This is part 2 of our interview with Chris Klaftenegger. 

Chris was a special operations medic in two different military branches, and he has been to selection courses in the US Navy, Marines, and Air Force. 

He began his career as a SARC - a Special Amphibious Recon Corpsman at 1st Recon Battalion. After that, he transferred to a reserve unit of the Air Force and went through selection and training to become a Pararescueman, also known as a PJ. 

He also attended countless other schools, ranging from the Coast Guard’s Advanced Rescue Swimmer school to avalanche and tactical structural collapse search and rescue schools. 

Chris then worked in private security as an emergency response medic, personal security specialist, and medical instructor. 

Following that, he transitioned to the world of business and technology. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Onyx Industries, a company of former special operators making intelligent unmanned systems and airborne solutions for the defense industry. 

In this episode, we talk about Chris transitioning out of his role as a special operations medic and into entrepreneurship, developing advanced defense technology with Onyx Industries. 

Time Stamps:

00:00:22 Clipping Tridents
00:03:11 Incrementally Harder Courses
00:05:03 Leadership by Example
00:07:01 What is Chris Doing Now?
00:14:41 PJ to Building Robots
00:19:13 Tandem Barrels
00:24:44 Barrel Improvements in 15 Years
00:27:29 Mitigating Open Shock
00:31:44 Rough Openings
00:33:00 Get in Touch with Chris Klaftenegger
00:35:32 Outro

Chris Klaftenegger was a special operations medic in two different military branches, and he has been to selection courses in the US Navy, Marines, and Air Force. 

He began his career as a SARC - a Special Amphibious Recon Corpsman at 1st Recon Battalion. 

After that, he transferred to a reserve unit of the Air Force and went through selection and training to become a Pararescueman, also known as a PJ. 

He also attended countless other schools, ranging from the Coast Guard’s Advanced Rescue Swimmer school to avalanche and tactical structural collapse search and rescue schools. 

Chris then worked in private security as an emergency response medic, personal security specialist, and medical instructor. 

Following that, he transitioned to the world of business and technology. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Onyx Industries, a company of former special operators making intelligent unmanned systems and airborne solutions for the defense industry. 

In this episode, we talk about Chris' career, his experiences in various selection courses, and his time as a Marine Recon instructor. 

We're splitting this conversation into two parts and will run the second half in a few days. 

Time Stamps: 

00:00:22 Intro to Chris Klaftenegger
00:01:26 Military Journey
00:08:44 BUD/S vs BRC
00:12:08 Learning to Regulate
00:18:58 Recon and PJ Community Differences
00:20:30 Evolution of Combat Medicine
00:27:32 Recon Instructor
00:36:32 Weakest Person in the Class
00:40:05 Sponsor
00:40:57 Common Signals of the "X Factor"
00:44:01 Selection is More Than Finding the Best Exercisers
00:46:50 Outro

Zack Ferguson is a former Navy SEAL Team 7 veteran with multiple deployments to Iraq, Yemen, Africa, and the UAE. He served as his platoon's Lead Sniper and Pointman and was a JTAC, Combatives Instructor, and Weapons Ordnance Specialist.

He is currently a competitive 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu purple belt and an amateur MMA fighter. 

He is also an instructor for the Graceful Warrior Project, a non-profit organization that aims to equip in-duress women in central Africa with self-defense skills.

Zack has a degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Charleston. At his day job, he is an instructor for Defense Strategies Group, an organization of special operations veterans that provides defensive training and security solutions. 

In this episode, we talk with Zack about his decision to join the Navy and volunteer for BUD/S, the mental preparation that he did for that, his experiences in training, and his transition out of the SEAL teams. 

More about Zack:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zackkferg/

Personal Site: https://zackkferg.com/pages/about-zack-ferguson

Defense Strategies Group: https://www.defensestrategies.us/instructors


Timestamps:

00:00:23 Intro

00:01:14 Zack Ferguson Introduction

00:05:19 Hard Commitment to SEAL Teams

00:08:01 Commitment Tested

00:11:02 Reality of the Course

00:14:03 Being Fit Enough Isn’t Enough

00:19:19 Quick Note

00:19:40 Laughing at Absurdity

00:22:12 Illness is Part of the Course

00:25:16 Biggest Mistakes Made

00:27:32 Balancing Commitments

00:29:06 Getting Out of the Navy

00:35:49 Guided Psychedelic Therapy

00:37:05 Seal Team to Civilian 

00:39:47 MMA and SEAL Teams Similarities 

00:40:56 Differences

00:41:32 Defense Strategies Group

00:43:15 Best and Worst Advice

00:45:36 Learn More About Zack Ferguson

00:46:15 Outro

This is part two of our interview with John Mackersie. If you missed the first half, we recommend starting at part one, which is episode 57, just before this one. 

