01:04.700 going to cover why the stigma around men and yoga, how it's going to make you stronger, and again,

00:01:09.320 why every man should consider adding yoga into his health and fitness regimen. But before I get into

00:01:15.620 that and the rest of the conversation we're going to have with my guest today, I want to give you

00:01:19.240 our weekly reminder to the elite mastermind, The Iron Council. Now, this is a mastermind. It's

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00:02:13.640 more. Now, I want to get into the show today. Remember, you can find all the links and the

00:02:17.280 resources at orderofman.com slash 056. And as always, join us in the conversation we're having

00:02:22.700 with over 2,800 men now in our Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash order of man.

00:02:29.660 Now, my guest today is Dean Pullman. He is the founder and CEO of Man Flow Yoga, a yoga brand

00:02:34.860 focused on the physical side of yoga without all the spiritual fluff. He is the author of the number

00:02:39.280 one bestselling ebook, Yoga Basics for Men and contributes regularly to Huffington Post. He's

00:02:44.720 a former collegiate lacrosse player turned fitness professional. He now focuses on making yoga more

00:02:49.700 accessible to a wider audience through his fitness centric take on yoga. Dean, thanks for joining me

00:02:56.700 on the show. I'm glad you're here, man. Hey, Ryan. Thanks for having me. So, we're going to talk

00:03:00.520 about something that typically I wouldn't consider very manly or masculine. So, I'm really interested in

00:03:07.420 having this conversation with you because I'm sure this is a conversation or at least a topic that

00:03:11.420 it's not very manly that you get all the time. Is that right? That is the argument that I usually

00:03:15.840 have to face. Yes. So, you are going to have to debate and teach the guys here why yoga can be a

00:03:22.380 masculine thing and why we need to look into doing this, right? That's my job. That's usually how it 0.71

00:03:26.920 happens. Good. Well, tell me a little bit about how you got into this line of work. I mean, obviously,

00:03:32.220 this is something unique and you're doing this full-time. And so, tell me a little bit about how you

00:03:36.860 got into it. Yeah. So, I played lacrosse for the University of Wisconsin. I accidentally wandered

00:03:43.920 into a yoga studio on winter break my senior year when I was home. And I went in and I had thought

00:03:53.220 about doing yoga for years. And I asked them, you know, what's this going to do for my body? What's

00:03:59.000 this going to do for my physical performance? I play lacrosse competitively. You know, how is this

00:04:04.800 going to help? And they said, well, you'll get leaner. You will get more flexible, more core strength,

00:04:11.180 and you're going to sweat a ton. You don't have to wear a shirt for the workout. I said, all right,

00:04:16.220 fine. That all sounds good. So, I went in and got my ass handed to me. Completely, completely got my

00:04:24.340 ass kicked. And I, back then, even now, I'm the guy that'll go into like a CrossFit gym and just, 0.99

00:04:31.240 and even though I don't do CrossFit, I will, I will go toe to toe with the best people there just

00:04:36.700 because I'm sure I'm, I'm in very good shape endurance wise, strength wise. I have, I have a

00:04:42.620 very well-rounded fitness. Um, but that workout was the most humbling workout that I've ever done

00:04:50.200 and it remains so. So, what made it different? What about that workout that was so different that it

00:04:57.160 actually kicked your butt like another workout hadn't been able to do up to that point? Well,

00:05:00.700 every other workout that I've been doing. So, for those of you who are familiar with yoga,

00:05:04.860 this was a Bikram yoga class and Bikram yoga is a 90 minute, uh, sweat session, 105 degrees, uh, 26

00:05:13.240 different poses, same sequence every time is sweating buckets the whole time. But the reason why it was so

00:05:20.060 different from all my other workouts that I've done was because of the emphasis on static movement

00:05:26.900 and the emphasis on technique. So, you know, and all my other workouts, it was okay. Sprint back and

00:05:33.580 forth, do squats, do 10 total. And this workout was get into the pose and hold it, just write it and

00:05:39.920 focus on your breathing and make it through and don't fidget. It was just so different from what I was

00:05:46.120 used to. And that's why it was so hard. And I realized, wow, my body's, I have like, this is, this

00:05:52.800 should be, I should be able to do this. It was so difficult. And that's, and that's why, uh, I decided,

00:05:59.320 okay, well, you need to make this a part of your routine because this is clearly something that you're

00:06:03.820 not very good at.

