Fitness Saves Lives

I resolved to help my fellow veterans seven years ago. I was hurt, struggling with chronic pain and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress but I could still build programs and coach. I had been bed ridden numerous times due to my back and knee injuries but had focused my energy towards fixing them for the better part of two years.

Lo and behold, exercise, eating well, and getting adequate sleep began to alleviate my chronic pain and get me out of the physical and emotional mess I had put myself in - way more so that opioids and “rest”.

I began to share this Gospel to anyone that would listen.

“All it takes is consistency and a strong why.”

I’ll be honest, the message hasn’t really taken hold yet. Canada has just unveiled, in a recent Parliamentary report, that it has known about a serious suicide problem with its veterans for over 50 years and did nothing about it. Over one veteran a week takes their life. In the U.S. the numbers are proportional with 22 veterans a day taking their own lives and for both countries, the numbers are likely significantly higher.

My thesis is that we’re not broken…We’re under-recovered. Meaning:

Our physiology hasn’t been able to heal at a cellular level since fighting the Global War on Terror. Twenty years of war and way too much combat exposure has devastated our central nervous systems to the point where a significant portion of us succumb to its ravages.

It’s deemed to be a mental health issue; which at the surface is true but that’s the symptom not the cause of the problem. The problem comes from a body that can no longer auto-regulate its hormones and primary bodily functions and this causes serious side-effects.

Adding more brake fluid to your car when you’ve got a leak in your break lines will only give you so much breaking power until you have to add more fluid down the road. You haven’t fixed the issue, you’ve just prolonged the time to actually fix it.

We need to solve the problem of suicide by improving the cellular health of each veteran and to do so, requires basic changes to what we see as treatment.

I know that fitness works because I’m proof, but so are the hundreds of veterans I’ve personally coached. The overwhelming body of evidence proves that this is true. I showcased some of this evidence in an earlier article about the Deadly 3 issues veterans keep encountering.

The Veteran Suicide Lie We Keep Funding

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Apr 15

I’m curious. How many more years are the VA and VAC going to continue to fund “mental health” programs for veterans that don’t work? The latest official VA report says the Veteran suicide rate rose from 34.7 per 100,000 in 2022 to 35.2 per 100,000 in 2023

But losing fifteen pounds, reducing his chronic pain and alleviating his brain fog wasn’t even close to the most profound improvement; this literally saved his life.

He could finally skate with his son and look after his family in a way that was meaningful and made him proud. There’s no drug or therapy that can ever do that. This only comes through consistent physical effort.

And it doesn’t take much. Twenty minutes a day of walking is all we did. Cleaned up some of his worse eating habits and allowed for the occasional bad that that doesn’t destroy your belief in yourself.

Every year I do a 30 day challenge to show veterans how they can be just like Leo. It’s beautifully simple and requires no gym or equipment; just a commitment to yourself, an internet connection and $67CAD.

I call it the Harden Up 30.

Based on my bestselling book, it guides you through each week with daily non-negotiables and provides the community and coaching support, with me, to keep you on track.

At the end, you’ll be lighter, in less pain and feel like you’re back in control of your health.

We begin June 1st - early bird pricing ends May 30th.

Get all your info and registration details HERE

Harden Up 30 Registration

See you on June 1st

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THFE

Dave