Search for tag: "physician"

This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity. For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way.

Dr. Pohl: Are we recording right now?

Scot: Yeah.

Dr. Pohl: Okay.

Troy: We didn't really intro the episode though, Scot, did we?

Scot: I know. But sometimes with new people, Troy, I like to sneak into it, so they feel more comfortable.

Troy: Sorry, Scot.

Scot: Maybe not call attention to the fact that we're actually doing the show.

Troy: Don't let me mess with your technique. Please continue.

Scot: I think it might be too late. I think Dr. Pohl is wise to me at this point.

Troy: I think now she knows what you're doing. So go ahead. Now, I do too.

Scot: You've probably heard of this concept of time-restricted eating. That's where say you eat for 8 hours out of the day and then you don't eat for 16 hours. And it's a way that a lot of people are talking about being able to lose a little extra weight. We've talked to Thunder Jalili, our nutritionist. We have a couple of episodes about it you can listen to. Today, we want to bring in a physician, Dr. Susan Pohl and find out what her take on time-restricted eating is. And if it's right for everybody or if there's some people that it is not going to work out for and what are the impacts it can have on your health. My name is Scot Singpiel. I am the manager of thescoperadio.com. With me, my co-host, Dr. Troy Madsen and Dr. Dr. Susan Pohl. So time-restricted eating, tell me your definition of that.

Dr. Pohl: The concept of it is that the digestive system is more than just a food tube and that one of the key factors in health is digesting your food and getting your nutrients into cells. And that happens with a chemical primarily called insulin. And that insulin is one of the key drivers that helps us use the nutrition from our gut.

So insulin is very important. Obviously, if you know anybody who has diabetes, especially Type 1 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes is the kind that children get. They don't have insulin and they can get very sick. For the more common type of diabetes, which is Type 2, you actually have too much insulin and your body starts to get insulin resistance. And so one theory that has been popularized is that not only do we need the right nutrition, but by timing it with insulin and giving our body a rest from food and a rest from the insulin, we actually can boost health and boost vitality.

Scot: Yeah. That's a little bit of a different take on it that Thunder has. So, when we talk to Thunder, it's primarily more about I think weight management, losing some weight or maintaining your weight. So that's fascinating. It can actually impact your health as well. So is time-restricted eating something that everybody should be doing?

Dr. Pohl: No. The idea behind time-restricted eating from my point of view is primarily around insulin and storing and getting into that storage mode. And when we eat foods that are high in carbohydrates, we tend to secrete insulin and then we go into the storage mode for our nutrition. And the theory behind that, back in high school biology, we learned that the brain was the computer that helped drive the body, we had this nutrition tube to helped us digest food, and that we had fat and fat was a storage vehicle.

What we know now from research is that although those ideas are correct, it's a very simplified model and that there actually are hormones that talk to each other between the brain, the gut, and the fat in our body. So, by doing time-restricted eating, you are decreasing the amount of insulin that your body is being exposed to. But you also are triggering some other hormones like the balance of leptin and adiponectin, which are two other hormones that are secreted by fat. And so for some people, as you start to drive weight down, you actually start to get a decrease in leptin. And you can actually drive the brain to cause some binge eating behaviors.

So the balance between the gut and the brain can become a little bit off. And so I have patients that come to me and say, "I did time-restricted eating and I'm fasting several days a week, but I'm not losing weight," or "I'm not successful in this," or "I do 16/8. So I'll go 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating and I'm not losing weight and I'm not getting more vitality." And I keep reading about this and what may be happening with a lot of those people is that they actually are triggering some bingeing because of the brain's reaction to the fasting.

So it's a tool that works for lots of people, but some people will start to trigger bingeing. And there are certain people who should not be doing time-restricted eating, specifically those that have a history of binge eating disorder or any eating disorder. We don't recommend it for children under 18, which just hasn't been studied. And we know that nutrition is vital for functioning and growth, so children should not be doing time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting and pregnant women because again, nutrition is very important for pregnancy.

Troy: And do you find that there's a certain cutoff in this time-restricted eating where it starts to become more problematic? You mentioned the 8-hour eating, 16-hour fast? That seems like a very long fast. Is that just too much or do you just tell people, "Hey, do what works for you and adjust it to your schedule"?

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. I don't think we understand. As we peel the onion, like I said, if we think about the onion and insulin is one of the big layers in there and then we get down into some of the more detailed hormones around leptin and adiponectin and the way that signals and triggers the brain to crave more food. And so everybody has a different reactivity to that. So, again, I think I recommend exactly what you said. You can try those things like 16 and 8.

I have seen some studies that the balance of leptin, adiponectin are not as put into as much imbalance if you do every other day fasting as opposed to everyday fasting. So using it as a tool that maybe you don't do all the time for some people who are being triggered to binge eat or consume more calories during their non-fasting times. And I think it's unconscious. I do think that patients don't . . . People don't quite realize what 100 or 200 calories looks like. And so they'll be recording their food log and say, "I'm only recording 1,500 calories," or, "I'm only recording 1,800 calories." But this trigger for the brain I think gets out of balance.

Troy: That's interesting. Yeah.

Scot: Yeah. It is.

Troy: We've really been on the time-restricted eating bandwagon here. And I worry sometimes this happens with a lot of health things that you see something that has some benefit and we think, "Well, if it's good, if I just do more of it, it's better." We've talked about doing 12 and 12 and maybe increasing that to 14, but then maybe people think, "Well, let's go to 16 and 8." And then potentially as you mentioned, then maybe that just starts to throw things off and you just want to binge eat during that eight hours and it's counterproductive.

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. I see a lot of patients that will do alternate day fasts, eat a norm, regular timing for foods one day and then alternate day, a lower calorie, 16 and 8 or 12 and 12 on alternate days. And I think a lot of people can manage that a little bit more. And some people find that that's a technique that makes it more sustainable.

Scot: I did the 8/16 and I had a lot of success with it. But as I'm listening to you talk, I think I was set up for a little bit more success. First of all, perhaps my body is not having the same chemical reactions that some people do, because bingeing wasn't an issue for me. Second of all, my whole life I've been very aware of what 200 calories looks like. I understand my macros pretty well. So I was eating essentially what I would eat, except for I was just compressing it. And I know how many calories I eat. So I was finding success, but if somebody is not quite sure, it can be really easy. I imagine if that chemical reaction kicks in to just go, "Oh, I need a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" and you're down that and there's four or 500 calories, now you're eating more than you normally would. The other thing that fasting the reason it worked for me is because I can only eat so much in that period.

So what were you finding when people binge? Are they bingeing on good stuff or bad stuff? Or usually, how does that play out?

Dr, Pohl: So the interesting thing is that if you look at the brain's trigger, we actually think that we have this hedonic pathway. And so during times of stress, we tend to gravitate toward foods that are highly palatable. So speaking in English, you're going to crave . . . If you're given a chocolate cake or a salad, if you are in that craving mode, you're definitely going to go more for the chocolate cake. So I think the other piece of it is when you do break a fast, think about breaking it . . . When your first food that you're eating, I would concentrate on a balanced nutrition profile, so some protein and some fat that'll keep the gut from going into a real fast metabolic rate. So, if you make sure that you have some protein and some fat as you start to break your fast, I think you won't get triggered as much to crave the high sugar, high carbohydrates.

Troy: And you mentioned also you don't recommend this for people who have had a history of eating disorders. Have you seen any cases of people who maybe didn't have a previous diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia or anything like that, but where going to this time-restricted eating maybe triggered some eating disorder tendencies?

Dr. Pohl: I haven't seen it in my practice, but that is a concern. There's another condition called orthorexia. And I don't know if you guys have talked about that at all. So people can go into anorexia where you just don't eat, you never break your fast or adequately break your fast to get enough nutrition. It can trigger bulimia where you're bingeing and then purging. And then orthorexia is, again, a newer diagnosis where patients with anxiety can start to become really obsessed about their food content and it can interfere with other parts of their life so that they can never go off of their food schedule. And so that is a disorder that we're starting to see, some in our practice where I've seen more orthorexia where patients are actually starting to obsess. And it's under the realm of obsessive compulsive disorder where patients will start to spend all their time and energy looking at the food and their food content.

Troy: And I have seen some things as well. Looking at intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating of even some health effects like an increased rate of gall stones, I guess the idea being that the gallbladder isn't working as much because there's no food in there, you don't need that bile secreted. And that bile sitting there increases the rate of gall stones. Are you seeing anything along those lines or any other health effects similar to that?

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. I think if you're weight neutral, I think that the rate of gallstones are less. But with anything that promotes weight loss, you're at risk for gall stones, especially if the weight loss is rapid.

Troy: So a lot of what I'm hearing here is that Scot and I have certainly been on the bandwagon here. With time-restricted eating, we're like, "Hey, this is great." But it sounds like you're telling us yeah, there's maybe a place for it, but there's a whole lot else you should be addressing maybe before even thinking about it. How do you talk to patients when they first come in, in terms of just their general health, weight loss? And when does this come into that conversation?

Dr. Pohl: So most people are very comfortable talking about exercise and nutrition when they're talking about weight and really health. We start to talk more on a global level about things like sleep and mood when patients are having more difficulty and we'll start to talk a little deeper about other issues around health. And if we feel like they're addressing things in a good way around mood and sleep, I might bring up, have they heard of intermittent fasting and what is their experience with it. And we'll talk about time-restricted eating and I'll give them some resources to read about it. I've actually recommended "The Obesity Code" as a book for someone to read and then have them follow up with me and really talk about what that would look like and then support them as long as I know that they're otherwise in a healthy place and have the support that they need to start time-restricted eating.

Troy: So this is not a first-time treatment for obesity, this isn't something you're talking about in your first time, it's like, "Hey, if you've got everything else in place, this is an option as well."

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. I definitely add it after we've maximized nutrition and especially looking at things like carbohydrate content and total exercise, both vigorous exercise and more moderate exercise and making sure they have a balance of all those things.

Scot: So it sounds like if somebody is getting some exercise, they're watching their nutrition, their caloric intake, they're getting good sleep, they've got some good mental health, there's nothing in their life that's causing stress. That tends to work for the most part for people feeling healthy losing a little bit of weight. If somebody hits a plateau, that's when maybe you might pull this one out of the toolbox of intermittent fasting.

Dr. Pohl: Yes. And I make sure that they're following up with me and making sure that we have a good plan for follow-up and just making sure that all their . . . none of those other issues become triggered.

Scot: Yeah.

Troy: So here's the next question for you. Do you practice intermittent fasting?

Dr. Pohl: Yes, I do. Actually, I have found that I maximized exercise and nutrition and felt like I had hit a wall. During the pandemic, actually, I started doing 16 and 8 and I found that it helped break through some issues for me and I was able to have some success that I hadn't previously been able to achieve.

Troy: Wow. And were you doing 16 and 8 every day or every other day like you mentioned?

Dr. Pohl: For me, the issue and it was a little bit, maybe a little bit of that what I talked about earlier, that hedonic drive, but what I found was that I was able to look at my nutrition five days a week. And then on the weekend, I love a piece of chocolate cake or a glass of wine or something like that. And so it was very hard for me, and discouraging for me to do seven days of really good monitoring your nutrition and exercise and then have a weekend of maybe some celebration or something and then lose ground. And so what I found for me was that if I did interment, if I did 16 and 8, during the weekdays, I was able to then let off steam on the weekends a little bit and participate in those fun activities that included some nutrition that maybe I didn't have during the week. And that for me made it sustainable.

Troy: And it seems that if you do 16 and 8, you're essentially skipping a meal during the day, and I've heard breakfast is the easiest. That seems to work for me. Did you do that or did you approach it a little differently?

Dr. Pohl: No. That's exactly what I did. Again, because I do have a family, I just moved my lunch to about 1:00 and then made sure that I was finished up with dinner before 6 or 7. And then that was a really easy transition because I was able to have dinner with my family.

Troy: Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. That's what works for me. For me, the balance seems to be 12 and 12, and then sometimes that 12 stretches to 14 where I don't eat after 8, then I may not eat until 10 a.m. the next morning. But 16 and 8 sure sounds tough. I have not tried that. That seems tough to sustain, but it seems like you had some pretty good balance there.

Dr. Pohl: Yeah.

Scot: Shockingly, so I flip flop it. Breakfast is too important to me. So I usually have my breakfast, and then I'd wrap up at about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. And my concern was, I think what Dr. Pohl speaks to a little bit is then that time between 4 and bedtime, right? You get into that no man's land where maybe you're going to start making some bad decisions. I just upped my water intake, and a lot of times that took care of the problem. So that worked for me. I don't know if it would work for everybody or not, but . . .

Troy: I guess it depends how many times you want to get up to pee at night, Scot. I don't know if that was an issue for you.

Scot: Well, this is the shocking thing. No. This is a shocking thing. I didn't.

Troy: You didn't?

Scot: It didn't have to get up and go anymore.

Troy: You just like chugging water and . . .

Scot: Which is bizarre because I used to have to. So I don't know if it's related to this or what it was, but . . .

Troy: Huh, interesting.

