Can you imagine someone going from being a broke handyman and physical trainer on the side to becoming the creator of the bestselling fitness program in America? That was the journey Tony Horton found himself with his P90X program. He shares that the 11 laws he outlined in his book 'The Big Picture' completely changed his life, setting him on the trajectory of becoming the famed Beachbody fitness instructor.

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Due to severe life events, Tony suffered from Ramsey Hunt, which dramatically impacted his life. He couldn't eat, couldn't drink, couldn't drive, couldn't work out or even get out of bed. Join us in this episode to hear how Tony brought about transformation within his life, where he is now 64 years old and living an extraordinary life.

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Connect with Tony Horton

Websites:

https://powernationfitness.org/

https://www.tonyhortonlife.com/

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Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/tonyshorton/

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Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TonySHorton/

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Connect with Mike Forrester

https://linktr.ee/hicoachmike

Well, hello

and welcome back my friend.

Man, today, I am excited to

share with you Tony Horton.

Now, if you like me, new

Tony as the P90X guru, man,

he is so, so much more.

Um, his journey to

getting to P 90 X.

And then after that,

is absolutely amazing.

It gives encouragement for,

you know, persevering, to

keeping yourself in the driver's

seat and investing in us.

We're our best investment.

And I'm sure you're gonna

see that out of Tony's

story and how he's grown.

So Tony, how are you

doing today, my friend?

I am well,

Mike, my pleasure man.

Great being on with you today.

Well,

thank you for joining me.

Um, Tony, I'll be honest, man,

when I was doing P 90 X, wow, way,

you know, in the heyday, I loved

the workouts, except for one.

Can you guess what it was?

Yoga.

It was a yoga or plyo.

It

absolutely was, man.

Was it that like.

I know, I

know, hour and a half.

What's mad with you, Horton.

What are you up to?

What are you trying to do?

Kill us.

But

here's the crazy thing.

Dude, that was the

most vibrant workout.

And it's like, I still have to bust

it out every once in a while, Tony.

And go, all right, man, here we go.

Now my daughter, one of my

daughters on the other hand, dude,

she absolutely loves, I think

it's like looking behind you in

the car, something to do with the

car, like you're turning around.

Anyways.

Wow.

So, yeah.

Well, it

was 2004, so I don't...

Was

it really back then?

Yeah, man.

That's, it's been that long it's

just tick tock, life goes on, you

know, I can't believe it's 2022.

I was a young whipper

snapper of 42 years old.

Not anymore.

Dude.

You're still looking like

a young whipper snapper.

Let's be honest.

Come on, you look great.

Well, I'm not gonna

lie to you, I had a shoot today.

I had a shoot and I literally

came from the shoot to here.

So there is a little bit

of makeup still going

on, you know what I mean?

Which is nice for a zoom

call with you, Mike.

I, it's working out good for me.

Yeah.

Good time.

It was actually

for the zoom call, right?

It just...

Yes, yes, I

had a whole team come in.

I had a team of sculptors come

in here and start chiseling

away to, to make this thing

look like something, you know?

Oh buddy.

No.

Hey, so can we talk about

where things are for you today

on the business side of life?

You know what,

it's very cool that you ask

that question outta the box.

It's never that, you

know what I mean?

It's always sort of

the origin story.

I thought you were born in a van

down by the river, and then you

move your way up to ju- junior

high school where the kids were

beating the crap outta you.

And then, then you're you got

over your speech impediment.

So it's nice to

know where I am now.

You know, I'm I'm um, I left

Beach Body about four years ago.

They just, just, uh, the

relationship just kind of

went bad and, uh, but it

was a great 20 year run.

Without them, I wouldn't be

where I am, I mean, honestly.

So that's a good thing,

but you know, all good

things come to an end.

Uh, unfortunately it wasn't my

fault, but, uh, it is what it is.

But what happened was a lot

of doors opened up for me.

So I'm on Tonal now.

And if you don't know what Tonal

is, you can Google it tonal.com.

It's this amazing, futuristic,

incredible piece of equipment.

And I'm one of the many

trainers on the program.

And my pla, my programs are doing

quite well on there, which is nice.

Partly because I'm known and I

have a slightly different delivery

system than most trainers, which I

think is, is inviting, um, based on

my humor and, and my encouragement.

Whatever I want it, you know,

the same way I would talk to

a friend, you know, I do the

same thing on tonal and that's

been a great relationship.

Been with them for a couple years.

And about that same time

when I, I, I was sick

back in October 20- 2017.

And as I was coming outta my

illness, I was talking to some

folks to kind of create some

concoctions, protein powder,

other different things for

my gut health and whatnot.

And I, I met with these folks.

Now, the parent companies

called Golden Hippo and they're,

and they've manufactured

and made my, my supplement

line called Power Life.

And so they were here today,

that's, thus the makeup.

Uh, they were here today, shooting

various segments, for the protein

powder, for the Foundation

Four, for different things.

And that's just been a fun ride.

It's just a, they're just a

great, great product line.

I mean, I use 'em all day.

I mean, there are 1, 2,

4, 12 SKUs right now and a

couple more down the road.

