The conversation begins with the speaker sharing a positive Jiu Jitsu session, despite waking up with a strange allergic reaction, and notes that performance can be unpredictable. He also mentions previewing a community cup workout, which left him unexpectedly sore and humbled by the time cap. He encourages a 50-year-old beginner in Jiu Jitsu to prioritize learning over winning. The speaker describes today's workout, including strict weighted chin-ups with a DIY ratchet strap belt, farmers carries, and air bike intervals, which he dislikes. The main topic explores how much fitness is truly necessary for real life. They argue that benchmarks like a 10-minute Grace (135 lb ground-to-overhead) indicate solid preparedness, since most daily tasks are far easier. They acknowledge that while chasing performance goals is motivating, maintaining capacity over decades—like still doing pull-ups at 70—is more impactful. They propose a simple test for first responders: one pull-up, a one-mile run, and a barbell complex, noting that many might fail despite professional demands. The speaker’s wife adds that pull-ups are practical for climbing fences or pool exits, especially for women. Overall, they emphasize that basic, maintained fitness offers immense real-world utility, even if it’s not flashy.
What's up man any fitness happen today? No, no fitness happen today. Good Jiu Jitsu session yesterday, day before that. Were you the hammer or the nail in Jiu Jitsu? Yesterday was pretty good day. It was pretty good. It was cheeky. Is it in Jiu Jitsu? Is it like what most of us doing cross-can relate to or for no particular reason you're warmed up for your cleans and you're hitting your positions in the bar? Do you like, ooh, this is feeling light and fast today. I just got it. Is that how it is some days? It is. And I'll tell you some days it weird. Yesterday it was one of these weird days where I woke up that morning. My wife and I have a pretty standard morning routine. We'll get up. We'll take the dogs for walk. There's a coffee shop in our neighborhood. We'll walk them over there. Grab coffee, walk back. As we were walking back, my skin started to flesh like I was having an allergic reaction to something. Which is very strange. You know, like, you know, if you've taken like made a alanine and you get that tingly feeling, it was like that, but it just kind of came out of nowhere. And so it's like, that's weird. I wonder if I'm having like, I don't have allergies thankfully, but I was like, I wonder if this is like an allergic response that is something in the environment. It's just hit me. But anyway, whatever the point is, a couple hours later around lunchtime, I was heading into Jujitsu and I was like, man, you know, I just don't feel like I'm crushing it today. But despite that, I got in there and got warmed up and I had a great session. So it's like that sometimes too, where you like, I don't expect to perform well today, but for whatever reason, you do. So yeah, yesterday was pretty good. And the day before that, I did a version of one of the upcoming community cup workouts, which for those of you that might not know, we do a competition in August. That's kind of based on how you did in the open. And I can't tell you what that work out is yet, because it's not out. But I'll tell you off camera. And boy, I'm unreasonably sore for it. And it's very classic. It's like, it's one of those workouts where like, oh, yeah, I just knocked this one out in the garage. No big deal. And then boy, nice trap. Yep. And we have a time cap written in on it. And I was like, oh, no problem. But let me tell you, dude, that time cap came a problem way faster than I thought it was going to. Did you see somebody on a recent show in the YouTube comments posted that because of you, you've inspired them to start jujitsu at 50 years old? Oh, that's so cool. I did not see that. That's really cool though. Right on. Yeah. Hey, do whoever that person is out there, just remember, are you trying to win or are you trying to learn jujitsu? It feels like you always got to win, but let me tell you, it ain't going to happen anyway. So just release that from your process. And I got to admit, you've gotten me intrigued. I haven't gone down that route yet, but it is rolled around in my head a couple of times. Let me tell you my favorite thing from yesterday's session, Pat, which again went pretty well. There's a young guy that trains with us pretty regularly. He's got a great dude. He's got a wrestling background. He's 25, fit, hard nose dude. You know, wrestling background. Yeah. And you know, at this point, I have an experience gap on him, but at this point, his athleticism and his training has caught up. And so he'll get the best of me most times, but I caught him in a couple of things yesterday. And I am not afraid to talk some smell to that young man. What I do. And I let him know I'm like, hey, I don't need to be better than you, but just like once a quarter, I got to catch you in something so you know that you still got to put a little respect on it. You know, just the mouth of that. That's cool. And I'm happy today's feels good, man. Yeah, it's pretty fun. That's nice. Yeah, today I've got, I've got a not for time portion. I can't remember the exact reps, but it's some strict, I think strict with either strict weighted chin ups, I think strict weighted chin ups and some side planks, just, you know, not for time. Then I love a strict weighted chin up. I haven't done that forever. That's so fun. Yeah, man. And then you know, take whatever rest you need, get your mind right. And then it's five intervals and three