JASON KHALIPA | Touch Grass and Train Hard

Most men don't have a fitness problem as much as they have a "no" problem. Your kid asks you to jump on the trampoline, wrestle, or go for a hike, and you're too tired, too out of shape, or too worried about getting hurt to say yes. Say no enough times and they stop asking. My guest today knows that if you want to protect, provide, and show up for the people who count on you, being physically capable is the price of admission. Jason Khalipa https://www.instagram.com/jasonkhalipa/?hl=en and I talk about learning new skills well past 40, why tools like TRT and GLP-1s should never become crutches, and what it means to stay ahead of your sons in the weight room for as long as you can. We also get into the Train Hard Men's Club, the free weekly workouts Jason started in a library parking lot that have grown to more than 100 clubs around the world. Men need a reason to get together, and a hard workout followed by a cup of coffee might be exactly the excuse you've been missing. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS 00:00 - Opening: Tactical Fitness and Smith & Wesson Partnership 01:16 - Preparing for First Big Game Hunt in Texas 04:19 - Upcoming Whitetail Hunts & Long Range Shooting 07:03 - Evolving with Age: Police Academy & BJJ at 41 09:25 - Maintaining Physical Capability as You Age 10:53 - Muscle Retention, GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs, and Strength Baselines 13:44 - The "Never Zero" Approach & Modern TRT Tools 16:31 - The Protect and Provide Mandate of Modern Men 18:52 - Training to Always Say Yes to Your Kids 21:31 - Friendly Competition Between Fathers and Sons 24:19 - Inspiring the Next Generation Through Strength 30:40 - Recording Break & Mid-Show Pause 32:44 - The Origin of the Train Hard Men's Club 35:30 - Scaling Free Men's Clubs Worldwide 38:59 - Restoring Real-World Groundedness and Connection 41:09 - The Unique Value of Male Brotherhood and Accountability 45:08 - Why Men Need Purpose-Driven Gathering 51:13 - Breakdown of the Train Hard Burpee Test 52:50 - Breathwork, Heart Rate Control, and Managing Stress at Home 56:45 - How to Join or Start a Local Train Hard Club Battle Planners: Pick yours up today! https://store.orderofman.com/products/order-of-man-annual-battle-planner Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto https://www.amazon.com/Masculinity-Manifesto-Establishes-Influence-Credibility/dp/1684513316/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1665048672&sr=8-1. For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood https://orderofman.link/iron-council. Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready https://orderofman.link/battle-ready-0

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Most men don't have a fitness problem as much as they have a no problem. Your kid asks you to jump on the trampoline or to wrestle, go for a hike, and maybe you're too tired or too out of shape or too worried about getting hurt to say yes. And if you say no enough times, kids will just stop asking. My guest today knows that if you want to protect, provide and show up for the people who count on you, being physically capable is the price of admission. Jason Khalipa and I talk about learning new skills well past 40, why tools like TRT and GLPs should never become crutches, and what it means to stay ahead of your sons in the weight room for as long as you can.

• 0:43Speaker 00

  We also get into the Train Hard Men's Club, a free weekly workout group that Jason started in a library parking lot that have grown to more than 100 clubs around the world. Men need a reason to get together and a hard workout followed by maybe a cup of coffee and a hangout might be exactly the excuse that you've been missing.

• 1:03Speaker 01

  You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become at the end of the day. And after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

• 1:29Speaker 00

  Gentlemen, welcome to the Order Man Podcast. I am your host and the founder, Ryan Mickler. Thank you for tuning in today. I've got a really good one lined up with a former CrossFit Games champion, a good friend of mine, and somebody who is getting after it in all aspects of life. I'm going to introduce him to you in a minute. Before I do, just want to mention also, people getting after it in life are my good friends Elbette Montana Knife Company. Several months ago, I had the opportunity to tour their new 50,000 square foot facility. And I can tell you, it is absolutely stunning. It's amazing. The technology, the technicians, the process of manufacturing knives in America is incredible.

• 2:14Speaker 00

  And I can tell you with 100% certainty because I've seen their facilities, I've seen what they do. But more importantly, I've been using their knives for, I want to say, six or seven years now? Five, six, seven years, somewhere in there. From hunts to in the kitchen to my everyday carry. I always seem to have a Montana Knife Company knife around on my person, in my backpack. You name it, I've got it. You should have one too. So if you go to montananifecompany.com, find the knife you want, use the code ORDEROFMAN at checkout. I was just sharpening my knives for a couple of hunts that I have coming up. So very excited to get on those hunts and put the blade to use.

• 2:57Speaker 00

  Again, montananifecompany.com, use the code ORDEROFMAN. All right, let me introduce you to my guest. His name is Jason Kalipa. Like I said, a former CrossFit Games champion, a lifelong coach and an entrepreneur who has owned and operated break and mortar gyms for nearly two decades. He's also the founder of Train Hard, which is an online training community built primarily for men. But at 41, he refuses to stop learning. He earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, completed the police academy, is a post-certified firearms instructor in California, and competes in tactical shooting events in partnership with Smith & Wesson. Three years ago, Jason started hosting free Saturday morning workouts for men in a parking lot

• 3:43Speaker 00

  in Los Gatos, California. And that one group now draws around 100 men a week and has grown into the Train Hard Men's Club with more than 100 clubs, offering free workouts in parks and parking lots worldwide. His goal is to get millions of men moving, connecting, and walking back in their front doors as better husbands and fathers. Jason is a father of two and you can find a club near you or start your own at TH as in Train Hard, TH.fit. Enjoy this one, gents.

• 4:16Speaker 00

  Tell me about Smith & Wesson.

• 4:18Speaker 02

  So I got really interested in obviously CrossFit years ago. And then I kind of, then I became really interested in Jiu Jitsu. And so then I had, but over the years, I've donated my time a lot with law enforcement. And so I became interested also in firearms. And in particular, like the tactical games and high heart rate shooting and fitness and shooting combined. That was really interesting to me because the accuracy changes so much when your heart rate spikes, right? So anyways, I got it. Yeah. And so I got interested in it. I competed at tactical games. I've competed in a USPSA match. I'm a firearms instructor, post-certified for California.

• 5:01Speaker 02

  And I started working with Smith & Wesson because they make awesome firearms. They're super cool people and I was looking for a partner that I could use to compete with their guns. And so, yeah, they've been great. I just got off the phone with them. So they're awesome. And actually, on top of that, hopefully, I'm going on my first ever like real hunt with them, which should be interesting.

• 5:23Speaker 00

  Wait, have you never hunted before?

• 5:25Speaker 02

  So I've, I mean, this is going to sound really, I have gone, I've done duck hunting. I've done pheasant hunting. I've never done real animal like processing. So what my goal is, is I want to-

• 5:40Speaker 00

  Ducks and pheasants are real animals, so.

• 5:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, they're real. But like, you know, like I want to go and sure, like bigger game, right? Like deer and actually learn how to process the meat more. The duck was fine. It is what it is. But I'm just saying like, I've never experienced that type of hunting.

• 6:00Speaker 00

  Where, so, okay, so you're going to go with Smith & Wesson this fall or where are you going?

• 6:05Speaker 02

  I'm supposed to be going to Texas in December.

• 6:08Speaker 00

  And yes.

• 6:09Speaker 02

  And I guess it's for whitetail. And as the story goes, and like something that's really authentic to me is like, I'm really curious. I've eaten meat my entire life and I do not have the skill to process that meat. And that's something I desire to learn. And so they're going to help me do it.

