Tennis Anyone?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Tennis Anyone?

Date: January 27, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this episode, Armstrong, Getty, and Katie discuss the theme of human achievement, both physical and mental, inspired by a recent Netflix special featuring a daring building climber. Though the episode is titled "Tennis Anyone?", much of the conversation centers on pushing physical limits, the psychology of risk-takers, and the practical benefits of exercise—ultimately culminating in a discussion of why tennis may be the best all-around activity for health and longevity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Building Climber on Netflix: Human Limits & Risk (00:37–09:23)

• Climbing Feats and the Human Spirit

  • Armstrong opens by marveling at the impressive climb by an athlete in Taiwan, shown live on Netflix, and how physically and mentally demanding it was.

    "There, you know, there was certainly a chance he falls. ...my hands are sweating actually, just talking about it." (Armstrong, 00:37–01:20)

  • Katie and Getty poke fun at Armstrong’s interest in danger rather than just achievement.

    "You wanted him to splatter?" (Katie, 01:32)
    "No, I didn't want him to splatter, but wouldn't have been more exciting to not know the result...?" (Armstrong, 01:33)

• Fearless Brains and Human Variation

  • Armstrong references climbing documentaries (e.g., about El Capitan) and the unique brain chemistry of elite climbers:

    "The fear part of his brain doesn’t light up. It just doesn’t work. And he looks like that. He looks checked out." (Armstrong, 03:02–03:40)

  • Katie jokes about the comparison between climbers' feats and daily routines:

    "It's like I found out that people are amazed and astounded that I can walk to my mailbox and back." (Katie, 03:54)

• Physical Demands and Rewards

  • Armstrong details the physical requirements for this kind of climbing, drawing on his acquaintance with climbers and describing the “one arm hangs” and endurance involved.
  • There’s an extended riff about the economic realities and sponsorships for extreme athletes.

    "I'd be shocked if he didn't make millions off of this." (Armstrong, 05:28) "He made an embarrassing amount. It was somewhere in the mid six figures." (Getty, 05:31)

• Future Careers of Daredevils

  • The group jokes about the anticlimax (pun intended) of such athletes' post-fame gigs:

    "Does he go like go to birthday parties? I’ll climb the side of your house for 100 bucks." (Katie, 07:01)
    "We’ve got Alex Honnold who's going to climb the side of the new Piggly Wiggly here. Great folks." (Katie, 07:36)

• Anecdotes and Detours

  • The conversation detours into bulldogs on skateboards and how performance spectacles can become careers in themselves.
  • Clarification that the climber was listening to the band Tool via earbuds during the climb, adding to the “superhuman” persona.

    "He had earbuds in and he likes heavy metal music and he's listening to Tool." (Armstrong, 08:56)

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2. Justifying the Episode Title: The Virtues of Tennis (10:34–14:53)

• Exercise, Longevity, and Cognitive Decline

  • Armstrong shifts gears to exercise science, referencing recent data on the importance of staying physically and mentally active for longevity:

    "If you lead your body to believe... they’re still needed, they still function. But if you lead them to believe that [you] don’t really need you anymore... they atrophy fast." (Armstrong, 10:34–11:07)

  • Several anecdotes illustrate the observed rapid decline after retirement.

• Tennis as the Top Activity

  • New York Times experts (cited by Armstrong) rank tennis as the best all-around activity for body and brain health due to its combination of aerobic, anaerobic, and strategic demands.

    "The best one they came up with is tennis. Tennis is just great for all kinds of different movements... and then tennis requires enough mental energy thinking..." (Armstrong, 11:43–12:23)

  • Katie elaborates on the cognitive demands:

    "Frontal lobe stuff like, all right, where is my opponent? Where should I hit this? How hard should I hit this? With what spin? How are they likely to react?" (Katie, 12:23)

• The Value of High-Intensity Exercise

  • Armstrong highlights findings on the superiority of interval bursts over steady-state cardio, noting how tennis naturally provides both.

