19 Apr, 2022

Pete Cohen 0:04
Okay, good morning, everybody. Happy beautiful day. Thank you for for joining me here today. I've got someone in the room who, who I've known for a very long time. His name is Mr. Colin Deans. Colin. How are you my friend?

Colin Deans 0:17
I'm very well. Thank you, Pete.

Pete Cohen 0:19
What's going on?

Colin Deans 0:21
Sunday morning and it's lovely.

Pete Cohen 0:23
So, right. Why don't you start off by telling everyone how do we know each other?

Colin Deans 0:33
We first met over a long time ago Pete in the gym in Cheltenham and you are a student doing I think it's Sports Studies or sports science and you got a journal job part time fitness instructor. I interviewed you and took you for your first job. And your part time fitness instructor.

Pete Cohen 0:57
It's funny when people basically you know talk about you because that obviously that doesn't do it justice in my in my in my world, but you know, you just did what you did, but I don't know whether you realized employing me in 1989 How that set the course of my life. You know, you know you're a bit like me or just a humble guy. You know, you don't you don't crave the limelight or anything like that. He just this is me. But you made a decision in 1989 that opened up a world to me that proof the amount of people's lives I've impacted because of you if I hadn't got that job, working in the gym, you know, there's so much and I want to tap into this but what we're going to do so guys, if you don't know who Colin is, you know, anyone who follows me would say we're not they would say but if they did say who's influenced you who's impacted your life, who are the people that you think about them in terms of who you are today? Well, Colin is just way up there. And I want I want to talk about today is I want to talk about movement. Obviously we all know how important movement is. I'm going to turn this into a podcast as well. So I'd love you guys to listen. We're going to I want to dive into Collins story. How did he get to the point of where he is right now? So bear with us. I'm going to turn this into a podcast, but please follow Collin. Follow him on clubhouse and Instagram is only something like literally last like day. It started to think about en already we've posted a few things in there with you can see some of the people that he works with because the work that he does is very specialist but we'll talk about that in a moment. I'm going to turn this into a podcast so just bear with me for one second. I've got all the gizmos, all the gadgets and I'm going to start recording in 54321

Pete Cohen 2:44
Happy beautiful day. Welcome to the Mi365 podcast. Today's podcast is called Why Movement Matters. I'll see you and my special guest after the theme tune.

Pete Cohen 3:20
Happy beautiful day. Thank you for joining me on the podcast today. Now I've actually got someone who's a great friend, but also someone who's massively impacted my life. I met this man in 1989 His name is Colin Dean's and he is a movement specialist personal trainer. And Caitlyn thank you so much. You actually been on my podcast. This is the second time not many people have that honor. I

Colin Deans 3:47
think it was three years ago.

Pete Cohen 3:48
Three years ago. Yeah. And you know you've been through quite a lot in your life. And I think sometimes we underestimate the stories that in our journey and today we were just mapping mapping that out you're at my home here in in Sussex. So for those of us that don't know who you are, just just tell us who is calling Danes. Oh, yeah,

Colin Deans 4:13
I started basically started in the fitness industry probably in 1989 1989. When I first I found my degree came out and thinking I knew everything and a lot of people do have to do in a degree and hit the ground running and yeah discovered myself

Pete Cohen 4:30
now how did you end up in Cheltenham of all places because you're originally from Scotland. So right? You're obviously you did a degree in Sheffield,

Colin Deans 4:36
right Green Chef in Sports Science, Sports Science. And the first job I came across was in Cheltenham, which a nice part of the world just transported myself there had me it was a

Pete Cohen 4:47
pretty unique gym. It was crap in terms of equipment. But in terms of people there was a really interesting philosophy in that gym, right in terms of we had to engage with people.

Colin Deans 4:58
Yeah, I think probably a real Trailblazer of his time because we had new equipment as such. So the people mattered the most Yeah, so the owner base he employed I think it was a ratio but one to six people are installed over six people and your job we we called it motivations and yeah, the cards so more people you spoke to the more tickets you had, and that was how you measured you know how successful you were as a fitness instructor. So it wasn't so much the gizmos are the machines. And there really wasn't a lot of a lot of machines.

Pete Cohen 5:32
The machines were old, even there even in the 1980s.

Colin Deans 5:34
So you had to basically get personality and attachment and really help people motivated so what's happened why

Pete Cohen 5:42
did what we've kind of moved so far away from that, but we've I think we've come back to it in terms of people more small group training, and personal trainer because personal training didn't exist and personal training wasn't a thing. But so I didn't realize that that he started in 89. I thought he started in 88. But because I thought because I started in 89 as well. So we started actually at the same time. But you employed me I was studying sports science. I was 19 years old. How old were you in 8927 27. So what happened would you what do you first remember about me?

Colin Deans 6:18
Well, it's hard to believe you know, Pete No. But Pete was extremely, extremely keen, extremely personable at Apex. And probably at the time had a few we when we employed and stopped this for the very first time you had to do everything. Yeah, it wasn't just come in and be in the fitness started on the gym. You also have to teach classes. So moving out was a huge part of it. So we first had to do before real qualifications which are part and parcel of today's fitness instructor or teacher wherever else. Really, it was most interested to own things. So we had to get people in there and make the move very quickly to teach classes.

Pete Cohen 7:02
Yeah, and I remember being scared by that. And also my my friend who you also employed is so strange, actually, if you think about this, that you employed Lincoln Bryden and I knew Lincoln, before I came to university, I've just I've never actually thought of that. He was one of the own, I think was the only person I knew. And I knew him in 1987. You employed you employed him first, I think like a few weeks before me so and then you were and he had to teach and I had to teach and we'd never been taught how to teach I hadn't done my exercise the music at that point. And I remember being very nervous and being very insecure anyway. But having that love of life and the love of of helping people and I loved working there it was it was the best. What's the word when you when you're learning the best education or becoming a great trainer because you had to engage with people you couldn't stand on the gym floor and look at the people. And you know, what do you remember about working there?

