The AllAroundJoe Fitness Podcast

Listen to learn… about Steve O’Dell & Robbie Page of Tenzo Tea, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… about Steve O’Dell & Robbie Page of Tenzo Tea, plus…

• What growing up for Steve and Robbie was like.
• How they came up with the idea for Tenzo Tea.
• Where Tenzo Tea comes from.
• What you need to know about tea.
• The path for the future of Tenzo Tea.
• And much, much more.

Welcome to the show!

I was introduced to Tenzo Tea, maybe about a month or may a little longer than that, ago and what it is is a matcha green tea. I’ve always loved matcha green tea, so when I was introduced to them I was like, “Yeah, for sure. I want to give this stuff a try. Sounds really cool.” I was blown away. In fact, so much so that the matcha green tea from Tenzo Tea is now my preferred pre workout supplement. Not only that, there’s a bunch of positive health benefits from drinking the matcha tea. I highly recommend that you check out this podcast ’cause Steve and Robbie are couple of very interesting, smart entrepreneurs. They get into why you would have the tea. What kind of workouts the tea would be good for. What they’re into. We even get to talk about a little bit of entrepreneurship, which I geek out on. I hope you guys enjoy this. I want to let you know that this podcast is brought to you by Audible. You can go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get yourself a free audio book. If you hang around to the very end of the podcast, Steve and Robbie give their top three books that they recommend to the listeners. If you hang around to the end, check out those books that they recommend and grab yourself a free Audible audio book by going to allaroundjoe.com/audible. All right guys. Enjoy the interview with Steve and Robbie from Tenzo Tea. All right. Steve and Robbie, welcome to the show. How are you guys doing today?

Robbie Page: We are doing awesome. Thanks for having us.

Steve O’Dell: Yeah, we are doing great. Thanks.

Joe Bauer: Yeah, absolutely. I’m excited to have you guys on the show because I’ve been trying your guys’s product for a while. I’ve done some research on who you are. You sound like some pretty fun guys with some synergies actually with business and things like that that I’m working on so I’m excited to chat with you as well as you guys having really cool athletic careers, which is fun. [inaudible 00:02:37]. Tell me about your guys’ background. Growing up, education, sports, etc. I want to hear more about what you guys are all about.

Robbie Page: I grew up in upstate New York, in Rochester, New York specifically. Played volleyball my whole life. I was fortunate enough to go and play at UCLA for four years. Really loved my time there. That was my first real taste of all Los Angeles for me. After UCLA, I went and played a year professionally in Italy, indoor, one of the top leagues in the world. Then I played professionally two years in the sand on the ABP. That takes us to Channel 16 right around the time when Steve and I were really getting out together and started brainstorming some business ideas. In that time frame was where Tenzo was formed and the really need for healthy energy and long term focus. Came true to large sets of our life. That’s a pretty quick rundown. Want to do the same?

Steve O’Dell: Yeah. I was a similar story. I played volleyball my whole life. Actually met Rob at a volleyball practice when I was 12, and he was 14. For those of you that don’t know, he is 7’1″. He was 6’4″ as a 14 year old with this big three inch afro. [crosstalk 00:03:54]. Just a very strange sight. Then we played together [inaudible 00:03:59] there on the court in Rochester, New York for a while. Then I followed him to UCLA two years after he went there. We played together for two years. I had another year there. Then I left school and moved in on Rob’s couch. That’s when the magic of Tenzo Tea started.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. Were you guys at all entrepreneurial before you hooked up when you were younger or was it like “Hey, we are friends. Let’s try and do something different with our lives?”

Steve O’Dell: No. We were, honestly primarily volleyball players. When I was at UCLA after Rob left, I took an entrepreneurship class and then started a very simple company one summer and it did pretty well. Got really into it. That’s why I left school and moved on to Rob’s couch. He caught the bug as well and we were just full blown entrepreneurs from here on out.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. How old are you guys now?

Robbie Page: I’m 25, going on 26 in July.

Steve O’Dell: I’m 23.

Joe Bauer: You guys are pretty young guys here, which is fantastic. I banged around in entrepreneurship since I was probably 28 or so, but man I’m jealous at getting started early. Have you guys ever had to even have jobs?

Robbie Page: No.

Steve O’Dell: Not really. That’s one of the funniest things. It’s been a massive learning curve from day one. I speak neuroscience and he’ll tell you history and none of us are in business. We knew how to learn skills, but one of the biggest and cool and challenging parts about running a business is management. Even having never really had that experience working for a major company or working for a major business, we are learning as fast as possible this fine line stuff like having employees, proper communication management. All those skills are really come a lot from a team to it’s really helpful to be part of a team. It’s been a great process learning so far.

Joe Bauer: That’s super cool. I wish I would have tried that early on. I call myself now unemployable. It’s because I had to go through that before actually figuring out that you could just become an entrepreneur. I’m jealous of what you guys have done. It’s really cool. I know that most of my audience, they geek out on the tea that you guys are selling and the athletic stuff so we should probably talk more about that, but I’m excited about the entrepreneur stuff as well. They are just going to have to deal with that a little bit, but that’s all right. [crosstalk 00:06:38]. You guys are volleyball players and Rob you are a professional volleyball player still, is that correct?

Robbie Page: I’ve been off the court for about a year, but I was. Could still be. I could go back [inaudible 00:06:55] someday maybe.

Joe Bauer: Cool. What do you guys do for workouts? What is exciting to you about training, being healthy, that type of stuff?

Steve O’Dell: A lot of stuff. [inaudible 00:07:11] enough. We got into a very strong routine at UCLA and Rob after when he was playing professionally and going to the gym and doing a lot of dynamic workouts. Volleyball is very explosive sport. We didn’t really do any running or swimming or yoga and things like that. It was very focused on how we can be very fast and efficient with our movements and strong. We did a lot of dynamic training and explosive movement stuff. Since then and since we’ve adopted this Tenzo lifestyle it’s a little bit more than just working out. We’ve gotten into marathons. I’m currently training for a half Ironman. Rob’s doing yoga a lot. I do that too, but we’ve kind of explored a lot of different ways to work out and fuel your body and just be healthy in general.

Robbie Page: I really thing too add on that, it’s interesting coming from a … a really love working for a purpose and doing something to achieve something or accomplish a goal. We’ve been trying after our athletic careers are in a pause or finished, we’ve been trying to find competitive challenges. We ran the marathon in seven weeks, LA marathon. That was brutal [crosstalk 00:08:25]. We [call bushed 00:08:27] like done, next. I think that for me, whenever I have something I’m really working towards it makes everything fall into place. It brings in motivation. It brings all of what you need to get up every morning and hit the gym and work.

Joe Bauer: Yeah, for sure. Half Ironman right now for Steve, which is awesome. Do you know which one?

Steve O’Dell: I don’t know the exact name. I think it’s in Santa Barbara in the middle of September.

Joe Bauer: Cool.

Steve O’Dell: You want to come [inaudible 00:08:57]. Pretty good crew of guys running it. It’s going to be really fun.

Joe Bauer: Really cool. I’m actually imparting on living in a van for a year. I’m not sure if I’ll be in the area, but that’s a whole other story. [crosstalk 00:09:15].

Robbie Page: What are you up to Joe? What are your primary workout routines and what have you been doing on a regular basis?

Joe Bauer: I’m a competitive Crossfitter I would say. Every year I try and excel at that as much as I can. Do local competitions and then take what I’ve learned in accelerating my own achievements and teaching them to other people. Mostly Crossfit as that opens up it becomes … right now for example, I’m focusing a lot on weightlifting, and Olympic lifting and trying to get stronger with that with a secondary component of actual Crossfit and cardiovascular stuff, but every year I usually pick something crazy to do. Kind of like what you guys have been doing with these goals. Last year it was part of the PCT, Pacific Crest Trail, from one ski resort to another in the Seattle, Washington area. It was 27 miles day one, 28 miles day two, and 18 miles day three. Almost a little more than two marathons and more than a half marathon three days in a row. I appreciate you guys’s craziness.

Steve O’Dell: Yeah, that’s brutal on the body. I’ve never experienced quite the pain that you feel after mile 20 of a marathon. Your body is just “no more” and you’ve gotta just finish. It was a pretty enlightening process to say the least.

Robbie Page: I love it.

Steve O’Dell: Do you believe in that challenge again?

Joe Bauer: The challenge. What challenge are you referring to?

Steve O’Dell: The three days running. [crosstalk 00:10:55].

Joe Bauer: I just came up with it myself. [crosstalk 00:10:59]. My girlfriend and I … I’ve got a crazy, awesome girlfriend. We got a couple people to support us along the trail so they brought in our food and tents. Then we were able to put on light backpacks with hydration and whatnot and just run as much as we could. Then hit the people up at night where they refuel us and then we go off the next day.

Steve O’Dell: That is awesome. [crosstalk 00:11:23].

Joe Bauer: I’ll let you guys know when our next adventure is and maybe you’ll want to get in on it.

Steve O’Dell: Yeah.

Robbie Page: Yeah. Anything that’s totally crazy. [crosstalk 00:11:32].

Joe Bauer: We could do a big event around it and promote Tenzo. It’d be awesome.

Steve O’Dell: Yeah.

Robbie Page: Healthy energy for the run. Sounds perfect.

Joe Bauer: Heck yeah. I think that that’s freaking awesome. I’m the type of guy too that you invite me to something like that, I might just show up so you never know. It depends on like I said where I’m at, because I’m doing this interesting van trip coming up. I want to hear more about you guys’ interest in tea. I’ve taken tons of sports supplements. I’ve taken the pre workouts. I’ve had all kinds of coffee and tried to time things so that they hit my body at the perfect time so that I’m feeling great. It sounds like you guys have appreciated those types of things as well. Give me some background on it. Why tea?

Steve O’Dell: [crosstalk 00:12:26] That’s a good question. Basically, I’m sure you would agree with this, but as athletes energy was a massive part of our lives. Specifically when we were in college I would wake up, work out for an hour and a half with the team and you’d have to attend all your classes in a three hour period. Head right into pre practice workouts and stretching and doing stuff with trainers and then right into a three and a half hour practice. The n you have some sort of conditioning afterwards. Then you have to go home and do your homework. The energy was just huge, huge, huge. We were doing pre workouts in the mornings. Chugging caffeine, five hours, coffees, cold produce, red bull at night. Crazy stuff. Then we became entrepreneurs and it became even more exacerbated. We were just chugging these drinks. We both live under the philosophy that if you had a car and you only had one car your whole life, you’d treat that car really, really well. That’s compared to your body which is way more important than a car. You should really treat that as best you can. Putting those two things in line, we knew that this energy wasn’t going to go away. We weren’t just suddenly going to not need energy anymore. We wanted to keep that a part of our lives, but we also wanted to treat that car really well. Rob and I went on this mission to find the healthiest form of energy on the planet. After some searching we found matcha green tea. When we drank it we noticed no crashing, no jitters. We didn’t have upset stomachs. A lot of these things were aligning. It really changed our lives and our ability to work out and keep going after that. We wanted to spread that mission and the same feeling that we got drinking matcha to the rest of the world.