So, uh, those two projects.

Plus my wife and I started

this little, this little

mom and pop shop routine

called, The Power of 4.

And, and so The Power of

4 is made up of exercise,

nutrition, supplementation,

and mindfulness, right?

So there's like, if you have

bought my book, there's 11 laws.

These are the four pillars,

and then there's gonna

be the 13 mega STEPS.

I don't know, I'm not

there yet on that one.

But these are the four things

that I kind of try to practice on

a regular basis that allow me to

work out five to six days a week,

sometimes seven, and be able to

sustain and maintain that as I

move into my, you know, I'm almost

in, I'm in my mid sixties here.

And so, um, yeah, and so, you

know, it, is, it, it, that that's

kind of where I'm hanging my hat.

I have a, I have a equipment

fitness line, a TH fitness

equipment line that has like med

balls and, and, and we call 'em

power stands or push up stands

and mats and different things.

Um, and then I have a skin and hair

care product line called TH Care.

TH Fitness, TH Care.

My initials T H.

And, uh, the TH Care and the TH

Fitness kind of run by themselves.

Um, you know, I mean, I do a

little something here and there.

It's those other three

that occupy most of my day.

Plus, I just finished a five

day event here at my home.

It's our seventh, and I think

our final one, called "Tony

Horton's Paragon Experience:

Discovering Your Best Self".

And so we had nine people from

Kuwait, Kuwait city, and then

Americans and Canadians all

mashed together at my home,

uh, for five days straight.

And it's just a, it's everything.

It's workouts and seminars

and tutorials and workshops.

And, and martial arts and

kickboxing and, and animal

flow and ninja and, you

know, and, and breath work.

It's just, uh, it covers the gamut.

And, uh, I'm still recovering

from that, you know, 24, 24

people, plus staff, plus caterers.

You know what I mean?

The place look like a, you

know, like a Four Seasons,

people running around.

But it's very rewarding.

Not only for the people that come,

cause it really is a life changer.

You're just, you'e just immersed

in all this intel and information.

And then the final day, we show

people how to break it all down

and kind of prioritize what,

what kind of is the next step,

because they, you know, they,

they walk outta here like,

I have so much information.

What do I do?

And a drink

from a fire hose type deal?

And that's, that's

kinda where we are, yeah.

What's that, Mike?

Kind of a drink

from a fire hose type deal?

Yeah.

All, all of us, including me.

Yeah.

Just, uh, and catered.

Amazing, plant-based food.

Just, people just

came for the food.

It was so stunning

and it was great.

Great, great five days.

That's awesome.

Now, as far as today, on

the personal side of life,

what does that look like?

I'm, you're working

alongside of your wife.

So, I mean, that's gotta be super

cool cause you get to see her, you

love, love being with her, right?

Yeah, she truly does.

Now, she keeps me from wandering

off into the woods, which I would

have a tendency to do on occasion.

You know what I mean?

Where is he?

He's over there.

Bring him back.

She's just my best friend.

She's just so smart.

She's funny.

You know, I mean, she's, she's

a good, she's a looker, too, but

beyond that, you know what I mean?

I've dated some pretty girls

in the past, but never somebody

who just had my heart and

my soul, like my wife does.

And she just, you know, early

on, and I never sort of shared

that part of my life with any

person in my relationship.

I always thought it was

smart to keep that separate.

You know what I mean?

You do your thing, and I'll

support you no matter what it is,

and I'll do my thing, but she's

just 10 times smarter than I am.

And she's got great ideas.

And, you know, um, early on

when we were first dating,

yeah, she wasn't involved.

And then after our marriage,

about six years ago, um, you

know, I would ask, I kind

of ask her a question, what

do you think about this?

And her answer was

always brilliant.

, you know what I mean?

And so I said, Hey, you know, why

don't we do this thing together?

And she had a, you know, real

estate license and she was

gonna do that, sell real estate.

And, um, she's also a

great, a great cook.

Um, and so she created the,

uh, the whole nutrition guide

and the, and the recipe guide

for The Power of 4, and like,

oh my God, you are so skilled.

So, you know, on the personal

side of things, I just, you

know, I just wanna spend time

with her and I wanna start

traveling with her now that COVID

is, doing whatever it's doing.

I don't know what the heck it's

doing, but, um, you know, I'll

throw a mask on and see where

I can go without getting sick.

And, um, cause

summertime is coming.

So we, we plan on

traveling a little bit.

We've got a wedding up in Seattle.

I have family in Rhode

Island and then we have

a place in Jackson Hole.

So we're trying to kind

of bing, bing, bing, bing.

You know, do a little tour this

summer and just learning to relax

and, and work out with my friends,

man, and, and go for runs and

lay on the couch in the backyard

and, and play with my three dogs.

You know what I mean?

And cause we were burning the

candle at both ends right up

to the end of that Paragon

Experience, and the shoot today,

and I got a shoot tomorrow.

You know, so the beat goes on, but

I find little windows to, to laugh

and, and watch some good TV, you

know, and hang out with my gal.

Take a breath

in between everything to get

ready for the next burst?