• 6:32Speaker 00

  I mean, breaking down an animal is so fascinating to me. I might be one of the weirdos. Maybe I'm like Dexter or I don't know, some serial killer or whatever. But the first time I ever, so my first hunt actually for big game was in Texas. I was in Abilene. And I don't know where you're going. But yeah, the first day I went out and hunted, I shot a really cool whitetail. We call him Crab Claw. Just a fascinating deer. I mean, old, mature, but have these weird genetics with his antlers. So I shot him at 75 yards. And then two or three days later with a friend called Colin Cotrell,

• 7:14Speaker 00

  I shot, so I shot the first one with a rifle and the second one I shot with a bow.

• 7:18Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 7:19Speaker 00

  And then we started breaking down the deer and seeing their muscles and their lungs and their heart and their liver and their internal organs and how the muscles worked and the diaphragm. Bro, it's awesome. Like it was so fascinating to me.

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Yeah. And that's what I want, right? I have a reach-in, so I bought like a large amount of like, actually from Tim Kennedy's dad. I bought, he harvested like a cow on his property. And I have like a reach-in freezer and my son is 12, turning 13. He has all his friends over. We lift all the time. And it's just a bunch of like young boys who are hungry all the time. So I want to have this meat in my freezer. And so I've wanted to go out and hunt. And so I'm going to go hunt for this deer and I'm going to, you know, seal it, freeze it, bring it home. And I'm looking forward to that experience because I've never done it before

• 8:17Speaker 02

  and it's a skill I want to learn. And it's something that I think that for a guy who's eaten meat his whole life and not experienced it, it's probably overdue and I should try it.

• 8:27Speaker 00

  It is overdue for sure. You'll have a great time. And if you want to come on a hunt with me, I'm actually leaving. Tomorrow? No, two days from this recording, I'm going to hunt whitetail in Minnesota. And then I'm going to shoot long range, a long range shooting school with Vortex Optics, who I need to introduce you to. Vortex, do you know them?

• 8:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I know Vortex. Yeah, for sure.

• 8:51Speaker 00

  But do you know the people over there? I need to make a connection for you.

• 8:55Speaker 02

  I have, that's what I, I have Vortex on my pistols for red dots. And then I have, I have Nightforce on my, my rifles.

• 9:05Speaker 00

  Let's get you out of Nightforce. Let's get you a hundred percent over to Vortex. I'm going to be hanging out with those guys. One of my good friends is their CMO. Man, awesome. And then, so I'm going to be out there and then two days later, I'm going to Martha's Vineyard to hunt whitetail on Martha's Vineyard. And I'm going to piss off a bunch of people, which is just as exciting to me as it is the actual hunt.

• 9:28Speaker 02

  I'm sure Martha's Vineyard is probably like, gonna be like a normal hunt. But just when you say it, it makes it sound like it's like super bougie. Like I could just see you being in like some grandiose state, walking out. And I don't know, they're just the name of it, right? Like, obviously, a lot of people have heard of it.

• 9:45Speaker 00

  The way that I envision it is I'm going to walk out at about seven thirty, eight o'clock in the morning, in my cigar robe.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 9:55Speaker 00

  With, with a Frappuccino latte. I'm going to pull up my six, five Creedmoor, set it on the rail of the, on the rail of the, the deck. And then there's going to be a, just like a nice, you know, ten point standing at about fifty, eighty yards. And I'm going to plug them and then I'm going to go back in and let my servant take care of the rest for me. That's how I envision it.

• 10:18Speaker 02

  You're, you're, you're visualizing success there. Yeah. I, I, I think the exact same thing and Chance Star is not going to be that at all. But, uh, good, good luck. I hope you have a lot of fun out there.

• 10:30Speaker 00

  It'll be fun, man. We're going out with a crew of nine guys, ten, ten guys, including me. So ten, so ten, uh, and yeah, we're just gonna have.

• 10:38Speaker 02

  What a great opportunity to connect.

• 10:39Speaker 00

  You and I should go hunting sometime, man.

• 10:41Speaker 02

  Dude, I'd love to. I mean, I, I've, there's been opportunities that presented themselves, but this one in particular just seemed like, all right, it was time.

• 10:50Speaker 02

  You know, I'm getting to that age and I'm sure that a lot of guys listening, like, I want to continue to evolve. I want to continue to learn. I want to continue to, you know, be my, do all the things. And that's why obviously I host all the men's club workouts, which I'm sure we'll talk about. But that's also why this year, you know, it's funny, I got my black belt in jujitsu in December. I went to the police academy in June and hopefully by the end of this year, I'll become a volunteer reserve for the sheriff's department. And, you know, I was at a backgrounds check yesterday with the, a woman. And she's like, hey, basically without saying it, she said, like this, I'm the oldest applicant she's ever seen, right? And, um, it just got me thinking, like, just because you're older, just because you're forty

• 11:35Speaker 02

  or whatever it is, doesn't mean you can't go learn new things and go do new things.

• 11:40Speaker 00

  How old are you?

• 11:41Speaker 02

  I'm forty-one, yeah.

• 11:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. I was talking with somebody the other, the other day. And forty-one, thirty years ago, looked old, bro.

• 11:53Speaker 02

  Bro.

• 11:53Speaker 00

  Like, it's, it's wild to me. I, my mom just sent me a message this morning. She's seventy-one years old.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 12:03Speaker 00

  She sent me a message this morning and she said, hey, Ryan, I hope you're doing well. Like, I miss you, love you, care about you, blah, blah, blah, the mom stuff.

• 12:11Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 12:11Speaker 00

  And she's like, I have a, not blah, blah, blah, that's probably a bad way to say that, but like the mom stuff. And she said, I have a, a meeting with a travel agent next week. I'm going to go live in Africa for a month with the gorillas.

• 12:27Speaker 02

  Dude.

• 12:28Speaker 00

  And I'm like, what the fuck? Like, I was like, wait, mom.

• 12:35Speaker 00

  I didn't say this to her, but in my mind, I was like, you're seventy-one, this woman. And three weeks ago, she messaged me and, and she said, hey, um, hey, I hope you have a good weekend. We're having fun over here. Um, I'm, I'm just about to jump out of a plane. We're going skydiving, me and my granddaughter, my niece are going skydiving.

• 12:57Speaker 00

  So like, see you on the ground or something. I'm like, what is, what is happening?

• 13:02Speaker 02

  Dude, your mom, your mom's a legend. Dude, that's awesome.

• 13:06Speaker 00

  That's so awesome.

• 13:08Speaker 02

  But that's the way it should be. You know, it's, it's, it's funny. My mom and dad right now are in Utah and they just got done like hot air ballooning. And I, I do think that's. Oh, they're all over the place. I think right now they're in, they're in Zion.

• 13:21Speaker 02

  But they.

• 13:21Speaker 00

  Bro, that's twenty minutes from me.

• 13:23Speaker 02

  Oh, really? Yeah, they just traveled around. They went to Park City. Then they did all kinds of different things. Um, by the way, Utah is an incredible state, beautiful.

• 13:31Speaker 00

  Beautiful, yeah.

• 13:33Speaker 02

  But you know, it's interesting because that's one of the reasons why we should be keeping up with our fitness too. You know, if you want to go do things as you get older, you don't want to be limited by your physical ability. And, yeah, it's just, it's just one of those things that I think when you look at people around you who are like in their late sixties, seventies, maybe even early eighties, and they're still crushing it. Well, a part of that, not all of it, but a part of it is that they've probably taken care of themselves so they could still go and do these things they want to go do.