Colin Deans 7:59
Exactly. Working with people? Yeah, it was. Well, I was really inspired. I was inspirational. I saw as a first job as such, and a first again, I had the chance to become a gym manager at the time. And it was because of my age. I was qualified for my degree when I was 27 years old and a lot of other people Yeah. So I came in a little bit experienced before that. So I got a quickly went up the ladder as it were. So we're in charge of the teams.

Pete Cohen 8:33
And we had a great team that was also really early. I never experienced that before never had a job where there was a bit of rivalry between the men and the women but because the gym was quite strange in the terms of that there were men and women sessions there were but anyway, that was that was a it was very groundbreaking. And it was a wonderful experience for me. So what happened when How long were you there for?

Colin Deans 8:56
I was if I were to two years, two and

Pete Cohen 8:58
a half years and then Then what did you do?

Colin Deans 9:00
I went a move to Somerset. Yeah. And I went with the manager who was there? Yeah, Nick was this unit crap. Yeah. And he set up a gym in Somerset, which I followed and basically started a training company. At the time you have to think about it a long, long time ago. No, but at the time, I think it was about two teaching companies.

Pete Cohen 9:24
What you did was incredibly innovative setting set up a training academy for people to become fitness instructors and exercise to music instructors. Right. And then what were you doing there? You were teaching?

Colin Deans 9:36
Yeah, exactly. A teacher. Well, chicken, a lot of philosophy we took from Cheltenham. Jimmy Street. Absolutely. Yeah. And there's a bigger studio bigger gym. And it really worked well.

Pete Cohen 9:48
I remember coming I was so impressed but wonderful gym, wonderful community but also a training center

Colin Deans 9:53
and again of his time working with again, osteopath, physios yoga. So it's very again, taking out of the box of just normal fitness instruction as

Pete Cohen 10:04
well. And then so then how long were you there for two years, two and a half and then you got head hunted? Tell us about what happened.

Colin Deans 10:11
I basically got headhunted by at the time company called premier training, which still exists known as premier any SM of which was at the time building. I think it has something like 10 centers. Yep. And the specialist with that one was it wasn't just fitness is also Sanofi, the owner was a physiotherapy

Pete Cohen 10:31
Norman Batson November. Again, it's funny because I came across them before you were working with them. Where then when it went when it was LA, what was it I don't know why it was called but but again, a pioneers Norman Bassam was definitely a pioneer. And then so you started working there and how did that progress? What did you end up

Colin Deans 10:50
doing brilliant because we we progressed to 20 centers on the UK. And we're serving every center we taught the diploma which was a vocational course and it was a 12

Pete Cohen 11:01
week yeah to become a fit become a fitness or health Absolutely, which

Colin Deans 11:05
was at the time nobody else is doing anything like that anywhere and UK

Pete Cohen 11:09
Yeah. So in 12 weeks you could basically train as a health and fitness professional Yeah,

Colin Deans 11:14
absolutely. If we took you away from which was a two week courses, fitness instructor or gym instructor and access to music, very short courses. So but inducing the therapy, we introduced a whole opening for people as well. Body mass sports massage. We had a nutritional element was a real pioneer stuff of its time.

Pete Cohen 11:34
It's funny as I reflect, right, because for me to reflect on what happened in us working together, so you left, you started that I stayed in that gym, I did my degree. Then I started my weight loss program, which was as you know, was bought by Bupa in 2003 for 2.4 million pounds as I was more looking at the psychological but you also massively helped me with that with that book. Lighten up that sold, I don't know 100,000 copies. You actually helped me with some of the stuff that we worked out within the book. I remember coming to your house, but I remember coming to your house all those years ago and your wife was quite alternative in her thinking I would say she was probably the most spiritual person I imagine even know what spirituality men but she was she would call herself a spiritual. Yeah. And she would she introduced me to Oprah. And honestly, because she used to watch Oprah and I was saying who is this Oprah Winfrey?

Colin Deans 12:30
You know, and then I believe anyone could say Who's that? Yeah,

Pete Cohen 12:33
yeah, but she was amazing because Oprah was bringing people to the table like Caroline Mays medical intuitive who could I was very skeptical. I think what this person can look at you and tell you what's wrong with you and and like men are from Mars Gary gate, not Gary Gray pug whatever his name is the guy wrote the book Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Dr. Phil just opened my mind. Norman Shealy not Yeah, just all these people that were just talking about stuff that were people weren't talking about it. A definitely university and for us exercise was all kind of moving in one plane, one, you know on the rowing machine moving in a forward direction forwards backwards. And so it's interesting how our careers developed but for you at premiere, you became the the training director there.

Colin Deans 13:18
Yeah, it became in charge of a program first of all is made up of four programs. I became a program director start with and then I became change director in charge of all the training and then I seems develop obviously online, develop Distance Learning developed and concept of CPD continued professional development so became Product Director then yeah, so in charge of all that, so we we would teach per year on the diploma but 1600 people Yeah, and real at the time, lifted us as seems to be there's such a huge demand for people wanting to enter this industry. Because again, the buildup of gems a buildup of opportunity is there.

Pete Cohen 13:59
So it's funny what you know, talking to you and reflecting back, the one thing that comes through, through all of your journey is movement. You've always been obsessed. You loved biomechanics, you loved how the body moves, you and I used to train and I know it was hard, but I'd like to doing that type of training I liked. You know, you've always been really interested in movement, and now you're more interested in it than you've ever been. And now the work that you're doing with people is so groundbreaking I would say just in terms of getting people out of the discomfort that they're in out of their pain because people just accept where they are with their body and they don't realize that you can have better movement and obviously I've learned that hugely this year, having snapped my Achilles and realizing the fragility of, of the human existence, but also not buying into this crap that you know, you get to a certain age and it's all downhill. The results that you're getting with people is again, you're just a humble person. So you probably wouldn't, I don't know whether you really see I've seen the work that you do. I've seen those videos of your clients who are moving in ways that people say, you can't you're that age, you can't move like that. But let's we'll come to that. I want to Yeah, when and what do you have to say on that before we kind of dive a bit more into your story.

