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I'm extremely excited to announce a brand new sponsor for the Behind the Shield podcast

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that is Transcend.

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Now for many of you listening, you are probably working the same brutal shifts that I did

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for 14 years.

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Suffering from sleep deprivation, body composition challenges, mental health challenges, libido,

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hair loss, etc.

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Now when it comes to the world of hormone replacement and peptide therapy, what I have

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seen is a shift from doctors telling us that we were within normal limits, which was definitely

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incorrect all the way to the other way now where men's clinics are popping up left, right

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and center.

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So I myself wanted to find a reputable company that would do an analysis of my physiology

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and then offer supplementations without ramming, for example, hormone replacement therapy down

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my throat.

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Now I came across Transcend because they have an altruistic arm and they were a big reason

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why the 7X project I was a part of was able to proceed because of their generous donations.

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They also have the Transcend foundations where they are actually putting military and first

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responders through some of their therapies at no cost to the individual.

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So my own personal journey so far filled in the online form, went to Quest, got blood

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drawn and a few days later I'm talking to one of their wellness professionals as they

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guide me through my results and the supplementation that they suggest.

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In my case specifically, because I transitioned out the fire service five years ago and been

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very diligent with my health, my testosterone was actually in a good place.

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So I went down the peptide route and some other supplements to try and maximize my physiology

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knowing full well the damage that 14 years of shift work has done.

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Now I also want to underline because I think this is very important that each of the therapies

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they offer, they will talk about the pros and cons.

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So for example, a lot of first responders in shift work, our testosterone will be low,

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but sometimes nutrition, exercise and sleep can offset that on its own.

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So this company is not going to try and push you down a path, especially if it's one that

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you can't come back from.

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So whether it's libido, brain fog, inflammation, gut health, performance, sleep, this is definitely

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one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.

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So to learn more, go to transcendcompany.com or listen to episode 808 of the Behind the

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Shield podcast with founder Ernie Colling.

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This episode is sponsored by New Calm.

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And as many of you know, I only bring sponsors onto this show whose products I truly swear

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by.

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Now we are an overworked and under slept population, especially those of us that wear uniform for

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a living and trying to reclaim some of the lost rest and recovery is imperative.

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Now the application of this product is as simple as putting on headphones and a sleep

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mask.

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As you listen to music on each of the programs, there is neuroacoustic software beneath that

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is tapping into the actual frequencies of your brain, whether to up-regulate your nervous

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system or down-regulate.

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Now for most of us that come off shift, we are A, exhausted and B, do not want to bring

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what we've had to see and do back home to our loved ones.

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So one powerful application is using the program Powernap, a 20 minute session that will not

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only feel like you've had two hours of sleep, but also down-regulate from a hypervigilant

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state back into the role of mother or father, husband or wife.

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Now there are so many other applications and benefits from the software.

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So I urge you to go and listen to episode 806 with CEO Jim Pool.

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Then download Newcom, N-U-C-A-L-M from your app store and sign up for the seven day free trial.

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science has spanned, but also see for yourself the incredible health impact of this life-changing

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software.

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And you can find even more information on Newcom.com.

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Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast.

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As always, my name's James Gearing and this week I have an extremely important conversation.

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As many of us are aware, we have a recruitment crisis when it comes to both military and

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first responders.

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And there is no better person to bring on as a guest than the honorable Rob Wilkins,

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a retired US Air Force master sergeant, fitness expert, and former member of the president's

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council on sports, fitness and nutrition under both president Trump and president Biden.

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So in this conversation, we discuss a host of topics from his own journey into the military,

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entering the world of bodybuilding, meeting Joe and Ben Weider, writing for muscle and

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fitness, joining the president's council, physical education, nutrition in our schools,

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hormone replacement therapy, the transcend foundation, and so much more.

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Now before we get to this incredibly powerful and important conversation, as I say every

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week, please just take a moment.

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Go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback and

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leave a rating.

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Every single five star rating truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find.

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And this is a free library of well over 850 episodes now.

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So all I ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women stories so

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I can get them to every single person on planet earth who needs to hear them.

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So with that being said, I introduce to you the honorable Rob Wilkins.

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Enjoy.

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Well Rob, I want to start by saying firstly thank you to Brandon Quisenberry for connecting

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us.

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I was just talking to him prior to this conversation just to pull out any other areas that he thought

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I should dig into.

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And secondly, I want to welcome you to the Behind the Shield podcast today.

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Well, thank you, James.

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I appreciate the opportunity.

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I look forward to engaging conversation.

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Hopefully there'll be many points where we have different points of view so that we can

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battle it out, make it interesting for the listeners and viewers.

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And thanks again for this opportunity.

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Absolutely.

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I'm looking forward to it.

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So where on planet earth are we finding you this afternoon?

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Northern Virginia.

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So we live in Northern Virginia about 40 minutes outside of Washington, D.C.

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We've been in the D.C. area since December 2001 when I got assigned stationed at the

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Pentagon after living 14 years at a beach environment.

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So I was stationed in Sardinia, Italy at a place called Duccio Mamano Air Base.

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Then I got stationed in Cocoa Beach, Florida at Patrick Air Force Base.

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And then after 14 years of the beach, the Air Force says we need to put you somewhere

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else.

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And they sent me to the Pentagon.

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But it's turned out to be my service at the Pentagon and my time at the Pentagon was life

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changing, very educational.

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And I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

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So I'm going to jump ahead for a second.

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Then we'll go to the beginning of your story.

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But we were talking before we hit record about happiness.

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Now, I've traveled quite a lot myself.

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And there's a quote, I forget what it is, a Steinberg quote, I think.

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And it talks about, you know, the you want to kill prejudice, travel or something like

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that.

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But you have commonalities and you see, you know, the hierarchy of needs being met.

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You and I discussed that, you know, the American dream and I'm an immigrant to this country,

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you know, what it used to be and what it's become are two very, very different things.

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And I would argue that we're probably one of the wealthiest countries on the planet.

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But I don't think that's matched in the nation's happiness, to be honest.

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So talk to me about all the places that you've traveled and where, you know, what your perspective

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is on happiness and wealth.

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Great question.

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So being in the Air Force, I was fortunate enough to go to about 43 different countries

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from Asia and Europe and Africa.

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And I found that sometimes the most simplest people with the least were the happiest.

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So for example, when I was stationed in Sardinia, Italy, it was very common for us to spend

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the evenings walking to the village piazza or a plaza and just talking and chatting with

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people and seeing neighbors.

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And sometimes it's not many words exchanged, it's more or less a smile and a, how you're

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doing.

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And people were really friendly.

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And if you might know anything about blue zones, Sardinia is a blue zone where people

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live to about a hundred years old.

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So you think what are the things that they are doing there that we may not be doing here?

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Our lives are more complex here.

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We probably have access to a whole lot more things, but they have spiritual social connection.

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I think they're in Sardinia.

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Wonderful, wonderful people.

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Very, very friendly, very open.

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And so that might be something that we who are under constant bombardment of media from

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the media.

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I think there's a stat that we get about four to 5,000 negative inputs to our brain daily.

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How do we kind of switch that and change that around to where we're getting more positivity,

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more inspiration, more motivation, but on a constant basis because consistency is the

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key.

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You can be inspired for a day.

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You can be motivated for a day, but that will go away.

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But if you're constantly trying to strive to do the best you can, to be as happy as

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you can, to live in the moment, to have great experiences, I think you will find yourself

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better off.

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I saw something on the blue zone.

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I saw the recent blue zones show that was on.

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I actually bought the cookbook from that, but there was obviously more of a focus on

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the food.

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And I think there's a certain vegan community behind some of that.

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And I'm all for any sort of diet philosophy that is going to bring wellness.

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And it's funny because carnivore and vegan, some of these argue and the common denominator

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is removing shitty processed food.

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That's what they all agree on.

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They just don't like to talk about it.

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But when you look at Okinawa, for example, another blue zone, you look at the community

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and they dance and they play music and they laugh like children.

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It's so childlike.

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And I think that's what we're missing.

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We're so serious at the moment, myself included, you know, it's the woes of the world on our

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shoulders and we've just become so far now, so disconnected from that kind of tribal community

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that I think that we as humans are designed to thrive in that you can have someone feeling

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chronically depressed in the middle of New York City surrounded by millions of people.

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And they're alone.

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Yes.

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You know, I often have seen reports and podcasts and videos of superstars.

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So like my favorite musicians or artists have been Prince and Michael Jackson.

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And I read about both of them often where they were alone.

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They had adoring fans all around the world, but they were still feeling isolated and not

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able to do real connections because do you like me because I'm Prince or do you like

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me because I'm this guy who's living on this planet with you and we're trying to have these

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great interactions and we're playing sports and we're going to movies and we're listening

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to great music and having food and looking at art.

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Those are the kind of things that I think we all crave and we all would like as opposed

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to, you know, trying to be careful connecting yourself to someone because they're well known

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or famous.

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You smashed some of the media rhetoric as well.

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I posted a video today and I'll be full transparently.

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I was crying on the couch when I was posting it and then I got all the bloody hell James,

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you're making me cry again comments.

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But it was a beautiful moment that was caught.

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You had a police officer who obviously came on scene of a young suicidal and he was a

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veteran, army veteran sitting on a bridge.

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The officer grabs him now for, you know, again, media lens.

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The officer was white.

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The family were black.

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The young man's dad shows up, was a single dad, I mean, just sobbing, you know, and he

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sat, the officer sat with the kid for a while and talked to him and then, you know, he hugs

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the father and it was just humanity.

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It was who we actually are and it took off.

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I mean, loads of people shared it and because that's what we want and that's what we connect

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with.

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And as you said before, if you curate your feed to be divisive and negative, then, you

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know, confirmation bias, that's what you're going to get.

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But if you start following beautiful pages on social media, watch how the world changes

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in front of you and you're going to see so much kindness and compassion, like young teens

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buying their special needs classmate clothes because, you know, he comes from a poor background,

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whatever it is, there is so much community and humanity out there.

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But I don't know why I'd be interested to get your perspective.

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It seems like there's a deliberate attempt to divide and pigeonhole.

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So as Voltaire said, we must cultivate our garden and cultivating our garden means, you

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know, you're trying to be around people who are like minded.

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And I often find from someone holding the door to someone just recently cutting me off

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and then they purposely slow down, put their hand out the window to say my fault.

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There are a lot more good things happening.

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I think there's a lot more pleasantries happening, a lot more positive exchanges, even at the

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Starbucks I go to that I call my home office.

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I've seen from time to time people are short, a dollar or $2 or some young kid doesn't have

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enough money and someone says, I got it, no problem.

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But that doesn't sell.

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That's the more typical experience, I think.

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Now, there are horrific, terrible things happening as well.

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But I think for the daily, listen, if things were as bad off as the media sometimes it

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makes it seem, how could we even go outside our homes and peaceful, you know, peaceful

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exchanges with people or feel like going to the supermarket or to the store because you

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would think you're going to become a victim.

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So I do think there are a lot of really good things.

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And I think more and more people are thinking about how can I be a part of making my city,

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my town, my state, my country better?

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And maybe just a smile and how are you?

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That's to start because everybody doesn't have resources to go donate to, you know,

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toys for thoughts or to help out veterans or to help out homeless, but everyone or most

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people can at least say, hello, how are you?

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Have a good day.

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Hold the door open for someone, things of that sort.

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And that's the positivity train that we're all going to start to maybe be a part of.

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Absolutely.

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Yeah, I mean, kindness is free.

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So the number of times now, I'm sure, you know, there's people on the side of the road,

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most of whom I'm sure are homeless.

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And they're, of course, looking for money, but doesn't mean you can't just roll down

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the window and talk.

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And I actually chatted to a guy who's a Vietnam vet a couple of days ago, meaning to get some

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cash out.

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And I saw him again at the red light.

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And he said, do you have any bags?

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And I got the kind of cloth Publix grocery bags here.

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And I was like, yeah, I've got a couple.

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And I had some a bag of, you know, butt wipes as well.

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I'm like, why don't you take these two?

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If you are living in the woods, these probably come in handy.

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But again, I didn't have any cash, but I still was able to interact with this gentleman and

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hopefully do something positive for him.

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And I think that's it.

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You know, you don't have to be spending money.

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Like you said, doesn't have to be a massive donation.

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How can you just simply interact with them?

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Just see someone, someone, especially if they're on the side of the street, you know, how many

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people have smiled and just talk to them in that hour?

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You know, so I mean, that kindness and compassion, which ironically, I think is taught in a lot

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of religious buildings.

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We need to refine that as a community.

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I agree.

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So starting at the beginning of your journey then.

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So tell me where you were born and tell me a little bit about your family dynamic, what

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your parents did, how many siblings?

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00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:09,400
So we have a large family and I'm originally from Lyndon, New Jersey, born in Newark, New

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Jersey.

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And we grew up with my grandmom living in one part of town, my other grandmom living

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in the town next door, aunts all over.

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So I would be able to ride my bike throughout our town.

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And every time I needed to use the restroom or get a drink, I had someone to stop by their

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home and, oh, I'm just dropping by, actually, I have to go to the restroom.

266
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But you know, it was just making it very, very convenient.

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Lots of cousins that we were around.

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And it was a very, very typical childhood experience for my area, Lyndon, New Jersey

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there.

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Some of the friends that I had back when I was 11, 12, 13 years old were still connected

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through social media.

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And I think what was so normal about what we did is we lived peaceful lives.

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We didn't really think too much about trouble.

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We didn't think about guns and knives.

275
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And we thought there might be a fight.

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There might be some kids who disagree, but it's a fight.

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It's a fist fight.

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And then afterwards it's done.

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It's over.

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And that person and you may become good friends.

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You know, I think more or less our battles were sport battles.

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You know, our street against the next street, our school against another school.

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And the lessons we learned on the playgrounds, I think about being playing fair and being

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compassionate and wanting to win.

285
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But that's nothing wrong with that.

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You know, as long as you're not cheating and doing something illegal, of course you want

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to win.

288
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You want to be victorious.

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You want to brag about our street is the best street in softball or basketball.

290
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But I just think that we also learned about communication skills and you learned that

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some kids were faster than others, but you tried to pick teams that were fair and everybody

292
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was able to participate.

293
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Girls, boys, whatever it was, we didn't think about you can't play because you're this.

294
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You can play because you're part of our community and we need another kid on that, on that field

295
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so that we can have enough to play.

296
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,920
So it was just a great experience.

297
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And I think I wish more people had that experience, especially being outside though, being out

298
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there and just being able to ride bikes and run and climb and do whatever and not really

299
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being worried about anything except maybe hitting a ball over in someone's yard who

300
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:19,840
had a mean dog and thinking we held up the game because we can't get our dog.

301
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We can't get our ball out of Mr. Anderson's yard there because his dog might bite us.

302
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:30,360
But yeah, those were good memories.

303
00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:34,560
There's a rhetoric about kids these days with eye rolling.

304
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:40,200
When I look back and this is why I try and set the two sided conversation of ownership,

305
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,200
but also environment.

306
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:46,000
Yes, of course, to eat well, to exercise that takes the individual to make choices that

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00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,440
are right.

308
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,360
But it's the environment that bolsters the good choices.

309
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,200
So I grew up on a farm.

310
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I literally did farm work.

311
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,200
I'd come in tired from school the next day and the teachers thought I'd been up watching

312
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:04,100
TV and I haven't been lambing or bailing hay or whatever it was.

313
00:19:04,100 --> 00:19:07,480
So I would never then go, oh, what's wrong with kids today?

314
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,360
Because how many kids got to do that?

315
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:14,800
I was so fortunate to have food that grew in the ground and we had animals and all kinds

316
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:15,800
of things.

317
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,800
So it's a very unique environment.

318
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:22,720
So now you fast forward to 2023, especially suburban and urban kids.

319
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,800
They don't have that kind of environment.

320
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:30,440
So when you look back at your childhood, what were the elements that set you up to naturally

321
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:35,080
be able to move and eat well back then?

322
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:40,200
Well I think one of the things I remember my father doing, we would see McDonald's or

323
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:41,760
Burger King and say, can we go?

324
00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,040
Can we go?

325
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,400
And I might have been 10, 11, 12.

326
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:50,360
He would take the stairwell and he would pretend the car won't turn into the parking lot and

327
00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:52,600
he'd be like, oh, I'm trying to turn and it won't go.

328
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,120
And my father was like, come on, you know what you're doing.

329
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,800
But he's like, well, we can go home and make that.

330
00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,680
And we just didn't have a lot of fast food.

331
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:01,080
I just don't remember.

332
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:06,740
I think pizza might have been about it for the most part.

333
00:20:06,740 --> 00:20:10,880
Sometimes Kentucky fried chicken, but we cooked at home and because I was a Cub Scout and a

334
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:15,680
Boy Scout, I knew how to cook myself and my mom would pay me if I cooked dinner while

335
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:16,680
they were at work.

336
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So when they got home, if things were prepared, meals were prepared, I was paid for it.

337
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:27,320
So it was a way of helping out, you know, that while she and my dad were at work and

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00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,720
busy when they got home, things were prepared and ready so that they didn't have to stop

339
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and do it.

340
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,180
So I just thought it's normal.

341
00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:36,640
That's what most of my friends did.

342
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,400
That's what most of us did in the seventies and the eighties.

343
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,440
You know, it was just a different experience.

344
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Everyone had a little bit more maybe responsibility and a part of making the home run efficiently.

345
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,200
It wasn't just related or just on all the shoulders of the mom because it's mostly moms

346
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,640
who have to do everything.

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00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,440
In my personal experience, I think though by spreading it out and it also empowered

348
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,440
me like I don't need you to cook.

349
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:04,440
I can cook myself.

350
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And so when I moved or when I joined the Air Force and moved overseas, I was prepared.

351
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:10,320
I knew how to do laundry.

352
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:11,320
I knew how to cook.

353
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:12,320
I knew how to clean.

354
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:13,760
I knew how to take care of myself.

355
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:21,200
Whereas sometimes you find some of your airmen or your fellow vet or fellow military member

356
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:22,200
didn't know those things.

357
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:28,160
And so you can teach them and share your experience with them, but you can't help or hurt people

358
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,520
by preparing them like right now for any teenagers who don't know how to do their laundry and

359
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:34,280
cook and do those types of things.

360
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:39,480
I think it only would help you and make you more independent by learning those things

361
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:40,960
and doing them yourselves.

362
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:41,960
Absolutely.

363
00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:42,960
I had the same thing.

364
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,720
I mean, we were, you know, I think they call it latchkey kids in some way, but on a farm.

365
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:48,720
But yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong.

366
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,560
You know, a lot of times the parents were cooking food that we were expected to as well.

367
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,400
And if we didn't cook, then we did all the dishes and all that stuff too.

368
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,400
But again, so you're given these skills.

369
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,560
Someone on the show and I can't remember who it was.

370
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:06,880
It might've even been Dan Bornstein made it a really kind of interesting observation as

371
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:07,880
well.

372
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,840
When I was little, we had all these playing fields that you just literally walked onto

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00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,360
and you just started playing sports.

374
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:18,040
And then even the local sports center, you know, to swim was probably, you know, two

375
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:22,600
pounds or a pound 50 or, you know, it was, it was very low barrier to entry to access

376
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,160
the facilities.

377
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,880
When you look at the kind of elitism that we have in a lot of sports now, we have beautiful

378
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,960
facilities, but you've got to rent out the whole baseball field or the whole football

379
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:33,960
field.

380
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,520
So what have you seen as far as that?

381
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:42,200
The access to sports and exercise for the average person.

382
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,320
It's becoming more and more difficult.

383
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,180
Pay to play is very, very difficult.

384
00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:50,160
So I know the president's council of physical fitness, sports and nutrition.

385
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:56,080
It's one of their initiatives where they're trying to lower the barriers of access because

386
00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:02,160
there's so much research that indicates that kids who play, who are physically active do

387
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,160
well socially.

388
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,280
They do well with their mental health.

389
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,360
They do great in the classroom.

390
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:08,680
They belong to a community.

391
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,280
So that social connection is there.

392
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:14,440
But for some of them, depending on where they live, they don't have access to the field.

393
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:20,940
And, and I think that could be very disheartening in some aspects because you can imagine as

394
00:23:20,940 --> 00:23:26,040
a young kid, you're holding onto the gate, but you can't cross that gate.

395
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:27,040
You see it.

396
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:28,040
It's right there.

397
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:33,520
But because you don't have $10 or $5 to get on the field, you can't play.

398
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:39,720
And so I also know that, you know, for socially economically challenged families, it's more

399
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,600
and more difficult because they have to make big decisions about do they pay bills and

400
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:49,200
provide food or do they give money to their kids to play sports?

401
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,200
And some of the times, you know, people are making really, really difficult decisions

402
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:58,960
because if their kid is able to get noticed by a university or school and get a scholarship,

403
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,240
that can change the life projection or that can change the whole family dynamic to where

404
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,840
this kid, usually boys, are going to be able to help their family.

405
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,600
But I also think what a bunch of pressure that kid is under because if they don't do

406
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,680
well and they don't make it, you know, their family has put all these resources that they

407
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:23,880
don't have into them having the best ability or the best chance to make it.

408
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:30,800
So how we can do better, I think, are our elected officials, our elected leaders, our

409
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:35,040
community officials, our business leaders, and all those who have access or those who

410
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:39,640
can donate should help because we're going to pay one way or the other.

411
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:46,640
You know, so many folks share the story of how the Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA helped

412
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,640
them stay out of trouble, helped them stay out of gangs.

413
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,360
So paying now is cheaper.

414
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:56,880
If we pay later, that means there's probably some kind of incident with the law.

415
00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:01,200
It could be jail, it could be prison, and all the costs associated with that.

416
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:06,320
And also, you know, most people, I do think, are good people and want to do the right thing.

417
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:12,680
And so if we can give them access and abilities to do something related to sports or fitness,

418
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:13,840
and it doesn't mean they have to play.

