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Our guest today is a longtime client of the Manhattan InForm Fitness location and who’s name is Michael Derchin. Michael is a cancer survivor who shares his story of profound loss, perseverance, and a lesson that proves you are never too old to make some positive changes and progress in your life.
Now listened to in 100 countries, The InForm Fitness Podcast with Adam Zickerman is a presentation of InForm Fitness Studios, specializing in safe, efficient, High Intensity strength training.
Adam discusses the latest findings in the areas of exercise, nutrition and recovery with leading experts and scientists. We aim to debunk the popular misconceptions and urban myths that are so prevalent in the fields of health and fitness and to replace those sacred cows with scientific-based, up-to-the-minute information on a variety of subjects. The topics covered include exercise protocols and techniques, nutrition, sleep, recovery, the role of genetics in the response to exercise, and much more.
52 Beating Cancer One Workout At-A-Time
Wed, 3/23 12:10PM 33:32
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mike, podcast, pounds, gave, doctor, cancer, fitness, week, years, life, eating, prostate, testosterone, inform, exercise, wife, episode, bon jovi, adam, day
SPEAKERS
Mike Durkin, Tim Edwards, Mike, Adam
Tim Edwards 00:00
The inform fitness podcast is brought to you by Audible. Get a Free Audiobook download and a 30 day free trial of Audible membership at audible trial.com forward slash inbound
Mike Durkin 00:19
life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious. Life's too mysterious. You work you save you worry so, but you can take your dough when you go go go. Keep repeating it's the berries, the strongest Oak must fall. The best things in life for you I just loaned so how can you lose what you never owned. So life is just a bowl of cherries. So live and laugh at it. Live and laugh at it, live and laugh at it home.
Tim Edwards 01:12
inform nation welcome in Tim Edwards here at the inbound podcasting network. And this is episode number 52 of the inform fitness podcast with New York Times bestselling author, Adam Zickerman. The song that you heard at the top of the episode was performed by an inform fitness client who has one heck of a story to share with you today. You are about to hear a stirring testimonial regarding the health benefits that can come as a result of the slow motion high intensity strength training protocol administered by the inform fitness program. And in some cases, maybe even life saving. Our guest today is a longtime client of the Manhattan inform fitness location, whose name is Michael Durkin, in this episode, you will receive some weight loss tips. But you're also going to hear stories of profound loss and perseverance, and most importantly, a lesson that you are never too old to make some positive changes in your life.
Mike 02:09
That was an incredible song to start off the episode. I'm so excited about this podcast, and for our guests that were that we're going to be interviewing today, because it's a testimonial of the health benefits that come with the inform fitness program. I think in this podcast, we're gonna re ask the question what is necessary if your goal is weight loss, it's going to dispel some of the exercise myths that we've talked about before on this podcast. And I think it's going to address the understated effect of hormones on muscle growth and fat loss. And our guest today has been a client with us since 2011. And in the last seven years, he's had some unbelievable results to his health and fitness. His name is Mike Durkin, you just heard him sing just now a second ago life is a bowl of cherries, and I'm just gonna I just recalled Mike, years ago, as a fact he sang backup with Bon Jovi actually years ago on which album was that?
Mike Durkin 03:09
The crush album.
Mike 03:13
We said it sounds like we're kidding. But we're not. And what song was it again?
Mike Durkin 03:17
One wild night
Mike 03:20
One Wild night, so we'll see if we can get a clip of that song. It's he's actually credited on the on the it was a CD at the time, right?
Adam 03:28
Can we get Bon Jovi to approve us to see a clip
Mike Durkin 03:31
in addition to the backup, I also in the middle of that song, there's a primal scream. And that's me.
Adam 03:39
No way. Can you repeat that scream now?
Mike Durkin 03:43
I only do that on some of the machines that you put me on.
Adam 03:46
I only do that for big cash, Adam. I don't do that for free.
Mike 03:50
So Mike was referred by his good friend Hence Orme which if you're a listener of the podcast, he was the subject of the return of the prodigal client, which was
Adam 04:01
one of our most popular podcasts.
Mike 04:03
I personally love seeing Mike every week. He's consistent with his workouts. He works very, very hard. He's extremely positive and funny. And I've learned a lot from him over the years. And he's a financial analyst on Wall Street, loves his job has two grown kids. And he's currently 75 years old. He will be 76 in a couple of months, right?
