Podcast Summary

Staying Alive with Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally

Episode: Gym Is Therapy, Therapy Is Gym (w/ Ben Rodgers)
Date: November 20, 2025
Podcast Network: SmartLess Media
Guest: Ben Rodgers

Episode Overview

In this episode of Staying Alive, Jon Gabrus and Adam Pally chat with their longtime friend and fellow comedian Ben Rodgers. The trio embarks on an honest, hilarious, and sometimes deeply "grossly forthcoming" examination of health, sobriety, fitness, aging, and mental wellness—modern comedic style. Ben opens up about his journey quitting alcohol, sustaining mental health through both gym-going and therapy, and the ongoing challenges (and inside jokes) of maintaining friendships, routines, and self-care as they all navigate their 40s. Tangents about boardwalk tank tops, Frasier reboots, and haunted houses are, naturally, included.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Catching Up: Life, Tours, and Parties

• The guys recount busy weeks filled with show tapings, family birthdays, travel, and “letting yourself go” for special occasions.
• Jon is in a “grot” (“good rut”) prepping for his special, leaning into fun and food:
  • “I feel like, especially after this year and probably the fact that the world doesn’t have much longer, I’m okay with, like, letting myself go this week a little bit.” – Jon Gabrus (02:36)

2. Fitness Evolution & Ben’s Sobriety

• Ben is tagged as the "Paul Rudd of comedy writers"—handsome, unexpectedly buff, and perpetually youthful.
• He reflects on quitting alcohol about eight years ago and how it shaped his health and social life:
  • “I just got really bored… I was in a social situation where we were like drinking beers and I was like, I didn’t even want this… So I have to have this beer?” – Ben Rodgers (17:02)
• Jon notes Ben’s aging in “human time” rather than “dog years”:
  • “Well, I've had a tough week…You stay on a human timeline. You don’t veer into dog years quite as fast.” – Jon Gabrus (15:30)
• Social difficulties of sobriety—dating, family events, weddings:
  • “A lot of women just don’t want to drink around somebody who isn’t drinking…Weddings involve a lot of drinking. My family, coming from Buffalo, people drink a lot.” – Ben Rodgers (18:07, 20:25)

3. Social & Family Norms Around Drinking

• The persistent expectation of alcohol at every event:
  • “It’s like if we’re going to my nephew’s little league game, there’s a cooler of White Claw.” – Adam Pally (21:32)
• Family confusion around not drinking:
  • Ben’s mom: “Are you on a special diet or something?” Ben: “You just saw me eat six slices of pizza and birthday cake!” (20:27)

4. Changing Habits: Fitness, Accountability, and Gym Culture

• Ben’s current regimen: classic weightlifting five days a week, with workouts programmed by a remote trainer.
  • “She’s a real athlete…I was interested in getting more gymnastics into my…[routine]: ring muscle ups, handstand walking…” – Ben Rodgers (27:52–28:37)
• The value of having a pre-planned workout program for accountability:
  • “You’re held a little accountable, because, one, you’re paying for somebody to take the time…and you don’t want to waste their time.” – Ben Rodgers (29:27)
• Jon and Adam talk about adapting fitness around unpredictable work/kids schedules, and the challenge of morning gym routines:
  • “I wish I could be the guy who wakes up, goes to the gym, gets my lift in…” – Adam Pally (38:01)
• On childfree lifestyles and fitness:
  • “The bigger secret to my fitness regime is probably not having kids also.” – Ben Rodgers (39:02)

5. Mental Health: Gym is Therapy, Therapy is Gym

• For Ben, much of the healthier lifestyle is about staving off depression:
  • “My body type doesn’t really change that much, so it is more like gym is therapy—try not to eat too much garbage.” – Ben Rodgers (45:31)
• They all discuss the role of real therapy:
  • Ben: “I love my therapy…first therapist I’ve had who talks throughout therapy. I think it’s because he’s older and just, like, we don’t have time to waste.” (46:19)
  • Adam enjoys his “old, hippie” therapist but jokes: “Every once in a while he’ll just say something where he’s like—and that’s because you’re vibrating at a higher frequency.” (47:41)

6. Friendship & ‘Found Family’ as Wellness

• The importance of community and regular traditions with friends—especially for childless adults:
  • “You get less and less people around you the older you get…And as childless guys, you kind of run into that thing of, like—who is going to be there for me when I’m 60, 65? I guess it’s gonna be my friends.” – Adam Pally (58:21)
• “We benefit because we get to collaborate—the podcast, Action Boys…basically a more professional version of just like a book club.” – Ben Rodgers (57:53)

7. Learning, Hobbies, and Being Bad at Stuff

• Ben’s habit of autodidactic learning—taking up Spanish via a teacher who specializes in adult learners:
  • “It’s really take–it’s like little by little…it’s kind of like extra therapy also.” – Ben Rodgers (63:51)
• Adam credits Ben’s willingness to be “bad at something” as a source of inspiration.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sobriety and social drinking:
  • “For a while, you think, oh, it's great to be known as the guy who drinks a lot… Then over time, it's like, maybe this is a bad thing.” – Ben Rodgers (16:04)
• On gym accountability:
  • “If you miss a workout, then you’re going to be fucked up… Now you can’t go as heavy or hit it as hard.” – Ben Rodgers (29:50)
• On growing older and friendship:
  • “The older you get, the harder it is to do things with people… But when you do it, you’re like, oh, fuck, this is great.” – Adam Pally (57:16)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Ben Joins, Friendship Dynamics: 00:45–03:00
• Drew Carey’s Party/Stories: 04:14–06:03
• On the Sphere, Aging, and the Apocalypse: 06:13–08:39
• Ben’s Sobriety Journey & Social Challenges: 15:16–20:27
• Fitness and Accountability/Training: 27:32–30:44
• Mental Health: Gym & Therapy: 45:31–48:03
• Found Family and Friendship as Wellness: 57:16–58:21
• Learning Spanish, Being Bad at New Things: 62:15–66:43

Episode Tone & Style

The episode is peppered with rapid-fire jokes, tangents, and vivid stories in the hosts' typical self-deprecating, open-book comedic style. Beneath the fun, the conversations are raw and insightful—about the realities of getting older, reshaping habits, and sustaining both body and mind in ways that are possible, meaningful, and, above all, not joyless.

Takeaways

• Sobriety and health changes are highly individualized, but can genuinely open up new routines, improve sleep and work output, and change social dynamics.
• Having some level of structure, whether through scheduled workouts, therapy, hobbies, or "found family" friend traditions, is vital to well-being, especially as you age.
• It's never too late to learn something new, embrace being bad at it, and find community wherever you can—whether that's at the gym, in a therapist’s office, or in group text threads about old improv teams.

“Gym is therapy, therapy is gym, and found family is the glue.”