Joe Bauer: Cool. What kind of process did you go through in figuring out that matcha green tea was the thing that you guys wanted to go after? How many different things did you try? Did you have to go places and try them? Was there scientific research that you found that you were like, “Oh this is interesting?”

Steve O’Dell: Yeah. I think a lot of the pieces just fell into place in a lot of ways. [inaudible 00:14:48] It put a lot of pieces because it has zero sugar. It’s just 100% green tea. [inaudible 00:14:54] it’s just in the green tea plant. Instead of putting it in a green tea bag and steam it where you loose most of the nutrients, with matcha you get to directly inject it. It’s 10 times the antioxidants. Way more caffeine. A lot more [elfini 00:15:07] that calm, focused energy that pairs well with caffeine. I’m a science background so of course I dug into all the scientific journals of the antioxidants and everything like that. The antioxidants themselves are amazing for your brain and your heart and your metabolism boost and your oral hygiene. It goes on and on. It’s antiviral, antibacterial. It keeps you healthy through your immune system. We look at all these things and we are like, “First of all, is this real?” Is this a real thing? When we got it and figured out it was real, we were like “Holy, Oh my goodness. What an opportunity here.” We found in the U.S. it was really hard to find quality matcha. It’s not a very well known product. It’s still very new. It has a 800 year tradition in Japan. We realized in the U.S. there wasn’t much of a market yet for it. It was pretty unknown. Pretty new. There was small niches that knew about it. We were like, “Wow. What an opportunity to bring amazing tradition of healthy long lasting energy to the United States and really brand it and show people how great it can be for their lives.”

Joe Bauer: Absolutely. I love it. Did you guys have to travel around to try different types of matcha? There’s different styles of matcha as well right?

Steve O’Dell: Yeah. This is honestly going to be a pretty classic answer, but it’s entrepreneurship 101. All we did was Google and then we requested samples. It wasn’t anything crazy complex. We evaluated them on taste and color profile and graded the matcha. We have a big spreadsheet. We got matcha from China and Taiwan. Literally all over the world. Tons from Japan obviously. It really just took a little bit of time. Took a few months for us to take that and get it started before we were really rolling. It wasn’t anything crazy. Since then we have gone to Japan and visited the farms and learned about the processing and stuff. When we first got started it was more two guys on a mission to make this happen because we wanted clean energy.

Robbie Page: The first two was all about kit samples. Get your friends to try it. Do they feel the same way that we do? As confirmation came back, “Wow this is great.” We’re like, “Okay, let’s move. Let’s go on this and take it to the next level.”

Joe Bauer: How is matcha different from a regular green tea?

Robbie Page: It’s a great question.

Steve O’Dell: It is a good questions. This is obviously a common thing from a lot of people, but matcha is literally a powdered green tea. Protein powder in a sense. If you can visualize protein powder, that’s what matcha looks like, except it’s bright green. Typically green tea is bagged and then steeped so you release the green tea through the bag and then you drink it with a tea bag. It’s very typical. With matcha you actually blend it directly with the water. You can put it in a smoothie. Then you get five to ten times the amount of nutrients of a typical bagged green tea.

Joe Bauer: Cool. Very cool. I always wondered that. I’ve loved matcha tea for a long time, but it would seem like it was harder to get like you said than the traditional green tea, but you gotta put it in the little ball and you gotta dip it in the hot water and then you gotta pull it out.

Steve O’Dell: Regular green tea, you are getting run off water. It’s like thinking about you are running passing water past the green tea, getting a little bit of run off, but all that real nutrients gets thrown away in the garbage when you throw your teabag away. The other cool thing with matcha is there’s a lot of grades and levels. It’s like wine, but the really nice matcha they select the very tender baby leaves from the top of the plant. [inaudible 00:18:49] special process when they grow matcha where they cover all the plants in shade cloth which reduces their light exposure, which starves the plant of light so it boosts the chlorophyll levels and makes the plant try and go into hyper mode to capture more sun. What that does is brings all the nutrients up from the roots and makes a really bright green, vivid green tea leaves and gives matcha its amazing color with all the chlorophyll. The detoxifying properties and antioxidants.

Joe Bauer: Wow. Cool. I love the science stuff. If you ever think there’s something to share that share for sure. I think it’s super cool.

Steve O’Dell: It’s amazing. It had amazing culture and tradition that’s just been over years they’ve perfected the process of matcha.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. What’s Tenzo Tea as the company that now has the matcha?

Steve O’Dell: As the name you are saying?

Joe Bauer: The name, the company. What does that encompass? We talked about the tea, what matcha is and then Tenzo. Why is it Tenzo? What’s the name mean? What is the company represent? I know about it, but tell everybody else.

Steve O’Dell: That’s a really great question. I think it’s one of the most important things. We’ll answer it today. Why Rob and I started this company wasn’t to make a million dollars. It wasn’t to fund college debt or any lame reason. It was purely based on the belief that we wanted to have a large, positive impact on the world around us. Tenzo stands for that same mission in the sense that every time you drink a cup of matcha verses a cup of coffee, you are treating your body a little bit better. You are pushing yourself to do what you know is right and truly good. We believe that really makes a difference. Also, the name Tenzo just to give a little background, means heavenly monk in Japanese. A Tenzo is a person that would bring food and drink to Buddhists in the Buddhist monastery. The name has a little bit of history. Really, the company and what Rob and I believe in as our community grows we want to exude that same belief is to really just do good to the world. To treat your body the right way and to live a positive life that you know that you can live. We just want to exude that mission to other people as well.

Joe Bauer: Very cool, very cool. Did it take you a long time to figure out that name?

Robbie Page: No actually, it was pretty quick.

Steve O’Dell: About two days. We first found matcha. We tried it and then I was laying in my bed on Google. We were scrolling through words and ideas and I found the word Tenzo on a Japanese website. I was like, “Hmm, this is interesting.” Learned more about it. Tenzo Tea. Within 24 hours we were like, “Boom. Rolling.”

Robbie Page: Yeah.

Steve O’Dell: Had the name and we were going.

Joe Bauer: I like it. I feel like as an entrepreneur sometimes the name can get you stuck, but that’s a great name. I love it.

Steve O’Dell: It’s easy to spell. It’s hard to mispronounce. It’s also [inaudible 00:21:54] global. If you look at some history of good companies, they all have that in common.

Joe Bauer: I like it. Very cool. What are the health benefits of the matcha grade tea specifically. I know you mentioned the antioxidants and whatnot. What kind of stuff that people aren’t quite as nerdy as us that would like to hear about the intricacies, what can they feel or benefits are they going to see?

Robbie Page: In particular, matcha green tea has one super powerful antioxidant. It’s called. EGCG. It’s in the catechin family of antioxidants. This one in particular, there’s a million [inaudible 00:22:31] internet and it does everything. It’s actually antiviral and antibacterial. It will help strengthen your immune system. It actually prevents bacteria and viruses from attaching to your cells and causing illness. It has really interesting in that sense. It also has been shown to boost metabolism, which is really interesting. Compared to regular … your boost, I think it’s 25% boosts metabolism. There was a study done in Japan among middle aged women. Really interesting study. It also is very good for your brain health. There’s been studies that show it reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The longevity of your brain, reducing those free radicals that cause harm to your neurons and everything that’s happening synaptically. Let me think. There’s more. It keeps going and going. Oral hygiene wise. One other cool thing. Fun fact. Coffee actually works in a negative way. Coffee breath is a real thing. It’s a real thing. There’s [inaudible 00:23:35] sulfur compounds in your mouth that are caused from pockets of bacteria that form and coffee works, actually will help those bacteria grow. Matcha it’s antimicrobial properties will fight those [inaudible 00:23:49] and sulfur compounds in your mouth, which will reduce your bad breath. It’s really good for your teeth, for your gums, your oral hygiene. Matcha is also [inaudible 00:24:00] for your skin. Applying face masks is really good for wrinkles and skin complexion, acne. These are the things I was saying before when we first started reading about matcha, we were like, “No way. This is too unreal.” It’s too good. It’s an amazing super food that the benefits go on and on. That’s why there’s a lot of studies too that just show the life expectancy in Japan is just far superior to most of the world. They think a lot of it is due to the green tea consumption.

Joe Bauer: Interesting. Do you believe that it’s right for every consumer?

Robbie Page: Yeah.

Joe Bauer: Or is there a target market?

Robbie Page: There are some, if you are pregnant, caffeine is not necessarily the best thing necessarily. Same if you are young. It depends on how you want to raise your children with caffeine or not caffeine. Besides the caffeine portion, my grandma she claims she hasn’t been sick in 10 months since she started drinking matcha every day. She loves it. She’s all about it. It’s very good for a large population. What do you think Steve?

Steve O’Dell: Yeah, I think it’s good for everyone honestly. If you look at the U.S. there’s 20,000 independent coffee shops. There’s 10,000 Starbucks. 5,000 other coffee shops. Then five hour energy, and red bull has 100 billion dollar market. In our opinion, the world loves energy and it’s a very key part of a lot of people’s lives. If you can give it to them in an easy to drink and very healthy way, then why not?

Joe Bauer: Sure. Then from an entrepreneurial or business standpoint, who do you guys target market? At least with me, with all my business, it’s been like, “Yeah, I want to sell it to everybody,” but when you learn about marketing to everybody is a problem.

Steve O’Dell: That’s one of the interesting parts with Tenzo when we started ’cause you can sell Matcha to anyone and everywhere. Whether it’s coffee shops, juice bars. You can make matcha pies, matcha ice cream, matcha chocolate. That’s a massive thing. We’ve been really targeting … one of our major audiences starting off has been middle aged women. 25 to 50 year old women looking for healthy alternatives to energy. Maybe want to stop their coffee addiction. We are also really working into the male performance based, like our demographic. Really a lot of the company because we loved it. We came back to that like, “Wait a minute. Let’s market to ourselves. People that are young, inspiring entrepreneurs. Athletes who really want to make the most of their day and be the best version of themselves.”

Joe Bauer: Totally. Obviously we connected and I’ve been taking it as a pre workout for myself and I’ve loved it.

Steve O’Dell: Yes.

Robbie Page: Good to hear.

Steve O’Dell: Love it.

Joe Bauer: I loved it. I was skeptical at first. I’ve always loved matcha as an energy source. When you guys connected with me, I was like, “Huh, this is interesting. I know I already like that style of tea.” I wasn’t expecting it to be as good a pre workout as it was to be honest with you. It’s great as a pre workout.