419
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,640
Maybe they can be a participant.

420
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,160
Maybe they can be the manager of the team.

421
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,840
But that's the community that they belong to.

422
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:25,080
You know, to belong somewhere is where I think a lot of people are striving right now to

423
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,240
be part of something.

424
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,280
So we just have to keep trying because giving up is not an option.

425
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,520
We just have to figure it out.

426
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,400
And that figuring that out is different depending on where you live.

427
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:41,020
You know, living here in Northern Virginia, maybe it's a little bit easier, but maybe

428
00:25:41,020 --> 00:25:46,960
living in some parts of Vermont or North Dakota, where it's some more rural areas, it could

429
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,520
be a little bit more difficult.

430
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,280
But there is a way, I'm sure.

431
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,440
Well, I want to get to some observations and solutions when it comes to the schools.

432
00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:01,520
But before we do, because of the incredible journey that you've had as far as observing

433
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:06,240
the nation's wellness and fitness and obviously within the military, what are you seeing as

434
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,560
far as the trend for our young people school age?

435
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,280
The trend is that less and less are physically active.

436
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:21,600
Physical inactivity is increasing, and especially among young girls.

437
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,080
Why more and more people don't play?

438
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:25,880
I'm sure there are many reasons.

439
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,560
Some people, no matter what, they just don't want to participate.

440
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:29,960
Some it has to do with resources.

441
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,720
Some it has to do with their coaching.

442
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:33,720
Some with transportation.

443
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,800
If they can't get to the field, then they can't play.

444
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,560
So that's why I never like to think there's just one answer to any of this, because the

445
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,760
issues and the problems are multiple.

446
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,040
So there has to be multiple answers.

447
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,640
It might take, for instance, when I was playing basketball at Lynden High School in New Jersey,

448
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,520
Mr. Aikens, the basketball coach, drove five or six of us home.

449
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,360
In his car, this is our coach who didn't live in the same neighborhood, took the time to

450
00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:03,720
make sure that if we're under his watch and coaching with, you know, he's our coach, he's

451
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,160
going to make sure we get home.

452
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:06,560
So he drove us home.

453
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,960
So sometimes it takes a community of parents who are able to participate and help other

454
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:17,320
families and other kids who might not have the same access to make sure that they are

455
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:27,040
able to get to and from the field, the court, the pitch, the course as safely as possible.

456
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,600
So an observation that I've made many times on the show with people such as yourself,

457
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:39,240
you know, athletes, coaches, et cetera, is coming from the UK, we certainly in my era

458
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:44,360
didn't play sports at a super high level unless you were a gifted, I mean, really football

459
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:45,360
player.

460
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:47,240
That was the only one that really paid any money.

461
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,480
So the rest of us just played sports.

462
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:55,120
And then what you saw is that after we graduate high school, senior school, we call it there,

463
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,080
people keep playing sports.

464
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,840
Then I moved to the US and I always say this kind of tongue in cheek.

465
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:06,060
I kept hearing the same Uncle Rico story, you know, the same I was going to be the next

466
00:28:06,060 --> 00:28:10,440
quarterback, you know, major league, whatever, if it wasn't for my knee, my shoulder.

467
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,040
And these are, you know, mid 20s, early 30s.

468
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,920
And they're deconditioned, you know, they're overweight.

469
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,720
And again, we were talking before we hit record about identifying with your disease, with

470
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,220
your injury.

471
00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:25,760
And what I've realized now, the last, you know, especially the last seven years of really

472
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:32,720
speaking to some of these great minds is in our schools in the US, high schools and colleges,

473
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:38,280
especially, we seem to really squeeze out performance from these young men and women,

474
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,720
but more often not at the expense of their wellness.

475
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:48,880
So with that lens, you know, what are you seeing as far as playing versus winning when

476
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:51,460
it comes to our school system?

477
00:28:51,460 --> 00:28:52,460
Great question.

478
00:28:52,460 --> 00:28:58,560
So here's a guy, Tom Ferry, he's with an organization, I don't remember the name of the organization,

479
00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:03,400
but they do lots of research on youth sports and fitness and the social and mental aspects

480
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:04,460
of it.

481
00:29:04,460 --> 00:29:09,320
And some of his research indicated that kids or youth prefer to have fun.

482
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:14,920
That is their number one reason for participating in sporting activities, where coaches number

483
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,160
one reason for them is to win.

484
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:23,620
So for kids, I think it's more down like in the 30s or 40th reason why they participate

485
00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:24,620
as winning.

486
00:29:24,620 --> 00:29:29,320
There's all these other things, but fun, social connection, being with their friends, those

487
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:34,600
are all more, more the reasons why they decide to play or why they want to play.

488
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,440
And when you have a coach, now I understand it once you get to the collegiate level into

489
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:44,920
the pro level, wins and losses means paychecks, it means job security.

490
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,680
But when you're six and seven years old, so many kids are specialized already, especially

491
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:54,560
in the US, they have golf coaches and they have swing coaches and they have nutritionists

492
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,080
and they have exercise physiologists working with them at six and seven years old.

493
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:03,240
I mean, at that time, I think that social connection personally is more important.

494
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:04,240
Can you play well?

495
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:10,080
Can you play in this sandbox with other kids, let alone having a perfect swing at seven

496
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:11,180
years old?

497
00:30:11,180 --> 00:30:17,520
So I think that we have to try to find ways to incorporate more fun, more participation

498
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:23,840
and having the ability to be on the field because lots of kids are looking for their

499
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:30,240
opportunity to excel, do well, but we have to call their number.

500
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,080
We have to give them that chance to do well.

501
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:33,080
Yeah.

502
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,080
Yeah.

503
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,520
I mean, you hear that the term bench warmers, you know, a kid wants to play, let's say football,

504
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,200
for example, and then, you know, they don't.

505
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,460
So what kind of sport is that if you just sit watching the game the whole time?

506
00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:48,480
And we were talking before we hit record, you kind of mirror the same kind of perspective

507
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:49,480
of me.

508
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:54,480
I am nauseated by that whole participation trophy conversation because I've never seen

509
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,680
a group of people given a trophy for doing absolutely nothing, no work.

510
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,520
I haven't in my whole life, but that's the way it's presented.

511
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,880
And it's from people that grew up in this system where if you're not winning, you're

512
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:05,880
losing.

513
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:11,920
What is your perspective on this conversation as far as discouraging young people for simply

514
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,960
playing games and sport?

515
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:21,640
So I think, as you just said, if you're there, you're active, you're moving, you're sacrificing

516
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:27,080
your time to come to this practice, to come to this game, to come to this activity, especially

517
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,760
if you're not going to play.

518
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:36,640
Sometimes the 12th player is the most important player because that's the guy or girl that

519
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,200
we all know that they're not going to get in the game for the most part unless someone's

520
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:41,920
sick, someone's injured.

521
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:46,080
The scores are so lopsided, either you're winning big score or losing by a big score,

522
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:47,080
but they're there.

523
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,240
And they also are the best cheerleaders too.

524
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,840
So that child also needs to be recognized.

525
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:59,920
As I mentioned to you, having participation medals for some kids, it's better than having

526
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:01,680
an A on their report card.

527
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,360
It means so much to them.

528
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:09,560
So while at one time I wasn't in favor of everyone getting a ribbon or a medal, I see

529
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:10,560
it differently now.

530
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:15,320
And so I think the older I get and hopefully the wiser I am, I think you never know what

531
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:23,240
someone's going through and you never know that them being part of the team is a win,

532
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:29,920
them having that uniform is a win, but having that ribbon or saying, gosh, I was there,

533
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,720
I got that trophy too.

534
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,540
That might be something I remember when they're 45, 50 years old because it's the time maybe

535
00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:40,840
they weren't rejected.

536
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:45,040
Often like you're the last guy we pick or you're not good enough to be on the team,

537
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,040
you've been cut.

538
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:51,240
But could you imagine you're that kid, you happen to be on the team that wins the local,

539
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:55,280
the state, the regional, the divisional championship, and you were part of that team forever, you're

540
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:56,280
a champion.

541
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,280
That's pretty cool.

542
00:32:58,280 --> 00:32:59,280
100%.

543
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,640
I've made the observation.

544
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:06,080
I love mud runs, so, you know, smarts and tough mudders and, you know, you go through

545
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:08,720
all that grueling and what do you get at the end?

546
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:09,720
Participation trophy.

547
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:10,720
You get a medal and a beer.

548
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:11,720
You know, it's the same thing.

549
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:12,720
And it means so much to you.

550
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:13,720
Oh, it does.

551
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:14,720
Yeah.

552
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,520
And how many people have got, I mean, the London marathon, the Boston marathon, they

553
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,560
don't just give the winner a medal and then, sorry, you didn't win.

554
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:27,120
There's lots of people that have participation trophies for doing phenomenal things, but

555
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:28,120
that is it.

556
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,920
You showed up, you put the work in, we're recognizing that.

557
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,800
And so that we really need to let this go.

558
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,860
If there's some people out there that the kids show up and never do a day's training

559
00:33:37,860 --> 00:33:39,480
and get medals, well, of course that's wrong.

560
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:40,800
But I haven't seen that.

561
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,520
I've seen lots of kids show up and drill for their sport once, twice a week, and then play

562
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,740
a game every Saturday or Sunday.

563
00:33:46,740 --> 00:33:48,720
And only one team can win.

564
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,480
You know, so I mean, the World Cup, we all watch everyone else play.

565
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:57,880
Only one gets to actually hold the cup, but they all get recognized and, you know, get,

566
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,280
I'm sure some sort of trinket that shows that they participated.

567
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,360
So having this philosophy that if you're not going to win, then why even bother, I think

568
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,000
is so detrimental to the nation's health.

569
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,880
But you win by showing up because that's life.

570
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,000
You know, some days you're not going to feel good and you still go to work because you

571
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:15,260
show up.

572
00:34:15,260 --> 00:34:18,400
Some days you're going to be in classroom and you don't feel good and you have a headache

573
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:23,680
or you have, you know, monster hay fever or something, but you showed up and you learned

574
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:24,680
that on the pitch.

575
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,240
You learned that on the court.

576
00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:29,920
I don't, I have a sprained ankle, but I still went to practice.

577
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:31,460
I showed up.

578
00:34:31,460 --> 00:34:35,560
So when you get to work and when your boss gives you this tough assignment, when you

579
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,760
feel like quitting, you're like, when I was eight years old, I learned a lesson, you don't

580
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:40,760
quit.

581
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,100
And so I think that's the lesson sports brings to you.

582
00:34:44,100 --> 00:34:49,400
You know, that those lessons, you'll be able to continue to use way into your 50, 60.

583
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:51,440
So for the rest of your life, actually.

584
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:52,440
Yeah.

585
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:53,440
Don't quit.

586
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:54,440
You show up.

587
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,280
Never, ever, ever, ever, ever quit.

588
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,920
Now you might fall, but you don't quit.

589
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:04,960
I bought my, my sister, excuse me, bought my son a poster for his bedroom and it's Banksy,

590
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,120
the street artist from England.

591
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:12,080
And it says, if you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.

592
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,400
I mean, that's the mic drop moment and says, that's everything.

593
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:15,400
You know what I mean?

594
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:16,400
It's good.

595
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,200
You have to take a knee sometimes mental health, physical health, whatever, as long as you

596
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:20,200
get back up again.

597
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:21,200
Right.

598
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,260
And that goes back to what I had mentioned earlier about being consistent because you're

599
00:35:24,260 --> 00:35:26,320
not going to be inspired and motivated every day.

600
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,220
But if you're consistent, you consistently say, I won't quit.

601
00:35:30,220 --> 00:35:32,760
I will take a knee.

602
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:39,480
I'm not going to be able to push through today, but tomorrow you've, you've, you've released

603
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,700
the Tigris me because you kept thinking that I won't do something or I can't do something.

604
00:35:43,700 --> 00:35:48,800
So sometimes, you know, when telling someone and they won't, they can't, they're not, they're

605
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:50,620
not able to participate.

606
00:35:50,620 --> 00:35:53,800
You inspire them and motivate them and make them consistent.

607
00:35:53,800 --> 00:36:00,140
You make them say, I'll show you because, you know, we all have lots of stress and lots

608
00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:01,640
of struggles that we're going through right now.

609
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:05,640
But sometimes if you can just make somebody stay a little bit better and is it going to

610
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:11,120
the field, to the court, to the golf course for two hours, it allows them to get away

611
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:13,960
from all the other madness for a while.

612
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,720
Go do something that's enjoyable, something that's fun.

613
00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:19,840
And they have to come back to the reality, but at least they've had that mental break

614
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:25,800
for two to three hours to get the strength to get to the next, to get through the day

615
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:26,800
or to the next day.

616
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:27,800
Absolutely.

617
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,120
Well, I want to hear a couple more topics while we're on school, then we'll go back

618
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:32,440
to your specific timeline.

619
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,080
But I think this is important because this is where we change the nation's health is

620
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:37,640
with our children.

621
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:42,280
I had a great guy, Doug Orchard on the show, who wrote, who made a documentary, The Motivation

622
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:48,440
Factor and it was a high school in California that had basically kind of taken an idea from

623
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,480
the Russians and implemented a PE program.

624
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,360
And they had almost like a belt system, but it was colored shorts and the whole school

625
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:58,320
did this and they did it in teams.

626
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:04,200
So you started whatever it was, I forget now, white shorts, and then you can test.

627
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,520
And each time each tier is more and more taxing.

628
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:07,520
The top one was crazy.

629
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:13,420
It was like a three mile partner carry and seven pegboard ascents and all kinds of stuff.

630
00:37:13,420 --> 00:37:19,560
So the top tier guys all could be muscle and fitness covers any day, these 18 year olds.

631
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:23,760
And you think about it, the band or the mathematician or whatever, the kid that didn't really like

632
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:28,240
doing it very much was still in great shape.

633
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:29,920
You had the presidential fitness award.

634
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,520
You had all these incentives back then.

635
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:38,440
And as a father now, I've got a bonus boy at 22 and then my son is 16.

636
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:45,200
I've watched the kind of the devolution of PE since I've been here for 22 years.

637
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:50,320
Talk to me about that whole area of physical education in schools.

638
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:55,320
Where are we nationally and where do you think we need to go to possibly refine what we had

639
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:56,600
a few decades ago?

640
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:57,600
Sure.

641
00:37:57,600 --> 00:37:59,240
So these are my own personal thoughts.

642
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:01,240
These are no official government thoughts.

643
00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:07,640
But I always think that PE is just like when you went back to ancient Roman times and Greece

644
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:13,320
times, the Agora was the place where you learned the spiritual, the mental, the physical, and

645
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:18,480
the educational was all in this one building, but they all were part of an education.

646
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:23,680
The spiritual was important just as the physical part as the learning about math and English

647
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:28,080
or math and the language, whatever they were learning.

648
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:32,480
We've really gotten away from the physical aspect, I think.

649
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,780
And often physical education is the first program that's cut.

650
00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:41,480
So the things that I personally think we need, which is art, music, physical education are

651
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:43,880
often the programs that are cut.

652
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:45,960
And I think that there's been some research.

653
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:51,960
There was a place in Illinois, forgive me, I forgot the name, but where this PE teacher

654
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:57,840
had these kids do PE prior to going to math or their math classes.

655
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,520
And he found that their scores dramatically improved.

656
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:07,680
And there's lots of research again that shows that those kids who are physically active,

657
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,240
they do better in classrooms.

658
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:12,880
But if you're physically active, you probably will be better in band because you have a

659
00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:13,880
better stamina.

660
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:15,100
You're in better shape.

661
00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:16,760
You can march longer.

662
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:21,560
If you have that physical education part, you're probably better in math because you

663
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:22,920
have, again, better stamina.

664
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:27,160
You have fresher blood going to your brain because you've been physically active.

665
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:34,280
And so ASICS has done research about those who are gamers who exercise and are physically

666
00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:35,920
active are better gamers.

667
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:37,740
Again, they're able to last longer.

668
00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:39,280
They have clearer thoughts.

669
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,680
They're just more physically, their physical stamina is better than those who aren't.

670
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:51,040
So getting back to classrooms and schools, I think that it should be almost, I think

671
00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:52,040
it should be mandatory.

672
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,240
Now, what needs to change?

673
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:58,320
I'm not sure, but I do know that physical activity is important for the health of the

674
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:05,520
nation because the associated healthcare costs of not being active, of being obese or overweight,

675
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:11,680
having diabetes, heart issues at such young ages, we can't sustain these costs.

676
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:18,320
So maybe when you look from the backwards in, we need to cut our costs.

677
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:24,440
Exercise, cuts costs, eating better cuts costs, social connection, improves mental health.

678
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:29,960
So maybe if we can start doing those things, we will find that the solutions are going

679
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:35,740
to be tough and they won't work every way the same way.

680
00:40:35,740 --> 00:40:39,560
So what you do here in Northern Virginia might not be able to do in LA, but you find what

681
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:40,560
works in LA.

682
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:45,040
You find what works in Northern Virginia because kids are kids basically.

683
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,840
Kids are just, they're great teachers to us.

684
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,600
They don't have a lot of the hangups and the issues we have.

685
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,560
So maybe I once was at a meeting and for the president's council, physical fitness, sports

686
00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:01,160
nutrition, and one of the panelists was a young kid and he said, if it's about us, include

687
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:02,200
us.

688
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:06,760
So if we're looking for answers and solutions to kids and physical activity and sports,

689
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,360
maybe we should form these commissions and these committees where kids from all different

690
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:15,640
backgrounds and abilities are part of the reason or part of the solution.

691
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:22,000
They have a council where they have positions of authority and positions of influence where

692
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,320
they kind of tell us what will work for them because at my age, the things that I would

693
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:31,600
want to do maybe might not work right now or be something that kids want to do.

694
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:37,680
But if they tell us what motivates, inspires, and we'll get them to move, then let's do

695
00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:41,360
what works for them, not what works for Rob, what works for that kid is more important

696
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,400
than what my ego might say or what I would want to do.

697
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:51,320
So including people that we're trying to affect would be very, very impactful and powerful.

698
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:56,080
Doug was talking about how the grades went up, but also bullying went down.

699
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,660
You're having this shared suffering now and these kids are all working together in teams.

700
00:41:59,660 --> 00:42:00,920
So that was amazing.

701
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:05,960
I also had a guy from Finland who's an educator and now he tours the world talking about the

702
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:10,680
Finnish system because if you look at the scores, usually they're right at the top.

703
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,600
And again, it was looking at the holistic child and they have a lot of recess, they

704
00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:17,160
have shorter days and yet their grades are better than here.

705
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:23,920
And if you look, I think internationally, I don't think us or the UK or even top five.

706
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:29,280
So looking at some of these less is more programs and more holistically at the child and more

707
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:35,760
play and more fun in learning rather than standardized testing and eliminating PE, maybe

708
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:40,320
it's time to have some humility and ask some of these countries what they're doing so well.

709
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:41,320
Right.

710
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:47,960
So there is Miss Amy, she's a teacher and she teaches, I think it's kindergarten or

711
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:54,080
first grade and she has participated in a program called the Daily Mile for a few years.

712
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:58,480
The Daily Mile is where every day these children walk a mile.

713
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:01,880
And maybe in the beginning it might be tough for some of them because they have not, but

714
00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:06,840
by a certain point, probably four or five, six weeks in, everybody's able to do it because

715
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,080
they've done it every single day.

716
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:12,800
And Miss Amy also talked about how these kids see nature now.

717
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,880
They start talking about bugs and insects and weather and other things that they're

718
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,280
learning as they're walking, but they also start developing deeper relationships with

719
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:26,000
the fellows or the other young boys and girls that are part of their group.

720
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,600
So for example, if a certain kid's not feeling so good today, one kid can say to Miss Amy,

721
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,240
I think something's wrong with so-and-so because they're not acting the right way.

722
00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:38,920
Now these kids, again, are six, seven years old, but they have that social connection

723
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:43,080
and they feel strong enough and compassionate enough to go tell the teacher that they think

724
00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:44,200
something could be up.

725
00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:50,280
And they write me cards and letters a few times a year and it's just so inspiring just

726
00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:55,380
to see that how being physically active has brought this joy to the teacher.

727
00:43:55,380 --> 00:43:59,140
She said she learns just as much from the kids and the things they say that she's able

728
00:43:59,140 --> 00:44:04,800
to teach them, but they're moving and they're experiencing life besides just sitting in

729
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:05,800
the classroom.

730
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:09,720
There's so many different ways to learn, but they're getting their exercise in while learning,

731
00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:11,440
while making social connection.

732
00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:16,360
And part of me is very interested in seeing the research and how these kids move on because

733
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:23,800
having that foundation of physical activity in sport, does it help you continue that as

734
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:25,680
you move forward?

735
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,680
Do you continue to do it even if your school doesn't provide it?

736
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,200
And so I think that would be some great research.

737
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,240
What keeps people in the game?

738
00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:35,560
What keeps them on the field?

739
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:40,340
What keeps them physically active, especially when it's not mandatory?

740
00:44:40,340 --> 00:44:46,320
But I do know that it seems Miss Amy and her kids have a joy that was brought to them by

741
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:52,400
this connection of physical activity, sports, and this program called The Daily Mile.

742
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,960
This is an N of one, but I can give you a parent's perspective.

743
00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:01,000
My son's elementary school, which I loved, did the morning mile, same exact thing.

744
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:02,160
And I would volunteer all the time.

745
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:03,600
So I got to see it firsthand.

746
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:05,560
And for years I was known as Ty's dad.

747
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:07,280
I never got to have my own identity.

748
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:08,280
Right, right.

749
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:10,760
But that's the priest title you can have.

750
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:11,760
Exactly.

751
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:12,760
It is.

752
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:13,760
It absolutely is.

753
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:14,760
With all the titles, dad is it.

754
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:15,760
That's the best.

