The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Jason Fox "Foxy" spent 20 years in the UK military: 10 in the Royal Marines, 10 in the Special Boat Service, Britain's tier-one special forces. He deployed year after year through the post-9/11 era, working alongside US and allied forces in some of the most intense operations of that period. Then in the middle of a firefight, pinned in a ditch under heavy enemy fire, something broke. His mind defaulted to the last safe place he had ever known: being a boy at home with his mum. Joe De Sena sits down with "Foxy" to talk about what happened next: losing his mojo for the job he loved, getting medically discharged for PTSD, standing on a cliff considering ending it, and the moment he realized he had never quit anything before and was not going to start now. He shares the psychological timeline and the daily habits that keep him stable today: conscious check-ins, non-negotiable exercise, and living in the present like a toddler who does not carry yesterday's weight. His book Embrace the Chaos puts the practical framework around everything he learned the hard way. Things You Will Learn:

• The psychological timeline: a simple diagram that reveals where stress stacks up before it breaks you, and why "Foxy" wishes he had drawn it at 28.
• Why an elite operator who never quit anything lost his drive for the job he loved, and what it took to find a new reason to keep going.
• Three daily habits "Foxy" uses to stay stable after PTSD: conscious emotional check-ins, non-negotiable exercise, and present-moment awareness.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

• The Psychological Timeline: Draw your lifeline from birth to now. Add lines for career stress, relationships, finances, health, major events. Where the lines stack thickest is where the damage started. That is where you need to pay attention.
• The Monday Check-In: When you feel off, stop before you ruin the day. Sit down. Ask why. Identify the specific source. Name it. Manage it. Cut yourself some slack before it compounds.
• Toddler Mindset: Children live in the present. They do not carry what just happened or worry about what is next. Adults who can recover that presence stop feeding the cycle of rumination that drives psychological breakdown.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro: Jason Fox, former UK Special Forces, still training for life 5:21 How the SAS and SBS were born 10:26 Why Spartan was built on chaos 13:20 Growing up in Luton 16:10 Twenty years in the military 18:27 The firefight that broke something 22:27 Losing his mojo 24:48 Therapy, denial, and the question that pissed him off 26:22 Standing on a cliff, and the one thought that made him turn around 27:38 The diagram that finally showed him where it all stacked up 32:24 Told never to mention mental health 34:13 Three books, one arc 36:37 Live like a toddler Jason Fox served 20 years in the British military: 10 in the Royal Marines and 10 in the Special Boat Service, the UK's tier-one maritime special forces unit. He deployed repeatedly through the post-9/11 era alongside US, Canadian, and Australian forces. After a tour defined by heavy combat, he came home and felt nothing: he lost his drive, got medically discharged for PTSD, and found himself standing on a cliff before deciding he had never quit anything and was not about to start. He has written three books: Battle Scars, Life Under Fire, and Embrace the Chaos. He is also known as Foxy on the show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. Connect to Jason: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason_carl_fox/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jason_carl_fox Embrace the Chaos: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKL3W9LZ?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Dan Cnossen spent twelve years training to become a Navy SEAL platoon commander. Forty-eight hours into his first operation in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device on a hilltop took both of his legs. His teammates dragged him over rocks in the dark while clearing other explosives, and loaded him onto a helicopter that had less than one minute of fuel remaining before it would have left without him. Joe De Sena sits down with Dan to walk through the injury, the medically induced coma, the months of seven-to-ten-hour surgeries scheduled three days a week, and the moment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center when seeing triple and quadruple amputees broke through his self-pity and forced a permanent shift in perspective. Dan shares three frameworks from SEAL training and recovery that apply directly to anyone facing sustained difficulty: shrink your time horizon when intensity rises, examine hardship from more than one angle before the first angle hardens in your brain, and understand that external resources are necessary but willpower is the only sufficient condition. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why shrinking your time horizon to the next five minutes is the most reliable way to survive sustained physical or emotional stress.
2. The danger of letting your first interpretation of a setback harden into your only interpretation and how to force new angles.
3. The difference between necessary conditions and sufficient conditions when rebuilding after a major loss.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Intensity-Time Horizon Inverse: When stress or difficulty spikes, collapse your focus to the next minute, the next obstacle, the next rep. Your brain will try to project long-term doubt. Pull it back to what is directly in front of you.
2. Angle Shifting: The first way you frame a major setback will rigidify in your brain if you do not deliberately seek other angles. Force yourself to examine the event from multiple perspectives before the default interpretation locks in.
3. Necessary vs. Sufficient: External support, resources, and community are necessary to rebuild. But they are not sufficient. The sufficient condition is your own willpower. No one can supply that for you.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro: Dan Cnossen, former Navy SEAL, double amputee 1:14 The Naval Academy, choosing English, and the path to the SEAL teams 5:27 How SEAL officer selection works and what 9/11 changed 7:18 The blast that took both legs 11:11 Waking up 12 days later in the United States 13:39 Surgeries three days a week and why unconsciousness became a relief 15:25 Feeling sorry for yourself and how the first angle rigidifies 16:41 Seeing triple and quadruple amputees changed everything 18:22 Why "it could be worse" is theoretical until you have lived it 20:43 Voluntary suffering prepares you for involuntary suffering 22:38 Three lessons from SEAL training and recovery for anyone facing sustained difficulty Dan Cnossen graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2002 as an English major, completed BUD/S, and spent six years training to become a Navy SEAL platoon commander. On September 8, 2009, 48 hours into his first operation in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device took both of his legs above the knee. His teammates dragged him off a hilltop in the dark and loaded him onto a helicopter with less than one minute of fuel remaining. Every person on that hilltop was awarded the Silver Star. After a medically induced coma, more than three dozen surgeries, and months of recovery at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dan rebuilt: first learning to walk on prosthetics, then to run, and eventually competing at the highest levels of adaptive sport. Connect to Dan: Website: https://dancnossen.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-cnossen-75b9181ab/