00:06:05.060 Yeah, I know. I was actually at the gym this morning and I was doing planks and hollow rocks, which is kind

00:06:09.500 of like halfway sit up and you just hold it as long as you can. I'm sure you're familiar with it.

00:06:13.020 Those are great. And it's amazing to me how quickly that will just destroy your abs. I mean,

00:06:18.960 you could do sit-ups all day long, but you, you hang in that position, like static position that

00:06:23.320 you're talking about and it actually absolutely destroys you. So I'm, I get that. I'm on board

00:06:26.920 with that. Yeah. And that's what it takes to, to build muscle. Actually, that's static movement

00:06:31.680 and really controlling the movement. Instead of going through something quickly, it's, it's moving

00:06:36.880 really slowly and that builds strength. That's, that builds stability. And that's, that's what

00:06:40.600 injury prevention is. So I think a lot of us forget that when we go to the gym and we think

00:06:45.220 it's about finishing our reps and getting the pump, but really the first goal of exercise

00:06:51.500 is, is injury prevention and moving slowly through the motion is what helps to do that.

00:06:58.040 So why is it that men are so, I'm, I guess I'm just assuming, and maybe this is wrong, but

00:07:03.320 I'm assuming that men look at this and don't want to get involved because it isn't tough

00:07:09.320 or it isn't manly or it isn't masculine. Is that right?

00:07:12.940 Yeah. Well, I mean, it's also just the whole culture behind yoga. You know, if you, if, if,

00:07:19.020 if you applied the same culture that existed within yoga to, you know, to CrossFit, nobody

00:07:24.620 wanted to do CrossFit either. Um, at least not, not as many people. Uh, it's, it's just that

00:07:29.900 yoga is a completely different, um, the, the majority of people who practice yoga and the

00:07:35.420 way that it's talked about on social media and, um, you know, people who market yoga is

00:07:40.680 just a completely different, a different philosophy and a different approach. Whereas, you know,

00:07:46.060 you go into a CrossFit gym, you go into the gym and, and lit weights, lifting weights. It's

00:07:51.060 all about, you know, pushing yourself and going harder and, you know, yeah, I love it, you

00:07:56.940 know, and that doesn't exist in yoga. So what I did when I created Mantle Yoga, you

00:08:05.040 know, I've loved all this. I love working out and I love the aspect of pushing myself

00:08:09.620 and being competitive and using, uh, the desire to be the best would be as strongest

00:08:15.100 in the room to improve my own physical fitness. So I really didn't do anything except I took

00:08:23.600 the poses from yoga. I took the, the workout from yoga and then I applied a different philosophy

00:08:29.520 to it. The one that I was used to. So, so what is a, uh, what is more of a traditional

00:08:34.640 yoga workout even look like? I'm not even familiar with what it, what it would be or

00:08:38.900 what it would look like. And then maybe talk to me about how your philosophy differs from

00:08:42.740 that. Sure. Well, a traditional yoga workout and it really depends because there's so many

00:08:47.140 different kinds, but the most common yoga workout that you'll see is called a vinyasa

00:08:52.360 quest. And that's usually referred to as a flow quest. And that typically involves one

00:08:57.400 breath and one movement. So it's medium pace, I'd say, and that's arbitrary, but it means

00:09:04.520 that you hold each pose for about 10 to 15, maybe 20 seconds, and then you move on to another

00:09:10.880 pose. Um, and so there's not in that there isn't a ton of muscle fatigue. It's more about

00:09:19.780 movement and linking your breath with your movement. So something of a moving meditation.

00:09:25.880 Um, now there are types of yoga, you know, like power yoga or just even flow classes that

00:09:32.440 are, that are taught as fitness classes where the poses last longer and where there's more

00:09:38.620 emphasis on physical fitness, but there's still always an aspect of spirituality or there's

00:09:45.620 still always an aspect of, of cultivating breath and body connection and, and talking about

00:09:53.200 spirituality or stress relief or whatever it is. So what, so what makes manful yoga different is,

00:10:01.080 is we make the poses last longer. So you're getting a better workout and you're getting closer to the

00:10:08.500 point or reaching muscle fatigue, which is what you need to get stronger. Um, we also focus on the

00:10:14.880 physical fitness. So we are constantly talking about the technique of the pose instead of,

00:10:21.840 instead of being silent or instead of talking about something other than the technique involved,

00:10:29.160 we're talking about, okay, how do you do this? What does your heel need to be doing in your back foot?