Exactly.

Yeah.

So with all

of that stuff going on, how do

you keep yourself energized?

I mean, if you're not, like

refilling yourself, you

don't have anything to give.

And you're given a whole

lot in this process.

Like, what does it look like as far

as, you know, recharging yourself?

I follow

the rules, man.

The rules that I created many years

ago, you know, the first rules

were my book, The Big Picture:

The 11 laws That Will Change

Your Life, which changed my life.

You know, do your

best, forget the rest.

Find your purpose.

Have a plan.

Variety is the spice of life.

Consistency is, is, is reigns

supreme is and on and on and on.

These are just things that are

sort of naturally who I am now.

And I, I'm a plant

based food eater.

That keeps the inflammation

down and the energy up.

I don't drink alcohol

ever, ever anymore.

I never had a problem,

you know, thank God.

But I just, it just didn't

work into my lifestyle.

And I, you know, the few

times I did, I was a little

bit more louder and obnoxious

than I am as I am right now.

So I just sort of cut that out.

It didn't serve me.

Um, and then I get

some decent sleep, man.

I mean, I, I, you know, bamboo

sheets, great mattress, great

mattress pad, pitch black

in there, no TV, no phone,

no laptop in the bedroom.

You know what I mean?

Um, you know, it's just

kind of doing all these, you

know, you do some research.

You, you have trouble in some

area, you do some research, you

practice what that research is.

It works or it doesn't work.

If it does, do it.

You know what I mean?

I'm not, I, I don't fight, I

don't fight creating the quality

of my life tooth and nail.

I just say, okay, here's an expert.

You know, like my, my

recent book I read was

James Nester's book, Breath.

Okay, now I practice all the

breathing techniques out of

that book, because I didn't

know about 'em before, now I do.

Now I'm a better man for it.

And so, you know, if you're gonna

be kind of, if you got four or

five businesses going at once,

then you gotta allow the pendulum

to swing in both directions.

You know what I mean?

I mean, there's yin

and yong, right?

Yin and yong.

And too many people are

yong or we call it yang in

this country, but it's yong.

And, um, and then if you're living

over there the whole time, well

then, you know, you're gonna end

up like with Ramsey Hunt Syndrome,

like I did a few years back.

And so I just meditate every

day and, I pet my dog every day.

And I, I crank music every

day and I jump in the, in the

jacuzzi, uh, and the, and the

epsom salt bath as often as I can.

And, you know, and take

naps and all of it.

And I just, yeah, I just,

I listen to my body and my

brain and I do what it says.

Very wise.

You've, you've mentioned your book.

Can you share how you

got to rule number one?

Like do your best, you know,

like, can you, can you share

how you got to that point?

Well, I used to be

extraordinarily judgemental about

who I was as I was progressing

through my life in the early days.

So I just assumed that I was

supposed to automatically

know how to do everything

well from the get go.

And that was rarely ever the case.

You know, and so if I wasn't

good at something, I quit,

you know, I just quit because,

oh, that wasn't good enough.

So I quit or if I, you know,

whatever, I was just, just,

I was in a constant state of

judgment and my expectations

were through the roof and they

shouldn't have been based on

the little, I knew about so many

different categories of my life.

And then I read a few books

and some of them are behind me

and I see you've got a few of

'em behind you as well, right?

You know, so, I think it

was Don Miguel Ruiz's

book, The Four Agreements.

And if you say that wrong,

it sounds like Dom DeLuise,

which is a different guy.

Who I used to work for a

long time ago, oddly enough.

And the first law in his

book is Do Your Best.

And as I read that chapter

and the book's 134 pages,

it's, it's really tiny.

It's, it's one of these back here.

That's a companion book,

but that's basically, that's

another one, Don Miguel Ruiz.

And Do Your Best was a lot about,

Hey, understanding that life

changes for myriad of reasons.

It could be weather, it could

be buyer rhythms, it could be

barometric pressure, it could be

stress, it could be what you ate

the night before, it could be the

things you're dealing with, it

could be any number of things.

And so there's really this

sort of, there's a lot of

unpredictable, exterior occurrences

that are affecting your body

and brain's ability to process

what it is that you need to do.

And so if you understand that,

well, then what do you, what do

you have in this moment based

on what your task is, whether

it's exercise or anything.

And so, you know, knowing that,

that your best changes from day

to day, I don't know anybody who

lives life like this, womp, right?

There's ups and downs.

And, and, and that's

just part of, uh, part of

growth and transformation

and moving through life.

And so once I, once I realized

that, I took part of the

title of that, of his book

and I went do your best.

And for me, it was.

All the, the rest is all that

other stuff that slows you

down and prevents you from

being able to live the life

that you wanna live, right?

So if the rest is bad sleep

or the rest is I'm dehydrated,

the rest, I I've overtrained.

Or if the rest is just an argument

with somebody over the phone, over

something stupid, cause there's

all kinds of different things that

are occurring that are putting a

lot of pressure on us, you know,

physically, mentally, emotionally,

and spiritually, right?

And so there they are,

you gotta deal with them.

What's the, what's the job at hand?