Connor Emeny is the first person to complete an Ironman triathlon on all seven continents. The seventh was Antarctica. Joe De Sena talks with Emeny about spending 23 days on a 45-foot sailboat crossing the Drake Passage, where 800 boats have sunk and 30,000 people have died, just to reach a start line that did not exist. On Deception Island, a volcanic range in Antarctica, Connor swam 3.86 kilometers in minus 1°C water for an hour and forty-two minutes until his body went hypothermic and his teeth froze shut. He biked 180 kilometers on a fat tire bike doing a 100-meter loop eighteen hundred times over twenty-one hours. Then he ran a marathon on volcanic ash and ice. Things You Will Learn:

1. What two years of planning, cold-calling, and training in ice lanes look like when you are building something from zero with no blueprint.
2. The physical reality of endurance in sub-zero water: how the body shuts down and what keeps you moving when it does.
3. Why acting before you are fully ready can be the only way to make an extreme goal happen at all.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Cold-Call Your Way In: When no path exists, pick up the phone and start asking. Emeny cold-called tour operators and Antarctic explorers until he found Doug Stoup, who had been to the poles more than anyone alive and agreed to help.
2. Choose Your Corner Over Your Crew: When resources forced a choice between a bigger film crew and bringing his brother and mother, Emeny chose the people who believed in him most. Support beats production value under extreme pressure.
3. Window Thinking: There is a limited window to act on a goal. Spend too long perfecting the safety plan, and the opportunity fades. Emeny spent two years preparing, but committed before certainty arrived, because certainty was never coming.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro: Connor Emeny completed Ironman Antarctica in thirty-two hours 1:03 Growing up in Toronto as the youngest of three brothers 3:40 How the seven-continent Ironman goal started 5:40 Why the continents mattered more than the races 7:19 Planning Antarctica and the Guinness World Record 10:42 Fat tire bike and marathon on volcanic ash 12:02 His body shut down 14:48 Choosing family over a bigger crew 15:57 Why acting before you are ready is the only way 16:53 The book All In and the documentary Chasing Antarctica Connor Emeny is the first person to complete an Ironman triathlon on all seven continents. He grew up in Toronto as the youngest of three brothers, found triathlon in university, and was employee number seventeen at Uber Eats before leaving to train full-time. He completed his first Ironman in New Zealand on March 7, 2020, seven days before the pandemic shut the world down. Stranded in New Zealand for sixty days, he conceived the seven-continent project and spent the next three years executing it, earning a Guinness World Record as the youngest person to complete Ironman on six continents by age twenty-six. The seventh took two years of planning, a 23-day sailboat crossing of the Drake Passage, and a 32-hour race on a volcanic island in minus 1°C water with no doctor and no hospital. His book All In is available now. His documentary Chasing Antarctica releases in November. Connect to Connor: Website: https://connoremeny.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connor.emeny/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connoremeny