00:10:34.320 What's going on in your front foot? Why are you doing this? What is the physical benefit involved?

00:10:39.660 So it's just much more focused on getting results from yoga as opposed to what other traditional

00:10:46.620 yoga will emphasize. You know, if we took yoga and then just did it in a CrossFit, uh, facility or at

00:10:54.040 a gym and took guys who hadn't done yoga before and explained it to them in terms of a traditional

00:11:00.800 workout that they're used to this, that's what it would be. So that's, that's what manful yoga is.

00:11:06.340 Yeah, that makes sense. I know I'm looking at your website here and one of the things I think a

00:11:10.980 recent post was you talk about the perfect squat and I, and I actually do CrossFit. So it's

00:11:15.120 interesting you bring that up and that's always been one of my biggest struggles. Like how do you

00:11:18.440 keep your back exactly straight? How do you keep your weight in your heels without falling over on

00:11:22.900 your back? So I could see how this would be beneficial. Is that where you step in and where you're

00:11:26.360 able to help and even enhance some of these other, uh, lifting techniques, I guess you'd say if other

00:11:31.040 guys are doing. Yeah, absolutely. Because we don't focus, everybody knows that in order to have a good

00:11:37.360 squat, you need to have flexibility in your hips. You need to have core strength, but how often do

00:11:42.700 people actually take the time to focus on developing flexibility and developing this core strength or

00:11:48.620 developing a bodily awareness necessary to be able to do a squat? And the answer is not at all

00:11:55.660 because we're too busy putting weight on our back and just trying to go higher and higher instead

00:12:00.380 of using no weight and just getting into a static position and checking them with your body and

00:12:06.340 making sure that your spine is properly aligned and that your knees are drawn back and that your

00:12:11.460 glutes are engaging. So it's slowing down and making sure that you have the very found, the very basics of

00:12:18.800 the foundations of movement or whatever strength exercise you're doing, like a squat or a lunge or a

00:12:25.540 plank. And then from there moving into other exercise or adding weight onto that, we so rarely take the

00:12:32.980 time to scrutinize our form that this is why it's so important. This is why what we're doing is so

00:12:41.660 important with, with yoga. Yeah. So it doesn't sound like it's meant to replace anything that you're

00:12:46.840 doing outside. It's just meant to enhance and even develop some of those skills outside of the yoga

00:12:51.120 side of things even better. Yeah. And 85% of what I do is yoga. The other 15% is making up things that

00:12:58.200 yoga lack. Okay. So like pull-ups, um, pulling exercises, using resistance bands. I don't use

00:13:05.200 weights anymore. I mean, I'm not 225 pounds, but I'm also not skinny. Yeah. Look at other calisthenics or

00:13:11.980 bodyweight exercise athletes. Those guys aren't small. They just, they know how to use exercises

00:13:18.100 in a way, just using their body weight to facilitate muscle growth and to keep, to keep their

00:13:24.100 size. Right. And hyper-efficient in some of those activities as well. So is that what you recommend

00:13:28.700 best? I mean, is that what goes best with yoga is, is body weight type movements and things like that?

00:13:33.460 Or is there certain exercises that pair and compliment what you're doing when it comes to yoga?

00:13:38.180 Well, it really just depends on what you want to get out of it. I recommend that people do as many

00:13:43.360 forms of physical fitness as they can. Obviously, if your goal is to get to, you know, if you want to

00:13:49.120 gain 40 pounds of muscle, yeah, you're going to have to do some weightlifting. Um, sure. You know,

00:13:53.880 but if you just want to gain 10, 15 pounds of muscle, you can probably just use your body weight.