Colin Deans 15:17
I mean, movement was a huge part of my life anyway, I think is as you again through experience, and no going to be 60 next, next month is such not the defining factor, but I've got 30 years of experience working in this field. So you change you as you experience more more things. As you change as you develop as you mature. Sings again, your low with your bring your scars with you to go forward. But you also develop a new ways of training or new ways of moving to make you feel better.

Pete Cohen 15:52
Yeah, it's crazy to think that the ways that we trained you can't people cannot continue to train in that way if they want. I mean, ultimately what people want is mobility, right? Yeah, maybe when they're younger is less important. But now most people is is about mobility, being able to have movement, what is what does mobility mean to you?

Colin Deans 16:11
Well, mobility means to be able to move freely and actually feel confident confident with the movement. When you're younger, and I'll say this obviously stereotype everybody is different particular traditional young man is such a statics mean much more to you than actually feeling good. So you're looking at your biceps or your pictorial muscles or your six pack. That is quite important. A lot of people that will change as you get older in my experience. It's not really so much what you look like it's how you feel. So a lot of people that are what was previously we worked hard to get these kinds of definitions in or could help the sport for pure power or pure peace or whatever else. But as injury takes in or something sets you back, then pain develops. And so what happens is you you change slightly, but you restrict your movement patterns. When you're younger, you don't actually fix the movements to become better movement. Specialists as such, you keep it fixed. So you're still working with the dumbbells, or nothing wrong with weights by the way, but if it's really hard weights and restricted movement that has an impact as you go get older.

Pete Cohen 17:24
Yeah, I think that's the impact of, of living, and just not waking up to the fact of how you're living. What impact is that actually having on you. And then people accept it, don't accept the discomfort, accept the pain and think that's normal. And that's why you know, with some of the epiphanies that you've had going through your journey, and now with your with the formulas that you use, that you're able to look at the human body and see the patterns of how someone's moving, see the restrictions. Yeah. And then give them protocols to basically get them out of that restriction because the body the Body Keeps the Score. There's no question about that the body remembers pain and trauma, but the body also remembers how to move properly. It's just forgotten. And most people I think they just accept this crap that when you get to a certain age, it's I just think it's all nonsense. There's so much possibility for the human body but let's dive a little bit more into to your story. So you left premier training. And then you were in pain, right? Talk us talk talk to us about the pain of your body was in

Colin Deans 18:29
I think the first time really hit me harder in 2013 was skiing. With the kids in the family. I stepped out of a car onto a cab and missed a cab and extended my leg and shooting pain in my back was just extraordinary. So that had me kind

Pete Cohen 18:48
of I know you called me from your skiing holiday, and you weren't very happy, because I couldn't actually move. But plus, you knew lots of physios and osteopaths because work in IT remya training and you'd been treated by these people in the past for niggles

Colin Deans 19:02
Yeah, I worked for about saqi combination of CO practitioners, osteopath and phys massage therapists, massage therapists. No, I will see this not in a damning way. I promise you it's not a downer at all. But a lot, a lot of people that go and see a therapist in certain ways is a privilege to meet the few people a few of them that really are extraordinarily masters of the craft.

Pete Cohen 19:29
Okay, so let's stop on that because it's I think it's not they're just masters of their craft. They want to keep they continue to learn. And when we live to learn something, we learn it according to the book of this is how it's done, which I think sometimes stops people from being intuitive yet to actually get a sense of what's going on. Almost like scared to be different, you know?

Colin Deans 19:54
Um, no, absolutely. So there's a few people out there that can kind of read your body like a blind person reads Braille.

Pete Cohen 20:01
Say that again.

Colin Deans 20:03
Well, you know, that's

Pete Cohen 20:03
a really good point so that again,

Colin Deans 20:06
it's like a game like a blind person having to eat breathe. Yeah. So these people can actually feel just with a touch of the hand. Yeah, you know what is going on around your body where the injuries may be with stiffnesses me what's not connecting properly, and just by touch. So, again, people I've worked with a lot. Most of them as you just said, are functional. Yeah, functional. And so the last few what's wrong and I'll go through the rigmarole of the movement pattern of it, it hurts up and down, left and right, try a few things. And it's just just so a few people can actually just feel it

Pete Cohen 20:41
Yeah. And often when you adjust, it's the adjustment. Sometimes Diwali just goes back. If you don't get the movement sorted out. You could go there because you're in pain, you get out of pain, but then you continue to do the movements that you were doing before. So

Colin Deans 20:54
you will know as well that a lot of people go back to the same care practitioner, the same physiotherapy and get a little bit of relief.

Pete Cohen 21:00
That's because they need to see you. I think so. Listen, I get what you're doing. I became aware of Mo Shay Feld and Christ from studying NLP in the 90s. Right. Moshe Feldenkrais was an engineer. He was a judo specialist. He was in so much pain with his knee. He saw loads of people, no one could sort him out. He then looked at the human body, and could see that there are certain movements like if you move your left, your left shoulder, it would move your right hip he'd start seeing so he started to break it down its connections and his techniques called Feldenkrais, which a lot of but not that many people around the world know, they become Feldenkrais practitioners or Alexander sent

Colin Deans 21:40
me for a second because I'm going to see one extension from that. Yeah. And if you're interested in that kind of thing that Pete talked about, then a chap called Thomas Hanna Yeah, and Cymatics Cymatics. Yeah, and that is the extension of that.

Pete Cohen 21:53
I've filled in Christ because there's always an extension isn't it isn't like this stuff has always been known. But so let's talk about your epiphany because you, you you then went to go and see someone, no one was able to help you get out of this pain. So you went you went to who was this person you went to see and why did you go and see him as a chap

Colin Deans 22:10
called jails. Claire Khan, and he works in Bristol. And one was suddenly a friend of mine fell off a horse and was literally crippled as such, and had seen a lot of specialist, you know, go to hospital consultants a whole lot, and she was treated with this chap, and was just blown away with what he did. She found it very difficult to explain what he did because she couldn't explain. Yeah, how he did it. What he said he had to do and then how she felt so through her again vagueness, but her enthusiasm that I went to

Pete Cohen 22:49
see Yeah, but you are also in pain, and no one likes to be in pain. You almost have a point of thinking, I don't actually care. Even though there's a part of you that wanted to understand because of the way your mind is but you're in so much pain is like if it's if it worked for you, it might work for me.

