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Getting healthier doesn’t always begin with a dramatic transformation. Sometimes it starts by rolling out of bed at 5 a.m., getting on the exercise bike, and keeping one small promise to yourself.

In this episode, we sit down with Holly LaRose, founder of Practice of Ascent, to talk about how her approach to fitness grew from wanting to look fit into becoming more capable. Holly shares how indoor cycling led to half-marathon training, trail running, mountaintop yoga, and a deeper understanding of what her body and mind can do. We also get into breathwork, recovery, vegetarian nutrition, raising active kids, and the practical realities of prioritizing your health while managing a demanding job and family. It turns out the exercise bike works better when it isn’t being used as a clothing rack.

This conversation isn’t about following one perfect routine or collecting medals. It’s about finding the path of least resistance, building habits that support the rest of your life, and continuing to challenge yourself as your definition of progress changes. Holly reminds us that motivation comes and goes, but keeping promises to yourself can create momentum that lasts.

• Build a fitness routine around the time and resources you actually have
• Replace unreliable motivation with promises you’re willing to keep
• Use yoga and intentional breathing to support training and recovery
• Balance carbohydrates, protein, and preparation as an active vegetarian
• Reframe physical challenges as opportunities to build confidence and capability

Consistency is easy to talk about when your gym, schedule, and body are all cooperating. This week, none of those things lined up perfectly. After ten days away from his normal gym—including travel for a family funeral—Alex checks in at 164.4 pounds, five workouts, six days on his macros, and roughly 16,000 steps per day. The numbers matter, but the bigger win was finding a way to keep moving without ideal conditions.

We get into how Alex adjusted his workouts around a home gym and a small hotel setup, why a cable machine and a few dumbbells can be enough, and how exercise substitutions helped him stay consistent. We also talk honestly about the less enjoyable part: nagging arm and shoulder pain. Alex shares what his doctor recommended, Aaron explains how he modified his own chest training, and we discuss the important difference between normal training discomfort and pain that tells you to stop.

This check-in is a reminder that progress rarely looks perfect. Sometimes the unsexy work is getting your steps in on the road. Sometimes it’s lowering the weight, changing the movement, or accepting that one awkward machine is the smarter choice. The goal isn’t to force the original plan. It’s to keep showing up without turning a small problem into a bigger one.

• Adapt your training routine when travel limits your equipment.
• Make a small hotel gym work with creative exercise choices.
• Recognize the difference between muscle discomfort and actual pain.
• Substitute movements that aggravate an injury without abandoning training.
• Track progress through habits instead of relying only on the scale.

00:00 Week eight fitness check-in
00:27 Staying consistent while traveling
02:04 Macros and daily step totals
03:19 Ten days without a full gym
04:17 Getting an arm injury checked
05:17 Aaron’s shoulder pain and workout changes
07:47 Choosing exercises that don’t hurt
09:07 Using AI to find replacement exercises
09:39 DEXA expectations and body-composition progress

Building an impressive physique is one thing. Rebuilding your life when everything falls apart is something else entirely.

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron’s bodybuilding coach, Lloyd Welch, for an honest conversation about the experiences behind his decades in fitness. Lloyd shares how childhood trauma initially shaped his desire to become strong, how a supportive gym community gave him structure, and why bodybuilding became an important part of his mental well-being. He also opens up about losing his mom, struggling with depression, gaining significant weight, and eventually asking for help when he realized he couldn’t recover alone.

We also get practical about training and nutrition. Lloyd explains why years of hard lifting produced limited growth until he learned to fuel his body, why carbs aren’t automatically the enemy, and how labeling food as “good” or “bad” can create a cycle of restriction, guilt, and giving up. His approach isn’t about finding one perfect diet. It’s about finding numbers, foods, and habits you can realistically sustain.

Whether you’re returning after a setback or walking into a gym for the first time, Lloyd’s advice is refreshingly simple: don’t wait until your plan is flawless. Find a meaningful reason to change, take one manageable step, and give yourself enough grace to take another tomorrow.

• Identify a sustainable nutrition strategy that fits your real life
• Understand why adequate fuel matters when building muscle
• Break the all-or-nothing cycle that turns one meal into months off track
• Start exercising without expecting yourself to follow an advanced routine
• Use structure, support, and a meaningful “why” to keep moving forward

Fitness progress rarely announces itself with a dramatic transformation. Sometimes it looks like completing six workouts, following your macros most of the week, and finally becoming enough of a gym regular that people start fist-bumping you.

In this week-seven Unsexy Coaching check-in, we review Alex’s progress, the small signs that his consistency is paying off, and the plan for building muscle while gradually losing fat. We also get honest about how long natural muscle growth actually takes, why comparing yourself to enhanced physiques creates unrealistic expectations, and how an upcoming trip affects the decision to maintain rather than jump into a full bulk.

The conversation also covers an arm issue that Alex has been conveniently avoiding, modifying exercises that cause pain, adapting when the gym closes, and taking progress photos before you think you are ready. None of this is medical advice—we are simply sharing what we are experiencing and the decisions we are making along the way.

The visible changes matter, but the bigger win is learning to recognize progress while it is happening. Forty days is not very long. Showing up consistently for those forty days is the part that counts.