minutes rest between each interval. And an interval is just a 100 meter farmers carer. You choose the load. Also fun. 30 seconds. All you got in the air bike. Oh, not fun. I love that you lost me at the air bike. So you've got that weird grip body fatigue. You know, you're kind of, you, you are breathing during the farmers caries, but it's not what you want. And then you set that down. And the first thing you do is slam the air bike for 30 seconds. You're like, this sucks. Yeah, let me up until that point. That sounds terrible. Tell me, let's go back a step. I couldn't get past it. Tell me you've got an old school like chain belt for the weighted chin ups. I have something that's even more just old school. Cheap than that. I have what would you, what you'd like go to the hardest order to like ratchet strap down car row in the back of your truck. Which is just a graduate to I hooks and I will put that ratchet strap around my waist and just somehow connect it to an item and just do the pull ups with that. I love that. That's all I've got and it works great. You know, and then I'm not using it. I strap down stuff in the car with it. It's, you know, can't do that with your fancy weight belt. Right. Yep. And so you know digs into my digs into my skin. It's just wonderful. So yeah, that's what I use for that. We'll see how those go. And before we get to the top of today, we do what I'm supposed to do to pour the show everybody. Go ahead and get yourself an individual count on BTWB 10 bucks a month. Get access to all the cycles. Start a side quest. Have a blast. This topic basically today is like how much fitness do you actually need for real life and and not to say that you'd want to stop there. But like what is actually really needed because this was sparked by something I heard somebody the other day because as we all know human beings are complex creatures that are never happy and like. I had like some great physical achievement or like clean and jerk or like you know through 225 pounds over their head was you know disappointed it wasn't 245 which cool like I get that. But there was also the thing of like hey let's let's chase numbers let's be inspired by people like you don't be satisfied like keep going. Every now and then maybe we pepper in some reality of how amazing it is that you just put 100 kilos over your head is crazy you know like. And I doubt that that clean and jerk or even one much lower than that has limited you in the real world you know so it's like those those two worlds and coexist. Hey keep striving but also like stop every now and then at what you can do and you're actually probably pretty darn remarkable you know. Yeah no absolutely it's it's it gets a tough pull to swallow for for some people because. I don't know I get the feeling that some people feel that somehow it's going to just destroy their motivation to continue. If they admit to themselves you're like yeah you know what my physical capacity is probably what it's ever going to need to be right now. And I think it's totally possible to have the two coexist you can you can be like yeah you know what whatever life is going to throw me I feel pretty prepared and I want to continue to get better those those both can occupy space in your mind and it's okay I've already gone I had a kind of how I wanted to structure this and have already like off track and gone crazy because. Okay like the games are coming up you're talking about maybe this community cup thing there's you know whatever happens to be like the halftime shows the simple it always has to be more has to be more last year more whatever and and what you don't hear a lot about anymore is the quote unquote boring basic. Crossfit 101 benchmark workouts right yeah but truth be told I mean I can't imagine if somebody can do grace prescribed. That's it 135 ground overhead at 30 times I don't you know what's a fast grace fast graces you know sub 10 minutes one minute if you're dead barely you're less than 30 minutes is great so let's just say you know in the three to five minute range there's a fair amount of cross that is. And the three to five minute range of plenty in the five to eight you know whatever happens to be if you can if in a 10 minute window you can get 135 bomb our bell off the ground locked it over your head 30 times I find it so a 10 minute grace and cross that is not good if we're just speaking. That plan not turning anybody's not not turning anybody's head you know I can sponsorship on Instagram with your 10 minute grace okay but I find it hard to believe that you have faced anything in the real world. That you weren't strong enough to do if you had a 10 minute grace like am I just wildly off base there no I don't think so I mean like you could you create some scenario that's like a real emergency life or death scenario where you really got to put out to to make it on to the other side I sure you could. Probably you could probably. Artificially create a situation like that but. For any situation that you artificially create like that you could create a harder one that you're not prepared for you know so it's kind of a weird game to get into so I think broadly speaking I I agree with you Pat it's like hey that's a pretty good metric that if you're going to be able to do that and walk away from it and it's not laying you out for the next day you know. Right again the next day and do something comparably as difficult and yes I think you're. You're probably pretty well prepared yes I would be fast now because most people it's wonderful that we live in the society that we live in that we generally don't have to come like.
