AM 1170 – The Answer – Radio Interview

AM 1170 Radio – The Answer

Dave: So, we’ve been sitting here with Melissa Allen and Lonnie Allen, talking cars, and then I found out Melissa has a business that might be interesting to you, mainly because of the rehab factor. But it’s called “Optimum Condition,” it’s a Corrective Exercise and Performance Center. Now, what makes this different than, let’s say, than a 24 Hour Fitness?

Melissa: Well, with us, you’re always with a trainer or you’re with an instructor, so you don’t have to wander around looking for what to do, lost, embarrassed.

Dave: Falling off that stupid ball.

Melissa: Right.

Dave: And thinking, “I’ll never go back. It was the worst.” So, this is more or less personalized training, one-on-one?

Melissa: Yeah. Primarily, we specialize in rehabilitative exercise and functional fitness, but we do also offer strength training classes and yoga classes. And with those two things, you are with a small group.

Dave: Right. Okay. Well, you know, it’s funny you should say that because I went to my chiropractor, which I was never into chiropractic. I just…

Melissa: I love chiropractic.

Palmer Chiropractic College

Dave from AM 1170 – The Answer – Radio: Well, I just wasn’t into it because my attitude was, once you snap, crackle, and pop me, now, you’ll always have to now everything’s out of joint, now it’s always gonna come out… I know, total stupidity. I just didn’t want anybody twisting me around. Then I met this guy, Dr. Kilbride, and he is from Palmer College, which is considered the premiere. Oh, I knew you would know something about Palmer College.

Melissa: That’s actually where we were from. Our hometown, Davenport, Iowa, is where the first Palmer in the world started.

Dave: Well, isn’t that a hoot? Well, he was not only graduated from Palmer, but he was an instructor…

Melissa: Oh, okay.

Dave: …at Palmer. So, I’d hurt my back in the day and no one could ever fix it. I got a little, you know, acupuncture which took care of it for a while, which I’m a firm believer in acupuncture.

Melissa: Massage is also good, all those things play a role.

Dave: Yeah, exactly. So then, Mark Larson, who was on this station or another station recommended I go because I tried to do a, what they call Live Lot [SP] on KUSI at location. I was with a walker and the pain was so bad I could hardly see straight. So, you know, when you’re in really excruciating pain, you’ll go anywhere.

Melissa: Sure.

Not All Chiropractors are Equal

Dave from AM 1170 – The Answer – Radio: So, I went to this one chiropractor, and it was the worst. So then I talked to Mark, so I went to him. I go, now, every month. And he says, “No, no, no. It’s 90 days, you know, 120 days.” “No. I will be at your office at the first Friday of every month at 9:15, ready to throw 50 bucks at you.”

Melissa: I think that’s excellent. I’m a big fan of a maintenance program with chiropractic or anything else.

Dave: Exactly.

Melissa: As far as health goes, you know?

Dave: Whatever works. If it works… You know, I had gone to Kaiser, you know, that physical therapy. And the guy hands me a rubber band, puts it right in your knees and, “Open, close, open close.” I go, “What the frack? I’m giving you how much money and that’s all I’m doing is open and close, open and close. So, I packed up and left. I said, “I’m not doing this.” He was all bummed because I wouldn’t come back, but he wasn’t doing anything for me.

Melissa: Well, not all therapists are created the same just like chiropractors, you know. You have to find one that you’re comfortable with.

Dave: Right. And this guy, I told him, “If you ever retire, I’ll hunt you down like a dog because you can’t.” You know, I look at our bodies like a car. If you don’t take care of it, it’s gonna break.

Melissa: Yeah.

Dave: And if you feed it bad things, it’s not gonna be happy. I mean, like, if you had kids and you started feeding them McDonald’s, or Jack in the Box, or Wendy’s, or Burger King from the time they could eat solid foods, yeah, it’d be fine for a while, but just where do you think they’re gonna be in 15, 20 years?

Melissa: Major problems.

Melissa’s Radio Interview by Dave Stall

DaveAM 1170 – The Answer – Radio: Cars, the same way. This is not a Chevron commercial, but I burn Chevron in all my beaters, and I’ve got more cars, than I care to admit, that have over 300,000 miles, never lost mileage, never had a fuel system problem, never had fuel injector problems, same with the above. So, how early do you start with this program that you have? How early of an age would you recommend getting kids… We think kids get all the exercise they could possibly handle by playing sports, but are they playing it correctly?

