40. Hard To Make The Right Choices? Damn Right. Mark Knows

Virtual Truck Driver Meeting, Call Kim Sytsma-Hill 905 765 3445

To reach Mark of "The Trucking Fitness Company"

Website: https://truckinfit.com/ourprogram/
Contact email: thetruckingfitness@gmail.com
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Keeping it Safety Dawg Simple!

Transcript

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And welcome to another episode of the Dawg On It Trucking Pawedcast and we have mr. Mark Minera On the show this week, but just before we get to that, I got to say about our Uhh Virtual Truck Driver Meeting. I've got to throw that in there. Click on the link down below to get information Give Kim sties by Hill at CAIR T S a call. If you're looking for a solution to Truck Driver Meeting this Thanksgiving long weekend, the us Thanksgiving the Friday and the Saturday. We are putting on a Virtual Truck Driver Meeting don't want to keep Mark waiting. Let's bring Mark in enough of the sponsorship, marque my friend, a good to meet you. Hi, how are you? Great. Thank you for having me on Chris. I really appreciate it. Hey Mark. It's my pleasure. We are going to be talking about a subject that has kind of close to my heart because there's two areas in Trucking that I really think I have been ignored. One is mental health, but to bring you in, we are talking about truck driver for physical health. And if I can just spend a, a second here, I am really fascinated by your website and Uhh will put that the link to your website in the show notes down below, but the website says, Hey, the company was started by three founder's and you told me now already it's down to one just you, which is awesome. Congrats. Thank you. But you are treating, it says that your treating many truck drivers and you'd seen firsthand what a life, a life time of Trucking can do to your back knees, neck, and shoulder. And you also understand that it's a very high stress job causing high blood pressure obesity. And because of the truck drivers livelihood, it also causes a lack of sleep, which contributes to all kinds of stuff, such as diabetes. So you decided to focus on, well, why with all of that you've started a business. Why did you decide to focus on a truck drivers? Yeah, so it, it all comes back down to actually a couple of months ago. So I'm in physical therapy school in st. Louis, Missouri at a small school there And I during our school, we have our clinicals where we work for 10 to 15 weeks at different Uhh clinics and get practice in my last clinical, we Uhh, I saw a bunch of truck drivers, and I just saw guys who were doing 30 or 40 years of Trucking I and I just saw it. It was a lifetime. Have they been in the business and it's been, you know, dr. And make money in it. They didn't have time to stop and focus on their long term health. And I just saw the, a buildup of all of these years of being sedentary, and it really caught up to them in the long run. So what did you see, a, what were some of the evidences of poor health when you say it, it caught up to them in the long run. What did you see in their bodies? Well, you know, I think the, the biggest thing that I saw was, well, I was actually in the clinic and a, what really caused this idea was I was treating a truck driver who just got a total knee replacement. And he was just telling me about his lifestyle is telling me about, you know, he goes out for weeks on end, and then it comes back and just how hard working he was, and just really humble guy and Phi with some diabetes, some being overweight. And I'm just talking about kind of his day-to-day life and how it is. It's just tough to get exercised in. And the other aspect of that he talked about was just, you know, how Trucking I is not super physically taxing, but the mental aspect is crazy. And, and you get it done driving a full day of driving, and you don't want to say, okay, what do I need to do exercise today? So I the actual, the sparks, the idea of the Company came from, Hey men. What if there was a, an app on your phone with an exercise program that gave you exactly what you needed to do was build for truck drivers and you didn't have to think about it and you could do it right there in your truck or right outside of your truck. So that's what I love the idea it came. All right. So what I mean, that's an awesome idea. What have you done to bring it to market? Yes. So we have, right now we have an app on the phone and we've got multiple programs depending on your level, right? We've got some drivers that exercise on a consistent basis, but just don't want to have to re you know, wanna have a little bit more structure in their workouts. So we've got workouts for their ability. And then we've got those people that have an exercise in 30, 40 years, or maybe never exercise consistently Uhh in their life. So we've got a beginner program that kind of helps them give you an easy entry point into starting. So when you join the program, we have an onboarding process that of our coaches then puts you into the program. That's is best fitted for you. And it's a, we also have to understand that you don't have all day and a half an hour to work out in the most time. You know, some people might have that time, but a majority of truck drivers are start in non-stop all day driving. There are some periods where he might have a break, you know, you know, or some downtime, but are all of our workouts are 20 to 30 minutes long, and they're just meant for you to have something to do. And it is, they are, they're designed for a truck drivers. And when you look at some of the evidence on kind of, what's the major points of discomfort and other areas have aches and pains that truck drivers face, then our programs that are designed specifically for that. So give me an example. You mentioned your working with a driver who had two problems that I remember I'm getting into diabetes, but he just had a knee replacement, was a knee replacement due to a Trucking. Well, you