Steve O’Dell: It’s amazing. It’s literally like we take these shots. It’s called a [foreign word 00:27:14], the Japanese word for it. It just means matcha shot. Literally we have one serving and three ounces of water and just shoot it. We all did it before the LA marathon. Every time we work out we just have matcha shots.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. If we are talking performance, do you guys have anything else to add to that? If someone is listening to this or watching this and they are like, “Yeah, that’s how I would want to take it. I’m a Crossfitter or a marathoner or triathlete.” Timing or amount of times they can take it, what do you got?

Robbie Page: I personally, I think I speak for the team, have not found a upper limit for matcha consumption in one day. [crosstalk 00:27:59] anything with that. I think the the first time you do it, you should definitely be cautious because you don’t want to have too much caffeine just for your body’s sake. You never get jitters and you don’t crash. It’s really just about what you are consuming normally or daily and your body is used to that and then do you want to up it? You can always add an extra scoop. The easiest pre workout though is just mixing it with a few ounces of water or putting it in a water bottle and shaking it up and drinking it while you go.

Steve O’Dell: I think performance wise, the protein shake bottles are a perfect matcha making tool. We were actually in Japan sitting with a tea master. He made us a ceremonial cup of matcha with a whisk and he goes, “Would you like to try some iced match” and we were like, “Yeah, sure.” He pulls out an American mini blender bottle. Pulls out room temperature water. Scoops matcha in and just picks it up, pours it over ice. It’s very simple to make. I think the blender bottles with the little metal ball is a great way to mix it. I would recommend a couple things. For one, matcha is just concentration of matcha with water. If you want a big energy boost, use a lot of matcha. If you want a little bit, a little pick me up, do like a half a teaspoon. It’s up to your discretion how much energy or boost you really want. Also, eat some food before you do a big thing of matcha because it can be a little harsh on your stomach.

Robbie Page: The more matcha you have, the more food you should eat prior. I’ve definitely experienced the adverse side effects there. Nothing crazy has happened.

Steve O’Dell: It’s just a lot of green tea in your stomach. If you do a lot. This guy makes a pretty crazy matcha shot just like with any matcha shots.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. You said let’s say somebody is starting off, start off with a half teaspoon and then what did you say is a good serving for you? I think I’ve been doing one teaspoon and that’s been good, but I’ve been wondering though maybe if I got a really hard workout should I go for a teaspoon and a half?

Steve O’Dell: I wouldn’t do anything more than three teaspoons. [inaudible 00:30:12]. That would only be if I’m doing a workout over a period of multiple hours. You are going to the beach and you are going to go maybe go for a run and then go surfing or you are doing a triathlon training or something like that, then that’s really okay. But if you are doing an hour workout a teaspoon should be good. It’s nothing crazy. I think it all goes back to what your body is used to. Any advice I would give is really all individualized so it’s hard to say here’s a blanket statement that will be perfect for everyone.

Joe Bauer: For sure. Quick question, when I’ve been looking on the package it said to put it in two ounces of hot water. Is the hot water necessary or not?

Steve O’Dell: Not always. It’s recommended, but you can make it in cold water or lukewarm water just fine. You may have to shake it up a little bit more. The hot water helps with dissolving it.

Robbie Page: Another fun fact too. Mixing matcha or mixing [inaudible 00:31:13] tea in colder water makes a much smoother flavor. Hot water brings out the catechin antioxidants which bring around a bitter taste. If you make it cold it will be smoother and a little more refreshing and will actually add a different flavor profile than when you make it hot.

Joe Bauer: Interesting. Is there any health benefit to the hot verses the cold?

Robbie Page: To our knowledge it’s all the same.

Steve O’Dell: You still consume the whole leaf. It’s not like anything is materially changing with what you are actually doing with your body. Just like some of the flavor comes out with heat.

Robbie Page: Will say though if you are using hot water it has to be below boiling because boiling water will burn the delicate leaves. You want to have it hot, but not boiling is really cool. Super scalding hot you can taste a pretty funky flavor.

Steve O’Dell: It’ll taste burnt.

Joe Bauer: We don’t want that.

Robbie Page: Actually, I’ll tell you our new packaging right now, I’m really trying to specify and really make that clear. It’s hard to portray on a small surface exactly all of that.

Joe Bauer: Cool. Very cool. Where do you guys see Tenzo Tea headed in the next few years? What’s the vision?

Steve O’Dell: This is obviously really hard to say as a start up. The truthful answer is that we are going to keep growing that mission to positively impact the world. Right now we are doing 20,000 cups a day in LA. We sell a pretty good amount online. We did 20,000 to our wholesaler locations. For the next few months we focus on LA and how we can support that and grow our e-commerce team. We want to keep expanding and we’d really like to develop new product lines with matcha and really just increase the benefit for the people. I don’t want to say we are going to kill Red Bull or kill coffee, but we might. I think it just all goes back to that end goal. If we really feel aligned with that and our decision making is good then that’s all we can ask for.

Robbie Page: I think that the upside is really really powerful especially in the U.S. and California, across the whole country, people are moving in a healthier direction for all of their food and drink and choices really. We see matcha being a much better alternative to a lot of these other pre workouts or they are really bad for your heart, your body and your health and all these chemicals and sugars and compounds. Really just feel the really simple Tenzo Tea, there’s no sugar, just pure matcha green tea leaves. It’s just a really good replacement for a lot of those unhealthy energies. We feel it can have a large impact on the world and the country. [inaudible 00:34:02] hopefully move out.

Joe Bauer: What kind of other products? I’m just curious. Any blends or I don’t know?

Robbie Page: This is highly a discussion right now. [crosstalk 00:34:13].

Steve O’Dell: Hotly debated and also we can’t divulge these things publicly because we have competitors too. We gotta [crosstalk 00:34:21] if Starbucks would just spend millions of dollars and make these. We don’t want to give them our thinking, but there’s different flavors. Different ways to drink it, to make it easier and more affordable. That’s a big part of our game too is we don’t want to sell an extremely expensive ceremonial grade matcha that no one can afford or use. It’s more important to get the price down as much as we possibly can so we can sell it to more people and make it available. Different ways to do that through drinks or cookies or ice cream. I’m a big fan of ice cream. Rob also loves sweets.

Robbie Page: I do love sweets.

Steve O’Dell: It’d be cool if we could make a sugar free matcha flavored ice cream or something like that that’s healthy, but also tastes great.

Joe Bauer: Cool, very cool. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, how are you guys … what’s the growth strategy? Are you contacting these coffee shops to get them into there? Are you … I don’t know, if there’s somebody listening here that’s running a small space in Seattle and they are like, “Wow, this is super cool,” is that who you are targeting or is there a bigger play or what are you guys doing?

Steve O’Dell: Yeah. That is also a really great question. That’s evolved over time too. We’ve been very dynamic with our approach, but resolute in our goal. We used to literally Rob and I would go on two different sides of a main street and walk down and pitch every available business that could sell our process. We got one. That’s how it slowly expanded. Then we did that well and showed proven counts up and good numbers and a lot of sales. Then we’d go do a few more. We stayed hyper local every time. We started in Long Beach and had 10 to 20 locations there. Then we moved up to LA. Now we have about 150. Again, 95% of those are in LA. We are building up networks [inaudible 00:36:18] and our brand recognition here and things like that. Now it’s a little bit more blended with inbound leads and people know who we are and we had a good mix there. Eventually we will move up into mainly distributors and selling through distributors and scaling that out. We worked a lot of independent coffee shops. That’s our bread and butter.

Robbie Page: It’s really health oriented premium coffee shops. People that really love good quality products. Health focused. We really find we fit well with those kind of shops.

Steve O’Dell: If you own an independent coffee shop and you are listening to this definitely contact us because we could help you sell more.

Joe Bauer: For sure. I think the product is great. Not only that from the end consumer, I’m surprised that it’s affordable as well. I think you guys have done a great job with that. I was looking to go and get a subscription of it for myself and I’m like “Hey, this stuff is not going to break my bank and it’s actually going to be cheaper than any kind of coffee habit that I had.”

Steve O’Dell: We sell our 30 gram bags at 21.99 and it’s 30 servings so less than a dollar a serving. Comparable to a pre workout. It’s way less than a coffee at Starbucks. It’s a good deal.

Joe Bauer: Heck yeah. Because I love to ask this question because you guys are smart people and entrepreneurs and what not, three books that you would recommend. It could be entrepreneur. It could be athletic. It could be fiction. I don’t care. What are your top three?

Robbie Page: All right. I can [inaudible 00:37:52]. Number one, one of my favorite books on the planet is called When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub. He was a major league successful producer, manager, Hollywood. He worked with a ton of major clients and acts. What the book is all about is just making things happen. Being a movie maker. Putting people in the right places to be successful and just he’s amazing. You’ve got to read that book. It’s awesome. A lot of great stories in there. Second book I really like is called Hey Whipple Squeeze This. It’s a content writing book. It’s about copy, marketing, advertising, creating compelling ideas, how to iterate, how to brainstorm. Really well written, well worded. A third one I’d say is called Relentless by Tim Grober. You might have heard this one.

Joe Bauer: Oh yeah.

Robbie Page: I love that book. It’s an athletic mindset book. How to get in the zone. How to have your focus. How to be your best. What it takes to really compete at a high level and just dominate. I love the mindset in that book. It’s awesome.

Joe Bauer: Awesome. How about you Steve?

Steve O’Dell: I’m going to have to switch it up a little bit. I would recommend everybody on planet Earth read this book called the Alchemist. [inaudible 00:39:10]. It’s a beautiful book. I think the number one lesson there is to follow your heart and sometimes everyone around you, even people really close to you, may be saying “That’s crazy,” but I think that if you follow your heart you will unlock these series of rewards that most people who don’t do that never are going to get the opportunity or chance to even experience that. Definitely that one. I also love the book Enders Game. Have you heard of it? Enders Game.

Joe Bauer: I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t read that one yet.

Steve O’Dell: It’s a book that most people read in eighth grade, but I read it in sixth grade and it’s been this really weird influence on my life. It’s about this really smart kid. He’s an amazing leader. One of the powerful examples that the book gives outside of being really well written is just how you can lead by example. Another example in the book, but leads to my third favorite, which is Anti-fragile by Nassime Taleb. That is really about putting yourself in stressful situations, in non terminal stressful situations, allowing a period of recovery and then you eventually grow from the stress. An easy example is lifting weights. When you try to lift more than you think you can. It may be really, really hard, but after you do it, have a protein shake, a good night’s sleep, you’ll come back the next day and you go and you can lift that weight. That keeps going up and you can lift more and more and more. There’s a lot of examples where that’s really powerful. Those are my three.