Colin Deans 23:04
I want to say to other things as well, because the pain gave me a huge fragility and basically loads of confidence so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was just on tenterhooks. I was trying to do a job and I felt that my because it was my lower back and my pelvis. I just felt so unsteady. I cannot tell you the feeling it gave me it just just was just horrific. Not just a pain but the Phrygia.

Pete Cohen 23:31
And people it often takes people to get to that point of thinking, right, I have to do something about this. Let's face it, what gets most people to change is a disaster. You know? It's, uh, you know, I've just reflect reflecting on me because I was 19 when I my groin started hurting me when I saw the the top specialist in the world. I was playing a lot of football, a university and they wanted to what, why am I pelvis together? That was that was what they wanted to do. Why am I pubis symphysis together. So as a last resort, I went and tried acupuncture with Mike eat off in Cheltenham. I'd sit sessions. I didn't have any pain anymore. I was like, you know, open my mind to looking at the body in a different way. I love acupuncture. But that's that's another story. So you went to go and see this guy. And what happened? What did he do? You're in pain.

Colin Deans 24:18
He did demotion. I mean, if you're familiar with mctimoney kind of practitioner work, like Timoney is very subtle, subtle freeflix entire little thing. So it takes you away from the bone cracking element of osteopathy and Cara practitioner of work. Traditional stuff is very similar to this he felt around my sacroiliac joint and just gently I mean, so ever so gently, kind of massage rounder area, and I instantly felt relief. So because of my background didn't believe it like that I asked the questions What else have you just done? And it was so brief. And the result was so instantaneous, I mean, I just couldn't compute and he basically said he persuaded the body to go back to home. Yeah. And literally talking to it with his hands. Yeah, and not only that he said so when did a trauma star what happened to many many years ago and what you're talking about many years ago just just happened to me? No, he won't know this injury is many many years old and I really to Ratner because didn't know what he was talking about nothing in the last 10 years. As an injury like that is do my back 20 years couldn't go back to eventually it took me back to my back of my mother's garden when I was about 18. I went into a denture. The denture gave way and my coccyx went straight, sat down straight into the floor. And my coccyx as a result of that gentleman went off but it jammed a sacral iliac joint so your pelvis should move and this jam didn't again set it in for all these years. And what he had felt was like somebody's just feeling the rings in the tree. You're looking at the rings of the tree, how old the injury was, he felt how old the injury was and told me it was over 30 years old.

Pete Cohen 26:15
It might seem crazy, but it's obvious, isn't it? I mean, it's so obvious, but we're just not taught to look at things that way the Body Keeps the Score. Okay, let's be honest, right? So if your body that happened, that trauma, the body adapts, but adapts with the traumas still there. And he went on to play loads of sport, volleyball, right? What else to play football, basketball jumping around. Yeah, it's crazy, right? Oh,

Colin Deans 26:42
my body compensate for that. And it literally what it was extraordinary was the fact is this injury hadn't happened before. That I hadn't actually Trump got myself in that back injury before. Yeah, so the musculature had regained compensate for that. However, I wasn't moving. Well. Me. So

Pete Cohen 27:03
you just adapt. Yeah, you know. And so So, then what happened after that you got out of pain,

Colin Deans 27:09
or go into pain? And then I realized I had to do some different kinds of movement. Yeah. And I had to develop so I had to look at different ways of moving. I was kind of looking at sort of Magpie, looking at your girl looking at kind of Pilates, looking at again, other movement patterns out there,

Pete Cohen 27:29
just to get the body moving better. Let's be honest, you want to live better, you have to move better. That's that that's what you're all about. You want to live better. You got to move better, because that's how you feel good, right?

Colin Deans 27:42
Yeah, totally.

Pete Cohen 27:43
So so then what happened? You started looking you started training yourself a bit differently, and you felt better. But then what happened because something very unexpected happened.

Colin Deans 27:54
Well, a New Year's Eve of 2015 I had a stroke. Yeah. And that

Pete Cohen 28:01
was completely I remember you could go on sorry, it completely

Colin Deans 28:05
unexpected and there is no I mean, I'm talking to you know, but being healthy and fit all my life, absolutely. no symptoms whatsoever. It just so happened I had something called which is very common. A lot of people sort of 40s and above get this condition called left atrial fibrillation. And the best way to describe it is your atrium, obviously part of the heart and it people who knew anything about the heart of electrical current allows it to beat obviously, against get stimulated and your heart beats in all four chambers. And, again, it's functional. This particular left atrium, flickers like a light bulb, but it's good to boat to go off so rather than going on and off like a light bulb should do it kind of flickers, doesn't do what it's meant to do. This causes a trauma inside the body and caused me to get a clot and give me a shock. Yeah, simple is that acei no symptoms. No pre warnings. Nothing at all. But a stroke is a stroke. Which means

Pete Cohen 29:09
and what was the kind of the outcomes of that? What have you kind of learnt because I mean, you've I mean, your your movement now is probably better than it's been.

Colin Deans 29:18
Yeah, I mean, literally, as you see if you've got a straw if it had a stroke, and you end up in intensive care, I mean, you've got a little bit of breathing damage. Yeah. Something you know, you've missing some oxygen for a while. So I'm very, very lucky that I had a full recovery but I had to, you know, come from a very again fragile state after a straw but

Pete Cohen 29:38
you're also pretty healthy as well, which I must have helped

Colin Deans 29:40
that well, that helped me tremendously because of my health do normal health status. That was yeah,

Pete Cohen 29:48
you know, it's just a huge point also about you know, why we should train because things are going to happen that are difficult, and if you've trained mentally, physically, emotionally, you could

Colin Deans 30:01
do that I helped my recovery. Yeah, I mean, no doubts. So again, without being over exaggerating here. It was a surprise to the consultants how well recovered with again,

Pete Cohen 30:15
wasn't any surprise to me, but then it's, it's crazy just to reflect on this now thinking back but then you carried on looking at the work that you were doing and still moving right. You never stopped moving, right?