Scot: Dr. Pohl, what about intermittent fasting for somebody that's trying to manage their blood sugar levels if that's been a challenge? Is that a good strategy? Are there other better strategies, much like we talked about with weight loss?

Dr. Pohl: So, again, if you do have diabetes, I would definitely make sure that you're working with your doctor about this and that you are monitoring your blood sugar. And if you're on medications for diabetes, you need to be adjusting those based on fasting. So, for patients that have pre-diabetes, which is a condition where your blood sugar tends to run high after eating, I think that this is a tool that you can use to help control that. If you already are on medications for blood sugar and diabetes, then you definitely only want to do this under a doctor's supervision.

Troy: So definitely not a first line. But Scot, I know you've had this question. You've asked and maybe you can ask it. I don't want to necessarily reveal your health information, but you've talked about it on the podcast that you said you were borderline on your blood sugar, on your fasting glucose. And I don't know, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about that.

Scot: Yeah. So I come in around 97 to 99 and that pre-diabetes is 100. So I'm right underneath there. And I don't know if that's been just the way I've been my whole life because I don't have enough history of those numbers to be able to tell you if that's always where I've been. I used to subscribe to the Zone diet, which one of their tenants is that you have a little snack before bedtime. So, really, my time eating would be from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. because it would be like cottage cheese and nuts and fruit. It would be healthy. I don't know. Troy, what question did you want me to ask? What question are you asking for me?

Troy: The question I'm asking on your behalf, Scot. For someone like Scot, is time-restricted fasting . . . because he tried everything. Is this some way to then maybe help a little bit more to move someone out of that pre-diabetes range? Is there any benefit there?

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. So the theory behind pre-diabetes is that you're constantly bombarding your body with insulin. And so by constantly having carbohydrates throughout the day, you're constantly having insulin in your body throughout the day. So, with time-restricted eating, what you're doing is giving your body a break from that insulin and you're saying, "Okay. I'm not going to expose the body to carbohydrates and insulin during a certain time period of the day." And that's a way that in the pre-diabetes when you have this tendency toward that borderline, you can actually pull that back a little bit. And so, Scot, were you successful or did that change your . . . What's your fasting glucose now? Do you actually monitor that?

Scot: I have not been doing it long enough to really check.

Dr. Pohl: Yeah.

Scot: So I started doing it right before the pandemic hit. And since then, all bets for me. Troy's doubled down on everything in his life, meaning he runs further and he eats healthier. And I've gone it completely the opposite way.

Troy: I don't know about that, but . . .

Scot: I do. So I haven't tried it yet. Is there any research on that, Dr. Pohl? Is there any expectation I could have? Because I did exercise. I was eating healthy. I was just eating throughout the day. So I wonder if my eating throughout the day and never giving me my break is what started developing that pre-diabetes. There again, I don't know, maybe I've always had high blood sugar resting. I don't know.

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. Well, it's interesting to see what your weight was before and what your weight is now. But the balance between your fat and your sugar and that trigger of the insulin, I would expect your fasting blood sugars to now be a little bit lower, more like 90 or 85. But it'd be interesting to see how your body responded. Again, it's a really complex system and that insulin is that big part of the onion. But as we drill down into the other hormones in your body, those could be affected as well. So we would only know by checking.

Troy: I think we got to check, Scot.

Scot: Yeah.

Troy: I think you are our case study because you've talked about it and I know you were struggling just to get that number down and definitely concerned. So I'd love to see where it is after doing some intermittent fasting.

Scot: So I'll do a 12 on, 12 off and I'll see how that works. How long would I need to maintain that, Dr. Pohl, before I'd want to get my blood sugar tested again, which I haven't done in two years, by the way?

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. What's your eating style right now? Are you not doing any time-restricted eating?

Scot: I do try to do 12 on, 12 off. I do try to wrap up. I start at 6 and I try to wrap up at 6.

Dr. Pohl: Yeah. So I would test it now and see where you're at. If that's what you're doing.

Scot: Oh, really doing?

Dr. Pohl: Yeah.

Scot: So that soon?

Dr. Pohl: Uh-hmm.

Scot: Okay.

Troy: Let's do it. Yeah. Let's do it.

Scot: All right.

Troy: This will be our next episode, Scot. We're going to do the reveal with you. You get your blood sugar drawn, we'll do the reveal and find out what it is, if you're willing to share it.

Scot: That'll be a lot of fun for our listeners . . .

Troy: Drama.

Scot: I'm sure. Yeah. I'm sure there's nothing more . . .

Troy: Radio drama.

Scot: . . . intriguing to podcast listeners than hearing a guy's blood sugar revealed live on the air. That seems solid.

Troy: Here is the number.

Scot: Now, I know why you're the doctor and I'm the professional broadcaster.

Troy: Exactly. That's right. Not my area of expertise, but I'm intrigued.

Dr. Pohl: I want to know too.

Scot: All right. Well, the doctors in the room want to know. That's fine.

Troy: Yeah. We want to know. We'll listen to that episode.

Scot: All right. Dr. Pohl, so it sounds like just to summarize. Time-restricted eating is something that somebody could try, but there are some caveats. It can cause overeating, some bingeing, you might end up going the opposite direction. Better to check in with some of those basics first like, how does your nutrition look, what you're eating, how does your activity look, your stress, your sleep. This could be a tool that maybe if somebody has hit a plateau they want to try. And then there are some medical conditions, you might want to talk to your doctor first before thinking about time-restricted eating. Did I sum that up fairly well?

Dr. Pohl: That's a great summary.

Scot: Okay. Great. This was a great conversation because I think I get excited about something like this and I forget that everybody is going to react to something like this differently. I was blown away when you said that some people would binge because I didn't experience that. So, of course, that's the way everybody would experience it. That's what we think, but that's not necessarily the truth. So great conversation. Thank you for being on the podcast and thanks for caring about men's health.

Awesome. You made it to the end. I hope that you enjoyed this. "Who Cares About Men's Health?" We have three shows in one podcast. We have our core four episodes, which is just what you listen to here where we concentrate on nutrition, activity, sleep, and also your emotional health. We have our sideshow episodes, which are a little bit more loose, we do still talk about health topics. So maybe not directly related to men's health. And then we have the men's health essentials that's talking about issues that are specific to men that you should know about.

So go back, check out some of those other episodes. If you would, we have a Facebook page, facebook.com/WhoCaresMensHealth. And most importantly, if you found this episode useful or you find any of our episodes useful, if you would just share our podcast with one other person, it would go a long way to building our audience of men who are informed, educated, can make great health decisions, feel better today and in the future and who care about their health. Thanks for listening.

This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity. For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way.

We started the Who Cares About Men’s Health podcast with the premise that if men focus on activity, nutrition, sleep, and emotional health, they would feel better now and in the future. Plus, men would also reduce the chances of developing diabetes, heart disease, and many other conditions, all of which are impacted by lifestyle choices.

Today, we revisit the Core 4 Plus One More and what it means to be healthy. Since some of you haven’t listened before, we’ve included links to previous shows so you can learn more. In today's episode, Troy, Scot, and Mitch talk about the Core Four 4, how they've implemented them, and what they’ve learned from doing the podcast during the past two years. If you are starting your health journey, this is a good episode for you.

What does it mean to be healthy? We take a different approach to health than other places on the Internet. Contrary to fitness magazines, health isn't an all-or-nothing thing. You don't have to be a health and fitness fanatic. The pursuit of health doesn’t need to dominate your life. We believe health is the currency that lets you enjoy your relationships today and in the future.

• Episode 1: The Turning Point
• Episode 3: Finding Your Motivation
• Episode 18: Mitch’s Personal Health Journey

To feel better today and in the future, you should concentrate on four areas: activity, nutrition, sleep, and emotional health. Lots of research shows that focusing on those four things will go a long way toward helping you function, feel better, and protect you from disease. The plus one more? You should be aware of any genetic-related health issues in your family and address those.

While some might enjoy weight training and spending time in the gym, it’s not for everyone. We intentionally choose the word activity over the term exercise. Exercise sounds like you need to join a gym. Exercise sounds like something that's detached from your life. Activity, on the other hand, is less formal and part of your life. Just do something that makes you break a sweat for 30 minutes a day. It might be running. For others, a brisk walk with the dog, playing basketball with the kids in the driveway, hiking, even raking leaves and shovelling snow is an activity that helps you stay healthy.

Find the activity that you enjoy doing every day and be consistent. Small, constant effort makes the difference. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not going to want to continue doing it.

• Episode 24: The Secret to Successful Strength Training
• Episode 54: Getting Active Again
• Episode 158: Kettlebell Curious
• Episode 168: Getting a Bodybuilder Physique Is More Involved Than You Think

What you eat impacts your physical and emotional health. That doesn't mean you have to eat perfectly. However, you should try to avoid processed foods and refined sugars. Eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. If changing your diet seems overwhelming, simply change one thing. Drink one less soda a day. Eliminate one fast food meal a week. Eat one extra serving of veggies. Small changes add up over time.

• Episode 12: The Importance of Good Nutrition
• Episode 20: Time Your Meals to Lose Weight
• Episode 42: Get to Know Your Macros - Protein
• Episode 46: Carbs Aren’t Bad
• Episode 49: Surprise! It’s Hidden Sugar
• Episode 51: Don't Fear the Fat

Many underestimate the importance of getting good sleep. The average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Research has shown that lack of sleep impacts your health in multiple ways.

• Episode 11: How to Beat Your Insomnia
• Episode 38: The 4 Rules of Rest

Mental health is the state of your thoughts and emotions, and it impacts everything. If we're not functioning well emotionally, it can affect sleep, nutrition, and activity. If your emotional state is supportive of meeting your goals, that’s good. If our emotions are a barrier to doing the things we want to do in life or impacting our relationships, we need to do something. Sometimes seeking professional health is the answer. You’re not weak for talking about it. If you broke your arm, you’d go to a doctor. If you only listen to one episode about mental health, listen to Episode 39. The tools for your mental health toolbox are easy for anyone to use, and they do make a difference. If you need more help, check out Episode 45 to learn how antidepressants can help.

• Episode 7: What is Mental Health Anyway?
• Episode 19: Seven Steps to be a Better Listener
• Episode 39: Three Tools for Your Mental Health Toolbox
• Episode 45: Do I Need an Antidepressant?
• Episode 47: Therapy Isn’t Just for a Crisis

If you smoke, quitting has almost immediate health benefits. Excessive drinking can also have a significant impact on health. Quitting can be challenging, so if you're not ready yet, pick a few easier health changes first. For both smoking and drinking, you might need professional help. If drugs are an issue, you'll almost certainly need to seek professional help. In all three cases, these changes can have the most significant impact on your health.

• Episode 21: Opioids, Treatment, and Hope
• Episode 26: Trying to Quit for 7th Time
• Episode 53: The Line Between Unwinding and Drinking Too Much
• Episode 57: The Real Problem Isn't Drinking Too Much

Some people are at higher risk for certain types of cancers, cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and mental health issues. If you know where you're at higher risk, you need to focus more on those areas.

Guys love to take a "wait-and-see approach to health." But if you have an issue that has been around for a while, it's not likely going away on its own. Whether it's an old injury that prevents you from being active, a chronic cough, or any ongoing issue, you should have it checked out.

• Episode 5: Putting a Physical Therapist on Your Health Care Team
• Episode 48: Recovering from a Sprained Ankle
• Episode 59: Erectile Disfunction and Your Health
• Episode 67: Ask a Sports Medicine Doc

If you’re struggling with your health, just pick one of the four, make one small change, and be consistent.

• Be patient. Change takes time.
• Be independent. Health is very personal, and you can do it your way. Don't judge yourself compared to others.
• Be kind to yourself when you slip up.
• Congratulate yourself for all the small wins.
• Reach out. You can contact us anytime.

This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity. For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way.

Scot: Troy. Hi, Troy.

Troy: Hi.

Scot: What's going on, Troy? Are you my bro', Troy?

Troy: Yeah.

Scot: Seem to have some sort of an accent all of a sudden. What's up, Troy? Bro.

Troy: I don't know what that accent is.

Scot: I don't either. Not anybody I'd want to meet. "Who Cares About Men's Health?" providing information, inspiration, and motivation to better understand and engage in your health. So you feel better today and in the future. You know what we're looking for around here? Troy knows what we're looking for around here. We're looking for guys who are proud to say they care about their health and they don't care who hears about it. My name is Scot. I am the manager of thescoperadio.com, and I care about men's health. And I don't care, I'm proud to say that.

Troy: You're proud. I love it. I'm Dr. Troy Madsen. I am an emergency physician at the University of Utah, and I also care about men's health.

Mitch: I'm Mitch Sears. I am a producer at The Scope Radio, and I also care about my health and I'm proud about it.

Scot: How many episodes into this are we and we still haven't convinced Mitch?

Troy: Convinced Mitch. Mitch is back with us though. That's the best part of this, even though Mitch isn't convinced that he cares about his health yet. He's back with us on the show. We've missed you, Mitch.

Mitch: Oh, I'm glad to be back. I've missed you guys.