    "Rather than going out and run 2 miles, sprint 50 yards, stop... that sort of thing is better for you..." (Armstrong, 12:37–12:44)

• Study Results on Activities and Longevity

  • Research on various activities among 300,000 older adults:
    • Cycling: 3% lower mortality over 12 years
    • Swimming: 5% lower
    • Golf: 7% lower
    • Tennis: Players lived 10 years longer than sedentary peers (implied as the best).

    "A study found that tennis players lived 10 years longer than their sedentary peers. ...longer than soccer players, swimmers and other recreational athletes." (Armstrong, 13:08–13:25)

• Golf’s Surprise Performance

  • Group is surprised at golf's high ranking; Armstrong cites possible differences in body use and aerobic activity.

    "Golf tends to involve more gentle aerobic activity, but also requires rotational power, balance, and fine motor control." (Armstrong reading NYT, 14:25)

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3. Exercise Struggles, Motivation, and Humor (14:54–16:53)

• Baking as Exercise?

  • Katie jokes about baking as a physical activity:

    "What about baking as an activity?" (Armstrong, 14:54)
    "Results are delicious. You gotta use your brain, right?... No, no." (Katie, 15:14)

• Relatable Barriers and Banter

  • Armstrong sheepishly admits he hasn't had a baked good since 2025 (a whole three weeks ago) and jokes about needing more gym time.
  • A humorous, slightly snarky exchange on workout motivation, with Armstrong attributing his regularity to being single:

    "I'm in the gym every day. I've got the driving force that is being single." (Armstrong, 16:05) "I'm pregnant and married, and I'm in the gym four to five years." (Getty, 16:07) "I'm asking you to help me, not brag." (Katie, 16:10)

  • Getty’s advice is both practical and cliche:

    "Think of. Focus on the after. That's what I do. ...My mental is so much better once I finish my workout. Worth it." (Getty, 16:29)

  • Armstrong follows up with classic self-deprecation:

    "I've never in my life gotten done with a workout and saying, God, I'm glad I did that." (Armstrong, 16:37)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I'll tell you who doesn’t get tendinitis... that guy who climbed that building in Taiwan over the weekend.” (Armstrong, 00:37)
• “[Climbers’] fear part of his brain doesn’t light up. It just doesn’t work. ...He looks checked out.” (Armstrong, 03:02–03:40)
• “To him, emotionally... it’s like walking to his mailbox and back. Everybody else is gasping in awe.” (Katie, 04:03–04:23)
• “Just be born with a part of your brain that doesn’t function. It’s that easy.” (Armstrong, 06:37)
• “A study found that tennis players lived 10 years longer than their sedentary peers.” (Armstrong, 13:08)
• “Baking as an activity? Results are delicious!” (Katie, 14:54–15:14)
• “I'm in the gym every day. I've got the driving force that is being single.” (Armstrong, 16:05)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:37–05:31] – Discussion of the Netflix building climb, psychology, and risks
• [05:31–07:53] – Economic realities and future prospects of daredevil athletes
• [08:56–09:23] – The climber’s taste in music and live commentary during the climb
• [10:34–13:08] – Exercise, brain atrophy, and why tennis is the best activity
• [13:08–14:53] – Activity rankings for longevity; cycling, swimming, golf explained
• [14:54–16:53] – Banter on motivation to exercise, including baking as “activity” and motivation struggles

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Tone and Language

The episode is filled with Armstrong & Getty’s trademark humor, teasing, and friendly rivalry. The tone ranges from awe and curiosity (about human achievement) to self-deprecating humor about aging and laziness, always with quick banter and wry observations. Katie chimes in with relatable humor and dry wit, especially around the practical (and impractical) aspects of exercise and motivation.

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Summary

"Tennis Anyone?" is less about tennis than the extraordinary spectrum of human physical achievement, from elite climbers with unique brains to everyday folks struggling to get to the gym. The hosts entertain with anecdotes, scientific data, and playful ribbing, ultimately concluding that whatever your activity of choice—tennis, golf, or just getting off the couch—consistency and challenge are the keys to a long, healthy life.