Colin Deans 30:27
No, no, I mean, again, being unsteady on your feet being fragile, use these words, candidly, that it makes it even more important that you start moving again because literally coming out of that bed in intensive care. Not exactly we learn to walk but God again, taking one small step at a time and feeling that oh my god, unsteady, and then gay then gaining it again. It's such a again, a lovely thing to

Pete Cohen 30:53
you feel like you're kind of recovered, right? I'm okay, now I'm better again. And then what happened? 2017

Colin Deans 31:00
Yeah. 2017 Unfortunately, you know, I felt a lump in my neck. And it's one of these things growing probably I went maybe a little bit too late. To the doctor, but I was diagnosed with a neck and throat cancer. Think again, it's a common cancer.

Pete Cohen 31:18
Yeah, yeah.

Colin Deans 31:20
So like a lot of people, you get these cancer, these things happen and you have chemotherapy, and

Pete Cohen 31:27
I remember you calling me up I remember I don't remember you remember this section. But I've actually said this to a few other people. You asked me about did I think it was going to be difficult as on me? And I remember saying to you, Colin, it's going to be 10 times more difficult than you think it's going to be absolutely and that it was extremely difficult. I mean, look, it's gone now it's past. But I just remember talking to you when you just went into a really dark, horrible place because how did the chemotherapy affect you? Well, that was the one the radio

Colin Deans 32:01
Well, most people will be aware of even when good cancer radiotherapy dip on your throat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So your taste buds are shattered, and also lesion in your in your down all the way down your throat as soon as you can't swallow, and you really can't take any food in. I chose because of fit unhealthy. Relative speaking. I can take the chemotherapy as well. A lot of people couldn't take the chemotherapy. A lot of people will not come in to come into this and my healthy background. So even the radiotherapy broke the skin and had people in the burns unit. Yeah, some people were my cohort or some people in wheelchairs. And not coping with it at all. So I caught with it. But I mean, for me, that it's just obviously individual story. I just I cannot believe how bad I feel and the chemotherapy was. I genuinely could feel myself being poisoned every

Pete Cohen 32:57
year when it is poison. I mean, obviously it worked, right? You're alive and well to this day. It's crazy, isn't it? What we go through and we before we started recording this today, I think human beings hugely underestimate the power of their story. In on to a number of respects one, the impact that it has on others, but also, I was writing this down you know, I got up this you're staying at my house. I got up at four o'clock this morning. I was down here I was working on some things around hope and celebrating and this weird concept of celebrating everything. As difficult as it is said this has happened for me not to me and I know at that time. It's very, very hard for anyone to think that way. But before we move on, I want to touch on one thing so you couldn't eat right. So I sent you the protein shake that we have that Ganoderma in our coffee and I told you about this 600 studies on Ganoderma and cancer over but there's actually been some studies done on Ganoderma which is this Chinese mushroom that has been done on Ganoderma and chemotherapy. So I just because I didn't know this but talk to me about your experience of consumed feeling the chemotherapy destroying you and destroying the cancer but consuming Ganoderma what impact did that have on you?

Colin Deans 34:21
There's no doubt at all that again, I wasn't looking at nutrition as an just a singular point. I felt it was a genuine battle as the chemotherapy was destroying my body literally as I was taking the good nutrition and and really feeling it that it was battling his way to good health. So it was had this kind of, again, continuous battle of I was going in for my chemotherapy and just you know, it takes you to it feels like someone's killing you situates it feels like someone is if someone was going to poison you to give you this stuff. And then when you take the good nutrition which I felt by putting the powders in and taking in taking orally Of course, which is really hard to swallow and really, really hard to get in and the pain was a kind of a

Pete Cohen 35:11
razor blade you describe this razor blade,

Colin Deans 35:13
absolutely visibly but and again, my wife wouldn't look at me as I was taking this because I was in so much pain. But as a ticket in there, I just felt the benefit. I really felt mentally and I could actually visualize as well with your loads a lot of stuff you're visualizing the cells being rejuvenated, and really, you know, getting back in and putting back into what the chemotherapy are destroyed. And that helped me from a mental point of view,

Pete Cohen 35:41
as well. Yeah, no, I mean, what from a nutritional point of view. You find it pretty hard to find something more powerful than than that mushroom and mushrooms now are getting so much more attention. You know they are the internet of the earth. They hold everything together. The mycelium feeds the plants, the trees that allow them to communicate with each other and I'm glad that was something that kind of helped you along the way.

Colin Deans 36:09
I mean, not just helped me, no doubt about it. I mean, it was a huge part of my sanity and a huge part of my OC. What I defended myself with and a huge part of my body getting back to where I wanted to go. It was wasn't just kids in Alaska, you know, plastered on there and thinking that so it was it was really inside for me and helped me again get through this and beyond

Pete Cohen 36:37
Well, for me it's been nine years, you know, consuming this every single day and obviously with my wife you know that's how it my wife had a brain tumor. That's why I knew is going to be difficult. But but my wife didn't have chemo she just had radio that was difficult enough radiotherapy surgery for you know, nine hour operation on her brain. This awake surgery, they woke her up because where the tumor was, and that stopped operating when her language study didn't make any sense, you know, but this incredible ability to overcome anything, which is what you know, you've been through it like I've been through a lot. You've been through a lot, but we're still here. You're still here to tell they're still here to tell the tale. And so you you overcome that. And then what happened after 2017 What was next on your kind of journey? What did what when did you start like moving again and and really bringing your formula of working with people to life

Colin Deans 37:39
well had to work on myself first. That was a key because I was I was

Pete Cohen 37:44
shot. Hey, come on. Let's be honest here how much weight did you kind of lose

Colin Deans 37:49
a loss to Nashville in person anyway?