755
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:16,760
Exactly.

756
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:17,760
And so I was very, very proud.

757
00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:21,520
And I do like the work, I forget what they call it, career day, when I bring all my fire

758
00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:22,760
gear and talk to the kids.

759
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:27,240
And it's kind of cool with that because I talk to them about kindness and compassion.

760
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:29,280
And they're thinking to me, I was just going to talk about bad-ass fires.

761
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,760
I was like, no, you to be a good firefighter, you've got to be this, this.

762
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:35,600
And these are actionable things for an elementary school kid.

763
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:41,400
But I watched kids that were somewhat deconditioned walk and I watched kids get competitive and

764
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,040
a lot of them would run and they got tokens for every hundred laps.

765
00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:48,720
Which I think was a mile for a hundred.

766
00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:51,800
However many it was, every mile they get a token.

767
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:55,960
But I'll give you, you know, it was an observation of one, obviously I'm an athlete.

768
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:57,640
So he got to see that as well.

769
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:04,040
However, we got to middle school and he ended up joining the cross country team and then

770
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:10,860
went to high school and he was in the cross country and then joined track.

771
00:46:10,860 --> 00:46:14,960
So obviously the running, but also what was really interesting, their PE program was called

772
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:17,620
Hope in high school.

773
00:46:17,620 --> 00:46:20,480
And about three weeks in, he's like, dad, I just signed up for JROTC.

774
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:22,560
I was like, oh, okay.

775
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,120
Because we did the parent day and he had no interest in when we walked in on the first

776
00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:27,120
day.

777
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:28,120
He's like, yeah, I did PE.

778
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:29,120
It's been three weeks.

779
00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:30,120
We haven't done anything.

780
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:31,120
Just watched movies.

781
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:32,800
So, and I was like, all right, beautiful.

782
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:38,720
So I think that is, you know, a testament to that baseline of course, as a parent, but

783
00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:39,720
also the school.

784
00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:43,200
Like in that they had jump rope for heart, which is the thing that elementary school

785
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:45,000
would do the morning mile.

786
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:49,760
And then all the sports that you play when you're a young child and he enjoyed being

787
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:51,020
outside and playing.

788
00:46:51,020 --> 00:46:55,160
So when it came to, oh, I don't have to do any exercise in PE, he was like, well, this

789
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:56,160
is bullshit.

790
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:59,720
He changed to JROTC because they were getting out there.

791
00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:04,320
So like I said, N of one, but I mean, as a parent's perspective, I thought absolutely

792
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,980
it's partly attributed to that.

793
00:47:06,980 --> 00:47:11,920
And before I forget, I want to go back when we talked about schools that there are some

794
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:13,120
things that are not doing.

795
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:17,760
What I want to remind your listeners is there are some things that they are doing.

796
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:22,800
So when COVID happened, what we did not realize, where I don't think a lot of people realize,

797
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:26,960
there are some hidden heroes in the physical education department.

798
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:32,520
There are gym teachers and gym coaches and physical education folks who have been preparing

799
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:38,560
our military recruits or future recruits for basic training.

800
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:40,160
Many people didn't know they were doing this.

801
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:46,400
So what these phys ed teachers have been doing is for probably decades, they're meeting military

802
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:51,120
recruits or potential recruits before school or after school on their own time without

803
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:57,040
being paid and running them through the courses, running them through the drills, making sure

804
00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:01,880
that these young men and women are prepared and know what to expect, at least from the

805
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,920
physical fitness standpoint, when they get the basic training.

806
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:10,640
So when COVID happened, we found that how come the numbers decreased of those kids who

807
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:12,760
were really ready to get into basic?

808
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,780
How come there were more more multiskeletal injuries?

809
00:48:15,780 --> 00:48:20,460
How come they just weren't able to get up that next day or their bodies weren't able

810
00:48:20,460 --> 00:48:24,320
to get them to the third day of consistent physical fitness training?

811
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:26,480
They weren't in school.

812
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:36,080
So these PE teachers who have had this amazing, I guess, reach to these kids and making sure

813
00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:40,200
that they were ready, they weren't they weren't able because schools were closed.

814
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:45,920
And so, you know, out there, there's a whole bunch of PE teachers and coaches and all.

815
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:50,760
And so just thank you for what you've been doing, because most people don't know about

816
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:51,760
it.

817
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:53,920
But now that I know about it, I just want to say thanks.

818
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:59,000
And we appreciate what you do getting military readiness, national security recruits ready

819
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:03,520
for this demanding role that they're going to play part of and protecting our freedom.

820
00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:06,820
So continue it, please.

821
00:49:06,820 --> 00:49:09,960
Thank you for what you're doing and salute to you.

822
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:10,960
Absolutely.

823
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:16,280
Well, that's a really important point to underline is there are so many great teachers out there.

824
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:20,760
It's just us fighting for them to work in an environment that allows them to thrive.

825
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:25,120
So you've got a passionate teacher in history, and then to be able to teach history and get

826
00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:29,920
kids excited rather than, well, this is going to be on the FSA or whatever standardized

827
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:32,080
test these kids are being groomed for.

828
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:35,360
So yeah, support and our PE teachers and our music teachers and our painting teachers and

829
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:39,640
all these other incredible humans that are basically raising our children while we're

830
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:43,360
at work to give them the tools and support.

831
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:45,540
More difficult than ever being a teacher right now.

832
00:49:45,540 --> 00:49:47,280
There's just so much on them.

833
00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:52,240
They're dealing with a lot of social anxiety and the mental stress that many folks are

834
00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:54,480
under, not just the kids, also the parents.

835
00:49:54,480 --> 00:50:03,280
When you have the teacher parent conference, some of those interactions are probably pretty

836
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:05,680
tough.

837
00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:08,640
Not all of them are giving the teacher the apple.

838
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:13,880
I'm sure there's some tough conversations happening, but again, for those who are doing

839
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:18,120
what their passion is and what their love is, which is educating and teaching, thank

840
00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:23,200
you for what you're doing because our nation needs it.

841
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,600
They're out front, but they're often hidden heroes.

842
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:33,440
There are certain people like, I always say, celebrities are cool, sports stars are cool,

843
00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:37,840
but when the nation gets in trouble, we're not calling Tom Cruise, we're calling James,

844
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:42,560
we're calling military folks, we're calling our teachers and firefighters and doctors

845
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:48,400
and nurses to help us get through that tough time.

846
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:53,900
When there's these hurricanes and fires and unfortunately mass shootings, we're looking

847
00:50:53,900 --> 00:51:00,040
to the people who are running to the danger when everybody else is running from the danger.

848
00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:04,880
It's important to thank them and to recognize them for what they do because they want to

849
00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:05,880
run too.

850
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:10,560
I mean, I saw there were the fires in Hawaii and some of the firefighters, they knew their

851
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:13,120
homes were burnt up, but they didn't leave.

852
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:19,000
They were consistently showing up because that's what they had to do.

853
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:25,080
So it's important to say thank you, that's all they want because they're not looking

854
00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:26,280
for a lot of limelight.

855
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:30,000
As you know, you're a firefighter, first responder, you've saved people before.

856
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:34,720
You don't need to be in front of the television screens in a bunch of medals, you did it because

857
00:51:34,720 --> 00:51:35,720
that's what you want to do.

858
00:51:35,720 --> 00:51:41,080
So I think for all those, and I think this is your core audience, those type of people

859
00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:45,680
who are givers.

860
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:46,680
Thank you givers.

861
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:47,680
Thank you.

862
00:51:47,680 --> 00:51:52,720
So I want one more area of the school, then we'll move back to your timeline, nutrition.

863
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:56,760
So another thing, again, I could look down my nose and be like, what's wrong with these

864
00:51:56,760 --> 00:51:57,760
kids?

865
00:51:57,760 --> 00:51:58,760
Why don't they know what vegetables are and everything?

866
00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:00,260
Well, I grew up on a farm in England.

867
00:52:00,260 --> 00:52:07,360
How dare I talk for someone in a street that only has a bodega and a liquor store in Brooklyn

868
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:08,360
somewhere.

869
00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:14,480
So the schools are an amazing opportunity for us to teach kids about food and also feed

870
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:16,120
them healthy food.

871
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:21,800
What we have seen though, and even Jamie Oliver, the British chef, tried to make a dent when

872
00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:22,800
they did it.

873
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:25,800
I think he did it in the UK, but he tried to do it here as well and show that even for

874
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:28,340
the same budget, you can actually make real food.

875
00:52:28,340 --> 00:52:30,360
And we're not asking to reinvent the wheel.

876
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:35,960
It's what schools used to do before processed foods got shipped in and everything was kind

877
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:38,600
of microwaved and warmed up.

878
00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:40,480
So talk to me about that side.

879
00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:44,560
At the moment, we've got soda companies putting their vending machines in the schools.

880
00:52:44,560 --> 00:52:49,760
We've got fast food companies forcing them away into schools and colleges.

881
00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:54,720
What's your perspective of education and that captive audience and the nutrition side of

882
00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:56,900
our children?

883
00:52:56,900 --> 00:53:00,080
So for adults, let's exclude adults because they have choice.

884
00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:01,360
They can do whatever they want to do.

885
00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:08,280
So if they want to eat hamburgers and pizza and have all those things, that's up to them.

886
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:10,880
It's a little bit more difficult when you're a child though.

887
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:17,420
So for a lot of under-resourced areas, the primary source of nutrition is in school.

888
00:53:17,420 --> 00:53:23,240
So where there might be a snowstorm, certain school districts probably should close, but

889
00:53:23,240 --> 00:53:27,040
they don't close because if they closed, the kids would not eat that day.

890
00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:28,840
They would not have proper meals.

891
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:36,360
So I'm sure there's a very, very difficult and delicate subject.

892
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:40,440
I'm sure there are lobbyist groups who are working and I'm sure there's the agriculture

893
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:48,040
folks, but there's an organization called Mission Readiness that is an organization

894
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:53,920
of retired military generals and admirals and they are finding ways and looking at solutions

895
00:53:53,920 --> 00:54:02,000
to make sure that we feed our youth better because the military recruits of 2040, they're

896
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:05,680
about four or five years old right now or a little bit younger, a little bit older,

897
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:12,160
but if we don't provide them that strong foundation of good nutrition, mental health and physical

898
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:18,000
activity and social connection and the ability to think big and dream big, we're going to

899
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:23,640
be in trouble and we being the military, but also if you're not able to probably qualify

900
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:28,160
for the military, it would be difficult to be a firefighter and a first responder.

901
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:34,240
And I also think for businesses and companies, you're trying to hire healthy folks.

902
00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:39,880
So if you have an employee who's often out sick, it's very, very difficult on your company

903
00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:44,040
because there's not excess people at companies.

904
00:54:44,040 --> 00:54:47,840
So when someone's not at work, that means someone else might have to pick up their load.

905
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:51,160
But the more healthy you can have it, like corporate wellness, corporate fitness, I think

906
00:54:51,160 --> 00:54:57,520
is such an important thing nowadays to help our employees, our companies make sure that

907
00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:00,080
their people are, well, I'll say fit to fight.

908
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:04,360
I would say fit to work, fit to contribute, fit to be productive.

909
00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:12,880
And that again, it will come through like companies like Google or the Department of

910
00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:17,640
Defense, where they hire experts to teach us how to be physically fit, how to eat properly

911
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:27,280
and use these evidence-based research to get you in the top physical condition.

912
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:28,640
You'd be like an athlete.

913
00:55:28,640 --> 00:55:33,720
The military is treating our young men and women like division one athletes or pro athletes.

914
00:55:33,720 --> 00:55:37,880
Their human performance is an important component of being a successful military person.

915
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:42,760
Well, we also need to look at how do we take care of the families and the folks as they

916
00:55:42,760 --> 00:55:43,760
retire.

917
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:50,840
So nutrition is a huge component to all this, you know, eating right.

918
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:53,480
You have to be provided rocket fuel to act like a rocket.

919
00:55:53,480 --> 00:56:00,720
You can't give cheap gas to a person you want to act like a division one athlete, but that

920
00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:05,560
comes with education and not to be afraid from time to time to go have a slice of cheesecake

921
00:56:05,560 --> 00:56:07,640
and have pizza and have a hamburger and a hot dog.

922
00:56:07,640 --> 00:56:09,740
You don't have to exclude it all.

923
00:56:09,740 --> 00:56:16,400
You just have to have the majority of your diet based on the proper foods to fuel your

924
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:19,280
body and to think with the end in mind.

925
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:24,240
So Dr. Peter Italia talks about if you want to live to a hundred, you have to start preparing

926
00:56:24,240 --> 00:56:26,880
yourself right now to live to a hundred.

927
00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:33,320
Sleeping, eating, exercising, moving, all those things on a consistent basis will help

928
00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:34,800
you reach a hundred.

929
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:41,360
You can't skip for a few of those steps and think that you're going to live a healthy

930
00:56:41,360 --> 00:56:45,760
mobile life in your fifties and sixties if you haven't put in the work in your twenties,

931
00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:46,760
thirties and forties.

932
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:51,800
Well, going back to your timeline, I know you've got an interesting journey into the

933
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:55,960
military, especially when it came to interacting with the wider brothers.

934
00:56:55,960 --> 00:57:00,640
So let's kind of kind of walk me through your decision to enter the air force and then how

935
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:03,800
you came across strength and conditioning.

936
00:57:03,800 --> 00:57:04,800
Sure.

937
00:57:04,800 --> 00:57:06,480
So great question.

938
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:12,120
My family has been a part of the military since the American Revolution, every war where

939
00:57:12,120 --> 00:57:15,920
my sixth great grandfather, Pet Milner, joined.

940
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:18,680
He was in North Carolina, part of the militia there.

941
00:57:18,680 --> 00:57:21,440
My third great grandfather, it was a Confederate soldier.

942
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:25,440
So he'd probably pretty be shocked to see me.

943
00:57:25,440 --> 00:57:27,280
That's for sure to be his grandson.

944
00:57:27,280 --> 00:57:31,520
Yeah, it's, it is what it is.

945
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:36,760
But I always thought the military just seemed like such a cool thing to do.

946
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:41,240
And you know, I have family members in it now currently where I have a cousin, he's

947
00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:44,800
a fighter pilot in the air force and I have another cousin, she's a linguist in the air

948
00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:47,680
force and I have cousins who somehow they join the army.

949
00:57:47,680 --> 00:57:49,520
I don't know why they did that, but they did.

950
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:50,520
So no problem.

951
00:57:50,520 --> 00:57:55,360
Or my cousin was in the Navy and I felt sorry for him, but you know, not everyone could

952
00:57:55,360 --> 00:57:57,760
be as cool as being part of the air force.

953
00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:04,720
So you know, but jokes aside to anyone who serves our country, what a, what a, I just

954
00:58:04,720 --> 00:58:05,880
think they're special people.

955
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:07,760
They're like the best of the best of America.

956
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:13,920
So you know, it's a tough job, very, very, very demanding, but I was up for the adventure.

957
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:19,480
My first assignment, ironically, I went to Germany and England and my great uncle, his

958
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:22,520
first two assignments were Germany and England as well.

959
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:26,400
We, I had no idea knowing, you know, I didn't know this until probably after I retired,

960
00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:30,120
but it's almost like it's part of the genes.

961
00:58:30,120 --> 00:58:36,600
Another uncle who was a mom from Point Marine, you know, one of the first few black, first

962
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:39,320
black Marines.

963
00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:41,520
So it's just part of the family business.

964
00:58:41,520 --> 00:58:48,200
It's just part of what we do and what, what's cooler than that for me, you know, I think

965
00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:53,320
for those who serve our firefighters or police officers or teach, whatever you do, if you

966
00:58:53,320 --> 00:58:58,480
find that calling, you found where you belong, where you feel comfortable, you found your

967
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:02,640
community and so that was it for me.

968
00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:07,000
So my first assignment was Puma, Ereste, you're in West Germany.

969
00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:09,840
It was in the area where the battle of the Bulge was fought.

970
00:59:09,840 --> 00:59:10,840
So it was very isolated.

971
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:17,000
It was, it was on top of a ski resort called the Schwarzemann and there wasn't much to

972
00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:19,920
do but to go outside and be active and play.

973
00:59:19,920 --> 00:59:25,000
And we were in the gym often, but every month at the end of the month, this magazine called

974
00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:29,440
Muscle and Fitness, which I had been reading since I was 12 would come.

975
00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:33,200
And I always thought that's my connection to America in some aspects because from time

976
00:59:33,200 --> 00:59:38,440
to time that cable TV would go down and there was only one station in English, which was

977
00:59:38,440 --> 00:59:39,680
AFN.

978
00:59:39,680 --> 00:59:45,200
But that magazine was a way to connect with these American stars of bodybuilding and fitness

979
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:46,440
and nutrition.

980
00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:52,880
And so one Christmas, the Christmas of 1983, December, I sent Ben Weider and Joe Weider

981
00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:54,760
Christmas cards.

982
00:59:54,760 --> 00:59:59,060
Just told them, thank you for providing this magazine.

983
00:59:59,060 --> 01:00:00,060
Thanks for what you do.

984
01:00:00,060 --> 01:00:06,440
And surprising, like I heard back from both of them and I did not know, but Ben Weider

985
01:00:06,440 --> 01:00:12,520
had served in the Canadian military and he said, thank you for your card.

986
01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:15,200
Once you get back to the US, why don't you reach out to me?

987
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:20,960
And if you're interested, maybe we can find a position or something for you to do here

988
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:25,400
at Weider or within the International Federation of Bodybuilders.

989
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:33,880
So my relationship to the Weider family started in 1983 and continues to this day.

990
01:00:33,880 --> 01:00:40,440
When I was little, as I kind of transitioned into teens and it was the bodybuilding, strength

991
01:00:40,440 --> 01:00:43,000
and conditioning, what were you doing prior?

992
01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:45,680
I mean, you said you were reading muscle and fitness.

993
01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:51,160
So what was the kind of metamorphosis of strength and conditioning as you entered the military

994
01:00:51,160 --> 01:00:55,040
and then as you became more involved with the bodybuilding community?

995
01:00:55,040 --> 01:00:59,160
So I was playing softball, basketball, baseball.

996
01:00:59,160 --> 01:01:04,440
So once you moved to a place like Germany where the winters are severe and you're not

997
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:07,560
a skier, you have to find something to do indoors.

998
01:01:07,560 --> 01:01:09,120
And so for me, it was a weight room.

999
01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:14,120
So the weight room at our at our at Prummer station was an important place where it was

1000
01:01:14,120 --> 01:01:16,640
again, social connection where a lot of us came together.

1001
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:21,600
But I was able to take all these inspiring photos from the muscle and fitness books and

1002
01:01:21,600 --> 01:01:24,000
hang them up on the walls of the gym.

1003
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:27,900
And so people would come in there and be inspired and the equipment was really shoddy equipment.

1004
01:01:27,900 --> 01:01:31,320
But it was the best equipment because that's all we had.

1005
01:01:31,320 --> 01:01:37,640
But and again, going back to the Weider family, it was thanks to them, Ben and Joe, who promoted

1006
01:01:37,640 --> 01:01:45,480
physical fitness and weights at military facilities and at hospitals and at hotels and fire stations

1007
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:47,860
because before them, it wasn't common.

1008
01:01:47,860 --> 01:01:52,000
It was actually kind of taboo that you become muscle bound and people who lived at weights

1009
01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:54,240
were thought to be narcissists.

1010
01:01:54,240 --> 01:01:58,220
However, they changed it through the education and through all the things they were able

1011
01:01:58,220 --> 01:02:05,280
to do to connect people of different nationalities and races through the sport of bodybuilding.

1012
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:13,500
And they also made it acceptable and more common for fitness facilities to be located

1013
01:02:13,500 --> 01:02:15,920
on bases and in hospitals and hotels.

1014
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:20,880
So when often when I'm in a hotel somewhere, I think part of this is thanks to Ben and

1015
01:02:20,880 --> 01:02:22,360
Joe for what they did.

1016
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:24,360
Pretty cool.

1017
01:02:24,360 --> 01:02:27,360
So I know you ended up writing for some of the magazines too.

1018
01:02:27,360 --> 01:02:32,500
So what was that military lens that you would write about in in the pages?

1019
01:02:32,500 --> 01:02:39,240
So I had the good fortune of having a I think I have a PhD in and diplomacy diplomacy from

1020
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:40,240
Ben Weider.

1021
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:47,600
He was the master diplomat and he was a part of changing the apartheid system in South

1022
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:52,000
Africa because there was a movie called Pumping Iron, very, very famous movie in the bodybuilding

1023
01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:53,000
community.

1024
01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:58,640
And Ben had negotiated with their prime minister and their sports minister to have the world

1025
01:02:58,640 --> 01:03:01,560
championships of bodybuilding in South Africa.

1026
01:03:01,560 --> 01:03:06,800
However, if they would not treat all athletes the same, especially the black athletes, the

1027
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:09,300
option would be taken off the table.

1028
01:03:09,300 --> 01:03:14,000
And he had the buy in and support of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the star, the biggest

1029
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:18,840
star in bodybuilding circles, who absolutely said this is what he wants as well.

1030
01:03:18,840 --> 01:03:22,220
And if they can't do that, we're not coming.

1031
01:03:22,220 --> 01:03:27,960
So often I would ask Ben, you know, he talked to me about having a dream box like big dreams

1032
01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:34,540
you think so big and dream so big that your dreams scare you in some aspects and putting

1033
01:03:34,540 --> 01:03:35,640
them into this box.

1034
01:03:35,640 --> 01:03:40,320
And he talked about that he would dream like this, but he didn't dream about money.

1035
01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:45,840
He always dreamed about changing the world and being a positive influence and doing major

1036
01:03:45,840 --> 01:03:47,780
things through sport.

1037
01:03:47,780 --> 01:03:54,240
And so when he made that happen, later on, he was put in for the Nobel Peace Prize because

1038
01:03:54,240 --> 01:03:58,920
that was one of the cracks that break down the world of apartheid.

