The Essential Strength Podcast

Kevin Mullins - Men's Mental Health in the Fitness Industry

David Skolnik / Kevin Mullins Episode 80

Our guest this week is Kevin Mullins.

Kevin is a Miami-based personal trainer, Pain Free Performance Lead Instructor, and published author. Kevin and I share many of the same interests and passions in the realm of health & fitness and we are both part of the Pain Free Performance Education team.

Our Partner on today's episode is the Pain Free Performance Specialist Certification - save 15% on the BEST weekend certification in the Fitness Industry with the code ESSENTIAL at checkout!

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Today’s Conversation with Kevin isn’t about how to cue a squat or program effectively for online clientele… no. Today’s conversation with Kevin is about mental health. Specifically, it’s about the mental health of men in the fitness industry. How we’re taught to deal with difficult situations, what happens when our identity is called into question and whether or not we can still be badass coaches while taking a softer, more introspective approach to masculinity.

Connect with Kevin: @kevinmullinsfitness
Connect with David:
@dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show:
@essential.strength.podcast

Action Plan

This week’s action plan is meant to provoke some hard mental work. The question to ask yourself is - “What strategies do I have for dealing with difficult feelings?”

It would probably be a good idea to grab a pen and paper for this week’s action plan so that you can actually SEE your strategies written out. As you’ll learn later in the conversation with Kevin - only having one way to deal with difficult feelings can work… until it doesn’t. Until you hit what seems like rock bottom and then the floor collapses underneath you all over again. The point of this question isn’t to trigger anxiety or cause you to feel your strategies are flawed. The point is to bring attention, perhaps for the first time, to the strategies you have in place. I hope that as you listen to this, life is mostly good, you’re mostly happy and your feeling mostly positive about your immediate future. But, again, as you’ll learn in this episode - life can change fast. Really fast. And it never hurts to be prepared.

What's Next - That’s it for this week on The Essential Strength Podcast. Be sure to tune in next week for our episode with Kenny Santucci, owner of Strong New York, and a conversation about Healing the World Through Fitness, Taking care of the little things, prioritizing personal health, lowering the barriers to physical activity, and how to train the general population.

Until next time - we wish you Strength and Good Health.