Go in there and just show up, cause

you know, I talk about intensity

as well, but, you know, Crank Up

The Intensity is chapter six in

the book and you know, um, in,

uh, consistency is, is I think

more important than intensity.

Just be there.

Like what if you just have the

worst yoga session, you, you get

P 90 Xs an hour and a half and you

just lie in Shavasa for half of it.

So what?

So what, you know, just

leave yourself alone, be

there, do what you can.

And then as, as the minutes

progress, well, maybe you can

do a little bit more or maybe

you can't, so it's all okay.

It's all okay.

As long as you're not sitting

on the couch, you know, smoking

cigarettes, watching reruns of

island, I, I Love Lucy every day,

then, you know, you'll be okay.

Not that there's anything

wrong with smoking cigarettes.

No!

I'm kidding, about I Love Lucy

reruns, cause they're always funny.

You know what I mean?

So just leave yourself alone

and, and, and, and show up.

Show up, that's it.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Can we go back

to, like, before you went out

to, um, Southern California.

Kind of like, as you were going

through high school, some of the

struggles that you were facing, uh,

can you talk about some of that?

Cause it's like, I think so often

we as guys just look at it and

go, I have these, these deficits

or these hurdles that I'm facing

and nobody else has this problem.

And it's just like, so false.

Can, can you share like what

you were facing back then?

You know,

everybody's putting on their

best face, so whatever you think

you're seeing, probably isn't

true, you know what I mean?

I mean, there's a lot of people

that put on a good show and

they walk around, they're

happy and they're wealthy and

they're successful and they're

skinny and they, whatever.

They have money in their pocket,

and all that kind of stuff.

But everybody, not everybody,

but a vast majority of people

are struggling with something,

you know what I mean?

And then you can only, you

can spend only, so many

nanoseconds on what you

think is going on with them.

And you're probably

wasting your time, even

with those few nanoseconds

you're spending on them.

So the job here is to sort

of, okay, well, make an

assessment of who you are,

where you are in the moment.

And for me, I didn't have

the skill set to be able to

deal with all the stuff I

was going through back then.

You know, I mean, I was not a

good student, I moved around five

or six times before sixth grade.

So there was always new teachers,

new neighbors, new kids at school.

And I had a speech impediment

that didn't help me any,

you know what I mean?

Because obviously whenever there's

a, a, a flaw or weakness in a

kid, you know, other kids, for

some reason, what's the genetics

behind that, like, oh yeah, let's

be, let's be really rotten to this

person who's already struggling.

Uh, you know, there's a couple,

uh, kids that come to the

rescue, you know, in those

moments, which probably means

they have really good parents.

Um, but whatever, you know,

a lot of people are dragging

their crap from home to school

and they see you and you're

vulnerable, and this is what,

this is what they're gonna do.

And, you know, I mean,

crap happens, you know?

And so, um, you know, I mean, I

barely got through high school.

I had to take a summer, summer

school to, to, to graduate barely.

And then I went off to URI,

the University of Rhode Island.

I didn't do it much better,

but you know what I mean?

I didn't get the, the speech thing

had been, um, diminished quite,

quite substantially by that point.

And I was, I was a communications

and a theater major probably

because I was forcing myself to,

to learn how to communicate better

and, and, and perform better.

And then, you know, whenever I

did these live, uh, live shows.

They were always pantemime,

with very little words.

I would, I would, you know, just

to throw a punchline in here and

there, but it was just these kind

of extravagant mime performances

because my speech thing wasn't

completely, uh, nailed down yet.

Um, but yeah, you know,

I mean, like, I, I, yeah.

And then people look at me

now, like, man, that kid

must have had everything

going for him his whole life.

Oh my God.

You know what I mean?

We had alcoholism in the

family and we had rage in the

family and we had financial

issues in our family and, uh,

and, uh, you know, all of it.

It's a lot of, it's a lot of stress

for my sisters and my, myself.

I was the oldest and only boy.

So I didn't have sort of a, a

good mentor in the house, you

know, a good sibling in the

house, so I could kind of lean

on, I was, it was no such person.

So I had to use humor and, and

my small group of friends to

kind of, get some support from.

But, yeah.

I mean, you know, for some

kids it's elementary school

for some it's junior high, and

then they grow, they kinda make

their way through high school.

My elementary school, junior high

school, and good sec- good part

of my first and second year of

high school were pretty brutal.

And then, you know, then I,

I, you know, I learned a few

things to sort of reinvent

myself or at least to kind of

mask my flaws by my junior and

senior year of high school.

And then I remember having

a conversation with my

father's brother, my uncle,

and he said, Hey, you know,

you're going off to college.

Here's an opportunity where

nobody knows you there.

And this is where you come in,

really stealthy and really quiet.

You don't try to, you know, you

don't make any waves early on.

You wanna make an assessment.

You want to be able to be really

bright, make sure you find

certain, you know, find yourself

around the right kind of people

and just reinvent yourself.

I mean, it's all right.

Absolutely thoroughly.

Reinvent yourself.

So I was faking it

till I could make it.

And then all of a sudden I actually

started to become that person.