Mike Durkin 04:24
Yeah, August
Adam 04:25
and August. What?
Mike Durkin 04:26
August 17.
Adam 04:28
Are you Leo?
Mike Durkin 04:29
Yeah
Adam 04:30
I'm August 4. August is a great month to have a birthday.
Mike 04:33
All right. Well, it's the opposite side of the calendar for me so but you enjoy it and I'll enjoy my
Adam 04:38
thank you very much.
Mike 04:38
my half birthday at the same time. So anyway, in order to explain Mike's results, we have to go back to the beginning, which is 2011. In preparing for this podcast and in organizing my thoughts. I thought that Mike's story can be divided into three little chapters and the first one starts in 2011 When you walked in our door, and Mike, what was going on in your life at that time?
Mike Durkin 05:07
Okay, well, this chapter of my life actually started in late 2010. And what happened in late 2010. In November, specifically, my, my wife, Terry, who I had been my soulmate for 40 years was in intensive care, at Sloan Kettering hospital, she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of thyroid cancer, and she had just been given a, you know, a few weeks or months to live at that point in time. And I was in, in the room with her. And she was a very caring person. And she looked at me and said, I want you to go, I don't like how you look, you don't look, well, I want you to go to the doctor immediately. And I said, go to the doctor, immediately. I'm here, you're here in intensive care, I've got to take care of you. And she says, I'm surrounded by all these doctors and nurses, and I'm hooked up to all these things. So you there's nothing you can do for me here. I really think I just don't you know, I've known you for 40 years, I just don't like the way you look, I want you to do this for me. So I go to the doctor, and she kind of hooks me up to all these machines and electrocardiograms that only other stuff that you do for a checkup. And, and at the end, we're, I'm in her office, and she said, Well, I've got to admit, admit you to the hospital. I said, admit me to the hospital. What are you talking about? Well, I've never seen numbers like this, you're about to have either a stroke or a heart attack any second. I mean, I can't, you know, I can't let you out of here. And so I say, well, there's no way, you know, I'm going to, you know, a hospital with my wife dying. And she said, Well, will you at least do do me a favor. And, you know, let me have send you to a cardiologist, and have them take a look at you and see what they recommend. So that same day, I went to the New York Hospital, cardiologist, and they took a look at me and did further heart exams and said, Well, look, Mike, you know, we understand why Dr.wanted to admit you. And under normal circumstances, we would but you know, because you're in serious, you know, shape here. On the other hand, we understand why you're in that shape, it's more stress related, probably than anything else. And there's nothing structurally wrong with your heart that we can see. And so, you know, we'll we'll let you out, but we, you know, on the provision that you got to come back every week, until your wife passes away, and you know, they gave me some medication, and they hooked me up to some machines that I walked around with, you know, and so make a long story short, we, my wife left a hospital in November for, you know, around Thanksgiving time, came home, and in hospice situation, she passed away on December 17, of 2010. And, you know, before she passed away, she, she said, you know, really the day before, she said, Look, I have one last wish you've been 40 years taking care of me, she had a muscle disease, by the way, for, for most of the 40 years, we were married Polymyositis. And so I was both a husband and a caregiver for 40 years, and, you know, didn't take very good care of myself physically. And she knew that and she said, Look, you know, after I am gone, we have two teenage daughters at the time, you know, you just got to, for your own sake, get yourself in shape, get yourself better for your if not for your for your own sake then for your two teenage daughters. So with that as motivation, she after she passed away in early January of 2011. You know, I went back to the doctor who then gave me a full workout and in addition to heart, and I also had diabetes, type two diabetes, which I didn't know about, I weighed 265 pounds. I was sent to a doctor who specialized in diabetes and and the doctor said, Well, give me an example of your diet Mike, and I kind of described, you know what I ate during the day and he said, Well, I know what your problem is, Mike, you're having high portions of carbohydrates. And you should be eating small portions of low carbohydrate foods. So you're doing just the opposite of what you should to be doing, and I said, Well, how do I, you know, get back on track and and he said, also, obviously, you know, you're out of shape and you got to, you know, you got to lose a lot of weight, both through exercise and, and through changing your eating and, and so he gave me the name of a nutritionist to help me out on the nutrition side and he said, see if you can find yourself, you know, a place to go to start getting yourself in shape. And that's where I mentioned it to Hence, who was a good friend of mine at the time. And he had recommended inform fitness at that point. And that's how I came to you guys in 2011.