• 13:59Speaker 00

  Yeah. I actually went several months ago and I've got a good friend. He's a chiropractor in the area and we, we had a conversation. He said, you know, Ryan, the, the, the best thing that you can do is you get older. I'm forty-five years old. So he said, the best thing that you can do as a forty-five year old is just be strong. It's like when people die outside of heart conditions, cancer, those sorts of things. People die because they fall down and they can't push themselves back up.

• 14:29Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 14:29Speaker 00

  And he said, the best thing that you can do as a man at your age is continue to build muscle so that if you fall, and you probably won't if you build muscle, but if you fall, you can push yourself up. I had a close friend reach out to me and he's like, man, I haven't heard from my mom for two or three days. And I called her and I reached out to family members. His mom was stuck, pinned between the bed and the wall for two and a half days because she couldn't push herself up.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  You know, and this is a tangent, but it is the truth too, is that we are actually seeing an influx. So for, um, for your listeners, I am, I own two companies. One of them is brick and mortar gyms that I've had for about twenty years. And the other one is an online community called Train Hard, uh, primarily for men. But the reason why I'm bringing that up is that in the gyms, we're actually seeing an influx of people who have gotten on GLP-1s as a tool, which is, which I actually think if you're at a place in your life and you are stuck and you feel like there's no whatever, and you find a GLP-1 that could help you lose some weight and then get on the path, like, good for you.

• 15:43Speaker 02

  But then to be able to recognize that your muscle, especially this can be for women and for men, you're going to lose a lot of muscle, you're going to lose a lot of everything as you're on these. And so we're seeing an influx of people coming in who want to retain or gain strength as they lose this weight. And I think long-term, it's, I mean, it's, it's building more awareness for the importance of strength training. It's the reason why I'm bringing that up now.

• 16:05Speaker 00

  So GLP-1s, you're talking about semaglutide, Ozempic. I think Reta is a GLP-three, maybe.

• 16:14Speaker 02

  That's the newest one, yeah.

• 16:16Speaker 00

  Yeah. I mean, there's always something new. But I do, I do like what you're saying about, okay, look, we can, we can, I mean, basically what those drugs do is limit your appetite. Like, if we could strip everything else away.

• 16:30Speaker 02

  Especially the original, the original Ozempic was definitely like a, it, it reduced your craving and it reduced your, uh, you know, hunger desire, right? But now they've gotten way more advanced. Um, I mean, like to the ones you were just referencing. They've, they've now taken parts of each one and they're, who knows what it's going to be in five years from now, right?

• 16:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's interesting. It's also a little, a little scary. You know, like, I, I think of, um, uh, what's that movie with, uh, Will Smith? Where, you know, people turn into zombies or whatever. I can't even remember what it's called, but people turn into zombies. And it's like, dude, I wonder what we'll turn into, you know, we're like, we genetically engineer all these things. And really what you need to do is you need to go move a lot more. I mean, it's as simple as, well, tell me if I'm wrong. If you moved, if, if you take, take ten thousand steps per day,

• 17:34Speaker 00

  you lift as heavy as you possibly can four days a week, and you have a, let's say, two to three hundred calorie deficit per day, you're going to get fricking jacked.

• 17:51Speaker 02

  Yeah. And, and I think that, I, I, I think a simplest approach, right? It's, it's what you're saying, right? You gotta, you gotta, I have this concept of never zero, right? You just gotta have the momentum, just keep moving. But the, you know, it's like pushing a sled. You just gotta keep the, the sled going just a little bit, right? You don't have to go crazy, right? Just lift some, lift some objects, hold some heavy stuff, go for walks, maybe jog. And it's pretty simple in nature. Where I think it becomes a little bit more complex is that when you are off that path and you've been off that path for a long time and you've tried different things to get back on it, it's being mindful of what tools you might need to help you. But then it should just be a tool. It shouldn't be a crutch. And I think the same thing, you know, it's, it's really interesting because how many guys do you know that are on TRT?

• 18:36Speaker 02

  Probably a lot, right? Like.

• 18:38Speaker 00

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 18:39Speaker 02

  And so I haven't taken testosterone, um, but what I will tell you is I have met more men than I could count that testosterone has changed their life. They've became a better husband, a better father. They've became, uh, better energy because of that testosterone. So I guess I'm trying to say is like, there are tools available to people that I think can be useful as long as you recognize obviously the downside and that they're just tools and not to only rely on them as a sole source of whatever. Because you could take testosterone and not do any of the other things and never get to where you could be if you just started living a more healthy lifestyle as well.

• 19:14Speaker 00

  Well, I mean, I'm on TRT. So

• 19:16Speaker 02

  There you go. Yeah.

• 19:17Speaker 00

  Uh, yeah, I, I've taken it. And when, you know, what's interesting is when I started taking it, full disclosure is when I was in the throes of my alcohol abuse and alcohol is sugar. So it drives up estrogen, it inhibits testosterone development and adherence to your, your body. Like it's, it's just not a good thing for any man. So I started taking it. And now that I'm sober, it's interesting because yeah, it's, it's a tool. It's a resource. It, it, it makes me feel better. It, it improves my drive.

• 19:55Speaker 00

  It improves my, my mental clarity, like everything about it has been really good. But I also move. I also work out. I also train. I also, like, there's so much more behind it. It's like a supplement. When people say, well, I'm just gonna take a protein shake. I'm like, yeah, dude, take a protein shake, but at some point you gotta eat some real meat. You know, at some point you actually have to do something about your baseline, physical regiment, your nutrition. And yeah, supplements are supplemental. That's, it's literally called the thing that it is. But I, I get frustrated when people think that we have these end all say balls through injection.

• 20:40Speaker 02

  You don't. I mean, but at, at the end of the day, what I have found the biggest impact for many, many, many, many, many men is, you know, prioritize your workout early, lift heavy objects that are relative to you, right? You'll lift more later. Uh, get in some basic cardiovascular aerobic conditioning and just remain consistent. And you gotta just do that. And you just gotta be able to recognize that like, dude, fitness is just gonna play a, a, a role in your life for the rest of your life. And if, if it doesn't, um, eventually it's gonna catch up to you. And like, I don't wanna be the guy, you know, we talk about this idea of protecting and providing. I, I don't wanna be the guy, like yesterday, a friend of mine calls me, he's like, dude, I gotta move a Peloton treadmill. This is a true story. And so I go over there, I'm like, holy shit.

• 21:24Speaker 02

  I don't know if you've seen these Peloton treadmills, at least the one he had. It was way heavier than I thought. So I looked it up online. It was 450 to 500 pounds. And I'm just thinking, oh, we're just gonna, yeah, dude, hella heavy. So I'm just thinking like, and so I get there and I look at what we were trying to do. It's in the basement. We need to go up these like really steep, you know, stairs and then outdoors and then, and then basically you're good, right? Cause then you can just wheel it. And I looked at it and definitely my ego got in the way, right? Where I'm thinking to myself, like dude, me and this guy, we're both strong, capable people, like we should be able to do this. And sure enough, it took us a long ass time. It was very difficult. Chances are we probably shouldn't have. We probably put our backs at risk, but we got the job done. But the point being is that I wanna be a place in my life, and I'm sure you do too, and many men listening,

• 22:08Speaker 02

  who we are capable, we are capable in the gym and outside the gym to run, jump, climb, lift, do the things that we need to do from a protection perspective. That, that's really important to me. Fighting and that kind of stuff, I think is a, is, you know, highly unlikely. But your ability to have to like run, jump, climb, lift, I'm sure it's really high. And then dude, even bigger than that, and I know that with your sons, dude, like, I wanna be able to provide experiences for my kids. Like it's really important to me that they know that if they wanna go do something physical, like dad's, dad's gonna go do it. Because I train so that I could say yes. And that's really important to me. So that, that's, that's the motivation for the dads out there and for the men is like, dude, one day your kid's gonna come up to you, they're gonna ask you to go do something physical.