Pete Cohen 37:52
Yep. So on Instagram you said about not because I know you're not a massive Instagrammer but that's all changing because you're gonna start putting more content on there but on your Instagram. I mean, that was it. There's you working out getting back into shape. I mean, it's like, it's like a rocky film. You see that? You ripped your I mean, it's not about being ripped, but you just lean and you practice this stuff on yourself.

Colin Deans 38:14
Well, what was what was extraordinary and just talking about this weight loss thing because when people change physically have sort of made a massive physical change the chances are getting back to where you were exactly where you want to be, is quite tough because it could be age dependent. The biology was taking all your years to get there. So what happened was me was a huge because I was the I couldn't go to bed because of the chemotherapy. Yeah, when you and you were depressed, right? Yeah, you're depressed and couldn't go to bed? No way. I was using my legs and I promise you within a week, I reckon I lost about a stone in muscle. Yeah. And it was mainly from my bomber my legs and I could not I mean literally, I could not believe it. But again, he was described to me was your metabolic crisis. Uh, basically it were from within because I couldn't get the calories in Yeah, that your body was eating itself. Absolutely. Getting good nutrition was we couldn't get the calories in the body just went and because of the cancer which obviously increases your metabolism in one way yeah, they literally eat myself so I mean a really couldn't could not buy depression in Tibet and suddenly realize you have no bomber legs. Yeah.

Pete Cohen 39:30
I'm someone who taken his pride on being healthy your your whole self esteem. So confidence has been taken away from

Colin Deans 39:37
you. And then you're trying to get back into again exercise so when you even do exercise what was extraordinary a real learning curve from you. This is my this is in my 50s was you talk about things and you quite often have theory of doing things but trying to put muscle back on? Yeah, from losing it. Same put it back on is difficult. Yeah, is very different. salutely And this again, was something I had to re teach myself put myself back to basics and also not put too much pressure myself to get results.

Pete Cohen 40:14
Yeah, especially for someone like you who was always pushing, how far can you go? What can you do?

Colin Deans 40:19
So again, I had to respect myself as how much intensity I could actually do. How much volume of change you could actually do to get there. And then again, work it in such a way that I'm not going to put myself through pain.

Pete Cohen 40:33
I love what you just said there about respecting yourself having a real conversation with yourself. And what about now, in terms of what you're able to do now?

Colin Deans 40:42
Well, I want of a better word. I can move much better. Yeah, I basically do movements that I never did as a young man, you know, in my, you know, all the way from my 20s to my 40s I never did these movements. And let me explain how I do. Why I do the movements. I always were always was intrigued with things like yoga, and Pilates. And when I saw these teachers is brilliant. I mean internet Ray know it all because it's packed with these people that can move to extreme. Yeah, elements here and and the instructors make it look so easy. And that was a point why never developed. Because if you watch one of these instructors do this huge movement pattern, you try it, and you get to about a 10th of what they can do. And there's no one teaching you either you can do it or you can't. Yeah, and when you can't do it he was trying to do it. Yeah. Especially if you're a man, especially your mind and your discomfort. Yeah. And then you say just do more of it and you'll get there and that is well I think that's kind of a white lie. There has to be other movement patterns that are satisfactory. You don't have to do the splits, to have that, you know, mobility of the hip. Why would you do the splits per se unless you're a gymnast or, you know, martial artists or whatever. However, we do want the hips to move. We do want them in a certain movement pattern. So they can develop in again, do certain things, but you don't have to do the splits. You don't have to do box splits. You don't have to do these things there. Which prevented me moving in these again, these particular patterns because I can't do it so I wouldn't do it.

Pete Cohen 42:35
But yeah, but that's that's what men do. I know it's not I don't know, I'm not just saying it's just men, but you don't want to show that your weakness why people don't like public speaking they don't want to show that they're weak. So you know, you go where you're strong you go where you know, and where you know. It's gonna screw you up what got you here, it's not going to get you there. If we don't wake up to the reality of the way that we're living, sitting down. And if we do exercise moving in planes of motion that cause restriction, and yeah, and how we're living our life. So look, I mean, it's I know the stories kind of just kind of got started in terms of what you're doing now. But basically, what you've discovered is patterns and you've created formulas of work, looking at everyone's individuality, seeing what people can can do, seeing what they can't do, and then showing them teaching them how to move better, what sort I mean, you've got clients that you've got a client that's I saw, he's 82, right? But you've also got clients that do that. You've got clients like me, who are seriously we want to embrace this phase of our life. 50s 60s we want to be 10 years younger, we want to be able to move in multiple planes we don't want to die. That's the dichotomy of what you were saying before of I can't remember the analogy but the way I think of it is we're all dying. That how do you want to die? I want to live while I'm

Colin Deans 44:01
the inevitability is where we will cease our life. Absolutely. But again, it's keeping ourselves I go for it and motivated. Keeping was full of energy or again, having the confidence and being able to move well. So I saw that and I won't mention it. So the other day I saw a video of an ex rugby player in England international, walking on the high street and you can hardly move. Now I put them on a rugby pitch. And I got on G dup he would still play at a certain level, but just do the ordinary things and he is basically a walking cripple.

