The Beyond Normal Limits Podcast

Rob Lively retired after 28 years of military service, as the Command Sergeants Major of a Special Missions Unit within The United States Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

As an experienced and proven leader, Rob has operated and led teams and organizations in the most demanding, diverse, and challenging environments. Rob culminated his Army service at the highest enlisted rank and in the most competitive noncommissioned officer position, retiring as Command Sergeants Major (senior enlisted leader) for the Army’s most elite unit.

Rob currently translates his many life and leadership lessons from the US Military in his new career as the President of TRX Elite where he leads a diverse team that delivers human performance strategies and solutions in support of government, military and the first responder population as well as the veterans from each of those communities.

In this episode of the Beyond Normal Limits podcast I welcome Bart Combs to the show.  Bart is the founder & President of SolKoa, a company that provides survival training to individuals and small teams that regularly operate in some of the most challenging environments.  Bart is also a retired Army Special Operations veteran where he served in a number of critical roles including, a SERE Instructor, Pilot, and a member of a Special Mission Unit.  I caught up with Bart to talk survival and lessons learned from his military career including what it was like to work with father of modern SERE training Col. Nick Rowe.  

In this episode we’re talking health and wellness with Brendan Kehde, founder of Adventure Well.  Brendan is trained by Duke University’s Integrative Medicine program, and is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness coach.  He’s also an all-around outdoor adventurer who is passionate about climbing, backpacking, riding motorcycles, surfing and getting into anything epic.  I first met Brendan last year while riding motorcycles in Georgia, where I first learned about Adventure Well, a company he founded to help individuals with goal setting, achieving higher personal performance, and accomplishing big things.  He’s combined his background in the outdoors, with his training as a wellness and health coach to create a unique program to help anyone, regardless of background or experience achieve more. 

I caught up with Brendan as he was on the road, as many people are these days working from his mobile office and en route to ride the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route on an adventure bike.  We talked about why he founded Adventure Well, what his coaching philosophy is and how he helps people change. 

I’m Brad Christian, founder of Adventure Operations Group, and host of the Beyond Normal Limits podcast.  In this episode I’m talking with Justin Matejcek, founder of Veterans Adventure Group, an organization that is dedicated to supporting veterans through extreme sports.  Veterans Adventure Group has teams around the country working with veterans to get them into mountaineering, skydiving, mountain biking, caving and more.  As a veteran myself who has had my own struggles with transition, I really like how Veterans Adventure Group focuses on putting veterans back into environments where they can thrive, and creating a sense of teamwork and camaraderie that can often be missing in the civilian world.  This was a great conversation where we discuss how Justin got the inspiration to create this group, out of a tragedy in Afghanistan, some of his personal favorite stories from the last few years, and what he’s got planned for the future.

In this episode I’m talking with Rob Shaul.  Rob is the Founder & President of the Mountain Tactical Institute based in Jackson, WY.  Rob’s a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, entrepreneur and a lifelong gym rat turned strength and conditioning coach. He originally founded Mountain Athlete in 2007, to train climbing and ski mountaineering athletes.   

And today the Mountain Tactical Institute, situated near some of the best natural training grounds for elite athletes any in North America, specializes in training programs for mountain, military and first responders, but also offers general fitness training, all based from Rob’s decades of research and first-hand experience working with individuals who’s way of life is elite performance, and pushing the limits. 

The Beyond Normal Limits podcast is a production of Adventure Operations Group.  In this show we talk to military veterans, outdoor guides, entrepreneurs and other elite performers about fitness, travel, training & mindset and how anyone can learn to leverage simple lessons in everyday life to operate at Beyond Normal Limits.

In our first episode of the Beyond Normal Limits podcast we’re talking with Brenton Reagan, Lead Guide for Exum Mountain Guides, one of North America’s most prestigious guiding services operating out of Jackson, WY.  Brenton, a Marine veteran is also an International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA) and American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) certified guide, and guides winter Ski and Heli-Ski trips.  He routinely works with US Military and Government teams who choose Exum for some of the most advanced alpine training in the US.  He’s an expert on moving and operating light and fast in the alpine.  In addition to guiding, he’s also Exum’s Director of Marketing, and has recently taken on a new role as a guide with Arc Teryx Trips, Arc Teryx’s new adventure travel program. 

I caught up with Brenton on a recent call to talk about leadership, how he manages risk as a mountain guide and how he adapts to unexpected circumstances that arise when guiding clients in high-risk situations.