Spotlight Series topic: The Truth About Aging, Fitness, and Staying Active for Life with Don Mather
Guest Name: Don Mather
Guest Credentials: Fitness Expert
Discussion Details: From Helping People Sit to Helping People Move
In this episode of the Stay Healthy Knoxville podcast, Dr. John-Mark Chesney sits down with Don Mather, owner of Fit Body Boot Camp Farragut, to discuss his nearly 50-year journey in fitness, from competitive bodybuilding and fitness writing to opening a fitness studio after retirement.
Don shares what inspired him to transition from a 47-year career with La-Z-Boy into helping people improve their health through exercise, nutrition, and healthy habits. We discuss healthy aging, the importance of staying active, common fitness misconceptions, and how Fit Body Boot Camp helps people of all fitness levels build strength, improve energy, and create lasting results.
Listen to this episode to learn:
- How Don’s fitness journey began in 1975 and what has kept him active for nearly 50 years
- Why he started a fitness business after retiring from a 47-year career at La-Z-Boy
- The biggest misconceptions people have about fitness and aging
- What a Fit Body Boot Camp workout is really like
- How workouts are adapted for injuries, surgeries, and physical limitations
- The keys to staying consistent with exercise and nutrition
- Why strength training becomes even more important as we age
- How to get started with a free one-week trial at Fit Body Boot Camp Farragut
Whether you’re just beginning your fitness journey or looking to stay healthy and active for years to come, this episode is packed with practical advice and inspiration to help you take the next step.
Address of guest’s business:
10951 Kingston Pike,
Farragut, TN 37934
Don Mather: I appreciate you having me, John-Mark, glad to be here.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Well, awesome. Well, um I know um you know, as we talked as preparing for the podcast, um here um you gave me a little bit of your backstory and it sounded like it started back in the 70s um with your own personal endeavor with bodybuilding. Is that isn’t that correct?
Don Mather: That’s correct.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. So, tell us a little bit about how that got started, you know, with your interest in fitness and bodybuilding.
Don Mather: Okay. Well, I was in college at the time, just hanging out at one of my friends apartments, just sitting around one night, and I noticed that he had put on some weight. And I asked him, I said, “Steve, what are you doing, man? You look like you gaining weight.” And he said, “Well, I quit smoking cigarettes, and I started doing pumpups, which was really isometric type exercises, you know.”
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And I was like, “Man, if that worked for you, that can work for me.” because I was a real skinny guy. 6’4, 150 pounds and did not like it. I I always w I didn’t care if I was fat. I just wanted to be bigger, you know?
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: And so I quit smoking just like Steve did. Started eating like crazy and then started getting started putting on weight. Some of it wasn’t weight that I really wanted. You know, I did a lot of reading comic books when I was a kid and I always thought that everybody should look like a comic book character, a superhero, you know, and and I wanted to look like that. So then I had to I started working out and back then there wasn’t that many gyms YMCA and didn’t have that much equipment, you know, and and so I started doing that and then eventually got Steve to join me and he became my workout partner for the next 10 years. Nice. And I had to learn a lot about nutrition because if you wanted to gain muscle, you didn’t want to get fat at the same time. So, you had to learn about protein, carbohydrates, and fats and and and being in a calorie uh deficit versus being in a calorie overage, you know, and that kind of stuff. So, I had to learn a lot along the way to stay healthy and to to hit the goals that I wanted to hit, which was to get bigger, more muscular, all that kind of stuff. And over time, that that happened. And I started competing in in in uh amateur bodybuilding contest, Mr. South Carolina uh region three bodybuilding contest, different regional bodybuilding contests and I really wanted to make fitness a career. I was working at La-Z-Boy at the time. I was I was a supervisor on the floor and just fitness was my passion, but there was no place to work. There weren’t that many there was, like I said, there was only a YMCA in town.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: to work out at. Personal training was for Hollywood stars and rich people. You know, there was there was no career path other than perhaps opening a gym. I didn’t have the capital to do that. So, one Sunday afternoon, my father says, “You know, if you would put as much effort into La-Z-Boy as you put into this crazy bodybuilding crap you’re doing, you might have a great career.” And so I actually listened to him and and I I decided to quit trying to compete in bodybuilding. I didn’t have the genetics for it. I was a skinny guy and and and there there were guys that worked just as hard as me that started at a way better spot and it just that that wasn’t in the cards for me genetically and I understood that. So, I put myself into La-Z-Boy and my career there and bodybuilding and weightlifting and physical fitness became just part of your lifestyle. It wasn’t no longer a career aspiration or anything. It was just your lifestyle. Just your personal um your lifestyle. Because what bodybuilding did for me is it didn’t just show me that I could set a goal. It showed me that I could do anything that I set my mind to. Anything. Didn’t matter what it was. Bodybuilding was the one thing. And if you can go from 150 lbs to 250 pounds, you can do anything. And and that that attitude carried me very well into my career at La-Z-Boy. And there were times where I couldn’t work out as much. It was traveling, business dinners, all that kind of stuff. But for the most part, I always came back to fitness, you know, it was a part of my life. If I if I was feeling stressed out at work or whatever, go to the gym.