00:13:58.040 And in terms of integrating yoga with other forms of exercise, it's a perfect compliment to so many

00:14:05.340 things, because if you're working on strength building with weights, for example, you're shortening

00:14:11.440 your muscles, you're just contracting, contracting, contracting. But when you're doing yoga, you're

00:14:15.840 doing the exact opposite. You're working into the extreme range of motion of your body, while

00:14:21.800 developing isometric strength. So for example, while I'm doing what's called a warrior two pose, which

00:14:28.000 we'll just call, let's just for the sake of ease, let's just call it a lunge. If I'm in my position, I'm

00:14:36.120 holding up my body weight in a lunge at the extreme range of motion in my, in my hips. I'm

00:14:43.600 developing strength in my body, but I'm also developing the range of motion. I'm working on

00:14:49.160 flexibility. So yoga is unique because we're working on strength and flexibility at the same

00:14:55.040 time. Um, so that's why it compliments other fitness so well, because it's getting stuff that

00:15:00.980 your other fitness isn't doing. Yeah, I know even myself, I know a lot of guys are like this

00:15:06.500 is I'll just wake up in the morning, I'll do a little bit in the morning, and then I'll head

00:15:09.660 into the gym without even ever thinking about giving myself adequate stretching time or any

00:15:14.940 of that. And I'm sure it hinders my performance. So I could see why getting the other side of

00:15:21.340 it is extremely, extremely valuable. Yeah, I mean, well, just one way that I like to explain

00:15:25.860 this is the, um, the Joe Dirt story. Okay. And, uh, so Joe Dirt, everyone, not everyone

00:15:32.640 knows, but let's just say everyone should know. And Joe Dirt is flexibility. If Joe Dirt had

00:15:41.380 brothers and sisters that were named strength, agility, and muscle size, let's say that Joe

00:15:48.700 Dirt was flexibility. Joe Dirt was the one that was left behind because people either didn't

00:15:54.160 want them or they didn't think it was right. So people don't think about flexibility enough.

00:15:58.660 They don't recognize the importance, but the thing is, if you don't have flexibility, you're

00:16:06.040 missing out on so much. Number one, you're, you don't, you lack range of motion. Your power

00:16:11.480 equals your range of motion times force. It's force times distance. It's a very simple equation.

00:16:18.140 And if you don't have distance, if you don't have range of motion, you're not going to be as

00:16:22.600 powerful as you could be. The other benefits of flexibility are, um, reduced risk of injury.

00:16:29.780 So if your muscles are used to be in the position where they're longer, if you get into that position

00:16:34.860 as a result of, let's say being tackled or, or landing awkwardly on something, you won't be

00:16:41.000 injured. Right. You know, Eddie George came out in, um, I think there's a book, there's a book

00:16:47.260 called real men do yoga, which, you know, if you got that guy on the podcast, that'd be pretty easy

00:16:52.940 for him to answer at the, your, uh, your question at the end. But, uh, Eddie George is on the cover

00:16:58.040 of this book and he talks about yoga as something that helped him stay injury free because when he

00:17:05.120 would get into the bottom of a pile, after we get tackled and he ended up in the bottom of a pile,

00:17:09.860 he might be in an awkward position, but. Right. And you're stuck there for a minute.

00:17:14.340 Right. But he's done yoga and his muscles are used to being lengthened like that. So he's like,

00:17:20.300 well, uh, sometimes I could get injured, but because my body's used to this, I'm not as easily

00:17:26.620 injured. Well, and not to mention, and I imagine this is a huge component is functionality. I mean,

00:17:31.440 you might have these guys that are ripped and they look great on the beach, but at the end of the day,

00:17:35.040 if they can't turn their neck around to check their blind spot in their car, how functional

00:17:38.280 and how practical is that is, is that strength, right? Yeah, that's true. Uh, that's, that's another

00:17:44.080 thing. People are, uh, people like to develop bodies that look good, but actually don't

00:17:48.640 function. And, uh, the thing with yoga and with body weight exercises is that it teaches your body

00:17:55.600 to function as a whole, as opposed to individual parts that kind of when put together look like,

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00:19:19.640 level. We really enjoy the show and we think you will as well. Now back to my interview with Dean.

00:19:26.120 So is this something that you'd recommend guys do on a daily basis? Is it something that they can

00:19:31.140 spread out a little bit more? I mean, I work out, for example, I'm five to six days a week of being in

00:19:36.900 the gym for an hour each time. Should I be considering doing this every single day in

00:19:41.660 conjunction with that? I think that if you spent a few minutes doing this every single day,

00:19:46.260 that'd be very beneficial, particularly if you're going to do some exercises that help to activate

00:19:52.720 dormant muscles at the beginning. For example, doing something that would help activate your glutes and

00:19:57.780 making sure that your core is working, making sure that your spine is aligned properly, that you have

00:20:04.520 that proper pelvic alignment before you go right into your squats. But also doing stuff at the end

00:20:11.360 of your workout to ensure that your muscles can relax so that you can get back to what you like doing

00:20:19.380 more quickly with less soreness and not feel as sore the next day. But yes, so a few minutes every day

00:20:30.780 is good. I would also recommend doing at least two workouts a week, even if it's only 20 minutes or 30

00:20:38.200 minutes of where you're just focusing on yoga, where you're just focusing on getting better at the poses

00:20:46.320 or working deeper into your range of motion. Just like your strength, your flexibility needs attention.