Pete Cohen 44:38
You know that kind of kind of pisses me off a little bit. Because you think of all those athletes we because I've worked in professional sport, right? And they push people to the absolute limits. Then when they retire, most of them go into a depression because they don't know what to do. I mean, you know, Jonathan Edwards is someone who is who I know triple jumper went to huge depression when he because he's like, that's what he's done all his life. Now, what do I do? Yeah, and a lot of people don't know what to do. They need help. You know, as we move into a different phase, our body changes. But what pisses me off is that when athletes finish, who's the club's that are saying, okay, look, we need to get you to transition, not just psychologically, your body's to transition otherwise you will be a cripple. Yeah. And yeah, that doesn't have to happen. It's just they've moved their body and trained it in such a way that they've

Colin Deans 45:29
functional and specific for that time and for that for that but not for life. Correct. That's what I mean, that's what I think and again, I've took the example of rugby player but a lot of people are you see bring the scars with them when they're older. So everything they've done before sort of niggles when they were younger, they've never sorted out. They ended up restricted movement. And again, keep going on about this word confidence, but if you don't move well, your confidence will drop. And you do feel fragile. Yeah, you don't have that sing of a swagger that people have no Twain. I did you know they're invincible. That's how I felt my son is 19 7017 fight. No, they feel absolute. Yeah. Invincible, and they're doing traditional stuff because they're quite sporty. And again, they go back to that rugby player. I was gonna say, I bet you I could put them in the gym, no, and a bitch anything else you could do? A bench press? Probably, you know, tuned in 20 pounds, no problem at all. Yeah, but that doesn't make your shoulders all right. When he gets up and do it. We'll do a circle in the morning or stretch in the morning. That just gives you that basic strength in that movement pattern. Yep. So what I'm really looking at now is to look at movement patterns using your body and your body weight. Which again, key is not just a vote, you see your gun people often think of yoga kind of relaxing, its strength. So you still get fitter. You can still improve strength, using the movement patterns and being real is reintroducing your body to what it was able to do naturally. When you were very young. Yeah. And I go back to what I said. I mean it goes so as not about being able to do the splits. It is about being able to do a you know an amount of movement you weren't able to do previously. So it may not be a get to the point of I have to achieve 10 Pull Ups, as it were, but it's a movement pattern towards it. So we have an intention. And we have the road towards it. And that's what I teach. Does that mean

Pete Cohen 47:45
of course it does. You teach that and you also screen you know, you look you screen you look at what is the body doing you look at it from a 360

Colin Deans 47:54
So I start to everybody that comes to me as I'll start with I'll make the move show me what you can do. Yeah. And then So a classic example would be and I work quite often with couples, so I've been away but not together, verbally separately. So I can do a movement pattern safe and the hips, but the the stereotypically and this particular one example I'll give you the women may be able to do much better movement in the man. Yeah, but they'll still get them to do a similar movement pattern one or just be restricted movement pattern. And one will be will develop movement pattern, and it could be vice versa with shoulders. Yeah. It could be vice versa with the spine. So invariably, to get the best out as a movement patterns. We work on weaknesses, but we also have to embrace the bits of using well as well.

Pete Cohen 48:49
It's so I still find it so fascinating. Just how we ignore the greatness of what we have and what we can do with this thing. This thing, this body, this is just incredible. And this year was interesting for me because I'd still think of myself a little bit invincible, but I'm realizing you know, so I was asked to play cricket. With guys I grew up with, I'm the fittest person there by a mile. At least I think I am. They're all drinking and doing things that you shouldn't really be doing at all, but even in your 50s They're still they're still behaving in ways that and I asked he wants to bowl no one wants to but I'm the captain who wants to but no one wants to bowl so so I'm gonna have to bowl because I'm I'm the captain right so I don't warm up don't do anything. I think I'm still 15 Come running in thought I've still got this other than the fourth ball I turn around and bang you know and I snapped my Achilles tendon. And I'm life has taught me that I can deal with this. It's fine. I'm not saying it's been easy. It's still worth this foot still doesn't feel like it's my foot. But now I appreciate movement like never before. Like getting up this morning and moving for 45 minutes. i It's like because I want to live and life is motion. I don't care. And I think the better you move, the better your life. That's how I look at it. It's whether you can be asked to do it. Honestly is whether you can be asked because he said the Body Keeps the Score. The body does keep the score but the body doesn't feel like moving. You know the mind. I think the mind wants to

Colin Deans 50:33
watch it. How I described a lot of people is come and do an exercise program as you see 15 minutes of general words call mobility, okay. And I'll use mobility and I'll put in a strength element in near future of thinking mobility is just as the bit before you do the exercise. Yeah. And that's just simply not true. Mobility again, can you can develop mobility into a very effective exercise routine that really demands you know, energy and demand are strange that you wouldn't believe. Do that. And then go and sit down for five hours and see how you feel compare. Here is how you feel after the exercise. Exercise may be tough. There's uncomfortable, but it will loosen things up. It will get the blood flowing or get the sensory again, nervous system complete the way you'll be totally body aware. Sit down for four hours in front of your computer screen again. Yeah, and then get up and see what happens and it resets itself to stiffness. So this is not a one off. This is a daily thing that your body really likes to do is what it's like your dog going for a walk there were lives for

Pete Cohen 51:38
if your body likes to do it, but your body also doesn't feel like doing it and you have to convince yourself doesn't take

Colin Deans 51:44
long. Doesn't take long for the body to like it. Yeah, it does not take long. So let me give you a great example. So one of the most basic fundamental exercise is a squat. Yeah, don't think of a squat with a barbell on your back and 90 degrees, your ankles and knees, your degrees at your, uh, your knees. Think about a deep squat a child would do. Yeah, and very much a case of again, looking at the subcontinent, Lecavalier people sit before chairs. And that's one of the fundamental movements we try and get to know if you are not happy doing the deep squat I can assure you hips are going to go go go into complain. All the muscles will tighten round do the holder. We've got ways of trying to get gravity to work your way down. That will be very uncomfortable. If you do that two or three times, get up. How do you feel sue your hips after the third or fourth time the next 1015 minutes is extraordinary. The absolute least online of any orthopedic issues with the joints. Yeah, that movement pattern where they widen the hips or shorten or basically the knees in or out of a street in the spine. If are low you're holding onto something while you do it. That is a fundamental movement pattern. That a body absolutely respects and loves.