I was faking, you know, as I was

making my way through college.

And then I came out here to

California in 1980, still

six credit short at URI.

And again, another, another

chance to reinvent myself.

You know, and then, you

know, I'm a mime at the pier.

I'm at work, I'm the

assistant manager at the Oak

tree Men's Clothing store.

I'm, I'm a, I'm a frozen

mannequin in a, in a, in a

clothing store window, uh,

plumber or carpenter, handyman.

Um, you name it, man.

I was doing painting houses,

doing whatever I could

do to survive out here.

But it was, it was fun, man.

Cause I was in Cali, yeah.

Yeah.

And it seemed like then you

found your rhythm as far as

getting into fitness and really

like learning from people.

You, you became like a sponge

from what I understand, just

learning all you could about

fitness and then teaching it.

How did that come about?

As far as, um, you know, finding

a strength, like an area where

you felt you, you were competent

and could, could help others.

How did that come about?

Mar- Mike,

you've done your research,

my friend, very nicely done.

Um, you know, when I came out here,

uh, again, I, you know, I came

out here with a couple of buddies

and so we were already pals.

And so we were pretty

tight knit group.

And then we would go to clubs

or I, you know, I'd go to a

gym once in a while, but I

wasn't a member of anything.

It was mostly just going to

clubs and, and going down to

the beach and playing volleyball

or whatever, you know, just

kind of meeting people that

seemed athletic and cruel.

And, you know, we were all,

we were all smoking weed

and drinking beers though.

I mean, that's just what we

were doing back in those days.

I mean, it was the early 80's.

Um, um, but we were all of

legal age, not for smoking

pot, but, but you know,

whatever , uh, that's what I

was used to back at U R High.

And, um, probably probably why

my, my grade point average,

and I don't even get high

anymore or drink or anything.

It just doesn't

doesn't serve me, so.

Yeah.

Um, you're

just kind of making your

way, you know what I mean?

And, and exercise wasn't really

on the table, like going to a

gym and doing structural, like,

like sequential movements,

so you can get stronger

or get cardiovascularly

strong or something.

We would play hoop and we would

play tennis and we would play

Sandlot football and we would play

street hockey and, and volleyball

and all these different things.

It wasn't really, you know, and

then I wasn't very good at any

of 'em, but I didn't really care.

I was just hanging

out with my friends.

And then, um, I got, I was,

I wanted to be an actor.

And so I, I eventually

got an agent.

My agent was a little disappointed

in my physique and I took a

weightlifting class in college

and, and I, it was a great

experience for that one semester.

And I got in great shape and

my GPA went up that, that

semester, too, because I

was taking care of myself.

Um, and then after that semester,

you know, oh, whatever, you

know, a year and a half went

by and back in, in, uh, in LA.

And my agent just said, Hey, you

know, if you wanna work more, you

gotta kind of get a little trimmer

and get rid of some of that gut

and build some strength in your

arms and look a little bit better.

It's California, man.

And I took that

person so seriously.

And I, and I joined

a gym for $99 a year.

The Sports Connection on

Ocean, Ocean Park Boulevard,

in, in Santa Monica.

And I was amazed, man.

I walked into this building.

Three stories, like the size of

three football fields, stacked

on top of each other of just

equipment and people training

and, and aerobic classes.

What is, what is that?

I'm going in there!

That looks cool.

It's all women and I'm going

in, you know what I mean?

And, uh, and so whatever,

you know what I mean?

And I was, I was a Gogo dancer

at Chippendales for a short

while, cuz I used to be a dancer.

I used to love the dancing,

you know, in clubs and stuff.

And, so I just took to

it like a fish to water.

And then, um, and then one

of the jobs that I finally

got when I got a real job, I

was a PA at 20th Century Fox,

um, a production assistant.

And my boss was a guy by

the name of Harlan Goodman.

And Harlan was in the music

industry before he was doing that.

He was working for this, with

this gal, uh, Julia Phillips.

And her, and her husband, John

Phillips, uh, prior to their

divorce, did Close Encounters

with the Third Kind; taxi driver.

And, and The Sting with Robert

Redford and Paul Newman.

So I was, I was on the lot and

I was going on auditions and

I was getting fit at the gym.

And, and, you know, when I first

started working for Julia and

Harlan, I didn't look that good.

And about three months

into it, Harlan's like,

man, what are you doing?

You, you look.

Something's going on with you.

You just, you could just

see it after a while.

Like, at first you don't notice

and all of a sudden they start

seeing this, you know what I mean?

And this and I, and he said,

Hey, this job is so stressful.

Would you wanna train me?

Not certified, clueless.

I was just kind of copying people

in the gym, like, what's he doing?

What's she doing?

What's that?

Okay.

Squats, lunges, hack

squats, bicep curls, super

setting, pyramid setting.

Oh, just write all this stuff down.

And so I started training my boss

in my buddy's backyard garage.

And, you know, I had that job

for a while and it was kind of

a fun thing and I helped him

lose about, I think anywhere

between 35 and 45 pounds.

And unfortunately they had no

luck making movies and, and

the job was super stressful.