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: That that go to the gym. And that worked. And and so fast forward to six years ago, 2022, I I decided to retire from La-Z-Boy. And when you retire, you get pretty reflective. I didn’t know that at the time, but you do of your life. And looking back on it, one of the things I was most thankful for was that I had found bodybuilding when I was 20. And I wasn’t as thankful for how my body looked, which was what my goal was. I was thankful for the fitness it gave me and the health that I had at 65 years old that I would not have had otherwise.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And also, you know, that was during the COVID time. So during that period at La-Z-Boy, I was I was working at La-Z-Boy and co during COVID and all those shutdown procedures and all that stuff that we had and cleaning up the factory after every shift and disinfecting and all that. And you looked at the people that got really sick, really had a hard time during COVID. Most of those people had other comorbidities that were lifestyle related that they could have had a very different outcome if they had fitness as a part of their life. And it was at that point I decided, well, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Uh, I’ve spent 47 years he helping people sit on their rear ends. maybe it’s time to get them off it, you know. And so I decided I was going to open a gym. And um I had friends that had business relationships with some CEOs at like Workout Anytime or or 24-hour Fitness and some of those. I could have done that, but I didn’t want to just provide access to equipment for people who knew what they were doing. I wanted to help people that just wanted to get more healthy in their life. Didn’t necessarily want to stand on stage and and uh rub oil all over themselves and glitter under the lights, you know, but they wanted to be healthy and fit and live a active life. And that’s what I wanted to help people do. And that’s why I decided after looking around decided on on the the type of workout for what I wanted to bring to people was Fit Body Boot Camp style workout.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah, that’s awesome. Now, not the not the type of workout I did my whole life, right? Now, most people when they retire, it means they kind of slow down. You kind of took a different approach, right? Instead of um retiring, you you decided to start a business. So, uh, maybe tell us a little bit of what, um, you know, would maybe give you the confidence or that, um, maybe not the confidence, but just the desire to not really retire, right? Um, but to, um, to go about this pretty big venture.
Don Mather: Well, I guess because I did exercise my whole life, I’m pretty fit. I could be a lot fitter at 71, but I I am where I am, and I’m I keep striving to get better, but I’m not ready to just sit down and watch life go by. Yeah, that’s I I I look at it like almost like there are people in life as you get older, your grandkids are out there playing ball or throwing the Frisbee. They’re doing whatever and they’ll say, “Grandpa, grandma, come out here and do this with me. Come out there.” No, I’m just going to sit here and watch you guys. And you become an observer of life rather than a liver of life. And and to me, part of uh living life is staying active and contributing to society, I guess, the greater whole.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: So, I I wasn’t ready to to quit yet, but uh I wanted to do something that would be meaningful to people.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Um, now you know having started kind of your fitness and bodybuilding, you know, back in the 70s, have you seen maybe the fitness industry change? And it sound like, you know, especially when you decided to step into, you know, this the Fit Body Boot Camp, which we’ll get into what that actually is here, you know, later on the show, but um how have you seen that kind of change over the years and and maybe you know, and what what may be good ways or any um yeah, thoughts on that?
Don Mather: Uh well, in my mind, the way the body functions and moves doesn’t change. You know that’s always a given. What has changed the most in the fitness industry in my mind is in diet and nutrition in those aspects. When I was bodybuilding in the 70s the supplements consisted of desiccated liver and brewer’s yeast.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay?
Don Mather: You know and now what do you have now? And look at today. You’ve got you’ve got GM, you got entire industries and stores set up with nothing but B but fitness supplements.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Creatine, protein, branch chain amino acids, electrolytes, peptides, you name it. It’s all out there now affecting health and fitness. And to me, that is the biggest change is is what we know about nutrition, which is ironic because we know more and about nutrition at the nutritional aspects of fitness than we ever have and we’re fatter than we’ve ever been.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah, it is interesting even with the nutritional side, you know, just um having, you know, a few months ago they came out um with the new uh food pyramid, if you will.