• 22:53Speaker 02

  And, um, the last thing you wanna do is say no. And they can only say no so many times and they're just gonna stop asking.

• 23:00Speaker 00

  Man, I'm just gonna step away from the conversation. We'll get back to it here shortly. Every time, or excuse me, every man, I should say, gets hit with a hard season at some point. Maybe you're going through one right now. A layoff, a diagnosis, a marriage that's gone quiet, a kid who's, you know, stopped calling you. But you don't get to skip winter. You only get to decide whether you're ready when it shows up. And, and if you spent the good years consuming, it finds you with nothing in reserve for the people that you care about. But if you spent them building, you'll be able to work through it. And that's exactly what we're tackling in the war room, which is a free live workshop that I'm hosting on Wednesday, November 18th at 8:00 PM Eastern. In this one hour, we're gonna start working through which season you're actually in

• 23:46Speaker 00

  and which one you've been living like. But we're gonna find where you're consuming more than you produce in your money, your body, your family, and also your brotherhood. And you're gonna leave that, that workshop with a plan to make this season count before the next one arrives. This isn't a pep talk. I say that all the time. Uh, it's a workshop. So bring your pen, bring, bring a notepad and also come ready with an honest look at where you are. So guys, you can save your seat at orderofman.com/warroom. That's orderofman.com/warroom. Do that right after the conversation. Let's get back to it with Jason. Man, I, I had that situation probably 15 years ago.

• 24:30Speaker 00

  I got home, busting my tail, trying to make ends meet, building my financial planning practice. I get home and my oldest two boys are like, hey dad, let's go jump on the trampoline.

• 24:43Speaker 00

  This was a pivotal moment for me. I'm like, boys, like, no, I can't.

• 24:49Speaker 02

  And they were young, right? They were probably like, what?

• 24:51Speaker 00

  They were young, like seven, five, seven years old, somewhere in there.

• 24:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, right.

• 24:56Speaker 00

  And I said, boys, I can't. And then in that moment, I actually started getting CrossFit in that moment too. And in that moment, so I remember I was sitting at a local parade. It could have either been 4th of July or Peach Days, which is a local parade we do here in, in my hometown. And there was a guy who was opening a, a brand new, uh, CrossFit gym, Black, uh, CrossFit Blackridge. And, and I was like, yeah, I need to go do that. And so I started doing that because I couldn't live with the fact, he was eroding my soul. The fact that I couldn't even go jump on the trampoline with my two boys after work.

• 25:39Speaker 00

  And it wasn't like I was in the military at the time or like chopping wood all day. I was sitting behind a desk, selling, selling insurance and investments.

• 25:53Speaker 00

  It was, it wasn't physically hard, but I still was exhausted at the end of the day and I couldn't do it. And that was a cathartic moment for me.

• 26:02Speaker 02

  And the reason why you said no, and the reason why I think a lot of guys say no, i- is like something goes through their head, right? So take for example, the trampoline. You're thinking to yourself, okay, I've been, I'm tired. Okay, I'm tired. I just, the last thing I wanna do is go jump on a trampoline. I wanna go sit in a, in a cozy chair and drink a beer. Okay. All right. That's, that's the first thing. The second thing that goes through your mind is like, dude, I might get hurt. Like I haven't jumped on a trampoline in years. I might not be physically able to do that. And I, I don't wanna hurt myself, right? And then, and then, um, you know, and then the, the third one would obviously be like, I don't wanna look weak in front of my kids or whatever it is. Like, the point is like, no matter which one of those like kinda crosses your mind,

• 26:42Speaker 02

  it's like, it's our responsibility to, to, to be able to say yes. And it's been one of the greatest things of my life that I could enjoy these different experiences with my kids. And I don't take that for granted, that I put in the work early so that I could still show up for them, um, when, especially when they get home from school.

• 27:03Speaker 00

  I mean, that's a good point. So my second son, he's 15. He came over, this was probably two weeks ago. He walks in the door and the first thing he does is he takes his shirt off.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  Hell yeah.

• 27:15Speaker 00

  And he says, he says, I'm bigger than you dad. That's what he said. I'm bigger than you dad. And he walked up to me and he shoulder checked me.

• 27:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, he did. Yeah, he did.

• 27:28Speaker 00

  And then he stood in the mirror and he flexed, you know? And so I did the only thing that, you know, a dad is supposed to do. I took my shirt off and flexed.

• 27:39Speaker 00

  And he's pretty big, actually. I was like, dang kid. Like, you're looking pretty good. But last night I had my three boys over. I've got three boys. I've got a daughter as well. But my three boys came over and we wrestled and I beat all of them. Because I'm the dad, I should stay out ahead of it. And I'll be damned if I let one of those boys beat me. I'll be on my deathbed before I let one of those boys beat me. But it's fun. Like it's so much better to be in shape and to be lively and to be excited and to be able to hold your own than it is to be just fat and overweight and out of shape and pathetic.

• 28:23Speaker 02

  And the thing about it is like

• 28:24Speaker 00

  rude, but

• 28:26Speaker 02

  Well, and, and if you're listening to this, you're like, dude, like Mike, I'm, I'm not there. The reason why like this is so powerful is that it's like, it's in your control, right? It's something that's in your control and you can start making steps towards it tomorrow. And like they're just giving like a, a, like kind of a little bit of like, kinda like a little oomph towards you. And like, if you're listening to this right now, you're like, dude, that sounds, I don't, I, I, you know, if my son came home right now and did that, like he would look way better than me. I don't want that. Well, dude, it's okay. No big deal. Like start tomorrow. Let's get you on a program. Let's get you training. Let's get you going. And, um, I'll tell you what, it's been really eye opening for me, especially with young boys. I'm sure you've seen this probably more than I have. So I have a, a 12, uh, turning 13 boy and I have a 15 year old daughter.

• 29:12Speaker 02

  And, um, completely different, right? Obviously, like just completely different kids. And these group of 13 year old boys, they come over to our house and they straighten the train. And we have a really nice setup and I've, I'm so proud to, to be able to help guide them on their strength training journey. But it's really interesting because they'll come over and dude, even at a young age, I'm sure you've seen this. Dude, they're stacking up. They're, they're seeing where do, where do I as the dad stack up? And where do they stack up against each other? Like they're, they created their own leaderboard. They're kinda having that little bit of kinda like who's the strongest type mentality. And I could tell just by the way that when I'm talking to them, I'm like, dude, there's definitely something within these young boys

• 29:54Speaker 02

  that they want to have structure. They wanna have inspiration and they want you, the dad or whoever to like be about it and like walk the walk and talk the talk. And it's really, have you noticed that before? Like, like these young boys, like I'll say whatever. And it's like, they, there's more credibility there because they know that I could do it. You, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's really interesting watching these young boys as they mature into young men and how much they appreciate, uh, men who, who kinda take care of themselves, who act a certain way. Like you, I see it in the way they talk to me compared to maybe other situations.

• 30:33Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, they'll respect you more, you know, it it it's kind of like that old adage of like, well, my dad could kick your dad's ass, right?

