Learn II Perform with Braeden Ostepchuk

For many, the gym is a sacred place. With aspirations of sculpting the perfect physique and developing world-class athletic performance, people literally shed blood, sweat, and tears. Whether or not you are one of those people that gives 100% of their effort every single day in the gym, it should be a priority to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your results. No matter how hard you work, if you’re aren’t optimizing your approach, you will be limited in the results you achieve.

In this episode, we are going to break down some of the key principles of human physiology and biomechanics to understand how you can optimize your workouts. Following three simple and easy to implement strategies, you may be able to increase muscle hypertrophy, strength, testosterone and growth hormone levels, and maximize neuromuscular adaptation. I’ll also share some of my favorite exercises and workouts, including a killer 12 minute leg burner.

Topics
[2:41] The key to volume training: Time under tension
[5:25] Evidence of benefits of tempo training
[8:43] Increase growth hormone and testosterone with compound movements
[11:54] Understanding muscle strength curves
[13:54] Easily manipulate strength curves for maximum time under tension
[18:16] Using tempo training and resistance bands to maximize gains without a gym
[20:07] The Jelly Shot: A 12-minute leg burner
[22:25] Your next workout: Tips and exercises

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

In this episode, Steve Szilagyi – a longtime coach, mentor, and friend – shares his insights into achieving high performance by being ultra-efficient, the fundamental habits necessary for improved health, and the most pressing issues he sees as a rehabilitation consultant. Steve has his life dialed in, largely because he took the time to figure it out. After listening to this episode, you’ll be inspired to make the next moves necessary to take your life to the next level.

Steve is a terrific resource because he has achieved great levels of success in a variety of industries and roles. Currently, Steve is a rehab consultant for a major insurance company, a full-time Realtor, the Director of Ice Hockey at Next Move Network, and a business consultant assisting in the operations of a local gym. Previously, he’s also been a personal trainer, CIS and WHL strength and conditioning coach, a city council board member, and a powerlifter with some absurd lifts (555lb squat, 515lb deadlift, and 405lb Bench Press while weighing 148lbs).

Topics
[4:12] High performance comes down to one thing: Efficiency
[16:24] The driving factors behind most disability claims
[25:54] Cognitive capacity: What it is and why it’s so important
[30:55]  Mental health challenges and how to address them
[40:25] Mental resilience of high performers
[1:02:53] Steve’s high performance habits

Steve Szilagyi:
Instagram
RE/MAX

Next Move Network:
Website
Instagram
Facebook

Crash Conditioning
Website
Instagram
Twitter

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Nutrition information is abundant and can be overwhelming. It is impossible to go to a supermarket, restaurant, or fitness website without being bombarded with information about calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a bunch of different numbers and percentages. But if you don’t understand the basics of calories, macronutrients and micronutrients, these numbers are relatively meaningless.

Fortunately, a basic understanding of nutrition math isn’t complicated. In this episode, we will cover the basics of calories, macros, micros, determining your basal metabolic rate, daily caloric needs, and figuring out a plan to help you reach your health and fitness goals. I will also share the tools and strategies I have used to successfully burn fat and gain muscle.

Topics
[2:29] What are calories and where do they come from?
[4:32] Fact or Fiction: 3500 calories equals one pound of fat
[6:55] Macros and their unique roles
[11:41] The most important micronutrients
[13:06] The app that helped me burn 15lbs of fat in less than two months
[15:58] Switching from Keto to Whole foods, plant-based
[17:44] Where to get started: Advice for building a custom nutrition profile
[20:49] The most important micronutrients and supplements

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

In this episode, Dr. Richard Schneider – Retired U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Rear Admiral, Retired Commanding General of the Vermont State Militia, and current President Emeritus of Norwich University – candidly reflects on the lessons he has learned from an illustrious career in the military and academia. Dr. Schneider’s legacy is nothing short of legendary, and his wisdom is priceless. This interview offers countless stories, insights, soundbites, and golden nuggets of information that will make you want to listen with a notebook open and a pen in hand.