Don Mather: Yes.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Right. It’s you know, it’s inverted. Um but even just in my lifetime, I’m I’m 43. Um but you know how that’s even changed. Like I remember when I was young, it was all about fat. Like avoid, you know, look look to see how much fat something’s had. if it has a lot of fat, then you know, avoid it and you’re, you know, just choose foods with with no fat, right?
Don Mather: Was was more I went down that road myself.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Um, and now, um, and then it got, you know, more kind of, you know, that that base on the on the, uh, food pyramid was, you know, your your grains, right? It was kind of like, hey, this is should be the biggest one is your grains. And now um you know now it’s that inverted pyramid with um uh with you know the protein is really what is being advocated but it is like to your point um there’s been a a huge kind of shift if you will and even just the basics of education on nutrition right?
Don Mather: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: So, u but hopefully we’re on to um a better a better uh understanding of that than we were years ago.
Don Mather: There are essential fatty acids that you only get from fats. There are no essential carbohydrates, right?
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Um so, yeah. So it sounds like you know fitness was u an outlet for you for many years like a healthy outlet very much so for you. And so um you kind of mentioned that um when um when you realized that you wanted to do to retire and to do something in the fitness realm. Um obviously you landed on um you know Fit Body Boot Camp. Um, but what what things you you mentioned just a little bit of you you didn’t want to just provide a gym space with equipment. Tell me kind of what you were what was kind of behind that vision or that that goal of yours.
Don Mather: Well, that the kind of gym that just provides access to equipment. That’s my kind of gym.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Because I I’ve been working out for 50 years. I know what I’m doing. I know what I’m going to do. I don’t need anybody to help me. just just give me access and let me go. I’m good. Not everybody’s been working out 50 years.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Some of them played baseball in high school and ain’t done nothing for for 40 years, 30 years, 20 years, you name it. You know, they they’re in a different place. They need more help. They need more instruction. any more guidance to to make sure that they don’t injure themselves and to make sure that they’re doing it properly so that they can get the the benefits for the time they’re putting in.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Was Was there like um maybe what was your thought process in maybe identifying that need having been it wasn’t necessarily your personal need cuz you had grown up like in that space. Was there a certain event or conversation that you had with, you know, with people to kind of see that you needed to create something that wasn’t necessarily for you, but for uh meeting a need of the community?
Don Mather: Um, yeah, it’s kind of a ciruitous way to get there. I I was working with a guy that had a hip replacement.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And he was just a regular guy, you know, lived a normal life, then never worked out, just just lived normally like most people do if fitness is not a part of their life. Well, he had a very hard time with his hip replacement. He was out of work for six weeks. He was he came back with a walker and then graduated to crutches and I’m like and at that time I was struggling with my hip and I’m like I ain’t doing that. I ain’t you know I can live with this pain. I’m just going to live with it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Mhm.
Don Mather: And I did that till and I did that and lived on cortisone shots, you know, until they lasted two weeks and then that was it. And then it was, okay, now it’s time to do something regardless of what’s going on. So I did uh I I did that and I had the hip replacement. I used a walker in the hospital. I never used a walker, a crutch, or a cane at home ever. I was walking to my mailbox two days later, which was which was about a tenth of a mile from down the driveway, you know, and and so I didn’t experience what he did, but it was because I had fitness as part of my life the whole time.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: and and that knowledge. You can’t give a guy like that access to a gym and and expect him to be able to do anything with it because he doesn’t know what to do. So, I wanted to be more instructional and more handson in helping people achieve a fitness level that they didn’t think was even possible for them.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Yeah. Um and um yeah that’s cool to hear. Thanks you know for sharing that. Um because you know sometimes we can get you know if you surround yourself with um your community which is probably u you know the guys you’re working out at the gym with you can get a distorted view of truly kind of what you know are you know just the public or general like I guess your perspective gets tainted right and so you can sometimes miss out on um what you think most people understand because it’s what you’ve always understood. Um, and you take that for granted, right? You can take that for granted. So, kind of the same way as, you know, being a physical therapist, you know, I’m around physical therapists all the time and um, and so obviously I’ve had a degree of um, of studying and um, training that gives me an a deep understanding of the human body. And you can almost forget that, hey, other people haven’t invested years of their life studying the human body, right? Um, and so you have to give them the benefit of the doubts that something that’s simple to me or to you like working out the gym, something that’s very second nature is intimidating.
Don Mather: Exactly. Exactly. And they don’t know what they’re don’t know even know where to begin. So, right, they need help.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And that’s we wanted to help people to get there. Um and now I know um that you also opened up with your daughter, right? So maybe um speak a little bit to how that was what was how did she kind of enter in the picture? Like was this um whose idea really was it? Was it one of you and or was it kind of both of you guys teaming up? How did all all that happen?
