Episode 183 of the Fit Father Project Podcast is about mobility training and how you can lose weight and get in shape at any age.

In this episode, you’ll meet Fit Father James, a five-year veteran of our programs.

What’s cool about James’s story is that he started with us in his early 60s, and he’s made an incredible transformation.

He wasn't overly heavy and didn't have a lot of weight to lose, but he stripped off a layer of fat and revealed some of the most epic six-pack abs we’ve seen in our Fit Father Project Brotherhood! 

Now, he’s 67 and strong, fit, and mobile. He's able to do primal movement, go backpacking, and just have a really beautiful life with his family. 

James shares his perspective as someone who's not only achieved a high level of fitness in his own way, but has found a way to adapt and thrive as he ages. 

He puts a big emphasis on mobility. Obviously, our Fit Father workouts are great for increasing your mobility, but if you listen to this conversation all the way through, James will inspire you to try some other kinds of mobility like the primal movement he does. 

James has done it all, from FF30X to OSM, and I can’t wait for you to hear about how he’s tied it all together into his own hybrid plan!

In this episode, you’ll learn about: 

• Getting into health and fitness at any age.
• The importance of mobility as we age.
• Honing your nutrition and fitting it into your lifestyle.
• Primal movement and how to incorporate it into your exercise routine.
• Making your workouts work for you.
• And more!

So, to get the most from your health and fitness efforts, listen to this episode on mobility training, take some notes, and check out FF30X! 

What is FF30X?

FF30X is a simple, sustainable, and specific weight loss program designed especially for busy men over 40. With short metabolic training workouts, an easy-to-follow meal plan, and an accountability team there for you at every step, FF30X can help you lose 30, 40, or even 50+ lbs — even if you’ve never picked up a weight in your life. 

Click here to see what you get when you join the FF30X program today!

If you loved what you heard on the Fit Father Project Podcast, please follow, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts.

You can also listen to the show on:

• Spotify
• Amazon Music
• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

[00:00:32] For five years, I've seen him make posts and have an incredible journey. And James is a very humble guy, so he wouldn't say this about him, but it's the benefit that I get to host this podcast to say what I want. Uh, when James came on a couple years ago, he made a really incredible transformation. He wasn't overly heavy and he didn't have a ton of weight to lose, but he stripped off a layer of fat and basically revealed one of the most epic six pack abs that we saw around [00:01:00] the Brotherhood.

[00:01:20] He obviously incorporates our fit father workouts and now into his retirement, he's just able to enjoy his body to go backpack and, and just have a really beautiful life with his family. And this conversation is great because we get to hear the perspective of a veteran who's not only achieved a high level of fitness in his own way, uh, but also shares the different stages of the journey, the things that work for him in early stages versus now.

[00:02:03] Like bear crawls, spider walks, frog jumps, and other stuff that enables him to feel young, to keep his joints young, and to continue to progress his strength outside of just straight up heavy lifting. Cause James has done it all. He's done the FF30X series. He's done some OSM work and now he's here on his own cool hybrid plan.

[00:02:40] I'm so happy you're here.

[00:02:44] Anthony: And I gotta say before I ask you for the typical intro stuff. I feel like this particular conversation has been a long time in the making. I mean, we hear the idea of throwing around that there's FFP veterans around there. And in my book, you are certainly one of them.

[00:03:16] James: Okay. Yeah. James Van Verth, uh, 67 years old. I live in Aptos, California, which is near Santa Cruz, California. It's, uh, been almost five years that I've been in the program now, and it's just been a wonderful transformative experience for me. Uh, I have a 19 year old son who I just dropped off down at, uh, UC Irvine in Southern California.

[00:04:07] Anthony: That's so cool.

[00:04:23] And I remember it was maybe a couple of years ago when you start coming through the program and really getting your fitness on point and you peel back that layer of fat and you revealed these truly exquisite and Epic abs that became kind of famous across the brotherhood. And, um, and I, and I thank you for that.

[00:04:55] You also have a lot of great mobility and you do a lot of outdoor adventures as well. And it's correct [00:05:00] in saying that you are, you're in retirement now.