know, that's, that's hard to say it in that case that I think that was back a couple of months ago, and that was actually in the clinic. I, I don't work with him online because of some regulations of the school versus business stuff. But, you know, I think that in his case, the years of not exercising the years of, you know, being in his knee, being stuck in a certain position. And actually, if I remember now, he was saying he's been having knee issues since the nineties. So, you know, I, I think for his case, I wouldn't say Trucking specific. Okay. Was he overweight though? Yes. Yeah. And that was something that we talked about. And then, and that is something that, you know, when I first started looking into this, that was something that kinda hit me right in the face was, you know, when you look at it, I think 85% of truck drivers are overweight, which is about 20% higher than the national average win in the United States. I'm sure it's very similar in Canada two. And then almost 50% of truck drivers are obese, which is higher than the national average to. And so our goal is to really try to help. And I don't think anyone is really Meeting truck drivers to where they're at and helping and giving them the tools to make it easy for them in a day. Because what I see is that it's not a lack of knowledge. I think it's a lack it's I think it is actually an abundance of knowledge because when you start, when you Google exercise, you get millions and millions and millions of things to do, and then it gets so that, and when you add it in the mental fatigue aspect of it, it's just impossible for these people to say, okay, I guess I'm going to do this today, or should I do this today? Or should I do say, and I'm my goal is to say, I'm in the physical therapy field. I understand your lifestyle. Here's what you need to do. Here are the tools you can be mentally fatigued. You can be fresh in the morning, but what matters is, is that your showing up and you're being consistent. Yeah, I, I, I consistency is a big thing. Just about the lifestyle though. I remember when I was a driver, one of the things, you know, when you're overweight, you get tired easier. And then so they have to stay awake while you're driving. One of the things I used to do is eat'cause of course, the motion of, of your hand reaching into a bag of potato chips. For instance, along with having a Coke would keep me awake. So the motion and the eating and, you know, it was just lovely. And you're also right in that, by the end of the day, most drivers, or at least I was, I was stressed, not stressed out, but I was fatigued because of the mental jostling that your brain does in order to drive an 18 Wheeler safely down the road. It is fatiguing. And the last thing I wanted to do was work out. Yeah. So, yeah. And, and I think that a lot of truck drivers in your situation, and I think that all, probably all of them would agree that they need to be exercising in some aspect. But when you combined all of those factors, it's a lot easier to say, no, I'll do it tomorrow. So what we're trying to do is cut away all of those barriers and give them the easiest path of saying, I'm going to commit to this. I'm going to do this. I don't have to, I don't have to do any more mentally fatigued. I don't have to be mentally fatigued and I'm going to open up the app and just follow the exercises and go. Right. Okay. So it's an app. How do we know if I was a truck? What are some of the things I'm going to be doing? Do you have me a running 10 miles? Okay. No, no. All of the workouts are 20 to 30 minutes long and yeah. Yeah. I have an exercise in years. I don't know how long 10 miles would take me. Well, you can't drive to miles. Well, you can draw out of 10 miles and tell you, I don't know. All right, sorry. Well, you know, you can run 10 miles in 20 minutes, but one of the, the other things that we saw was a barrier for a truck drivers were saying, okay, well, a lot of the truck drivers are, we talked about, we were saying, well, I want to exercise, but I can't go and drive to the local gym. I don't have room in my truck to bring a bunch of equipment. So one of the ways that were getting over that, and we're saying, Hey, let's cut out that excuse or let's cut out that barrier. That's stopping you, is all of our exercises, our body weight and resistance spans only. So when you sign up for our program, we send you a resistance band for free, and you've got all of the equipment to do that you need. And then from there based off of the program that we feel is best for you. If it's winter at a time and it's snowing, we've got exercise or workouts that you can do in your truck. If it's nice outside and you feel safe in your environment, we've got exercise or workouts that you can do right outside of your truck. And I think those couple of factors really make it easy and cut some of the excuses. But I don't like even saying the excuses, but cut out some of the things that have stopped people in the past. Yeah. I think your word barrier was the right one ware because you're right. That the Driver most gyms, you can take an 18 Wheeler to the gym and a truck driver can't drop his trailer just anywhere. And, and Bob Taylor drive his tractor over to the gym because the trailer isn't going to be there when he comes back, somebody will have stolen it by then. And also there are some real barriers for truck drivers to get exercise. So I love this, but you said I can do some of the, the workouts or some of the exercises in the cab. And there's other ones that you've designed to be done right next door to the truck. Exactly. And you know what, I don't want it to say w there are other people out there trying to help truck drivers. And, and I think it's awesome. And I think whatever, I think different people, you know, like different types of programs, right. And kind of a match with different people's personalities and different companies and everything like that. But what I saw was that there wasn't anyone doing