Scot: Now that he's back, we can have some influence. Maybe that's what it is. It's like prescription medication. He's been off of it for a while and he hasn't been, you know, now that he's back on, maybe he'll start caring again.

Mitch: Sure.

Troy: Yeah, exactly. We got to get this ramped back up again. We'll start low dose with you, Mitch, and then we'll get you excited by the end of this episode.

Scot: All right. On today's episode, we're going to talk about gifts for better fitness, not GIFs like the animated GIFs you see on Facebook and Twitter, but gifts.

Troy: Is it "giff" or is it "jiff"?

Scot: Yeah, that's a different debate for a different time, my friend. Anyway, gifts for better fitness. Each one of us have come up with three things that we think would be good for somebody who is interested in fitness or wellness in your life, or even you, you know, this might be something that you would like. I just want to share this with you guys though, first of all, and I think this kind of highlights a problem. And one of the problems that we face getting other men to care about their health or men caring about their health is because there are two camps it looks like that have been developed. There's not a lot of room for just kind of regular guys.

So I Googled gifts for better fitness. So when I Googled gifts for better fitness, here's what came up, 40 wellness gift ideas for health fanatics. Another one, fitness lovers, gym lovers, and fitness fanatics, health nuts for the person who never skips a workout.

Mitch: Oh my God.

Scot: Five best fitness gifts for anyone who loves working out. Right? So like, as I'm looking at this, I'm like this is not what I want this particular episode to be. You know, it seems like there's a lot of just . . . it's like it's reserved for only certain people. If you're not a fanatic, then there's, you know, no need for you to want to get in your wellness. It's not for a regular person. It's just for a fanatic or a nut. Did anybody else get that or is that just me?

Troy: Oh, I've felt that forever, Scot. It's like we're such a polarized society in so many ways. And it's the same thing in fitness. It's like there are more health spas and fitness centers than there have ever been, yet we have the highest obesity rate in this country that we have ever had. It's like you're either all in or you're not at all. And it drives me crazy that there's that yeah, it's like, okay, you're a fitness nut. Or it's like I can't do that. You know, it's so frustrating, but I totally agree.

Mitch: Well, one of the things that I notice all the time, either doing research for this podcast or when I was working on the 5k and I do care about my health, I'm doing that, but it's the pictures, right? You see these pictures, and it's like you're a fanatic and it's just this huge muscly dude. And it's like, "Oh my God, I'm nowhere near that." You know, it's like it's these beasts of people that over and over again, it's like, this is not for me. It doesn't look like for me. Or it's a super lean runner. It's never, I don't know, a regular guy. You know?

Troy: Yeah, agreed.

Scot: It's like there is no in between ground. Like there just is no middle ground, right? So I think that's lesson number one. We're, I don't know, just minutes into this podcast and already boom, knowledge bomb.

Troy: Knowledge bomb.

Mitch: That's why people tune in.

Troy: That is why, hey, we have over 800,000 listeners.

Scot: Just let off in your ears and knowledge bomb. There is a middle ground. Fitness is for everybody, and that's why we came up with, you know, the core four plus one more. We're not only trying to make it simple, but we're trying to make it accessible for everybody because it should be. Time and time again it has been proven that if you focus on sweating for 30 minutes a day or getting some sort of activity 30 minutes a day, focus on what you eat and try to eat more better food for you than, you know, not as good food, you work on your sleep and your mental health, that that will have benefits today and in the future.

So anyway, that is lesson number one. Let's get to the main part here. We have each picked three things for individuals that are interested in perhaps investing in one of the core four. So whether that's nutrition, exercise, sleep, or stress management, that's either worked for us or that we like. So Troy, do you want to start?

Troy: Yes. Do I just present one or do you want me to present all three of my ideas?

Scot: I think do one at a time, and if there's a reason to discuss, we can discuss. If not, we'll just move on to the next one.

Troy: It's going to be like opening gifts on Christmas morning. Each person gets to open one of their gifts, and then we'll go to the next person. So I'm not going to open all my gifts at once.

Scot: All right. Yeah, I like your idea. You open one, I open one, Mitch opens one. Okay.

Troy: Exactly. But I have tried to spread mine out over the core four. Granted they're only three gifts, but they kind of spread out over the core four. So my first gift, and I've tried to have these all gifts under $30. So pretty reasonably priced if you want to buy one or, you know, recommend or ask for one or buy one for someone else. But my first gift is a hard foam roller. This is a great gift. I think I use a foam roller every day. It's one of those things if someone is just getting into running or working out or biking or whatever it is, it seems like the biggest thing that always stops them from moving forward, as I talk to people, is the aches and pain in their legs. They get hip pain. They get knee pain. They get these super tight IT bands.

I think a hard foam roller is a great thing to do. You can give them a little bit of information about how to use it, you know, how to roll the IT band. And I think it's one of those things that's going to help people get through those initial first couple months of really starting to work out more and, you know, working through a lot of the aches and pains that come with it. I think we work out, and we forget about the stretching. We forget about the foam rolling piece. I think that's great for sustainability.

Scot: Let me jump in with the foam roller. So we have one, and not only does it help when you roll over those sore muscles and you want it to, you want to roll over those sore muscles. It should hurt. It's called sustained compression and it helps out muscle release and it helps kind of, I don't know. What else is it doing in there, Troy? Do you know?

Troy: You know, it's just breaking down a lot of those fibers that just tighten up. That's really it. It's helping with that muscle release. It's helping, you know, with the IT band, which has connective tissue to loosen it up so it's not pulling so hard on the knee and the hips.

Scot: And then the other thing you can use it for too is you can lay on it. So lay on your back on it and then get a couple of light dumbbells or something. And put your arms out at your side with your elbows bent and just it gives you this nice chest stretch, which for me is great because I'm constantly shoulders forward, over my keyboard, over my device. You know? So that really kind of stretches that out and loosens that up and makes you feel better. Good gift. What do you think, Mitch?

Mitch: I like it. I mean, I have it and when I was doing the 5k stuff, I used it almost every day after Troy talked about it all the time.

Scot: All right, Mitch, go ahead. What's your gift? Gift number one for Mitch.

Mitch: So gift number one under $30, it is a fun lunch box. So hear me out. So a lot of times . . .

Troy: I was just going to shut you up, Mitch, and say let's move on. Okay, go on. Explain.

Mitch: So whether it be a bento box or like a cool, like one that has, you know, a roll-out mat or whatever, I think that one of the big things for me, at least, especially a couple of years ago when I was working for my own business at the start is that I ate out all the time. All the time. I would go and you just get busy and you're buzzing around. And what changed for me from eating out to preparing the food and making myself a good, healthy lunch, as kind of dumb as it sounds, was looking forward to stuffing that meal, that lunchbox, right?

It's not just a brown sack. It's not just a Tupperware or a meal prep container that you just throw in a bag and whatever. But it's part of a ritual, right? It's something that you look forward to. You know your food is going to be safe. It's not going to be mush. It's going to be the right temperature, blah, blah, blah. There was something very exciting and, you know, pleasing about finding a really cool lunchbox that worked for me, and it made me excited to make myself healthy lunches.

Scot: And then as a result, you're not eating out as much. So I love that. That was a really good idea. Make it into a ritual. Yeah. You know, one of the things I've realized just off to the side for a moment is with all of these things in the core four, whether it's exercise, nutrition, sleep, what's the other one, mental health, you know, different things work for different people, right? So that lunchbox idea might not work for me, but it worked for Mitch and it might work for you. You know, for me a different way might work to get me to want to take my lunch to work if, you know, you're still going into work. So super good.

All right. There's always one of these guys at the Christmas party. I wasn't aware there was a $30 one.

Mitch: Oh no.

Troy: So you're like the $200 gift, like the GPS watch, the Fitbit.

Scot: Yeah, you bet everybody else feels terrible about it. I also don't have much of a memory apparently, because I, my number one is a kettlebell. I'm still on kettlebells. I love kettlebells.

Troy: So your gift is seriously a kettlebell?

Scot: Yeah, sure.

Troy: Just to be clear, we've now talked about kettlebells on at least six episodes. That's all right. That's all right, Scot.

Scot: So on episode 58, we had Caleb on. He talked about, you know, kettlebells and what weights to get and so forth and so on. And I went to the Bountiful, you know, the parking lot on Walgreens in Bountiful and did the deal that I found in the classified ads, because you can't find kettlebells anywhere else, except for on the used market. It's like a drug deal, except for it's for pounds of cast iron. I have a 10 pound one, and then I have a . . . hold on, about that heavy of a one apparently.

Troy: The grunting, yeah. Was that your 35 pounder?

Scot: It's not the poo. That's a 17 and a half pound.

Troy: That's a half poo.

Scot: I have the heavier ones out in the garage, but I have these two lighter ones in my office. And every hour I get up for five minutes and I do some. It might be a goblet squat. It might be an overhead press. It might be some sort of a one-arm deadlift, could be a back row. And I love it. It forces me to get up. It forces me to get the blood pumping a little bit. Sometimes if I'm working on a work problem and I'm stumped, just getting up for that 5 or 10 minutes and doing a couple exercises with the kettlebell is enough to kind of break me from, you know, getting stuck and getting back into whatever it is that I'm working on. So that is my suggestion is get a lighter kettlebell.

Now Caleb talked about the 35-pound ones for, you know, doing some heavier stuff, but like a 10-pound or a 17-pound, just to do some of those little exercises in your office.

Troy: I like it. Yeah, multitasking especially during Zoom meetings, boring Zoom meetings, pull out the dumbbell. Just keep your arms down.

Scot: Yeah. And be sure you turn the camera off because nobody wants to see you working out with your kettlebell. Although a lot worse has happened on Zoom, but we won't go there.

Troy: Much worse has happened.

Scot: Troy, gift number two.

Troy: Gift number two is a sun lamp. So these are these little sun lamps you can get that sort of simulate sunlight. I always struggle with this transition to winter. Like every year I'm like, ah, I love being outside. I love the sun. I love summertime. And there's this transition just seems to hit November where everything's dark. So now I have a sun lamp I recently purchased and I have it in my office. So it serves multiple purposes. Number one for Zoom meetings, it's good. It gives you some nice light from your sun lamp that actually looks like you've got sunlight coming in through your window instead of just sitting in a dark room.

And number two, there are proven mental health benefits of having that sort of that simulated sunlight. So this gets at the sort of the mental health piece of the core four, but it's something you can get again under 30 bucks and it's something where, you know, you can just say, hey, it's not for depression. Or, you know, I don't think you have seasonal affective disorder or anything like that. It's just great Zoom light and adds a little more light to your day as you're working in the office, going through Zoom meetings.

Scot: Just talking with my wife the other day about how our energy levels have just drastically dropped now, you know, after 5:30 when it's dark. Like we used to be able to work later at night, now not so much. So I think a sun lamp is a great idea because especially in these short, you know, the short day months that we're in. Mitch, unwrap gift number two.

Mitch: Number two, it's like the opposite of what Troy just suggested. It is . . .

Troy: Blackout blinds?

Mitch: It's a really nice sleep mask. So Troy turned me on to sleep . . .

Troy: What happens, Scot, if someone steals our gift? I'll find a new one, Mitch. Go on. It's all right. I'll find a new one.

Mitch: Because, Troy, it was last year. I don't remember if it was on air or not, but you were like, I swear you swore by sleep masks. I'm like, you know, who like my grandma, wears a sleep mask? Like I as a 30-year-old man will not ever wear a sleep mask. I got one.

Troy: I hear that a lot. Don't worry.

Mitch: I got a good one.

Troy: You did? Yeah.

Mitch: And with the $30 budget, you can get some really nice ones. I can't say any like names or anything, but there are some that they look like a brassiere and they keep up off your eyeballs. They're amazing.

Troy: They're great. That's as exactly mine.

Mitch: Right?

Troy: In my eye brassiere.

Mitch: You look like a bug, but like night and day. You know, I have a little Fitbit. I track my sleep, and it just changed everything. I have a dark apartment. It's not like it's, you know, particularly the bed, but just 100% blackout, completely changed the way I slept.

Troy: That's so great to hear, Mitch. I love it. And it's a great gift too. Let's say someone doesn't want to use it every night. Just tell them, "Hey, it's for travel." Like so often when you travel, you know, you just need something else. Just, you know, you don't have great blackout blinds or whatever. It may be wherever you're staying. It's just nice to have on hand. So it's great to hear that. I agree. I think a sleep mask is a great gift.

Scot: That's awesome that you noticed a difference in your Fitbit sleep activity.

Mitch: I did. And then on top of that, like the reason I really like it as a gift is that like it's not something like a guy is going to get themselves. I think that there is a like activation energy for getting involved in like that kind of purchase. And just to be like, here, it's a good one. It's comfortable. Try it. I think that that's really great for something that you can give to someone.

Scot: Yeah, and certain families you might want to somehow figure out how to back channel like your mom or your sister to gift that to you, because then when you open it up, you can look at all the other guys in the family go, "I don't know what this is."

Troy: "I'll never use this."

Scot: "All right. Thanks, mom, I guess."

Troy: Yeah, once you get over that initial embarrassment, it's just like, hey, whatever, I'm using it. This works. That is the point that I am at now.

