Luke DePron: Energy, Health, and Physiques

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All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Luke Dupron with us. He is an online health and fitness coach who helps entrepreneurs improve their energy, health, and physique so they operate to their greatest potential. So welcome to the show, man.

I appreciate you having me.

Of course, man. Grateful to have you here. Uh, let's jump right into the first one, Luke. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Um, for me, it was a few years ago, probably 6 or 8 years ago. I had a pretty devastating back injury where I compressed the disc, wasn't able to walk for about 6 days. Um, had to go get physical therapy, chiropractic care, and, uh, this is a pretty traumatic event that really shifted what I did professionally, it actually led to some very unique mentorship for me where I ended up working in a chiropractic office after getting treatment and became their corrective exercise specialist. And so, for me, this kind of really highlighted something that I think we've all heard before but that we need to find the lesson in the failure. And for me, this highlighted that so clear because here was something that I wish never would have happened in this still to this day affected me and limited me in things that I can do. But, the reality is it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. This injury brought people into my life that have, again, completely shifted how I approach exercise for clients. And so, for me, yeah, it's find that lesson in the failure and that there really is no failure as long as we find that lesson in whatever it is.

And, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

That it would actually— I have two for you. So, the first is you do not have to exercise near as much as most people are led to believe. So, the industry of— the fitness industry is led by fitness models and people who they live to exercise. But for the average person or the entrepreneurs that I work with, this really isn't a realistic approach to just be in the gym 2 hours a day, 7 days a week. But the good news is you don't need to actually be in there that often. And in fact, 3 workouts per week can be really transformational both for your health and your physique. So, you do not have to do as much as you're led to believe. And then, the second is you actually don't need an in-person personal trainer. And in fact, outside of doing in-person coaching to master your biomechanics, I actually have found that by shifting to an online model, I actually have more successful transformation in the sense of lifestyle change or people who are trying to lose weight or people who are they know they need to take up working out, but they haven't been. The problem with taking on an in-personal trainer when that's the context that you're approaching it is that there's no ownership. You're basically getting pacified rather than really being empowered. So, if you're someone who's looking to step into a health and fitness practice and you don't really know where to begin, you need to lose some weight, you know you need to do the whole lifestyle side of things, I'd actually tell them not to get an in-personal trainer. The only person that should look to an in-person trainer is somebody who wants to optimize their biomechanics. And that should be a short-term process with a qualified coach or trainer. That could be done in a month's time, but you don't need that every day I come in or 3 times a week I come in for my workout with my personal trainer. That person is pacifying you instead of empowering you.

Hmm. So just a quick question to dive a little bit deeper there. Do you think then, like, is the most important thing like nutrition then?

Right.

Because let's just say, you know, you work out 3 times a week, so like every other day, then what would be the thing that keeps you fit, if you will? Is it nutrition? Is most of it?

So in my practice, there's basically 3 things. The nutrition is huge. I don't care. You can work out 7 days a week. You have poor nutrition, that's not going to get you there. So, the nutrition absolutely has to be there. Again, I could go deep on this. That doesn't have to be as crazy as most people think. You don't necessarily have to track everything that you eat. You don't have to count calories. You can dive into more principles and philosophies and that will get you there. So, that definitely needs to be involved. And then, you need to have what I'm going to call lifestyle activities. So, this could be like a pickup game of basketball, getting up, going hiking. If you're someone who lives by the coast, you could get into surfing. These can be more fun things that you do. If you have kids, going to the trampoline gym with them and bouncing around for 30 minutes, that can fill the gap of what could be some gym time in the traditional sense. But all 3 of those prongs need to work together. We have to have the lifestyle activities, which is what I'm going to call those fun things, basketball, all the stuff that hopefully you want to do. And then we have to have the nutrition cleaned up as well. And if you bring those 3 things together, that can get you, I think, where most people are really trying to go, which is a lean, athletic, healthy physique. You know, if you want to look like The Rock and you want to be this giant guy, you got to put more gym time in for sure.