Robert Greene was 38, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica after years of failed screenplays and dead-end jobs. Everyone around him seemed to be moving forward. He wasn't. Then a chance conversation in Venice, Italy, turned two decades of quiet observation into The 48 Laws of Power, a book that reshaped how a generation thinks about ambition, strategy, and human nature. Joe De Sena sits down with Robert to talk about building a life from nothing, twice. First as a writer who found his path late. Then again after a stroke in 2018 took much of his mobility but left his mind intact. That second rebuild became his newest book, The Law of the Sublime. They cover why years that feel wasted are often preparation in disguise, Sun Tzu's Death Ground principle, and the three-step process Robert prescribes for anyone who feels stuck or left behind: know yourself, experiment through action, and develop skills no machine can replicate. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why being broke and behind at 38 wasn't the end for Robert Greene, and how twenty "wasted" years became the raw material for The 48 Laws of Power.
2. The three-step process Robert uses to get unstuck, starting with a self-knowledge exercise most people skip entirely.
3. Why Sun Tzu's Death Ground principle generates more energy and creativity than any supplement or shortcut.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Life's Task Discovery: Journal about what excited you as a child. Identify what makes you different from everyone around you. Use that as a compass, not someone else's expectations.
2. Skill Stacking Through Experimentation: Don't think your way out of being stuck. Act. Try things connected to your life's task. Learn through doing. The brain is designed to develop through action, not theory.
3. Death Ground (Sun Tzu/33 Strategies of War): When your back is against the wall and there is no safety net, your energy and creativity spike. Manufacture that urgency before life forces it on you.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro: Robert Greene and Joe De Sena on strokes, struggle, and 9 million books 0:50 Four applications, four rejections, and the textile department that said yes 4:13 Robert Greene's stroke 12:23 Broke at 38 in a one-bedroom apartment 14:48 Why you have to get off the couch 17:15 The 48 Laws of Power 25:06 The man who fell off a mountain and spent 20 years chasing the feeling 29:00 Sun Tzu's Death Ground 31:33 Three things to do when you are stuck 35:19 The Law of the Sublime Robert Greene is the author of seven bestselling books, including The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, Mastery, and The Laws of Human Nature, with over 9 million copies sold in the United States alone. He wrote his first book at 38 after years of failed screenplays, dead-end journalism, and a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica. A chance meeting in Venice, Italy, turned two decades of observation into one of the most influential nonfiction books of the last 30 years. In 2018, a wasp sting triggered a chain of events that led to a stroke, leaving him with limited mobility but full command of his ability to write and think. His eighth book, The Law of the Sublime, comes out of that experience, a book about what it actually means to be alive, written by a man who nearly lost the chance to find out. Connect to Robert: Website: https://powerseductionandwar.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/48LawsofPowerbook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertgreeneofficial/ X: https://x.com/robertgreene

Billy Billingham joined a gang at nine years old. By eleven, he had a criminal record. At thirteen, he was expelled from school. At fifteen, he was stabbed and nearly died in a hospital bed. Two years later he walked into military recruitment and never looked back. Joe De Sena sits down with the former SAS operator, one of seven to pass selection out of 283 candidates, to talk about the moment a boxing instructor changed his life, the day he saw a Falklands War veteran with a bullet hole through his face and decided that was the man he wanted to become, and why 70 to 80% of what he does now is giving back to the kids and veterans who need what he needed at nine. Things You Will Learn:

1. The mindset shift that took Billy Billingham from gang warfare and juvenile court to SAS selection, and why it started with one honest conversation with his father.
2. Why looking around and feeling outmatched on day one is an advantage, not a warning sign.
3. The one resource you cannot earn back and why wasting it is the only real failure.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Own It, Do Not Excuse It: Billy's father told him to be a thief before a liar. Owning the truth is the foundation of every correction that follows.
2. Day One Hunger: On the first day of both basic training and SAS selection, Billy looked around and saw people who were bigger, stronger, and more experienced. He used that feeling to stay humble, stay hungry, and outlast 276 of them.
3. Time Audit: Time is the only resource you cannot replace. Every hour on the couch is an hour you chose not to move forward. Progress does not require speed. It requires motion.

Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Billy Billingham, SAS veteran and original Peaky Blinder 0:21 Gang member at nine, criminal record by eleven 2:15 Kids know right from wrong 5:06 Learning weapons, maps, and medical training at eleven 6:56 Joining the military at 17 8:26 Walking three miles to school with cardboard in his shoes 09:49 SAS selection: 283 started, 7 finished 13:15 What he would change 16:01 Joe offers Spartan events 19:00 Advice for anyone stuck on the couch Billy Billingham grew up in the West Midlands near Birmingham, England, the same streets that inspired Peaky Blinders. He joined a gang at 9, had a criminal record by 11, was expelled from school at 13, and was stabbed and nearly killed at 15. At 17, with no education past age thirteen, he enlisted in the British Army and joined the Parachute Regiment, one of seven to pass out of seventy who started. After nine years of airborne service and combat, he passed SAS selection, again one of seven, this time out of 283 candidates. He went on to serve in the Special Air Service across multiple operational tours. Now 61, Billingham is known internationally through the TV series Special Forces: World's Toughest Test and SAS: Who Dares Wins. Connect to Bill: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBillinghamSAS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billingham22b/ X: https://x.com/billingham229b? We gave you the tools, now use them during your next SPARTAN RACE! Use codeword PODCAST on checkout for 10% your next race. 👉 Find Your Next Spartan Race: https://www.spartan.com/en/race/find-race 👉 For everything Spartan: https://www.spartan.com/ 🎧 Listen & Subscribe: 👉 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-way-with-joe-de-sena/id952870930 👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1pYBkk1T684YQg7CmoaAZt 📲 Short, Impactful Content 👉 Instagram: @spartanuppodcast 👉 From me directly: @realjoedesena The Hard Way Podcast With Joe De Sena, Hosted by Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, this podcast delves into the principles of resilience, discipline, and the Spartan mindset. De Sena's journey from building a multimillion-dollar pool cleaning business in his teens to establishing a successful Wall Street trading firm showcases his entrepreneurial spirit. In 2001, he transitioned from finance to operate an organic farm in Pittsfield, Vermont, where his passion for endurance events like ultramarathons and adventure races flourished. This led to the creation of Spartan, aiming to inspire individuals to embrace challenges and push their limits.

Jovon "Q" Quarles grew up on the northeast side of Washington, D.C., with a drug-addicted mother, no father, and a crack house across the street. His grandparents raised him: his grandfather, an Army veteran they called "The Bear," and his grandmother, an amputee who could never attend his games but kept newspaper clippings of every one. She moved him to rural North Carolina, held him to a standard, and when he had two kids before graduating high school, she forced him into the Navy. Joe De Sena sits down with Jovon to trace the full arc from D.C. to BUD/S, including the Tuesday morning in Hell Week when Q rang the bell, felt instant regret, and had to rebuild his entire identity around ownership to earn a second attempt. He graduated top of his class. His grandmother never saw it. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why ringing the bell in Hell Week taught Q more about ownership than any mission he ran afterward.
2. The specific mindset shift that turned a kid with no parents and a terrible GPA into a top-of-class SEAL graduate.
3. What the victim mentality costs you, and the exact moment Q stopped using it.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Finish What You Start: Q's grandparents drilled one rule: if you begin something, you complete it. That principle carried him from high school sports through BUD/S and a full SEAL career.
2. Ownership Over Victimhood: After getting kicked from his first Navy program, Q blamed the Navy. That victim response almost ended his trajectory. The shift to personal ownership unlocked everything that followed.
3. Hunger as an Edge: Growing up without parents, money, or stability built a drive that kids from comfortable backgrounds rarely develop. Q treats that hunger as a competitive advantage, not a disadvantage.

Chapters:0:00 Intro: Who is Jovon "Q" Quarles?2:42 Growing up on the northeast side of Washington, D.C.8:54 Moving to rural North Carolina and starting over11:15 The edge that comes from growing up with nothing13:20 Why the military was not seen as an opportunity in Black families in the 80s and 90s15:23 How his grandmother got him into the Navy19:07 Two kids before graduating high school24:54 What it actually takes to commit to becoming a Navy SEAL31:08 Tuesday morning: Q rings the bell, instant regret34:13 Getting cast on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test41:02 The book: Why Not Me

