At a time where Instagram influencers dominate feeds, peddling all manner of skin-care products from slug semen moisturiser to a foot peel designed to rescue your lifeless soles back to newborn softness, Rob Dyrdek stands out amongst the best. Having quit school to become a professional skateboarder, Dyrdek left his hometown in Ohio to move to Los Angeles at 16. His days on the skateboarding circuit served as inspiration for anyone looking to learn the art of the “kick-push”, but though he flourished on the board, Dyrdek didn’t want to settle for the tag of ‘retired professional’. Instead, he channeled his dedication and unwavering motivation to other pursuits, and now, the man is widely regarded as being one of the savviest business minds in the world of branding and scaling companies.
In the years since, Dyrdek has turned to entertainment, forging a rather unlikely career where he’s served as producer and host of television shows, most notably MTV’s Ridiculousness. But while the brazen acts performed on the series might lead you to think of Drydek as little more than a brash, charismatic athlete with no perception of danger, the real Drydek is far removed from such an appraisal. Instead, Drydek is focused, deeply intelligent, and fiercely driven by a desire to achieve. It’s this same attitude that he’s applied to his own health and wellness, after hitting breaking point some five years ago which led him towards meditation.
In a recent interview with GQ UK, Drydek explained: “I was, like, ‘At 38 years old this can’t be. I’m in the best shape of my life, and I’m just achy all the time.’” The next five years were spent fine-tuning an elaborate system of therapies, supplements, and inner work all with the desire to get closer to a “life of intention.” Clearly, things are working out nicely for him.
As he told the publication, he tries to get to sleep around 9pm and allows around 7 hours of sleep, waking every day around 4:30 and 5am. “I like to do a little cross arm breathing and giving thanks every morning. I brain train with the Lumosity app, then I have a meditation machine called the Somadome, which is basically a guided meditation through light and sound. It’s a much easier way to stay committed to meditating every single day,” he says.
Valued at $19,726 AUD, the Somadome isn’t for the waning meditator. According to Dyrdek though, it’s worth it as he admits his life “has never been the same” since its purchase in 2018. “Every single day I do a 20-minute guided manifestation meditation. It calibrates your entire physical energy and mindset into all of the things that you hope to achieve in your life. I use it to feel all of these things that I want to happen in the future as if I’m experiencing them. I never miss a day. I wouldn’t even consider it.”
After meditation, Dyrdek then hits the gym at 7:30am and does body weight exercises, moving, stretches and foam-rolling. As he explains, “It’s all just breathing and movement. I believe the truth path to a pain-free, high-energy extraordinary life is the relationship between your neuromuscular structure and your skeletal structure. That’s the root cause of almost all of the body’s dysfunction, whether that’s inflammation, nerve pain, aches.”
“Everything I do with my physical body is about making sure my muscles are firing properly. I’ve watched my bloodwork completely change by just re-engineering the firing systems between my muscle and skeletal structure, and from seeing the functionality of the body go to a more natural state,” said Dyrdek.
It all sounds a lot more complex than your average spin class. But rather than a fad making its way out of Silicon Valley, Dyrdek’s fitness routine is one grounded in research. As he mentioned, it took five years of consulting with doctors and different people to land on this system where he learned every single thing about the body and the things you put into it.
The realisation that it was simply a matter of the relationship between your neuromuscular and skeletal structures that corrects almost everything is something that has seen Dyrdek get into the best shape of his life. As he puts it: “If I had discovered this in my late 20s or early 30s, I probably would still be a pro skateboarder, Tom Brady style. Now I can look back and see where all my dysfunction and breakdown and injuries kept occurring. What I’ve discovered is essentially what Tom Brady’s doing and why he’s still able to play at such a high level.”