John Mackersie is a strength and conditioning coach with over 15 years of professional coaching experience in collegiate athletics and within special operations. John began his coaching career in Division I athletics and has been working with Special Operation Forces since 2013. He’s currently the head of strength and conditioning for an Army Special Forces unit. 

In addition to coaching, John has spoken and lectured on numerous occasions for the National Strength and Conditioning Association at both national and regional levels, as well as preparing individuals for certification and exam preparation.

In this episode, we hit John with a rapid-fire series of questions from our audience about training for or with a Special Forces unit. We also discuss his advice for other coaches coming to the SOF world from university strength and conditioning backgrounds. 

Time Stamps:

00:00:22 Group Workouts
00:04:32 Training Consistency
00:07:46 Yes, and?
00:09:48 Time Spent With Individuals
00:12:00 Separate Entities
00:14:13 What to Do and Not Do
00:17:32 Data Collection
00:21:40 Direct Impact
00:23:30 Sponsor Note
00:23:56 Lightning Round
-Tips on Raising A Family
-Special Operators
-Basic Fitness Standard
-Opt Tempo
-Strong Man Training
-Mental Struggle
-Maintain Self Discipline
-Best and Worst Advice
00:31:15 Social Media Presence
00:32:04 Outro

Send John angry messages about Olympic lifting: 

https://www.instagram.com/m_stronger/

John Mackersie is a strength and conditioning coach with over 15 years of professional coaching experience in collegiate athletics and within special operations. John began his coaching career in Division I athletics and has been working with Special Operation Forces since 2013. He’s currently the head of strength and conditioning for an Army Special Forces unit. 

In addition to coaching, John has spoken and lectured on numerous occasions for the National Strength and Conditioning Association at both national and regional levels, as well as preparing individuals for certification and exam preparation.

In this episode, we discuss what John has learned over the course of his career and how he thinks about the training process for special operators. 

Timestamps:

00:00:22 Intro 

00:01:01 John Mackersie’s Background

00:03:03 Measures of Success

00:07:30 Olympic Lifting Debate

00:13:15 Balance of Training and Life

00:17:11 Primary Teaching

00:20:22 Motor Patterns and Training Effects

00:23:35 Rucking

00:27:42 Weights and Distances

00:29:50 Outro

Send John angry messages about Olympic lifting: 

https://www.instagram.com/m_stronger/

Over the past decade, we’ve helped prepare hundreds of clients for dozens of different SOF selection courses. Through this process, we’ve developed an extensive model of what’s required physically and cognitively to make it through almost any selection. In other words, how fit you need to be and the thinky-brain skills - things like segmenting, compartmentalization, and managing your self-talk - that you need to manage the various tasks you’ll be required to do. 

The specific skills and physical traits necessary to succeed vary a bit from course to course, but we have a robust and adaptable process to get people extremely well-prepared for almost any selection. 

However, there is one area we haven’t developed as extensively: the emotional and social components of SOF selection. These are often the limiting factors for either not getting selected - when you make it through a selection but aren’t chosen to move forward - or outright quitting. We can’t cover these broad topics in a single podcast but we will explore them over the coming months. 

In this podcast, we will highlight the specific skills necessary to manage the emotional and social experience of failure, setbacks, and pressure from cadre and peers that are common at SOF selection. This will include a recap of mental skills we’ve touched on before in different contexts. 

This is the second half of our conversation with Dr. Alex Hutchinson. 

Dr. Alex Hutchinson is an author and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. His latest book, Endure: Mind, body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, is an exploration of the science and mysteries of endurance. 

Alex is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine, writing a Sweat Science column. He also writes a column for The Globe and Mail and Canadian Running magazine. He’s also written award-winning articles for Popular Mechanics, has written about adventure travel for the New York Times, and was a columnist at Runner’s World for five years.