00:20:52.240 So you can spend all five of those workouts working on strength, or you could take the time and make

00:21:00.000 one of those workouts about flexibility. Because ultimately, if you become more flexible, you'll get

00:21:07.120 stronger. If you can increase your range of motion, you'll get stronger. So people very often will say,

00:21:17.020 no, I don't want to do yoga, I need to do weights today. Or like, I need to know I need to I need to

00:21:21.640 do squat day. Well, you could keep doing lifting weight, I mean, you could keep lifting weights five

00:21:28.060 times per week. Or you could get better results by lifting three times per week, doing yoga twice per

00:21:34.240 week. And then right using the two to complement each other, instead of just going strength, strength,

00:21:39.080 strength, strength, strength, strength, do strength, flexibility. And then the next day, like,

00:21:42.940 okay, my muscles are a little longer now, I have more bodily awareness, let's go a little deeper

00:21:47.860 and let's up the weight. So, you know, it's kind of like a, a pendulum going back and forth, that

00:21:55.300 goes further in each direction each time. So you can get the more, the more you lift, potentially,

00:22:03.060 the more flexible you can get, the more flexible you can get, the more you lift, and you can just kind

00:22:09.020 keep going back and forth between those. Right? Yeah, it's actually interesting, you're talking

00:22:13.720 about this, I'm putting the finishing touches on a show that we're releasing the first part of

00:22:19.220 February, which is today that we're recording. And it's by Chris Duffin, who is a power lifter. And at

00:22:26.480 one point, he held the record for the heaviest back squat, 881 pounds was the back squat that he did. 0.78

00:22:32.440 Holy crap. 0.64

00:22:33.080 Yeah, unbelievable. And he talks a lot about more about not, not so much weights, but more about 0.97

00:22:40.060 the function, more about the correct movement, more about aligning your spine, like you're talking

00:22:44.420 about, because when you get those movements correctly, essentially, and this is the term

00:22:48.680 he used is you're unlocking your strength when you do the move correctly. And 99% of the people out

00:22:55.160 there don't. So they're actually limiting their ability to lift heavier, which obviously means that

00:23:00.920 they'll get stronger. Yeah, absolutely. And that's exactly what we're talking about. When for example,

00:23:06.740 when you looked at my perfect squat program, that's exactly what we do. We slow down, we focus and make

00:23:11.860 sure that you're doing everything properly, instead of you just jumping straight into a movement without

00:23:17.460 knowing if you have all the proper components. I want so I want to jump into this other component of

00:23:22.560 it, which you briefly skimmed over, which was meditation. Because when I think of yoga, and I think a lot

00:23:27.340 of guys that are listening to this, especially if they're not familiar with it, kind of like I am,

00:23:30.920 think about, oh, it's this guy sitting in a meditation pose, and you just sit there and you

00:23:35.580 think about life or whatever it is. And so tell me how that plays into the type of yoga that you're

00:23:42.060 teaching. Well, the thing is, and this is where people a lot of yoga people think I'm crazy, because

00:23:47.460 I don't meditate with my yoga. 99.9% of people who do yoga combine meditation with yoga. And to

00:23:56.820 separate the two is blasphemy. Yeah, I'm sure. You know, so, but the thing is, you don't have to

00:24:05.980 meditate to do the exercises involved in yoga, you can do a warrior two pose, you can do a high lunge,

00:24:14.140 you can do a down dog without meditating. Inevitably, there starts to form a movement meditation,

00:24:22.040 because you're simply focusing on your body so much. And you're focusing on your, your breath,

00:24:29.500 that, you know, something starts to happen. But it's the same as when you're exercising, you know,

00:24:36.040 you can get kind of lost in the moment there as well. It's, it's, it's, it's very similar. I wouldn't

00:24:42.100 say that it's the same extent, you kind of have to try it to know what I'm talking about.