Mike 10:42
Mike and I were, we were just talking about before the podcast, and I said, Hey, Mike do you remember the oatmeal conversation we had? And he said, I think so. And then. And he said, I think it was cereal and berries I think I might be confused about between cereal and berries. But the thing is, you know, Michael started working out with us. And we quickly warmed up to each other. And he quickly connected to doing the strength training program. He he you know, he works very, very hard. And then I think he hit a little plateau. And I think you weren't you were given guidance from the nutritionist. And I think you got I think he dropped maybe 10 or 15 pounds or something.
Mike Durkin 11:21
I went from 265. down to about 235.
Mike 11:25
Oh was it that much at the time.
Mike Durkin 11:26
Yeah, I lost about 30 pounds.
Mike 11:28
But there was a plateau.
Mike Durkin 11:29
Yeah, I hit a plateau. And, and I was sort of the same weight for over a month. And I'm kind of frustrated, obviously. Because I thought I was continuing to do everything. Right. And, and Mike said, Well, what do you have for breakfast, and I kind of described that I have, oh, I have a really healthy, big cereal with fruit and all kinds of great stuff. And, and he said to me, Well, I think I know how you can, you know, lose five pounds in a week. And I said five pounds in a week. How? And he said, Well, instead of having that, that cereal, just have one hard boiled egg for breakfast, everything else the same whatever you're having for lunch or dinner, eat the same exact food, but just change one thing just have just change for one week, and you're going to lose five pounds. I thought that was a joke no way and so
Adam 12:25
it's like Mickey Mantle pointing to the left field and say he's going to hit a home run there.
Mike Durkin 12:30
I thought it was crazy, actually. So anyway, but anyway, I did what he said. And a week later, I came back and I got on the scale and I was five pounds less. I lost five pounds in a week, you know, just by changing, you know, going from that high calorie, high carb cereal which I shouldn't have been on, you know, in the first place to to protein. And after that, in fact, right now, you know, um, you know, you know, I have every, pretty much every day I have an omelet as almost a staple of for breakfast every every day, not just a hybrid omelet with some, some vegetables and but I'm off the you know, on a very low carb diet.
Mike 13:20
Right. Yeah. You know, the, his, you know, he's doing his workouts, he gave up carbohydrates. And I want to actually ask you, I want the audience to know who cookie is Michael
Mike Durkin 13:32
cookie, Oh, Cookie is my 80 pound Labradoodle who just turned 12 This past week. And but back in 2011, she was in their prime and loved to walk and and she was, you know, after my wife passed away, she became, you know, kind of and my kids were away to school I was by myself and it was just me and cookie. And the nice part about cookie is she was she other than Mike the best Personal Trainer I've ever had because it's at six in the morning she'd stick her wet and black nose in my face and say we got to go out and walk and whether it was you know, raining or snowing or no matter what the weather was she you know, she had to go at the, at a minimum three times a day and she was very athletic we I live in an area on Palisades and jersey. So there's a lot of hills and up and down and a lot of a lot of walking. You know, that's pretty strenuous for an athletic dog. So I ended up walking probably, you know, at least an hour, sometimes two hours a day as my main exercise quite frankly, besides inform that was really my only other exercise
Mike 14:56
right, so as I was just going to ask you didn't do any other cardio type of exercises like biking or elliptical or treadmill, nothing,
Mike Durkin 15:04
No, it was just Just what I did here and just a lot of walking. That was, you know, that's what I did.
Mike 15:11
You know, and I and so 12 months later, you know, you were 70, you lost 66 pounds, and we got to a low of 199 pounds. I vividly remember a conversation with you, when I asked you about how you feel compared to when you then to when you to how you felt before you ever came in. And us, you told me I felt like I was 100 years old. And and you were on medication for everything, cholesterol and diabetes, you know, and, and I said, Well, how do you how do you feel now? And you said, I feel like I'm 30 Now, you know, and I was like I never forget that conversation. And I'm telling Adam, and I'm so excited to show your results and tell everybody Hey, I got this 70 year old client who lost 66 pounds in the last 12 months,
Adam 16:04
who is definitely for that period of time. Our poster child.
