For years, Mike Mahler has been a leading fitness guru, specializing in a range of techniques, including kettlebell and body-weight training, as well as the health benefits of a plant-based, vegan diet.
The core of Mahler’s message transcends technique, however. In order to succeed in life, one must find purpose, set goals to serve this purpose and tolerate the distress that may arise from this path. And with his new book and podcast, The Live Life Aggressively Show, Mahler is finding his own purpose helping the world understand that fitness and strength is simple, but not necessarily easy.
This message is consistent with positive psychologists who have touted the importance of finding a sense of purpose, something of value or meaning that motivates and drives one’s actions in one’s life as central to motivation, health and behavioral activation.
A recent longitudinal study of more than 6,000 older adults showed that those with a stronger sense of purpose were more likely to survive over a 14-year follow-up period. This may be in part because not only does having a sense of purpose feel good, thus reducing depression and anxiety, but also having a sense of purpose may make people more likely to be willing to engage in difficult health behaviors in order to improve well-being.
According to Mahler, this sense of purpose and direction is critical to fitness and strength training. “Like any goal, it actually has to be one you care about achieving. If you don’t genuinely care about getting stronger and improving fitness, then you won’t last long enough to do either,” he told me. “Just training for general fitness, etc., is way too generic, and it is not going to get you excited. You need a target you’re going after.”
According to Mahler, what naturally follows is the setting of goals — particularly, measurable and specific goals. Goal-setting is an evolving science and figures prominently in treatments of physical health issues, such as obesity, as well as mental health issues, such as behavioral treatments for depression. “Goals should be important to you, and ones you come up with, rather than someone else telling you. Also you should have very precise goals,” Mahler explained.
Having goals is not only critical to one’s initial motivation to engage in health behaviors, but is also crucial to enable a person to overcome the barriers that inevitably arise when trying to achieve strength and fitness. “Your mindset should be one of willing to deal with the discomfort of arduous training and the required discipline it takes to make things happen,” he said.
In fact, distress tolerance, or the ability to tolerate unpleasant emotional states, has been shown to be associated with lower levels of anxiety and unhealthy behavior, such as marijuana use.
Mahler describes how easily barriers can arise in strength and fitness training, and how one needs a committed, long-term perspective to persevere. “The No. 1 frustration people experience with training and fitness is impatience and frustration with lack of progress. You have to have a long-run approach and realize there will be setbacks along the way,” he said. “Nothing is linear in life. The stock market does not go up every week, month, and year to infinity. Businesses have good years and bad years. You are not always going to have great workouts or endless months of progress.”
Mahler is describing conscientiousness — being thorough, thoughtful and careful about what you do and who you are. A meta-analytic review of 194 studies found that conscientiousness was associated with higher levels of healthy behaviors, such as exercise, and lower levels of unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking. Others have studied a similar concept, grit, or the passion for long-term goals, and found that grit is associated with higher levels of academic achievement.
“If you have a long-run approach of making health and fitness an integral part of your life, then you will ultimately reap the reward of all of your hard work. Too many give up too easily. Bottom line is, if you have goals you actually care about achieving, you will persevere through any obstacle,” he said. “You will realize pretty early on, if you care about your fitness goals. Most people ultimately don’t, and that is why they give up easily and choose the path of least resistance.”
From a young age, Mahler has been practicing what he preaches. His path to fitness was initially a response to an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle, in which he was using alcohol, among other substances. This choice was crucial, as studies suggest the long-term effects of excessive alcohol use include increased cardiovascular and liver disease and a lowering of immune-system functioning.
“I really got into fitness when I was 17 as a senior in high school. I led a very unhealthy lifestyle for several years, drinking way too much alcohol and using recreational drugs,” he told me. “One day, I just got really fed up with it all. I was only 17 and felt weak and tired all of the time.”
Research has consistently established the positive mental and physical health effects of exercise, including lower depression, anxiety, and improved weight management, cardiac functioning and diabetes control. While conventional wisdom often touted the effects of activities, such as walking or biking, there is now increasing evidence that strength training can be effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention particularly recommends strength training for older adults for the management of a range of issues, including arthritis and bone density.
“My energy increased, as did my confidence, which was something I really needed. I was a pretty insecure young man and I did not have confidence in my abilities to be successful until I took charge of my fitness. It permeated to every area of my life. I wasn’t a good student in high school until my senior year. The discipline I learned from taking charge of my health was applicable to anything I wanted to improve and served me well in college and beyond,” he explained.