Transcript

[Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human tennis, anyone? It's one more thing.

[Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Katie]

One more thing. I always enjoyed tennis, but I couldn't say it much because I would always get tendonitis.

[Armstrong]

In what?

[Katie]

Oh, as I recall, my elbow and wrist. Yeah, I. As I always said of my sports career, I got my dad's talent and my mom's tendons. I get tendonitis like putting butter on bread. I need a supplement. Probably turmeric.

[Armstrong]

I'll tell you who doesn't get tendinitis. And we'll get back to tennis in a second. That guy who climbed that building in Taiwan over the weekend. If you didn't watch that, God, what a physical specimen that dude is. So I mentioned on the radio show, I didn't know this. It was a Netflix live special that was two hours long of him climbing that building. And I wish I'd have known it was on. I would have watched it with. With great anticipation because there, you know, there was certainly a chance he falls. And there were, I don't know how many thousands of people gathered around the bottom of that building watching it live and, like, oohing and awing and shrieking as he, you know, swung around and stepped here and stumbled there and everything as he went up that damn building. And my hands are sweating actually, just talking about it.

[Katie]

And Katie and I had the same reaction. You should have watched it live because he might have fallen.

[Armstrong]

Wait, what?

[Katie]

Well, not the triumph of the human spirit.

[Armstrong]

Well, but it would have been the courage, the strength.

[Katie]

You wanted him to splatter?

[Armstrong]

Well, come on. No, I didn't want him to splatter, but wouldn't have been more exciting to not know the result of whether or not he could get up there or not or just have to quit or run out of gas.

[Katie]

One of the concerns might have been tough to watch. I mean, like, really, really tough.

[Armstrong]

It's tough to watch knowing he makes it so. My son and I watched it last night. It's on Netflix and It's man in 4K on an 80 inch television. It's like standing next to a guy hanging off a building and we kept, like, shrieking just sitting on the couch. Oh, he would think, swing his leg up and like, barely grip some tiny little ledge with his hand and be dangling there. Oh, my God.

[Getty]

Have you ever seen somebody scale a building, like, in real life?

[Armstrong]

I have not.

[Getty]

Oh, God. When I was working in San Francisco, there was this guy that I believe you went by the pro life Spider man or something like that. This is back in, like, I don't know, 22, 2019 or something. He, like, this dude just scaled the Salesforce building, and they had to shut down all the surrounding streets because it wasn't an organized event. But I'm driving towards the bridge, and I look up, I'm like, is that a person?

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Wow.

[Getty]

These people are nuts.

[Katie]

And you said during the radio show that the guy's fear center of his brain doesn't function like normal human beings.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. So I didn't watch Solo climb or whatever it's about when he climbed. What's the thing here in the El Capitan. Yeah. In California.

[Katie]

Won the Academy Award, didn't it? For a. Yeah, yeah. Documentary.

[Armstrong]

What's supposed to be really, really great and interesting. But it mentions in that documentary that they have studied Half Dome. Doesn't matter whichever. The fear part of his brain doesn't light up. It just doesn't work. And he looks like that. He looks checked out. Actually, the show is interesting because it just starts with him and his wife sitting in a van parked at the corner of the building talking. And he's, like, having lunch or whatever and discussing things, what they're gonna do and. Okay, let me get going. And he sits there next to the building and changes shoes. He takes off his socks and shoes and puts on these special climbing shoes and gets his little bucket of chalk that he dips his hands in, puts it around his waist and starts climbing up the building.

[Getty]

Holy smokes. He did El Capitan as a free solo.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Getty]

Holy.

[Armstrong]

Whoa. But you can tell he's got no fear. I mean, he's just, like, so bored. He looks like somebody sitting in a meeting.

[Katie]

So. So it's like I found out that people are amazed and astounded that I can walk to my mailbox and back.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, right, right.