Robbie Page: There’s a good example of Anti-fragility, Steve’s gone for 120 hour work week this week.

Steve O’Dell: Yeah. I’m actually pretty fatigued right now and I slept longer than I should have last night. I’ve been tracking my hours. If I’m awake I am 100% thinking about Tenzo Tea or how I can improve it or literally just working. It’s got to be productive mind space.

Robbie Page: 17 hour days. If that doesn’t make you stronger, I don’t know what will.

Joe Bauer: Holy crap. How much tea are you consuming?

Steve O’Dell: I’d rather not disclose that … Nothing crazy. Just about three or four matchas a day. A normal serving size. It’s not like I’m pounding on crazy matcha.

Joe Bauer: It’s all good. I get it. I get it. Are there any questions that I haven’t asked you that I should have that you think are relevant to the listeners?

Steve O’Dell: I think one good one is … I don’t know if it’s a question, but it’s something that I always try to voice. You definitely get this as an entrepreneur, but for anyone who is starting something new or is debating whether or not they should follow their heart, I think they should. When I think that they start they should never give up. Rob and I have found that through this journey of ours that persistence is so important. It’s really the deciding factor between people that achieve their goals and people that don’t. It’s never optional. It always optional. It’s a choice that everyone has, whether they want to keep going or they want to quit. The people that are successful and do the 30 day workout challenge, complete a marathon, do this absolutely crazy challenge with your girlfriend to run three marathons in three days is nuts, but there’s something about you that when your mind told you to quit 10,000 times you kept going. I cannot stress how important that is in life and as individuals.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. Love it. How can people find out more about you guys? How can they get the product? What do you want to promote? Go for it.

Steve O’Dell: Check us out online at Tenzotea.com. We sell our organic ceremonial matcha there. We also have a bunch of boxes, a starter box, an active box with an awesome Tenzo shaker bottle with [inaudible 00:43:10] box with the whole combined kits. We are on Instagram it’s @Tenzotea. We’re on community there, which has been great. Shows you a lot about LA and the experience and the whole matcha life that we are building out here.

Robbie Page: Also, if you want to follow Rob Page on Instagram add Robbie Page, professional athlete. No, just check out our website though and if you guys have any questions feel free, you can e-mail us or hit us up and we are very responsive to anyone who is trying to live an active, healthy lifestyle. We love that spirit. We are building a community so we are glad to have you a part of that. Thanks.

Joe Bauer: Cool. Thanks. Yeah, guys, I really appreciate it. I’ve loved the product and I think everybody listening should give it a shot if they have any caffeine in their life at all. Good stuff.

Steve O’Dell: Awesome. Thanks so much. It’s been amazing Joe.

Joe Bauer: Thanks guys.

Robbie Page: Thanks for having us. Cheers.

Joe Bauer: Yeah, we will talk to you soon … That was my interview with Steve O’Dell and Robbie Page of Tenzo Tea. I highly recommend that you check out Tenzo Tea. Get yourself a bag at tenzotea.com. If you’d like to pick up one of those books that they recommended on me, go to allaroundjoe.com/audible and you can get yourself one of the books that Steve or Robbie mentioned. I know I’m going to pick up a couple of them, because there was a few on that list that I have not read yet. Check ’em out. Allaroundjoe.com/audible to get yourself that free book …

Steve O’Dell https://www.instagram.com/sodellicious/ http://www.steveodell.co/

Robbie Page https://www.instagram.com/robbie_page http://robbiepage.co/

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

Anti-fragile by Nassime Taleb Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Enders Game by Orson Scott Card Relentless by Tim Grover When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub Hey Whipple Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan and Edward Boches

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Audible – Go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get a FREE audiobook

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

It would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 139: Steve O’Dell & Robbie Page of Tenzo Tea appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… Thoughtfulness and how it can amplify your life, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… Thoughtfulness and how it can amplify your life, plus…

• How to have better conversations.
• What you need to do to stay alive longer when driving.
• How to make yourself a better thinker.
• What you need to move better through lifting.
• The tricks to better relationships.
• And much, much more.

Let’s make this shit epic!  Thoughtfulness is one of the most important things you can have in your life.  Here’s how to get started now!

Talking to people

• Before you speak… be thoughtful about what you’re going to say.  Try to avoid just blurting out the first thing that comes to your mind.  Take that split second to think about the best response.  If you have trouble with this… meditation has been shown to help.

Eating Food

• Is this fuel or indulgence or both.  You NEED to make this decision for EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.  Don’t just do what others are doing.  Don’t just eat what the restaurant offers (if it’s not in your meal plan).  Think about what you need, and give it to your body.

Drinking Water

• What is the 2nd most important thing that I ingest in my LIFE… Water.  It’s fucking water!  If you don’t feel good, or don’t have enough energy… drink more water.  Your body needs it!

Driving Your Car

• Get off your FUCKING phone and pay attention to driving!!!  I’m not sure that I need to say any more.  Oh, how about this… is that text message worth more than your life?  Hell no!!! Get off your phone if you’re driving!

Moving in the Gym

These all have individual things to be think about while training.  If you want to hear what I’m talking about during each of these movements… tune in to the podcast on iTunes or YouTube.

• Squats (back & front)
• Deadlifts
• Snatches
• Cleans
• Jerks
• Pull-ups
• Lunges
• Pressing (think shoulder health)
• Walking
• Going up and down stairs
• Running
• Hiking
• Working at your desk

Relationships

• Put you second and see what happens… Don’t miss out on this opportunity.  STOP FREAKING THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF!!!!! If you do things for others you’ll see all of your relationships get better. Genuinely do thoughtful things for others, and see how your life changes.

Your work

• Are you putting out your best effort or just getting by?  I just fired someone in my company because they were clearly just working to get by (even after performance reviews and warnings).  Why would you do anything if you aren’t going to put all of your effort into it?  WORK REALLY REALLY HARD!!!!

Your thoughts

• What are you saying to yourself?  Try replacing the word that are limiting with words that are empowering.  Example… going up that flight of steps was terrible, or that workout was terrible.  Replaced with… those stairs get easier every time, and I love getting stronger.  Or, that workout was such a good challenge, I can feel my body adapting and getting stronger.
• Fix that shit!

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

CrossFit Invictus

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Audible – Go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get a FREE audiobook

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

It would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 138: Thoughtfulness and how it can amplify your life appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… How to be super strong & excel at life with David Rief, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… How to be super strong & excel at life with David Rief, plus…

• How David got started in the sport of weightlifting.
• Why he decided to become a chiropractor.
• What he thinks is the most important thing in a lifting gym.
• What you need to focus on when lifting.
• How you can follow what he’s up to.
• And much, much more.

David Rief’s Accomplishments

’02- today: Started in Sport with Calpian Weightlifting of Washington. ’03-09 School age and Jr National competitor ’09 Jr National Silver medalist and Jr World Team member. ’10 USAW coach. ’10-17 Senior National competitor 94kg class. ’16-today Chiropractic Doctor in Portland, OR. 152 Snatch and 183 CJ. Coaches John Thrush and Chris Pitre.

Questions for David:

Who the heck are you? What is your athletic background? How did you get into lifting? What lifting or life accomplishments are you the most proud of?

What’s your JOB? Why did you decide to go down that path (chiropractor)?

What are your current goals for sport and life?

Lifting questions for David Rief You have a new client… what is your process? What are the most important things for a lifter to focus on? What are the things lifters focus on, but probably shouldn’t? What are the most common faults that you see in lifting?

Is there a nutritional component to your coaching?

Are you taking new clients?

You’re a great thinker, what are your top 5 books, podcasts, videos?

If you could step into your 18 year old self with all of the things you know now would you do anything differently?

Are there any questions that we didn’t cover that you think are relevant to your story, coaching, or life?

Is there anything that you’d like to promote? This is ideally evergreen. David’s Instagram @weightlifting_doc

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

Relentless – Tim Grover Mental Athlete – Kay Porter Tribal Alchemy – Dave Fleming Tribal Leadership – Dave Logan Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) – Carol Tavris

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Audible – Go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get a FREE audiobook

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 137: How to be super strong & excel at life with David Rief appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… about Danny Holzman and Halo Sport, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… about Danny Holzman and Halo Sport, plus…

• How Halo Neurosciences came to be.
• What the technology behind the Halo Sport is.
• Who’s using the product.
• How the Halo Sport can help you get better faster.
• How to get a big discount.
• And much, much more.

Here’s the video if you’d prefer to watch :-).

The Halo Sport has been technology that I’ve wanted to try for many years, so I’m incredibly excited to be using the Halo Sport myself, and get to interview Danny Holzman of Halo Neurosciences about how all of this crazy tech works.

Get $250 off the Halo Sport with code ALLAROUNDJOE

Here’s the full interview transcript

Joe Bauer: Hey, Danny. How’s it going today?

Danny Holzman: Good. Good. Thanks for having me, Joe.

Joe Bauer: Yeah. I’m excited to have you on the podcast here. I’ve been interested with the Halo products for a long time and I’m excited to dive into it with you. But before we even get into the product, man, I want to know about you a little bit. Like, what’s your story? What’s your background?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. So, I grew up in Chicago suburbs. You know, I was always fascinated in science all throughout school. It wasn’t until I got to Cal Berkeley for college where I really fell in love with studying the brain, pretty early into my college career. And as I kind of went through college, I got more and more fascinated with specifically ways in which we can help the brain function better.

Joe Bauer: Nice.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, I joined the Halo team three years ago on the research team. So, when I joined Halo, it was very much a research lab, testing, brain stimulation, and then once we actually developed a product for the world to see, I have transitioned to more of the partnership side. So, I get to work with the elite level athletes and organizations and teams and military and help them get the most out of the product.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. Are you an athlete? Or how did that connect with the brain science? Like, what made you so interested in it?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Always a huge fan of sports.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: I still play a lot of sports myself. I never played at the professional or collegiate level, but yeah. Always been a huge fan and a very active person to myself.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Very cool. So, what is Halo Neuroscience, first? Even before the product, like, what is Halo Neuroscience?

Danny Holzman: Yes. So, Halo, broadly speaking, is a neurostimulation company.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: So, I guess I’ll give you a little bit of background on the company. It was founded in 2013 by Dr. Daniel Chao and Brett Wingeier, and this is actually their second neurostimulation company. So, their first is called NeuroPace, and it’s a pretty heavy duty medical device. So, it requires brain surgery implanting an electrode into the brain of epileptic patients, and what it can do is actually detect and stop a seizure from happening.

Joe Bauer: Wow.

Danny Holzman: So, yeah, incredibly, incredibly powerful stuff. And for them, they really saw how powerful brain stimulation can really be.