1039
01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:01,320
You think, what made him think he can do that?

1040
01:04:01,320 --> 01:04:06,160
Like, well, you've got to be pretty bold to think that you're going to change a system

1041
01:04:06,160 --> 01:04:09,220
that doesn't want to be changed.

1042
01:04:09,220 --> 01:04:14,360
And the following year, which would have been 1976, the first time the South African athlete

1043
01:04:14,360 --> 01:04:17,600
of the year was a black South African.

1044
01:04:17,600 --> 01:04:25,040
So it just goes to show that if you think, my new term is called a disruptor.

1045
01:04:25,040 --> 01:04:28,800
If everybody agrees and everybody does the same thing, things don't change.

1046
01:04:28,800 --> 01:04:31,680
You absolutely need somebody to pull that scab off a little bit.

1047
01:04:31,680 --> 01:04:35,560
You need somebody that can be respectful, they can be honorable, but they need to shake

1048
01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:37,000
it up a little bit.

1049
01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:38,620
And I think that's what Ben was.

1050
01:04:38,620 --> 01:04:44,440
He would disarm you when asked back with his manners and that tie and that immaculate look,

1051
01:04:44,440 --> 01:04:50,640
he was working behind the scenes and making sure that I'm going to make sure that there's

1052
01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:54,160
a good change and you would get through sport.

1053
01:04:54,160 --> 01:04:59,740
The thing he knew, you know, I don't know much about cars or medicine or electricity,

1054
01:04:59,740 --> 01:05:02,560
but I do know a bit about the military and sports.

1055
01:05:02,560 --> 01:05:06,540
So that's the way that I'm trying to make a positive change and kind of following his

1056
01:05:06,540 --> 01:05:14,160
model and his template of you could do cool things and amazing things and where your comfort

1057
01:05:14,160 --> 01:05:16,880
spot is, where your comfort zone is.

1058
01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:19,440
And his model has shown that it's possible.

1059
01:05:19,440 --> 01:05:20,720
So how do we make it continue?

1060
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,040
How do we make it happen now?

1061
01:05:23,040 --> 01:05:30,760
And that's what my goal and my mission is now with the support of a lot of my friends.

1062
01:05:30,760 --> 01:05:31,760
Beautiful.

1063
01:05:31,760 --> 01:05:33,880
Yeah, that would be de Klerk, wouldn't it?

1064
01:05:33,880 --> 01:05:36,880
The prime minister or the president at the time, South Africa, I think.

1065
01:05:36,880 --> 01:05:42,400
I'm not sure if he was, yeah, I don't remember all the names because as you get this age,

1066
01:05:42,400 --> 01:05:44,400
James things start fading.

1067
01:05:44,400 --> 01:05:49,320
I remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but the bottom part of the story is that he

1068
01:05:49,320 --> 01:05:53,920
wasn't able to make something change because he wanted to and that he was determined to

1069
01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:56,200
and because it was the right thing to do as well.

1070
01:05:56,200 --> 01:06:00,680
It's a shame he couldn't have persuaded Mandela to like squat four wheels for the front cover.

1071
01:06:00,680 --> 01:06:03,520
That would have been epic.

1072
01:06:03,520 --> 01:06:04,960
That would have been something else.

1073
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:10,600
But as you say, Mandela, Mandela says, you know, sport has the power to change the world.

1074
01:06:10,600 --> 01:06:13,920
It laughs in the face of racism and prejudice.

1075
01:06:13,920 --> 01:06:19,400
And I do think that's something, you know, sports diplomacy right now is so important.

1076
01:06:19,400 --> 01:06:23,920
And we're working on some projects that I think will help with sports diplomacy in the

1077
01:06:23,920 --> 01:06:28,400
future with some embassies here in D.C. bringing people from different backgrounds together

1078
01:06:28,400 --> 01:06:33,120
through sport, through play and making sure that there's laughter and smiles.

1079
01:06:33,120 --> 01:06:36,980
And you won because you showed up, not because you're the fastest.

1080
01:06:36,980 --> 01:06:38,760
So more to come on that later on.

1081
01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:40,600
Beautiful, I can't wait to hear about that.

1082
01:06:40,600 --> 01:06:45,680
I know I watched the World Cup last year and the final was actually I was on a cruise with

1083
01:06:45,680 --> 01:06:46,760
my wife.

1084
01:06:46,760 --> 01:06:51,200
And so, you know, we got to see all the Argentinians just losing their mind at the end of it.

1085
01:06:51,200 --> 01:06:55,800
But that's such a beautiful representation of the world.

1086
01:06:55,800 --> 01:06:59,000
And there's one thing that unifies everyone, which is a sport that they all love.

1087
01:06:59,000 --> 01:07:02,960
It could be Morocco or Cameroon or the UK or wherever.

1088
01:07:02,960 --> 01:07:06,560
And this is the power of community, the power of sport.

1089
01:07:06,560 --> 01:07:11,320
And again, you know, the other teams aren't ridiculed because they didn't win.

1090
01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:15,720
Everyone was proud to support, you know, get behind a tribe in a positive way.

1091
01:07:15,720 --> 01:07:18,560
But then when your country got knocked out, you're like, all right, who do I like?

1092
01:07:18,560 --> 01:07:21,800
And then you just start supporting Morocco because they it's their first time in a long

1093
01:07:21,800 --> 01:07:24,120
time or whatever it is.

1094
01:07:24,120 --> 01:07:25,120
Yeah.

1095
01:07:25,120 --> 01:07:27,080
So I think sport and UFC is another good example.

1096
01:07:27,080 --> 01:07:32,440
I love seeing all these these smaller nations now that are having fires coming out and,

1097
01:07:32,440 --> 01:07:35,560
you know, metaphorically and literally kicking ass.

1098
01:07:35,560 --> 01:07:36,560
Yeah.

1099
01:07:36,560 --> 01:07:41,240
And again, it just it allows you to escape the realism for a while.

1100
01:07:41,240 --> 01:07:42,720
But then you get back to it.

1101
01:07:42,720 --> 01:07:47,440
And most all athletes have dealt with failure before.

1102
01:07:47,440 --> 01:07:51,860
There are very few athletes like, you know, Michael Jordan talks about all the shots he's

1103
01:07:51,860 --> 01:07:53,780
taken and missed.

1104
01:07:53,780 --> 01:08:00,520
And Wayne Grewitzky says like you miss every shot you don't take.

1105
01:08:00,520 --> 01:08:03,840
Or there's others who say half the battle is showing up.

1106
01:08:03,840 --> 01:08:08,480
And so these are life lessons that while they pertain to these athletes, they also pertain

1107
01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:10,140
to life.

1108
01:08:10,140 --> 01:08:12,140
You miss every opportunity you don't take.

1109
01:08:12,140 --> 01:08:13,760
You have to be a risk taker.

1110
01:08:13,760 --> 01:08:15,520
Now I'm adverse to most risk.

1111
01:08:15,520 --> 01:08:19,720
I think I like the security of knowing what my day is going to be like.

1112
01:08:19,720 --> 01:08:23,320
And that's why I was able to do well in the military.

1113
01:08:23,320 --> 01:08:30,720
But to see someone like a Musk, Elon Musk or Zuckerberg or Bill Gates to have that kind

1114
01:08:30,720 --> 01:08:35,640
of ability to take failure and turn it into success.

1115
01:08:35,640 --> 01:08:39,480
Like how many times do you think that Musk was told, no, you're crazy.

1116
01:08:39,480 --> 01:08:40,480
It won't happen.

1117
01:08:40,480 --> 01:08:41,480
But he did it.

1118
01:08:41,480 --> 01:08:42,980
And now look where he's at.

1119
01:08:42,980 --> 01:08:49,480
And also with women in sports, you know, so many of them who are on the C-suite have sports

1120
01:08:49,480 --> 01:08:57,240
backgrounds because they learned about being told no to they learned how to cope with failure.

1121
01:08:57,240 --> 01:08:58,600
They learned how to communicate.

1122
01:08:58,600 --> 01:09:01,440
They learned how to work as a team.

1123
01:09:01,440 --> 01:09:08,560
And I think the stat is about 94% of the women on C-suites have a sport background, meaning

1124
01:09:08,560 --> 01:09:11,240
school or college.

1125
01:09:11,240 --> 01:09:16,200
And a friend of mine, Christy Ingram from Ernst & Young did the research on this.

1126
01:09:16,200 --> 01:09:20,600
And it's just such a powerful, I'll send you the link so that maybe you can put it in the

1127
01:09:20,600 --> 01:09:28,440
show notes for that, the power of being a part of a team and playing and being physically

1128
01:09:28,440 --> 01:09:36,600
active what it can do for you as you move forward in the business community as well.

1129
01:09:36,600 --> 01:09:38,920
Sports follows you forever.

1130
01:09:38,920 --> 01:09:40,480
So you have a unique perspective.

1131
01:09:40,480 --> 01:09:43,440
So it's an interesting question to ask you.

1132
01:09:43,440 --> 01:09:46,440
When you look at the world across fit, when I look at the world across fit, and I got

1133
01:09:46,440 --> 01:09:51,800
in somewhat earlier, I got in like 2006, I've seen an interesting kind of roller coaster

1134
01:09:51,800 --> 01:09:59,160
from its purest form that the principles of philosophies were still very front and center,

1135
01:09:59,160 --> 01:10:02,860
but we just weren't very good at it because we didn't have Olympic lifters teaching us

1136
01:10:02,860 --> 01:10:06,220
in gymnastics unless you were in that core group.

1137
01:10:06,220 --> 01:10:09,120
And then it gets into the sporting side.

1138
01:10:09,120 --> 01:10:13,000
And sadly, people kind of want to cut corners and then we're getting more injuries.

1139
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:17,120
And then now we're seeing a lot of real experts teaching us and the coaches are getting a

1140
01:10:17,120 --> 01:10:20,840
lot better and the athletes are getting more humble when we walk through the door.

1141
01:10:20,840 --> 01:10:25,240
But then again, and it's this undulation, but it is purest form.

1142
01:10:25,240 --> 01:10:26,720
I think CrossFit is phenomenal.

1143
01:10:26,720 --> 01:10:27,720
It's not everything.

1144
01:10:27,720 --> 01:10:31,780
Nothing is everything, but it's done so much, especially for the tactical world.

1145
01:10:31,780 --> 01:10:37,400
When I look at bodybuilding, the old Arnold movements, a lot of compound barbell movements,

1146
01:10:37,400 --> 01:10:39,560
still very functional.

1147
01:10:39,560 --> 01:10:45,040
And then as exercise equipment has been developed, the machines get bigger for the muscle group

1148
01:10:45,040 --> 01:10:46,740
that's getting smaller.

1149
01:10:46,740 --> 01:10:51,040
And then you look at some of the recruitments I wrote in my book about two bodybuilders

1150
01:10:51,040 --> 01:10:53,600
I watched test for the fire department.

1151
01:10:53,600 --> 01:10:57,000
And I can laugh because they were both so fucking arrogant.

1152
01:10:57,000 --> 01:11:01,860
So they really were bright orange, but I mean, couldn't make it up two flights of stairs

1153
01:11:01,860 --> 01:11:03,520
before they tapped out.

1154
01:11:03,520 --> 01:11:11,300
So you have a great exercise philosophy, some areas of bodybuilding became, or your average

1155
01:11:11,300 --> 01:11:14,440
person got very big without the functional strength.

1156
01:11:14,440 --> 01:11:18,640
We are in a world of tactical athletes where you need strength and muscular endurance and

1157
01:11:18,640 --> 01:11:20,720
endurance and mental toughness.

1158
01:11:20,720 --> 01:11:26,760
What have you seen as far as the purity of what the wide has wanted and maybe some of

1159
01:11:26,760 --> 01:11:33,140
the offshoots that actually didn't prepare people well for tactical athlete positions?

1160
01:11:33,140 --> 01:11:34,140
That's a great question.

1161
01:11:34,140 --> 01:11:37,280
But there's a difference between the bodybuilding who's a competitive athlete who's looking

1162
01:11:37,280 --> 01:11:40,760
to win stage and win medals and become a professional.

1163
01:11:40,760 --> 01:11:44,600
And those who are bodybuilders because they want to increase their mobility, increase

1164
01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:49,440
their strength and to make themselves feel better and stronger and more powerful.

1165
01:11:49,440 --> 01:11:54,960
Because muscle, you know, having muscle is a life extension is a life extension to me.

1166
01:11:54,960 --> 01:11:58,320
You know, those who are stronger, probably live longer.

1167
01:11:58,320 --> 01:11:59,880
It allows you to be more mobile.

1168
01:11:59,880 --> 01:12:04,360
It gives you a better or increased lifespan and health span.

1169
01:12:04,360 --> 01:12:07,040
So the health span is like your lifespan might be 66.

1170
01:12:07,040 --> 01:12:11,260
But if you're sick at 50, you have 16 years of being sick.

1171
01:12:11,260 --> 01:12:15,200
But if you can kind of match your lifespan and your health span to where you're safe,

1172
01:12:15,200 --> 01:12:21,000
if you were to pass at 80, you've had 79 years or 80 years of being mobile and doing what

1173
01:12:21,000 --> 01:12:26,000
you wanted to and having the strength to do your laundry, to carry that basket up and

1174
01:12:26,000 --> 01:12:29,320
down the stairs, to mow lawn if you want to.

1175
01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:33,880
Maybe because of some travel I've been doing, I was noticing how many folks are having a

1176
01:12:33,880 --> 01:12:40,680
difficult time walking at airports because the gates are so far apart and not being able

1177
01:12:40,680 --> 01:12:44,200
to carry their bags or needing assistance or just stopping.

1178
01:12:44,200 --> 01:12:46,520
And sometimes people, I can hear them saying, are you okay?

1179
01:12:46,520 --> 01:12:48,920
And they're saying, I'm just catching my breath.

1180
01:12:48,920 --> 01:12:55,280
Where you know, I think 100 years ago, everybody was mobile.

1181
01:12:55,280 --> 01:12:56,280
Everybody was moving.

1182
01:12:56,280 --> 01:12:57,680
You had to walk long distances.

1183
01:12:57,680 --> 01:12:58,680
You had to move.

1184
01:12:58,680 --> 01:12:59,680
You were chopping wood.

1185
01:12:59,680 --> 01:13:00,680
You were gathering wood.

1186
01:13:00,680 --> 01:13:03,960
You were hunting for your meal.

1187
01:13:03,960 --> 01:13:09,360
So we've probably gone from the average person might have been taking 16, 17,000 steps a

1188
01:13:09,360 --> 01:13:15,400
day to now where you can take literally less than 500 or a thousand steps a day.

1189
01:13:15,400 --> 01:13:19,840
And for hundreds of thousands of years, we were mobile, moving people.

1190
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:29,080
And now these last, say, maybe even since more like the 1920s or 30s before convenience

1191
01:13:29,080 --> 01:13:35,360
of automobiles and when we stopped having to go outside to the outhouse for bathrooms,

1192
01:13:35,360 --> 01:13:41,880
when the introduction of more, I guess, mass transit helped.

1193
01:13:41,880 --> 01:13:46,360
I remember my grandparents or older folks saying, we had to walk four miles back and

1194
01:13:46,360 --> 01:13:49,760
forth to school, eight miles a day or three or six miles a day.

1195
01:13:49,760 --> 01:13:51,680
And I don't hear about that anymore.

1196
01:13:51,680 --> 01:13:57,920
You know, most kids are biking, getting rides, not biking, taking a bus or getting a ride.

1197
01:13:57,920 --> 01:14:03,640
You don't see probably in the majority of the country where lots of kids are walking

1198
01:14:03,640 --> 01:14:05,960
over a mile and a half or two miles to school.

1199
01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:09,800
Now, there might be some areas and there might be some kids that their form of exercise and

1200
01:14:09,800 --> 01:14:10,800
what they want to do.

1201
01:14:10,800 --> 01:14:17,640
But statistics show that we are not as physically active as we used to be.

1202
01:14:17,640 --> 01:14:22,640
And so some of that just happened to be with walking to school, riding to school, playing

1203
01:14:22,640 --> 01:14:27,160
at recess, doing gym, having gym class.

1204
01:14:27,160 --> 01:14:32,320
All that physical movement has been reduced greatly and it all adds up.

1205
01:14:32,320 --> 01:14:38,700
And every week, month, year that we are less active will add up at the end.

1206
01:14:38,700 --> 01:14:45,880
So your lifespan decreases and your health span decreases because what you did in your

1207
01:14:45,880 --> 01:14:50,720
earlier years did not prepare you for a longer, more mobile life.

1208
01:14:50,720 --> 01:14:55,900
So education, we need influencers to help get the message out.

1209
01:14:55,900 --> 01:14:58,080
And we also can't shame people.

1210
01:14:58,080 --> 01:15:02,760
Like I often think, I have a friend, Alex Morrow, who shares the same thought that the

1211
01:15:02,760 --> 01:15:07,800
bravest person in the gym is probably the person who's the most out of shape because

1212
01:15:07,800 --> 01:15:13,380
they're looking at all these amazing fit bodies and folks taking videos of themselves, but

1213
01:15:13,380 --> 01:15:15,800
you don't know where they came from.

1214
01:15:15,800 --> 01:15:19,120
You know, the person who's there who looks out of shape to you might have already lost

1215
01:15:19,120 --> 01:15:21,080
a hundred or 200 pounds.

1216
01:15:21,080 --> 01:15:27,840
So for them to be there now, they are just super brave to me because they don't look

1217
01:15:27,840 --> 01:15:29,020
like everybody else.

1218
01:15:29,020 --> 01:15:35,680
So I'm sorry, my voice is breaking up, but they are the ones actually that inspire you

1219
01:15:35,680 --> 01:15:39,240
to motivate you because again, they're back to being consistent.

1220
01:15:39,240 --> 01:15:41,900
They're there day after day after day.

1221
01:15:41,900 --> 01:15:46,400
And a few months later you look at them and think, wow, they've made more improvement.

1222
01:15:46,400 --> 01:15:49,100
And I learned a lesson recently.

1223
01:15:49,100 --> 01:15:53,420
We were a friend of mine, we were in the gym and we noticed this lady and her sons working

1224
01:15:53,420 --> 01:15:55,860
out every day and she had made tremendous progress.

1225
01:15:55,860 --> 01:15:59,400
But we thought, how do we tell her that without being offensive?

1226
01:15:59,400 --> 01:16:04,040
Like saying, we're not trying to say anything fresh or anything, but we just want to say

1227
01:16:04,040 --> 01:16:05,640
great job.

1228
01:16:05,640 --> 01:16:08,200
And we decided just to do that.

1229
01:16:08,200 --> 01:16:10,720
Listen, excuse me, ma'am, can we tell you something?

1230
01:16:10,720 --> 01:16:11,880
As you know, we're here every day.

1231
01:16:11,880 --> 01:16:13,720
We say, hi, wonderful.

1232
01:16:13,720 --> 01:16:14,720
You're doing an awesome job.

1233
01:16:14,720 --> 01:16:19,840
We just want to say congratulations because you inspire us to keep us going.

1234
01:16:19,840 --> 01:16:24,520
And then you just see like big crocodile tears like, boom, here they come.

1235
01:16:24,520 --> 01:16:27,320
Like, well, I'm sorry, what did we do?

1236
01:16:27,320 --> 01:16:28,320
Nothing.

1237
01:16:28,320 --> 01:16:32,600
She just appreciated that we told her because sometimes as she said, you get frustrated.

1238
01:16:32,600 --> 01:16:34,520
You're thinking it's not a good day.

1239
01:16:34,520 --> 01:16:36,560
I didn't do what I wanted to.

1240
01:16:36,560 --> 01:16:41,320
My sons aren't listening today or they don't want to do this, but we kept coming.

1241
01:16:41,320 --> 01:16:45,400
And then for us to say something to her meant so much to her.

1242
01:16:45,400 --> 01:16:50,160
And so now when we see her in the gym, that's the biggest, brightest smile we see every

1243
01:16:50,160 --> 01:16:53,400
single day that she's just like happy that somebody acknowledged them.

1244
01:16:53,400 --> 01:16:58,000
So I thought for all the folks who are going to the fitness centers and gyms or if it's

1245
01:16:58,000 --> 01:17:03,840
at your school or your community center, when you see somebody being consistent and being

1246
01:17:03,840 --> 01:17:07,840
in there, don't have to say much to them, but just say, I see you.

1247
01:17:07,840 --> 01:17:08,840
Good job.

1248
01:17:08,840 --> 01:17:09,840
Way to go.

1249
01:17:09,840 --> 01:17:10,840
Absolutely.

1250
01:17:10,840 --> 01:17:13,400
And again, I did some great videos out there.

1251
01:17:13,400 --> 01:17:16,360
I mean, I follow a lot of people that are on their journey.

1252
01:17:16,360 --> 01:17:18,360
Some of them, you know, are done losing weight.

1253
01:17:18,360 --> 01:17:19,920
They're in phenomenal shape now.

1254
01:17:19,920 --> 01:17:24,440
And you know, even wearing their skin, the excess skin that they have now and refusing

1255
01:17:24,440 --> 01:17:25,440
to get it cut off.

1256
01:17:25,440 --> 01:17:26,600
So it reminds me of where I was.

1257
01:17:26,600 --> 01:17:27,600
And yeah, absolutely.

1258
01:17:27,600 --> 01:17:29,720
And you said the courage to go in.

1259
01:17:29,720 --> 01:17:33,920
And I think, again, most gym goers would think that way.

1260
01:17:33,920 --> 01:17:38,160
You know, it's only the few that are going to sneer and make fun of people.

1261
01:17:38,160 --> 01:17:39,400
You talked about the airport too.

1262
01:17:39,400 --> 01:17:40,400
It's funny.