it well enough or big enough that it's changing these statistics right now. If you sign up to be a truck driver, your life expectancy goes down by 16 years. Right. And that's one, a a hundred percent because of the systemic stigma, that's in the trucking industry right now that I'm a, Trucker, I'm not healthy. I don't have time to exercise. And our mission right now is to change that stigma and to give a truck drivers the ability to say, yeah, I'm a Trucker, but I'm not going to let my career define my health. And I know that I have more barriers that I have to jump over, but I know I can do this. And I've got a family at home. I've got, you know, goals and aspirations after Trucking that I don't want my health to get in the way of it. And, you know, it's unfortunate that your Absolutely dead. On when you say, how about the shortened lifespan? And that is so true. So many trucker truck drivers Dai in their sixties, M and miss out on the grand children and miss out on, you know, a, a great retirement, because in Trucking you can make it, you know, and you're never going to be a millionaire as a truck driver, but you can make a damn good living as a truck driver, and you're going to miss out on all that. So one of the things that I like about the program is one, believe it or not. And by the way, for the listeners and the Watchers, I don't get any commission for this, but, you know, I like the fact that Mark's charging because for most of us, if we pay for it, if we have skin in the game, we are more, somehow we stick to it better because it was Mark, you kind of, you didn't mention it, but you have competition out there. A lot of which is free. I mean, you can go to YouTube and, and Google, I'm a truck driver exercises, and there's a lot of YouTube videos. I've seen some, but for some reason, the human beings that we are, if we don't, you know, put something into it, we are committed and by paying for it. So there's a saying and skin in the game, I forget what the words or do you know what it is? No, I totally understand what she was saying. And I completely agree. There is some aspect of you to just take it more seriously. And, you know, I don't think right now, our membership's or a $25 every four weeks, or if you want to pay for the year, its$300. And a, I think that one of the big ideas that we had was that we want it to give it that easy entry point for truck drivers. And I don't think $25 is a ridiculous entry point to start. And the other aspect that I think that we had over just going to YouTube and saying, Hey, what truck driving exercise, if we can do is the accountability aspect. We're not here just for you to pay and here's your program. See it in four weeks, we are here. We are helping you build habits. We are helping you build just giving you a motivation. And the other aspect is a part of our program. And if you're wanting to be is accountability groups. So what we'll do when you sign up is if during our Welcome process, if your interested in it will sign you up with our will put you on a group message with a five to eight other truck drivers and, you know, have a weekly question to get to know each other. And that is number of one to build a community because we know that truck driving can be lonely. We understand that. And that's just as much of a mental health aspect as the physical aspect of just, you know, you go to a truck stop and there's 20 other truck drivers who have no clue who you are. They, you don't know who they are and you'll probably never see them again your life, unless you have a concern. You know, I'm sure there's drivers who have a consistent schedule, but what I'm saying is it it's lonely. And having that ability to, you know, as a part of this program is building a community of likeminded truck drivers who do know that I need you to take control of my health. I, I, I'm motivated to do that. And I can use this group. I can use a service to really build the community and a everyone grows together. And I think that's a really powerful, Well, the other part of that that's so powerful is accountability where it, if I tell you and I'm I'm, I don't read a lot, but I'm currently I'm listening to a book, the compound effect. And one of the things that he reminded me of a was the social abilities. When you make a commitment, putting out there for everybody to measure you by, don't be afraid to use social media and say, Hey, I'm doing this I'm. And in my case, I've had to lose it's over the last six months. I'm probably down 20 some lbs, not probably what I am down. Awesome well, yeah, it just, it's a commitment though. And it wasn't even very difficult. Well, I have to do is make a few wise better choices in my life, but that's all it ever is. And here's the other aspect that I wanted to bring this out. And this is, especially for those drivers who are listening and saying, okay, I love this. I want to be consistent. And you know, I think a big thing that we see all the time is here's this 30 day challenge. Here's this 90 day transformation. We're going the opposite route. My goal is not for a month from now for you to have this huge transformation. My goal is that you build a lifestyle of years and years of consistently showing up consistently making healthier and healthier decisions. And over that time, the compound effect has a long, long reward. Versus I'm going to shift to everything in my lifestyle. I'm going to eat. I'm going to be super healthy. I'm going to work out two hours a day and I could do for a month. But then reality hits. I am aware that the lifestyle of a truck driver is tough. It's non change. It it's changing every single day. You don't have a consistent schedule. And most of the time Right a lot of people or at least. And I also understand that you're not going to be able to exercise every single day there's days that you're not going to be able to do it. Ideally, we'd love for you to do it right, but it doesn't happen. I sometimes don't get my workout in because life happens. Right. But