Scot: All right. My gift number two is a fitness tracker. Here's my advice on this though. If you're getting it for yourself or even somebody else, buy it used. You don't need to go out and buy the fancy, super expensive ones. I feel that steps and sleep are the only two things that this fitness tracker needs to do. Well, I can't use brand names because we can't endorse anything here, but you know what they are. You probably will only be using it for a few months. My fitness tracker that I had I used, I think, for six months, eight months, and then I kind of lost interest in it, but what it did for me was it was a good reality check.

It it's kind of like, you know, weighing your food. You do that for a while and you start getting a better understanding of portion sizes, and then you don't have to do it anymore because you can just eyeball it better. So I used to think I went to bed at 10:00 religiously, my sleep tracker, my fitness tracker told me a totally different story. It told me that I was going to bed at 10:30, 11:00, 11:15. So that was useful information that helped me then put routines then to make sure that I was actually going to bed at 10:00 and not just thinking that I was.

And then it also helped me with my activity. I realized I wasn't up and moving as much as I thought I was. So again, it kind of just dialed in my perception to the reality so I was able to make adjustments. So that's why I would say a fitness tracker. I would say buy it used because, you know, you're probably going to get about six months out of it anyway, or get one and then pass it to another family member for six months. That might be another option.

Mitch: Oh, that's actually interesting because I use my fitness tracker all the time, and when I was quitting smoking, the thing I noticed was my resting heart rate. It dropped by 20, 30 points over the entire experience.

Troy: That's cool. Wow.

Mitch: So being able to see that number really changed, like how I was, you know, my recommitment to the quitting and things like that. It was something very quantitative for, you know, my experience.

Scot: All right, Troy, are you on gift number three?

Troy: I am. So unfortunately the other gift I purchased was already gifted. So I have a new gift I'm going to give, and this is more relevant to those of us who live in colder climates. But this is something I cannot say a brand name, but it's something that attaches, you strap it to the bottom of your shoe. It's kind of like tire chains for your shoe, a little something you just strap on there. It's like this rubberized thing, has these little coils on the bottom of it. It's named after an animal called a yak.

These are super useful. I absolutely love these. And I'll tell you it's multipurpose. Number one, you know, we want to be getting outside every day. Maybe you don't have a treadmill or maybe just don't like treadmills. You just want to be outside, get some fresh air, but with icy roads, snow on the ground, you're just like, hey, it's just like I can't get out there and try and walk in this stuff. Just throw these things on. They give you a great traction. This is what I run in on the winter. If we don't have too much snow and I'm just running on icy roads, they work beautifully.

Number two, it keeps you out of the ER. You know, one of the biggest thing we see so many slips and falls this time of year, especially as we start to get snowstorms, we get ice on the road and on sidewalks, people slip, they fall, they get forearm injuries, hip injuries. So it's multipurpose for your health. It's great to help keep your routine up. So you're getting out, walking every day. Great gift for people just to, you know, like I say, keep them sustaining their routine they already have in place and then keep them safe while they're out there. Scot: We have those as well, Troy. We use them when we got dogs. We'd walk our dogs in the morning and then in the evening and in the wintertime. It doesn't happen a lot here in the Valley, in Salt Lake City. But you know, you'll get packed snow or ice and it is slippery out there. And I fell one time, pretty substantially and it hurt my knee for a good four or five months after that. That was the day I went out and bought some of those. And there are different kinds. You know, there're the kinds that you alluded to, but there are a little bit more heavy dutier ones that might work for you. But they're a game changer like you say it.

Troy: Yeah, they are a game changer. You go from just slipping on roads to just great traction on sidewalks, roads, paths, whatever you're on.

Scot: All right, Mitch, gift number three. I'm so excited. I can't see what you brought to the Christmas party.

Mitch: So the last thing that I brought is, again, a really cool journal. So again, stay with me. So a journal, right, is something that is really hard for people to get into at the beginning, right? Whether it be keeping it as a planner, right? Whether it be using it to write your gratitude, whether it be whatever, it's really hard to get into it. And if someone just hands you like a spiral bound notebook, it's like I don't know if I like this. Scot, you've seen me in all my meetings. I have my little journal that I carry around. That journal is my planner. That journal is my gratitude journal. That journal is where I write my notes in meetings. It's my one thing that has everything in it.

And for me, I occasionally have anxiety. And so being able to write everything down and get it out of my head, I'm not keeping my schedule in my . . . I'm not relying on technology. I'm not looking at a screen. I'm actually writing everything down. It it's like a load off, right. It gets the ideas out of my head. And then it's really easy to start incorporating other things into a literal journal, right? Whether it be leather-bound, get yourself something nice. You know, for 30 bucks you can find yourself a really nice journal. Some of them even come pre-made, whether there are certain systems, you know, they're not a name brand, but there are certain strategies called bullet journaling. There's the five minute journaling. It's these different techniques on how to not only check in with yourself mentally, but also to check in with how your day is doing, time management, gratitude.

And, you know, it's really easy to try these systems out if you have a really cool journal that you pull out all the time, you interact with, it's yours. Again, it helps make the act of checking in with yourself, getting things out of your head, practicing gratitude, easier for me. And that's been a huge help with my mental health over the last year.

Troy: I love it. Yeah, we've made fun of it before, but I have my little planner. So it sounds like, Mitch, you kind of use your journal both as a journal and as a planner and sort of a task list. Yeah, I'm a huge believer in just being able to write stuff down, tasks, write those down so I can just put it out of my mind. I write it down. A week from now I'm going to think about this again. For now I'm not going to worry about it. But, you know, we just had the episode with Dr. Chan as well, where Scot and I talked about journaling and, you know, Dr. Chan talked a lot more about how it's a lot about gratitude and reaching out and expressing that directly to others, but certainly there's value in that act of writing down the things we're grateful for.

And Mitch, I think, as you mentioned as well, just that process of just trying to work through stuff that's on our mind and just being able to write it down and think about it I think really does a lot to relieve anxiety and get a lot of those things off our minds. So love the idea of having a really nice journal. And I think once you get that from someone you think, hey, I really should use this. Why don't I try just jotting a few things down in this?

Scot: And if you want to start journaling yourself. So one of the most valuable things I think you said right there, Mitch, is go out and find out like some sort of a system to journal, what to journal about because where do you start is difficult. I do something called the daily pages, which basically is just a free form. You write for, well, I think it's supposed to be 30 minutes, but I do it for 10. You're supposed to write for 30 minutes and you're not supposed to edit yourself. Think about it. It's not anything in particular. It's just whatever's in your head. It just gives you a chance to dump, you know, any of the toxic-ness out.

Sometimes I get sick and tired of hearing myself with the toxic-ness. So then I go, well, what else can I do? You know, what else can I ponder? And the only rule is you can't stop writing. If you stop writing, then you just start writing, "I don't know what to write," over and over again, until something comes to you.

I'm going to go ahead and give a different kind of take on that. A really nice journal might be, for some people, the thing that really motivates them to do it. For me, that's too much pressure. I would rather have like a cheap composition book that I don't go, "Oh boy, I can only put like golden thoughts in here because this is my $30 beautiful leather bound journal," right?

Mitch: I feel good. I feel good. It's like this is me time. I guess I can say that.

Scot: So, I mean, I totally get it. Like, it goes back. You like the nicer things in life. I understand that. You like nice lunchboxes. You like writing journals.

Troy: Scot, you're writing yours on like paper towels.

Mitch: This is my roll of paper towels.

Troy: Here I go.

Scot: Bar napkins. That might be an indication you've got a problem.

Troy: There's an issue there.

Scot: But yeah, find out, you know, even if it's just writing down gratitude or just getting thoughts external to yourself. I can also vouch, Mitch. I do it a little bit differently. I do it in Evernote, in my computer. They do say that there is a benefit to actually free handwriting, that there is actually an added benefit to that. I don't feel comfortable having a journal out in the world that can be floating around. So that's why I choose to use Evernote, but I can definitely vouch for the process of getting things external out of your head. I agree with you, Mitch. It makes a huge difference. It can reduce anxiety, it can make you feel better about situations, and sometimes it helps you come up with solutions that you didn't see before. So I love it.

All right. Is it my turn for number three?

Troy: This is it. This is the final gift, Scot? I hope it's a good one. I do know it's going to be an expensive one. So go on.

Scot: You're right. It is. So number three for me is something that I'll refer to as bone conduction headphones, bone conduction headphones.

Troy: So this conducts the sound through the bones in your skull.

Scot: Yeah. So instead of putting them in your ears or over your ears, there are these headphones that kind of go on the side of your head. And that way you can hear what's going on outside of your environment. So again, when I walk the dogs or run, I can listen to music or a podcast, but I can also very clearly hear cars and anything else that's out there. So not only it makes me feel safer, but the other thing is I used to have the kind that you put in your ears and every time I'd take a step, they'd make some weird noise in my ear, just from them moving around in my ears. And these bone conduction headphones don't do that. So it's not annoying to me like it used to be when I listened through regular headphones.

I think you can find them for less than a hundred bucks, but yeah.

Troy: Less than a hundred. Like they sit behind your ear or where exactly do they sit?

Scot: Oh, geez. I can't even really tell you. Let's see. So I put them on . . .

Troy: I'm going to guess behind the ear, because this is like the old tuning fork. You know, we use these tuning forks in the ER, like I don't use them. I should not say we use them in the ER. Neurologists use tuning forks, and you'll actually stick it on the forehead. Like you hit a tuning fork, you stick it on this middle of someone's forehead and you stick it behind their ear, and it measures different forms of conductive hearing loss. So I'm guessing these bone conduction headphones use that same sort of pattern where it's just conducting through the bone. As long as you don't have bone conduction hearing loss you're okay. That's cool.

Scot: The other great thing is like, even if you're out hiking and you want to have your music or your podcasts, again, you're able to hear the thing you want to hear, but you can also hear nature as well, which is nice. So they're great because they don't just shut your ears completely off.

Troy: They're wireless, I assume?

Scot: Yeah, they're Bluetooth. Yep, absolutely.

Troy: They have Bluetooth, yeah. Cool.

Scot: Wow. What a great Christmas. I'm looking around at all these gifts. And again, it's just like every Christmas I look around and I just think, oh man, just got too much, but these are all good things to tie into our core four. So I'm a little bit more okay with it.

Troy: Yeah, and who would have thought three guys could be so thoughtful? I mean, look at these very thoughtful gifts. I hope everyone appreciates what we've offered today.

Scot: Hopefully, we gave you an idea, something for yourself or something for somebody in your life that is interested, not necessarily a nut or a fanatic or a freak in, you know, just being healthier.

Time for just going to leave this here, could be something about health, could be just a random observation or thought from our lives. I'm just going to leave this here. We have a brand-new dog. He's a seven-month-old Australian shepherd puppy. And when I say puppy, I mean a 50-pound puppy. He's a big dog already. And we're working really hard with training Murphy. And he responds really well to treats, and amazingly he loves his own dog food. So that's what we use for training treats.

My just going to leave this here is every pocket of every piece of clothing now has either two or three pieces of dog food in it or dog food crumbs. So every time I reach into a pocket, now that's what I'm greeted with and I'm strangely okay with it. So there's my just going to leave this here.

Troy: Sounds like my life. Yeah, all my running shorts, running sweats, everything I reach in, there's some like a piece of a dog treat in there. I always take dog treats when I run just to reward Charlotte when she does a good job and keep her motivated. So I can understand that.

I'm just going to leave this here, Scot. You know, I had an experience recently. Laura and I were back East and were at Virginia Beach, cool place, a fun place to visit. And on Virginia Beach, they have this set-up there. So Virginia Beach, you know, it's near Norfolk. You know, it's got kind of the Navy military piece there. So the Navy, the military set up this kind of workout area there where they have all these things you can climb and different fitness challenges.

Well, there was this 20-foot tall rope there. And I was like, "I've got to climb this rope." I have not climbed a rope in probably 20 years. So I just thought I'm going to jump on and do this. And I just started climbing the rope, and as I got higher, I realized that an audience was gathering. People were actually there to watch me, watching me climb the rope. And at that point I realized I have to go all the way up the rope and I have a fear of heights. So I told myself, I am not looking down. I kept climbing and I made it and I actually made it to the top of the rope, hit the bar at the top, slid back down, got a rope burn on my ankle that lasted for two weeks after that, but it was worth it. It was worth the pride and the accomplishment of climbing a rope on Virginia Beach in front of an audience that had gathered to watch me climb the rope.

Scot: That's outstanding. Congratulations.

Troy: Thank you. That was my fitness accomplishment over the last month, so very proud of it.

Scot: Like you, we used to have a rope in grade school.

Troy: Oh yeah, we too.

Scot: We would climb that rope every once in a while. A lot of kids couldn't do it and that was one thing I was able to do, but I don't know that I could do it now anymore. I'm a little bit of a different build.

Troy: It's so funny. I know, because that's . . . as I thought about it, I thought, I don't know if I've actually climbed a rope since grade school. And it was that exact thought as I started as well. I thought, you know, I'm a different person than I was when I was 10 years old. I don't know if I can do this, but I made it up. So I was excited about that.