Mahler’s current workout has evolved over the years. He not only incorporates many forms of training, but also he changes his regimen frequently. “I change my training fairly often, but right now I do some barbell work, kettlebell training, sprinting and body-weight training,” he says.
“Here’s a breakdown of my training: Monday: 10 50-yard sprints; Wednesday: Barbell deadlift, double kettlebell military press, kettlebell renegade row, double kettlebell swing, Hindu squats; Thursday: 10 50-yard sprints; Saturday: Barbell squat, ring pull-ups, reverse pushups, barbell bent-over row, double kettlebell swing, Hindu squats. I also do relatively light sets of double kettlebell military presses and deadlifts throughout the day to work on technique and to take exercise breaks. I work at home on most days, and it is all too easy to be seated for too long if you don’t plan regular breaks to shake things up.”
Mahler’s own training regimen reflects his philosophy that various tools can be utilized to build strength and fitness. “I am a big fan of kettlebell and body-weight training, but I also do barbell work as well. No need to be exclusionary when it comes to training. Use all the effective methods that you have access to,” he said. “What I do like about kettlebell training foremost are the ballistic exercises, such as swings, cleans and snatches. The kettlebell is such a perfect fit for ballistic work and feels much more fluid and comfortable than similar moves with a dumbbell.”
“Ballistic exercises are full-body motions, and when done in high reps or with intensity are great for building endurance and improving physique composition. I also really like kettlebells for overhead work. Unlike dumbbells, you can press off the body, which is safer for shoulder health, as the shoulders are easily injured, and because kettlebells are off-centered, they naturally pull you into a position when you lock out, which is great for shoulder stability and flexibility.”
“Body-weight exercises are fantastic for developing coordination and body awareness. Depending on how you use them, they are excellent for building endurance and fitness or strength. The more difficult exercises, such as one-legged squats, handstand pushups, one-arm pullups, dragon flags, are great for strength, and exercises such as Hindu pushups, Hindu squats, and jumping lunges, to name a few, are great for building endurance and fitness.
“Sprinting is one of my favorite forms of conditioning right now and is incredible for fat loss as well. An additional benefit is it is quite the mood booster as well. Anytime I have some anxiety, I take my dogs to a field behind my house and run it out. Eight to 10 all-out runs for 50 to 100 yards works wonders. My dog Grover is very high energy and loves running. Once he runs it out, he is very relaxed and calm for the rest of the day. I use Bas Rutten’s 02 trainer when sprinting, to further build my lung strength and endurance.”
For Mahler, one healthy behavior began to influence other healthy behaviors. “I got serious about lifting weights and got hooked pretty rapidly. Once I started seeing some progress in strength and size, I had the urge to see how far I could take it,” he said. “Cleaning up my diet and eradicating self-destructive habits all of a sudden became very easy, as I didn’t want to engage in anything that would mitigate my progress.”
Mahler has consumed a vegan diet for years; plant-based diets have been recommended as one way to improve health and well-being and have been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease. But Mahler’s diet started with an awareness of animal suffering and rights. Mahler has been an outspoken advocate for veganism and animal rights. In fact, Mahler is donating a percentage of his book earnings to the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ animal sanctuary.
“When I was 15, I read an interview with Harley Flanagan of the [New York City] hardcore band the Cro-Mags, in which he talked about why he adopted a vegetarian diet. He stated that you can’t talk about peace when eating meat as you’re contributing to the pain and suffering of animals,” Mahler said. “That really resonated with me. I always loved animals, and like many others, just never thought about the connection. Many people love animals, but they generally are referring to just dogs and cats. Somehow we have a different set of rules for other animals and just fail to make the connection,” he says.
So Mahler opted to make a change. “I decided I didn’t want to eat meat anymore. My mother, a longtime vegetarian, recommended I cut out meat gradually. Thus, I cut out all meat except fish and continued to eat eggs and dairy for a few years. When I was 18 I cut out fish and stuck with dairy and eggs for another few years,” he said. “When I was 20 in college, I came across some literature on factory farming and decided that eggs and dairy were out. This was 1994, and there wasn’t a lot of information on how to make a vegan diet work for athletic people. Thus, it was a real challenge initially.”