Joe Bauer: Yeah.

Danny Holzman: The problem being, the whole invasive part of it. That it required brain surgery, it required implanting this electrode into a brain, which you know, most people don’t want to do and all of the healthy population isn’t gonna do.

Joe Bauer: Right.

Danny Holzman: So, that was really the goal in mind with starting Halo Neuroscience is how can we bring the powers of brain stimulation to the entire world, to healthy and impaired. So, in 2013, they started this company specifically around non-invasive brain stimulation. And it again was very much a research lab at the start. So, no product in mind, just testing this technology and seeing where the benefits could be, and it wasn’t until we saw very, very strong results in helping people acquire movements that we developed the product Halo Sport, the one that you see today.

Joe Bauer: Okay. So, you guys didn’t necessarily know or Halo Neuroscience didn’t necessarily know what they were going to be doing with the technology, necessarily.

Danny Holzman: Exactly. Yeah. I think that’s pretty different from most companies, that this company was actually founded without a product in mind. If you asked Dan and Brett when they started this company, and I think there’s no way they would have said that we would’ve been in the world of athletics. So, yeah. It kind of just turned out that way based on the data that we were seeing and the research.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And then, how did that tipping point happen where it was like, alright. You know, this could be really cool for being able to shoot a basketball better or whatnot and then, let’s test that.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, you know, looking back on the research we were doing was much more like, in the weeds kind of scientific research. You know, looking at muscle activity and things as simple as improving someone’s pitch strength. But for us, we were like, “Okay. What we’re doing is helping people learn movements faster. Who are the people that care about movement the most?” And that’s really the people that we created a product for. You know, the athletes of the world, military personnel, musicians, again everyone who’s gonna care about improving movement.

Joe Bauer: Sure. And did the founders have a passion for that? Like, I’m still trying to figure out how that really connected in. Was it just like, “Hey. What are we gonna do with this research and A it goes to sport or movement.” Or, “We really like this and it would be cool to have a product that makes us better at what we’re doing.” You know?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. They’re both definitely enthusiastic about sports themselves. So, both Dan and Brett are big time cyclists. So, yeah. I don’t think it’s totally a coincidence that that’s the route that it went at first. But again, more than anything, it was just, we were seeing very strong and reliable data with stimulation the part of the brain that’s responsible for movements. So, it made sense for the place to start. It was, we keep seeing good results, so why not create a product around that?

Joe Bauer: Yeah. Absolutely. And that leads us into, what is the product? Tell me about that.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. So, Halo Sport looks like a pair of headphones. It is a pair of headphones. You know, it kind of looks like Beats by Dre would look.

Joe Bauer: Sure.

Danny Holzman: Really, the reason for that is because we need to get electrodes to the top of the head because the part of the brain that is there is the motor cortex. The motor cortex is the strip of the brain that’s gonna go right in between your ears, right at the top of your head. And it’s the part of the brain that controls your movements. It’s the part that is responsible for both learning movement as well as executing movement and sends signals down through your spinal cord. The spinal cord then sends signals to your muscles and tells your body how to move.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: So, yeah. You know, people see the headphones, they often ask, like, “Why the headphones?” And honestly, it’s because it’s the best vehicle to get electrodes right on the top of your head here.

Joe Bauer: Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. And a little bit further, what would happen if somebody had a dysfunctional motor cortex? Or like, what is the motor cortex a little bit more and how does that actually stimulate? Let’s get into the science of it a little bit, if you’re cool with that.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. No. Definitely. So, yeah. So again, the motor cortex is a pretty physical part of your brain. People think the brain and they often think about like, focus and attention and getting pumped up and in the zone. The motor cortex actually has very little to do with that. It’s much more about building circuitry that’s gonna teach your body how to move. And everything from very complex movements to something as simple as just gripping your hand … everything having to do with your muscles starts with the motor cortex and it signals down.

Danny Holzman: So, to get into the science of what Halo’s actually doing, so the technology that we employ is called transcranial direct current stimulation, TDCS for short ’cause it’s a mouthful. And that’s been a research tool for quite some time, for about 20 years or so, it’s been really picking up in the research world. And what it does is it’s basically just sending a small amount of electric currents, direct electric currents, to the brain. So, it is a very small amount of electric current, but enough that can actually get past the skin and past the skull and place an electric field over the part of the brain that you’re trying to improve. What’s really cool about using stimulation is it can be very specific on the type of behavior, the type of perception, the type of movement that we’re trying to control.

Joe Bauer: Sure. And so, why does electrical stimulation on that part of the brain actually make my motor cortex work better?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, your brain is electric itself. It’s the language of the brain; it’s how the brain communicates and builds connections is through electricity, which means it’s also quite sensitive to electricity. So, a small electric field actually allows neurons to fire more easily. Basically, it’s exciting the neurons of the part of the brain that you’re stimulating, and then what that’s able to do is allow neurons to then build circuitry with each other more easily and that is the whole process of learning.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And is there a specific signal rate or something that’s going on there? I know I’m saying this wrong, but you know, or could we just take some electrical charge and just put in on our head and it would stimulate … you know what I mean?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. So, it is a specific current, so it’s on the upper end of what Halo Sports can output. It’s slightly over two milliamps of electricity, which probably doesn’t mean that much to people, but it is a very small amount, but it has been found to be a very safe and very effective amount to actually get to the brain.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. And as I’m reading through this, and I’ve been using the product myself obviously and I’m a huge nerd as it comes to technology and trying to improve and get the most out of my training. And so, I’m hanging out at the gym wearing the product and having other athletes asking, “What’s it doing to you?” And I’m like, “Well, they say that it creates this hyperplasticity.”

Danny Holzman: Yeah.

Joe Bauer: And they’re like, “Plastic?” And I’m like, “Yeah.”

Danny Holzman: Right.

Joe Bauer: So, what is hyperplasticity, exactly?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. So, I’ll back up a little bit and first just talk about neuroplasticity.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: So, this has been a topic that you know, it’s pretty hot right now. I think people often talk about this idea that your brain is plastic and basically what it means is that your brain has this awesome ability to change and adapt and to learn new things based on its experiences in the world. So, this is the basis of learning anything: from learning a Math formula to learning a foreign language to learning movements is all because your brain has this ability to change and adapt. So, every time that we’re training, we’re always doing that to teach our brain the movements that we want to learn. Hyperplasticity is this state that’s gonna be this heightened level of ability to change and adapt. So, that’s really what Halo is doing: it’s allowing neurons to fire more easily, which means that the circuitry that the brain needs to build can actually build easier in a faster rate.

Joe Bauer: Okay. I don’t know if you know the answer to this, but like, what is actually happening when the brain is changing itself? It is just that it’s making more interesting connections, or is there actually tissue being built in the brain? What’s going on in there? Do you know?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, this can get pretty complicated, but so, I guess, there’s two parts to it. One is building new connections. So, I guess, this is a metaphor to use and it definitely simplifies things a little bit, but let’s say that you’re learning a new movement, so one I like to always think of is riding a bike ’cause everyone can think back to that moment of riding a bike. And that movement felt so impossible at first and the reason for that is there was no connection between the neurons that needed a connection. And so, basically, the way I think of it is that there’s basically a forest in between these two neurons. And in order to learn the movement, we need to create some sort of path between those neurons. So, as we continue to practice that skill, continue to practice riding the bike, we start to build this connection between those neurons until all of a sudden, it clicks, and that’s when there’s that connection that’s being built. And as we get better and better at it, that connection gets stronger and stronger. So, that’s a very roundabout way of explaining this idea of learning plasticity.

Danny Holzman: But what’s actually happening is what’s called … it’s at the synapse of the neurons. So, neurons talk to each other by sending signals through a synapse, which is basically just a little gap between neurons. And so, the actual process of learning all happens through this synapse, is that one neuron is sending signals to the the neuron and that neuron then needs to be able to recognize that signal and then do its own thing.

Joe Bauer: Cool. Cool. I’m jumping back into my kinesthesiology degree here with all of these terms. It’s awesome. I love it. Let’s step into how the product is actually used. So like, let’s say you walk into the gym. A lot of my listeners are crossfit athletes or triathletes or something like that. What do they do?

Danny Holzman: Mm-hmm (affirmative)- Yeah. So, a neurostimulation session, or we call it a neuro priming session, is just for 20 minutes long. So, most athletes will use this as a warm-up tool. They’ll use it for 20 minutes right before their training session. So maybe they’re stretching, they’re doing some light agilities, they’re using a foam roller or something like that. And the key is that that 20 minutes is gonna put your brain in this hyperplastic state for a one-hour window afterwards. So, after the 20 minute session, you can take the headset off, and your brain’s gonna stay in this state for one hour after. So, that’s really they key is that we need to take advantage of that hour window and really feed our brain quality repetitions right afterwards.

Joe Bauer: Okay. So, quality repetitions … I guess we need to do a couple things. First, you don’t necessarily have to have the headset on when you’re doing the important stuff. It’s-

Danny Holzman: Exactly.

Joe Bauer: … essentially turning it on so that you can take off the headset and then do the muscle up practice or do the snatch practice or the metcon even. Right?

Danny Holzman: Exactly. Yeah. Which is great because a lot of movements are uncomfortable to be wearing a headset during, because some are impossible. We work with swimmers who can’t go in the pool with a headset on. But, yeah. As long as you’re wearing it right before your training session, you’re still gonna get the effects during.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And is there any benefit to, like, let’s say, if you have … your day starts off and you’re doing a whole bunch of snatches or muscle extra complicated movements and it’s gonna be, man, let’s say you do it for an hour and you start off with ramping up your training with the headset on and then, as the 20 minutes pass, you take it off. And is there any benefit to actually having that on as you’re starting to move? Or should it be like, “Oh. I walked in the gym. I’m gonna take it really easy as I’m doing that.”

Danny Holzman: Yeah. That’s a really good question. So, your brain does get into the hyperplastic state relatively quickly, about three minutes into the stimulation session.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: So, it’s not that important to be doing movements. Again, the key is just that you want to be able to get right into training right when the 20 minutes is up. So, if you have a normal kind of warm-up routine, that’s perfect to be doing while wearing the headset, so that way, you don’t have to do your warm-up routine when you take the headset off. But, yeah. Again, most of the athletes I work with are doing more of their warm-up routine and not really working too much on the repetitions they’re really focused on for the day.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. And then, that brings me to the second part of the question that I was thinking of, is how clean does the movement have to be in order for this to work properly? I mean, you give the picture for us of like, creating the trail through the trees. What happens if my movement is crap? Then, does it create the wrong path through the trees, a really long way?

Danny Holzman: Right. No. It’s a great question. That’s absolutely right. Like, what we’re doing is not magic. We’re not just magically making these movements better. All we’re doing is allowing your brain to learn the repetitions faster, which means it’s even more important that the repetitions you’re doing are quality repetitions.