Don Mather: Well, let me back up a little bit.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: My father also worked for La-Z-Boy. Okay. I worked for La-Z-Boy. All three of my children at one point or another worked for La-Z-Boy. My daughter was still working for La-Z-Boy. Okay? And I I learned a valuable lesson. Try as you might to make a publicly traded company a family business, you can’t do it. So I decided because fitness is part of my life. It was kind of my decision to go into this. But my daughter and I have been close our whole life. We we’ve been close. Uh and I knew when I went into this, I wanted her to go into it with me.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: She wasn’t so sure at the time.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Mhm.
Don Mather: So I told her, I’m going to do this with or without you.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And told her I already signed the signed the uh the license agreement.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And then so she came on board. She wasn’t really quite sure at the time, but she knew if he’s going to do this, I’m gonna do it, too. And I was hoping that that would be the case.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And so, yes, she she was working in Arkansas at our plant in Arkansas at the time, and she moved to Tennessee and and got into this with me, and I couldn’t be happier. She loves this business. She has taken to it like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: She’s she’s made for this. She’s made for this.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: That’s awesome. I mean, I’m sure there was some um you know, being her father kind of knowing, you know, knowing your daughter, some um intuition, if you will, right?
Don Mather: Right.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Um but it’s it’s also, you know, both of you guys are stepping into something new. So, there’s obviously some level of risk for, you know, for both of you guys like that, too. Um and so so yeah, so you started uh I guess it was a little after CO. Um little after co we opened uh November of 2023.
Don Mather: 2023. Okay. So a few Yeah. A few years after I guess things have settled down a little bit after
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: No, 2024. 24.
Don Mather: Okay. Um so um so yeah, just just two years.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: No, 23. You’re right. You guys been We went through 24 25 and now it’s two and a half years.
Don Mather: Okay. Two and a half years. Okay. Well, awesome. Well, um, yeah. What has it been like starting from the ground?
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: From the ground up.
Don Mather: Well, from a personal standpoint, when I was at La-Z-Boy, I was a vice president. So, basically, I met and delegated for a living. That’s not the case when you’re an entrepreneur.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And I found that out.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: I have so much respect for business owners. you are everything. There’s nobody to delegate anything to. If it’s going to get done, it’s going to get you. It’s going to be you. And it was quite eyeopening to all the little things that gets taken care of by different departments. Your finance department, your HR department, this department, that department. Well, you’re that department everywhere, right? And it’s all up to you. So yeah, it’s been uh a little eye opening and challenging, but it’s been well worth it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Awesome. Awesome. And so I guess um your role versus Nina’s role, how did you how did you guys kind of work work that out?
Don Mather: Um she runs it and I provide the money. That That’s kind of the way it’s turned into. She She really has taken to this business.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And she I at this point I trust her instincts more than I trust my own.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. That’s awesome.
Don Mather: So I So I work for my daughter now.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: Well um and by anyway she she’s 45 and I’m 71. Who’s got the longer shelf life? She she’s going to be running it anyways. You might as well let her do it now.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep. Um, so kind of getting back to, you know, we want to get into a little bit more about Fit Body Boot Camp for our listeners, you know, who may be interested in what you guys provide. Um, you know, how it’s maybe different from other options out there. Um, but before we get to that, why did you um like it sounds like you did some background research, right, in
Don Mather: Oh, yes.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: in partnering up with a franchise. What was it that first interest you in uh signing, you know, a lease agreement and um a licensing agreement, you know, with Fit Body Boot Camp?
Don Mather: Well, I guess what the thing that that got me the most was Yeah. the the workouts were good workouts and you there’s all kinds of workouts you can do that’s good workouts that’s good for you whatever Fit Body’s emphasis was on building a community of like-minded individuals that support one another in in fitness and other areas of their life but it’s it’s a it’s more about building the community of like-minded people that have the similar interest in being healthy and staying active and living a vibrant life and supporting one another in doing that. That’s that it was the focus on the community and the family aspect of it that made me want to go with Fit Body more than any other.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. And that’s a that’s because we all need support. We all need support. That’s a huge piece. Yeah. And um you know, if you’re really aiming for life fitness, it’s it’s something that you need to be able to continue doing through different seasons, right?
Don Mather: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And some seasons can be challenging uh in different ways, you know. Um but when you have the support of a community, that’s often times what people need to kind of ride through those.