Scot: All right, time to say the things that you say at the end of podcasts, because we are at the end of ours. First of all, thank you very much for listening, do appreciate it. Reach out, lots of ways to do that. You can go to facebook.com/WhoCaresMensHealth. You can email us at hello@thescoperadio.com. What else can you do? You can call us at . . .

Troy: Call us at 601-55SCOPE.

Scot: 601-55SCOPE, yeah.

Troy: Remember it's not 801. It's 601 . . .

Mitch: 55SCOPE.

Troy: Yeah. So be sure and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts. If you like us, give us five stars and thanks for listening and thanks for caring about men's health.

This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity. For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way.

Scot: Making sure that this podcast can . . . I'm going to start over.

Troy: You can do this, Scot.

Scot: I'm a professional.

Troy: You are a professional.

Scot: In sports, what was the equivalent of what I just did right there?

Troy: Just like dribbling the ball off your foot if you were playing basketball, just dribbling it off your foot. Yeah, that would be the sports equivalent probably.

Scot: All right. And right into the hands of the defender, or is it out of balance?

Troy: No, just out of balance.

Scot: Just out of bounds? Okay.

Troy: Just bringing the ball down the court unguarded and dribbling it off your foot into the stands.

Scot: It goes out of bounds.

Troy: That would be the equivalent.

Scot: The podcast is called "Who Cares About Men's Health." We provide information, inspiration, and motivation to better understand and engage in your health so you can feel better today and in the future. My name is Scot Singpiel. I'm the manager of TheScopeRadio.com, and I care about men's health.

Troy: And I'm Dr. Troy Madsen. I'm an emergency physician at the University of Utah, and I care about men's health.

Scot: Go ahead and jump on in, Caleb.

Caleb: My name is Caleb Meyer, and I just really care about men's health as well.

Scot: All right. It's good to have Caleb back on the show. We talked about motivation first. Now, we're going to talk about kettlebells.

Troy: I'm clapping for Caleb, Scot.

Scot: Yeah. Nice.

Troy: I didn't want to give the wrong impression on our last episode. You opened with some applause for Caleb. You said, "I would clap if I liked him." And then just the moment never came along, so I have to give Caleb some applause. We're glad to have him back with us.

Scot: Yeah. Good. Wow, Caleb, you've got Dr. Madsen's approval.

Caleb: This is an honor. I'll find a way to get through this without getting emotional, but we'll see what happens.

Troy: Yeah. Try not to let it go to your head.

Caleb: No promises.

Scot: Anybody you'd like to thank on this momentous occasion that helped get you here?

Caleb: Oh, goodness.

Scot: You could thank Scot for giving you the microphone.

Caleb: Yeah. Scot brought me the microphone on Friday. So I'll thank him.

Troy: So that's worth something.

Scot: All right. This episode is called Kettlebell Curious because one of the things you need to do to stay healthy now and in the future . . . we talk about core four. We try to keep it simple because sometimes I believe that we, as men, can overcomplicate what we need to do to stay healthy. The things you need to do, the core four plus one more, are nutrition, activity, sleep, manage your stress, and the plus one more is know your genetics. And then, actually, it's plus a couple more because you should take care of those . . . if you've got any sort of addictive or dangerous behaviors, you should take care of those as well.

We're talking activity today. So I used to exercise at the gym before COVID-19. I don't want to go back into the gym, so I've been looking at some other forms of exercises. And we have these fitness bands, and during the time I had these fitness bands, I Googled . . . because this company that made them had a workout online. And then YouTube suggested another video I'd be interested in, and this was the same company talking about kettlebells. I really loved what I saw with the kettlebell workouts. So I'll talk a little bit about why I like kettlebells.

But first, we should say Caleb is an expert in this sort of stuff. So he works at PEAK Health and Fitness in the University of Utah College of Health. He's been a fitness trainer for a long time. He's been a coach. Actually, you've been a fitness trainer for three or four years. You're certified and the whole deal, right, Caleb?

Caleb: That's right, yeah.

Scot: Yeah. So you help people like me with things like this.

Caleb: When I can, yeah.

Scot: And I'm getting a freebie, so . . . It's why we do the podcast, right, Troy?

Troy: That's what it's all about.

Scot: So I was looking for somebody that knew something about kettlebells and I came across Caleb. So, Caleb, you train with kettlebells. Why do you train with them? Why do you use them?

Caleb: I just think they're a unique way to kind of do whatever you would normally do with a dumbbell and then some, and add a little bit of spice into your routine, change up the stimulus a little bit, alter that center of gravity of that implement that you're lifting, and kind of just change it up a little bit. I use dumbbells a lot. I use barbells a lot. I use bands a lot. Well, why not use some kettlebells and throw a little bit of a wrench in the system and make the body adjust to that too?

Scot: Yeah, because giving the body new stimulus is key to having the body adapt and staying healthy and whatnot.

One of the things that I loved about it when I was watching this video was strength training in the weight room is very linear, right? So you're moving the dumbbell when you're doing a curl in a linear way. You're laying down on the bench, moving the weight in a linear way.

And the kettlebell looked a lot more dynamic because you're in a standing position, you're swinging the thing around a lot, which . . . There's a thing called "swings," which engages your posterior, which really, in the gym, unless you're doing squats and deadlifts, you're not doing that a lot I don't think. You're standing and it's engaging your forearms all the time, and there's this aerobic component to it. So those were some of the things that I liked about kettlebells that's made me kettlebell curious.

Troy, how about you? Have you ever exercised with kettlebells?

Troy: Scot, I've got to admit, you've been talking about your kettlebells for a month now, and I honestly did not really know what a kettlebell was. I just had to Google it to see what a kettlebell is. That's why I'm trying to figure out why you would use a kettlebell. What's the advantage of this just over a dumbbell or something? But I think I'm kind of getting a better sense. I'm assuming it's called a kettlebell because it's got a handle on the top that looks like a teakettle or something like that. Am I kind of on the right track here?

Caleb: More or less, yeah. It was made by the Russians, so I imagine that, at some point, somebody just melted down a cast iron skillet and then just stuck a handle on it to carry it. And that was kind of the advent of the kettlebell, I would imagine. I don't know. I haven't looked too much into the . . .

Scot: The origins?

Caleb: The origins of the kettlebell.

Troy: They just took an old Russian cannonball and then melted the cast iron thing and made a top.

Caleb: Honestly, that may be exactly how that came about.

Scot: That's an interesting question you bring about. How did this thing occur? It probably came out of a necessity to have something to exercise with and they looked around, and they were like, "Well, we've got this and we've got that. Maybe we could put those two things together."

Troy: "We will combine it."

Scot: They're super versatile, too, I think. From the videos I've watched, you can use them in a lot of different ways too. You don't always just have to hold on to it by the handle. There's an exercise called a goblet squat where I think you can hold on by the handle or you could hold on underneath it. Maybe I'm doing that wrong. I don't know.

Caleb: No. You're 100% correct.

Scot: Yeah. Anyway, Caleb, talk to me. Let's pretend I came in and I said, "I'm interested in doing some kettlebell training. I'm brand new." Where should I start? What weight of kettlebell should I look at even getting to start with?

Caleb: Well, if you're looking at weights, you're going to be very confused right off the bat because kettlebells were made basically using the Russian pood. Now, one pood is about 36 pounds. And so you're going to see a lot of odd numbers on those kettlebells. It's going to be like 24, 36, 18. You're not going to see the typical dumbbell lineup of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, all the way up through whatever.

So finding one that's going to be good and in the middle for you that has some random eight or something at the end of it is not a bad option. So you're looking at probably like a 36-pound kettlebell or something, something in the middle, something that's going to force you to fight with it a little bit, but also something that's going to let you get used to it. That's always my advice.

Obviously, we're not lifting weights just to do it, just to have fun. We want to push the envelope a little bit. That's part of the whole process of adapting and that linear progression of getting stronger. But we also need to learn how to use the kettlebell. So, we don't want anything too crazy. It's not like we're going for two pood here, which is 72 pounds. We're going more for maybe closer to one pood. Let's stay closer to one pood.

Scot: Yeah, sure. I've also seen there are a lot in kilograms as well. So that's what I ended up getting. I ended up getting a 35-pound because my research led me to that. But also, the guy that I bought them from off of a used website had a couple other ones too, and I decided to get a couple lighter ones so I could practice form.

I know I have a couple weak spots, like my shoulder. Pressing over my shoulders is kind of hard. And I'm really glad, actually, that I got those lighter ones because I can swing that 35 and I can do some of the exercises that I've looked up on the internet. But sometimes, pressing overhead is a little challenging.

Troy: I mean, that seems like a lot of weight, though. Just for the average guy, starting out with 36 pounds . . . Do you find that that's pretty reasonable with the kettlebell exercises?

Caleb: Sure. Yeah. I mean, think about once you get used to the kettlebell, it's not really that much different than using a dumbbell. So it's possible for us to do basically any exercise we would do with a dumbbell with a kettlebell. It really is just a matter of learning how the kettlebell changes the way your body has to manipulate it.

Because of the fact that it doesn't . . . with a dumbbell, that handle sits in your hand. That weight is on either side of your hand in the traditional dumbbell fashion. But with a kettlebell, now that weight is sometimes behind your hand, maybe it's in front of your hand, maybe it's over the top of your hand. It's not in your hand. So adjusting for that with your body is a huge piece of the puzzle.

So you're right. Thirty-six pounds, 35 pounds, whatever that is, that is a decent amount of weight for sure. But again, it's nothing to be too intimidated by because once your body learns, once you get a handle for how to manipulate that kettlebell, she starts moving pretty well.

Scot: One of the exercise routines that really intrigued me, they call it hard-style kettlebell, which it revolves around these things called swings where you actually swing the kettlebell out in front of you, and then you do a . . . what was that called? Not a hip flex. What's that called, Caleb? A hip hinge.

Caleb: Yes.

Scot: You do a hip hinge, and then it comes back kind of between your legs, and then you thrust your hips. So it's a posterior chain. It's the glutes and the hamstrings and all of that. So that's the hub. You do 24 swings and then you do 12 of another movement. So maybe you'll do an overhead press or you'll do a clean or you'll do something like that.

Caleb: Sure.

Scot: Really like that kind of exercise because it looks very dynamic. When you go into the gym, the only time you're really working the posterior chain is if you do squats or deadlifts. And that's one or two exercise, right? There's so much other time you're sitting there on the bench with the cable machine working your back or you're just standing there curling the dumbbells, but this is constantly involving that posterior chain, which I think is neglected in today's modern day lifestyle where we're sitting all the time. So I really dig that.

Do you have any tips for starting out? So that little routine that I sent you that I talked about, the hub and spoke, I've been exercising long enough to know that probably 35 pounds starting out with the number of reps that they were recommending is going to kill me. I don't think that's a good idea for me to do the first time because I'm going to be so sore. I don't know that I'm going to be able to do it again. So what would your advice be for me as a beginner starting out with my exercise routine with kettlebells?

Caleb: Well, I guess tip number one, I think you just hit it right on the head right there. Start conservatively. Whether it's the number of reps you do or the weight of the kettlebell or things like that, give yourself some time to get used to the kettlebell. You've got to learn how to use it first.

That center of gravity of the kettlebell is not in your hand. That thing can yank you all over the place. So you try to put that thing overhead, all of a sudden you weren't ready for it, and now all of a sudden you're falling backwards because you weren't ready for that kind of weight to shift like that and there it is. Now you're gone. And that can lead to injury. That can lead to looking silly. Looking silly means you'll never come back to the gym, and all of a sudden we've totally defeated the purpose of the kettlebell. You know what I'm saying?

So we've got to make sure that we're . . . let's get used to the kettlebell first. That's definitely a big piece of the puzzle.

And then I think because it's so different, people can be almost kind of afraid of it, because you always fear what you don't understand. Once you have that grace period of starting conservatively and getting to know the implement, it's time to start getting aggressive and start going for it. Get a little bit angry about it and start throwing that kettlebell around.

Scot: You know what? You're right. I kind of sniffed around it a little bit. I kind of messed with a little bit. I watched some of the moves to make sure I had the form right. But it feels good to get aggressive with the thing when you've got that kind of heavy weight, once you're feeling a little bit more comfortable with what you're doing and making sure you're not going to hurt yourself. You're right. I love that. Get angry with it.

Troy: Caleb, you totally missed this because we don't have your phone number so you weren't on the text, but Scot just texted me picture of himself next to his microphone getting aggressive with the 10-pound kettlebells. So Scot is really feeling it right now.

Caleb: I like it. Get aggressive, man.

Troy: Yeah. He's getting aggressive right now. I love it.

Caleb: Yeah, throw that kettlebell around a little bit. See what you've got. Let's see what you can do.

Troy: Just don't break the mic.

Scot: I decided to keep this 10-pound up in the office so whenever I take little breaks, work breaks, I'll just do a few exercises with it.

Caleb: There you go. That's good.

Troy: Nice.

Scot: All right. So start out conservatively. Get to know that form through that process, but then after you get a little bit more comfortable, get aggressive with it. What other tips do you have for me starting out?