[Katie]

And so I'd think, all right, I'm gonna. Hey, honey, I gotta go walk to the mailbox and back. There's like 5,000 people out front. So I say, hey. Hey, everybody. All right, I'm ready to go. I put on my mailbox walking shoes, and I set off all the way up the driveway.

[Armstrong]

Well, that.

[Katie]

All the way back. And people are like, oh, my God. To him, emotionally.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. The physical part, though, of it would be incredibly difficult. The free solo stuff. I knew a guy who was a drummer in the band I was in, and he was into that sort of stuff. And the amount of practice he would do. One arm hangs, one hand hangs. You do a lot of that just to strengthen the Muscles in your fingers and your wrists and your forearms and your everything else. And this guy is like, his hands are huge and he just looks like muscle. But they're talking about how exhausted he would be getting as he gets to the top. And if you watch the videos over the weekend you saw looked like the hardest part was at the end when he had to swing himself up over those ledges when you would just be so worn out.

[Katie]

But even imagine he has a couple.

[Armstrong]

Of little kids and his darling wife and him, you know, both agreed that this was a good idea. I imagine he just said, look, I can do this. I'm not going to fall. We're going to be set for life. You know, a couple more of these climbs and we're. We're set. You, me and the kids.

[Katie]

And now was he compensated for this? Was it, was it for the purpose of. Oh, the Netflix show, I'm sure, duh.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, the Netflix show. I'd be shocked if he didn't make millions off of this.

[Getty]

No, he, he, he actually there was an article saying that if you compare it to like pro sports, he made an embarrassing amount. It was somewhere in the mid six figures. So what they. He said, oh, really?

[Armstrong]

But there had to be more to it than that because I noticed I said this to my son when he was. Because why didn't he just put his shoes on a van? The fact that he walked over and sat down and they had a big shot of the shoes he was putting on. I just, I think he had a number of different sponsors involved, product placement and that sort of stuff. How much money he made, I don't know. He's definitely, you know, his name recognition has gone way up. So if he does public speaking someday or, you know, he's going to be on a Super bowl commercial for antiperspirant. Climbing a building will make you sweat. Not if I have, you know, whatever.

[Katie]

Well, I'm doing motivational circuit thing. Are you afraid of, you know, achieving at work? Follow my method. Climb which is connive, limit, imagine, motivate. And exactly which all of this has been. But I already been paid runs out the back.

[Armstrong]

Here's how you do it. You just, just be brain born with a part of your brain that doesn't function. It's that easy.

[Getty]

The Tony Robbins people that are paying 99amonth for the chatbot, he could have one of those too.

[Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie]

Oh yeah.

[Armstrong]

But that's some show to watch. I wish more of you would watch it and get back to me if it, if you reacted the way my son and I did. My son couldn't watch and our hands were sweaty and we kept yelling something.

[Katie]

What does a guy like that do when his career is kind of run out? It's run out the string. Does he go like go to birthday parties? I'll climb the side of your house for 100 bucks. I'm opening up a new pet store here on main street. Would you climb up the side of it?

[Armstrong]

Hey, for. For beer money I'll get up on top of your car. I'm not interested. Come on. Just.

[Katie]

I'll just jump up there like a squeegee guy. But a climb just like. Yeah. Half ass grocery store openings. All right, now what's the guy's name? We should know his name. He's like the greatest.

[Getty]

Alex Honnold.

[Katie]

Alex Honnold. He's the greatest climber on earth. We've got Alex Honnold who's going to climb the side of the new Piggly wiggly here. Great folks. Now head on in. 20% off produce today only. Thanks for coming.

[Armstrong]

Right.

[Katie]

It was like we. We worked with some pet food guys who are really good guys. But the one guy was fascinated by that bulldog who could skateboard. And he had a bulldog that he was trying.

[Armstrong]

He bought a bulldog. Katie?

[Katie]

Yes.