• 30:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:43Speaker 00

  And you should be the dad who your son is saying like, oh yeah, my dad could take your dad. That's who you should be. But yeah, I do think there's just this level of of of respect, of reverence for a man who carries himself well, you know?

• 31:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:02Speaker 00

  When people come over, when when so so my my second son got into the habit and we've talked about it, which I don't, I don't actually hate it, but he said, hey, um, I'm gonna have, you know, Chris or whatever over. And he thinks he can take you like, right? Bring it on. So we have mats in our closet and we'll roll out the mat. We'll move the couches, we'll move the furniture and we'll roll roll out mats. And I remember the first time he did it, he's like, hey, this kid, he thinks he can take you. I'm like, yeah, bring it on. Let's go. And about maybe a month and a half ago, he brought a kid over. This kid's never wrestled, never trained jujitsu.

• 31:48Speaker 00

  He was a handful.

• 31:50Speaker 02

  Like kind of country strong type of guy like like?

• 31:52Speaker 00

  Totally.

• 31:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:54Speaker 00

  I had to fight like I had to fight and you know, fortunately I was able to hold my own. But I was like, oh, boy, this is getting different at this point. But that's what it should be like. It's like

• 32:03Speaker 02

  That's what it should be like.

• 32:04Speaker 00

  Thinks you can take you. No, he can't take me and neither can you, because I'm the man. And this is how it needs to be.

• 32:10Speaker 02

  Right? If you do get taken like, okay, like, yeah, good, good. It's like, it's it's really interesting, you know, because in jujitsu, right? Like these instructors that I've had for 10 years, at some point now, like, there's gonna be a moment where like the instructor as the student starts to, because of the instructor teaching the student, eventually, hopefully, the goal should be that the student can do better than the instructor eventually, right? Our goal is just to have that delayed as long as possible, at least with my kids, right? So like my son, he um, he's, he's pretty strong. And I know there will be a day that he's gonna outlift me like I know it. It's already, it's already written in the books. It's going to happen. My job is just to delay that as long as possible.

• 32:55Speaker 02

  That's it.

• 32:56Speaker 00

  Yeah, I like the delay and I think the mentality too is also like, I want him to get, I want to be something he strives for, right? So I want to delay it, but I also want him to be aspirational. I mean, my oldest son, this was probably eight months, eight, nine months ago. He's like, Dad, I'm gonna hit a PR on my back squat.

• 33:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:18Speaker 00

  And he was, what was he, 17, young 17 at the time? And I'm like, all right, well, let's, let's go. We got a rack out in the garage. I'm like, let's go see what you got. Bro.

• 33:31Speaker 02

  What'd he get?

• 33:34Speaker 00

  What did he get? Uh, I think his final thing was 405 pounds back squat.

• 33:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:40Speaker 00

  Clean.

• 33:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:41Speaker 00

  Like no assist, full depth. And he was 17. I'm like, I can't, I can't, I can't lift 405.

• 33:50Speaker 02

  No, you're gonna be like, dude, if I try that, my knees are gonna break. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna stick over here with some tempo 225 squats or whatever, right? And that's fine.

• 33:58Speaker 00

  And and I moved from like straight bar, like I'm old enough where I'm like, I'm not using straight bar deadlifts. I'm doing trap deadlifts.

• 34:04Speaker 02

  Oh, trap bar, yeah.

• 34:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, because I'm, I'm, why? I'm not doing that. I'm not gonna hurt myself. But to see my, I was so proud of him, you know, like he can outlift me by leaps and bounds. Up, lower body, not upper body, lower body, he's got me beat. But I'm so proud of that, like we should want that, but we should also give them something to strive for, something to achieve to.

• 34:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, right now we're doing a bench press cycle on the train, like our train hard program. And it's inspired by the NFL Combine, the 225 max reps. And I just was curious, like, what can we get our guys to do? What can I do? And the inspiration was like, the first time you ever hit two wheels. I remember like I was in high school and I hit two wheels, that's 225 for like two plates. And especially back in those gyms, you'd have like the metal ones that like ding ding ding ding ding. And you'd be like, bro, let's load up two wheels. And there was something special about that.

• 34:58Speaker 00

  Bigger, faster, stronger. Was that a program you used?

• 35:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:02Speaker 00

  That's what he used in high school as well.

• 35:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, and and I mean, yeah, so I guess the point I'm trying to make is like, there is a lot of nostalgia around some of these things. And I think that as I've been working with the youth in strength conditioning, it's been really eye opening for me that as much as we coach them in in sports outside the the gym, we should also be encouraging them to round out their overall athleticism using the gym. And so that's, that's what I've been trying to do with the boys and at least play my role. They want to start doing some grappling here. I've kind of delayed it only because I just, I get worried about all these, you know, you know, 12, 13 year old boys trying to grapple and me being responsible for them. But that's, that's maybe next.

• 35:45Speaker 00

  No, I, look, I get it. You have to worry about it because there's some soft parents out there. They're like, well, they were at Jason's house and he broke his nose. I'm like, well, he shouldn't have done whatever he did, like he deserved to get his nose broken. Or he broke his arm or he, you know, he strained his muscle or whatever. That's a hard balance though, because that's a real thing you need to contend with. When you do your train hard stuff is, I know you do that, you do that all throughout the nation, right?

• 36:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:11Speaker 00

  I think this is the path, like, how do we get guys together to do these sorts of things and more? You know, not, not just the physical aspect, but everything else.

• 36:19Speaker 02

  Yeah. So about three years ago, and I think you and I, we've, we've talked about this in the past, but about three years ago, I started hosting free workouts for men in a parking lot. And I've owned gyms for years. I've, I've competed in CrossFit. I have a coaching background. And what I saw just in my local community is that we had a group of men who, you know, I felt like, I mean, there were so many layers to it, but one was that, you know, when we met, we would always meet for like beer and pizza for the kids' school and like, there's nothing wrong with that particular, but we never did any other meetups. Like it was just always, hey, let's come together, let's drink some beer and have some pizza. And I'm like, dude, that's cool. Let's do that. But let's also maybe go for a ruck, go work out, go do something physical, let's whatever. Just because that was my background.

• 37:02Speaker 02

  And so I started saying, I put out an invite to meet in a parking lot and no fee, no, nothing. And I'm not coaching, I'm just a captain, I'm just a dude leading a workout. And it started three years ago and it's just spawned into something really special. So for the next two years, I hosted every week, or sometimes we'd have a co captain jump in if I was traveling. And we grew and we started having a lot of guys come out. And so at my club, I get, we get about 100 guys a weekend in the parking lot and we bring out sandbags we throw down. Yeah. So tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM, every, every week for three years, this club has met every single week.

• 37:39Speaker 00

  Where? You said a parking lot, like Walmart or like where do you guys meet?

• 37:43Speaker 02

  For us, we meet at the Los Gatos Library. So it's a, it's a public library and we, we use a parking lot. And the reason why for us, we had to do that is we bounced around. The first year we tried a few different locations, but ultimately our group got so big, which by the way, for the record, I think that our group is probably a little bit too big. Uh, it's kind of an anomaly. We would want, I think the sweet spot is somewhere between 15 and 30 guys. So from our

• 38:07Speaker 00

  100 guys show up every week?

• 38:10Speaker 02

  100 guys.