Don Mather: That’s exactly right. they support each other. It’s It’s going to get hard sometimes and you got somebody helping, encouraging you and helping push you and then you do the same for them when they have go through those kind of periods. That’s what it’s that’s what like Steve, but he was my workout partner for 10 years. We did that all the time. He’d push me, I’d push him, you know, I’d encourage him, he’d encourage me. It was just it it it made you go when you didn’t even feel like it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: and it was good for you, but you that that community and that support was so important.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Um well, I think it’s a good time to maybe um talk a little bit more about Fit Body Boot Camp and how it’s um structured uh what you know what a session looks like, answer some of those more practical questions u for our listeners. um you know obviously you talked about there is some sort of community um you know involved but what does that look like? Uh but maybe tell us a little bit more kind of the basics of like hey if you’re if somebody’s kind of like wondering is like hey what is what is Fit Body Boot Camp?
Don Mather: Well, in some respects, the boot camp name is a little unfortunate because it it brings up images of Paris Island and uh Buds and SEAL training and all that kind of stuff.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: But if you think about what boot camp is, boot camp takes average young men and turns them into fighting machine. And what we do, the name boot camp, is we take unhealthy, unfit people and change them into healthy, fit people. We’re not turning them into fighting machines and you ain’t got to go carry a telephone poles across your back and all that stuff. It just you got to do a few things to get moving and and to get healthy again.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: And so the boot the name boot camp scares people off has the potential to scare some folks off but they shouldn’t let them. Uh our sessions one of the selling points of our sessions that they’re only 30 minutes long. So in today’s world everybody’s so busy finding time to fit in something good for yourself is sometimes difficult.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Yeah, being 30 minutes. If you can do that a couple two, three times a week, you’re good. You know, you’re you’re you’re okay. Um, like I can scroll my my phone for 30 minutes and you know, it’s like, dang, what happened to that 30 minutes? Like, you can get a full workout in, right?
Don Mather: Get a whole workout in. And it it’s uh it’s highintensity interval training. You’re going to tr because it’s 30 minutes. If you’re going to run a marathon, you’re going to start out slow and keep a pace and keep going. If you’re running a hundred yard dash, you’re all out from the get-go.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And that’s kind of I I I say that’s kind of what hit training is is you’re going all out for a short period of time, taking a short break, then going all out, short break, all out, short break, and 30 minutes later you’re done.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep. Um so um so yeah so so the 30 minute sessions um how um so it’s how do you accommodate different levels of fitness right like are there classes that are like beginners and intermediate advanced or so somebody was a little bit uncertain about like hey can I do it?
Don Mather: Uh almost everybody that comes in here with has a has a concern of whether or not they can do it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And they and almost 100% of the time they can.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Mhm.
Don Mather: Because we accommodate all fitness levels. Yes. This exercise is slated to work your, let’s just say it’s work your quads, your legs, your upper legs, and your knees hurt you, and you can’t do that exercise the way it’s designed to, we will we will give you a different exercise to do that maybe doesn’t uh inflame your knee or bother your knee or whatever it is, but that will also will still work your quads if if that makes sense. You know, we work around the injuries and the uh the the limitations that people have and if they can’t do it the way it’s designed to do, then we modify it for them so that they can do it and still get the benefits in the body part that they’re trying to work.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Um and and I believe it’s uh it’s small classes, right? A small class.
Don Mather: Small sessions. They’re small sessions. Now, each session, we have two coaches on the floor. We’ve got one coach that’s on the mic running the session, telling you when to work, when to stop, encouraging, that kind of thing. And we also have a floor coach on the floor. That one’s sole job is to make sure that the client is doing the exercise properly, helping them to modify it if necessary because they can’t do it the way it’s designed to be done. and and and also if they’re using a weight that’s too heavy, give them some lighter weight so they can do it right. If they’re taking it too easy on themselves, give them a heavier weight and let them let them go. So, we’re we’re we’re adjusting both challenging when need to be challenged and pulling them back when they need to be pulled back.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Sure. Okay. Um, so if you’re signing up for a class, are there different are there different classes you sign up for or are they kind of like you just show up?
Don Mather: It’s we’re not like a 247 just show up and get a workout. We we run sessions. So, and we we the the coaches are working for us, so they’re here, too. And there we in the mornings, we have four 30 minutes four 30 minute sessions in the mornings. And then we have three 30 minute sessions in the afternoons. Uh the ones in the morning are it starts at 5:30 then 6:15, 7:45 and 8:45 and then we’re closed in the afternoon because most people’s working then you don’t get many people coming in and working out in the afternoons.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And in the mid midday and then at 4:15 we have a session, 5:15 we have a session and six o’clock is our last session of the day.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Okay. And then all the sessions are more or less just the t like they’re just they’re boot camp fitness highintensity sessions.