All the better, this interview encompasses everything that Dr. Schneider and Norwich University stand for – a commitment to excellence in the face of adversity. The call was dropped, his phone was dying, dogs were barking and phones were ringing, but with an authentic Norwich-inspired “I will try” attitude, this finalized interview was jam-packed with wisdom and actionable advice on how to optimize your life, lead an organization, and transform the world.

The topics of values, service, and leadership are deeply explored, as well as Dr. Schneider’s secret to longevity, advice from a former Army Chief of Staff, a story of a janitor who put a man on the moon, and more!

Topics:
[3:45] The role of guiding values in organizational success
[6:25] Captain Alden Partridge’s mission to train Citizen-Soldiers
[11:37] The janitor who put a man on the moon
[14:40] Advice from former Army Chief of Staff, General Gordon R. Sullivan
[23:30] Leaders must communicate with transparency
[44:02] “It was all about service my whole life, helping others”
[56:00] Experience with Transcendental Meditation
[1:06:40] Dr. Schneider’s advice to optimize your health, happiness, and performance

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Pondered for years by many of the most brilliant minds, the human ego is difficult to understand and define. From Sigmund Freud’s description of the ego as a synthesized, selective conscious to modern neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran’s simplification of the ego as an elaborate illusion created by the brain, the ego’s influence on the human condition has been a hot topic for a long time. 

In this episode, you’ll learn about the human ego. The good, the bad, how its formed, how I have been a slave to my ego my entire life, and how you can begin to confront your ego by asking yourself three simple questions.

Topics:
[2:59] Understanding the ego: Jung, Freud, and others
[5:30] Self-loss and ego dissolution
[6:58] “I am not who you think I am”
[8:17] Envy, Insecurity, and Fragility
[9:52] Self-Manifestation: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade
[12:48] My whole life, I was a slave to my ego
[18:16] Three questions to ask yourself today

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Zach Fucale is a professional hockey goaltender currently under contract with the Washington Capitals of the NHL. At just 25 years of age, Zach has already had an illustrious hockey career, appearing in nearly 200 professional games since being a second round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2013. Prior to being drafted, Zach was among the winningest goalies in QMJHL history while winning QMJHL and Memorial Cup Championships. Internationally, Zach has also won gold medals with Canada in three different tournaments, the Ivan Hlinka U18 (2012), World Junior Championships (2015), and Spengler Cup (2016, 2019).

Off the ice, Zach is equally impressive. He is a co-founder of Living Sisu, a company dedicated to educating people about the importance of daily physical activity and making it more accessible to all (Membership is free!). In addition to the company, he has been an active voice in the community and podcasting, using his platform to spread positive messages and share valuable information. He epitomizes the values of Learn II Perform: He’s an avid reader, high performer, great personality, and a wealth of knowledge.

In this episode, Zach shares his strategy to achieving and sustaining high performance, the significance of improving 1.5%, his personal nutrition journey, and how “Sisu” applies to everything in life.

Topics:
[4:00] What constitutes high performance: “Being a high performer, you deliver”
[6:53] The number one pillar to high performance is to create a system
[12:11] 1.5% can make or break your career
[15:33] Why sleep is Zach’s top performance habit
[21:32] Better than biohacking: Listen to your body
[32:10] Experimenting with nutrition: From vegan to carnivore
[40:36] Forget vegan vs carnivore: The enemy is processed foods
[44:00] Lifelong learning and Living Sisu
[52:53] Getting in touch with Zach and Living Sisu
[55:09] Zach’s advice for optimizing health, happiness, and performance

Get in touch with Zach:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zach_fucale/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fucale31

Find out more about Living Sisu:
Website: https://www.livingsisu.com/en/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/living.sisu/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/livingsisu

Find out more about Learn II Perform:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Conscious breathing has the power to change your life by reducing stress, maximizing your focus and memory, promoting longevity, and even contributing to facial symmetry and attractiveness. With the ability to regulate the autonomic nervous system, breathing is a gateway to controlling many of the physiological systems that govern our health and performance. Amazingly, despite having unlimited access to this tool, very few people understand how to utilize their breath to improve their lives.