Melissa: Yeah, that’s one aspect of it and, you know, unfortunately, in our day and age, kids just aren’t as active as they used to be. There’s too many video games, too much sedentary activity. I’m a big fan of getting kids into sports early, but  we don’t train young children. You have to at least be 16.

Dave: Okay. All right. But it’s almost something to think about.

Melissa: Yeah.

Dave: But, I mean, when you really stop to think, because there are plenty of parents starting… I mean, on Racer Radio, we talk to a lot of kids, 9, 10, 11, 12, and they all have exercise programs.

Melissa: You know, it is something to think about, it’s just I have some people that I trust and highly respect, and I would refer kids to them.

Dave: Sure, sure, sure. Okay, with them.

Melissa: Just like if somebody came in and wanted, like, a specific nutrition program.

Dave: You don’t want all those rugrats running around.

Melissa: No, I like them.

Dave: You know, tearing your place apart. You have to put them in a box, that’s what I would do.

Put Em in a Cage

Melissa: We have a little cage..

Dave: Yeah. Put him in a little… Oh, that’s an idea. Like a kennel.

Melissa: Small cage in back.

Dave: Hang a canteen, water bottle so the kids… I’m only kidding. But, how long have you guys been around?

Melissa: Since 1999, officially, I guess, 2000.

Dave: Where are you located?

Melissa: In El Cajon, right by the Target center, across the street from Black Angus.

Nutrition and Exercise

DaveAM 1170 – The Answer – Radio: Oh, yes. So after you’re all done exercising, then go get a steak.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah.

Dave: I’m only kidding. Do you do nutrition?

Melissa: No. I mean, I do general nutrition recommendations. Technically, it’s outside our scope of practice to do more, but I have a great nutritionist that I refer people to if they want a detailed program.

Dave: Yeah. Especially, because if you’re gonna really take these things seriously and you wanna become an American Ninja Warrior, you gotta eat right.

Melissa: Exactly.

Dave: Yeah. You can work out all day long, but if you’re not putting the right fuel…

Melissa: Yeah. What you put in your body is about 80% of your outcome.

Dave: Exactly. I was just talking to a lady this morning who’s gluten free, and she didn’t know she had a gluten issue, but she used to have…she thought… One doctor described that she had arthritis. And she had arthritis and migraines, it just drove her crazy, you know. And the doctors just kept prescribing, you know, all these meds. And then she changed doctors, and the guy says, “Stop eating, you know, gluten and see what happens.”

Dave: She said it was in 30 days, her headaches were gone and she hasn’t got an ache or pain, whatsoever, you know. So, nutrition…that’s why I wanted to throw it out there, because nutrition has a lot to do with it. I’m sure when your client was complaining, and complaining, and complaining you might say, “Okay, you might wanna take a look at your diet.”

Melissa: You know, and I do. And like I said, I give general recommendations. The only thing I don’t do is say, “You should have this many calories of this particular food,” that kind of thing, but we talk about, what people put in their bodies all the time.

Dave: Yeah, because the three of us, sitting here, could all sit down and eat something, and whatever we ingest is gonna be different within our bodies. How it’s gonna be absorbed, how it’s gonna be burned, you know. So, yeah, I agree with you, you know. Like, how many gallons of water they want you to drink a day now?

Water Intake

Melissa: You should drink half your body weight in ounces. So if a person weighs 200 pounds, he should have 100 ounces of water a day.

Dave: Right.

Melissa: That’s a general rule.

Dave: And stand right next to the bathroom.

Melissa: It’s actually not that bad.

Dave: Oh, yeah, when you get older. Someone once said this to me. I’m a little older than others.

Melissa: Throughout the day, not all at once.

Dave: I get to see the hose going in, one in, and I have to do it all in my restroom. It’s crazy. So, how do people get a hold of you?

Melissa: You can reach me in my website, www.optimumcondition.com, or you can call me by phone, 619-252-4993.

Dave: You have an age limit? Is there any old farts you won’t talk to?

Melissa: No, no. Actually, you know, we do a lot of work with seniors.

Dave: What about military?

Melissa: We give military discounts.

Dave: Cool. Because a lot of military guys come back, you know, it’s funny they’ve been, you know, doing exercise for the whole time they’ve been in the military, and they do it with a group, you know.