Got it, got it. Okay. And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

Um, I would say focus on relationships. So I know oftentimes, um, even myself, I'm looking for tactics and, you know, marketing and software and email marketing. And, you know, I've launched a podcast and I'm learning how to do those things. But ultimately, I think the biggest piece is relationships, whether it's relationships with your clientele and your customers, you know, over-delivering for them. That's an easy way to get a referral by just showing up and, you know, being a fantastic human for them. But even relationships with, you know, other people in your industry, because again, there could be some cross-promotion, some referrals. And so I really think relationships, that whether it's, you know, I've— my business thrives off that, to be honest. I mean, that's brought me on this show with you, is a personal relationship. And so I think focus on relationships with really everyone you come into contact. I mean, let's just be awesome humans, and I think that will really serve you in business.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

I would say to get out of my comfort zone more often. So I Stepping out of my comfort zone now is something I hold dear and near to my heart. It's something I'm continuously trying to do because I see the value. I see the value of getting pushed. A lot of people stretch their comfort zones, meaning in the fitness community, like, "Oh, I'm going to run further." And that's great. There's growth there. But really stepping out, whether that's public speaking for you, taking an improv class, going and doing salsa lessons. I think there's huge value in stepping out of the comfort zone. There's gonna be huge growth there, and it might lead to something that you don't even really know that you love. It might lead to a skill set that you didn't even know you needed to acquire.

And then kind of going down a little bit of a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

So, you know, I read something the other day that really resonated with me, and it was the idea that happiness is this big esoteric concept, and that's really hard to conceptualize. Whereas if you focus on excitement, what excites you? Whether it's in your business, what tasks do you get excited to do? What activities excite you? And, you know, like, what people excite you to be around? You know, your family? Is it, again, what customers excite you? And So I really think if you focus on excitement of the task or of an activity, that's gonna lead you to happiness. And that's something I just kind of came into, literally maybe like a month ago. And that really hit home for me. It's something that I'm kind of focusing on, like, hey, let's get back to some of these things that actually excite me. Like case in point, getting back into doing more jiu-jitsu, 'cause that's something that really excites me. I think that brings the happiness.

And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

Oh, man, that's a tough one. So, I would say The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. And I think that lesson is you got to give your own unique gift to humanity. And I've heard this said another way at a conference was it's not your gift to keep. And I think oftentimes, you know, in that book, there's a lot of talk about resistance and procrastination, all things that I've struggled with as I've started to have new angles and things that I'm doing in my business. But remembering that the core concept is, hey, I want to help people. And if I stay focused on that and realize that it's, you know, it's not my gift, it's humanity's, and I have to get it out there, that can help you overcome those fears, those procrastinations.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

Favorite quote, I think I've been attributing this to the wrong person for the longest time. So, it's, "Man is not affected by events but how he perceives them." I was always under the impression that was Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I actually think it's like a Greek philosopher way, way back. But, that's something that I think is so important. I use it in my coaching philosophy but also personal life. And that like stuff's going to happen. Bad things are going to come up. There's going to be barriers. Again, we talk about nutrition. It's like you're going to go somewhere where it's not going to be ideal. In your personal life, things are going to happen. And we've all seen those people who have trauma, real trauma that we can all recognize, terrible things that happen to them, but yet they come out the other side of it clean, happy, and still able to move forward. And then on the flip side, we see somebody who, Every little thing is just misery and sorrow and nothing's going right for them. And I've really, for the longest time, bought into the fact that I can control how I feel. And so, that quote, "Man is not affected by events but how he perceives them," is something I continue to try to operate from. I have to remind myself when those things pop up because we will go into those negative emotions. And those negative thought processes. And we have to be aware that we have a choice in how we respond.

Absolutely, man. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and/or connect with you online?

Awesome. Well, uh, socially, Facebook, Instagram, uh, as well as iTunes, the podcast and the branding is all Live Great Lifestyle. Um, so again, on Facebook, Instagram, there's a— the podcast is Live Great Lifestyle. And then they connect with me on my website as well, which is LukeDepron.com. That's D-E-P-R-O-N dot com.

Perfect, man. Thanks again for jumping on.

Hey, I appreciate you bringing me on. And yeah, I've enjoyed listening to some of your past shows. So thanks again.

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