1263
01:17:40,400 --> 01:17:45,000
I've actually flown a lot the last few months and I've noticed like the walkway next to

1264
01:17:45,000 --> 01:17:49,400
the what they call them, the travelators, the people movers are always completely empty.

1265
01:17:49,400 --> 01:17:51,640
The stairs are always completely empty.

1266
01:17:51,640 --> 01:17:56,160
And I'm there lugging my 5'11 bags around, but this is the problem.

1267
01:17:56,160 --> 01:17:59,960
You know, yes, the travelator when you're an 80 year old person that's trying to get

1268
01:17:59,960 --> 01:18:04,320
through Dallas, Fort Worth or some of these massive airports, Atlanta, they're going to

1269
01:18:04,320 --> 01:18:05,680
need that assistance.

1270
01:18:05,680 --> 01:18:10,000
But we've created a culture where like no one, no one was walking just on the regular

1271
01:18:10,000 --> 01:18:11,000
one.

1272
01:18:11,000 --> 01:18:14,960
Yeah, you might get there slightly faster, but you've just, you know, taken away a thousand,

1273
01:18:14,960 --> 01:18:18,880
two thousand steps by standing there, you know, on a thing that's flat.

1274
01:18:18,880 --> 01:18:19,880
It's not even going up.

1275
01:18:19,880 --> 01:18:20,880
It's flat.

1276
01:18:20,880 --> 01:18:25,400
So I think culturally, we've got a lot of work to do to get people, like you said, just

1277
01:18:25,400 --> 01:18:26,400
moving again.

1278
01:18:26,400 --> 01:18:31,640
I remember when I first moved to the States, my ex sitting there with a blinker on waiting

1279
01:18:31,640 --> 01:18:35,040
for a parking space close to the store.

1280
01:18:35,040 --> 01:18:36,200
I'm like, what are you doing?

1281
01:18:36,200 --> 01:18:37,200
Just go park over there.

1282
01:18:37,200 --> 01:18:38,740
There's loads of spaces back there.

1283
01:18:38,740 --> 01:18:40,200
But that was the cultural thing.

1284
01:18:40,200 --> 01:18:42,280
And it caused fights early on.

1285
01:18:42,280 --> 01:18:43,400
Eventually she did.

1286
01:18:43,400 --> 01:18:45,040
But this is how we're programmed.

1287
01:18:45,040 --> 01:18:47,320
It's like the path of least resistance.

1288
01:18:47,320 --> 01:18:52,560
But our culture is so freaking comfortable now that that path of least resistance is

1289
01:18:52,560 --> 01:18:54,760
almost no movement at all.

1290
01:18:54,760 --> 01:18:55,760
Right.

1291
01:18:55,760 --> 01:19:00,600
Well, you know, this is a topic that I've been sharing with some of the folks related

1292
01:19:00,600 --> 01:19:07,280
to the military, the military community, the veterans service organizations that I have

1293
01:19:07,280 --> 01:19:11,960
a friend, Dr. Reagan Stegman, and I often say that she will probably be one of the Time

1294
01:19:11,960 --> 01:19:16,600
100 most influential people one day because she's a medical doctor.

1295
01:19:16,600 --> 01:19:22,080
She practiced lifestyle medicine and it talks about how do you get the most out of yourself

1296
01:19:22,080 --> 01:19:29,840
to be a great advocate for promoting wellness and health and all the things that come with

1297
01:19:29,840 --> 01:19:36,960
that from your decreasing emotional stress and mental stress to increasing social connection

1298
01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:38,880
and spirituality.

1299
01:19:38,880 --> 01:19:43,400
But she often says that we in the military, and I think it's probably very similar for

1300
01:19:43,400 --> 01:19:48,960
firefighters, police officers, that we hire and recruit the most fit people to join our

1301
01:19:48,960 --> 01:19:54,560
forces, but by the time they retire or get out, they're the most unfit.

1302
01:19:54,560 --> 01:20:00,440
And so, for instance, there's some research that says the average weight gain for a person

1303
01:20:00,440 --> 01:20:06,200
who leaves the military, especially the retirees, is 30 pounds within a 12-month period.

1304
01:20:06,200 --> 01:20:10,160
Now some of that has to do with they no longer have that support that they had.

1305
01:20:10,160 --> 01:20:14,680
They no longer are wearing that uniform so that you didn't want your uniform to be snug.

1306
01:20:14,680 --> 01:20:19,760
So you made sure you did what you had to do, that social connection of your buddies in

1307
01:20:19,760 --> 01:20:23,400
the gym, maybe even the access to the gym depending on where they live, where they move

1308
01:20:23,400 --> 01:20:26,920
to, maybe they don't have access to such a fitness facility.

1309
01:20:26,920 --> 01:20:32,800
But what that takes them from often is from overweight to obesity, which increases by

1310
01:20:32,800 --> 01:20:38,880
two to three fold problems with their health.

1311
01:20:38,880 --> 01:20:44,400
From their backs to their knees to their hearts to their blood pressure, all suffer greatly.

1312
01:20:44,400 --> 01:20:51,220
So how do we continue to train these people or to provide them the ability and the access

1313
01:20:51,220 --> 01:20:54,240
to information to keep them healthy?

1314
01:20:54,240 --> 01:21:00,960
Because if you join the greatest team on earth, which I call the American military, you should

1315
01:21:00,960 --> 01:21:03,760
be a part or should be a player forever.

1316
01:21:03,760 --> 01:21:06,220
You never are off the team.

1317
01:21:06,220 --> 01:21:08,300
You just have a reduced role on the team.

1318
01:21:08,300 --> 01:21:11,000
So the active duty are the stars of the game.

1319
01:21:11,000 --> 01:21:13,240
They're the ones who are in the first quarter.

1320
01:21:13,240 --> 01:21:19,880
But what we as retirees and veterans are is to be supportive and be mentors and share

1321
01:21:19,880 --> 01:21:21,000
wisdom with them.

1322
01:21:21,000 --> 01:21:26,640
But we also need to have the support of our healthcare system, in my personal opinion,

1323
01:21:26,640 --> 01:21:29,140
to keep us in the game.

1324
01:21:29,140 --> 01:21:34,240
We also though will reduce healthcare costs because a healthier fit person needs less

1325
01:21:34,240 --> 01:21:38,140
time in the hospital, leads less medication.

1326
01:21:38,140 --> 01:21:44,720
And so I'm sure there's a parallel that we reduce costs by keeping people in shape, but

1327
01:21:44,720 --> 01:21:47,560
keeping people in shape, there's a cost to that.

1328
01:21:47,560 --> 01:21:52,600
The H2F, which is an army fitness program, the trainers and nutritionists, the exercise

1329
01:21:52,600 --> 01:21:54,800
physiologist, the data scientists.

1330
01:21:54,800 --> 01:22:00,200
But I think by hiring all these people and putting them in place, there's a huge return

1331
01:22:00,200 --> 01:22:02,280
on investment later on.

1332
01:22:02,280 --> 01:22:06,440
And if I'm a recruiter, just like I would for a major university, like we went to Yale

1333
01:22:06,440 --> 01:22:08,680
University and met their football coach.

1334
01:22:08,680 --> 01:22:13,440
And he said, if you give us four years of your life, we give you 40 back, meaning that

1335
01:22:13,440 --> 01:22:18,960
mentorship and ability and support and resources, they would always be there for you.

1336
01:22:18,960 --> 01:22:24,740
I think the same could be true for the military, that once you retire, you're not done.

1337
01:22:24,740 --> 01:22:28,120
We still will provide you access to these fitness facilities.

1338
01:22:28,120 --> 01:22:31,840
And if you need a nutritionist and if you need an exercise physiologist, and if you

1339
01:22:31,840 --> 01:22:37,160
need a spiritual counselor or a mental health expert, they're there for you because you

1340
01:22:37,160 --> 01:22:42,480
served and you helped protect our country and enabled us to live the lives we live.

1341
01:22:42,480 --> 01:22:45,040
So how do we make that happen?

1342
01:22:45,040 --> 01:22:50,280
Part of it is conversations, discussions, probably some bills and some laws that need

1343
01:22:50,280 --> 01:22:51,920
to be adjusted and changed.

1344
01:22:51,920 --> 01:22:57,640
But it just makes sense to me that you want them when they're young, you want to keep

1345
01:22:57,640 --> 01:23:06,000
them as they age so that we can show them that if you join this great team, you're part

1346
01:23:06,000 --> 01:23:08,720
of it forever.

1347
01:23:08,720 --> 01:23:12,280
That mirrors the fire service a lot as far as the problem.

1348
01:23:12,280 --> 01:23:14,720
And I've used the term false economy a lot.

1349
01:23:14,720 --> 01:23:19,960
We work our firefighters, which is the community that I know, into the ground.

1350
01:23:19,960 --> 01:23:25,160
And you have standing on day one, a drill ground full of arguably some of the most mentally

1351
01:23:25,160 --> 01:23:28,040
and physically resilient members of their community.

1352
01:23:28,040 --> 01:23:34,200
And then fast forward 10, 15 years and still in uniform, overweight, obese.

1353
01:23:34,200 --> 01:23:35,440
It's a deconditioning.

1354
01:23:35,440 --> 01:23:41,760
And again, taking ownership and environment into the conversation together, the sleep

1355
01:23:41,760 --> 01:23:46,600
deprivation causes so many things in the body, the hormonal disruption and the testosterone

1356
01:23:46,600 --> 01:23:49,600
breakdown and all these things that then affects motivation.

1357
01:23:49,600 --> 01:23:52,840
Now you add the massive core load and the mandatory overtime.

1358
01:23:52,840 --> 01:23:58,280
And before you know it, the cop hasn't left his car and now he's 30 pounds heavier or

1359
01:23:58,280 --> 01:24:02,560
the firefighter's pulling a steering wheel off as they get out the rig, which I've heard

1360
01:24:02,560 --> 01:24:05,440
has actually happened before.

1361
01:24:05,440 --> 01:24:11,240
So like you said, investing in strength and conditioning programs in rest and recovery,

1362
01:24:11,240 --> 01:24:16,960
like time off for our first responders, not working them into the ground.

1363
01:24:16,960 --> 01:24:23,400
The return on investment will be huge, but it takes courageous leadership to invest in

1364
01:24:23,400 --> 01:24:24,400
your people.

1365
01:24:24,400 --> 01:24:28,440
And then you talked about Google, you look at how their workweek has evolved to four,

1366
01:24:28,440 --> 01:24:30,320
nine hour days now.

1367
01:24:30,320 --> 01:24:31,960
People are just as productive in four days.

1368
01:24:31,960 --> 01:24:34,840
So we're going to do that and give them three days off.

1369
01:24:34,840 --> 01:24:39,200
But yet the first responder professions, it's always do more with less, more with less,

1370
01:24:39,200 --> 01:24:40,200
more with less.

1371
01:24:40,200 --> 01:24:43,820
And we are absolutely at a critical mass now.

1372
01:24:43,820 --> 01:24:51,400
So with the military lens, are there any programs where you're actually able to see the financial

1373
01:24:51,400 --> 01:24:59,280
gains of certain wellness or selection initiatives in the time that you work there?

1374
01:24:59,280 --> 01:25:02,560
Yes, James, great question.

1375
01:25:02,560 --> 01:25:06,880
So the military has something called the Armed Forces Wellness Centers.

1376
01:25:06,880 --> 01:25:09,760
I'm not sure how many there are there.

1377
01:25:09,760 --> 01:25:17,320
I think there's 30 or so, but it's something that there'll be more of them on the way that

1378
01:25:17,320 --> 01:25:23,480
they are your one stop shop for evidence based information related to your mental, spiritual,

1379
01:25:23,480 --> 01:25:26,960
physical health, wellness.

1380
01:25:26,960 --> 01:25:29,280
And so I have a friend, Nicole Leith, who works there.

1381
01:25:29,280 --> 01:25:34,160
She's one of the directors and she's a dynamo of promoting the services that this place

1382
01:25:34,160 --> 01:25:38,160
provides for free for those who serve or veterans, retirees.

1383
01:25:38,160 --> 01:25:43,600
As long as you have access to a military base, you can use these services.

1384
01:25:43,600 --> 01:25:50,160
And what an important, like this is so, so important, especially for families, because

1385
01:25:50,160 --> 01:25:53,920
I don't know how the traditions for military or for police officers and firefighters are,

1386
01:25:53,920 --> 01:25:59,240
but currently about 80% of those who serve in the military have a military connection,

1387
01:25:59,240 --> 01:26:03,960
meaning their father, their mother, their brother, their uncle, their cousin served.

1388
01:26:03,960 --> 01:26:08,480
Another 30%, either their mom or dad, both served.

1389
01:26:08,480 --> 01:26:13,880
So going back to again, the class of 2040, the recruits of 2040 are military kids.

1390
01:26:13,880 --> 01:26:18,540
Majority of them are military kids now on military installations who hopefully are getting

1391
01:26:18,540 --> 01:26:28,080
access to space to play, place to run, place to throw a ball, to catch a ball, to swim,

1392
01:26:28,080 --> 01:26:32,800
to climb, because our country is going to need them to become the next level or the

1393
01:26:32,800 --> 01:26:37,160
next greatest generation.

1394
01:26:37,160 --> 01:26:43,640
And so fortunately, I have the ear of some pretty influential folks who are willing to

1395
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:47,920
listen because sometimes James, I would say it's a little bit difficult without having

1396
01:26:47,920 --> 01:26:54,640
a PhD or a scientist and all this, but my goal is not to embarrass and to say, you should

1397
01:26:54,640 --> 01:26:57,080
have done this or you should have, you should have, you should have.

1398
01:26:57,080 --> 01:27:03,560
My goal is to be a disruptor in a kind and forceful way though that here is the evidence.

1399
01:27:03,560 --> 01:27:09,360
I have friends again like Reagan Stegman and Dr. Marianne Heal and Dr. Sharon Bannister,

1400
01:27:09,360 --> 01:27:14,760
Major General Sharon Bannister, who are the experts, who are the PhDs and physicians who

1401
01:27:14,760 --> 01:27:20,800
can provide the backup that I need with the evidence where I'm the mouthpiece and they're

1402
01:27:20,800 --> 01:27:27,800
the bridge to help educate our forces and our decision makers with information so that

1403
01:27:27,800 --> 01:27:29,920
we can make smart, intelligent choices.

1404
01:27:29,920 --> 01:27:32,920
And I know the Air Force is doing better with this.

1405
01:27:32,920 --> 01:27:39,960
Thanks a lot to Reagan and Dr. Keele, their leadership in this, the H2F program, Major

1406
01:27:39,960 --> 01:27:42,360
General John Klein, they're doing amazing work.

1407
01:27:42,360 --> 01:27:45,360
They're changing lives each and every day.

1408
01:27:45,360 --> 01:27:50,960
Another friend, Spencer Posey, he's with the H2F at the Tomb of the Unknown Guard.

1409
01:27:50,960 --> 01:27:56,800
Now, these are the most elite of our elite military men and women because of their appearance

1410
01:27:56,800 --> 01:28:00,120
and because of the mission that they have.

1411
01:28:00,120 --> 01:28:04,760
Their badge, the Tomb Guard badge is the second hardest badge to get in the Army and the only

1412
01:28:04,760 --> 01:28:08,480
hardest badge, or harder badge to get is the astronaut badge.

1413
01:28:08,480 --> 01:28:15,160
And so their physical fitness, the way they look, their stamina is so, so important to

1414
01:28:15,160 --> 01:28:16,440
the performance of their mission.

1415
01:28:16,440 --> 01:28:21,520
So before I forget, let me invite you to come to DC and come and see them so we can introduce

1416
01:28:21,520 --> 01:28:24,920
you to these folks because they have a great story to tell.

1417
01:28:24,920 --> 01:28:29,040
And when you see them, you think they're amazing.

1418
01:28:29,040 --> 01:28:30,960
They look, they all look like posters.

1419
01:28:30,960 --> 01:28:37,080
But I also think as speaking to them, when you see them, you think I want to be a part

1420
01:28:37,080 --> 01:28:42,320
of something like that, you know, it'd be awesome for recruiting purposes to take young

1421
01:28:42,320 --> 01:28:48,720
men and women who are considering the military for an option, a career option to go see them

1422
01:28:48,720 --> 01:28:54,240
because they are just, their precision in their, like these are people from all different

1423
01:28:54,240 --> 01:28:58,280
parts of the country who have different accents and different nationalities and they come

1424
01:28:58,280 --> 01:29:04,200
together through the training that the military provides for them and that their fellow soldiers

1425
01:29:04,200 --> 01:29:07,080
provide to them to become a well-oiled machine.

1426
01:29:07,080 --> 01:29:09,400
There's not a spoken word.

1427
01:29:09,400 --> 01:29:17,040
Their commands are timing, flicks of the heels and their personal pride of excellence.

1428
01:29:17,040 --> 01:29:22,160
So I think that, you know, when you want to be a part of something so elite like that,

1429
01:29:22,160 --> 01:29:26,800
seeing that, seeing that example is pretty important.

1430
01:29:26,800 --> 01:29:29,880
I often hear the saying, it's hard to be, but you can't see.

1431
01:29:29,880 --> 01:29:33,840
And when, when people don't get a chance to see people doing well and being excellent

1432
01:29:33,840 --> 01:29:38,640
and being physically fit, it's hard to imagine it depending on where they're from.

1433
01:29:38,640 --> 01:29:42,960
But the military can provide those examples.

1434
01:29:42,960 --> 01:29:46,520
And so, yes, getting back to your question, there are, there are programs, there are things

1435
01:29:46,520 --> 01:29:52,560
being done in the military to make sure there's a program, CHAMPUS, that provides all this

1436
01:29:52,560 --> 01:29:56,920
amazing information, all evidence-based.

1437
01:29:56,920 --> 01:30:00,720
There's a guy, J. Russell Lederman, AKA Crazy Juice.

1438
01:30:00,720 --> 01:30:08,200
He's just an awesome guy in the Navy that provides amazing data and facts to get you

1439
01:30:08,200 --> 01:30:11,880
in the best shape possible, because we're all not meant to be competitive athletes,

1440
01:30:11,880 --> 01:30:16,200
but we can get you in the best shape for the military and the services they provide can

1441
01:30:16,200 --> 01:30:19,160
get you in the best shape that you possibly can be in.

1442
01:30:19,160 --> 01:30:22,280
And it brings them joy to do it too.

1443
01:30:22,280 --> 01:30:26,200
You know, you're not paying outrageous prices for trainers and all.

1444
01:30:26,200 --> 01:30:29,760
They're doing this because they want to make sure that our community, military community

1445
01:30:29,760 --> 01:30:32,320
is healthy and fit as best as possible.

1446
01:30:32,320 --> 01:30:35,080
See, and I think that's the thing about this conversation.

1447
01:30:35,080 --> 01:30:36,080
There's no downside.

1448
01:30:36,080 --> 01:30:39,320
I'm talking about firefighter fitness and wellness.

1449
01:30:39,320 --> 01:30:44,600
Not only are we able to perform on a fire, on an extrication, on a rope rescue, whatever

1450
01:30:44,600 --> 01:30:49,520
it is, or a wildland fire, but you're also fostering that resilience for that man or

1451
01:30:49,520 --> 01:30:51,980
woman to then have a healthy retirement.

1452
01:30:51,980 --> 01:30:54,240
So there's literally no downside.

1453
01:30:54,240 --> 01:31:00,240
But what I've found is when you present this false economy argument and showing them, look,

1454
01:31:00,240 --> 01:31:04,720
you're bleeding money on medical retirements and workman's comp and overtimes and lawsuits

1455
01:31:04,720 --> 01:31:09,680
and all the things that are attached to poor performance, we just need courage.

1456
01:31:09,680 --> 01:31:12,760
We need someone just like you said, and a disruptor has been used on this show many

1457
01:31:12,760 --> 01:31:14,160
times because I agree with it.

1458
01:31:14,160 --> 01:31:18,480
Like, you know, the gloves are off and trying to have that middle of road conversation,

1459
01:31:18,480 --> 01:31:21,600
but you've got to have a little aggression as well to slap someone out of the way you've

1460
01:31:21,600 --> 01:31:23,280
always done it.

1461
01:31:23,280 --> 01:31:29,960
But investing in our people, you know, getting those young fit recruits and keeping them

1462
01:31:29,960 --> 01:31:31,640
fit through the whole way.

1463
01:31:31,640 --> 01:31:33,280
And like you said, it's not about six packs.

1464
01:31:33,280 --> 01:31:36,080
It's not about, you know, deadlifting a thousand pounds.

1465
01:31:36,080 --> 01:31:38,640
It's fostering the best version of yourself.

1466
01:31:38,640 --> 01:31:44,760
And one might be, you know, a super tiny person ends up being a phenomenal pilot.

1467
01:31:44,760 --> 01:31:47,280
Another one might be a breacher on a SEAL team.

1468
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:48,280
Who knows?

1469
01:31:48,280 --> 01:31:50,920
But we're still trying to get the best version of ourselves.

1470
01:31:50,920 --> 01:31:58,800
So we spend four or 20 years in uniform and then you end up transitioning to another important

1471
01:31:58,800 --> 01:32:02,720
role in your community and being there as a father and a grandfather or whatever role

1472
01:32:02,720 --> 01:32:04,000
you play.

1473
01:32:04,000 --> 01:32:09,320
And as you said, having a beautiful lifespan and a wellness span, not just simply getting

1474
01:32:09,320 --> 01:32:15,800
to a numerical point with no real quality of life.

1475
01:32:15,800 --> 01:32:19,080
You said it all, James.

1476
01:32:19,080 --> 01:32:22,760
But you know, there are also lots of folks out there who aren't able to say, like, we

1477
01:32:22,760 --> 01:32:24,240
can't depend on the government.

1478
01:32:24,240 --> 01:32:26,400
We can't depend on schools.