[Armstrong]

This guy. So there's a bulldog. Do you know the skateboarding bulldog? Have you ever come across it? Yeah. It's very popular in California commercials and it makes I think $300,000 a year and travels around in an RV and goes to openings. And so this friend of ours who we're in doing endorsements for bought a bulldog specifically to train it because he thought I want to get in on this. Spent lots of time trying to train it.

[Katie]

We'll undercut that other bulldog. We'll give you 25% off.

[Armstrong]

He was disappointed it never learned a skateboard. Could play the piano beautifully but could not skateboard.

[Katie]

Who gives a shit.

[Armstrong]

Any who?

[Katie]

I was told he was listening to.

[Getty]

The group tool the whole time.

[Katie]

He was?

[Armstrong]

Yeah, he had earbuds in digging music.

[Katie]

Oh really? Yeah. I thought you meant the bulldog. Michael, you got to bring me. It's like talking to my wife. What are you talking about? Wait, I remember we were talking about the bulldog.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, that was like. That was yesterday. No, we're back to the guy climbing the building. He had earbuds in and he likes heavy metal music and he's listening to tools. He was also miked so he could talk every once in a while and say, yeah, it's windier up here and I thought it would be or whatever. And everybody in the building knew he was going to climb it and they were there to get pictures. And so like every little new ledge was a window with somebody like six inches from his face waving. And he'd wave back.

[Getty]

Oh, how awful would you feel if you startled him and he jumped and let go and then that was the end.

[Armstrong]

Probably shouldn't have startled him. Jump scare death.

[Katie]

Carvana is so easy. Just a click and we've got ourselves a car.

[Getty]

See so many cars. That's a clicktastic inventory.

[Armstrong]

And check out the financing options payments to fit our budget. I mean, that's Clickonomics101. Delivery to our door.

[Getty]

Just a hop, skip and a click away.

[Armstrong]

And bought.

[Getty]

No better feeling than when everything just clicks. Buy your car today on.

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[Katie]

Why did I say knock on the windows?

[Armstrong]

Why did I say tennis, anyone? It's about exercise. I'll go through this fast since we talked so much about the climber, but I did think it was kind of interesting. So much information has come out in the last couple of years about exercise and longevity and what it does to your brain and your body. If it seems, I mean, it makes sense if you lead your body to believe and your brain to believe that it's. They're still needed, they still function. But if you lead them to believe that don't really need you anymore. Brain or body, they atrophy fast.

[Katie]

Oh, that is so interesting. I've had a couple of friends who worked into, you know, pretty late in their lives who said, I've just had a couple, two, three buddies retire and they're dead within two years. Yeah, that's so afraid of it.

[Armstrong]

My financial guy, he said, my business people retire, they come back to me a year later and they look like they've aged 15 years. Oh, all the time.

[Katie]

It is scary.

[Armstrong]

So you want to keep, you know, you want to keep your brain in your body thinking, hey, we still need you. Still need you to do things. So exercise Is good for that. And they have in the New York Times today, talking to a bunch of experts, what are the best exercises out there? You're going to like one of these examples, Joe. But the best exercise out there, they talk about walking and running and all these different things for. For everything, for all parts of your body and for your mind. Like, running is good for cardiovascular, but not some parts of your body and not really anything for the mind. Whereas the best one they came up with is tennis. Tennis is just great for all kinds of different movements you do. There's cardiovascular, there's stretching, there's putting pressure on all kinds of different things. And then tennis requires enough mental energy thinking that. That it's good from that aspect. So they just put that at number one.

[Katie]

Sure. And just frontal lobe stuff like, all right, where is my opponent? Where should I hit this? How hard should I hit this? With what spin? How are they likely to react? Where do I need to get defensively? And I played enough tennis to understand that. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Armstrong]

Well, and as we've learned and talked about before, that whole entire intense bursts of energy thing that they've learned is super important. I don't do enough.

[Katie]

I try to have one a month.