Don Mather: Correct. They’re all the same. That’s that’s correct. Yeah. Um every session will have the same workout that day. In fact, across the whole Fit Body franchise, the workout we’re doing today, they’re doing everywhere today.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Okay. Um, so when you have when you have a membership are is your membership just for that locations maybe if they travel
Don Mather: all the Fit Body Boot Camps accommodating each other’s members.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Um and then um so people have like do you guys incorporate diet type of stuff?
Don Mather: Oh yes absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And how was that done?
Don Mather: Well, Fit Body has its own nut nutritional program and app where you can track what you eat. You put in what what you ate that day and it’ll tell you how many calories, grams of protein, grams of carbs, grams of fat you had. And ideally, you want to be in a calorie deficit. You want to make sure you get your protein first and then distribute the remaining calories between carbs and fats and be in a calorie deficit. And then we do offer that nutritional app and nutritional coaching. And we also have a a what we call an inbody scale which measures body fat percentages, how much water weight you’re carrying, how much muscle you have and all that. which is important because as you start to work as a lot of people start to work out they might not see the scale move and they get disappointed.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: When in fact they’ve lost five pounds as fat and gained five pounds of muscle. They’re healthier than they were before but the scale hasn’t moved forward. And so in their mind I’m not getting anywhere. Well that’s not true. You you are doing exactly what you want to do. You’re increasing your muscle mass and losing fat.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: And so we we provide guidance and help with all of that.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: Which is the NFL is full of very fit fat guys. And you can be fit and fat. If you want to lose the weight, you’ve gonna have to pay attention to your diet. No ifs, ands, or buts. Period.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: But you can be very fit and still be overweight. Yep. NFL’s full of them.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Well, um, is there a certain amount of, uh, sessions that you you recommend people to attend?
Don Mather: Well, once is better than none. Two is better than once. Three times is kind of a sweet spot.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: where you can get very good health benefits and fitness benefits out of three days per week. Maybe Monday, Wednesday, Friday, skip every other day and take two days off. You got to let your body recover, too.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Working out every day is not necessarily the best thing either. Your body has to have time to rest and recuperate and rebuild itself. And so threes to me is a sweet spot. If you want to improve, you you but there are people that want to be super fit. And so if you want to do that, then more days are going to be necessary if you want to take your fitness level to another level. But for most people to living a healthy, happy, active lifestyle, three days per week will get will probably get you there.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Um, and then you mentioned as we were starting talking about the Body Boot Camp, the impact and the importance of community. Can you tell me how that how you’ve seen that play out like in your studio?
Don Mather: Well, lots of different ways actually. Support for one another. of these people that didn’t know each other when they came in here have now become very good friends and are supporting one another through through uh some difficult times that have nothing to do with fitness or somebody’s struggling with cancer and the other members are coming around her trying to help her and what can they do for her those kind of things. Um and then uh we just did a mud run. That mud run that was uh over in Sweetwater last weekend. Okay. 35 of our members ran in that together. Awesome. And had a blast. Had a blast. Were you out there?
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Oh, yeah. I was I I didn’t run, but I took pictures. Okay. Um Well, nice. Well, um I think anything else that we maybe missed um about uh specifically about Fit Body Boot Camp um kind of question or or maybe another good question is um let’s say somebody is interested in starting out. How would someone get started?
Don Mather: They could Well, we run we run ads on Facebook all the time. So you could answer one of those ads or you can just come in and we’ll give you a free week just to try us out and see if this is convince yourself number one that you can do this.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Mhm.
Don Mather: And number two there are people here that will help you and get you where you want to go and just come in and get get started. Just get started. That’s the you’ve got to break the inertia.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep.
Don Mather: And then everything starts rolling easier. You got to get started. That’s the hard part. Once you start, you can roll.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Um, so you guys offer, you know, you said a a week trial, if you will, for somebody to test it out. Um, and then you guys are located in Farragut. I don’t know where you’re located, but just for our listeners who weren’t um sure, uh, you mind Yeah. sharing kind of where you’re located and easy and easy way to find online as just Fit Body like fitbodybootcamp.com or something.
Don Mather: Well, you can find us on fitbodybootcamp.com. We’re we’re at we’re we’re on Kingston Pike 10951 Kingston Pike in Farragut right next door to the Sir Goony’s Family Fun Park where the orange dinosaur out there. If you don’t know anything, you know the orange dinosaurs on Pennington Pot.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: And we’re right next door to that in the Stone Crest shopping center. Okay. Great location.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Uh we well had just a few other questions here. One um I’d be interested in um uh maybe a little a little slight change in topic, but being yourself um have having stayed in fitness, you know, for many decades and now you said in your 70s, what do you what do you think people may misunderstand about aging? any any things that maybe they get hung up on or misunderstand?