Joe Bauer: Right.

Danny Holzman: So, yeah. I mean, you know, people need to keep that in mind and really make sure that when they’re using Halo Sport, they’re gonna be really focused during that training session and really thoughtful about their movements.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Interesting. So, that means that, really got to be careful with that as well. Yeah.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. The way I think about it too though is, that’s true about training anyways. If you go into training and you’re practicing something incorrectly, you’re gonna be learning that incorrectly. So, no one should be doing that anyways, but you are right that we’re just accelerating the rate at which you learn these movements. And so, if you’re not thoughtful about them, we’re ingraining improper movement as well.

Joe Bauer: Awesome. Yeah. So essentially, get really good coaching, then apply the technology, and then that should hopefully move you in the right direction.

Danny Holzman: Exactly.

Joe Bauer: Cool. What kind of results are crossfit athletes seeing with this that you can share?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So for me, crossfit’s such a cool sport to be involved in just because it requires being a full athlete, which means strength and explosiveness and endurance and flexibility. And it just, across the board, it’s everything that has to do with an athlete. And what’s cool about that is Halo can help just about all of those aspects of an athlete.

Joe Bauer: Cool.

Danny Holzman: So, it really does depend a lot on what the person is trying to improve. You know, I think I always go to the strength gain just because you can put them into a number and it’s very easy to track, but we’ve seen incredible results in improving people’s strength and power, really across the board whether that’s through squats or through snatch, whatever it might be. Our athletes have been … they claim that they’ve been PR-ing at a much faster rate than they’ve been expecting.

Joe Bauer: Cool. And let’s say for example that I am good at strength, but my endurance component or my quote unquote metcon as we call it in crossfit isn’t as good, so I’m still gonna do my strength component, but it might be over, you know, that’s the first 30 minutes and then I’m going to set myself up for … actually, let’s call the strength an hour just so that it elongates it a little bit. But then, I’m gonna be doing a 30 minute metcon after that, and that’s the point or the component that I really want to improve upon because maybe my endurance sucks or just something about it, I’m not as good in that component of crossfit. Would you then recommend that I waited to do the Halo work before the metcon?

Danny Holzman: Exactly. Exactly.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, we work with a ton of athletes who are doing just that, right? That their day is not simply one strength session. And so, that’s right. So, the only limitation is you can use Halo once a day. So, you have to figure at which part of the day are you really focused on improving most.

Joe Bauer: Interesting.

Danny Holzman: And so, what you just said is exactly how people are using it, is they are thinking about what they really want to improve. Maybe it’s what they’re weakest at right now, they really need to get over this hump, and they’re figuring out when to incorporate it in their day that way.

Joe Bauer: Interesting. Okay. And then, I guess, the next question is, when you’re looking at the app and you’re setting up what you’re gonna do for the day, it says … refresh my memory. There’s like, legs and arms, and then there’s some more hands and fingers. Is that what it is?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, the consumer app is broken up into … there’s three different options. There’s a hands and fingers option, and then there’s more of a full body. We call it the legs, core and arms session. And yeah, I guess to explain this a little bit more, your motor cortex is basically a map of your body. So, depending on where we send the stimulation, we can improve different areas of training. So, for most athletes, they’ll use the legs, core and arm session which means we’re sending stimulation right to the very center of your brain. For the hands and fingers option, that’s used mostly by musicians. You know, some athletes that are really working on grip strength, or you know, maybe a pitcher working on specific finger movements to hold a ball. But we’re just changing the location of the stimulation. So, the hands and fingers area of the brain is gonna be more here so we can change the stimulation.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Yeah. So, you said that you should only be using it once a day, and I was watching some videos as I was doing research for talking with you, and there was a guy on there that was doing some strength training, but he also said he used it for using this keyboard. And I know a lot of people that are still hunting and pecking or whatever they call it, and I’m like, “Man. That would be cool if I could type faster, then I could put it on there. But, I’d have to prioritize that on a day that I wasn’t necessarily gonna do my workout, ’cause that would be the priority.”

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. And we say, wait, like, eight hours. The app will actually give you a soft lockout and will tell you to wait for eight hours in between simulation sessions.

Joe Bauer: Interesting.

Danny Holzman: And the reason really just being, you get diminishing returns, so you know, similar to why you wouldn’t lift weights three times in day is just because you’re not gonna get much out of it in the second and third session. It’s a similar idea here is that simulating your brain within that eight hour window actually won’t alter, it won’t modulate the neuron activity.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. And jumping into a thought that came up is that how long has the research been going on? And I know that obviously, some people are gonna ask, “Well, is there anything that I have to worry about as far as safety of the unit goes?” So, can you explain that a little bit?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, I know I’ve mentioned this quickly earlier, but TDCS has been studied pretty robustly now for a little over 20 years. So, yeah. I mean, I guess I’ll first answer the kind of research that’s being done. And yeah. You can look back in like, 20 years when the research really started to pick up, and also really like, high quality research being done, too. So, the US Military was very early on to testing this and improving sniper training and pilot training. So, yeah. The research that’s being done is kind of all over the board. It’s definitely improving the motor stuff that I think Halo is doing a really good job at driving, but also testing things about improving cognition and helping more general aspects of learning and memory. And that just means stimulating different parts of the brain. So, there’s a whole bunch of research, a bunch really awesome results.

Danny Holzman: The other side of it is on the medical space, so TDCS actually initially was developed to treat depression and mood disorders as well as improve things like stroke rehab, helping people re-learn how to move after some drastic injuries. So, that’s where a lot of the research is heading right now. I think that’s where Halo is definitely hoping to go as well. And I think that also kind of leads into the safety stuff.

Danny Holzman: So, this has been tested on thousands and thousands of subjects at this point with no safety concerns. You know, more conceptually speaking, your brain, as I mentioned before, is an electric organ itself. The amount of electricity that Halo is delivering to the brain is tiny compared to what it produces on its own. So, there’s no reason to think that it would be harmful in any way and the results would agree with that.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. And so, you mentioned that you would use it once a day, pretty much in an eight hour period. I know that a lot of things that we do, including like, when we stimulate the body to gain strength and things like that, we go on and off cycles of it. Is there such a thing with this type of stimulation where you’re like, “Man. It works the best if you’re always doing it, or if you’re doing it like three months on, one month off.” Or, is there any kind of research that shows that kind of data?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, I can’t really point to research that’s showing that, but that is exactly what I recommend people to do is phase this in and out of training like you would normally phase your training. So, if you’re really ramping up and really pushing on strength gains, perfect time to be using Halo. If it’s more about recovery an resting and this cycle, then you’re not gonna get so much out of Halo, so it’s okay to take it off. I think what most crossfit athletes find is that there’s always something that they’re working on. So, if they’re not pushing their strength gains, then they’re working on something on the gymnastics side or something on the endurance side. I feel like that’s a group that is pretty much always using Halo, just because even when they back off on one side, there’s this other area they keep working on.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And would that work, or would it be more advantageous to take the three months on, one month off or whatever your cycle is if you’re switching up what you’re doing, right? You know, like you said with the crossfitter, it could be like, “Yeah. I want to spend three months or even two months or whatever focusing on improving my back squat and deadlift, like, my overall pulling strength or whatever it may be, and then I’m going to switch into more metcon stimulation or gymnastics.” Would that change in the style of training actually do for kind of the off period? Does that make sense?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, I think what you’re kind of getting at here is like, does your brain get used to stimulation and do you require-

Joe Bauer: Exactly.

Danny Holzman: … more stimulation to keep up? And that’s not actually the case. Your brain stays sensitive to the stimulation. So, in that sense, then there’s no reason to take off for three months.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Gotcha.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. I guess what I was saying before is more so, like, if you’re really not working on pushing gains, if it’s more about recovering before a competition, not so much of a reason to use Halo there. You’re not really working on learning new things, not really working on pushing strength gains, then take the time off there.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Got it. Very cool. Well, that’s cool then that you can continue to stimulate your brain and it just stays sensitive to that. Gotcha. Do you have any athletes that are in crossfit that are big names that have had cool results with this and that are thinking that this is technology everybody should be using?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. So, Kari Pearce, Camille Leblanc, Sam Dancer, Kristin Holte, are some of the bigger athletes that are using Halo. I think they would all swear by the results that they have seen kind of across the board. So, you know, I think we’ve been talking about this a lot, but one of my favorite use cases is what Kristin does. And this is more just about like, how she goes about training in general, but she’ll look at what she’s weakest at in the moment and make it a point to make that a strength of hers. So, the example that she gives me is like, she really struggled with muscle ups, so then, for her, she was like, “I need to make muscle ups one of my strengths.” That’s just kind of how she goes about training, which is a perfect use case for Halo, right? Find what you’re stuck on, you just can’t figure out a movement somehow, and let’s teach the brain to learn that movement faster.

Joe Bauer: Right. Very cool. Very cool. Let’s see. I’ve noticed that when I’m using it and I actually just thought of this, does the amplitude matter?

Danny Holzman: Very slightly. So, the app, as you’ve probably noticed, there’s a range from a one to a 10 in amplitude.

Joe Bauer: Yeah.

Danny Holzman: What that actually is is about one milliamp to two milliamps of electric current. That whole range is functional. We give people the choice of where they want to put it more so for comfort because it does feel different at different levels. The higher you go, the slightly more you get out of it, but it’s not very drastic. That whole range is functional.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Interesting. Yeah. ‘Cause I’ve been … so people know, when you get up and you start the 20 minutes, it puts it on five, right, is the default setting.

Danny Holzman: Yeah.

Joe Bauer: And I don’t know. I’m like, “Well, it’s cool if I can feel it more”, so I always jack up the amplitude ’cause you know, if I can feel something, then maybe I’m convincing my brain that it’s working more. So, I’m getting more of a placebo effect.

Danny Holzman: Totally. We hear that all the time. Yeah. It’s like, people want to feel something. It’s part of the reason they do … I’d say 80% of our athletes ramp it up to a 10. I hear that all the time.

Joe Bauer: Really?

Danny Holzman: Yeah.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. So, not so weird then, I guess.

Danny Holzman: Yeah.

Joe Bauer: Do you have a … you know, we’ve got these top athletes we’ve talked about that are awesome that are using it. I’ve been using it; I’ve seen some strength gains in the first few weeks that I’ve been using it. I think I came across in my research that it said that you might see more or less depending how trained you are. Is there any truth to that?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Definitely. So, especially looking at like, how … we often get the question like, “How often do I have to use this until I see results?” And that depends a lot on the level of expertise. So, we’ve actually seen improvements in a single session with more the average Joe.

Joe Bauer: Sure.