00:24:46.320 But in terms of meditation, I do this separately from my workouts, I do yoga, and then I do meditation

00:24:55.360 in the morning. There's, there's tons of different meditations, you can sit and, you know, sometimes

00:25:00.380 your mind will start thinking, you know, Oh, what do I, what do I, what does this mean? Or sometimes

00:25:07.560 you think about, yeah, sometimes I guess you'll think about the meaning of life. But sure, meditation

00:25:12.560 is whatever you want it to be. So for me, I like to focus on meditation for mental performance.

00:25:19.820 I actually didn't start meditating because of yoga, I started meditating because I heard of people 0.84

00:25:25.920 like Tim Ferriss and Dave Asprey, and other people who are focused on, you know, kicking ass and being

00:25:32.960 successful people, hearing them say, Oh, I meditate for this. And so when I meditate, I do it from I do it

00:25:41.460 for mental performance, I do it to clear my head, so that I can focus more on what I need to get done 0.97

00:25:47.800 instead of thinking about frivolous crap. Meditation for me for mental performance, that starts out all

00:25:54.600 there's no thinking about life or thinking about the meaning of life. It's simply focusing on your breath

00:26:01.020 and your body and focusing on the relationship between the two. And then whenever you start to think

00:26:07.720 about something else, you know, when you have a thought, so to speak, you don't, you don't hit

00:26:13.340 yourself and say, Oh, no, I had a thought. Ah, fuck, I messed up. It's not about, you know, 1.00

00:26:20.340 in meditation isn't about not having a thought at all, because that's impossible. We all rank a

00:26:25.600 meditation, meditation involves you recognizing that you had a thought, and then returning back to your

00:26:32.120 breathing. So your inner, your inner dialogue for meditation to be, okay, I'm thinking about my

00:26:38.320 breathing. I'm inhaling, I feel my chest expanding, I feel my neck lengthening, I feel my core tightening,

00:26:45.020 I'm exhaling, I feel my body going lower, going lower. Okay, now I'm thinking about going into the

00:26:52.140 pool and swimming. Oh, wait, I'm thinking about why am I thinking about the pool, go back to your breath.

00:26:56.800 You know, and that's meditation. It doesn't mean thinking about, again, it doesn't mean thinking

00:27:02.780 about, you know, your philosophy or your meaning or the meaning of life. It's, it's, uh, it's really

00:27:08.420 whatever you want. So to answer your question, meditation, uh, on a very basic level, it's focusing

00:27:14.100 on the relationship between your breath and your body to help clear your head. What, uh, let's talk

00:27:19.080 about, let's shift gears a little bit here and talk about nutrition. Obviously you look at your

00:27:22.680 pictures, you're a guy who's in great shape. Uh, what does your nutrition regimen look like? And

00:27:27.200 how do you build that into your, the workouts and the yoga that you're doing as well?

00:27:31.860 My nutritional guideline to, to the kind of the one principle that I follow is what are you putting

00:27:40.700 in your body in terms of what your body is currently doing or will do later or what has been just done?

00:27:47.460 Um, so it always depends on the situation that I'm currently in, what I've just finished or what

00:27:54.380 I'm preparing to do. If it's breakfast, it means eating protein. If it means, if it's lunch, it means

00:27:59.880 having something that doesn't slow me down, but gives me energy without sugar. If it's evening,

00:28:05.020 it's having lots of fats and lots of protein to make my body tired. You know, I don't count macros.

00:28:10.500 I don't count calories. I, I actually wrote a diet. It's called the man flow diet. And that's,

00:28:17.480 that's what I personally do. But to sum it up, it's a combination of diet influenced by Tony Robbins,

00:28:26.900 by paleo principles, and also by Dave Asprey and the Bulletproof diet. So it's, it's a lot of fats.