[00:05:15] I've been working in high tech, hunched over a computer for many years. And so I decided in retirement, I really wanted to focus a little bit on fitness and getting to where I needed to be. And for me, you know, it wasn't as much as I know many of the brothers want to lose a hundred pounds. And that wasn't me.

[00:05:58] And of course, [00:06:00] having the community of brothers has just been awesome. But, uh, given that it's been five years now in retirement, my goals have changed a little bit over time. I went from, you know, wanting to get bigger and stronger to wanting to become leaner and, uh, stronger, more fit, more mobile, being able to do the things I love to do, like.

[00:06:23] Anthony: Yeah. And now I'm going to ask you, we're going to, I want to approach your journey and understanding it from a couple of different lenses. I mean, certainly I want to hear about what it was like in the early stages of you getting on the program, but I also want to hear about what the evolution has been like, you know, difference between being on FFP for one year and now.

[00:07:09] Well,

[00:07:27] Anthony: you do? Like, what worked specifically for you, the routine you kind of dialed in?

[00:07:58] Anthony: after my [00:08:00] workouts.

[00:08:11] James: Yeah, for, well, for 10 years, I started when, when my son was nine, he wanted to go rock climbing and that really spurred it. We both really got into it and it was something that we could do together.

[00:08:45] And then moving on to Monroe and Double Trouble and all of the subsequent phases of FFP30X before I went into OSM. It was really, uh, amazing how sticking to a program, [00:09:00] as much as it sometimes hurt. And I didn't want to do it, but I was seeing the gains. I was seeing, you know, the weight going away, the fat going down, the strength increasing.

[00:09:12] Anthony: And probably fair to say, I'm not making an assumption, but I feel like it's true and you can correct me if it's not. That being in the job in the industry you're in high tech computer hunched over probably thinking about a lot of things, you know, probably having a lot of like busy ness and systems that you're always working on.

[00:09:42] James: Yeah. And I feel extremely grateful in that respect, because for people who are stressed out with their job and their life and their family, I empathize in not having the time.

[00:10:17] earning and making sure I was providing for family and others. So it allowed me in retirement to have a little bit more self focus and that's helped a lot. I wish everybody was in that position. I realized they're not, but, uh, hopefully at some point people will be able to, uh, have that more relaxed

[00:10:36] Yeah, I totally agree. And even before that experience is relaxed, like you said, it's still very practical. Like people can still carve out 90 to 120 minutes a week. For some exercise and you get a big ROI from that. I want to like, I want to, we want you to reflect back on if there's, if you feel like there's distinct stages in your journey, like from the, over the past five years or so, do [00:11:00] you feel like there's chunks of time that feel like they have a certain theme to them?

[00:11:32] James: I would say that my path was somewhat circuitous in that, you know, I started off kind of looking at, uh, fishing around YouTube to try to find ideas. And so I initially stumbled into yoga and then a high intensity interval training form of yoga. And then I found the fit father project project and uh, eventually You know, that led me to other areas like, uh, more mobility and body weight [00:12:00] training and primal movement.

[00:12:21] So I continue to draw that inspiration, but I went from following a strict fit father project program. To more of incorporating things that felt right to me, like movement and mobility and body weight, uh, exercises. So now it's more of a blend of those things. So I would say, if anything, that's the path that I follow is to become, to take from the awesome gurus that are out there in hopes of becoming my own guru by listening to myself and pushing myself in the areas that I really want to excel.

[00:13:15] There's a point to be very structured and to follow things and you get the benefit from someone's methodology, but you also get to extract the wisdom of what works and eventually you get the privilege of being in a position where you're at, where you can kind of combine it all and you have this hybrid plan that really fits you.

[00:13:44] for mobility. What have you learned about mobility? How does that fit into your life on a daily basis?

[00:14:10] So crawling around like a bear or a spider, uh, doing certain movements that have names and other things that just feel right. And part of it was around, uh, I mentioned earlier, you know, the calisthenics or the body weight training, but being able to do things like hand balancing exercises where I can now easily do handstands and hold a handstand.