• 38:11Speaker 00

  That's crazy. That's awesome. It's just crazy.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  Yeah. Um, so yeah, I just, so from our club, it's now spawned into more clubs, which is the goal, right? So, uh, we had guys who lived in San Jose, which is like, you know, 20 minutes away or in Morgan Hill, which is like 20 minutes away. And so they started their own ones locally in the Bay Area. And so we have these workouts, guys come, it's completely free, it's open for any guy. And it's our way of just getting back to some old school principles of just connecting with dudes and doing something hard. And so we start off with the train hard burpee tests. We get into some strength training using the sandbags. We do a little workout. We do a finisher, we all finish together and we walk across the street or some clubs bring the coffee and we grab coffee.

• 38:59Speaker 02

  And so we've been doing this every week. And I'd say about a year ago, I would continue to get feedback. Oh, gee, that's so cool. And I would just text people, I would just tell, be like, bro, like, hey, Ryan, you want to go start a club? Just go text some friends and tell them to meet you at a underground parking garage, pavilion. You name the spot, tell them to meet you there, bring a couple of dumbbells, bring a sandbag and here's a workout you could follow. But what I didn't realize, like these guys were looking for more guidance and direction. And I was kind of dismissing them for lack of a better term. I just was like, bro, yeah, go do it, you know, like, of course. So fast forward, a year ago, we started rolling out like, like train hard men's clubs and we put them on a map. And since then, it's just really grown.

• 39:42Speaker 02

  So now we have 100 clubs that are offering free workouts for men in parking lots, parks, whatever, all over the world. And the growth has been exponential. It and it's been, it's been the most meaningful thing that I could do for I think generational change long term. My, my vision for this is that we're gonna get millions of men to go to parking lots, parks, whatever. And I believe that then they will go home after that six o'clock workout and be better versions of themselves. Chances are they'll have a few less beers on Friday night, they'll show up at 6:00 AM, they'll leave at 7:15 after having a great workout and good conversation over coffee.

• 40:26Speaker 02

  They'll open their mind, they'll learn something and they'll go walk into the door and they're gonna be like, what's up kids? What's up wife? Whatever it is. And they're gonna be calm, they're gonna be present, they're gonna feel energized and they're gonna be kicking ass. And that I think long term will create generational change for what it looks like to be a man and showing up for your family.

• 40:46Speaker 00

  I love it, dude. So, so, okay, so I've got a couple of questions. So,

• 40:51Speaker 00

  when I moved to Maine, I went, there was this little local convenience store that I went and got, you know, like a Red Bull in the morning or whatever, and got some pizza. They made pizza that was just delicious. And then I got to know the, the woman who worked there quite often, and I don't, she must have been part owner in it. And she said, her name was Jill, she said to me, do you know what, Ryan, people are calling you? And I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what, what are they calling me? What, like, no, I don't know what people are calling me.

• 41:21Speaker 00

  And she said, they're calling you the weird workout people.

• 41:25Speaker 00

  And I was like, what? Like, the weird workout people? What are you talking about? She's like, well, you're always out there, like, flipping tires and, like, carrying logs with a bunch of dudes and, like, hitting a sledgehammer on a tire. That's weird.

• 41:41Speaker 00

  I'm like, it is kind of weird, actually. Yeah, totally. I don't care. I'm gonna keep doing it, but it is kind of weird.

• 41:48Speaker 00

  I wonder if there's an opportunity here to translate, you know, like, the weird workout people mentality to hunting, or to survival skills, or to something that is actually like, and I'm not saying fitness isn't, but applicable, an applicable skill set in the real world. Does that even make sense?

• 42:10Speaker 02

  Well, I think that, yes. Um, I think the reason why it's applicable is because of what, what we're doing transcends just your physical fitness and gets into so much more. And I would make the argument, right, that the hunt that you're going on, the, the, the, the group of guys hitting sledgehammers, I, I, I think we need to be more intentional as men than ever to be mindful of these meetups because otherwise, we're gonna live in a world where, and this, a friend of mine said it like this, where our feet never touch the grass. Meaning, we are on digital, we're on AI, we're on all these things all the time, and we never have a moment to be grounded.

• 42:54Speaker 02

  And the problem with that is, if you look back generations and generations, there was always a group of men who would go and they'd work, and then they'd maybe like gather around somewhere, right? They'd eat lunch, they'd be around a fire pit, whatever. We've lost that. And the reason why that matters so much is that we are now in our own echo chamber more than ever. So our views are becoming more narrow. Our perspective is becoming more narrow. And I think men need to be open minded. They need to have different perspectives. And I think that's what this club offers. It gives an opportunity for men to have an excuse to go work out, get these endorphins running, get the physical benefits of all the things, right? Of course. And then gives them an opportunity to sit down for a cup of coffee with a dude, maybe they know, maybe they don't know,

• 43:38Speaker 02

  and slowly start to actually have their mind open and evolve. And I think that that should never stop.

• 43:47Speaker 00

  What do you think, I, I asked my co-host for the Ask Me Anything just a couple hours ago, because we recorded a podcast. What do you think is the actual benefit to an individual man to do something like this? I mean, obviously, you know, physical fitness, being in better shape, sure, we get that. A lot of guys will say, well, accountability, camaraderie, brotherhood, which is all true. But what is the actual benefit to men of camaraderie, brotherhood, accountability, et cetera?

• 44:20Speaker 02

  Well, I would say that, and I, I, I, I assume you agree with this, there are always men that have chartered a course in front of you, and what can I learn from them? So like, I'll give you an example.

• 44:35Speaker 02

  We have dozens of men that sit down for coffee. Chances are, if I'm struggling with the situation with my wife, if I'm struggling with the situation at work, if I'm struggling with the situation with my kids, chances are, someone there has already navigated that road. And how can they help me navigate it better? That's like, that's, that's just old school mentality. But us believing that we have all the answers, that we've gone through everything, that's not true. There, everyone faces some form of adversity, whether it's divorce, illness, you name it. But how can you be in an environment of men who could help guide you through that process and make it easier on you? That's, that's the first thing I'd say. The second thing I'd say is that I believe that the Train Hard Men's Club,

• 45:17Speaker 02

  and I, I should believe this, can and will change your life. Because I have now witnessed over the span of three years, many, many, many men tell me it has changed their life. So last, last week, I'm at the club, there's this dude, he shows up. A year ago, he came to the club, he threw up his first time. And he came every week since then. Last week, he goes, hey, Jason, I'm just letting you know, I'm celebrating my one year anniversary of coming out here every week. I said, dude, congrats. I said, what has this done for you? And he looks me straight in the eye, Ryan, and he says, it has completely changed my life. And then just kind of walked away. And I'm thinking to myself, completely changed my life. Like, what does that mean?

• 45:55Speaker 02

  I don't know exactly what that means, but to that man, this club has given him purpose, has given him guidance, has given him direction, has given him a weekly anchor. And we don't have that many places. Like, here's a good example. Ask your wife, ask your girlfriend, whoever's listening, when the last time they met with their girlfriends with no business intention for breakfast, breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Just got together with no intention. Chances are, it's gonna be within the last week or two, they got together with their girlfriends. Chances are.

• 46:26Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 46:27Speaker 02

  Now, ask that same question to any guy. Guaranteed, it's been at least six months, maybe even a year, maybe even never, that they've gotten together with a friend to just go do something, right? Or, or go out to lunch, go whatever, with zero business intention. And what we are doing is we're disguising this connection with just, we're giving guys a reason to get together. It's like, instead of playing golf, we're just going and getting a workout in every Saturday morning at 6:00 AM, and we're back before the kids even wake up. As you could tell, man, I'm, I'm like really passionate about this because I've seen firsthand, it changed guys' lives and opened their mind. I'll give you one more example, and then I'll, I'll kind of like chill for a second. I just get fired up on this.

