Side Quest Podcast

In this episode I interview Armi Legge the founder and creator of Evidence Magazine. Armi became passionate about health and fitness around the tender age of four years old and as a junior in high school was a nationally ranked triathlete. He began his writing career at the age of 16 and has not stopped since. Armi also hosts the Evidence Radio podcast.

Jeannine Trimboli is a writer and coach over at Real [FIT] Life.  She spoke recently at the 2015 Fitness Summit in Kansas City of which I had the pleasure of attending for the first time.  Her presentation hit hard but captured a spirit of "we can do better."

She had a lot of things she did not get to in the presentation, so I wanted to have her on the show to share some of what she spoke about as well as to cover some of the things she did not get the chance to cover.

There are a lot of links here that I highly suggest you click on and check out as well.  The information and thoughts presented in them are things I think would benefit all men and women to ponder on.

In this episode I interview Matt Cordery of We The Powerful.  Matt is a trainer and fitness blogger from Australia.  He is also a giant nerd with a unique view on fitness and life.

In this episode we discuss:

• Time differences
• How he got into fitness
• Goals and personal pursuits
• What weakness he avoided training for the longest time
• The importance of mobility movements and stretching
• Limber 11
• Who inspires him
• Dan John, Eric Cressey, Louie Simmons, Tony Gentilcore, Greg Nuckols
• Age of Ultron
• Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth
• His tattoo and what it means
• Prometheus 
• Deloading and its importance
• How he motivates himself to take a deload week
• Bodyweight training is a great deload strategy when you want to get some exercise in
• What impulse buy is the most tempting for him at the store
• The marketing lies of the "health food industry"
• Snacking and how it can harm weight loss
• Marketing buzzwords
• Teaching proper nutrition in schools and how we suck at it
• Guilty pleasure music on his playlist (The Beards)
• What super power he would have if he could be a super hero
• Marvel vs DC
• Social Media and life today versus the past

Links

We, the Powerful

Fitocracy

In this episode I interview the creator and CEO of a brand new nutrition App called Fudist.  Fudist finds meals at restaurants near you that fit your nutrition needs. No need to sign up for delivery or subscriptions; using GPS and their gigantic database, the App will find thousands of healthy meal combinations near you, whether you're a bodybuilder, a fat-burner, or a diabetic. Fudist's goal is to make eating healthy as easy as eating unhealthy

In this episode we discuss:

• What the Fudist App does and how it can help you keep diet on point
• What is tracked is managed
• Equals and Alternatives
• Emotional reaction words that marketers use
• Why he created Fudist and what inspired him to do so
• Flexible Dieting
• How he obtained all the nutritional data from restaurants nationwide 
• When and why he decided to step off the cliff and build his business and App
• Fudist allows you to split rest day and workout day macros
• How Fudist recommends food at restaurants 
• How Fudist will help to guide you to eat at mom and pop places and not chains
• BBQ 
• Food distribution and how a lot of it comes from similar sources
• How Fudist can help you to become mindful about what you eat
• Using the App while driving down the interstate
• The App he just cannot stop using
• Favorite 80s Action Movie hero
• JEM
• How awful the writing was on Boy Meets World
• The awesomeness of the 90s
• What Superhero would he choose to be
• Marvel vs DC
• How Fudist can help simplify your life
• Fudi.st in the App Store or Google Play or online

Links

Fudist

Flexible Dieting

Equals and Alternatives

In this episode I interview Jason Maxwell of JMax Fitness.  Jason went to school where he majored in aero space engineering and became a real rocket scientist.  While in college he became a personal trainer and found that he wanted to help others achieve the physique/strength goals he had achieved.  He started his blog as a side project but found that he connected with readers through it and decided to devote his time to the science of health and nutrition as opposed to rockets and Mars.

In this episode we discuss:

• What super hero he would be
• Who influenced his philosophy as he got into fitness
• What his training looks like now
• How he diets down when he is cutting
• How he measures food without a scale
• Rabbit meat
• Daily Undulated Periodization (DUP) and how it helps you get stronger
• How DUP helps you to get stronger in every rep range
• Texas Method
• Rules He Lives By
• "When you walk by the mirror flex"
• New rules he has added to his daily routine

Links

Jmax Fitness

DUP

Robert dos Remedios

.82 Protein Cut

In this episode Tanner Baze and I geek out over Star Wars and give away our free 6 week Star Wars strength and hypertrophy program.