[Armstrong]

I don't do enough of that. But they've decided that rather than going out and run 2 miles, sprint 50 yards, stop sprint, that sort of thing is better for you, for all your muscles and stuff. Anyway, Tennis offers a full body workout. The game demands quick changes in direction, quick bursts of speed. All the things that I mentioned before let me find that number on here. A study found that tennis players lived 10 years longer than their sedentary peers. Oh, longer than soccer players, swimmers and other recreational athletes. In the analysis, something about tennis, you never know with these studies, but I.

[Katie]

Gotta find a fellow overweight, lazy person with like bad and or artificial joints that just wants to play like lazy man's tennis.

[Armstrong]

The key to people work up to.

[Katie]

Get into a little competitive.

[Armstrong]

The key to tennis is playing somebody your own skill level. That is the whole thing. I remember that from high school. You play somebody way worse than you, it's not really any fun. You play somebody way better than you. It's just pointless being out there. But if you're evenly matched, it's pretty fun. Even if you suck. If you're evenly matched, it's pretty fun. But you'll like this part. So they did a study of 300,000 older adults in the United States. Cycling was linked to 3% lower risk of dying over a 12 year, period. Swimming was linked to a 5% lower risk. Golf linked to a 7% lower risk.

[Katie]

What?

[Armstrong]

So golf's a pretty good one, huh? Not exactly sure why. You know, it's a lot more tiring.

[Katie]

Than people think it is. There's a tremendous amount of walking up and down hills. And even if you're riding in a cart, you. You walk a couple of miles.

[Armstrong]

But not as tiring as cycling. Why is golf better than cycling? Different. You're using a lot more different things. Yeah, well, maybe. Jack, maybe you could read the paragraph you already highlighted in the New York Times. If your brain worked, if you played more tennis. While cycling primarily works the lower body, swimming adds upper body conditioning. Golf tends to involve more gentle aerobic activity, but also requires rotational power, balance, and fine motor control. There you go.

[Katie]

Well, it should. Anyway.

[Armstrong]

This mix. This mix of physical demands might drive modest differences in longevity. But they aren't sure. I would just say this activity is good. Lack of activity is bad. What about baking as an activity?

[Katie]

Results are delicious. You gotta use your brain, right? You gotta move back and forth across the. No, no.

[Armstrong]

You gotta carry your fat ass to the toilet. Oh, my God. What? Wait. What?

[Getty]

Wait. That escalated quickly.

[Armstrong]

What the hell?

[Katie]

Outta bounds, out of bounds.

[Armstrong]

Maybe it's because I swore off baked goods for the year and I'm a little touchy on that subject.

[Katie]

I'm not talking to you folks.

[Armstrong]

I haven't had a baked good since the year 2025, which is three long.

[Katie]

Weeks ago this very morning. I says to my wife, I says, I've got to get to the gym one more time per week. All right? I've got to.

[Armstrong]

All right.

[Katie]

What would give me. Give me your wisdom.

[Armstrong]

See, you got the disadvantage of being married. I'm in the gym every day. I've got the driving force that is being single.

[Katie]

Right?

[Armstrong]

And wanting to look better.

[Katie]

Hang on.

[Getty]

I'm pregnant and married, and I'm in the gym four to five years.

[Katie]

Well, you're better than me. I'm asking you to help me, not brag.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, just go.

[Getty]

You'll feel. You'll just think about how you feel.

[Armstrong]

Go.

[Katie]

Oh, it hadn't occurred to me. Just go. Oh, thanks, gee. Do you do seminars online?

[Armstrong]

You're a lot dick. You're a d. Dick. Oh, that's funny.

[Getty]

Think of. Focus on the after. That's what I do.

[Katie]

My.

[Getty]

My mental is so much better once I finish my workout. Worth it.

[Armstrong]

I've never in my life gotten done with a workout and saying, God, I'm glad I did that.

[Katie]

You know, I've heard that advice before, but I'd forgotten it. Picture how you'll feel about yourself afterward.

[Armstrong]

That's good. That's good.

[Katie]

It took us a while to get there. We are, anyway.

[Armstrong]

Well, I guess that's it. That was awesome. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.