1479
01:32:26,400 --> 01:32:30,640
Sometimes you got to take it amongst yourself and say, I'm going to do something.

1480
01:32:30,640 --> 01:32:35,560
So when you mentioned about the parking, so I'm president of something called Rolling

1481
01:32:35,560 --> 01:32:41,160
Thunder Washington, D.C. and Rolling Thunder was the world's biggest one day event.

1482
01:32:41,160 --> 01:32:45,640
It's still the biggest military gathering where military men and women and supporters

1483
01:32:45,640 --> 01:32:51,320
and participants come to D.C. on Memorial Day weekend and they ride their bikes to remember

1484
01:32:51,320 --> 01:32:54,960
our prisoners of war missing in action in their families.

1485
01:32:54,960 --> 01:32:59,080
And we have up to a million people who come to this.

1486
01:32:59,080 --> 01:33:05,760
And so I have the opportunity to talk to literally thousands of veterans about various topics.

1487
01:33:05,760 --> 01:33:10,160
And the one that I've been focused on recently has been about their health, because I've

1488
01:33:10,160 --> 01:33:18,920
seen how within three to five years, a person who is upright on their bike can no longer

1489
01:33:18,920 --> 01:33:21,680
have the strength to hold that bike.

1490
01:33:21,680 --> 01:33:25,460
So now they go from a two wheeler to a trike, but they're still there.

1491
01:33:25,460 --> 01:33:31,960
What my thoughts are is how do we help our veteran community improve their physical health?

1492
01:33:31,960 --> 01:33:37,820
Because these were these men and women were human weapons systems in their early teen

1493
01:33:37,820 --> 01:33:40,380
or later teens and early twenties and thirties.

1494
01:33:40,380 --> 01:33:45,880
They were the ones who were the defenders of freedom going out there and giving all

1495
01:33:45,880 --> 01:33:52,620
to our nation, breaking down their body, really having horrific injuries.

1496
01:33:52,620 --> 01:33:55,900
But they kept coming back because this is what they wanted to do.

1497
01:33:55,900 --> 01:33:59,900
This is what they were born to do in many cases.

1498
01:33:59,900 --> 01:34:05,720
But now we need to help them understand that the next mission in life is possibly being

1499
01:34:05,720 --> 01:34:10,500
that grandma or grandpa who walks your grandson or granddaughter down the aisle.

1500
01:34:10,500 --> 01:34:12,280
Or there's a commercial here in Northern Virginia.

1501
01:34:12,280 --> 01:34:16,080
I've seen a few times where a grandpa is too tired to throw the ball, you know, like there's

1502
01:34:16,080 --> 01:34:18,640
a little grandpa, he can't get up, he's tired.

1503
01:34:18,640 --> 01:34:22,260
Well, how about if you become that grandpa or grandma where you could go kick the soccer

1504
01:34:22,260 --> 01:34:23,260
ball.

1505
01:34:23,260 --> 01:34:26,740
Now we're not asking you to play in a match, just a few kicks, just a few catches.

1506
01:34:26,740 --> 01:34:31,180
But also, if you're able to do that, you probably have the stamina and the strength now to go

1507
01:34:31,180 --> 01:34:36,740
to that concert where your grandson, granddaughter or niece or nephew is playing because you

1508
01:34:36,740 --> 01:34:43,120
feel confident and strong to walk to that stair to that to that arena.

1509
01:34:43,120 --> 01:34:45,020
Because a lot of times people are like, oh, I'm so tired.

1510
01:34:45,020 --> 01:34:49,620
Well, how about if we increase your ability to walk a few more steps every day?

1511
01:34:49,620 --> 01:34:53,660
And then at the end of the month, you can walk further and then six months later, you're

1512
01:34:53,660 --> 01:34:54,660
better off.

1513
01:34:54,660 --> 01:34:58,540
You've dropped your weight, you dropped your medication, you've increased your confidence.

1514
01:34:58,540 --> 01:35:04,940
You know, like I often hear so many older folks talk about their fear of falling.

1515
01:35:04,940 --> 01:35:12,620
You know, if they fall and there's a Dr. Huberman, I don't remember his first name, talks about

1516
01:35:12,620 --> 01:35:14,100
like the percentage.

1517
01:35:14,100 --> 01:35:18,500
If you're 65 and older and if you fall and break your hip, there's a greater percentage

1518
01:35:18,500 --> 01:35:20,340
of you dying within a year.

1519
01:35:20,340 --> 01:35:23,140
If you're 70 and break your hip, there's greater percentages.

1520
01:35:23,140 --> 01:35:28,740
But if your bones are stronger and you have muscle, while you may not be what you were

1521
01:35:28,740 --> 01:35:33,900
previously, your chances of survival are also greater because exercise being strong, being

1522
01:35:33,900 --> 01:35:37,340
physically fit is like the world's best medicine.

1523
01:35:37,340 --> 01:35:41,620
Like if there's a pill that we can take to give us the benefits of medicine, if you and

1524
01:35:41,620 --> 01:35:45,500
I own that company, we'd be trillionaires, you know.

1525
01:35:45,500 --> 01:35:52,820
But there are things we can do and being active and lifting and moving and eating well and

1526
01:35:52,820 --> 01:36:00,100
staying hydrated and sleeping are ways to increase our lifespan and health span.

1527
01:36:00,100 --> 01:36:03,180
There was a video going around social media I shared, I think a couple of times now, and

1528
01:36:03,180 --> 01:36:05,340
it was really, it was a beautiful, beautifully done.

1529
01:36:05,340 --> 01:36:09,500
It was an older gentleman, he looked like he was almost like Italian or Greek or something.

1530
01:36:09,500 --> 01:36:13,940
And he would go every day and there was this old dusty kettlebell and he would kind of

1531
01:36:13,940 --> 01:36:17,720
take it from the floor, I think he put it over his head or something.

1532
01:36:17,720 --> 01:36:20,780
And every day, and there was interaction, you know, like his daughter was trying to

1533
01:36:20,780 --> 01:36:22,380
figure out what he was doing.

1534
01:36:22,380 --> 01:36:26,460
And then at the end of the video, he picks up his granddaughter and holds her up so she

1535
01:36:26,460 --> 01:36:28,460
can put the star on the Christmas tree.

1536
01:36:28,460 --> 01:36:29,900
And that to me was everything.

1537
01:36:29,900 --> 01:36:32,700
Like you know, what we do in the gym is for real life.

1538
01:36:32,700 --> 01:36:33,700
Right.

1539
01:36:33,700 --> 01:36:34,700
That was award-winning commercial.

1540
01:36:34,700 --> 01:36:35,700
That was from Canada.

1541
01:36:35,700 --> 01:36:36,700
I've seen that before.

1542
01:36:36,700 --> 01:36:41,340
But what you just said, it's still like now I'm in the gym and at one time maybe I wanted

1543
01:36:41,340 --> 01:36:47,140
to be a certain look because of ego, but now it's more or less to make sure that my balance

1544
01:36:47,140 --> 01:36:53,580
is still there, that I can lift things from the floor to the shelf, that I can carry bags

1545
01:36:53,580 --> 01:36:54,580
or suitcases.

1546
01:36:54,580 --> 01:37:01,660
So you program your exercise routine to do real life, like things that mimic life.

1547
01:37:01,660 --> 01:37:05,860
So pressing, you know, pressing movements.

1548
01:37:05,860 --> 01:37:07,900
That's what I'm going to do is I'm going to put something in the shelf.

1549
01:37:07,900 --> 01:37:11,620
If I'm carrying my bags, maybe there's like, I think it's called a fireman something where

1550
01:37:11,620 --> 01:37:14,780
you have weights in two hands and you do a walk.

1551
01:37:14,780 --> 01:37:15,780
The farmer's walk.

1552
01:37:15,780 --> 01:37:16,780
Farmer's walk.

1553
01:37:16,780 --> 01:37:20,740
See, I'm giving credit to firemen, but it's...

1554
01:37:20,740 --> 01:37:27,080
But those type of things and just trying to maintain the strength and the balance.

1555
01:37:27,080 --> 01:37:32,380
But with all that also comes, I think you just have confidence too.

1556
01:37:32,380 --> 01:37:37,540
As Joe Weider used to say that he lifted weights because he also wanted to feel strong, you

1557
01:37:37,540 --> 01:37:42,140
know, feeling strong gives you the confidence to feel like you can overcome obstacles and

1558
01:37:42,140 --> 01:37:47,140
not be afraid that somebody is going to do something to you because you're weak.

1559
01:37:47,140 --> 01:37:54,720
And I think there's so much research that shows the importance of being strong and fit.

1560
01:37:54,720 --> 01:37:56,500
We just have to get it out.

1561
01:37:56,500 --> 01:38:02,140
We need different sources and people who look different to share that with their communities.

1562
01:38:02,140 --> 01:38:08,220
We can't all have people who are looking like pro athletes or one kind of, you know, blonde,

1563
01:38:08,220 --> 01:38:10,220
blue eyed or African-American age.

1564
01:38:10,220 --> 01:38:15,020
All of them make sense in all different sizes, all different ages, because the message will

1565
01:38:15,020 --> 01:38:16,560
be taken by those communities.

1566
01:38:16,560 --> 01:38:23,100
So we just have to make sure that we diversify our thoughts and diversify the appearance

1567
01:38:23,100 --> 01:38:27,140
of those who are promoting physical activity so that they can reach more people and more

1568
01:38:27,140 --> 01:38:28,140
masses.

1569
01:38:28,140 --> 01:38:29,420
And we have to get kids involved.

1570
01:38:29,420 --> 01:38:34,780
Again, if it's about us, include us, and we need to find ways to make sure that kids can

1571
01:38:34,780 --> 01:38:42,140
become youth physical fitness and sports ambassadors because they have part of the solution that

1572
01:38:42,140 --> 01:38:43,620
we're all looking for.

1573
01:38:43,620 --> 01:38:44,620
Absolutely.

1574
01:38:44,620 --> 01:38:49,260
Well, I want to get to transcend and transcend foundation, but just before we do, I heard

1575
01:38:49,260 --> 01:38:52,380
you on the American Legion podcast.

1576
01:38:52,380 --> 01:38:57,180
Dan Bornstein was on here a while ago and he really, you know, unpacked the national

1577
01:38:57,180 --> 01:39:04,540
security issue of, you know, obesity and deconditioning, especially in our young men and women that

1578
01:39:04,540 --> 01:39:08,680
are the eligible age to go into military, into the first responders.

1579
01:39:08,680 --> 01:39:12,700
So talk to me about the statistics of how many people are in the age group that we'd

1580
01:39:12,700 --> 01:39:16,860
normally recruit from and how many actually qualify physically for service.

1581
01:39:16,860 --> 01:39:17,860
Sure.

1582
01:39:17,860 --> 01:39:18,860
Great question.

1583
01:39:18,860 --> 01:39:27,060
So we are at the worst, I guess, the worst positioning for recruiting since 1973.

1584
01:39:27,060 --> 01:39:28,860
The end of the Vietnam War.

1585
01:39:28,860 --> 01:39:40,340
So we have between the ages of 17 to 24, 23% of the population are qualified to serve.

1586
01:39:40,340 --> 01:39:50,140
Out of that 23%, 12% go to university, are employed, have no interest in the military.

1587
01:39:50,140 --> 01:39:57,660
For 11%, they would be good candidates, but out of that 11%, only 9% actually really want

1588
01:39:57,660 --> 01:39:59,420
to go into the military.

1589
01:39:59,420 --> 01:40:03,940
Now some of this has to do with those of us who are veterans.

1590
01:40:03,940 --> 01:40:08,700
After with withdrawal of Afghanistan due to some of the benefits, you know, the struggles

1591
01:40:08,700 --> 01:40:13,540
that we have to get military benefits, some of the things that they've seen their family

1592
01:40:13,540 --> 01:40:19,140
members go through, like missing birthdays and holidays and important anniversaries that

1593
01:40:19,140 --> 01:40:23,860
they suggest to their family members or the younger family members, maybe the military

1594
01:40:23,860 --> 01:40:26,320
life is not for you.

1595
01:40:26,320 --> 01:40:28,380
So we're fighting that as well.

1596
01:40:28,380 --> 01:40:35,740
But the other part is, you know, when you see war, like we were able to see war at like

1597
01:40:35,740 --> 01:40:39,180
almost unfiltered because of our social media.

1598
01:40:39,180 --> 01:40:44,260
You know, when you see what's going on in Israel and Palestine and that you hear that

1599
01:40:44,260 --> 01:40:47,860
our troops have been sent over and that some of them have experienced, you know, where

1600
01:40:47,860 --> 01:40:54,100
missiles have hit certain things and some of them have been injured or there's potential

1601
01:40:54,100 --> 01:40:55,740
to be injured.

1602
01:40:55,740 --> 01:40:57,900
Do you want to put your life on the line for that?

1603
01:40:57,900 --> 01:41:03,860
And for many parents, some of them say, especially if it's not fighting for America, they don't

1604
01:41:03,860 --> 01:41:10,480
want their child to be, I guess, a statistic or die.

1605
01:41:10,480 --> 01:41:14,660
And I understand that as a parent myself, I understand that, but somebody, we always

1606
01:41:14,660 --> 01:41:17,560
need people to serve our country to defend what we have.

1607
01:41:17,560 --> 01:41:19,940
So how do we help that?

1608
01:41:19,940 --> 01:41:21,940
And I guess education is the key.

1609
01:41:21,940 --> 01:41:28,500
Maybe having town halls or open where we can help the recruiters by maybe getting a number

1610
01:41:28,500 --> 01:41:32,980
of parents together where we can go to a base and have them on a bus and show them the lifestyle

1611
01:41:32,980 --> 01:41:39,140
that's on these bases and maybe having a conference or a forum where we speak about real military

1612
01:41:39,140 --> 01:41:45,360
life with folks who have no idea because it's about 0.5% currently serving.

1613
01:41:45,360 --> 01:41:51,140
So during World War II, let's just say 14 to 20% of the population served, meaning if

1614
01:41:51,140 --> 01:41:55,580
it wasn't someone in your family, it was the postman, the milkman, the banker, somebody

1615
01:41:55,580 --> 01:41:57,700
was connected to the military.

1616
01:41:57,700 --> 01:42:01,180
And if they weren't connected by serving, they were either part of the industry that

1617
01:42:01,180 --> 01:42:04,860
was building the tanks and the ships and the guns.

1618
01:42:04,860 --> 01:42:08,620
And so there was just a national call to action.

1619
01:42:08,620 --> 01:42:14,100
Well, now for our last conflicts and wars, most people aren't involved and it's the same

1620
01:42:14,100 --> 01:42:18,660
families over and over and it's the same men and women, well, multiple deployments, seven,

1621
01:42:18,660 --> 01:42:20,580
eight, 10, 12 deployments.

1622
01:42:20,580 --> 01:42:27,340
So the cost is, this great cost is not spread amongst the country equally.

1623
01:42:27,340 --> 01:42:35,280
It's a small minority of people having the majority of the weight on their backs serving

1624
01:42:35,280 --> 01:42:36,280
our country.

1625
01:42:36,280 --> 01:42:41,380
So how do we educate those who don't know about the military, about the military and

1626
01:42:41,380 --> 01:42:46,700
that while this is a part, because believe the mission of the military is to prevent

1627
01:42:46,700 --> 01:42:48,460
war, to not have war.

1628
01:42:48,460 --> 01:42:52,340
But when the time comes and the commander chief says you have to go, that is our job

1629
01:42:52,340 --> 01:42:54,700
is to protect our country.

1630
01:42:54,700 --> 01:43:00,580
And so when folks don't really know much about it, fear of the unknown sometimes probably

1631
01:43:00,580 --> 01:43:06,300
prohibits them and gives them thoughts and feelings that are real in their head, but

1632
01:43:06,300 --> 01:43:13,220
maybe with a little bit of education, knowledge and I guess having the ability to talk to

1633
01:43:13,220 --> 01:43:17,300
real airmen and soldiers and guardians and sailors might be helpful as well.

1634
01:43:17,300 --> 01:43:22,420
Now everybody's not meant to serve, but you can serve different ways and serving by maybe

1635
01:43:22,420 --> 01:43:26,420
if you have a company and once a soldier or airman gets out, maybe you can provide them

1636
01:43:26,420 --> 01:43:27,820
job training.

1637
01:43:27,820 --> 01:43:31,500
Maybe you can provide them an opportunity to work in your company because these men

1638
01:43:31,500 --> 01:43:38,700
and women come with amazing leadership skills and discipline, hard work, great ability to

1639
01:43:38,700 --> 01:43:43,740
communicate, have diversity of thought, diversity of friends, diversity of diversity is just

1640
01:43:43,740 --> 01:43:44,740
the key of all this.

1641
01:43:44,740 --> 01:43:50,940
But I do think that just because you don't serve one way doesn't mean you can't serve

1642
01:43:50,940 --> 01:43:51,940
another.

1643
01:43:51,940 --> 01:43:55,460
Just saying thank you for your service is important.

1644
01:43:55,460 --> 01:44:01,540
Standing up for parades when the American Legion or the VFW walks by standing up and

1645
01:44:01,540 --> 01:44:05,220
clapping for them if you can.

1646
01:44:05,220 --> 01:44:09,940
I often think sometimes when you see a veteran, when you say thank you for your service, they

1647
01:44:09,940 --> 01:44:15,540
get a bit, I think sometimes they get a bit embarrassed because they're not looking for

1648
01:44:15,540 --> 01:44:18,540
a fanfare, but boy does it make a big difference.

1649
01:44:18,540 --> 01:44:22,020
It makes them feel good for what they did, you know.

1650
01:44:22,020 --> 01:44:28,380
And so I think it's important to have the attitude of gratitude, thanking police officers

1651
01:44:28,380 --> 01:44:33,340
and firefighters and teachers and thank you is just a powerful word.

1652
01:44:33,340 --> 01:44:34,340
It's really magical.

1653
01:44:34,340 --> 01:44:39,220
I was in Panera and I was going to offer the police officer, I said, I got you.

1654
01:44:39,220 --> 01:44:42,780
And he goes, thank you, but they already got it for me.

1655
01:44:42,780 --> 01:44:47,860
I was just glad to see that other people were thinking it doesn't cost as much to buy a

1656
01:44:47,860 --> 01:44:52,140
cup of coffee for someone for putting their life on the line for all of us.

1657
01:44:52,140 --> 01:44:56,260
So just if you can, not everybody can, but if you can, just doing those little bitty

1658
01:44:56,260 --> 01:44:57,260
things.

1659
01:44:57,260 --> 01:44:58,700
It happened to me many times.

1660
01:44:58,700 --> 01:45:03,100
I was in Alaska one time and having dinner and I was afraid of the cost because I knew

1661
01:45:03,100 --> 01:45:04,980
I went a little bit overboard.

1662
01:45:04,980 --> 01:45:07,260
So I'm thinking, oh, there's going to be a lot of money.

1663
01:45:07,260 --> 01:45:10,220
So I go to pay and they said it was already taken care of.

1664
01:45:10,220 --> 01:45:12,700
They knew you were military.

1665
01:45:12,700 --> 01:45:14,940
They didn't want any, nothing from you.

1666
01:45:14,940 --> 01:45:19,260
They just wanted to say thank you and I'm thinking, now you pay it forward.

1667
01:45:19,260 --> 01:45:21,340
So I tried to do that from time to time.

1668
01:45:21,340 --> 01:45:28,180
If I see people or veterans who wear their cap and I'll just say, they're good for whatever

1669
01:45:28,180 --> 01:45:30,680
their cost is.

1670
01:45:30,680 --> 01:45:33,620
We got them because that's how you pay it forward and show appreciation.

1671
01:45:33,620 --> 01:45:34,620
Beautiful.

1672
01:45:34,620 --> 01:45:36,500
I couldn't agree more.

1673
01:45:36,500 --> 01:45:40,340
Even with that awkwardness, we get thanks and you don't want thanks, but at the same

1674
01:45:40,340 --> 01:45:44,100
time it's that way of that person showing that they appreciate what you do.

1675
01:45:44,100 --> 01:45:47,540
So it's this kind of awkward dichotomy in a way.

1676
01:45:47,540 --> 01:45:52,380
And if I can add to that, James, if you can say thanks in front of their family or their

1677
01:45:52,380 --> 01:46:00,140
grandkids or their friends, because often it's the families that miss that person, that

1678
01:46:00,140 --> 01:46:03,420
have missed the birthday, that have missed the anniversary.

1679
01:46:03,420 --> 01:46:09,420
And so if you're able to say thanks to a woman who served our military and her husband's

1680
01:46:09,420 --> 01:46:17,340
right next to her and for her to have that from you, her husband's like, wow, it's powerful.

1681
01:46:17,340 --> 01:46:23,940
That would be just such a great way to show sincere thanks and to allow that family to

1682
01:46:23,940 --> 01:46:27,180
also appreciate what that family member does for them.

1683
01:46:27,180 --> 01:46:31,780
But for that family member or for that service member to say thank you to you too for supporting

1684
01:46:31,780 --> 01:46:34,900
me during this difficult and trying job.

1685
01:46:34,900 --> 01:46:38,700
And again, firefighters, police officers, same thing.

1686
01:46:38,700 --> 01:46:45,300
And particularly in front of kids and family members, it's a great way to show appreciation.

1687
01:46:45,300 --> 01:46:46,900
Absolutely.

1688
01:46:46,900 --> 01:46:53,380
I was just listening to US Air Force, I forget his exact title, but Morley Stone.

1689
01:46:53,380 --> 01:46:55,660
He worked a lot in the human performance side.

1690
01:46:55,660 --> 01:46:58,380
I think he was even part of DARPA for a while.

1691
01:46:58,380 --> 01:47:03,620
But I asked him the question, it was a curve ball because it wasn't directly aimed at what

1692
01:47:03,620 --> 01:47:04,860
we were talking about that day.