You can download it for free by heading here or here

In this episode I interview Mike Samuels of Healthy Living, Heavy Lifting.  He is a personal trainer and online coach from England.  Mike is a reformed "clean" eater and has had success in competing in physique competitions.  He started as a cardio junkie but found his passion for strength training and bodybuilding.  Mike has written for STACK, EliteFTS, and LIVESTRONG to name a few.

In this episode we discuss:

• how he got into training
• his struggles with clean eating and how Lane Norton opened his eyes to flexible dieting
• moderation and how you can help clients learn it
• hardest part of training for a bodybuilding show
• cravings and their impacts on restrictive diets
• the buffet struggle
• how to create rules and schedule cheat days/feast days
• what superhero he would be
• what guility pleasure he listens to on his workout mix
• what famous person in history he would have dinner with
• Daily Undulating Periodization Training

Links

Mike's Site

DUP Training

Layne Norton

Tim Ferriss

In this episode I interview Steven Ledbetter aka Coach Stevo.  Steven M. Ledbetter, aka “Coach Stevo” is a bonafide fitness nerd. He has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, an MA in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and has been Russian Kettlebell Certified. He has been an intern for Dan John, arguably the best strength coach in the world, who certified Coach Stevo the only “Master Dan John, Level II” trainer in the world while they were drinking pickle backs.

In this episode we discuss:

• How he got into fitness
• What habit is/was the hardest for him to implement
• Creating habit change for things you ahte
• "If you bang your head against the wall constantly, you are probably trying to open the wrong door"
• Who inspired his fitness philosophy
• Mike Boyle
• Dan John
• The cognitive side of fitness
• Problems people think they have but actually just lack focus
• How to re-steer clients who get off track

• Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.- Friedrich Nietzsche

• Pursuit of relentless focus on momentum
• We are our own worst critics
• Joys of group coaching
• How to create communities online
• Lack of community within Big Box gyms
• Community first; gym second
• Mark Fisher Fitness
• Creating safe places for people
• Why we need communities
• Self-determination theory
• How "nerd" has been redefined
• What super power he wishes he could have
• Famous person from history he would have dinner with
• Johnny Cash

Links

Habitry

We Make Communities

Steven's Site

In this episode I interview Omar Atlas of Alpha Aesthetics.  Omar was once a PhD candidate in Psychology who found a love for working out while in college.  He works with clients to help develop the best in themselves as well as a community of like minded individuals.   He firmly believes that every major successful intervention for behavior change in the history of mankind involved dedicated communities who actively fostered conditions that help satisfy people’s need for autonomy, competence, and belonging.

In this episode we discuss:

- Why Alpha?

- how he got into the world of fitness 

- the story of a girl that broke his heart

- who shaped his philosophy as a trainer

- what he is working on now

- his love of training upper body over lower body right now in life

- Accountability 

- Nietzche and finding meaning in life

- The struggle of humanity looking for meaning now and how we fight for things that have no real weight to them

- What super power he wishes he could have

- guilty pleasure tracks

- What person in history he would have dinner with

- Favorite Arnold movie

- Favorite chest exercises

Links

Fitocracy

Omar's Site

Coach Steveo

In this episode I interview Travis Pollen of Fitness Pollenator.  Travis was born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency a rare birth defect that fuses the leg bone to your hip bone resulting in only having one leg.  Growing up Travis found that it became harder and harder to compete in athletic competitions with friends until he found swimming.  To get prepared for the 2012 Paralympic he hired a strength coach for the weight room. That next season in college he set an American record for the 100 meter freestyle for swimmers missing one arm or leg.  After he ended his swimming career he found he had a passion for lifting weights.  He is currently pursuing a degree in Bio-mechanics and Movement Science at the University of Delaware.

In this episode we discuss:

 - How bio-mechanics and using robots are bettering peoples lives

 - His PhD will be him building an Iron Man suit

-  Proximal femeral deficiency 

- Lifting on one leg

- Why he left the world of physics and went to bio-mechanics

- Is there something really cool you found working in bio-mechanics, that you want to      study more of when you get your PhD 

- Why he started his own podcast

- What work he believes shows off his best work

- What's Your Favorite Position 

- Favorite Fiction book

- Crossfit Games and how they inspire him

- What sci-fi book he loved but hated the film adaptation

- The one fitness book you are reading right now that you are on fire about

- Who inspires Travis

-The Crossfit games have become the new x-games

- The good and the bad of Crossfit and coaching

Links

Supple Leopard

Fitness Pollenator

Travis Interview with Comcast Sports

Deadlifting on One Leg