I mean, she was not

easy to work for, Julia.

She'd fire me every Friday and

he'd call me up on Sunday nights

and go, dude, you're not fired.

Just come in.

I was training him and I, and

then he was getting results.

And then friends of his were

asking me, how'd you do that?

So all of a sudden I had like

four or five clients, not enough

to sustain me, you know, because

I'd see them two, twice a week

or once a week, or maybe some

Harlan and maybe one or two

others at three times a week.

Still doing carpentry, still

doing odd, still waiting

tables, still, still a bartender

or whatever I could do.

And so he went back

to making music.

And, uh, he worked at East

End Management on Sunset

Boulevard in Hollywood.

Hollywood.

And, uh, he was walking down the

hallway in the other direction.

There's Tom Petty, he's got a

cigarette and he says, "Oh my

God, Har, you look fantastic.

I mean, I've never

seen you so thin.

What did you do?"

"Well, I'm working out with this

guy, Tony Hor-" "Tony Horton?

Who's Tony Horton?"

And he says, "Well,

he's, my trainer.

He used to work with me and Julia

back in the day, but now he's

kind of training and doing..."

"Well, can you gimme

his phone number?"

And so Harlan didn't tell

me that he was giving Tom

Petty my phone number.

So the phone rings, I write

about it in the book and, um,

my roommate, Bob picks it up.

"Hi, my name is Tom Petty.

I'm looking for Tony Horton."

So we had a couple of

practical jokers that

lived downstairs below us.

This guy, John, Jim, and Bob

goes, "Dude, I think it's Jim

downstairs saying it's Tom Petty."

I go "hang up the phone."

So Bob hangs up on Tom Petty.

Phone rings a couple minutes later.

"We got disconnected."

And then Bob goes, "dude, this

is the best impression ever.

Or it's actually Tom Petty."

I go, "gimme the phone.

Hello?"

"Hi, it's Tom Petty."

"It's Tom Petty."

You know, so this is crazy.

It Harlan goes, "yeah.

I forgot to tell you that

Tom's gonna call you."

I went to his house like

the next day or two.

And, you know, he lived in,

he lived in Woodland Hills.

Big gate, bunch of trees,

long driveway, walk in

glass top to floor, golden

platinum records on the wall.

Tom's there, puts a cigarette

out, "Hey, you know, I'm going

on tour and I'm, and I'm fat.

Nobody likes a fat rocker."

You know, that's my Tom

Petty, it's not good.

Uh, but it's the best I can do.

And, uh, so I had him for four

months and I got him a heavy bag,

an elliptical, not elliptical,

but a, but a stationary bike.

Bench press, dumbbells.

And we did pushups and all of it.

And you know, he didn't

need to lose weight.

He just needed to

redistribute, right?

We had to burn off the fat,

get his, get his, his lungs

and his internal organs,

heart working better.

And he went off on that tour, man.

And everybody was like,

what happened to Tom Petty?

Like he was, he showed up

with like, vests with no

sleeves, stuff like that.

Tom Petty has arm?

You know what I mean?

Tank tops, ya know, like with

Quiet Riot on his shirts.

He was wearing cut off's,

he'd cut off the sleeves cause

he was so proud of his arms.

And um, it was just crazy.

And then the phone

just rang off the hook.

Then Billy Idol called,

"Bloody oh mate, fantastic.

What you do to Petty man.

Can you go to my house?"

So yeah, Tom lived way, way in Wood

in the valley, and Billy lived way

up in Hollywood Hills, but there

was a period there where, you know,

I, my Monday, Wednesday, Friday,

when Bruce was in town that Bruce

that's what I'm talking about.

It was Billy Idle, Tom Petty,

Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics.

Um, Bruce Springsteen,

Steven Stills from Crosby,

Stills, Nash & Young.

Plus Sean Connery, Shirley

McLean, Bryce Dallas Howard.

Um, Joey Fatone,

um, Octavia Spencer.

Um, Stevie Nicks, Lindsay

Buckingham, um, Jason Scheff

from Chicago, you know.

It was, I kept rock and roll

from the sixties to seventies

alive, there for a while.

You're welcome.

And, uh, you know what I mean?

So it was cool.

But I still had a, I still lived

in a crappy little apartment

with a broken down car.

And I had to buy another car

because one car was in the shop

and I had to drive the other

car and, you know, you're just

going and you're bing-bonging.

Ping pong, bonging all over

the city trying to train

one, one after another.

And I was, I wasn't

making that much money.

I mean, more than I was as

a, as a handyman, but, uh, it

seemed cool, but I was still

broke, you know, in those days.

So how did you,

how did you get from that point?

And you've also talked about, you

know, like the, the alcoholism

and, and anger and everything else.

How did you set yourself up

mentally to transition from

what you had experienced?

Now you're changing physically

and you're seeing people, you

know, transform their bodies,

but then you, you, you're going

through like a mental shift,

like mental, emotional, like

mindset, everything like that.

How did you, how did that

come about for you man?

Well, you know, the

reading and writing and arithmetic

wasn't enough for me in school.

You know what I mean?