Don Mather: Um, staying fit while aging. One of the thing misconceptions is because cardio fitness is so much a big part of our society. Um, a lot of people walk for health, people run, they bicycle, you know, very much focus on cardio. But as you age, strength, if you if you you listen to longevity experts, Yeah. Gary Brea, some of these guys, they will tell you if if if for an older person, if you want to get be healthy and live a long life, strength is the most important thing. More important than cardio fitness and all that. Because at 71 years old, I’m not running that much anymore, unless I plan to for my own fitness, which I don’t like running, so I would never plan that. Yeah. Um, you know, but it’s it’s the strength that keeps older people going. It’s the strength that they have that when they get off balance and they about to fall, they can catch themselves because they got the strength to hold themselves up and they don’t fall and break a hip and then die a year later.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Those are the things that happen as we get older. People fall, they break hips. And how many people have you heard of that broke a hip and died the next year? They didn’t die of a broken hip, but that precipitated everything. Yeah. And and so it’s important that you maintain your strength, your balance, and your abilities more so than being cardio fit.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. For an older person. And even I mean u to your point too, you know, strength training or resistance training has been, you know, proven to help build bone density.
Don Mather: Absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: So, you know, when you’re talking about getting older and, you know, the fear of, you know, breaking a hip or something, you know, like that, um, then, you know, resistance training or strength training is, you know, your your really go-to for keeping your bone strong, right?
Don Mather: Absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Not just your muscles, you know, we say strength, you know, usually people just think muscular strength, but it’s not just the muscles. It’s your all your all your whole tissues. Um, it’s everything that’s holding you up.
Don Mather: Yeah, there was um actually just reading a a research article um they’re starting to um understand even the the the disc between your vertebrae um for a long time then how they thought about the material of the disc um is they didn’t really think of it as a structure that you could strengthen, but they’re actually changing their understanding and view on the disc itself that is actually a structure that can get stronger with the right amount of loading. Um so just another example of tissues in your body, you know, that will um that you can make an um impact on on keeping strong.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: That’s true. Now that’s not to say that cardiovascular fitness and all that that’s not it’s important too.
Don Mather: Yeah.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: But for the aging older individual, strength training can’t should not be neglected. Yeah. I’ll put it that way.
Don Mather: Sure.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And one of the things about Fit Body is we do our our workouts are focused on some of them. Today’s workout is a strength workout. It’s there’ll be some cardio in it, but it’s mostly strength.
Don Mather: Okay.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Then we’ll have a then we’ll have a Metcon day where it’s mostly cardio. There’s going to be some strength in there, but it’s not as much. You’re gonna really be taxing and sucking wind before it’s over with.
Don Mather: Yeah.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And then and then there’s a classic day where you it’s a kind of a a blend between the two.
Don Mather: Yeah.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: And so you have those going on all the time, different days, strength day, metcon day, classic day, and then you also have weeks that that week is focused on strength, that week is focused on metcon, that week is focused on classic. So it’s it for all around fitness and maintaining that that uh that critical aspect of strength in it. It hits the mark. It it hits it hits the mark.
Don Mather: Um so one of the question what kind of age uh I don’t know demographic would you say uh that you guys serve?
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: We serve our target demographic. Okay. Is Mrs. Jones 32 to 60.
Don Mather: Okay. Okay.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: But that’s not to say that Mrs. Jones don’t bring her husband in because he he needs it too. So we we target females in our marketing, but we also have quite a few men in here too.
Don Mather: Okay. Uh but there’s no a age limitation.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: No, no age limitation. It’s more of a fitness limitation.
Don Mather: Okay.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Now, we are I I will say this. We are starting a new program in August. Oh, not August, September and September called Fit Body Forever, which is more it’s it’s it’s a it’s a little bit longer workout. It’s 45 minutes in length. It’s designed for retirees, people over 65. And it and the difference in that one versus the Fit Body regular workout is that one focuses on strength.
Don Mather: Okay,
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: that is the main focus of that one. And with and as I said earlier, you know, we’re closed in the midday. That will allow us to offer sessions during the midday because retirees don’t have to go to work.
Don Mather: Yeah. They don’t want to be there at 5:30 in the morning.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: No, they don’t want to be there. They’re they’re done with that.
Don Mather: That’s right.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Well, awesome. Well, um yeah, thanks for sharing, Don. Um, I like to finish with a few questions here at the end of all my episodes. Uh, the first question is, if you have one piece of advice for someone on staying healthy, what would it be?