Mike 16:06
Yeah, it was it was like it was I couldn't I never felt happier in my life. I mean, we've had so many success stories, but this was something that just given Mike's history at that point. I was so excited. And then And then around that time, Mike what happened next?
Mike Durkin 16:22
Well, life is sometimes is cruel. And having basically gotten rid of, you know, through diet and exercise, the diabetes went away, you know, my, you know, my numbers were normal. I went off the pills that I had been on. My blood pressure was normal. Cholesterol was normal. Every everything was normal. I was feeling great, except for one thing I was starting, I was having some urinary tract problems, pretty severe ones. And I had a couple of biopsies prior to that on my prostate and they turned out to be negative. But my PSA, which is indicator, one of these indicators of potential cancer was going up pretty dramatically high. So I went for my annual physical at that point. You know, I said to my doctor, I said, Gee, and I feel great. I feel terrific, except for this one thing is bothering me this, this this, this this PSA it shouldn't you know, you know, it's just crazy why it's so high. And yet I know, from these biopsies, I don't have cancer, but you know, I just can't figure out what's going on. So So she said, Well, let me send you to another urologist who's the best diagnostician. I know, she sent me over to him. And he said, he looked at me and he said, Well, we got to do an MRI on you on the prostate. And within the next day, I get the call. And he says, Well, I got bad news. You've got essentially the equivalent of, of stage four cancer. And it was it was bad. And they said, at that point that the problem is we it's, you know, we because we missed it, we think it's spread, you know, and, you know, you may have if it is spread, maybe you got a year to live. So I said, I can't believe this, I said well just cut it, you know what, let's just do surgery and just get it out. And they said, well, it's too late. In other words, that should have been done if years ago, you know, so what we've got to do is threefold number one, we got to shrink your prostate, so it's small enough that we can do radiation on it, we've got to give you some hormone treatment that eliminates testosterone in your body because prostate cancer grows on testosterone. And you know, it's it's we think, again, it's it's outside of the prostate and could kill you, if it's in the bones or lungs are other parts of vital organs. So we got to, we've got to eliminate the testosterone in your body. And we've got to put you on chemotherapy, you know, daily chemotherapy pills to in the event it has spread that would kill it off outside of the prostate. And so you know, and I said, Well, what's the side effects and and they kind of gave me all the side effects which, you know, you listen to the side effects and you say, I'd rather die than go through those side effects. And doctors just say, Well, look, I mean, those we got it. These are the potential side effects but you know, that not everybody has these side effects and some people don't have Have any of them? And they said, I said, Well, what's the one that, you know, most likely I am going to have? And they said, well, because of eliminating the testosterone in your body, you're going to gain weight. I don't know, to anybody else. Gaining weight would have been okay, I can handle that. But for me, I've just spent a year losing 65 pounds. Feeling like, like getting punched in the stomach. I said, how much am I gonna gain? He said, Well, you know, you're gonna probably gain 30 35 pounds, you know? Oh, Jesus Christ. Yeah. Yeah, after all of this, what am I gonna tell my trainer. Anyway, long story short, I mean, like, what are you gonna do? I mean, I had, you know, two daughters who were young, and I had to take care of them. And I had told my wife before she died, you know, I was gonna do everything I could to stay alive and healthy as long as I could. So I basically went on that program, and and
Mike 21:11
how much did you how much did you gain?
Mike Durkin 21:13
Okay, we're right, I went from, you know, 199 It went up to about 235 I think, while I was on a while I,
Adam 21:21
how about you diet, did that change?
Mike Durkin 21:22
No, I maintained the same eating I in fact, I came here every single week, like I had always done right through the treatment, I remember telling the cancer doctor when I was going, I went for I went for, you know, the, the radiation five days a week for it was at least two months, maybe three months. I came and I told the, I told the doctor, you know, I go, you know, I go, I do training, strength training once once a week, and I keep doing that and and he said, Well, you know, when cancer when this radiation is as it kind of builds in each each, each week, so as you get towards the end, you might not have the strength to do exercise you might and but I did it every week right through you know, I actually worked every day too, that's the other thing I was working because this is what what was keeping my mind off of my my wife's passing away and all the other thing I was working every day, and I was having my treatment every day and watching my keeping good. I really keeping to my same exact health regime, the eating and exercise, eat throughout the whole period.