But Mahler is quick to point out that veganism is not necessarily a path to health. “Some of the stereotypes on veganism can be accurate. Many vegans are skinny, weak and unhealthy. Not because the vegan diet is flawed, but rather because their approach is. Just because something is vegan, doesn’t mean it is remotely healthy,” he said. “There are all kinds of vegan junk foods that one can overdo and derive horrible results. Similar to any diet, you have to pick the right options and organize things in an optimal manner.”
Mahler noticed a difference when he made changes in his own diet. “Once I focused on whole foods, such as nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and veggies, things started coming together nicely. Before that, I was relying on fake meat products, soy milk, etc., far too much, and that wasn’t giving me the results I desired. Once I dialed things in, I felt great and I had an increase in energy, and my workout performance improved as well.”
“Regarding my nutrition program, here is a sample of what an average day looks like: Breakfast: Power shake, 1 scoop of Growing Naturals pea protein, 1 scoop of Delgado Slimblend superfood powder, 1 teaspoon of beet powder, 1/2 cup of mixed greens, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 10 ounces of homemade almond milk, 1 tablespoon of coconut butter. I add a cup of juiced kale, cucumber and celery to the shake. The shake is a great way to start each day. It is packed with protein, fats, carbs, vitamins, minerals in an easily digestible format so I don’t waste energy early in the day on digestion.
“Lunch: Large mixed-greens salad with baby carrots, tomato, avocado, lentils, hummus, and cashew cheese, 1 cup of brown rice or quinoa. Dinner: This is my largest meal of the day, and I steam-cook the following: 2 cups of garbanzo beans, 1/2 cup of baby carrots, 1/2 cup of mushrooms, 1/2 cup of baby spinach, 1 roma tomato, 1 cup of brown rice, quinoa, or millet. I add 2 tablespoons of hempseeds to the mix after it is cooked. I use spices, such as garlic, turmeric, oregano and basil for taste and health benefits as well. On days I train, I have a power shake similar to my breakfast shake after workout.”
For Mahler, the benefits of a vegan diet are to be demonstrated and shared, not preached. “Some vegans tend to be very judgmental and pretentious, and that is not doing anyone any good. If you want to get people to give up meat and adopt a vegan diet, you should be the epitome of health and also be a great person that people want to be around. People should be coming up to you and asking you what you do to look so vibrant and healthy,” he said. “There are many examples of athletes and fitness trainers that have had great results on a vegan diet and prove that one can thrive on a plant-based program. Some examples include Brandon Brazier, Mac Danzig, Robert Cheeke, Scott Shetler, Jon Hinds and John Joseph.”
For years, Mahler has worked with people to improve health and fitness, and has seen the benefits in his clients. “The better you look and the better you feel about yourself, the better you will be at everything you do. When you’re strong and healthy, you are naturally more confident, and confidence is essential for anything you want to do in life,” he said. “I have seen former clients quit jobs they hate to finally pursue genuine passions. I have seen others get out of destructive relationships and take charge of their lives to finally feel happy and fulfilled. It all started with taking charge of their health and fitness. It is powerful stuff and the most important benefits of arduous training,” he says.
As Mahler began to feel better about himself in terms of health, he began to discover his own purpose in helping others to do the same. “Before I made being a fitness-professional career my vocation, I was in business development and sales for many years. I developed a lot of skills which helped me build a successful fitness business, but was not happy or fulfilled working for others,” he said. “I hated each job I had before finally taking the plunge into the fitness world, which I love. I have been a fitness professional for over 12 years now, and it never gets old, as there are always different paths to take in the industry. You don’t just have to be a trainer.”
Mahler is looking forward to his new ventures; namely, his podcast and his nutritional-supplement line. “I no longer teach workshops, design programs or make fitness videos these days, as my focus is on two things: my podcast, The Live Life Aggressively Show, with my good friend Sincere Hogan and my nutrition-supplement line. I have several fantastic supplements already, including my No. 1 seller, the Aggressive Strength Testosterone Booster, which is the best natural T-booster on the market, by far. I am working on some other products, such as a stimulant-free pre-workout powder and an adrenal-fatigue support product.”
Regardless of the specific pursuit, however, the message stays the same. We must find our sense of purpose, and why we want to be fit and strong, set goals to achieve fitness, and work hard through the barriers that interfere with our fitness goals in order to achieve success. And the rewards of doing so can be great.
“You simply have the ability to love a much fuller life when you’re energetic and healthy,” Mahler said.
Photo credit: Jess McDougal
An earlier version of this article originally appeared in Psychology Today on June 4, 2015.