Danny Holzman: If you’re an elite athlete, you just have less room to grow. You’re already closer to your athletic potential, so it’s gonna take a little bit longer until you really notice a difference or see a difference. So, for elite level athletes, we would say give it about two weeks’ time until we would be confident that you would notice a difference.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And let’s say, for example, you say, two weeks’ time and they’re trying to improve their muscle up. Like, let’s say, Kristin is trying to improve her muscle up. Do you recommend like, “Hey. Do this three times a week for that muscle up for two weeks?” ‘Cause sometimes in crossfit, you might see a muscle up in your training program maybe once a week, maybe less, but if you’re really trying to improve that, have you seen any kind of repetition that should happen?

Danny Holzman: Definitely. So, that’s the key really, is like, repetition-based training is the key to what we can improve. So, I would say that is important. If you’re really focused on improving a specific exercise, you should make it a point to practice that exercise pretty often. That’s more for like, specific movements. If we’re talking about like, let’s improve our lower body strength, as a broad statement, I think it changes a little bit and then we can use it in really any type of session that we’re going about that’s going to be working on lower body strength. But, yeah. I think you’re right. They key is repetition, so you should make it a point to really do that repetition over and over.

Joe Bauer: Okay. Cool. And do you guys have any kind of tests that you’ve told people to do? I know that this is not necessarily a cheap product, but it’s something that can work and people want to see that it works, you know? And I know that like, when I’ve done certain things before certain testing with even supplements, they’ll be like, “Alright. I want you to do 500 meter row and then I want you to practice this X many amount of times and then this is where we’re gonna see the result.” So, if you had somebody that’s like, super skeptical, what would you tell them to test and how would you set that up?

Danny Holzman: Right. Right. I mean, to back up a little, like, what we do in our research lab is like, very rigorous science, right? Like, we’ll take large groups of people, give half of them the placebo stimulation, half of them the real stimulation, and look at improvements over two to three weeks’ time and that’s how we orally prove out that what we’re doing is working. But, you’re absolutely right. The challenge when we get to the real world is that people want to see these improvements and it becomes sometimes challenging when we’re talking about a quote unquote study with one person.

Joe Bauer: Sure.

Danny Holzman: Not like an ad equals one study, so how do we really see improvements that are more than the improvements that we’d expect to see anyways.

Joe Bauer: Yup. Yup.

Danny Holzman: So, I think the biggest things that I always recommend is number one, is just have a baseline. Know where you are before you start using a product like Halo. And two, is like, look at some historical data on yourself. See how much you’ve improved over the last three weeks or maybe, if you’re more of an elite athlete, you can look like, a year ago from today, when I was in a very similar cycle, how much was I improving?

Joe Bauer: Sure.

Danny Holzman: And then, changing nothing except for adding Halo to your routine, what am I now improving? So, what we’re really looking for is acceleration in learning movement or strength. So, yeah. So, we definitely ask people to look back on their progress over time and compare their current progress to that.

Joe Bauer: Okay. And is there any kind of like, I know that training is a lot of your mindset going into the training. Does the stimulation of the motor cortex have anything … is there anything going on there? Does that make sense?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Not so much. So, I’ll be honest and say that we’ll hear all the time that people feel focused and more alert and more attentive to what they’re doing. Maybe there is something there. We don’t really think so because again, the motor cortex isn’t really the part of the brain that’s gonna be responsible for that kind of thought. So, yeah. Whether that’s something really there or whether it’s some placebo effect there, I think what is real is that, you know, especially with our more elite level athletes, they have a very, very good sense of their body. You know, their career has been built around their body, so they have a very good sense of where they’re at. So, we hear things from them, and as soon as one session, saying that it felt different. They felt like they had more control over their muscles. They felt like they were getting through their warm up more quickly. And what I believe is, it’s that kind of stuff that then people associate with more focus and more attentiveness when it’s really more so of this physical effect that we’re having.

Joe Bauer: Yeah. Absolutely. And I find that like, even if it’s placebo, you know, I’m watching people that have gotten results with the Halo Sport and I’m thinking, “Alright. I should be getting results as well.” So now that I’m using it, I’m getting this placebo effect or even like, I’m stimulating my own intensity for that because of what I’ve seen other people do. So, if the science is there that it’s actually working and then I’m convincing myself that it should be working, and then you go into a workout, then it ends up working. And like, an example that just yesterday, I PR-ed my front squat and I’ve been training for a long time. So, that doesn’t happen very often. And I believe that I had worn the Halo in my warm up, and part of it was that I did think, “Oh. Well, I’m using this, so I should be getting better.” And then, I went into it expecting to be better and basically it helps the planets align a little bit.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. Yeah. I mean no doubt that placebo effect is working in our favor. But again, that’s the exact stuff that we’re controlling for in our own studies. So, all of the studies that we run, again, we give half the population something that’s called sham stimulation, so it tickles the head similar to what TDCS feels like, but it doesn’t actually send enough stimulation to get through the skull. So, those people think they’re getting the real thing. So, in a similar way that you just said, they kind of pump themselves up. They’re expecting these improvements, but that’s exactly what we’re controlling for.

Joe Bauer: Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, very cool stuff, Danny. Is there anything else that we haven’t really talked about that you talk about with athletes or whatever on a regular basis that you think that we missed that we should bring up?

Danny Holzman: Not so much. I think the way that I like to frame like, largely speaking, what Halo is doing is just addressing building in athletes through the neurological perspective. So, when we think that everything that an athlete does, you know, they’re eating correctly, they’re sleeping right, they’re thinking about their muscles, there’s like the psychological component where they know they need to be focused and getting pumped up before competition and all that. But, neurologically speaking, like, how the brain is learning movements is something that’s often just ignored, I think. I think people understand that it’s really important, but they’re not talking about how to optimize it. So, I guess, just again, just broadly speaking, that’s where we see Halo fitting into this big picture of building an athlete is through the neurological aspect of the brain.

Joe Bauer: Yeah. It seems like it’s impossible for us to think that we can do anything without getting our brain involved in the whole process.

Danny Holzman: Right.

Joe Bauer: Last question here: is there a specific athlete or range of experience level that you think the Halo sport is better for? So, if someone’s like, listening or watching this do, and they’ve been doing crossfit or some sort of sport for a couple of months versus a few years versus are they intermediate, advanced … does that matter at all? Or like, who are you targeting?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. It’s a great question and I get it all the time. You know, I think there’s kind of two different areas here. Like, one is where we can really help people improve a lot quicker and a lot better is the amateur athletes. So, if people really care about still improving and they have a lot of room to improve, we can help accelerate that very quickly. So, I think that’s one area that we can help very largely. The other side of it is that elite athletes probably care more about their movements. Like, they’re doing this for a profession. So, even though they have a smaller gap, closing that gap between where they are in their athletic potential is much more important to them. So, I think you can kind of look at it in both ways, both your average person and your elite person would definitely see benefits.

Joe Bauer: Sure. And I said one more question, but something else just popped into my head here: what’s the age? Like, is there … 18 and over, or has it been tested on younger populations? Because you mentioned that if you can get this to somebody who’s still developing or like, in the novice stage, they’re gonna improve or get into that next step faster. But, can it be used on the younger population?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. So, it’s 18 years and up.

Joe Bauer: Okay.

Danny Holzman: The reason being is just that there’s not that much research being done under 18. It’s starting to move in that direction slightly, so there’s been a few studies this year that came out looking at 16 year olds also seeing good results. Yeah. We would say 18 and up for Halo. I guess, going one level deeper than that though, really what we’re doing, you can think of it as like, making your brain a little bit more child-like, temporarily. If you look at like, an eight year old’s brain, and it is so plastic as it is. That’s why kids can learn languages so quickly; they can learn movements even quickly, and people always say it gets so hard to pick up an instrument as you get older and learn new languages as you get older, and that’s true. Your brain becomes less and less plastic. So, really, what we’re doing is putting your brain into more of this sticky, child-like state for a temporary amount of time.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. I’m sold. I want to be a child and learn things really fast. So, how can people get their hands on a Halo Sport if they want to try this out?

Danny Holzman: Yeah. On our website. Our website has a lot more information too, so haloneuroscience.com. You know, read more about our studies there, see more about the athletes that we work with.

Joe Bauer: Very cool. Very cool. Danny, I’ve really enjoyed this. I think that it’s definitely fun getting to learn from somebody like you that’s way smarter than me on this subject. So, thank you for sharing that with me and indulging my silly questions and not knowing as much as you know.

Danny Holzman: Yeah. No. It was great. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for having me.

Joe Bauer: Yup. I really appreciate it and I hope that people go and check out the Halo Sport because I’ve been using it, it’s definitely something that I’ve been throwing into my training routine, and if you want to even hear more about it or ask me questions about how I’ve had results, then definitely shoot me an email at [email protected]. So, Danny, again, thanks so much, and I will talk to you soon.

Danny Holzman: Thanks, Joe.

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Halo Sport – Go to haloneuro.com/audible and use code ALLAROUNDJOE to get $250 off the Halo Sport

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Listen to learn… about Recharging your batteries and finding your why, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… about Recharging your batteries and finding your why, plus…

• What a real vacation should be like.
• How to really recharge your batteries.
• What will recharge your batteries.
• How to find your why.
• What to think about that matters.
• And much, much more.

Recharging your batteries

Why this show is top of mind: Hawaii

What was included: Sun, hiking, CrossFit, swimming, pool, beach, great food, and even better friends.

First real vacation in over 5 years * I like to work in cool places. It fires me up!

How long does it take to get your reset? * For me, one week has been not even close to enough time.

What works even better than a vacation for me… * Doing a really long race or endurance event. * This scraps me down to my core and shows me what is really important. Try running a marathon, or even better… and ultra marathon. If you’re spending a whole day expending all of your energy and all you have is your thoughts, you’ll figure out some important things about yourself.

Finding your why

Ok, so, we’re all going to die at some point. And let’s be honest, we don’t know what comes after that.

One of my favorite people is Tim Ferriss, and he’s been talking a lot about using death countdown timers to motivate you to do the things that you really want to do.

I realize that this is morbid, but if it motivates you to quit the job you hate, or take the vacation that you’ve been dying to take for years, or start that business that you are scared might not work… then I love it!

I’ve put these two topics together because I think that vacation is a great time to reflect on what you’re doing all of this for… most people would say they would want to just stay on vacation and not go home.

How do you find your why if it’s not coming to you…

Try this – Think about what matters most to you… people, things, experiences, trips, etc. Write it all down. Or think about that you’re going to die and this could all be gone. Like really gone.