In this episode, you will discover the influence breath has over your health, including regulation of the HPA axis, autonomic nervous system, and the incredible benefits of nasal breathing. I’ll share my experience with a variety of different breathing exercises and will provide you with breathing exercises and resources that you can immediately use to take control of your life.

Topics:
[2:30] Stress and the HPA Axis
[5:14] Breathing regulates stress hormones
[6:14] How to voluntarily control autonomic nervous system
[7:19] Remarkable benefits of the Wim Hof Method
[9:45] Andrew Huberman’s technique for instant parasympathetic activation
[11:35] Nasal breathing for improved facial symmetry and sleep
[14:07] Heightened awareness and full-body tingling sensation during the Wim Hof Method
[18:03] Breathing techniques to implement today to optimize your life
 
Special Shout-out: Dr. Jason Emery of Northeast Psych.
Take your performance to the next level at: https://www.northeastpsych.com/

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

From icing ankle sprains to whole-body cryotherapy chambers, cold therapy has been a therapeutic procedure used for many years to resolve many issues. As scientific literature has increased, both excitement and skepticism for the effectiveness of the cold has increased. What hasn’t changed, is the fact that cold exposure is often uncomfortable and undesirable.

In this episode, you’re going to learn why the discomfort of the cold is more than worthwhile. From improving brain performance and reducing neurodegenerative diseases to increasing fat burning potential and adding years to your life, forcing yourself to be cold has incredible powers. I’ll also share my experience with daily cold showers, years of ice baths as an athlete, a regular cryotherapy practice, and most importantly, how you can begin to leverage the cold for an optimized life.

Topics:
[1:58] The cold activates mitochondria-rich brown adipose tissue
[5:13] Sirtuins and the survival circuit
[7:03] Vasoconstriction for better brain health
[8:16] Relationship between the blood-brain barrier, the vagus nerve, and cold exposure
[12:03] How cold showers have changed my life
[14:17] Cryotherapy: Results of exposure to -180°C (-300°F)
[15:44] Best and easiest ways to implement cold exposure

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others. 

The ancient practice of fasting has become mainstream again. Is it just another weight loss trend, or is there more to fasting than simply starving yourself? Determined to fully understand the benefits of fasting, I experimented with variations of intermittent fasting and a 120-hour water fast. The results? In a matter of weeks, fasting changed my life. I eliminated brain fog and daily energy lulls, increased energy and productivity, got shredded, and became a happier and healthier person. Fasting has become a critical part of my optimization plan by improving my health, happiness, and performance.

In this episode, you are going to learn how fasting can be applied to drastically improve your life, by inducing autophagy (cellular cleansing), engaging your survival circuit, burning fat, developing metabolic flexibility, enhancing cognition, and much more!

Topics:
[2:10] Fasting for longevity: Understanding autophagy and mTOR
[5:27] Fasting-induced ketogenesis and gluconeogenesis
[7:27] Improved cognitive functioning resulting from intermittent fasting
[9:40] Losing 22lbs in six weeks and 9lbs in five days
[11:55] Using eating windows to manipulate weight gain and weight loss
[13:01] How to get started with fasting

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Chronic sleep deprivation is considered to be a leading contributor to almost every mortality cause, linked to many pathologies including cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, hypertension, obesity, and many more. Acute sleep-deprivation also has significant health impacts, with just 19 hours of sleep deprivation providing equivalent cognitive impairment to being legally drunk.

In this episode, we’ll explore the dangers of sleep deprivation and provide a review of the circadian clock, sleep pressure, and factors that will influence the quality and quantity of your sleep. I’ll also share all the lifestyle changes I have implemented to optimize my sleep and 10 recommendations for you to immediately begin improving your sleep and optimizing your life.

Topics
[2:29] Sleep’s regulators: Melatonin and adenosine
[3:48] How caffeine affects the sleep/wake cycle
[5:42] Lifestyle influences on sleep: Blue light, daylight saving’s time, genetics, and more
[9:08] How much sleep do you actually need?
[11:20] Which is worse: Sleep deprivation or being drunk?
[12:49] Making sleep a priority: My sleep habits
[18:28] 10 things you can do to improve your sleep

For more information, please visit:
Website: https://learniiperform.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//braedenostepchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braedenostepchuk/

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.