Alex started out as a physicist with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, then spent a few years as a postdoctoral researcher with the U.S. National Security Agency, working on quantum computing and nanomechanics. During that time, he competed as a middle- and long-distance runner for the Canadian national team, mostly as a miler but also dabbling in cross-country and even a bit of mountain running. He still runs most days, enjoys the rigors of hard training, and occasionally races.

If you’re into human performance or have ever wondered what factors govern the limits of human athletic potential, then Alex’s book Endure is a must-read.

To find more of Alex's work:

www.AlexHutchinson.net

Outside Magazine Sweat Science

Timestamps:

00:00:25 Altering the Perception of Effort 

00:08:20 Maximum Effort

00:10:49 Processing Pain 

00:16:15 Pushing the Signs of Breakdown

00:20:20 Finding Limits

00:24:08 VO2 Max Protocol

00:26:01 Altitude Training

00:29:49 Learn More About Dr. Alex Hutchinson

00:30:30 Outro

Dr. Alex Hutchinson is an author and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. His latest book, Endure: Mind, body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, is an exploration of the science and mysteries of endurance. 

Alex is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine, writing a Sweat Science column. He also writes a column for The Globe and Mail and Canadian Running magazine. He’s also written award-winning articles for Popular Mechanics, has written about adventure travel for the New York Times, and was a columnist at Runner’s World for five years.

Alex started out as a physicist with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, then spent a few years as a postdoctoral researcher with the U.S. National Security Agency, working on quantum computing and nanomechanics. During that time, he competed as a middle- and long-distance runner for the Canadian national team, mostly as a miler but also dabbling in cross-country and even a bit of mountain running. He still runs most days, enjoys the rigors of hard training, and occasionally races.

If you’re into human performance or have ever wondered what factors govern the limits of human athletic potential, then Alex’s book Endure is a must-read.

To find more of Alex's work:

www.AlexHutchinson.net

Outside Magazine Sweat Science

Timestamps:

00:00:22 Intro

00:01:50 Athletic and Academic Background

00:06:07 Limits of Endurance Test

00:10:50  Theoretical maximum/Tim Noakes

00:15:15 Model of Fatigue

00:19:12 Mental Fatigue

00:20:30 Practical Application in Training

00:25:17 Low Hanging Fruit In Performance

00:28:35 A Note From our Sponsors

00:29:00 Outro

The curse of knowledge occurs when an individual, often unknowingly, assumes that others have the background or knowledge to understand a particular topic.

Once we know something, it's tough to remember what it's like not to know it and to factor that into our communication. 

This leads to misunderstanding, frustration, inefficient or ineffective learning environments, and mango trees with boats in them. 

In this episode, we discuss how the curse of knowledge works, the factors that enhance or mitigate it, and how to effectively account for it in our personal and professional lives. 

This is part two of our interview with Shaun Taylor, a founding member of Canada's tier-one SOF unit, JTF2.

Shaun has also managed to fit numerous other careers into his lifetime, ranging from coffee shop owner to computer systems teacher to a world championship title in 24-hour solo mountain bike racing, followed by 15 years as a professional coach.

In this half of the interview, we talk about his career(s) after JTF2, his experiences as a world champion MTB racer and coach, and what eventually led him to become part of his podcast, The Collective.

Shaun's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shauntaylors1/

The Collective Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@the_collective_yt/streams

The Collective Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_collective_ig/

Timestamps:

• 00:00:22 Maintaining Mental Health
• 00:04:11 Becoming A Civilian Again
• 00:09:04 24-Hour Mountain Bike Racing
• 00:13:45 Mental Strategies
• 00:22:14 What Did You Look For In Coaching Clients
• 00:26:20 Regulating Stress Response
• 00:30:08 Better Manage Stress Response
• 00:31:46 Embarrass Past Selves
• 00:34:30 Metacognition
• Rapid Fire Questions
• 00:40:12 Tips On Building Positive Group Culture
• 00:40:34 Recovery Routine
• 00:40:45 Soft Selection Course Prep
• 00:40:53 How Should Women Train
• 00:41:00 Managing Egos
• 00:41:08 Carryover Exercises
• 00:41:19 Reset Mindset
• 00:41:35 Optimal Balance in Training
• 00:42:01 Preparation Training
• 00:42:15 Training For BJJ
• 00:42:35 Integrating