Caleb: Don't limit your imagination. There are a lot of things that we can do with kettlebells that we maybe can't do as easily or as efficiently with a dumbbell that are really great movements, things like farmer's carries, things like that, just some good heavy movements that we can really push into, or stimuli that are really good different angles for, say, our shoulders to be working at, things like that.

I have a list of exercises here that I think are really great movements to be doing with kettlebells. These are the things that I really like to do when I'm using a kettlebell.

Scot: What are some of the exercises that you wrote down that I should try?

Caleb: Other than the swings . . . I mean, that's the top exercise you've got to be doing, kettlebell swings, for sure. If you're going to use a kettlebell, you might as well swing it. Then we talked about farmer's carries a little bit, but I'm a huge fan of the front rack position using kettlebells. So this may be something that would maybe be a little bit more clear for those of you who . . . listeners and for maybe some of our hosts who are like, "The front rack position? What in the world?"

Troy: Yeah, like me.

Caleb: It's basically a way of holding the kettlebells in front of you basically creating a cradle with your arms. So I'm holding the horn of the kettlebell in my hands, and then the bell of the kettlebell is resting as I hold the kettlebells close to my body. So, basically, my thumbs are on my collarbones, and I'm holding that kettlebell on my bicep, tricep, forearm, that little cradle that's created by holding it in that position.

Scot: Yeah, by having your arm bent . . . Troy, if you want to prank a friend and pretend like you've taken a picture of your bare butt, you know how you make your arm to look like a butt? That's what this is.

Troy: I've got to say I've never done that, but intrigued. Very intrigued.

Caleb: It's vivid and knowledgeable is what that is.

Troy: It sure is. I just learned something new. I love it.

Scot: I'm doing that rack right now. That's cool, yeah.

Caleb: Yeah. So that front rack position, I think, is an excellent position to . . . you can do walks. Like that farmer's carry, you can do walks from that position, squats. I think front rack kettlebell squats is probably my favorite move to perform in that position because it's just so valuable for upper back strength as well as, obviously, the strength you gain from a squat. It's incredibly valuable for that shoulder stability. I mean, you're working all kinds of stuff with that. So I love that front rack position.

You can do a ton of stuff from that position on top of the fact that it's a good starting position for, say, an overhead press as well. It's a good place to start. So that's a super valuable position, that front rack. Experimenting with that front rack position is going to be definitely on my list of things that we've got to do.

Scot: And straight wrists. I don't know if you said straight wrists or not, but yeah, keep those wrists straight.

Caleb: Absolutely right. And then I really like doing single arm bench press stuff with kettlebells as well, like floor presses or just standard bench presses. And the reason for that is, again, the change in stimulus. So, if I'm laying on my back and I put that kettlebell off my head, if I have the kettlebell resting on the back of my forearm, that's going to change the way my shoulders have to engage in order to move that weight and in order to make that movement happen.

Scot: So you gave us four. Do you have one more? We have a solid five?

Caleb: I would say anything overhead. That would be my last thing. So single arm overhead holds or presses, or you can combine. Here's one for you: single arm overhead hold walks.

Scot: I actually was experimenting with just single arm overhead holds and it's fascinating what it was doing to my back and shoulders just holding that weight up there.

Caleb: Yep.

Troy: Are you holding it the same way where it's resting against the forearm, where it's kind of . . .

Caleb: Right.

Troy: So same thing as you do with the bench?

Caleb: That's a great question there, Troy. You can do all these stuff with . . . So I have the kettlebell resting against the back of my forearm. There's nothing really saying I can't keep that kettlebell resting against the front of my forearm. Or if I really want to get dicey with it or really work that stability, I can tilt that kettlebell so that the bell is on top of my hand, and now I have to balance that kettlebell as I'm doing the movement.

So you've got a lot of different things that you can do. Because of the center of gravity being outside of your hand, that stimulus is all kinds of different and it really forces you to interact in a different way with the kettlebell and really, like I said, get imaginative.

Troy: I like it. Like I said, I came in to this having to Google what a kettlebell looked like and I'm kind of intrigued. It seems like something . . . like you said, it's a little more versatile. You can mix things up a bit more with it, got a few more options than just having some dumbbell around, which is what I have.

Caleb: Well, the real opportunity here, too, is that for everything that I can do with two kettlebells, doing it with one also further changes the stimulus. Say I'm doing a front rack kettlebell squat. I've got two kettlebells. Well, now just do it with one. So now you've got to balance a different way. You're engaging your core in a totally different way.

I've got to do a farmer's carry. Well, now instead of grabbing two kettlebells, just grab one, carry it down there, switch hands, come back. All of a sudden, now you're really changing up that stimulus on yourself.

Single-arm kettlebell swings, you ever tried those there . . .

Scot: No. I haven't tried that yet.

Caleb: Yeah. Give that a shot some time.

Scot: I've done some of the other single-arm stuff and what I really like about that is over the years of my life, I've developed some imbalances. And as a result, what happens is . . . maybe it's an injury. Who knows what it is? Then I start accommodating, right? By far and away, I've got some issues with my right arm doing overhead presses. And doing that single-arm stuff really brings that to the forefront and helps me work through it. So, hopefully, I'll get some balance back again, which I know is going to benefit me in the long term.

Caleb: Absolutely.

Scot: Do you have any final thoughts about kettlebells? Troy, do we have you excited about them? Are you going to go out and see if you can find one? They're pretty hard to find right now.

Troy: I'm excited. I know. My biggest barrier to getting them is hearing your story about finding a kettlebell guy, meeting him in a parking lot, and buying the kettlebells from him as he opens his trunk. Then you inspect the kettlebells and made a purchase there. That's probably the biggest barrier for me right now. But I am. I'm intrigued. I kind of like this idea starting out at one pood, which is 36 pounds.

Caleb: Yep, every single pood.

Troy: I will lift my pood and . . . I am intrigued. I'd like to try them, yeah.

Caleb: Just let yourself have fun with them. Kettlebells are so good for core stability, joint stability, functional strength. You're really diving into a really versatile tool, so let the . . . This is actually kind of a time where I do encourage people to use the internet because so many people have thought of so many things. Go on YouTube and type in "kettlebell workouts" and you'll find . . . I mean, it depends on how many pages deep into YouTube you want to go. I know the dreaded two-page curse there is very real. But go find some stuff to do with them.

It can be such a versatile tool, and really, it can help you with whatever your goal is. You want to get big? Are you going for hypertrophy? Kettlebells can do that. You want to get really strong? Kettlebells can help you. There are some serious benefits using those kettlebells.

Scot: Thank you very much for talking me through some kettlebell exercises. I'll check back in with you and let you know how I'm doing here in a couple months, Caleb, and thanks for caring about men's health.

Caleb: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Scot: Time for "Odds and Ends" on "Who Cares about Men's Health." Just one item today, Troy. We're going to talk about next week's episode with Dr. John Smith. So one of the things we're trying to do with this podcast is just really normalize the fact that it's okay for men to talk about their health. It's okay to be concerned about your health and just really approach it head on, right?

Troy: Right.

Scot: So we're really going to test ourselves coming up next week because we're going to have our urologist on, Dr. John Smith, and he's going to talk about erectile dysfunction. It just doesn't get anymore "I don't want to talk about it" from a guy's standpoint than that right there.

Troy: If you want to talk about stuff guys don't want to talk about, that's kind of the measure of . . . as much as someone doesn't want to talk about something, that's it right there. And we're talking about it.

Scot: Yeah, we are. And you know what? I think that made me kind of rethink about . . . For the most part, us men don't usually talk about our health or health concerns with our buddies or other men. And that, to some extent, probably should change. This is something we could discuss. But a lot of times, we don't even discuss it with our partners or our wives, right?

Troy: Sure.

Scot: So this is one of those things where if this is something that's impacting you, that's absolutely something you should talk about with your partner.

Troy: And I think, unfortunately, like you said, for so many people, you just don't even take that first step. You're embarrassed about it, and then it becomes an anxiety thing, like, "Oh, I'm just going to fail and I've got an issue, but I can't do anything about it."

Again, that's the goal of what we're trying to do here in talking to Dr. Smith next week, is to say, "Hey, this is something that a lot of men deal with, and you can talk about it, and it's not a big deal to talk about it." Your physician has heard about it. Your spouse, I'm sure they're aware that there's an issue there and they want you to talk to them, or your partner, or whatever the situation is. They want to talk about it and they want to help you.

Scot: It's so hard though to not do that, right? At the very least, you should be able to talk to your doctor about it. So we're going to talk about it next week. I'm really hoping that there will be just some good, solid advice that if you are a man who is dealing with this or has dealt with it . . .

Troy: Scot, I'm sorry. What are you doing . . .

Scot: He's going to give us the hard facts.

Troy: You're just pitching them underhand, slow pitch to me, just waiting for me to hit it out of the park. But I'm not going to go there.

Scot: Dr. Smith is going to give you the straight-up information.

Troy: I'm not going to go there. I see what you're doing. You started out pretty strong too. Now you just keep them coming, so . . .

Scot: I didn't realize I was doing that until you called me on it, so that's kind of fun.

Troy: Sure you didn't.

Scot: Yeah, join us next week with Dr. John Smith on "Who Cares About Men's Health" as we talk about a very sensitive topic, a topic a lot of guys would like to hide under the towel. I don't know. I ran out of them.

Troy: Under the towel.

Scot: Erectile dysfunction next week on the show.

Troy: And it will be a serious discussion. It's not going to be Scot dropping puns the whole time.

Scot: Well, joking about it sometimes is how us guys deal with things.

Troy: It is. You've got to be able to joke. Absolutely. But we don't want to make light of the situation.

Scot: Absolutely not.

Troy: But you've got to go joke around a bit, yeah.

So, Scot, do you consider yourself a procrastinator?

Scot: Yes. I'm terrible.

Troy: You do?

Scot: Yes.

Troy: You're in school right now. This is a tough time, and the assignments, you're kind of putting it off to the last minute?

Scot: I need a deadline, and I usually take full advantage of that deadline.

Troy: You're right up against the deadline and then it happens. It's interesting because I think procrastination is something we deal with a lot and it frustrates us, and maybe we don't get the task done. We don't do it as well as we want because we're trying to get it done at the last minute.

So I ran across an interesting article here called "Eight Ways to Curb Your Procrastination." It's from BBC Future. They went through some tips, I think, that may be helpful for you and your schooling. I don't know.

Scot: All right. Maybe this could be the core four too. Nutrition, activity, working on your sleep, your mental health, all of these things oftentimes require you to do something, and a lot of times, we might put those things off for various reasons. So maybe we can tie that back into this.

Troy: Exactly, in terms of making these changes in our own lives. So the first one is don't rely on willpower alone for motivation, which is kind of interesting. Sometimes we're just like, "I'm just going to gut this out and get it done," and that often does not work.

Scot: Well, the other thing with willpower is with my procrastination, I get down on myself. "What's wrong with me? I don't have the willpower, apparently, to do this."

Troy: Right. And then it just kind of cycles down, like, "I'm not going to get this done." And we're just relying on that willpower to get through it.

Scot: But that's not the smart way to do it.

Troy: It's not.

Scot: And as far as willpower, for physical activity, I've heard that sometimes you need to make things easy for you. Don't depend on the willpower. You run every day. You don't give yourself the choice. So pick a time that you're going to go exercise. Maybe even put the gym bag by the door before you leave for the day so when you come home, the gym clothes are right there. Make it easy as opposed to depending on your willpower.

Troy: And make it habit. For me, it's funny. I would say 30% of the time I go out to run, I do not want to run, and my willpower would not get me out there. So you can't rely on willpower alone to do this stuff.

The second thing is look for the positives in the tasks you keep postponing. And this is an important one because a lot times, for me, a lot of the tasks I'm working on are writing research papers, or trying to review papers, or revise, and it's not a task that I often enjoy. So you've got to find the task. I'll say, "Hey, I'm going to work on this and I'm going to be playing music in the background. And I'm looking forward to listening to the latest on this Spotify playlist or whatever, see what else is out there." It makes it more fun.

Scot: Yeah. So try to find the joy, which could be hard at times.

Troy: Number three, plan ahead. That kind of goes without saying. I think that's something we try to do. The deadline is out there. Break it out into stages. "This is what I need to get done to meet this deadline." That one seems fairly intuitive.

And reduce the effort involved. You kind of alluded to that with, "Have the gym bag ready." Let's not make this task more difficult than it needs to be. Set ourselves up for success for this, whatever we're trying to do.

Number five is reward yourself. Is this something you've tried to do with your school? Like, you say, "Hey, if I get this done or I do this this evening, I'm going to do something more fun"?

Scot: That's never worked for me because I will not do the task and still take the reward. So that one is not effective.

Troy: So you would have failed the psychological experiment where they give a kid a marshmallow, where they say, "If you don't eat the marshmallow, I'll give you two marshmallows in 15 minutes."

Scot: Well, I hate marshmallows, so that one really wouldn't work. But I do get the point, yeah. And I think that's another lesson to learn from this. You've got to find these things that work for you. And that reward thing is just never going to work for me.