Melissa: Yeah.

Group Fitness

DaveAM 1170 – The Answer – Radio: And it’s much easier to do exercise with a group than it is than to do it by yourself, unless you’re, you know, some kind of a fanatic…health fanatic. I was thinking of a girl who works for KUSI that goes to Crunch in El Cajon. Goodness gracious.

I told that girl, “Put some weight on, you know. I don’t need to see your spine through your navel.” But that’s just where her head’s at. Check out Melissa with Optimum Condition at 1069 Graves Avenue, Suite 104, but… So, folks, if you…

Lonnie: Hey, this is a New Year’s resolution.

Dave: No, I am not gonna exercise. Don’t even ask me, folks. I don’t have New Year’s resolutions. I’m just trucking along, that’s the best I can do right now.

Lonnie: But it does help in racing.

Dave: Yes, it does. And we talked about that and that’s why I was mentioning kids, because on Racer Radio we have some kids, 9, 10, and there’s one kid, 9 years old, he’s won 6 championships and 43 races.

Melissa: Wow.

Dave: He’s nine years old, for goodness sakes. Where do you find the time…you know? But he has an exercise program, it’s not hardcore because he only weighs nothing, I mean, he’s wringing wet, you know, he’s doesn’t weigh anything.

And the thing that’s cool about your business is I like the rehab aspect of it because so many people need it…and it’s kinda cute you say weight loss on the end. Well, if you do the training, and you do the exercise…

Melissa: It’s really a side effect.

Dave: One of those little side benefits is the chubs fall off, you know. But most people don’t put that in there. They don’t even think about it, but it is. It’s a benefit to exercise. And something as simple as walking, you know, if you’re the type of person that can’t do a lot of exercise. But it sounds to me like, with what you guys do, looks like there’s a smidgen of self-defense in here, someplace?

Melissa: You know, that’s the way I started out. I started out teaching American style kickboxing combined with personal training, and then I decided just to keep my logo even though I changed the focus over the years. Yeah, I would, if somebody requested that. It’s not something I generally promote anymore.

Be Aware of Your Environment

Dave: But you know, nowadays, with the environment the way it is, a friend of mine, my co-host, she says, “Yeah, I went out for my, you know, five-mile walk and I didn’t bring my phone.” You know, why would you not bring your phone? Take a phone, maybe even a little pepper spray, you know. I mean, you just don’t know nowadays.

Melissa: Yeah, you really don’t. I used to teach self-defense classes for San Diego State, and it’s definitely a good idea. I mean, I’ve done a lot of things with women. You know, like, you leave work, you go out, your car is parked in the parking lot, it’s dark. There are just some things, like, you can make some weapon out of your keys. There’s some things you can utilize.

Dave: So, I mean, I’m always thinking, you know, on that kinda stuff. But when I was a service manager, and if you worked for me, I made sure somebody walked you out to your car if it was dark time, at night time. No offense, guys are just as bad.

How many times you’ve rolled down a freeway, and you’ve seen a perfectly healthy guy standing there, waiting for somebody to change a flat? Holy moly, that just makes… It is so funny, dude, because I bag on them all the time. I make fun of them. I roll the windows down and yell at them the whole time… I know I’m bad.

And the other day, I had a Lexus LX, you know, the big SUV, and I’m cruising down the road and all of a sudden I look down, and the “Low Tire” is on. I go, “What the heck is this?” So I had to scroll through. Left front tire, five pounds. Yeah, but I’m flying down the freeway, I don’t hear nothing. So “urrrr” and I made it all the way to the on-ramp, pulled off.

Soon as I got off the on-ramp, slowed down, tire ran out of air and rolled right off the rim. So, now what do I do? It’s like 90 degrees, dude. It’s one of those really hot days. So, I’m like, “I’ll just call Triple A.” And I’m like, “No, no, no.” If I call Triple A, somebody drives by, that I’ve yelled at, and they see me, and I’ve got… So I drug out the jack, everything, and I took care of it.

Hey. Well, hey, it’s been fun having you guys on. Folks, check out Optimum Condition.com if you wanna get healthy for 2018. All right. We’re gonna get out of here, but you ought to know, right around the corner. Stay tuned. AM 1170, “The Answer.”

Announcer: Green Machine Radio on AM 1170. “The Answer” is sponsored by Love Radio Network.