[00:14:56] And that seems like a huge stretch, but I keep trying. [00:15:00] So my daily mobility starts off with just. I'm going to start by just crawling around because I get up and I feel stiff and I need to get the synovial fluids moving in my joints. So I start by just crawling because it feels good and it's very gentle.

[00:15:15] Anthony: that look like a bear crawl specifically or what does that mean for you, the crawling? It, it, it

[00:15:41] And

[00:16:02] Like let's face it at a certain point, like if your goal is to continuously lift another 50 or a hundred pounds on your deadlift and you're pushing late sixties, like you are, that's might not be as realistic or as beneficial as. Hey, I'm pretty sure you can be just as you're going to make improvements in your calisthenic strength over the next several years over what you're doing now.

[00:16:43] And typically you're getting a little more connected to this like natural way of living, which tends to bring you peace. Like there's something around this linchpin of like moving your body in a natural way, getting connected with a natural life that tends to make people happier. Has that been a part of your experience?

[00:17:20] But a part of me is like, you know, I don't care. And occasionally somebody will come over and say, Hey, that's really cool. What is that that you're doing? And I'll tell them a little bit about, you know, my journey and, uh, it's, uh, hopefully inspiring some people, but to your earlier point, you know, the, the continuing to try to push my limits with lifting heavier and heavier, it was taking a toll.

[00:18:04] And uh, it, uh, I think is something that we can continue to do. As we age and need to be more conscious of maybe putting strains on our, uh, joints and muscles and bones. And I think the approach, and I still listen to the videos that you put out, and many of them are talking about the same thing. How as we age, we can do things with, uh, deadlift because it's easier on our back.

[00:18:39] Anthony: That's awesome. I absolutely love that. And I think that when we feel really alive, like life has this expansionary energy, like our youth has this expansionary energy, there's the promise of finding a partner, getting a career, building something, figuring out your purpose.

[00:19:23] So there's a lot of like deeper forces working here is what I'm trying to like make sure that people recognize that it's more than just. Movement. This is about like your life energy and expressing that in a way that feels helps you feel great. And that's awesome.

[00:19:48] And I'm holding on to this vision of, you know, I'm 67 now, but I see myself 30 years from now, still moving and jumping and running and crawling and [00:20:00] hanging and doing maybe not quite as crazy as I am now, but I still see that, uh, You know, that mobility isn't going away. I don't want it to, because I think when we stop moving, that's when we really start the end of life.

[00:20:16] Anthony: is. We lose our mobility. We lose our, our like, and that's the fundamental human body, right? It's designed to have motion built into it. Our joints move us. We ambulate is the first thing we try to figure out how to do as kids. And the second that stops, like the whole system loses. And quite frankly, our joints typically feel worse when we get stiff and we don't move as much.

[00:20:56] Any non scale victories that come to mind? [00:21:00]

[00:21:23] To be honest, I'd rather do those things with nobody around, but if somebody sees and they're kind enough to say something that feels pretty good to me. So I take that as a real victory. And then the other is the other that comes to mind immediately is just, you know, my love of getting out in the wilderness and the fact that I'm still going out there and, uh, I'm not as strong as I was 10 years ago when I was carrying heavier backpacks and going longer distances.

[00:22:18] The things that, uh, are, you know, they, they feel good. So I, without, you know, blowing up my ego too much, I, I do enjoy hearing from others that, uh, they think I'm doing a good job.

[00:22:40] I had no idea when I started FFP around 10 years ago that it would grow into such an impactful mission. And I want to let you know that I am so grateful to be connected to you in this lifetime. And on behalf of me and my entire team, we are so grateful to be in your life, helping you get and stay healthier for your family.

[00:23:33] So I'm inspired by that. I love that you have that as a big part of your life. What's it been like for your wife to see you on this journey? Um, and, and what's her health and fitness journey been like over the past five years?