Troy: It doesn't work. So maybe it's going to work, maybe it's not. For me, I like that because I say, "Hey, if I do this task, I've got this evening off. We're going to go out and get dinner," or something, and I will enjoy dinner a lot more knowing I got this thing done today than if I didn't.

Number six, promote a more realistic view of your future self. That's kind of an interesting one.

Scot: It is, right? And I'm thinking about, again, what we talk about on this podcast, exercise or nutrition. You picture this perfect version of . . . you're eating just the healthiest foods and your physique looks perfect, but it's just probably never going to happen.

Troy: Realistically, it's not going to happen. So be realistic about what you expect. Accept yourself, accept your faults, and try and be the best self you can with those faults. But I think that's an interesting one. Again, be realistic not just about the task but about who you are.

Scot: I go for about 80%.

Troy: Eighty percent? Eighty percent is good.

Scot: Eighty percent perfection.

Troy: Yeah, 80% is good. That's great you just accept it and say, "I'm not going to be perfect."

Number seven, kind of along those lines, is to be kinder to yourself. And that's probably about not beating yourself up when you don't get things done the way you want it done. Be kinder. Look at the positive, like, "Hey, at least I got this much done."

Scot: That's powerful for me. In the realm of diet especially, I will maybe not make the best choice, and I used to beat myself and accuse myself of not having willpower or, "You're weak," or, "Well, you just screwed that up. You just as well not do any of it."

Instead, look at the situation and go, "All right. I slipped here, but I've got the opportunity tomorrow to be better," or take a look at the situation and go, "Why did that happen?" And for me, it was because I wasn't eating before I left work, and I learned if I eat before I leave work, then I don't make those poor decisions at home. So don't beat yourself up. Try to turn it into a constructive.

Troy: Yeah, absolutely.

Scot: That's my advice.

Troy: Makes sense.

Scot: Is that 80% good?

Troy: That's 80% good.

Scot: Because that's all I . . .

Troy: You passed.

And the final one is talk about yourself in the right way. I like this one because they actually allude to the . . . they do this example here. They talk about not describing yourself . . . if your goal is to run, not describing yourself as someone who sometimes goes running, but describe yourself as a runner. Talk about yourself in the right way, in positive terms, like, "I'm a runner." I'm not a jogger. I'm a runner. I don't jog. I run.

So I think if you talk about yourself in those ways and you set yourself up, like saying, "Hey, this is who I am," maybe you're not quite there yet, but you're 80% of that, I think that helps you out in terms of these tasks as well.

Scot: Time for "Just Going to Leave This Here." It could be random thought. It could be something to do with health. It just depends. That's part of the fun. We're going to find out what Troy has for "Just Going to Leave This Here."

Troy: Scot, well, I'm just going to leave this here. There was the COVID haircut, the self-do haircut. And then I think the COVID cut, at least for me and several of my colleagues, just sort of devolved into not getting a haircut.

I was kind of liking it long, though. I was seriously thinking about just letting it grow from months and months and months. And then, finally, Laura said to me, "You really need to get your hair cut." And the best part is Laura is the one who cuts my hair. She has cut my hair for years and does a great job.

Scot: This makes no sense. Laura is your wife and you went with the COVID cut as if you . . . we're going to a place to get . . . but she's right there. She's in your bubble, man.

Troy: I know.

Scot: So what was your problem?

Troy: I think it was a solidarity thing. I've noticed so many of my colleagues have done the same thing. One of my colleagues, Matt Fuller, he is now sporting a full-on man bun and it's awesome. Another one, Patrick Ockerse, his is really getting long. So I think it was a solidarity thing, like, "Hey, we're all in this together. Let's just grow our hair out and do this."

Scot: Got you.

Troy: And finally, I got the feedback from Laura that, "No, this is not going to work. You're not doing this."

Scot: The wife trumped the solidarity with your coworkers as often can happen.

Troy: Yeah, exactly. As often happens.

Scot: Just going to leave this here. I came across this interesting article that talked about sleep and the flu shot, and this is crazy. So, anyway, there's a research study and this article from CNN talked about that if you short-change yourself, sleep, if you don't adequate sleep the week before the flu shot, it could reduce the production of antibodies as a result of the flu shot up to 50%, which is massive.

Troy: That's a huge reduction.

Scot: And the individual that they talked to in this article said that that could almost render the flu shot useless. So that is part of one of our core four, getting adequate sleep. It can impact our health in so many ways and getting the flu shot is apparently one of them. So, if you get adequate sleep beforehand, at least a week up until it, then you will produce more antibodies, which may make you more immune.

And just in general, the article goes on to talk about the health benefits of sleep and also the benefits to the immune system in general. So, if you're cheating yourself in sleep, you're cheating your immune system. That's the flu, COVID, colds, all those sorts of things. I'll put a link to that article in the show notes so you can read about that.

Troy: See, that's not news I wanted you to share, Scot, because I just got my flu shot and I got it at about 3:00 a.m. on a nightshift. I was at work and they're like, "Hey, anyone you need a flu shot?" I said, "Yes, I do." So I don't know. Hopefully, it still works. Hopefully, it's still effective.

Scot: Yeah, I hope it does too. And if you haven't gotten your flu shot, do it for yourself and do it for all the other people in your life and in your community as well.

Time to say the things that you say at the end of podcasts because we are at the end of ours. Troy is going to handle the how to get in touch with us. I'm going to handle the thank-yous.

Thank you for listening. Also, be sure to subscribe, podcast player of your choice. That way, we are in your podcast inbox, I guess, to call it that, every single week. And if you could leave a review, that would be very much appreciated, because it does help other people find this podcast that might enjoy it.

Troy: You can contact us, hello@thescoperadio.com. We're on Facebook, facebook.com/WhoCaresMensHealth. Website is whocaresmenshealth.com. You can contact us by phone as well. Leave a voice message, ask a question, give feedback. That number is 601-55SCOPE. You'll reach our home offices in Quitman, Mississippi. We'd love to hear from you. So thanks for listening. Thanks for caring about men's health.

This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity. For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way.

Scot: Nobody's got any questions? Good.

Dr. Smith: I thought you brought the questions.

Scot: I do. I've got the questions.

Troy: That's Scot's job.

Scot: That's right. I have two jobs. One is to provide everybody with microphones, although you bought your own, so I feel pretty . . .

Dr. Smith: I did. I brought the heat today.

Scot: Yeah, Troy, Dr. Smith bought his own mic.

Troy: Exactly. Why buy it when you're getting it for free? You gave me mine, so I'm like, "I'm not spending money on this thing."

Dr. Smith: Well played.

Scot: It's "Who Cares About Men's Health." That's the name of the podcast. What do we do here? We provide information, inspiration, and motivation to understand and engage in your health so you can feel better today and in the future. My name is Scot Singpiel. I am the manager of thescoperadio.com, and I care about men's health.

Troy: And I'm Dr. Troy Madsen. I'm an emergency physician at the University of Utah, and I care about men's health.

Dr. Smith: And I'm John Smith. I'm a non-surgical urologist at the University of Utah and I care about men's health.

Scot: All right. Dr. Smith, Dr. John . . . can I call you John, Dr. Smith? Is that okay?

Dr. Smith: You can surely call me John.

Scot: It's John's first time on the show. Welcome. This is exciting.

Dr. Smith: Thank you.

Troy: Welcome, John. Thanks for joining us.

Scot: I noticed Troy is not clapping. He's not nearly as excited as I am, but that's okay.

Troy: I'm very excited.

Scot: He's tough to win over sometimes, so . . .

Troy: Thanks, Scot.

Scot: We'll see how you do.

Troy: We'll see how you do. I'm still warming up to you, so . . .

Dr. Smith: We'll see if I can get him to clap by the end of the show.

Troy: We'll try.

Scot: Dr. Smith, thank you for being on the show. We're going to do some listener questions today. We're going to get to those in just a couple of seconds. But first, Troy, I'm curious, as an emergency room physician, what is the general take in the medical field on urologists? Like, when I said, "We're going to have a urologist on," what goes through your mind?

Troy: What goes through my mind? Well, we very regularly talk to our urologist. We see all sorts of urologic emergencies in the emergency department, whether it's trauma related or other issues we're seeing. They're people we talk to frequently. So, it's someone we rely on in the emergency department and we're very grateful always to have their assistance.

Scot: All right. So, it's great to have their assistance. But, I mean, what do you really think about urologists in general?

Troy: Scot, what are you getting at here?

Scot: I mean, in all fields of medicine, isn't there a little friendly competition between you all and there's some . . .

Troy: I'm jealous of urologists. It's a great field. It's a really great field. It's a very competitive specialty. It's a great field. It's one of those things where the people I knew who went into urology in med school were great people, like good friends of mine. I think it's a very well-respected specialty.

Scot: Dr. Smith, are there some urology stereotypes out there?

Dr. Smith: Oh, of course.

Scot: Yeah? What are some of these urologist stereotypes? Because I think I've noticed some patterns when I've met a few urologists.

Dr. Smith: I guess, on the other side, I . . .

Troy: Are you just trying to get him to cracks and dirty jokes? Is that where we're going, Scot?

Scot: Anything for ratings.

Dr. Smith: There are a few urologist jokes out there that are semi-family-friendly.

Scot: Well, hold on that because, actually, at the end of the show, I'm going to ask you to end with a urologist joke. So, hold on to that, okay?

Dr. Smith: Well, I'll save my favorite for then.

Scot: All right. But are there kind of some stereotypes in the medical field when it comes to urologists? It seems like urologists tend to have a better sense of humor than some of the other specialties. They're cracking jokes a lot. Is that fair or . . .

Dr. Smith: I would agree with that, I think. Most of them are good-natured, fun-loving guys and gals that they like to have a good time, but they also are very intelligent, like to work hard, and take care of folks.

Scot: All right. Sounds good. I can't wait for the joke at the end though. I'm really looking forward to that. That's going to be great, a good urologist joke.

Troy: Yeah. Stick around for the joke. For no other reason. We've got a good joke on the way.

Scot: These questions for our urologist, Dr. John Smith, came from a few different sources. First of all, we have a listener line. You can call and leave a message, and that is 601-557-2673, or easy way to remember it, 601-55SCOPE. You could also email hello@thescoperadio.com, and we also got a few Facebook direct messages. So, if you have a question for a urologist, those are the channels that you can get those to us.

Troy: Sure, it's our bodies, but it's something that's obviously very personal and people crack jokes about their genitalia, and so I think it's one of those things where, yeah, it's something that . . . And it really gets at the essence of our manhood. If you're talking about erectile dysfunction, sure, it's a medical issue, but it really gets at the essence of your virility and your manliness. So, I think it's tough to bring up and it's tough to really be willing to address it, for sure.

Dr. Smith: I think that's true. And then you also have the society stereotypes. It does get to the heart of manliness. A lot of people feel like, "Well, if I can't perform, I'm not a certain one way or another." I mean, I've heard it all from different guys who have different perceptions of things.

Scot: If you want to ask a question and you are a little embarrassed or hesitant, we're going to make this as simple as possible. So, you can say that you're asking for a friend if that makes you feel better. We'll totally believe that. You don't have to use your real name. You can make up a name. You can even use a fake name that's obviously fake, like John Smith, for example. We're just trying to make it super safe. And as a matter of fact, we're making it so safe that we have a urologist who's obviously also using a fake name. So, this is about as anonymous as it gets.

Dr. Smith: Witness protection has been good to me through the years.

Troy: There you go. Nice.

Scot: All right. Here we go. Question number one.

John: Hi. My name is John Smith and I'm calling in the urology line to ask the question "Can guys really get urinary tract infections?" I thought that was more of a woman thing. Anyway, just asking for a friend. Thank you.

Scot: Okay. So, yeah, great question. I guess I am in the same camp. I guess I figured that urinary tract infections, mainly women get them. Can men get them?

Dr. Smith: So, a couple of different reasons why a man would get a urinary tract infection. As men age, their prostates continue to grow. Your nose, your ears, and your prostate continue to grow, but they only told you the first two in school growing up. But when your prostate gets larger, it can obstruct your urinary flow and predispose you to urinary tract infections. That's one of the most common things that we'll see. A gentleman has urinary tract infection and he's older, prostate is generally the cause.

Scot: What if you have to pee and oftentimes find yourself in a situation where you have to pee but you don't have the ability to do so? Can that cause urinary tract infections? If you're a long-haul truck driver or something like that and you're not going to the bathroom as often as you should . . .

Dr. Smith: You can predispose yourself to that. It's less likely. If there's not an obstruction . . . so I tell my patients, "You're either a pond or you're a river." And what that means is if you've ever been around a pond of stagnant water, you know what happens to it. A river generally doesn't look like that.

Scot: All right. And what does that urinary tract infection feel like? I mean, I've heard about it a lot from men and women in my life, but . . .

Dr. Smith: So, it depends on . . .

Scot: And rightly so, it's painful.

Dr. Smith: It sounds awful, yeah. It's miserable.

Scot: I can get myself in trouble here.

Troy: You are going to get yourself in trouble, Scot.