• 47:07Speaker 02

  I had a guy come in, and he was suffering with PTSD from some work that he did in law enforcement.

• 47:16Speaker 02

  At the time, if you had asked him what his faith was, he probably would have said he was like a atheist-ish, just kind of like, kind of neutral, right? Fast forward, he comes into the club, he meets a group of men who were faith-based, they're, you know, they believe in, you know, they believe in God, they believe that Jesus is their, their, their savior. And slowly, very slowly, week over week over week, he just gets coffee with these guys. And eventually, they introduced them to what they believe in. It wasn't, it wasn't forced, it was just organic, it was just conversation. Just fast forward, months later, he gets baptized, right? So, how can this impact the man is your question? Well, how did that guy, how did that guy go from, from struggling

• 48:03Speaker 02

  to now finding faith, to then getting baptized and having his life changed? It started because he was surrounding himself with other men who were all trying to just live life and, and just grow and get better. And doors opened for him because of it.

• 48:19Speaker 00

  The, the only, the only contention I have with that, and tell me what you think about this, is, you know, you talk about women getting together, and you said, well, you know, when's the last time your wife or your girlfriend got together? Probably in the last week. Because women are relational creatures. Like, that's just what they do. And they'll get together, and they'll talk about their husbands or their boyfriends, and they'll talk about work and their kids, and they'll talk about the rainbow they saw yesterday, and like, all the craziest things. Like, they'll talk about everything. And then a man comes home, and his woman is like, well, how's Jason? And I'd be like, he's pretty good. And, and she'll say, well, like, what's going on in this family?

• 49:00Speaker 00

  I'm like, I don't, I don't know. Like, he didn't say anything, so I'm assuming, like, his wife and kids are good. Well, what about work? I'm like, yeah, I didn't really bring that up. Like, I'm, I'm assuming work's good. She's like, well, how, you don't even know this guy. I'm like, yeah, but you know what? If Jason called me at 2:00 AM, like, I'd bust down doors to go meet him and be there for him at 2:00 AM. It's just a difference in the sexes, but.

• 49:28Speaker 00

  You said something interesting, and this is what I took a little, a little issue with is, is you said, well, when's the last time you guys got together to do, to have no agenda? I don't actually think guys work that way generally and broadly. I think we do need to have something either to fight for or against. Whereas our female, our lovely female counterparts, they don't need a reason to get together. But we as men do. And I, I actually think to your credit, you're addressing that in the Train Hard program. It's like, no, we're going to go do the burpee challenge. What is the burpee challenge, by the way? Like you, you talked about, like, what is that?

• 50:07Speaker 02

  Test. Yeah. So just

• 50:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, what is that?

• 50:09Speaker 02

  A point of clarification I should have, yeah, I mean, obviously was when I say that guys get together with no agenda. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that what I've learned is like, oh, okay. Here's a great example. Hey, Ryan, I'm, I'm in Utah. Okay. If I'm in Utah and I hit you up and like, hey, bro, you want to go grab coffee? That's not weird, right? Like, hey, um, we know each other, we're friends. I'm in your neck of the woods, let's go grab coffee. And it wouldn't be weird at all. It would actually be completely normal. But if you and I

• 50:36Speaker 00

  But I'd be more enticed to say like, hey, Ryan, do you want to go hit Angels Landing? I'd be, hell yeah, let's go do that together.

• 50:42Speaker 02

  Let's go do a hike, let's go do something. So guys, I, I agree with you. They want to, they want to have a purpose behind their meetups, right? And what we're doing is we're disguising connections. I don't think guys need to be told like how to connect. I think we've been doing this for thousands of years. What we need is we need a reason to be at that point. And so what we're doing is we're creating that reason with, hey, bro, we got a 6:00 AM Saturday workout. It's completely free. It's open for any guy. It's 45 minutes, come get your, you know, butt kicked. And then you're already there. Let's just go grab coffee. So, so it's a, it's a

• 51:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, fair.

• 51:18Speaker 02

  I totally agree with, so yeah. What would, what I don't think would stick, let me give you an example. If I try to create a coffee club for men where men just come have coffee and chat. I don't think we'd ever have much success.

• 51:31Speaker 00

  I'm good, bro. I don't want to have, I don't want to have coffee with you. I'm good.

• 51:36Speaker 02

  Exactly. But yet if I, if I front load it with, hey, let's go grab a workout. And then, oh dude, hey, man, you got a minute? Let's just go grab a quick cup, a quick cup of coffee. There's like 70 other guys that are joining us. So we're just going to go like riff around for a minute. That's when I think those conversations start to shift. And to your point, dude, like we're not expecting guys have their lives changed over one workout and then a coffee. I don't think they're going to go there and start spilling their life's problems to some guy. That's never going to happen.

• 52:05Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 52:05Speaker 02

  But what is going to happen is they're going to come there and they're going to be like, dude, I just moved to this area. I know nobody. And at least now I know that guy, John. I'm, him and I aren't great friends, but I know him. And then the following week, him and John talk a little bit more and they realize they both love hockey. And the following week, they both connect. And that's why I think the weekly occurrence is so important is it gives 52 opportunities a year to actually like, create some level of like riffing. And now what's really interesting, and then I'll actually answer your real question about the burpee test. Last week I was at a, um, a pizza party. There was eight men there and they brought their wives and their families. None of these men knew each other before the Train Hard Men's Club. They all met because of it.

• 52:47Speaker 02

  And they just started a WhatsApp group where they start riffing with each other using AI images about workouts or whatever. And they started connecting. And now all of a sudden they bring their families together and they start connecting. That's what I think we're missing.

• 53:00Speaker 00

  Yeah. No, that's, that's a good point. Like I, I, I think you're right. Like, I just wouldn't want it to fall or land on deaf ears where guys are like, I don't want to go have a latte with my buddy. I don't

• 53:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's weird.

• 53:13Speaker 00

  Like, I don't, I don't want to go have coffee with you, bro. But if you said, hey, let's go on a hike or let's go raise a barn for our neighbor. Like, yeah, I'll do that.

• 53:23Speaker 02

  Let's go move, let's go move a treadmill like yesterday, like

• 53:26Speaker 00

  Exactly. Yes, exactly.

• 53:28Speaker 02

  There's a purpose, but then it's like, hey, dude, oh, dude, you just moved my treadmill? Like, hey, you want to, you want a quick beer real quick? And it's like, yeah, of course. Like, let's, let's hang out.

• 53:35Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 53:36Speaker 02

  So, but you know, again, I, I just think that it's really important to note that like with these clubs, we're not trying to be therapists. We're not trying to make it some like whatever session. We're just focusing on doing a hard workout and then getting men together. And I believe that like we have for thousands of years, we will figure it out. But we need to have a reason and a place where people can go. Um, because if we don't do it, then who will, right? If, if, if we don't take the initiative to say, hey, bro, come on out for a free workout. Who will? And that's what I've seen change lives. So

• 54:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 54:13Speaker 02

  Um, in regards to

• 54:14Speaker 00

  So tell me, so yeah, tell me about the burpee test. And then also tell me where guys can learn more about the Train Hard sessions and find one in their local area.

• 54:24Speaker 02

  So the Train Hard burpee test originally started off, I'd say close to 20 years ago for me. When I was competing professionally in CrossFit, I would do 15 burpees every minute for 10 minutes. And I would do this when I got off a plane. I would do this anytime I was anywhere. And it's a, it's a stamina building exercise and also, you know, obviously conditioning. Where 15 burpees at like a moderate pace takes me and most men 45 to 48 seconds at a very moderate pace. Then you rest for 10 to 15 seconds.