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

See above for links

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Audible – Go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get a FREE audiobook – WHOOP.com – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for $50 off your strap.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 135: Recharging your batteries and finding your why appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… How to get out of a motivational slump, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… How to get out of a motivational slump, plus…

• How to analyze why you might be in a motivational slump.
• Where to look for new motivation.
• How doing a vision board can supercharge your motivation.
• What books have helped me to spark motivation.
• What routine can do to motivation.
• And much, much more.

Get your weekly dose of Feel Good Friday!

Once you join, I'll send you an email each Friday where I share with you the fun, interesting, thought provoking, and sometimes crazy things that I've discovered over the week.

JOIN!

Nice!  Check your email! 

Here’s What I’m Taking Right Now & Why

Morning: 5 Perfect Amino’s – Link – Code ALLAROUNDJOE 4 Triumph Multivitamin – Link 1 Amazing Formulas Berberine – Link 3 Natural Stacks CIPTEP 3 Natural Stacks Acetylcholine Brain Food 1 pack of Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee with Lion’s Mane and Chaga – Link Black Coffee

Afternoon/Pre-Workout: Black Coffee 5-10 Perfect Amino’s Or Perfect Amino XP powder Blonyx HMB+Creatine – Link

Post Workout: Rx Bar

Before Dinner: 1 Amazing Formulas Berberine 4 Triumph Multivitamin

Before Bed: 5 Perfect Amino’s 6-8 squirts of Life-Flo PURE Magnesium Oil spray – Link 3 Source Naturals Magnesium Malate – Link

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

See above for links

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– Audible – Go to allaroundjoe.com/audible to get a FREE audiobook

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

Get your weekly dose of Feel Good Friday!

Once you join, I'll send you an email each Friday where I share with you the fun, interesting, thought provoking, and sometimes crazy things that I've discovered over the week.

JOIN!

Nice!  Check your email! 

The post AAJ 134: What I’m Taking Right Now & Why appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… How to be good at CrossFit, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… How to be good at CrossFit, plus…

• What’s the first thing that you need to be good at.
• Where to find good coaching.
• How to know if you are coachable.
• What to do when injuries come knocking.
• How to get your diet right.
• And much, much more.

Get your weekly dose of Feel Good Friday!

Once you join, I'll send you an email each Friday where I share with you the fun, interesting, thought provoking, and sometimes crazy things that I've discovered over the week.

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Consistency * You need to show up at the gym around 5 days a week.

Good coaching * It is possible to do it all yourself, but it will take so much longer without a good coach helping you to move better. * Online and offline coaching can both work. * CrossFitInvictus.com * TheGetBetterProject.com * MisfitAthletics.com

A Coachable Attitude * I’ve seen many, many athletes that could be really good at CrossFit, but they didn’t have the ability to take coaching. Either they didn’t like to have someone telling them how to improve. OR they just wanted to win class workouts, and didn’t pay attention to coaching or standards.

A Strong Diet Plan * Some people need to eat more than others, and some need more carb or less carbs, but everyone needs to have a solid plan. If you eat without a plan, you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t. * Some people need to lose some weight, and others need to put on muscle. You can use trial and error, or you can hire someone to help you out (which will get you results faster). * Checkout allaroundjoe.com/88

Weakness Identification & Focus * Because CrossFit is a sport that rewards the athlete that is good at everything, you need to get really good at practicing what you are not good at. And you need to practice these weaknesses until you are good at them. * You must consistently be adding these weaknesses into your program, even if they aren’t currently in your program. This is so important!

An Attention to Recovery * Sleep, Sleep, Sleep! Checkout allaroundjoe.com/65 to learn how to optimize your sleep. * Mobility * Electro stim * Days off

Enjoy the Grind * It can take a long time to get better at your weaknesses, so you have to really enjoy working hard and the process of getting better. * There will be times that you feel like quitting.

Work Really, Really Hard * You need to be able to push your body to new intensity levels. The body adapts with stress, which is why CrossFit works so well, but you also need to go to the point of discomfort to create that stress that will get results.

Injuries * They happen in sport. Do everything that you can to avoid them, but don’t get discouraged if an injury pops up. * If you start to feel something, don’t push it. Figure out what’s happening. * You need to have a great sports chiropractor.

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

– CrossFit Invictus – Programs – The Get Better Project – Video Training – Misfit Athletics – Remote Coaching

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– WHOOP.com – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for $50 off your strap. – Audible FREE Book – Click here to get your FREE book! I recommend Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergeron

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

Get your weekly dose of Feel Good Friday!

Once you join, I'll send you an email each Friday where I share with you the fun, interesting, thought provoking, and sometimes crazy things that I've discovered over the week.

JOIN!

Nice!  Check your email! 

The post AAJ 133: How to be good at CrossFit appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… How to get out of a motivational slump, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… How to get out of a motivational slump, plus…

• How to analyze why you might be in a motivational slump.
• Where to look for new motivation.
• How doing a vision board can supercharge your motivation.
• What books have helped me to spark motivation.
• What routine can do to motivation.
• And much, much more.

Motivation is a funny thing Things to consider when you’re not feeling motivated

• Do you have a concrete goal that you’re working towards
• Are you overtraining
• Are you over-stressed
• Did you have a life event that changed you emotionally
  • Relationship
  • Job
  • Holiday
  • Vacation
  • Moved to new location and lack routine
• Did you stop doing something that has motivated you in the past (what was it)
  • Journaling
  • Scheduling your workouts
  • Training with a workout partner
  • Posting your workouts on social media

Chances are you’ve been in a motivational slump before… how did you dig out?

Listened/read to your favorite book

• 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss
• Time of your life – Tony Robbins

Hangout with energizing friends

Went to a conference

• Unleash the Power Within – Tony Robbins

Took some time off work (complete vacation or just personal health day)

Took some time off from the gym

Tried a different kind of fitness

• Bodybuilding, yoga, barre, Pilates, etc.

Refocused on your goals

Rewrote your goals and vision board(s)

We get focused on constantly producing, but does it really matter? Can we be more efficient? What really gets you fired up?

• If nothing really feels like it fires you up… you might need a reset (think vacation). This is not a vacation where you need a vacation from your vacation. No excessive drinking or unhealthy things

Main things to focus on and do

• Dig up your goals or write them for the first time
• If you’re overtraining, or over-stressed schedule some time off
• Find your routine
  • Journaling
  • New gym or workout schedule

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

– 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss – Time of your life – Tony Robbins

Unleash the Power Within – Tony Robbins

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– <- WHOOP.com – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for $50 off your strap. – InsideTracker – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for a discount.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 132: How to get out of a motivational slump appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… 6 Tips to Reduce Stress Today, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… 6 Tips to Reduce Stress Today, plus…

• What I do first when stress comes up.
• How to identify stress and where it’s coming from.
• The super cool apps that can help.
• Breathing techniques that can make you feel better immediately.
• How to get stared with the meditation.
• And much, much more.

1. Weekly Reflection – Identify if you are stressed. I went a long time not realizing that I was super stressed out by finances and working out.

Yes, I was working out so much that it was stressing my body out. I really didn’t realize what was happening. I also thought that being stressed about finances was normal.

I would suggest scheduling a reflection time once a week to think about how you are feeling, and if there is anything stressing you out.

2. Basic Belly Breathing – If you ever feel like you’re in a stressful state of mind… simply bring your attention to your breathing, breathe through your nose (if you can) and force the air down towards your belly. This will activate your diaphragm, and in turn your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and relax). I use this all the time. Even when the littlest thing pops into my brain that might stress me out.

3. Exercise – Really, any exercising will do. That being said, I find that I am the most relaxed after a long cardio session. Think, 20+ minute run, ride, row, swim, etc. Something where you can get to a steady state of increased breathing.

Even going for a walk will work, but the real key is getting into a rhythmic breathing pattern. So, if a walk can do that for you… perfect! Or if you can’t go get sweaty, a walk will definitely help.

4. Meditate – There are so many apps that can help you with meditation these days, AND you don’t need more than 5 minutes to get you started.

Here are the apps that I like * Headspace (iOS / Android) * Calm (iOS / Android) * Holosync Meditation (Website)

5. Binaural Beats – You can listen your way into a calm state of mind with binaural beats. I’m not going to tell you that I completely understand this science, but as I understand it… when you listen to these sounds the frequencies that come with them can actually change the frequency of your brain. This can allow you to get into brain states such as relaxation, creativity, focus, sleep, etc. This can be very powerful, and the app that I’ve been using for this is called SleepStream 2 ULT (iOS / Android).

6. Breathing Routines –

Something that I use daily, and have done for almost 2 years now is the Wim Hof Method breathing routine. You basically hyper oxygenate your body, and it makes you feel great! The Wim Hof Method app has become completely free.

Another fantastic breathing routine that you don’t need any app for is… Box Breathing. This is super easy! You simply… * Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds * Hold your breathe for 4 seconds * Slowly breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds * Hold your air out for 4 seconds What I love about this method is that you can do it just about anywhere. You can even do it in a crowded room without people noticing what you’re doing. Just please don’t do it while you’re driving. Let’s stick to the basic belly breathing while driving.

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

– Headspace (iOS / Android) – Calm (iOS / Android) – Holosync Meditation (Website) – SleepStream 2 ULT (iOS / Android)

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– WHOOP.com – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for $50 off your strap. – InsideTracker – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for a discount.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 131: 6 Tips to Reduce Stress Today appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Listen to learn… The CrossFit Open is Over – Time to get to work!, And More: iTunes – Stitcher Radio In this episode you’ll learn… The CrossFit Open is Over – Time to get to work!, plus…

• How to reflect after the last 5 weeks.
• How to identify the holes in your game.
• What the focus needs to be.
• What will make all the difference.
• How to stay on the fast path rather than the slow path to success.
• And much, much more.

Take a second to reflect * Journal, meditate, think, go for a long walk/hike

Think about a plan * Think about the whole next year, and how you’re going to prioritize getting better. * Ex. 6 month strength focus (snatch, clean, deadlift, etc.). * 3 month focused endurance before the Open.

What would make the difference * Cardio/endurance ** What areas * Strength as a whole * Specific strength technique * Gymnastics * Specific technique efficiencies

How often to practice * I like a total of 3 times per week. * So, if you need to improve your muscle ups, you would do them 3 times per week (including your regular training program).

Fast path to success * Find a coach or program to follow Slow path to success * Try to do it on your own

Get excited and stick with your plan for the whole year * You can adjust, but don’t ever quit

Resources and links mentioned in this podcast

– CrossFit Invictus – Misfit Athletics – CompTrain

Partners mentioned in this podcast

– <- WHOOP.com – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for $50 off your strap. – InsideTracker – Use code ALLAROUNDJOE for a discount.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you. Affiliate Disclosure

Listening options

• Listen via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

Help me out!

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 130: The CrossFit Open is Over – Time to get to work! appeared first on AllAroundJoe.