00:28:36.480 It's complex, complex carbs. It's healthy or well-sourced proteins, mostly salmon and grass-fed

00:28:46.640 beef or organic chicken and eggs. It's simple. And I don't, I don't count things. Right. It's

00:28:54.360 really simple. Well, and I think here's, what's interesting when it comes to diets is what I'm

00:28:58.200 running across is I think the more complex the diet is, the more that people believe that it's

00:29:03.700 actually going to work when in all reality, everybody knows what they should be eating and

00:29:08.540 what they should be doing. I really like when you talked about the way that you feel. I remember

00:29:13.320 three years ago, I was really, really out of shape. And just over the past two and three years,

00:29:17.220 I've started to get back into shape. And I remember at lunchtime, I would go eat a big greasy burger

00:29:21.980 from Burger King or wherever it was. And I would come back to the office and I would be just exhausted,

00:29:27.600 just so tired and lazy. And I just want to sit there. And so I really liked the concept of thinking

00:29:33.500 and of how your body will respond to that food when it comes to making decisions about what to put

00:29:38.320 into your body. I mean, it's weird. Once you, once you start not weird, but it's awesome. Once you

00:29:43.480 start realizing what your, what food does to your body and how you feel, once you, once you can draw

00:29:49.300 that connection, then you don't want to eat crappy food anymore. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Good point.

00:29:55.620 So I'm going to share my ignorance on this subject a little bit with you here in that I'm curious if

00:30:01.960 there's some mistakes that people make as they consider implementing yoga into their, into their

00:30:08.640 life. Is there some things that we should be aware of or some red flags that we need to avoid? Talk to

00:30:13.400 me a little bit about that. Sure. Um, so in my experience with people who integrate yoga into their

00:30:19.580 life in a, let's say less than positive way is, is people who go into a yoga studio and try to replicate

00:30:29.000 what everybody else is doing. Hmm. So there's a big problem with people. And this is kind of

00:30:35.900 particularly what, what I do. There's a, there's a big problem with people who go into a yoga studio

00:30:40.260 and expect to do what someone with a completely different body type is doing. And also yoga

00:30:49.000 instructors who don't know how to deal with people who have different body types of the people they're

00:30:55.340 used to teaching, um, or who lack anatomical knowledge or being able to cue people correctly

00:31:03.760 into poses. So my, my biggest caution to people who want to start yoga is to be careful about the

00:31:14.640 type of yoga that you're going to and do your research on the instructor beforehand. So make sure

00:31:22.880 that the person that you're going to is someone who fits your goals. And if you're listening to this

00:31:28.260 podcast right now, and you're thinking like, I already have flexibility. I already have core strength,

00:31:33.140 but I'm kind of interested in learning how to be more mindful, or I'd like to seek a more stress

00:31:39.380 relieving type of yoga, then find a yoga for that. I'm not bashing it at all. It, I think that has a

00:31:45.340 great place. I think that sometimes it's, it's what people need. Um, you know, you'd be surprised,

00:31:52.500 you'd be surprised about what you want, what you think you want until you actually go in and try and

00:31:58.560 realize what you want or what you need. So there are tons of different kinds of yogas and there are

00:32:04.780 lots of different teachers with many different approaches. So just be aware of that and find an

00:32:11.360 approach that works for you and what you're seeking. Right. So are there some resources?

00:32:16.800 Obviously we can go to your site and check that out. And I'm going to give you an opportunity to

00:32:19.440 share that because I think it's a valuable resource, but are there some other things that

00:32:23.020 we need to be aware of? So somebody is listening to this and they're saying to themselves,

00:32:25.700 I really like this. I like this concept. This makes sense. This resonates with me.

00:32:29.200 What do I do now? Where do I go from here? So last month I launched the Manflow Yoga members area.

00:32:37.920 And this is my, this is where I put everything that I can in terms of what I promote. So teaching

00:32:45.940 people how to do yoga for physical fitness with specific workouts, focusing on hip flexibility,

00:32:51.720 focusing on core strength, focusing on proper core engagement. And that is where you can go to

00:32:57.320 create a workout program and to get the resources that you need to talk about all the benefits that

00:33:03.640 we've been discussing this whole time. This is what Manflow Yoga is for. This is so that you can get

00:33:08.840 all the benefits of yoga without the other BS. This is a no nonsense, no, no frills approach to physical

00:33:16.600 fitness of yoga. So, and I think that makes a ton of sense. I mean, that's obviously we're talking

00:33:21.700 to men on this podcast and the name of your brand is Manflow Yoga. So it makes sense. Generally

00:33:26.040 speaking, this is what guys are looking for. They don't want a lot of the fluff and the BS. They

00:33:29.960 just want to get to work and see the results. Yeah, exactly. I love it. And if you, again,

00:33:35.360 if you do, if you want to try it out in person, if you, if you want to experience for yourself in terms

00:33:40.480 of finding a yoga studio, find one that's local to you, look at the website, look at the bio of the

00:33:45.280 instructors, see what they like to chat about on their Instagram or on their social media.