1693
01:47:04,860 --> 01:47:07,980
But we talk about this hiring crisis at the moment.

1694
01:47:07,980 --> 01:47:10,580
And it was interesting because it kind of talked about what you said.

1695
01:47:10,580 --> 01:47:14,420
I think 80% of the military are generational.

1696
01:47:14,420 --> 01:47:16,940
And I said, what do you think is one of the reasons?

1697
01:47:16,940 --> 01:47:19,740
And he said 20 years of war.

1698
01:47:19,740 --> 01:47:22,340
And I was like, how can you argue with that?

1699
01:47:22,340 --> 01:47:28,700
If dad, uncle, sister, mother, whoever it was, didn't just serve, but they were literally

1700
01:47:28,700 --> 01:47:31,180
deploying over and over and over again.

1701
01:47:31,180 --> 01:47:34,540
It's like I talk a lot about the fire service at the moment where these guys are working

1702
01:47:34,540 --> 01:47:39,140
56 hours a week, 80 hours with mandatory where you know, 730 in the morning, the phone rings,

1703
01:47:39,140 --> 01:47:40,140
you're about to go home.

1704
01:47:40,140 --> 01:47:42,460
They're like, no, you've got to stay for another day.

1705
01:47:42,460 --> 01:47:44,140
That comes at a cost.

1706
01:47:44,140 --> 01:47:48,980
And so I think now is the time we really kind of envelop our military, our first responders

1707
01:47:48,980 --> 01:47:51,780
and be like, okay, you've been through hell.

1708
01:47:51,780 --> 01:47:56,860
How can we start kind of looking at a slightly different lens and giving you more rest and

1709
01:47:56,860 --> 01:47:57,860
recovery?

1710
01:47:57,860 --> 01:48:02,340
And also, I mean, from a civilian looking at the military, you talked about World War

1711
01:48:02,340 --> 01:48:03,340
II.

1712
01:48:03,340 --> 01:48:06,940
We had two Iwo Jima veterans last week and it was phenomenal.

1713
01:48:06,940 --> 01:48:10,660
Very different conflict than Afghanistan or Iraq.

1714
01:48:10,660 --> 01:48:18,860
So how as a nation can we ensure that we only send our boys and girls away when is absolutely

1715
01:48:18,860 --> 01:48:25,700
necessary and we make sure that there isn't a pull from industries that make a lot of

1716
01:48:25,700 --> 01:48:29,660
money where and where at war, you know, that balance, I think is a very important conversation,

1717
01:48:29,660 --> 01:48:33,580
especially now, as you said, with the information age that we're in.

1718
01:48:33,580 --> 01:48:36,540
Yeah, I'm not sure that's way above my pay grade.

1719
01:48:36,540 --> 01:48:44,660
But my personal feeling is when you have the same folks giving and giving and giving, there's

1720
01:48:44,660 --> 01:48:49,100
some who think that if we had a draft, there probably would be a different thought about

1721
01:48:49,100 --> 01:48:54,220
sending our men and women to war because then anybody's family member is eligible or a candidate

1722
01:48:54,220 --> 01:48:55,780
or could be sent.

1723
01:48:55,780 --> 01:48:59,820
So when there isn't a draft, when there's only those who want to serve, who have signed

1724
01:48:59,820 --> 01:49:04,940
up to serve, you know, for certain families who have not had military service and that's

1725
01:49:04,940 --> 01:49:07,180
not, again, as I said, it's not for everybody.

1726
01:49:07,180 --> 01:49:09,260
They're not concerned about it as much.

1727
01:49:09,260 --> 01:49:13,820
Now they're concerned because it's American, fellow Americans going, but maybe for their

1728
01:49:13,820 --> 01:49:18,720
immediate family, they know that nothing is going to affect their family.

1729
01:49:18,720 --> 01:49:24,220
But when you know that your family member is in harm's way, you just feel different

1730
01:49:24,220 --> 01:49:25,220
about it.

1731
01:49:25,220 --> 01:49:29,660
And if you follow the news a little bit more, you're a lot more concerned about world politics

1732
01:49:29,660 --> 01:49:37,020
and that the potential pull of having American military folks get engaged because once that

1733
01:49:37,020 --> 01:49:39,940
engagement starts, when does it stop?

1734
01:49:39,940 --> 01:49:44,820
And the same folks who have been serving and who have been giving will continue to have

1735
01:49:44,820 --> 01:49:46,040
to give.

1736
01:49:46,040 --> 01:49:51,920
And when do they hit their mental breaking point and their spiritual and their physical

1737
01:49:51,920 --> 01:49:53,160
breaking point?

1738
01:49:53,160 --> 01:49:57,540
You can't keep pushing a person out there over and over and over and think you're going

1739
01:49:57,540 --> 01:50:00,260
to get the same result.

1740
01:50:00,260 --> 01:50:05,260
And that's what I often think about, particularly police or firefighters who have to see horrific

1741
01:50:05,260 --> 01:50:09,500
car crashes or fires a few times a week.

1742
01:50:09,500 --> 01:50:14,700
When does that psychological damage said, I've hit my fill?

1743
01:50:14,700 --> 01:50:21,340
For some, it's two years, for some, it's 20 and for some, I'm out within six months because

1744
01:50:21,340 --> 01:50:24,860
this is not, I didn't call for that part of the job.

1745
01:50:24,860 --> 01:50:26,300
I wanted to protect and defend.

1746
01:50:26,300 --> 01:50:31,860
I didn't want to see such horrific things, especially if you're not trained to deal with

1747
01:50:31,860 --> 01:50:35,020
some of those things that you have to see on a daily basis.

1748
01:50:35,020 --> 01:50:45,020
And so spreading the wealth and some aspects, if more and more people had to play a part

1749
01:50:45,020 --> 01:50:51,420
of protecting and serving our country, I think there would be a different way of how people

1750
01:50:51,420 --> 01:50:56,780
think about the call to fight, call to send our troops in because now your family member

1751
01:50:56,780 --> 01:50:57,780
might be a part of that.

1752
01:50:57,780 --> 01:51:02,780
Your son, your daughter, your father, your mother might be going as well.

1753
01:51:02,780 --> 01:51:04,660
And that's my personal thought.

1754
01:51:04,660 --> 01:51:11,700
Now there's just lots of research to go through and I just know that people are tired and

1755
01:51:11,700 --> 01:51:12,940
those who keep serving.

1756
01:51:12,940 --> 01:51:17,300
Can you imagine you've joined the military and you've retired and we're still at war?

1757
01:51:17,300 --> 01:51:23,500
Like you've gone, the first group in history of our country to say, I joined at this time,

1758
01:51:23,500 --> 01:51:26,700
I ended at this time and we were still at war.

1759
01:51:26,700 --> 01:51:32,460
And you don't know anything different, especially if you're a special force member or someone

1760
01:51:32,460 --> 01:51:38,920
or you're a pilot, you're a navigator, you're a maintenance worker where you're always going.

1761
01:51:38,920 --> 01:51:44,300
In some aspects it might be a bit difficult not to be so fired up all the time because

1762
01:51:44,300 --> 01:51:49,300
that adrenaline, that hyper vigilance gets you through it.

1763
01:51:49,300 --> 01:51:53,660
And could you imagine after 20 years of that, now you're asked to go sit at a job where

1764
01:51:53,660 --> 01:52:00,220
you might be in a cubicle at a desk or you might, you know, the person who is the youngest,

1765
01:52:00,220 --> 01:52:05,300
maybe not the most diplomatic or best skilled or with their kindest words is the owner,

1766
01:52:05,300 --> 01:52:11,980
the CEO, the president, and they're saying things to you that without respect or they

1767
01:52:11,980 --> 01:52:17,660
lack discipline and you almost want to, you got some choice words back, but because this

1768
01:52:17,660 --> 01:52:20,980
is your job and your profession, you don't do it.

1769
01:52:20,980 --> 01:52:22,520
And I think that is a difficult time.

1770
01:52:22,520 --> 01:52:25,820
Even my wife, when I, when I got out, she said, sometimes you might have some tough

1771
01:52:25,820 --> 01:52:34,060
times the adjustment because I was in 26 years and I thought it was, it was awesome.

1772
01:52:34,060 --> 01:52:38,700
It was just, some days you really think like, look at the cool things I get to do by serving

1773
01:52:38,700 --> 01:52:39,700
our country.

1774
01:52:39,700 --> 01:52:43,860
And if you haven't had that experience, you might not understand the military the way

1775
01:52:43,860 --> 01:52:46,500
that some of us who have served our firefighters have.

1776
01:52:46,500 --> 01:52:55,340
But to get back to your question, I think if, if we were to equally distribute the ability

1777
01:52:55,340 --> 01:53:04,580
for all of us to have a part of serving our country and those who we all had a role to

1778
01:53:04,580 --> 01:53:09,180
help protect our country and defend our freedom, I think there'd just be a different thought

1779
01:53:09,180 --> 01:53:13,780
on how we think about sending our men and women to war.

1780
01:53:13,780 --> 01:53:15,260
I couldn't agree more.

1781
01:53:15,260 --> 01:53:18,700
And I've never heard it put that way specifically, but I don't need the research.

1782
01:53:18,700 --> 01:53:20,580
You just sold me on it a hundred percent.

1783
01:53:20,580 --> 01:53:24,460
And it kind of mirrors, Sebastian Junger was on recently again.

1784
01:53:24,460 --> 01:53:27,860
And he always talks about national service and he said, it doesn't always have to be

1785
01:53:27,860 --> 01:53:28,860
military.

1786
01:53:28,860 --> 01:53:32,080
Not everyone out there is going to be a good war fighter, but you know, whatever it is,

1787
01:53:32,080 --> 01:53:36,380
some sort of volunteerism, some sort of community so that you are investing in your country

1788
01:53:36,380 --> 01:53:41,580
and you have the gratitude that seems to be missing in some areas at the moment.

1789
01:53:41,580 --> 01:53:48,540
So, and I, but, but the idea that anyone's kids could be sent, I think was, is a great,

1790
01:53:48,540 --> 01:53:51,400
great cautionary element.

1791
01:53:51,400 --> 01:53:55,800
And I think Sebastian was talking about, I think it was the Iroquois tribe.

1792
01:53:55,800 --> 01:54:00,160
They have a leader for peace and a leader for war.

1793
01:54:00,160 --> 01:54:04,140
And I love that idea, you know, because if you're kind of a warmonger and you're sending

1794
01:54:04,140 --> 01:54:07,560
other people's children, where's the checks and balances.

1795
01:54:07,560 --> 01:54:11,940
But if you have someone who's a great diplomat during peacetime and then God forbid it's

1796
01:54:11,940 --> 01:54:12,940
time to be the hammer.

1797
01:54:12,940 --> 01:54:17,200
Now, now you, you enact that and then all those well-trained young men and women go

1798
01:54:17,200 --> 01:54:18,360
do what they got to do.

1799
01:54:18,360 --> 01:54:22,980
But in the meantime, you do everything in your power to be, you know, to use diplomacy

1800
01:54:22,980 --> 01:54:28,460
and have it, you know, a force that's, that's the right word.

1801
01:54:28,460 --> 01:54:31,060
Oh my goodness, I'm blanking now.

1802
01:54:31,060 --> 01:54:35,680
You're dissuading other nations from causing any trouble, but you're also not Team America

1803
01:54:35,680 --> 01:54:38,980
World Police, that kind of, you know, middle ground there.

1804
01:54:38,980 --> 01:54:46,260
But while you were mentioning that, I thought some of the best military folks I've seen

1805
01:54:46,260 --> 01:54:53,200
have been immigrants because they come here understanding what America provides for them.

1806
01:54:53,200 --> 01:54:57,240
They understand what it has to be on the other side, depending on what their country was

1807
01:54:57,240 --> 01:54:58,240
like.

1808
01:54:58,240 --> 01:55:04,420
So they come here, but the opportunity to have the only thing that limits them is themselves.

1809
01:55:04,420 --> 01:55:07,220
It's their own hard work, their own drive, their own discipline.

1810
01:55:07,220 --> 01:55:13,340
Because in America, I was a congressional liaison and I worked off, I would travel with

1811
01:55:13,340 --> 01:55:19,300
Trent Lott, former Senator from Mississippi, and he said, in America, everything is possible.

1812
01:55:19,300 --> 01:55:24,660
That you really can dream something outrageous and it can happen here.

1813
01:55:24,660 --> 01:55:27,140
Where if you're born in certain countries, it just won't happen.

1814
01:55:27,140 --> 01:55:31,220
If you're born in the caste system, if you're born in the mountains of a certain country

1815
01:55:31,220 --> 01:55:37,800
and you, you're next in line to man that family farm that has been a generational type thing,

1816
01:55:37,800 --> 01:55:41,100
you know, your dad did it, his dad did it, now it's your turn.

1817
01:55:41,100 --> 01:55:43,620
You just can't leave it.

1818
01:55:43,620 --> 01:55:48,980
But I thought, you know, being some young folks who come from different countries, they're

1819
01:55:48,980 --> 01:55:50,140
so proud of the uniform.

1820
01:55:50,140 --> 01:55:51,740
They're so proud to be a part of it.

1821
01:55:51,740 --> 01:55:57,700
And one or two, let's see, about two years ago, I was at the White House and we were,

1822
01:55:57,700 --> 01:56:04,300
we were watching the fireworks and there was these three or four girls and they were, they

1823
01:56:04,300 --> 01:56:05,300
weren't crying.

1824
01:56:05,300 --> 01:56:10,940
There was tears and they're looking up and they're looking up and they're thinking something's

1825
01:56:10,940 --> 01:56:11,940
wrong.

1826
01:56:11,940 --> 01:56:12,940
I hope someone's not sick.

1827
01:56:12,940 --> 01:56:16,820
Well, they were so proud because wherever they were from, they were saying, could you

1828
01:56:16,820 --> 01:56:23,140
imagine, you know, we're from country X that we are at the White House.

1829
01:56:23,140 --> 01:56:24,900
We're watching fireworks.

1830
01:56:24,900 --> 01:56:26,340
We have the ability to do this.

1831
01:56:26,340 --> 01:56:31,900
And who would think that's possible?

1832
01:56:31,900 --> 01:56:33,340
I'm thinking that is so cool.

1833
01:56:33,340 --> 01:56:39,700
I wish more Americans in some aspects would think the same, but you got to be proud of

1834
01:56:39,700 --> 01:56:41,300
where you're from.

1835
01:56:41,300 --> 01:56:42,300
Absolutely.

1836
01:56:42,300 --> 01:56:43,300
Yeah.

1837
01:56:43,300 --> 01:56:47,340
And I think these conversations, this is the point is you've also got to have the courage

1838
01:56:47,340 --> 01:56:52,760
to say this is a beautiful country and these are the things that are, you know, not going

1839
01:56:52,760 --> 01:56:54,100
so well.

1840
01:56:54,100 --> 01:56:55,540
Let's challenge this.

1841
01:56:55,540 --> 01:57:01,860
You're a patriot when you do take up, you know, some sort of issue and try and be part

1842
01:57:01,860 --> 01:57:02,860
of the solution.

1843
01:57:02,860 --> 01:57:05,180
That's not being un-American, it's being American.

1844
01:57:05,180 --> 01:57:06,180
Oh yeah.

1845
01:57:06,180 --> 01:57:10,380
And Chappie James, General Chappie James, he would say, you know, while we have lots

1846
01:57:10,380 --> 01:57:15,420
of problems and issues here at America, I'll still take her to the dance.

1847
01:57:15,420 --> 01:57:16,580
And so you just figure it out.

1848
01:57:16,580 --> 01:57:20,260
You know, you keep pushing and while there are still lots of hardships and sometimes

1849
01:57:20,260 --> 01:57:22,420
you think things are going in reverse.

1850
01:57:22,420 --> 01:57:28,500
I look at kids again on the sport field and in schools and I'm thinking they got it right.

1851
01:57:28,500 --> 01:57:32,940
They're not thinking about how tall you are or what your weight is or what your color

1852
01:57:32,940 --> 01:57:36,340
is or what your, can you do X?

1853
01:57:36,340 --> 01:57:37,340
Can you kick a ball?

1854
01:57:37,340 --> 01:57:38,340
Can you catch a ball?

1855
01:57:38,340 --> 01:57:39,340
Are you good in history?

1856
01:57:39,340 --> 01:57:40,340
Can you sew?

1857
01:57:40,340 --> 01:57:41,340
Can you cook?

1858
01:57:41,340 --> 01:57:44,060
If so, come to my tribe, be a part of this.

1859
01:57:44,060 --> 01:57:49,780
I think it's sometimes us, the adults who sometimes disrupt that purity and that gentle

1860
01:57:49,780 --> 01:57:52,700
and kindness that a lot of kids often have.

1861
01:57:52,700 --> 01:57:57,100
And I also think kids have it tough too because social media is a bear that I didn't have

1862
01:57:57,100 --> 01:58:04,580
to deal with that I think sometimes for their social connection and for their mental health,

1863
01:58:04,580 --> 01:58:08,700
it'd be good to turn it off for a while.

1864
01:58:08,700 --> 01:58:09,700
Absolutely.

1865
01:58:09,700 --> 01:58:12,900
Well, I want to be mindful of your time, but I want to make sure that we do talk about

1866
01:58:12,900 --> 01:58:16,220
Transcend and the Transcend Foundation before I let you go.

1867
01:58:16,220 --> 01:58:20,700
So how did you come across Ernie and then how did you ultimately find yourself on the

1868
01:58:20,700 --> 01:58:22,380
board?

1869
01:58:22,380 --> 01:58:25,860
So Transcend was introduced to me by a friend of mine, Dan Solomon.

1870
01:58:25,860 --> 01:58:31,460
We've been friends for about 30 years and he runs Mr. Olympia and he's responsible for

1871
01:58:31,460 --> 01:58:33,540
muscle and fitness online.

1872
01:58:33,540 --> 01:58:38,820
And he provided me my column, Fit to Serve, which is the top column in the world for physical

1873
01:58:38,820 --> 01:58:43,980
fitness and first responders, military and the importance of physical activity.

1874
01:58:43,980 --> 01:58:49,300
We have about 18 million followers and we're approaching a hundred stories that we've told

1875
01:58:49,300 --> 01:58:54,580
through my with my friend Roger Lockridge, who writes the column for the most part.

1876
01:58:54,580 --> 01:59:00,180
He introduced me to Ernie because Ernie was a military person.

1877
01:59:00,180 --> 01:59:04,300
He was in the army and lived here in Virginia at one time.

1878
01:59:04,300 --> 01:59:10,020
And Ernie was coming up with a company called Transcend, which was providing peptides and

1879
01:59:10,020 --> 01:59:15,540
blood tests work and all these other things that would help optimize the health and fitness

1880
01:59:15,540 --> 01:59:18,360
of not just military members, but all members.

1881
01:59:18,360 --> 01:59:24,380
But he had a specific drive and specific mission to help those who served our country because

1882
01:59:24,380 --> 01:59:29,820
since he had gone through hardships, since he had fought for our country, since he also

1883
01:59:29,820 --> 01:59:34,180
had had some health issues, he understood the importance of providing the services.

1884
01:59:34,180 --> 01:59:40,980
And the key part of this is he provides this through his foundation or him and his wife,

1885
01:59:40,980 --> 01:59:43,540
Jen, they pay for it out of their own pocket.

1886
01:59:43,540 --> 01:59:47,420
So when we help military members, there is no cost for them.

1887
01:59:47,420 --> 01:59:53,020
The cost for them is to take the blood test, to listen to the physicians who prescribe

1888
01:59:53,020 --> 01:59:56,260
medications that might be helpful to you.

1889
01:59:56,260 --> 01:59:58,820
But out of pocket costs are none.

1890
01:59:58,820 --> 02:00:03,900
Now maybe if you continue the treatments, I mean, he can't help every single person,

1891
02:00:03,900 --> 02:00:05,700
but he does do as much as he can.

1892
02:00:05,700 --> 02:00:06,780
He provides it.

1893
02:00:06,780 --> 02:00:10,540
And our mutual friend, Brendan, he's executive director of it.

1894
02:00:10,540 --> 02:00:15,780
And I'm the vice president of our foundation where we are trying to do an outreach to military

1895
02:00:15,780 --> 02:00:16,940
folks.

1896
02:00:16,940 --> 02:00:22,880
We want to help support them and show them that your service was important, but now how

1897
02:00:22,880 --> 02:00:27,780
do we give you not a handout, but a hand up?

1898
02:00:27,780 --> 02:00:29,340
You might need a little bit of help right now.

1899
02:00:29,340 --> 02:00:32,140
You might need help with your hormones.

1900
02:00:32,140 --> 02:00:38,320
As you know, the stress in the cortisol levels of our men and women who serve in combat zones

1901
02:00:38,320 --> 02:00:39,340
is extremely high.

1902
02:00:39,340 --> 02:00:44,680
So they may have difficulties with the hormonal balance.

1903
02:00:44,680 --> 02:00:47,340
They might have problems conceiving children.

1904
02:00:47,340 --> 02:00:52,860
And again, going through blood tests and having medical expertise, this is not shoddy stuff

1905
02:00:52,860 --> 02:00:58,300
that this is not stuff that we're just done by grow science.

1906
02:00:58,300 --> 02:00:59,300
This is real science.

1907
02:00:59,300 --> 02:01:03,220
This is by real physicians, real doctors helping these folks out.

1908
02:01:03,220 --> 02:01:07,900
If we can find something that can help you be a better, more mobile, more active, more

1909
02:01:07,900 --> 02:01:11,100
connected person, then that's our goal is to help you do that.

1910
02:01:11,100 --> 02:01:12,900
So we do different charities.

1911
02:01:12,900 --> 02:01:18,420
We raise funds because again, the folks who need help don't have the money often to do

1912
02:01:18,420 --> 02:01:19,420
this.