• Recognize progress signals that do not appear on the scale
• Understand why natural muscle growth requires realistic timelines
• Balance muscle-building goals with short-term fat-loss priorities
• Modify your training when an exercise causes unusual pain
• Document your starting point before visible changes begin

00:00 Week seven coaching check-in
02:25 Steps, consistency, and becoming a gym regular
06:44 Working around arm pain and a closed gym
10:05 Building muscle while losing fat
13:15 The realistic timeline for natural muscle growth
16:23 Adding effective core exercises
18:08 When exercise pain means it is time to adjust
20:34 Forty-day results and the value of progress photos

Ever wonder what it really takes to transform your body and compete at the national level? This week, Aaron and Alex sit down with Melissa Rhodehouse—certified personal trainer, certified nutritionist, and 2020 Mrs. Idaho—to break down the reality of fitness, nutrition, and discipline. From tracking every meal to grinding through leg day with a torn Achilles, Melissa shares why your scale doesn't tell the whole story, reveals her famous "snack hacks" that actually taste good, and explains why having a coach is non-negotiable. Whether you're prepping for a competition or just trying to show up for yourself, you'll learn how small daily habits, consistency, and the right mindset can completely rebuild your body.

What You'll Learn:

• The difference between chasing "skinny" and chasing "strong"
• How to build sustainable nutrition habits without giving up treats
• Why women won't get bulky from lifting weights (the myth debunked)
• The power of accountability in reaching your goals
• How to stay motivated when cutting calories for competition prep
• Real talk on overcoming setbacks and injuries

Fitness progress gets frustrating when you’re doing the work but can’t see enough change in the mirror. The scale stays the same, progress photos look suspiciously familiar, and suddenly your brain is demanding another DEXA scan just to prove something is happening.

In this check-in episode, we talk honestly about the mental side of changing your body. Alex shares his latest weight, workouts, macros, and growing step count while wrestling with the fear that his progress isn’t real. Aaron explains why he deals with the same doubts—even when his coach, his habits, and other people can see changes he struggles to recognize.

We get into weight fluctuations, progress photos, long-term goals, reward meals, and the danger of expecting a few weeks of good habits to erase years of inconsistent ones. We also discuss why reaching one goal doesn’t mean the work is finished and how having something meaningful to work toward can keep you from slipping back into old patterns.

The lesson isn’t that you should ignore results. It’s that daily evidence can be noisy. When your workouts, nutrition, sleep, and routines are consistently moving in the right direction, sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop interrogating the mirror and keep showing up.

• Recognize why daily weight changes rarely tell the whole story
• Use photos and outside feedback to notice gradual physical progress
• Focus on repeatable behaviors when visible results feel too slow
• Set a longer-term target that extends beyond one event or number
• Build sustainable habits that can continue after the original goal

Joshua Varozza didn't become a success story overnight. At 404 pounds with a history of heart problems, he made the decision that would change everything—but it wasn't one decision. It was a series of uncomfortable, sometimes hilarious, occasionally dangerous choices that led him from morbidly obese to the cut guy at the gym. In this episode, Josh sits down with Alex and Aaron to talk about gastric surgery in Mexico, peptide protocols, gym discipline, and the stuff nobody wants to talk about: loose skin, food addiction, and the very real question of whether you can actually keep the weight off.

What You'll Learn:

• Why Josh waited until a heart attack to get serious about his health—and why that wakeup call almost came too late
• The real (and kinda wild) story of getting gastric sleeve surgery in Tijuana—what nobody tells you before you go
• How peptides and semaglutide fit into a transformation when you've already lost 150 pounds the hard way
• The gym habits, nutrition struggles, and discipline it actually takes to keep weight off (and why it's so much harder than people think)
• Why loose skin and self-doubt are the real battle scars of transformation—and why they're worth it
• The unglamorous truth: there's no shortcut to sustainable health, but there are smarter ways to do it

Alex and Aaron break down their unsexy approach to real fitness results during an honest gym check-in session. This week covers macro increases, the power of consistency over intensity, and some hard truths about gym etiquette that nobody wants to hear. You'll learn why dropping your ego (and your weight) actually leads to better gains, how the compound effect of daily habits creates real transformation, and why most people sabotage themselves without even realizing it. No BS fitness advice, just two guys doing the work and sharing what's actually working.

What You Will Learn:

• How consistency, not motivation, is the actual secret to achieving your goals
• Why progressive overload and proper form beat ego lifting every single time
• How small, compounding daily habits add up to major results
• Real gym etiquette that everyone should know
• The truth about macros, macro cycling, and why increasing them might be your next move

On this episode of Unsexy Businessmen, we sit down with Ashlee Crofts—a registered nurse, mindset coach, and real person who's built a life most people think is impossible. Ashlee walks us through her raw 8-year sobriety journey, her 10-year health rebuild from 263 pounds to 125 pounds, and the unglamorous, repetitive habits that actually stick.

Forget the buzzwords and quick fixes. This is about radical honesty with yourself, why discipline beats motivation every single time, and how the most boring routines—meal prepping the same thing daily, hitting the gym at the same time, tracking everything—are the secret to real results. Ashlee breaks down the difference between using tools (like GLP-1s and IV therapy) and letting tools use you, why you can't do it just for your kids, and how celebrating small wins keeps you moving forward when the path gets dark.

Perfect for anyone tired of hype and ready to understand why unsexy actually works.

In this episode, Alex and Aaron dive into their weekly fitness check-in, getting real about the ups and downs of staying consistent at the gym. They break down why some days feel like shit even when you're doing everything right—the macros, the sleep, the form—and why showing up matters more than hitting PRs. You'll learn how to get honest feedback on your training form, why incremental progress beats chasing big gains, and the mindset shift that keeps you going when motivation takes a day off. Whether you're a gym bro or just trying to build better habits, Alex and Aaron prove that success isn't always sexy—it's just about putting in the work, trusting the process, and knowing when to dial it back.

What You'll Learn:

• Why consistency beats intensity every single time
• How to get proper form critiques (and why you need them)
• The real reason you had a bad gym day (hint: it's usually one of 5 things)
• Why incremental macro adjustments work better than drastic changes
• The mindset hack that keeps you showing up