[00:23:55] She was in the early phases. She was a little alarmed by [00:24:00] how focused I was on making changes to diet and exercise. So it, uh, her journey has been a little bit different. You know, fortunately she's in good health and we enjoy. Uh, doing our adventures together when we go off in our camper van, but she's not as into, uh, going into the wilderness backpacking, so that's not her thing.

[00:24:48] Anthony: Really well said that equilibrium of understanding. It's something that probably just took her time to process, to see you in the pocket long enough. Right? It's not a fad that this is actually super meaningful to James [00:25:00] that this is actually good and he's not judging me or pushing it on me. You know, so I love that.

[00:25:26] So, let's talk about that.

[00:25:57] So the injury thing is something that I think [00:26:00] about. I don't want that to happen again. I'm being more cautious. I think as I get older, it seems like it takes longer to bounce back and heal from those types of things. And, uh, then the other thing I think I did just start to see, you know, as I was doing my own thing and becoming a little more lackadaisical, I was starting to put on some weight and some fat and not a lot, you know, I may get, I think I got up to like 157 pounds, uh, where I like to be more like 150.

[00:26:54] Anthony: to.

[00:27:34] As things ebb and flow. Um, what is some advice that you have for some guys who are starting out? Some newbies on the program. Um, and let's say even for guys who maybe has started a similar time to you that are in their sixties.

[00:28:02] Uh, you know, the meal plan is critical if you're trying to lose weight. Nutrition and the right amounts and the right things. critical. And then, you know, following the workout routines, those are the basics. And of course, rely on the community. And those are really the three pillars I see that for me made FFP so successful.

[00:28:45] Uh, so I relied on the community

[00:29:13] The point is you're getting inspiration from how they're approaching their life and their challenges. And like. That's, it's not about where you are in your destination relative to someone else, but just the fact that you see another human in their genuine goodness and like value showing up. And like, that's a well that will continue to fill us for the rest of our lives.

[00:29:41] James: Yeah. I mean, just, uh, within the last couple of days I saw somebody's before picture and I just said, Well, I'm inspired by your courage and honesty in posting this.

[00:29:58] Anthony: That's cool. All [00:30:00] right. So a little different. Um, what's one thing you do? With your family, a tradition or something that's important to you that the, that you do, you know, is there anything that like you guys hold sacred as a family, especially as your son is kind of moving into this interesting phase where he's becoming an adult, launching himself.

[00:30:23] James: Well, I think that getting together with family is the big tradition. You know, every year we go back to Michigan. Where my wife and her five siblings grew up. And every year we get together with my family, my five siblings, uh, who also, we grew up in the Midwest, but we'll typically go different places and get together.

[00:31:12] You know, we've never had any estrangement on either side, and we all like each other, and we love getting together. That's cool. So we feel fortunate, because not all families are that way, especially when you get into the, you know, six kids on each side. So for us, that's something that, uh, is sacred that we love and we'll continue to do at least once a year with her family.

[00:31:47] Anthony: to it. That's great. And I want to ask you is your, is your extended family that you just described your siblings, your wife, siblings, how many of them are health conscious or how many of them, if you get their percentage or a number, but like how many of them are, [00:32:00] would you say in good health and in focus?

[00:32:06] James: Well, I think all of the siblings are health conscious and in fairly good health with the exception of I have a younger brother and unfortunately, you know, he struggled with a lot of issues over the years, including, you know, bipolar and, uh, obesity.

[00:32:43] You know, I empathize. I don't know what it's like to be in that mindset where you have mental issues and medications that are really impacting your life.

[00:33:03] Some of these things onto your close friends and family that you found so sacred and beneficial like what's the process? Is it do you actually directly share? Is it merely just living and embodying these things? Do you even do you try do you not try? I think people are probably interested when they start to see results They want everyone like you got to check this out, but like that doesn't always work.

[00:33:28] James: You're absolutely right. It doesn't always work. So I try not to push very hard on those things. I try to lead by example, and I will share things like I've shared with family members how transformative intermittent fasting has been. And I said, you know, here's something you might want to think about if you're interested in losing weight or improving your Strength and fitness, you know, something you can start very easily with a, you know, 12, 12 kind of intermittent fasting.