Pete Cohen 53:07
Yeah, it doesn't take long. It just makes me reflect on working in the gym together in 1989 I think when you left so I did my dissertation on exercise adherence. I spoke to 100 people that stopped using the gym at various points to try and find out why. The amount of people that came back simply because I've called them and they felt a connection. And it is the connection. You know and the connection that you have with your clients is why you obviously have success but it's the connection that you've made between what the body is doing and what the body can do. You know, my dad, who passed away a few years ago, I mean, my dad was a love swimming, he swam all his life, you know, life is motion, life is most movement and if you want to move somewhere, you know, the thing you as you know I find really fascinating and when when my dad was in hospital, I remember him pointing at someone who was asleep and said, If I ever end up like that, just take me out of the game. I don't want to be here. And most people they do not have a compelling relationship to who they could they who they could be you know, we've spoken about this before where you wire people's brains up some of the studies that I was actually involved in, where we fMRI asked them to think of themselves. Ask them to think of a stranger different regions of the brain lighter ask them to think of themselves in the future. The stranger lights up. If people could see the possibilities that exist for motion and movement and realize the consequences of actually what they're doing. But it means doing things differently and human beings we know are quite resistant to something they don't understand or do you have to go through all of what you went I'd say you had to go for all of the shit that you've been through, pardon my French for you now to be brilliant at what you do now, which is getting people to live better by moving better.

Colin Deans 55:06
So they want we talked about mobility but the one other thing that I think is absolutely vital, is the word balance. And what we balance all the time with my clients, it doesn't take much to put somebody off balance. Yeah. And I put them in an unbalanced place a bit of a challenge for them. So again, going back to it you don't start with this unbelievably hard balanced trick and say try and do that. What you do is you take it down, see where they are and what to their again ability. So I'm very conscious that when we do exercises, I do not show my clients again how good I am. I look at what they can do and we work in again a movement pattern that is uncomfortable, but not too far away from where they are. So more was just challenging. So a classic one would be obviously in one leg, we're talking about balance and one leg and you extend one leg and extend one arm and the My definition of balance, we'd be coordinated strengths. If you have coordination and strengths together, that means you've got balance, and that means you've got confidence. Yeah, if you take these two away, goes back to somebody in a walking stick that goes somebody who's who's daata eak who can't get one wondering what to stamp coming down. You want somebody who's confidence going up steps you walk somebody youngster confident on see slippy grass, you will get somebody who's not confident you chose the ticket small for one of a better word. The look old.

Pete Cohen 56:42
Yeah. Yeah, no, it's faster. You look old because you can't move.

Colin Deans 56:46
You can't give an imperative. Yeah, I said to anybody right now give me an impression of an old person. Yeah, I'm almost guaranteeing you. You'd sort of curl your hunched over and you'd be your legs or come together and you keep everything shuffle as it were. Move on ones ever given, you know, as an actor, be an old man or be an old woman. Yeah. And then I say right, the exact opposite. Show me some bones silly. Show me a young person walking. Yeah, show me someone who's who? Swagger. Yeah, do that. And do exact opposite. Somewhere in between. Yes, where people want to be and it makes them feel tall. And when you feel tall, look if you fulfill 11 Yeah, it makes you feel good if your head is held high. That comes with again, muscles working well. And movement patterns. Yeah, if you can do that, and we use a movement patterns. It comes with an element of strength, an element of balance, an element of mobility is that formula. And again, it's just keeping your head high. You can keep your head high. You feel feel younger. Yeah. And again, opposite to feeling old enough. I said to people, if people ever used the expression I feel old. It simply feels the opposite to having energy. It feels the opposite to confidence. It feels the opposite to strength. It feels the opposite to fitter. It's just negates all the good stuff. Yeah, we don't use all as a good narrative. We use all there's something we don't want to happen to us.

Pete Cohen 58:18
Yeah. It's funny. You don't really appreciate what you have until something happens. And then when it happens, it puts people into a position of choice. You know, and that's what separates us from all other animals is choice. And most people make the choice they've always made before. And so I mean, look, we could talk about this. I just love the work that you're doing. I love the image of you on Instagram and just, you know, I aspire I'm eight years younger than you. I aspire to be moving in the way that you're moving when I'm 60 years old. And what you represent to me is living you know, I'm no it's you know, it's not a question of perfection, but also just embracing the realities of what is and going what I'm going to work with this. And the work that you do with people has got them whatever you want to call it out of discomfort out of pain, living better by moving better I cannot emphasize life is motion. There is no life. Without motion. So how do people contact you if they want to work with you? Because I know you do one to one work, that you do classes as well. You do stuff online, how and then you screen people and you're able to kind of look at what they're doing. How do people connect with you? What's the best through Instagram? How else? Yes, yes. Yes,

Colin Deans 59:42
email,

Pete Cohen 59:43
email. What's your email? I'll put it in the show notes is deanscolin@hotmail.com deanscolin@hotmail.com and have

Colin Deans 59:51
a look at the website. Yeah, it's uh, it's 10-yearsyounger.com. 10 Dash

Pete Cohen 59:59
years. I'm sorry, dislikes are

Colin Deans 1:00:02
10 years younger, don't

Pete Cohen 1:00:04
call I just had a flashback. You know, when when when you employed me in 1989 I just remember you teaching me a very simple body movement is called hopscotch. You know, we're literally just lifting up your right ankle to your left buttock. And I just thinking I cannot do that. And, you know, I'm very grateful to you. It's quite weird in a way getting this stuff out of you because I still look up to you. I still look up to you as the man who inspired me to go down that road through getting that job that then inspired me to do my exercise to music qualification, which that was I couldn't believe I passed my driving test. I can't believe I passed and then I then I did a course a fitness instructor course at the loft bruh Yes. Then I met Bob Smith. Yeah, another legend. You know, and I've built a career. First and foremost in fitness my everything else starts with fitness men then obviously the mental fitness I'm extremely grateful and anyone who follows me I'd say that you follow Colin, you know if you want to be inspired about moving better. This is the guy that you want. In your lane. So thank you so much for doing the podcast with me today. Really, really appreciate it. My pleasure. Let's do it again sometime. Yeah, you can have a look at my body today and help me get my hips open a bit more and moving better.