Jovon "Q" Quarles was born in 1980 on the northeast side of Washington, D.C. His mother was a drug addict in and out of prison. He never knew his father. His grandparents raised him: his grandfather, an Army veteran they called "The Bear," and his grandmother, a diabetic amputee who moved him to rural North Carolina and held him to a standard that shaped the rest of his life. He had two kids before graduating high school. His grandmother forced him into the Navy in 1999. He was kicked out of his first program for lack of discipline, embraced ownership, found the SEAL teams after the Iraq War started, rang the bell in Hell Week, came back, and graduated at the top of his BUD/S class. His grandmother passed before she could see it. Jovon served a full career in the SEAL teams and now appears as Directing Staff on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test (Fox/Hulu, Season 5 premieres September 24). His book, "Why Not Me?", is forthcoming. Connect to Jovon: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jovonquarles/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/jovonquarles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jovonpquarles Elite Seal Fit: https://elite-self.com/

Rudy Reyes is a Recon Marine who grew up in a boys' home, lost brothers to combat and suicide after service, and now leads military selection courses on Fox's Special Forces and the UK's SAS Who Dares Wins. Joe De Sena sits down with Rudy to break down what happened when Season 5 moved into the jungle: 100% humidity, 105-degree heat, cobras, scorpions, and contestants dropping within days. They dig into why Marine Corps culture produces a different kind of person, why harsh physical conditions change lives in ways therapy and motivation cannot, and how Rudy stayed relevant after combat by never stopping training. Rudy also shares his path to Heat 2, the upcoming film from director Michael Mann, and the boys' home discipline that made everything else possible. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why Marine Corps culture builds a different standard than any other branch, and what that culture actually demands.
2. The reason harsh physical conditions produce life change that motivation, therapy, and comfort cannot replicate.
3. What a military selection show reveals about who actually quits and who surprises everyone by lasting.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Equal Load: Whether 110 pounds or 300, the weight is the same. Removing special treatment forces honest performance and reveals who has trained their mind, not just their body.
2. Harsh Conditions as the Mechanism: The transformation people report after Spartan races and military selections is not from coaching or inspiration. It is from sustained physical discomfort that resets the nervous system and strips away excuses.
3. Attack the Day Protocol: Get blood flowing immediately. Sing, pace, squeeze. Speak your day into existence before the world speaks it for you. Start physical before you start mental.

Special Forces: World's Toughest Test premieres Thursday, Sept. 24 at 9/8c on FOX, next day on Hulu. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Rudy Reyes, Recon Marine, and his first Spartan race at Killington 0:51 Joe meets Rudy for the first time 15 years ago 1:57 Racing together in Sparta, Greece 2:39 Why Marine Corps culture produces a different kind of person 4:25 The living room gym, lost brothers, and staying relevant after combat 8:53 Special Forces on Fox 09:55 Season 5 in the jungle 11:32 The jungle will kill you long before you see the enemy 12:30 Why harsh conditions change lives when nothing else does 14:13 Heat 2 with Michael Mann: The movie role of a lifetime 19:29 Three things for people stuck on the couch 21:03 Joe's son: Number one wrestler in the country at 157 pounds Rodolfo "Rudy" Reyes is a Recon Marine who grew up in a boys' home in the Midwest, earned his place through discipline and grades, and went on to serve in some of the most intense combat operations of the Iraq War. He is known worldwide from HBO's Generation Kill, the BAFTA-winning documentary Once Upon a Time in Iraq, and as a lead instructor on Fox's Special Forces and the UK's SAS Who Dares Wins alongside Billy Billingham and Jason Fox. Season 5, filmed in the jungle, premieres this fall. He has been cast in Heat 2, directed by Michael Mann. Rudy trains every day, everywhere he goes, and considers staying physically sharp a way to honor the brothers he has lost. Connect to Rudy: Website: https://rudyreyes.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realrudyreyes/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-reyes-6aa1ba37/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@realrudyreyes

Ashley Hunter walked away from investment banking to teach kids how to move. Fifteen years later, Fit Kids operates in 195 schools across 13 states and has reached roughly 500,000 children. Joe De Sena sits down with Ashley to talk about why kids who already face hard lives every day benefit most from structured physical activity, how her program turns reluctant participants into kids who say burpees are their favorite exercise, and what any parent can do at home with zero equipment and zero money. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why low-income kids in under-resourced schools lose access to physical activity first, and what Fit Kids does to reverse it.
2. The approach that turns kids who are afraid of exercise into kids who request burpees by name.
3. What any parent can do at home with bodyweight exercises and zero budget to build physical confidence in their children.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Make Fitness the Game: Embed burpees, lunges, and squats inside obstacle courses and relay races so kids associate effort with fun, not punishment.
2. "You Can Do Hard Things. Period.": One sentence, no negotiation. Use it as a universal response when a child says something is too hard. End the conversation there.
3. Free Bodyweight Protocol for Home" Push-ups, burpees, lunges, squats. No equipment. No cost. Available through fitkids.org for any parent who asks.

Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Ashley Hunter has reached 500,000 kids through fitness 1:29 Growing up in Wayzata, Minnesota, with three sisters and a dad who wanted a boy 02:21 From investment banking to teaching to founding Fit Kids 3:44 How Fit Kids started at one school and grew to 195 5:44 Jay Jackson: the Green Beret's son who trained in the dark and disarmed an attacker 7:40 Physical activity teaches kids how to persevere through hard lives 8:43 The hardest part of running Fit Kids: having to say no to schools that need it 10:34 Kids who start the year afraid of exercise and end it asking for more 12:53 What parents without a program can do at home for free 13:46 How Spartan and Fit Kids partner to get kids to races at Dodger Stadium 18:55 The biggest resistance Ashley Hunter grew up in Wayzata, Minnesota, played sports year-round, and went into investment banking before realizing finance was not where she belonged. She taught school, then founded Circle of Friends (now Ambassadors) to connect young parents with Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Fifteen years ago, she walked onto a school playground and started teaching kids sports after school. That one-school experiment became Fit Kids, now operating in 195 schools across 13 states, serving roughly 30,000 kids per year and approximately 500,000 total. Fit Kids targets low-income children at under-resourced schools, delivering structured physical activity programs where PE budgets have been cut. She has four kids. One of them plays SEC football. Connect to Ashley: Website: https://fitkids.org/our-team/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlhunter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitkidsfoundation⁠

Joe De Sena sits down with Tyler Andrews, a cancer survivor turned elite endurance athlete who just set the fastest known time from Everest Base Camp to the summit: 9 hours and 55 minutes, breaking a 23-year-old record held by Lakpa Gelu by over an hour. This episode breaks down exactly how Tyler trained for Everest with hypoxic machines simulating 38,000 feet, a 6,000-foot mountain climb five days a week out his back door in Quito, and a strength program built with a Tour de France-level performance lab. They also dive into why a decade of consistency matters more than early talent, how to structure altitude and endurance training for extreme goals, and what it took to outpace a record that stood for over two decades. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why the athlete who was not even the best runner on his Division Three team eventually broke a 23-year Everest speed record.
2. The specific training structure Andrews used to prepare for a single-push summit attempt: hypoxic sessions, uphill volume, and strength work.
3. What aplastic anemia survival at age six taught him about patience, gradual progress, and not boxing yourself into one identity.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. Progressive Distance Scaling: Start at the distance where you are competitive, then move up one level at a time. 5K to 10K to half marathon to marathon to 50K to FKT to Everest. Each step confirms the next is possible.
2. Hypoxic Layering: Train at moderate altitude daily (10,000 feet), add simulated extreme altitude on a stationary bike (up to 38,000 feet) for 10–12 hours per week, and stack that on top of sport-specific uphill volume.
3. Decade Rule: Do not expect overnight results. A decade of consistent love of the process and daily grinding is what separates mediocre early performance from record-breaking later performance.