[00:34:26] So he's just, you know, looking at the changes that he's seen. Another big one for me, of course, was, uh, alcohol was a real problem for me. In the years leading up to my retirement, a way that I escaped and dealt with stress was to drink way too much, and it's just completely gone the other direction to where I was looking at my log today and saying, Oh, the last time I had a drink was two weeks ago, and, uh, you know, it's not like something I even think about anymore.

[00:35:16] Anthony: You brought up a number of things. And I, for the last few minutes of this conversation, I do want to I want to talk about those things.

[00:35:39] And then before we get to those two questions, I had this, just this image popped in my mind when you were talking about how to help your friends and family. I just had this image of a, of a good natured. Farmer who's got a smile on his face and he's running around the fields and he's just throwing seeds everywhere Just good seeds of like seed that could sprout but he's [00:36:00] just giving good seeds and throwing water But he keeps on walking on and he's not stressing about whether or not any given seed takes But he just is is on the process of just sharing the goodness and giving nourishment and sometimes it'll take sometimes it won't and when It does it's glorious because it's not the farmers Work itself.

[00:36:33] Do you write down workouts? Do you write down weight? Are you using a physical log book, something on the computer? Please tell us more about

[00:36:55] So you started tracking

[00:36:56] James: it. Just using for me and Excel spreadsheet, [00:37:00] because it's something that I've always had access to. But it goes back, you know, over five years ago when I started logging my drinks and then when I started on fit father project, I also started logging my weight daily. I just first thing in the morning, I'd get up, get on the scale.

[00:37:58] That it took me to complete [00:38:00] and it was very helpful in the early days, you know, seeing those little gains, like, okay, I've cut the time or I've increased the weight and the time went back up, but then it came down. So it was just fun to be able to go back and look at the progress that I made in addition to looking in the mirror and going, yeah, it looked like I'm getting leaner and stronger and that felt good too.

[00:38:34] Well, I think what you're actually doing is you're taking these experiences that we have in our mind, like the experience in our mind, and you're concretizing it into physical space that can be reviewed. So you're honestly like making a print, like a, like a print of what you're doing into a. A trackable reviewable, but also more concretized thing.

[00:39:16] needed for you at this point. Like, I don't know if you're ding, I did, I woke up this morning, he did five bear crawls and a couple of frog jumps, like to that extent anymore, but maybe there would have been a time where that level of precision would have been useful, but you earn yourself to have a little less.

[00:39:37] James: Very true. Yes. Much simplified now to where I'm really just tracking my weight and my number of drinks in addition to anything that's unusual, like when I'm going on vacation. So I can look back and see if there was a correlation between, uh, my drink up.

[00:40:17] Anthony: Nice. Well, this was like informative in many deep ways and certainly inspiring for me. I want to end on two questions and one is, James, what does it mean to you now to be a fit father?

[00:41:23] Anthony: Yeah, that's beautiful. And very, very clear through line for this conversation. And my final question is, do you have any shout outs for anyone on our team or even in the brotherhood, who's had some big impacts on you that you'd like to share in conclusion here?

[00:41:52] Cat on your team has also been really great. Fun to work with. And, uh, Trina was great in setting up [00:42:00] this podcast. You have continued to just be responsive and awesome in many ways. In terms of the brothers, I look at, you know, Lee is somebody who we recently did a joint podcast. He's been one of my big heroes, a guy that dropped over a hundred pounds and has sustained it.

[00:42:43] Anthony: That's beautiful. And I want to thank you for being one of our five year veterans and for finally saying yes to come on a podcast. Like this is really cool moment for me to have you here. And it kind of feels like in some way, I don't know, like a celebratory, a good, a good way to celebrate this [00:43:00] beautiful journey that you have had.

[00:43:18] So I think you're going to help change the direction of some bonus programs coming up just by being you James. So thank you for your inspiration, my friend. And it was a, it was a blessing to me to be able to speak with you today. Awesome. Thank