Don Mather: You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be pay attention to your health, how what you eat, and your fitness for the most part.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah.
Don Mather: Nobody’s going to be perfect. Life doesn’t work like that. There’s going to be things that’s going to pull you away. You’re going to be at a restaurant where there’s nothing decent for you to eat, but you’re still hungry. Don’t worry about it. But for the most part, be cognizant of your health and your fitness and what what you’re putting in your body and what you’re doing with your body.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yep. That’s a great one.
Don Mather: Even if it’s wrong, at least you know it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Um, awareness is sometimes the first step, right?
Don Mather: Absolutely.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: If you’re not aware, then you got to get aware. Um, all right. And then I love to encourage people to go out and explore the things that we have around Knoxville. So, the first one is, do you have a favorite restaurant around Knoxville that um that you would recommend?
Don Mather: Oh, yeah. But I can’t think of the name of it. It’s real expensive restaurant over there. I took my wife there on our anniversary a couple years ago. It cost me almost 300 bucks for the two of us.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: What the
Don Mather: I I can’t I can’t remember the name of it. It’s a special occasion restaurant.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Well, I’ll put it in the show. If you remember later, I’ll put it in the show notes.
Don Mather: Okay.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Now, what about uh when you have some time, some free time to go explore outside? Where would uh where would you recommend doing something outside?
Don Mather: Oh, man. I don’t know because I don’t explore much. I if I’m not here, I’m at I live on I live on Watts Bar Lake. So, I’m either on the pontoon boat or the jet ski.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. The lake’s a good spot. That’s a great spot.
Don Mather: All right. Or or my motorcycle. I like riding in the mountains up here, too.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Well, those are two good two good things to go explore.
Don Mather: That’s if you ask me where I like to go, I like to go I take my motorcycle. I go down the Cherohala Skyway. Yeah. pick up 129, take the Tail of the Dragon back, and then come back up 70 and come back home.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Nice. Nice. Um All right. And then is there anything on a bucket list? Maybe it’s something that you haven’t done um that you would love uh to go experience around Knoxville, greater East Tennessee area. Um for you, Don.
Don Mather: Oh, man. Well, you should you should have gave me a heads up on these.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Sorry. I usually do. I think I forgot. I usually do.
Don Mather: Oh, man. But John-Mark, I can’t think of anything.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: That’s all right. That’s okay. If something comes to you, just let me know. I usually do um and give my guest. Um but I forgot that. But you’ve done great, Don.
Don Mather: Yeah. I’d appreciate that. Well, part part of my problem, John-Mark, is that when I moved here, yeah, I worked in Dayton.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: Which is way far far away from here.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Far away.
Don Mather: And I live in Ten Mile. So I did I opened in Farragut because that’s where the demographic said I needed to open.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: And so I didn’t prior to prior to me establishing Fit Body Boot Camp, you weren’t in town. Spend a lot of I weren’t in town that much.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah. Yeah. Um Well, you maybe know some good hole-in-the-wall places out there then, right?
Don Mather: Oh, I do in Ten Mile.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Ten Mile. Um All right.
Don Mather: Well, Pilky’s General Pilky’s General Store has the best hamburgers you’ve ever ate.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay, there you go. You heard it from Don, guys. Go out to Pilky’s, Highway 304. All right. Well, there there’s your there’s your restaurant, Pilky’s. That’s a new one. New one for me that I’ll have to go try. Um
Don Mather: Oh, it’s not a restaurant. It’s a convenience store. The general store.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay.
Don Mather: But they got great hamburger.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Okay. Um All right. Well, um yeah, thanks so much for coming out on the show, Don. I appreciate you sharing u just your health journey. Um and um and even inspiring those you know who you know just your own personal story of you know retiring and then deciding that you wanted to continue you know pursuing you know a dream of yours if you will you know of of of doing something fitness and health related and yes I think that’s real motivating aspiring to to those that age is not a limit right um age is just it’s that’s in your head number just a number right um and yeah it’s an encouragement to us all. So, you know, thank you for sharing. Um yeah, guys, if you’re listening to this and um and you want to give uh Fit Body Boot Camp a try, Don’s given some great um options to do that as far as a oneweek uh free trial. So, I encourage you, you know, if you’re if you need a little help, need a little encouragement, need a little support, looking to get um you know, uh part of a community, make that first step. Um give Don a call. Um and um yeah, go visit their their uh their studio over there in Farragut. So um but yeah, thanks again, Don, for coming out on the show.
Don Mather: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for asking me and thanks for having I appreciate it.
Dr. John-Mark Chesney: Yeah, no problem. All right, guys. We’ll be signing off and uh stay healthy, Knoxville.