I mean, most people go through

this pattern and they get this

job and they have, they get

married and they have kids.

And then, you know, it's very

rare that that all, that's

an uphill thing, you know.

I just, I just physically moved

3,000 miles across the country to

a completely different culture.

So Connecticut, Rhode Island, New

Jersey, Mass, there's a certain

sort of a, there's a vibe there.

Not, not saying it's a bad

vibe, it's just sort of this

thing that didn't work for me.

You know what I mean?

A lot of people who've come,

who started off on the east

coast, go west young man to

find their fame fortune and go

I don't like this bunch of crazy

plastic people in California.

You know what I mean?

Like whatever, some things

work, some things don't work.

I, I fell into my groove the, the

day I arrived here, man, I just.

And just a different

perspective, different

people, you know what I mean?

And a lot, lot of times when

you're, when you're, you

know, and look, it wasn't all

hell when I was growing up.

My parents busted their butt

for me and my sisters to give

us a tremendous lifestyle.

They were two young kids

who got married, who weren't

married, maybe, you know,

who ha, who, whatever they

had their, their issues.

You know what I mean?

And I think they did the best

they could based on who they

were and who their parents were.

You know what I mean?

But I just felt like

there was more to life.

And so the move was a big change.

The personal development

work was a big change.

Surrounding myself with

the right kind of people

was, was really important.

Really upbeat, constructive,

happy, funny people, right?

Was just who I was drawn to.

And I, you know, I'm genetically

made up of, you know, centuries

of cells from the past that makes

this guy, you know, and this

guy, I was always a glass is half

full guy, you know what I mean?

And, uh, I had my moments of,

of great depression and sadness

and, and, and concern about

where I was going in my life.

So all those things mattered,

you know, and, and, um, and

you, I mean, I was a, I

was a reader and, and, uh,

cause I didn't get anything

I needed to get from school.

And, so, a lot of that

was just stuff I started

applying to my life.

It wasn't easy at first, but

it's, I thought to myself, well,

here's a pretty smart person

that's written a pretty nice book

and it's pretty popular and maybe

I should just do what they're

talking about in their book.

And I did, quite

often, I really did.

And I worked on my speech

issues just by increasing my

vocabulary, so I would no longer

continue to be a Malaprop.

Uh, there you go.

There's a word.

And, um, and that helped,

you know what I mean?

It helped me disseminate, uh,

what I needed to disseminate

so that I could express myself

in such a way, so I could have

an impact on other people.

And I did that also because

I got on stage and I did

standup comedy for two years.

I was part of Second City LA

when it was here, very briefly.

And I was, I had, uh, scene

study classes with Brian

Reese and, and, uh, Darrell

Hickman and Ivor Francis.

And I, you know, I was just

immersed in surrounding myself

with new people, new concepts,

new ways to communicate via

acting or via comedy or via

improvisation or whatever it was.

And so, uh, I just did what

I wanted to do and every once

in a while I would do odd

jobs so I could pay my rent

and get some gas in my car,

um, and live hand to mouth.

And then, and off of credit cards.

I, you know, I got a credit

card and then I, yeah, and I got

another credit card to pay off that

credit card and that kept going.

And before you know it, I had

eight or nine credit cards.

And then I, then Power 90 hit

and I could pay 'em all off in

one big chunk, which was, you

know, *gasp* very lucky to do.

The sigh of relief.

Mmh, it was crazy.

Well, hey,

in, in the, the time we've got

left, man, I there's so much

more, I would love to dive into.

Um, in 2017, you ended up

having, um, Ramsey Hunt Syndrome.

And I can't even fathom, like,

I mean, I've, I've got Tinnitus,

um, I can't imagine what you

were going through with that.

Can you explain, like, what it

is and how it came about for you?

Cause like, dude, you did like an

absolute change in your, in your

self, like healing yourself from

something that's so debilitating.

To me it's just so amazing.

Well, if you

had chickenpox as a kid,

then the, uh, the shingles

virus lives inside of you.

And, uh, you know, that thing

that we call stress, I mean,

we're under stress all the time.

The minute you walk outside, the

sun is creating a certain amount

of stress on your skin, right?

The minute you raise your

voice, there's stress, right?

That it forces your adrenal

glands and your, and your

cortisol levels to kind of go up.

If you're exercising,

there's stress.

If you're, you know, thinking and

trying to write an important note

or something, there's stress.

And I just, I, that was all

stuff that I could deal with

cause I had exercise and cardio.

I wasn't really meditating

back then, not really.

I would once in a while just

to say I did, but I was,

um, Tom Petty died the day

after the Vegas shooting.

So, I had friends that were at

the Vegas shooting and I was so

thoroughly appalled in hearing

the story of my friends running

for their lives as people are

getting picked off next to them.

I just thought to myself, this

is happening in this country.

Like what is going on?

And then Tom dies the next day.

And that whole two weeks that

this was happening, I was in

renegotiation with Beach Body.

And I'm sitting there in these

negotiations going, oh my God,

20 years with this company and

this is what they wanna pay me?

You wanna pay me less now?

After s- Are you?

I mean, I was just like, I

just, I, I couldn't believe it.