what I've heard, truck drivers who are talked to they've tried in the past and they do want to have these programs. And then they're scheduled gets all messed up on that day and they miss their workout. And then it's like a punishment by the program that they have to start over. And They, it's like all of their progress they've made in the last two weeks gets thrown to the side because they miss this one day, one day they were talking 20 years down the road one day is now to make it a break in, but we're trying to, you know, build a lifetime of, of healthier Choices and really changed the projection of, you know, where your health and wellness is going on. Right. So we're getting right near the end. So I just want to get to a couple of more important points about the program. So we've got an app. What else are you Uhh supplying with the program. We got an app and you are trying to build a community. Is there other things that are coming? Yeah. You know what? This is, I would say we are at phase two, right? And then we are in the future, had a thing, more nutrition. As I. As I graduate from physical therapy school, I'm planning on adding more rehabilitation for truck drivers. But right now our mission is you get every single truck driver. We can to exercise consistently cut away as many barriers as possible. And I think that starts by giving them something that they can do write on their phone. They have got options they can do in the truck or outside of the Truck give them all of the equipment they need. So you get a resistance band with a program and get them involved in a community of like-minded truck drivers Right now, how did you get on board it in this program? Yes. So you sign up right on our website and I can put the link so you can put it in the bio, if anyone's interesting. And from there you sign up and that triggers an email to us and we'll set it up and you fill out some forms, you'll be in contact with me and then we will place you in a program. And it's all right there on your phone and really easy to follow Of. Step-by-step nothing too difficult to get set up. All right. And if I have questions, how do I get answers? Yeah. So that's, and also another cool feature Of in the app. There is not only a group messaging with the accountability factor, but there's also a messaging to us, the coaches. So if you have a question, send a message right there. On in the app. We we'll see it. And we can message me right back in the app, but answer. Okay. And do you, besides in the app because a lot of truck drivers, some of us or not, so computer literate, but you know, especially those who are my age, because I'm an old fart and you know, I happen to like computers, but there is a lot of truck drivers who haven't had the exposure to computers or a smart phone to them is one that they talk on that they use it as a phone. And, you know, is there anything else that you are doing for them? You know what right now? No, but right now we don't have any option of right now it's just on the phone. But I think that's something that I need to take a step back and made me consider our goal is that eventually we are working with some truck driving company's and when that happens, I think that gives a lot of ability to, you know, educational handouts with, or pictures of exercises. And the other aspect of, I I'm an open book. I want to hear suggestions. I know that there are a truck drivers who have been in the game for 30 years, who probably have some really awesome ideas that I'd love to take and make it happen and use my ability of the knowledge of, you know, the exercise and health aspect and help a lot of truck drivers probably have a similar or a problem that that truck driver has two. Well, let me ask you this question, how difficult is your app to use once I've downloaded it? Yeah. So easy. Right? When you sign up on our website, it sends you an email. You click the link on our email, it'll pull right to the app store on your phone. You click download it's there. Perfect. Because that's something even I can do. Most of us, most of the truck drivers can do that. All right. They all know how to download the truck stop app and, and a few others. There you go. Yes and, and the worst of us can, most of us have children at home who are a little more easy on computers. So that way, And of course in our app is its really easy to use the home screen. You click right there on the workout. You press go. And it's just a few, you just a swipe over and there is a video right at the top, you can click and it'll show you how to do the workout. It will show you the reps that we want you to do. And then it's right there. Perfect. Mark I I think this is an awesome idea. I really do because it, as I said, mental health and physical health are two important facets of truck driving that unfortunately have been ignored. And you know, what's your typical image of a truck driver. Exactly. And, and that's the stigma and just overall a systemic problem that we are here to fight. I appreciate your effort so much for our listeners and our viewers. The link to Mark's website is down below in the show notes, give it a click, give it a try. I mean, really you don't have much to lose. So that was the 25 bucks and, you know, make a change for the better so that you or your lifespan can truthfully increase without too much effort in just making a couple of smart Choices. And I really liked the fact that you've got a community of other truck drivers that'll help coach you and you To do the right thing. Mark. Thanks so much for coming on the show today. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me and it's The Trucking Fitness Company and our website is www.truckingi.com. Thank you again. It was my pleasure. Mark thanks. I hope he loved the show as much as I did. Please leave us a, like a thumbs up a review, a comment, a rating. If it is, thank you so much. And I do really appreciate your time and join us again next week for another exciting interview.