If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Cancer survivor, Everest speed record holder 1:28 Diagnosed with aplastic anemia at age six 3:07 How childhood illness shaped his personality and perspective 4:41 What a six-year-old remembers about cancer treatment 6:30 Aplastic anemia recovery: never cured, always in remission 8:00 The high school coach who changed everything 9:55 PRing every weekend and falling in love with running 10:39 From 5K to marathon to 50K to FKT to Everest 12:32 What FKT means and how the fastest known time world works 14:02 Spartan CTA: Sign up for something hard 14:39 How Tyler trained for the Everest speed record 17:51 The team behind the attempt: Human Powered Health 19:12 The record: 9 hours 55 minutes, beating a 23-year mark by 61 minutes 20:24 What is next: the book, the film, and what he cannot say yet 21:14 Three lessons from Tyler 23:36 Where to find Tyler Andrews and his podcast with his dad Tyler Andrews was diagnosed with aplastic anemia at age six and underwent experimental chemotherapy that destroyed and regrew his bone marrow. He was not an athletic kid: small from the chemo, hyperactive, drawn to music and science. A high school cross-country coach dared him to train consistently, and he fell in love with running after PRing every weekend for a month straight. He ran NCAA Division III, turned professional, made two Olympic marathon trials, won a silver medal at the 50K World Championships, and eventually transitioned to the fastest-known-time circuit during COVID. He now holds the Everest Base Camp to summit speed record at 9 hours and 55 minutes, breaking a 23-year-old mark by over an hour. He lives and trains in Quito, Ecuador, at 10,000 feet. Connect to Tyler: Website: https://www.tylercandrews.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tylercandrews/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TylerCAndrews Chaski Foundation: https://givebutter.com/chaskifoundation If we could link to my website (tylercandrews.com and socials @tylercandrews on IG and YT mainly), that would be great. Also a link to our fundraiser where we have raised almost $70K to support youth athletes in Nepal and Ecuador (), that would be amazing!

Joe De Sena opens this Labor Day episode with a direct question: what does it actually look like to show up every day, year after year, with no days off? Six-time Ironman World Champion Mark Allen, now 67, explains why consistency beats intensity at every age and how to stop competing with your younger self. Olympic strength coach Dane Miller breaks down the ESSE framework for matching training to any goal and names the three lifts most athletes avoid because they are hard: front squat, pull-up, and snatch. Iron Cowboy James Lawrence shares a pen-and-paper method for getting unstuck: write down everything in your head, cross out what you cannot control, and focus on what remains. Navy SEAL Leif Babin explains why actual combat was harder than Hell Week and how extreme ownership turns failure into the foundation for resilience. This episode delivers four direct perspectives on the same principle: daily work is the only strategy that compounds. Things You Will Learn:

1. Why consistency matters more than volume, speed, or intensity, especially after 40.
2. The three resistance training movements that transfer to every sport and why most people avoid them.
3. A pen-and-paper method for breaking through fear-based paralysis when you feel stuck.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

1. ESSE Framework: Evaluate every training goal through four lenses: Endurance, Strength, Speed, Explosiveness. Adjust gym time based on which lens your sport or life demands most.
2. Pen-and-Paper Reset: When stuck, write down every thought. Cross out what you cannot control. Focus only on what remains. Repeat daily.
3. Accountability Anchor: Find one simple, daily accountability tool and use it to remove the decision of whether to train.

If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses. Chapters: 0:00 Intro - Joe De Sena on Labor Day and the people who do the work 1:55 Mark Allen - Consistency, accountability, and why it is the only variable that matters at 67 6:59 Dane Miller - The ESSE framework, cyclical fitness trends, and the three lifts that stand the test of time 13:43 James Lawrence - Entrepreneurship as Sisyphus, letting go of control, and the pen-and-paper method for getting unstuck 17:00 Leif Babin - Why combat was harder than Hell Week, extreme ownership, and hanging on a little longer 20:07 Closing - Barry Hearns on why the gift of labor is the gift of life Mark Allen is a six-time Ironman World Champion and one of the most dominant endurance athletes in triathlon history. His 1989 battle with Dave Scott at Kona is considered the race that launched the modern era of Ironman. Now 67, Mark coaches triathletes and remains an active surfer, cyclist, and functional fitness practitioner in Santa Cruz, California. Dane Miller is a master strength coach specializing in Olympic weightlifting and athletic performance. He has coached athletes to Olympic medals, world championships, and national titles across weightlifting, wrestling, and throwing events. He operates Garage Strength out of southeastern Pennsylvania and runs the Peak Strength training app. James Lawrence, known as the Iron Cowboy, completed 50 Ironman-distance triathlons in 50 consecutive days across all 50 U.S. states, then followed it with 100 consecutive Ironmans during the Conquer 100 challenge. A bike crash on day 59 left him with multiple concussions and a cracked L5 vertebra. He spent three years in brain clinics rewiring neurological pathways before returning to competition. His latest book, Iron Hope, and the Emmy-nominated Conquer 100 documentary are both available now. Leif Babin is a former Navy SEAL officer who led SEAL platoons in the Battle of Ramadi during some of the most intense urban combat of the Iraq War. He co-founded Echelon Front with Jocko Willink to bring battlefield leadership principles to business and civilian life. He also co-authored the bestseller Extreme Ownership.