• 54:53Speaker 00

  Doing a burpee, if you're doing 15 per minute, if my math's correct, you're doing one every four seconds is what you're doing.

• 54:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, like, yeah, like three seconds, you know, uh, if three to three, three and a half seconds and just nice and smooth. And I used to do this all the time. So fast forward, um, I start the Train Hard Men's Club and I realized that 10 minutes was just obnoxious. It was too much volume. It was way too much for guys. So I reduced it down to five minutes. And now I've even said like, the main goal is to get as many men in the world to do three minutes of burpees, 15 a minute. So that's 45 total, right? Um, but

• 55:29Speaker 00

  In a minute, yeah.

• 55:30Speaker 02

  But what happens is a lot of these guys, they come out every single week. We do five minutes, 15 burpees every minute for five minutes, every week. And I don't care if you'd get, if you get all the minutes, you get one minute, you can't even get a minute. Maybe you get five burpees the first minute. It doesn't matter to me because what it does, it creates a baseline. And then you have something each week that you improve. And as I've evolved this, it started to became more than just like doing a burpee. Now it represents your ability to control your heart rate. And it's now translated into the way men show up at home. Because the burpee test is all about staying in the green zone and never hitting the deep red.

• 56:08Speaker 02

  What happens is if you control your breath and you have consistent breath work, like swimming, nice, smooth breath, right? You could, you could keep your heart rate low and stay aerobic. But as soon as your heart rate spikes, it's very difficult to recover. So what we teach these men from the very beginning is be mindful of your breath and find your cadence. Whatever that cadence is, I don't care. Just figure out what it is and it has to be consistent. And the reason why this matters so much is that now when they start to feel their heart rate elevating when they get home, their kids are pissing them off. How can they relate to this? When they start getting in a whatever, how can they go back to some basic breath work? And I believe every guy listening to this show should be able to do at least three to five minutes.

• 56:51Speaker 02

  Because that tells me they can move their body with purpose if they needed to for three to five minutes. And with purpose could be all kinds of stuff. It could be you're in a physical altercation. It could be you're in a, you know, uh, uh, you know, a national disaster and you have to move your body with purpose. Can you do that for three to five minutes is the question?

• 57:12Speaker 00

  Do you know what your record is for the amount of either minutes that you've been able to keep this pace? Or the most amount of burpees in a minute?

• 57:22Speaker 02

  Yeah. So we have put it out. Um, my best is 26 minutes, 15 burpees a minute. That's my best.

• 57:29Speaker 00

  Damn.

• 57:30Speaker 02

  Yeah. The best I've ever heard was 56 minutes, best ever.

• 57:34Speaker 00

  Whoa.

• 57:35Speaker 02

  And

• 57:35Speaker 00

  Verified?

• 57:36Speaker 02

  Verified. I know this guy. He's a, he's a badass. The reason why he was able to do it though, is because his body never went anaerobic. He was able, basically the way that you would go out for a jog, this dude was doing burpees. So his heart rate never got high enough where he started to kind of like, he was able to stay in basically like a zone two smooth. Because he manages heart rate. He had great, obviously muscle and hip flexor stamina. And he was just, you know, perfectly designed for it. But that's the goal.

• 58:06Speaker 00

  How many burpees have you done in a minute? Do you know your record?

• 58:10Speaker 02

  I mean, typically for us now, because the five minutes is pretty easy at 15. Um, at the last two minutes, I'll bump it up to like 20 a minute. But I think my most, I mean, I don't know, at least probably at least 30. It just depends on the standard of the burpee. Uh, you know, it's kind of a gray area.

• 58:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, third, I mean, 30 is legit. One every two seconds, that's pretty legit.

• 58:33Speaker 02

  I mean, you gotta really fly on that. Like, I mean, when I was really competing in CrossFit, I mean, there, again, the standard matters, right? Like our standard is get to the ground, stand back up again. If you want to jump and clap, great. If you don't, who cares? But that's the goal.

• 58:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, I always looked at it as chest touches the floor, feet come off the ground. I don't care if it's a half an inch, a quarter of an inch or three inches. Feet come off the ground on the top, chest hits the floor on the bottom. That's what I look at.

• 59:01Speaker 02

  Sure. Yeah. I mean, for us, for the Train Hard standard, I like go to the ground, feet, you know, like thighs and chest touch the ground. And then you come to a standing position because what you would see is, is you would see, okay, if my feet needed to come up, I would only come up halfway on my burpee and then just like, almost like a, do like a dolphin kick and then go back down. So the, the reason why I like standing up is that it relates a little bit more to like a tactical environment where you drop down almost into a sprawl or a burpee. And then you come to a standing position where you could then, if you wanted to

• 59:33Speaker 00

  Battle ready position.

• 59:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly. So that's why I like it. Um, people ask me, why don't I jump and clap? And it's for that reason. I like to get down and then kind of stand back up into more of like a defensive position. But you do you, you know?

• 59:48Speaker 00

  That's actually interesting. I never thought about it that way. But yeah, if you come up in that defensive position, that like, you know, shoulder width stance, defensive position, three point stance, where you know, you hear all these things, that's actually interesting. All right, brother, we'll tell the guys how to connect with you, learn more about what you're up to and find a Train Hard stash near them.

• 1:00:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, I really appreciate the opportunity. I mean, our website's th.fit and on there, we have a map that has a hundred locations now. Or if you want to start a club, there's an easy way where you submit your information. I get on a call with you. I explain the heart, the spirit, what we're trying to accomplish. And if you feel calledish, like dude, fitness has really done a lot for me. I want to share with other people. Go start a club, I'll help you do it. And let's just grow this mission. I mean, that's it. That's the spirit of it. So th.fit and either find a club or start a club.

• 1:00:39Speaker 00

  Awesome. We'll sync it all up, man. I appreciate you. I'm glad that we've been able to stay in touch. I think the last time we actually saw each other was, I mean, it might've been December of last year with down in Austin, right?

• 1:00:51Speaker 02

  I think it was at Tim's event, right? Wasn't it?

• 1:00:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, I think it was. But man, it's good to be able to stay connected with you. And, uh, I'd love to come out there, get a hunt together, uh, go to one of your Train Hard sessions. Yeah, man, I love what you're doing. So we'll sync everything up. Jason, I appreciate you, man. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.

• 1:01:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, thanks for having me.

• 1:01:12Speaker 00

  There you go, guys. Mr. Jason Kalipa, what an incredible human being. Um, I'm, I'm proud to call him a friend and have known him for years now. And I love what he's doing with the Train Hard, uh, Men's Clubs. If you are interested in joining a club near you or starting one, you can go to th.fit. That's T H as in Train Hard dot fit. And, uh, and check that out. I would highly encourage you, follow him on Instagram as well. Follow me, tag us, screenshot, share. Let's get the word out of what Jason's doing for millions of men with these free clubs all across the country. And I'm sure if not, at some point we'll be all over the world. Guys, I hope you enjoyed the episode.

• 1:01:52Speaker 00

  Again, last thing, go check out the War Room, orderofman.com/warroom, November 18th at 8:00 PM Eastern. And I hope to see you there. All right, guys, we'll be back tomorrow for our Ask Me Anything. Until then, go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be.

• 1:02:09Speaker 01

  Thank you for listening to the Order of Man Podcast. You ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be? We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.