Mike 22:42
it's such a fascinating thing. You know, Adam and I have talked about it many times, but it's the idea that, you know, you still kept a very low to no carb diet. And regardless of that, you gained 35 pounds
Mike Durkin 22:56
right, the identical diet.
Mike 22:58
So the workout stayed the same. You're walking with cookie stayed the same? Yeah, your relative activity level, he ate the same right Right. Welcome to New York brother, here we go with the sirens. So all those things were the same, um, and still you gained 35 pounds, you're on the same program you had? And, and so it really, it really begs the question, how relevant are hormones like testosterone? What's the link or the relationship with our muscle growth and our fat loss?
Adam 23:35
well, these mechanisms are still being found out. But the bottom line is, as we discussed in one of our other episodes, when we did the secret life of fat, there are a lot of variables to weight gain. And here's a perfect example of how you change your hormone situation. And you have weight gain. So before you start judging people that are fat, and start thinking that they're not disciplined, they don't know how to eat and they're lazy and they don't, they're not active enough. And you want to blame the sedentary lifestyle. Well, think twice before you talk because there are so many other variables, including hormonal changes, and they're real. And here's a perfect example. Somebody only thing that changed was his hormone levels of testosterone and you gained weight. The doctor knew it was gonna happen, he was always able to predict the amount of weight that you're going to gain. Alright, so this happens, it's regular. So, you know, when you it's tricky. I mean, that whole book, The Secret Life of fat, I mean, like, you know, the mechanisms and why we gain weight and how to lose weight. It's tricky. It's very tricky. It's not black and white. And we have a lot to learn. And, you know, so we just got to keep plugging and figuring it out. But um, but this there's there's a silver lining to this story, obviously.
Mike 24:48
Yeah, the well over it went through all these treatments. And it was about four and a half, five years, right. And then eventually, you were they declared you cancer free.
Mike Durkin 25:00
Yep, yeah, you know, after I went through, you know, what I described to you had a choice, you know, to continue if I wanted to, on a low level basis, some of this or just go off completely. I said, look, let's, I prefer to go off completely, because I'd really, you know, like to get back to normal. And they so doctor said, Okay, what we'll do initially is I'll just, you know, check in, you know, we'll go off all the medication that you were on, and we'll check in every three months, you know, if cancer comes back, and we'll, you know, at least, you know, we'll catch it quickly, and then we can put you back on, on whatever cancer treatment is, would be, you know, required. But, you know, the first year I went every three months, it hadn't come back. Then the next year, he said, Well, let's, why don't you come back every, you know, every, every four months, and I did that, and then it hadn't come back. And, and then they just most recently, they said, well, let's, let's come back every every six months. And the last time I was there was just last month in May, and the guy gave me a big hug the doctor, he's not necessarily a very emotional guy, normally, he said, You know, it's a people like you that make my job worthwhile. Because, you know, I don't have that many successes. Or at least, not as many as I would like, and you're one of these successes, where you've cancer free and your testosterone is normal. I was last week when they, you know, I was 197 pounds. So actually below the 199 That I'd gotten to the previous time, my, this doctor said that he saw me being a sort of ideal way to get in my weight, my age and build would be sort of in the 190 to 199 range, if I can hang in there, which is really where I am right now.
Adam 27:08
Congratulations.
Mike 27:09
Yeah, that's the that's the interesting point that you just sort of jumped right to is that there was another term after you became cancer free, that testosterone started to come back into your body just naturally, and your hair came back onto your arms and right and all the all the the the effects of testosterone as it comes back muscle growth even came back at a higher degree. And then, and that's what's interesting is he went from losing the 66, getting cancer, gaining 35, whatever. And then right after the cancer, that test, testosterone came back, and you just kept your entire routine the entire way. And then you lost the weight again, right went down another 40 or 40 pounds. And so it's really, it really is a remarkable roller coaster ride, which I mean, you know, Adam just
Adam 28:02
won consistency with this roller coaster, I was your perseverance and your dedication. And you honored your wife, you know, you word to your wife. Well, I think it's a beautiful, beautiful story.