Dr. Smith: Asking for a friend, right, Scot?

Scot: Yes. Friends have told me they've heard this.

Troy: Yeah. Women in your life have said things . . .

Dr. Smith: "I've heard . . ." So, generally, folks will end up with dysuria or burning with urination. Some people go to the bathroom more frequently. Some guys will get kind of groin pain, flank pain. Testicular pain can also occur. Those are signs that you could have that. Fever and chills can also be a sign.

Scot: Yeah. The good news about all those symptoms you mentioned, if any of that stuff start happening on a regular basis, I think I'm going to go visit a doctor.

Troy: Yeah.

Dr. Smith: You probably should.

Troy: Those aren't subtle things. Once you start seeing blood in your urine and burning, you're going to get checked out.

Scot: Question number two, this one is one that came in through Facebook Messenger. No shock here. It's from John Smith and asking for a friend. "Is there any legitimacy to exercises that promise more size, girth, stamina, those sorts of things?" You know those emails you get that say, "Do these exercises and all these good things will happen."

Troy: Now, you're referring to bicep girth, or what's the gist here, Scot?

Scot: These emails are generally in your junk folder and they're promising . . .

Troy: And referring to your junk. Okay, right. Got it.

Scot: Yes, exactly

Dr. Smith: That's why it's a junk mailbox.

Troy: That's right. Got it.

Scot: Yes, because that's all that's in there. Dr. Smith, is there any legitimacy to any of those exercises?

Dr. Smith: I can't confirm that there's any legitimacy there to any of that stuff. The one thing we do know is that diet and exercise can help the quality of your erection for men with kind of mild erectile dysfunction. But there are no exercises or stretches or anything that has been shown to be super effective in that category.

Scot: All right. And even those ones that are for medical use, I'd imagine, if you were experiencing something like that, probably best to visit a physician first and use those under the guidance of a physician, not just kind of a do-it-yourself thing. Or is that okay?

Dr. Smith: Absolutely. You want to be evaluated to make sure that you're a candidate for a lot of those devices. It's always smart to go see a doctor. When in doubt, you should probably go and see a physician about things. It just makes sense and it's safer that way to kind of be under the guidance of someone who's done this before.

Troy: Any downside to using those devices? Have you ever seen things go wrong with those sorts of things?

Dr. Smith: So, I've seen some folks come in with certain cultural injections that they've had put into the penis and things that have promised to give increased size or girth, where they've had an infection from that, and had to have some things taken care of that way. I've also seen people who have tried to inject caulk or silicone.

Scot: What?

Dr. Smith: Oh, yeah.

Scot: What? How? Where?

Troy: Just like something from Home Depot, like some silicone caulk or something?

Dr. Smith: Exactly.

Scot: The way I'm imagining that they would inject it, I mean, there's like one way that I'm thinking that gets in there.

Dr. Smith: And you're probably thinking of it the right way.

Scot: Okay. Wow.

Dr. Smith: I've also had people who've come in with urinary retention who've placed things like that inside their urethra to try to help with rigidity of their erection, so . . .

Troy: Wow.

Scot: Wow. There's a do-it-yourselfer right there.

Troy: So, when you say inject, you're not talking . . . they don't have a needle. They're just going in the urethra, right in the hole there, with the silicone.

Dr. Smith: Oh, no, both ways.

Troy: Both ways? Wow.

Dr. Smith: Oh, yeah. A lot of them will get an infection under the skin because they've injected some of those things at times.

Troy: So, they've injected with a needle under the skin and then just shot it directly in the urethra? Wow. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Scot: You haven't had any of those come through the emergency room ever, huh, Troy?

Troy: I have never seen that. After 15 years of doing this, you think you've seen just about everything, but that is one thing . . . I mean, I've seen some crazy things and some crazy things people have put in their urethra, but I've never seen silicone shot in the urethra. That sounds awful.

Dr. Smith: You must not work nights, Troy.

Troy: I worked plenty of nights, yeah. That's just one thing I haven't seen. It's crazy. I haven't seen it, so . . .

Scot: Wow. All right.

Troy: Interesting.

Scot: So, question number two, is there any legitimacy to exercise to promote more size, girth, or stamina? According to what Dr. Smith says, there's no real good research that says that there is. So, don't spend your money on that stuff, I suppose, and don't be injecting either.

Troy: But he did say, though, and it's worth noting, it sounds like . . . John, you did mention that exercise and diet can improve the quality of erections. Maybe not necessarily just the size of a man's penis, but it sounds like there is potentially benefit from diet and exercise.

Scot: And it comes back to that core four that we talk about here. To stay healthy now and feel good now and in the future, you want to work on your nutrition, your activity, your sleep, your stress management, and, of course, know your genetics as well and manage those addictive behaviors and those nagging health issues. So, diet and exercise, it seems like it always comes back to that.

John: Hi. This is John Smith here and I'm calling about the "Who Cares About Men's Health" podcast. I was just wondering if I found a lump on my testicle, is it cancer? Just curious.

Troy: So, Scot, were these guys all planted? Did you tell them just to make up the name and call themselves John Smith?

Scot: On the Facebook page . . .

Troy: What are the odds?

Scot: Here's the thing. On the Facebook page, I said, "If you don't want to use your real name, use an alias like John Smith. You could also say you're asking for a friend." I'm trying to . . .

Dr. Smith: So, you set all these guys up then. Okay.

Scot: Dr. Smith, lump on testicle, does that mean cancer?

Dr. Smith: It does not mean cancer. It can mean cancer, but it quite often does not mean cancer. The other thing is a lot of men like to say, "I have a lump on my testicle," and then I'll do an examination and it's not even on the testicle. There's something that's very common called an epididymal head cyst or an epididymal cyst. Sometimes people will call it a spermatocele. It's kind of a cystic little area of the epididymis, which they can continue to grow, get larger. And a lot of times, men will notice those and they think that there's something going on. I see quite a bit of those, especially younger and middle-aged men.

Troy: So, John, I guess that raises the question as well, as a young man going through sex education in fifth grade, I was taught I should be examining myself every month in the shower to feel for lumps and bumps, get it checked out, and then from my understanding, it's kind of gone out of vogue. Is that something we should be continuing to do, that men should do?

Dr. Smith: So, I think self-examination is important. The biggest thing is just knowing your body, knowing yourself. I don't know that marking the calendar for the 24th of every month to check your scrotum is the way to go. But, you know . . .

Troy: So, you're saying I've been doing it wrong?

Dr. Smith: No, I'm saying you're probably doing it just fine.

Scot: That's so weird. I was over at Troy's house and saw the calendar on his kitchen refrigerator. I'm like, "Well, that's weird, but okay." But now I understand.

Troy: Scot's like, "What's TSE?" "Scot . . ."

Dr. Smith: But yeah, I think to know yourself . . . I mean, most guys, if you have the opportunity to just check things every once in a while and make sure that things are normal. And if anything feels abnormal, it's worth coming in and having someone take a peek at it.

Scot: Yeah, and . . .

Troy: It sounds like . . . oh, sorry, Scot.

Scot: Go ahead.

Troy: It sounds like from what you're saying, though, you don't have to feel like you've got cancer. It's worth checking out. What percentage of these cases that you see actually end up being cancer, people that come in for lumps and bumps they're concerned about?

Dr. Smith: So, for me, it's a lower percentage that I would see that are cancer. Most of them are these very small little lumps that end up being epididymal head cysts or things like that. Testicle cancer, or testis cancer, you tend to have your testicle . . . it feels like a rock. It changes its consistency more so than just a teeny little lump or bump. Those teeny little lumps and bumps are often benign. However, you will find some of those that are cancer, and so it's good to just get it checked out.

Scot: You know what? This is a podcast about understanding your health, and here I am, not going to be as educated as I'd like to be, I discovered a lump about 10 years ago, went in, and it was . . . help me out here. It was benign. They did an ultrasound on it and it was on the spermicidal cord. That's not right, because spermicidal is some . . .

Dr. Smith: Yeah, the spermatic cord.

Scot: Spermatic cord, yeah. It was just something on the spermatic cord and they just said, "Watch it." And if it ever starts hurting, that's when I need to come back. Otherwise, don't worry about it too much. Did I get good information?

Dr. Smith: You did. That's in a similar family to those epididymal cysts. It's in a different location. But those cystic structures, they just end up . . . it just turns into a little sac of fluid, a little sac of water.

Troy: John, getting to your point here, this is kind of what I see too in the ER. We do occasionally see people who come in for this and they find a lump. They're concerned. They don't want to wait to try and get in to see a urologist. But it's a small percentage of the time it's cancer. But like you said, it's worth getting checked out, get an ultrasound just to make sure everything's okay.

Dr. Smith: And ultrasounds are relatively inexpensive, too. There's no reason not to get one, really.

Scot: And probably not go to the ER for it.

Troy: Yeah, not necessarily.

Scot: Unless Troy's on at night.

Troy: Yeah, unless it's 3:00 a.m. on a Friday night, because I have nothing better to do then. Please come in.

Dr. Smith: Well, a lot of times, a good primary care doctor will order an ultrasound for you and get you a referral to the urologist's office where you can get some peace of mind. Because specialists can be difficult to get into at times, but . . .

Scot: All right. Well, that was a good session. How are we feeling about that? Dr. Smith, how do you feel about your first experience on the "Who Cares about Men's Health" podcast?

Dr. Smith: I like it. It's a lot of fun. I think I feel a little ill-prepared at times because there's always more. I mean, in medicine, it's never just as simple as the wham-bam, as Troy will tell you. But I think this is great. I appreciate you guys having me on. It's a lot of fun.

Scot: It's been a lot of fun having you on. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Oh, boy. I tell you what. I'm sure that everybody woke up this morning thinking . . .

Troy: I thought it was this, Scot. I thought it was me clapping.

Dr. Smith: Is that Troy clapping?

Troy: I'm clapping.

Dr. Smith: Wow.

Troy: I'm clapping for John. He did a great job. I've warmed up to him now. I'm going to give him some applause. So, it's great having you on here, John.

Dr. Smith: Hey, I appreciate you guys having me. This has been a lot of fun.

Scot: All right. Time to end with a good urologist joke. Dr. Smith, go ahead.

Dr. Smith: All right. What does the urologist say before he starts the procedure?

Scot: What does a urologist say before he starts the procedure? Troy?

Troy: I don't know.

Scot: I know what a urologist says if he or she has a breakthrough. They say, "Urethra!" But I don't know what the urologist says when they start the procedure.

Dr. Smith: "It won't be long now." That's my dad joke/urologist joke. It works for both.

Troy: Yeah. That's good.

Scot: Fine work. Thank you so much for being on the podcast, Dr. Smith, and thank you for caring about men's health.

Troy: So, Scot, I'm just going to leave this here. The silver lining in the pandemic, I think, for a lot of us . . . I know you've talked about some different things you've done. But one thing for us is I've gained a greater appreciation of getting takeout. We have now done where we're regularly getting takeout at least once a week from a local place. We like to try different places out. We really had some pleasant surprises in trying out new places where we'd never eaten before.

Scot: So the takeout always goes home.

Troy: The takeout always goes home because, otherwise, the dogs are leaning over the takeout and drooling in it. That never goes well.

Scot: Maybe you could take the takeout to a park sometime, though.

Troy: We could.

Scot: They could watch squirrels and . . .

Troy: They could watch squirrels and then try and jump up on the picnic table and eat our takeout.

Scot: Just going to leave this here. So, last week, we had "windmaggedon." I don't know what people are calling it. They called it the inland hurricane here in Utah, in the Salt Lake area, in the valley where we had these category two hurricane winds. Now, the difference being that we didn't have water, and the other difference being that category two hurricane winds are constant and these were just the gusts would be up to category two.

Troy: But talk about that feeling of the haves and the have-nots. It was 7:00, 8:00 at night. The sun is going down. I look across the street, and all the houses on the other side of the street, their lights are on.

Scot: That was us, too.

Troy: Like, "Wait a second. This is not fair. I'm over here . . ."

Scot: I know.

Troy: Yeah. "I have nothing here." I am here in my 50-degree house with no heat and my neighbors all are just enjoying it and their heat is on, and their lights are . . . I'm like, "Wait, this isn't right."

Scot: That's when you find an outdoor outlet at your neighbor's and run an extension cord across the street.

Troy: Exactly. That's a good thought. I did not do that. I should have.

Scot: All right. Time to say the things that you say at the end of podcasts because we are at the end of ours. As always, thanks for listening. Please subscribe if you like the podcast so we can be sure to be in your podcast player of choice every single week, and we're on all of them. And if you want to reach out, Troy's got the details on that.

Troy: Yeah. You can reach out to us. Drop us an email at hello@thescoperadio.com. We're on Facebook, facebook.com/WhoCaresMensHealth. Website is whocaresmenshealth.com. We actually have a listener line as well. You can call in and ask questions, and I'm hoping Scot has the number for that line.

Scot: 601-55SCOPE. Go ahead and write that down, Troy, and write that down, everybody else. 601-55SCOPE. If you have any questions, comments, you just leave your message right there. Thanks for listening and thanks for caring about men's health.