I just couldn't believe it.

And all that was happening and I

didn't know how to deal with it.

And so, I had a weird little,

I had a weird little headache.

I had a headache on the

right side of my head.

And then I was at a dinner

party, and there was this

incredible itching and pain.

You know, like this felt raw,

and it was pretty far in, so

I didn't notice it right away.

And the shingles were emerging

from all that stress in my ear.

Now, you can get shingles across

your back, across your chest and

your thigh, around your waist,

you know, I mean, along your butt,

there's a lot, but the very, very,

very, very last place you wanted

is in your brain, cause that

affects your sight, your smell,

your taste, your balance, right?

And the tinnitus was, uh,

or tinnitus, or whatever

you wanna call it, was a 12.

It was like three stage bee,

bee, boo, bee, bee, boo.

All the time, all the time, 24/7.

Go to sleep like that.

Like, just insane.

And my balance was

like, it wasn't vertigo.

It wasn't, this, it was this.

It felt like I was on, there

was an earthquake, all the time.

I was on like trying to

walk in an earthquake.

Couldn't taste anything,

everything tasted like nothing.

And all I could smell

was secondhand smoke.

That was, there was no smoke,

but that's all I could smell.

Exhausted.

Couldn't eat, couldn't drink,

couldn't drive, couldn't work

out, couldn't get outta bed.

And I was in excruciating

pain and every time I, I

stood up, I couldn't stand up.

And then I would vomit.

And this went on for weeks and

weeks and weeks and months,

and months, and months and all

the King's horses and all the

Kings men didn't know how to

put me back together again.

And they just said, Hey,

you know, it's gonna go away

eventually and we don't know

how, and then I got Bell's palsy.

So this whole side of my face

was like a Spielberg movie with

the Nazis, that "I am melting".

And so I, I couldn't this, this,

and I couldn't close this eye.

And this was, oh, I'm,

I'm a fitness trainer,

you know what I mean?

And a lot of people, just a lot of

people get this and it's permanent.

Their balance is crap forever.

Their taste, sense

of taste is crap.

They cannot.

So, and I'm hearing from,

you know, Hey man, it's

just, you know, be lucky.

You're alive, you got

two limb and two legs.

And it's like, man.

So, when I, when there was micro

window for me to physically

do something or to try to get

some nutrition in me, I did.

And sometimes, I would walk in

the treadmill for four minutes.

I mean, one leg, and I'd

get off and I would sit down

for two hours and then I

would get up and throw up.

It, man, it was frigging brutal.

But, I know what brung me and that

was just taking care of myself.

And so, you know, every time I

could a little bit more, a little

bit more exercise, a little bit

more food would get into me.

And then I met with the

folks at Golden Hippo and I

said, "Hey man, what, what

can you, what can cut you?

Can you?

English.

There was a little bit of

that, that speech impediment.

There it was, came back to

haunt me, ah, used to panic.

Now, I just make fun of it.

Um, they came up with a, you

know, a concoction that worked

for me, the plant-based pro uh,

protein and the whey protein and

something called Foundation Four.

That's basically healed

my, my gut health.

And then I just started

reading Jon Kabat-Zinn's book,

Full Catastrophic Living.

That's Jon Kabat-Zinn's book,

Full Catastrophic Living.

Where are you, dude?

Are you here?

Oh, it's usually back here because

I always keep, ah, here it is.

It's even closer than I thought.

Look at that.

Look at that monster.

And as you could tell...

I think you just

gave me some homework there, Tony.

Wow.

Look at me.

Look at me.

I was, this book

saved my butt, man.

Here, look at that.

I got going on there and

I would just read some of

these passages and I'd go.

Yeah, you're gonna be alright, man.

And so you know, about a year

later I was normalish, but now

I, I still have something called

Bilateral vestibular hypofunction.

Which is something that

some people will, will have.

They don't have Ramsey Hunt

forever because that will go

away eventually, especially

with meds and stuff.

But they do have that balance

issue, which like today, when

I was on the set, I noticed it

kicking in because I was reading

this teleprompter over and over

and over and over be trying to

get all the words just right.

And the words start to mirror and

I could feel my, uh, my stress

rise up cause I wasn't getting it.

And then the Rams- the,

uh, bilateral vestibular

hypofunction kicks in.

And for a lot of people, that's

permanent, you know what I mean?

Um, and I'm very lucky that my

lifestyle, my healthy lifestyle

has allowed me to make a 99.4%

recovery, which is good enough.

You know what I mean?

I mean, you know, I'm 64.

What the heck do I, what do I want?

You know what I mean?

Other parts of my life, like

the mindfulness part, learning

how to relax, learning how to

be in the moment, just enjoying

my life more and spending more

time with my dogs and my wife.

That is all a result

of what I went through.

When you go through hell,

you know what I mean?

You can take that moment

and you can do the woe is me

routine, or you can try to see

the sunny side of Philly and,

um, and make the best of it.

And so I'm, I'm a different guy.

I mean, I'm still pumped up

and giddy up and let's go and

push hard and fly through the

ninja course, but I'm also, mm.