1913
02:01:19,420 --> 02:01:26,220
But you find the magic is once you help somebody and they get back on their feet or they get

1914
02:01:26,220 --> 02:01:30,740
to a different level of success or they're able to make it, they're the first person

1915
02:01:30,740 --> 02:01:35,100
to turn around and give and donate and help you because they know what it meant to get

1916
02:01:35,100 --> 02:01:36,100
that help.

1917
02:01:36,100 --> 02:01:38,260
So they want to give back and help support those.

1918
02:01:38,260 --> 02:01:45,740
And so our goal in 2024 is not be limited by funds to the amount of help and support

1919
02:01:45,740 --> 02:01:47,140
we can give.

1920
02:01:47,140 --> 02:01:51,980
Maybe we'll do all we can to make sure that the men and women who serve our country have

1921
02:01:51,980 --> 02:01:58,620
friends and allies and transcendent and transcendent foundation to get them the help they need.

1922
02:01:58,620 --> 02:02:01,140
Sometimes it might be just an ear too.

1923
02:02:01,140 --> 02:02:06,180
We who have gone, who have served those who have fought in combat, they understand.

1924
02:02:06,180 --> 02:02:12,740
And sometimes just having somebody who understands and just has using these two things instead

1925
02:02:12,740 --> 02:02:14,460
of this one thing.

1926
02:02:14,460 --> 02:02:18,100
Sometimes just listening is an important thing of getting somebody to the next level and

1927
02:02:18,100 --> 02:02:19,660
getting them to where they need to be.

1928
02:02:19,660 --> 02:02:22,420
So it's an awesome organization.

1929
02:02:22,420 --> 02:02:23,420
We'll be doing more.

1930
02:02:23,420 --> 02:02:26,700
And often that the thing with Ernie, we have to slow him down because he'll keep trying

1931
02:02:26,700 --> 02:02:27,900
to say, what else can I do?

1932
02:02:27,900 --> 02:02:28,900
What else can you do?

1933
02:02:28,900 --> 02:02:30,380
And same with Brandon.

1934
02:02:30,380 --> 02:02:35,340
He will keep searching and finding and you can't help everybody, but we can do the most

1935
02:02:35,340 --> 02:02:36,340
we can.

1936
02:02:36,340 --> 02:02:40,180
And then we hope we can inspire and motivate other companies and other organizations to

1937
02:02:40,180 --> 02:02:44,960
do their part because when we all do something, big things can happen.

1938
02:02:44,960 --> 02:02:48,820
We can't just depend on the same folks to do everything.

1939
02:02:48,820 --> 02:02:53,380
Just like we can't just depend on the VA or our Congress or the president.

1940
02:02:53,380 --> 02:02:56,460
If we all chip in a little bit, we'll make a lot more progress.

1941
02:02:56,460 --> 02:03:01,940
So salute to those folks at the Transcend Foundation because we got big goals, big hopes,

1942
02:03:01,940 --> 02:03:05,540
big dreams ahead of us and we're going to make it happen.

1943
02:03:05,540 --> 02:03:11,460
When I came across Transcend, which is initially going around the world with Brandon and 7X,

1944
02:03:11,460 --> 02:03:15,540
immediately the penny dropped and every sponsor I got on the show is something that I use

1945
02:03:15,540 --> 02:03:19,820
and just would look someone dead in the eye and say, this is what you need.

1946
02:03:19,820 --> 02:03:24,540
And what I'd noticed was a pendulum shift from a few years ago, a firefighter would

1947
02:03:24,540 --> 02:03:30,420
go into his doctor and say, oh, your testosterone is fine because it was 253 and their scale

1948
02:03:30,420 --> 02:03:32,540
for the doctor was 250 to 950.

1949
02:03:32,540 --> 02:03:34,300
Oh, you're fine.

1950
02:03:34,300 --> 02:03:40,140
Then people start realizing, oh, this scale is from almost dead, 80 year old to high school

1951
02:03:40,140 --> 02:03:44,260
footballer of 30 year old firefighter shouldn't be down there.

1952
02:03:44,260 --> 02:03:48,180
But then you had the predatorial men's clinics popping up everywhere.

1953
02:03:48,180 --> 02:03:54,260
And then like you said, the bro science, the gym locker room, underworld stuff as well.

1954
02:03:54,260 --> 02:03:59,100
And so to me, it was like, okay, well, this is the organization that I think people need

1955
02:03:59,100 --> 02:04:00,940
to know about, need to go to.

1956
02:04:00,940 --> 02:04:05,860
And the people listening in the first responder professions sleep deprivation destroys their

1957
02:04:05,860 --> 02:04:08,060
chemistry, their biochemistry.

1958
02:04:08,060 --> 02:04:11,380
Now in an ideal world, we change their shifts, we give them more rest from recovery and a

1959
02:04:11,380 --> 02:04:14,140
lot of them are going to have huge results.

1960
02:04:14,140 --> 02:04:19,540
So but then on the flip side, for some people, it's going to happen very soon.

1961
02:04:19,540 --> 02:04:22,500
A local department of the street is about to change to the work schedule.

1962
02:04:22,500 --> 02:04:26,100
It's going to be massively beneficial for them, but a lot of people, it's going to be

1963
02:04:26,100 --> 02:04:28,100
years.

1964
02:04:28,100 --> 02:04:30,940
So in the meantime, okay, who can we send people to?

1965
02:04:30,940 --> 02:04:34,900
I transitioned out five years ago and did my blood work.

1966
02:04:34,900 --> 02:04:36,700
My testosterone actually has not been bad.

1967
02:04:36,700 --> 02:04:39,580
And my apparently my growth hormone is really good.

1968
02:04:39,580 --> 02:04:44,580
I don't know if that means anything, but I'm like, yeah, but I'm still not feeling great,

1969
02:04:44,580 --> 02:04:49,380
you know, and it's 14 years of getting my ass kicked on shifts.

1970
02:04:49,380 --> 02:04:54,920
And so I'm on peptides, I'm not on TRT, but I'm on peptides and a few other supplements.

1971
02:04:54,920 --> 02:04:56,300
And it's been amazing.

1972
02:04:56,300 --> 02:04:58,740
My joints have stopped aching as much because it wasn't injury.

1973
02:04:58,740 --> 02:05:03,020
It was inflammation, my gut biome, the brain fog.

1974
02:05:03,020 --> 02:05:04,740
And so this is what's so exciting.

1975
02:05:04,740 --> 02:05:08,460
You know, Transcend is a company, whether you go through foundation, whether you do

1976
02:05:08,460 --> 02:05:11,540
it out of pocket, it's military run.

1977
02:05:11,540 --> 02:05:15,820
You know, you've got this beautiful altruistic arm and I've seen how much Ernie donated just

1978
02:05:15,820 --> 02:05:16,820
to 7X.

1979
02:05:16,820 --> 02:05:18,140
It's actually veteran run.

1980
02:05:18,140 --> 02:05:20,740
It's veteran run because the military does it.

1981
02:05:20,740 --> 02:05:21,740
You said military run.

1982
02:05:21,740 --> 02:05:22,740
Oh, I'm sorry.

1983
02:05:22,740 --> 02:05:23,740
I missed that.

1984
02:05:23,740 --> 02:05:27,420
It's not for your listeners, they can understand that this is not the Department of Defense

1985
02:05:27,420 --> 02:05:28,740
running this organization.

1986
02:05:28,740 --> 02:05:31,540
It's veterans who are running the organization.

1987
02:05:31,540 --> 02:05:32,540
Thank you for correcting me.

1988
02:05:32,540 --> 02:05:35,220
I wasn't thinking when I was saying that word.

1989
02:05:35,220 --> 02:05:41,120
You know, so you've got this trustworthy organization with a hugely altruistic arm.

1990
02:05:41,120 --> 02:05:42,160
There is no better one.

1991
02:05:42,160 --> 02:05:44,300
So I'm not doing some QVC sales pitch.

1992
02:05:44,300 --> 02:05:45,680
I'm using it myself.

1993
02:05:45,680 --> 02:05:48,740
It's working amazing and I love the people that work there.

1994
02:05:48,740 --> 02:05:55,020
Yes, and I also think that I'm having more and more discussions with those who are active

1995
02:05:55,020 --> 02:06:00,580
duty because if there is a way, now let's get back.

1996
02:06:00,580 --> 02:06:06,460
Bro science does have some validity because I remember years ago when Creighten first

1997
02:06:06,460 --> 02:06:12,100
came out, I think a lot of folks in the military were concerned about kidney issues and muscle

1998
02:06:12,100 --> 02:06:14,620
tears and dehydration.

1999
02:06:14,620 --> 02:06:19,900
But the bro science in the gym was showing that a dramatic increase in strength.

2000
02:06:19,900 --> 02:06:23,500
And for the people that I personally knew, the only distress they were having was a bit

2001
02:06:23,500 --> 02:06:24,500
of GI gut.

2002
02:06:24,500 --> 02:06:29,500
Like sometimes they would take too much Creighten or the quality of the Creighten was lower

2003
02:06:29,500 --> 02:06:33,100
so they might have some issues with diarrhea or something.

2004
02:06:33,100 --> 02:06:37,840
But this was in healthy populations, of course.

2005
02:06:37,840 --> 02:06:44,020
But I think there might be something for the Department of Defense and firefighters and

2006
02:06:44,020 --> 02:06:49,420
law enforcement to look at into peptides in the future to see what they can do because

2007
02:06:49,420 --> 02:06:55,980
if I am an active duty person and I am destroying my body, I would like the biggest arsenal

2008
02:06:55,980 --> 02:07:01,740
under my belt being supplements and sleep and mental health and exercising and all these

2009
02:07:01,740 --> 02:07:02,740
things that I can use.

2010
02:07:02,740 --> 02:07:07,640
And if there are some supplements that the physicians and the evidence proves that these

2011
02:07:07,640 --> 02:07:13,980
will be beneficial to my success, then it's something I'm going to take.

2012
02:07:13,980 --> 02:07:15,940
This is where I go back to the disruptor.

2013
02:07:15,940 --> 02:07:22,340
I would think probably a lot of folks in the military might not say we're not ready for

2014
02:07:22,340 --> 02:07:23,340
peptides yet.

2015
02:07:23,340 --> 02:07:27,380
However, there were some bold doctors and physicians back in the early 90s and said

2016
02:07:27,380 --> 02:07:29,940
Creighten is so researched.

2017
02:07:29,940 --> 02:07:34,780
It's probably the most researched supplement in the world where I think Olympic athletes

2018
02:07:34,780 --> 02:07:39,180
are using it for the most part without any issues that maybe we need to look forward.

2019
02:07:39,180 --> 02:07:41,760
Maybe peptides aren't something we're going to use in 2024.

2020
02:07:41,760 --> 02:07:48,860
But maybe with more research, data scientists involvement in 2028, 2029, this might be something

2021
02:07:48,860 --> 02:07:53,700
that those who require them and who need them, maybe the military might have a role.

2022
02:07:53,700 --> 02:07:55,660
Now this is no military affiliation.

2023
02:07:55,660 --> 02:07:58,960
They're saying it's my thoughts, my personal thoughts.

2024
02:07:58,960 --> 02:08:05,380
But again, trying to make people healthier, more fit, more mobile, more active.

2025
02:08:05,380 --> 02:08:10,860
We might have to start looking beyond what we thought what the norm was because the norms

2026
02:08:10,860 --> 02:08:13,460
are going to be changing.

2027
02:08:13,460 --> 02:08:15,740
And the only thing that is constant is change.

2028
02:08:15,740 --> 02:08:20,220
So when we keep thinking that how do we get better, bigger, faster, stronger, maybe some

2029
02:08:20,220 --> 02:08:24,020
of the things that are down the pipeline and some things that we're not so sure about now

2030
02:08:24,020 --> 02:08:31,340
with more research, more evidence that we might find that they may not are but may be

2031
02:08:31,340 --> 02:08:32,340
beneficial.

2032
02:08:32,340 --> 02:08:33,340
Absolutely.

2033
02:08:33,340 --> 02:08:36,920
Well, you talked about your friend at Muscle and Fitness.

2034
02:08:36,920 --> 02:08:41,180
Just very quickly, the reason I'm an American firefighter is because of Muscle and Fitness.

2035
02:08:41,180 --> 02:08:45,180
So I was told as a young boy that I was colorblind, I could never be a firefighter.

2036
02:08:45,180 --> 02:08:48,100
And I want to be a firefighter, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a stuntman when I was

2037
02:08:48,100 --> 02:08:49,100
young.

2038
02:08:49,100 --> 02:08:53,660
And very long story, very short, years go by, I become a stuntman, moved to America

2039
02:08:53,660 --> 02:08:55,700
after marrying an American.

2040
02:08:55,700 --> 02:09:01,380
And then I'm literally in London about a week before I'm going to get on the plane to immigrate

2041
02:09:01,380 --> 02:09:02,580
here.

2042
02:09:02,580 --> 02:09:07,380
And it's a Muscle and Fitness episode with a Miami-Dade firefighter and they're talking

2043
02:09:07,380 --> 02:09:12,380
about an overseas in good shape, but the role of the firefighter paramedic in America.

2044
02:09:12,380 --> 02:09:13,380
And it just kind of lit a fire.

2045
02:09:13,380 --> 02:09:14,700
And I'm like, I'm not bloody colorblind.

2046
02:09:14,700 --> 02:09:16,000
I can see colors.

2047
02:09:16,000 --> 02:09:17,540
I'm not perfect, but I can.

2048
02:09:17,540 --> 02:09:21,580
And so I ended up challenging the test and had a full career.

2049
02:09:21,580 --> 02:09:26,660
So I read that for a long time and I will literally attribute that to my realization

2050
02:09:26,660 --> 02:09:32,180
that I need to challenge again to be the disruptor on this medical thing.

2051
02:09:32,180 --> 02:09:36,820
I was talking to Brendan, one of the things that he said as well is that in the bodybuilding

2052
02:09:36,820 --> 02:09:41,180
community, which obviously Muscle and Fitness and Flex, that's a large group that's reading

2053
02:09:41,180 --> 02:09:42,180
that.

2054
02:09:42,180 --> 02:09:47,220
And we've seen this obviously in wrestlers and some of the other types of people that

2055
02:09:47,220 --> 02:09:52,500
are also bodybuild is the lack of longevity, a lot of disease in large hearts, et cetera,

2056
02:09:52,500 --> 02:09:53,500
et cetera.

2057
02:09:53,500 --> 02:09:58,900
Now I know Phil Heath is a big part of Transcend now as well from purely the bodybuilding world.

2058
02:09:58,900 --> 02:10:05,540
Now talk to me about Transcend and trying to remove the, not even some of the bro science

2059
02:10:05,540 --> 02:10:09,500
is the wrong word, the locker room purchases and trying to get the men and women that want

2060
02:10:09,500 --> 02:10:16,700
to get into the sport of bodybuilding also on the healthy clinical TRT and peptides and

2061
02:10:16,700 --> 02:10:19,700
the things that they're trying to get.

2062
02:10:19,700 --> 02:10:21,860
So knowledge and education.

2063
02:10:21,860 --> 02:10:26,960
They're not even saying that use our products, but maybe get educated in this.

2064
02:10:26,960 --> 02:10:31,700
If you're going to do, the more you know, the stronger, the fitter, the better you'll

2065
02:10:31,700 --> 02:10:32,700
be.

2066
02:10:32,700 --> 02:10:36,060
So if you haven't had blood work done before, get it done.

2067
02:10:36,060 --> 02:10:41,940
If you don't know about certain things, here are resources, here are websites, here are

2068
02:10:41,940 --> 02:10:46,540
sites that they're not providing information because the source is paying for it.

2069
02:10:46,540 --> 02:10:51,940
You want, again, evidence-based research that tells you why or why you should not be involved

2070
02:10:51,940 --> 02:10:53,100
in things.

2071
02:10:53,100 --> 02:10:56,860
And it's very tricky now because there's so much information out there.

2072
02:10:56,860 --> 02:11:00,700
There's great information and there's horrible information and the horrible information sometimes

2073
02:11:00,700 --> 02:11:05,160
is it could be disguised so well that you think it's coming from a reputable source,

2074
02:11:05,160 --> 02:11:06,160
but it's not.

2075
02:11:06,160 --> 02:11:07,160
So you have to keep digging.

2076
02:11:07,160 --> 02:11:09,500
Now I personally go to health.gov.

2077
02:11:09,500 --> 02:11:10,500
I go to the CDC.

2078
02:11:10,500 --> 02:11:13,140
I go to the American Heart Association.

2079
02:11:13,140 --> 02:11:21,500
I find different sources that I think are pretty reputable, but that is at my age being

2080
02:11:21,500 --> 02:11:23,060
17, 18, 19, 20.

2081
02:11:23,060 --> 02:11:24,500
You're looking for big arms.

2082
02:11:24,500 --> 02:11:29,100
You're looking for a chest because you want to be that guy at the beach, at the club,

2083
02:11:29,100 --> 02:11:30,100
at the gym.

2084
02:11:30,100 --> 02:11:31,100
I get it.

2085
02:11:31,100 --> 02:11:32,700
And that's part of maturation.

2086
02:11:32,700 --> 02:11:34,060
Lots of us go through that.

2087
02:11:34,060 --> 02:11:38,580
But now I think you want to make sure that you're doing it right because what you want

2088
02:11:38,580 --> 02:11:43,020
to do now is not make mistakes in your teen and early 20s that will affect you when you're

2089
02:11:43,020 --> 02:11:45,120
40, 50, and 60.

2090
02:11:45,120 --> 02:11:53,100
And so I would think a lot of the pro-hormone, not pro-hormone, the peptides and the TRT

2091
02:11:53,100 --> 02:11:55,540
treatment might be for folks who are a bit older.

2092
02:11:55,540 --> 02:11:57,900
I'm not an expert in this.

2093
02:11:57,900 --> 02:12:01,860
That's why they have physicians on their staff who are the experts.

2094
02:12:01,860 --> 02:12:04,400
And so my questions, I just go ask them.

2095
02:12:04,400 --> 02:12:09,820
But I do think that I don't want to eliminate any possibilities because I think, oh, that's

2096
02:12:09,820 --> 02:12:10,940
dangerous or that's bad.

2097
02:12:10,940 --> 02:12:12,880
Well, let me find out what the science says.

2098
02:12:12,880 --> 02:12:14,900
Let me find out what the research says.

2099
02:12:14,900 --> 02:12:20,380
And if it's beneficial or helpful to me, my friends, our troops, our firefighters and

2100
02:12:20,380 --> 02:12:24,220
all, then here is the opportunity to be educated about it.

2101
02:12:24,220 --> 02:12:25,980
Now it's up to you to make the decision.

2102
02:12:25,980 --> 02:12:31,940
You and your physician and, you know, I can't do that for you, but just want to provide

2103
02:12:31,940 --> 02:12:40,940
clean, easy to research, evidence-based sources to make the best decisions because you only

2104
02:12:40,940 --> 02:12:41,940
have one body.

2105
02:12:41,940 --> 02:12:45,340
And as I mentioned to you earlier, there's a German phrase I often use that the person

2106
02:12:45,340 --> 02:12:47,340
with their health has a thousand wishes.

2107
02:12:47,340 --> 02:12:50,220
The person without their health has but one.

2108
02:12:50,220 --> 02:12:55,460
And so the goal is to keep you in the game, in the fight as long as possible so that you

2109
02:12:55,460 --> 02:13:05,700
can do cool things, laugh, have great memories, smile and enjoy, enjoy your life, enjoy mobility,

2110
02:13:05,700 --> 02:13:06,700
enjoy the freedom.

2111
02:13:06,700 --> 02:13:07,700
Beautiful.

2112
02:13:07,700 --> 02:13:09,900
Well, that was a perfect place to end.

2113
02:13:09,900 --> 02:13:14,460
So I'm sure people are intrigued and would love to connect, reach out, et cetera.

2114
02:13:14,460 --> 02:13:18,420
Where are the best places online to find you?

2115
02:13:18,420 --> 02:13:22,060
My Instagram and so I don't know it off the top of my head, so I'll send you the link

2116
02:13:22,060 --> 02:13:27,300
because I haven't actually what it is, but Instagram and LinkedIn.

2117
02:13:27,300 --> 02:13:31,580
So I'll send you both those links, which will be in your show notes.

2118
02:13:31,580 --> 02:13:36,940
Or they can also look at our fit to serve column on musltonfitness.com.

2119
02:13:36,940 --> 02:13:40,420
We were telling the story of those who serve our country and we're going to be working

2120
02:13:40,420 --> 02:13:43,580
more with firefighters and police officers and we'll be telling your story in the near

2121
02:13:43,580 --> 02:13:44,660
future there, James.

2122
02:13:44,660 --> 02:13:50,260
So we look forward to sharing that, but thank you for the opportunity and for all those

2123
02:13:50,260 --> 02:13:53,140
who serve our country and those who support them.

2124
02:13:53,140 --> 02:13:54,460
Thank you very much for that.

2125
02:13:54,460 --> 02:13:59,580
And again, to those PE teachers and those phys ed teachers, thank you for what you're

2126
02:13:59,580 --> 02:14:00,740
doing for our country.

2127
02:14:00,740 --> 02:14:03,540
And it all makes a difference.

2128
02:14:03,540 --> 02:14:07,820
It all helps us live amazing lives and do the best we can.

2129
02:14:07,820 --> 02:14:09,140
So thank you.

2130
02:14:09,140 --> 02:14:10,140
Thank you for this resource.

2131
02:14:10,140 --> 02:14:13,020
It's a very, very powerful source that you have here.

2132
02:14:13,020 --> 02:14:18,100
And I'm sure that you're inspiring, motivating and helping people reach their full potential.

2133
02:14:18,100 --> 02:14:21,460
So don't shortcut yourself, James.

2134
02:14:21,460 --> 02:14:22,460
You're doing cool things.

2135
02:14:22,460 --> 02:14:43,820
So thank you.