Mike Durkin 28:12
I had a lot of help from friends and inform fitness was a vital part of what I did. I mean, there's no question about that. But I made a point, no matter how I was feeling to get to get here because I really felt that strength training. And what I did here was a was a really crucial part of the whole program, in addition to the walking with cookie,
Adam 28:35
and the low carb diet, the sugar feeds cancer. So you stayed on that you need to give up?
Mike Durkin 28:40
Yes. And so it was really, it was a combination of all those factors
Adam 28:47
it's so many times the attitude of the patient means so much. It just it just seems and it's anecdotal, of course, but it just seems that people do so much better when they have the right attitude, going into all this stuff, and, and never give up. I don't care what it is.
Mike 29:06
And it's also just another extra point. It's like you really, it's almost you're never too old to make some progress in your life to make it better. I mean, we have we have clients even in their 80s and even 90s and dramatic changes in their body. And I mean, mostly for getting it for strength training, but I mean, you were very compliant with your nutrition and, and your routine. And but I think a lot of people once again, they're they immediately think it's hopeless to even try to lose fat over after you're 70 years old
Adam 29:38
Exactly, or strength and the aches and pains are inevitable and accepted and doesn't have to be that way. And that's a great point Mike.
Mike 29:46
Yep. So Michael We so appreciate that you could be our guest and we are so grateful and honored to have you as our client and our friend. I mean this is it gives me the chills even thinking about the story and even and even the intro with your Your wife. And so, I mean, you're obviously very fortunate to have her as a, as a motivating force and a spirit in your life. And we're so lucky to have you here
Adam 30:09
So we'd like to come back on the show in about 10 years.
Mike Durkin 30:11
That would be great.
Mike 30:14
Every decade we need, yeah, we'll check in
Mike Durkin 30:17
that will keep me young.
Adam 30:18
That time, you'll be about 10 years old.
Mike Durkin 30:22
My other song as you know, keep me young at heart, which is, go for it. Go to fairy tales can come true. It could happen to you. If you're young at heart. It's hard you will find to be narrow of mind. If you're young at heart. You can go to extremes with impossible schemes. You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams, and life gets more exciting with each passing day. Love is either in your heart or on the way, don't you know that it's worth every treasure on Earth. To be young god heart. as rich as you are, it's much better by far to be young at heart. And if you should survive to 105 So I'll be here till 105 Think of all you'll derive out of being alive and here's the best part. You'll have a head start if you are among the very young at heart.
Tim Edwards 31:30
Boy, that was a great episode. And hopefully, you have been inspired by Michael Durkin's story. We look forward to having him back with us in 10 years just as He promised us. Hey, remember early on in the episode, Mike told us that he was a backup singer for Bon Jovi back in the day. Well in the shownotes there's a link to the Bon Jovi song one wild night where you can hear Mike singing in the background and that primal scream he mentioned right at around the two and a half minute mark. Very cool. Also in the show notes, as always is a link to informfitness.com Click on over there and you'll find a free workout waiting for you. Click the Try it free button right there on the homepage. Fill out the form. Pick your location and enjoy a free slow motion high intensity full body workout in just 20 minutes. And if you don't live near an inform fitness location, you can always order Adams book power of 10 to once a week slow motion fitness revolution it's just a click away and available at Amazon. For less than 15 bucks you'll find exercises that you can perform in your own home, along with some great nutritional tips to help you build the muscle and burn the fat. Speaking of fat, Adam mentioned the book The Secret Life of fat earlier in the episode. You might remember our interview with author Dr. Sylvia Tara back in episode number 22. Well, how would you like to download her audio book for free? Simply click the link in the show notes to audible trial.com forward slash inbound and sign up for a free 30 day membership trial to Audible. then, download the book for free, or any book that you can find in audible. If you like podcasts, you're going to love audio books, give it a shot and try it risk free for 30 days. That's audible trial.com forward slash inbound. Well that's gonna do it for this episode and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. And make sure you join us next time for the inform fitness podcast for Adam Zickerman and Mike Rogers. I'm Tim Edwards with the inbound podcasting Network.
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00Transcribed by https://otter.ai