00:33:50.280 And then you can determine, you know, what you want based on that. Right, right. Well, Dean,

00:33:56.080 we're winding down on time. I'm going to ask you a question that I ask all of my guests. And that

00:33:59.540 question is, what does it mean to be a man? It's a good question. So I think some people,

00:34:06.740 when they say, what does it mean to be a man? I shy away from using the phrase real men, because 0.55

00:34:14.560 in actuality, real men don't listen to statements like that. I think real men have the independence,

00:34:24.660 have the drive, have the respectfulness to determine a philosophy that works for them,

00:34:34.560 to determine a course of action that works for them, and have the drive or the fortitude

00:34:42.720 attitude to act on their thinking. I think that a lot of guys get distracted by thinking about what

00:34:51.900 they should be doing, and don't listen to their intuition enough, or don't implement knowledge

00:34:58.420 that they've taken the time to learn. So I think that a man is someone who's confident,

00:35:05.240 who does what he feels is the right course of action, and acts upon his thoughts. That's short,

00:35:13.840 and you know, that's a long topic. But we could go, and I'm 46 episodes into this podcast. As of

00:35:21.420 today, by the time your podcast is released, it'll be about 50. And we're not even scratching the

00:35:27.380 surface on what it means to be a man and masculinity. But I do appreciate your answer and a lot of valuable

00:35:32.240 information in there. So Dean, you shared with us a little bit about what's on your site, but you

00:35:36.120 didn't tell us where to go. So tell us how, if we're interested in connecting with you,

00:35:39.620 learning a little bit more about what you do, how do we connect? How do we reach out to you?

00:35:42.900 Sure. Well, you can go to my website at manflowyoga.com, M-A-N-F-L-O-W-Yoga.com.

00:35:52.380 And if you visit my, my giveaway there for your contact information is my book,

00:35:58.840 The Road to Yoga Ripped. And that is a, an ebook with tons of different articles on a variety of

00:36:07.840 subjects that basically gets you into the mindset of what it means and what it takes to get yoga

00:36:15.060 ripped. Um, and then of course there's also my eBooks on there, the members area, seven day free

00:36:23.000 trial. And I didn't mention this, but I wrote an ebook called Yoga Basics for Men published it

00:36:28.760 on Amazon that went number one in four categories when it was released. Really? Yes. Well done.

00:36:35.720 Thank you. Um, and that was over a year ago, but if you're looking for the basics to yoga and you'd

00:36:44.420 rather not watch a video at first and you just want to use a book to learn how to do it, what's the

00:36:51.220 benefit? What is it targeting? And some helpful notes along with demonstrations. Yoga Basics for

00:36:58.140 Men is the best way that you can learn yoga. So that ebook, um, is a really awesome tool.

00:37:07.560 Well, Dean, I appreciate you coming on the show, taking some of your time. This is a, uh, a topic

00:37:11.000 that I am interested in. I've never discussed it before. So what you've shared with me has been

00:37:15.840 valuable and I'm ready to look into more. So I appreciate you taking your time and sharing with us

00:37:19.080 today. Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me on the show. There you have it, man. Mr. Dean Pullman

00:37:25.500 sharing his insights into how and why every man should consider implementing yoga into the health

00:37:30.440 and fitness routine they have going on. Again, I want to personally invite you to join me and the

00:37:34.680 rest of the men in the iron council this week alone, where we talk about leveling up your network

00:37:38.640 will provide more than enough value to cover your investment. In fact, the strategies that we're

00:37:44.220 covering this week as the same strategies I've used to be able to connect with so many amazing guests

00:37:48.900 for this show. So head to order of man.com slash iron council to get started right away. And again,

00:37:53.960 all the details of the show can be found at order of man.com slash zero five six. You can also join in

00:37:59.260 the conversation we're having about masculinity in our Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups

00:38:03.920 slash order of man guys. I look forward to talk with you next week, but until then take action

00:38:08.860 and become the man you were meant to be. Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast.

00:38:15.100 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

00:38:19.140 We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - April 12, 2016

OoM 056： Why Every Man Should Consider Yoga with Dean Pohlman

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