under attack from people. - Sure. - That we're not out there trying to kill our food or you're gonna defend our homes. Like most people don't have to live with that. We live relatively comfortable lives and are swiveling chair with our air conditioning. We take our motorized carriages down to the grocery store and we fill our food. Life's great. The physical tasks are somewhat limited. But even like the people who have the more physical jobs, like let's say you're a firefighter, police officer, you're in the first responder community. I don't know how we could do this 'cause certainly you've got some people, men and women in those communities, take fitness really serious. They're a beast, they're trained during the lunch break. They've got the sub three grace like rock on. I also interviewed a bunch and asked them about their peers and there seems to be just as many of their peers who don't live that sort of a lifestyle. That I wonder if you rolled that 135 pound barbell into most firehouses or police precincts and said, "Get everybody who's working the shift right now out here, you got 10 minutes." What percentage of them could get grace done? I would be fascinated to know what that is. Is it north of 50, lower than 50? I mean, I don't know. - We got to start a YouTube channel and like one of these big YouTubers just start - Showing up like this and. - It would be so fun. - I'm here to tell you, when I had a physically demanding job in the military, if you rolled out 135 pound barbell and gave me 10 minutes to do it, I do not think that I could have done that. But back then, this now people have changed how they trained since dinosaurs were around when I was in the military. So let's take that with a grain of salt, but it was bench press, pearls, it was bodybuilding stuff. So an Olympic lift from 135 ground overhead, like that would have been humanly probably impossible for me, but I'm curious these days how that would go and that's so just La Zay for a crosshair. We're not impressed with that. You know what I mean? - Yeah, for sure. I'll say kind of on that, it's that I love that as an experiment. Just hey, cold test. Who can do it? It doesn't need to be that technical, obviously just to block it out. - Just being efficient, yeah, sure. Man, that'd be really interesting to see it go down for sure. - Sign some waivers. - You're good to go. - Where my brain goes in that is, you talk about what does it mean to be physically ready for life? And to your point, hey man, most of our lives are pretty cush at that point. So being prepared for that, there's plenty of people that you can see I'm walking down the street every day. They're not prepared for much of anything. And yet they're doing okay, relatively speaking. You know, they have a like standard of life due to these creature comforts. To me, it's all about okay. If it's not about absolute performance, it's a little bit more in the margins. So let's take your first responder. And it's like he's somebody who, that 10 minute grace is no problem checking the box. He's a hard charger, wants to keep getting better and better and better. That's awesome. Even if he didn't continue to get better, I believe, and I would theorize that based on the habit of just staying engaged with regular training, the longevity that that offers, being able to sustain that job performance longer, be relatively injury free, despite the bumps and bruises you might even get from training, not even the job itself. I bet you that is a way more profound impact than the really kind of percentage margins of adding another 10 pounds to your deadlift. So it's more durable, more resilient. Yeah. And so I think there comes a point where, hey, it's great, if chasing that goal is what keeps you consistent, awesome, man. And nobody's gonna argue that objectively better is objectively better, right? But there might be more utility in taking a step back and just thinking about the big picture and being like, hey, if I can maintain this level that I'm at currently, indefinitely, or something close to it, like what power is there in that to be sitting here now will be 43 next month. If I could say with certainty that at 53, 63, 73, I have about the same capacity as I do right now, that's pretty awesome. And if you try to sell that to somebody who's not engaged in anything physically, they'd look at you like you're crazy. They're like, what do you mean? You're gonna be roughly in the same shape at 73, that you're gonna be at 43. That's physically not possible. I've never seen that this could happen on planet earth, you know what I mean? So-- - That's the goal. - Yeah, you frame it in that context and you're like, yeah, I mean, it's cool to get better at these individual aspects. But the bigger picture is just as cool in my opinion and it doesn't really require you setting PRs every month or even every year, you know what I mean? - Oh, I mean, just think about that 70 year old that you wanna be, right? It's a lot more difficult if you start working out at 70 with zero pull ups, then if you started working out at 25 or 30, developed eventually 15 to 20 that you maintain for many years in your life, and then you just cried each year and they went by, you know, as you're in your 50s and 60s and you're approaching 70 'cause you can't do the 20 pull ups anymore. But if you're the 70 year old with five pull ups, yeah, I mean, first of all, most people have zero pull ups. (laughing) - Regardless of age. - Literally zero. Regardless of age have zero. So, I mean, what tier of society are you in there? And that's that maintaining under the curve, trying to get as much physical capacity, you know, elevate your work capacity to keep it as high as possible for as long as possible so that even when father time starts to claw and chip away at you, you're just maintaining and maintaining. And that's why getting back to what I said at the beginning, that we do have this very, I think, beneficial generally speaking culture and attitude of, oh, I want to improve. Yes, it's nice that I want to improve. I want more of a clean and I want a faster mile. I want more pull ups. - And it is motivating, you know what I mean? - Yes. - Like I think the pursuit of that goal is super motivating even if you don't get there. And so that I think has its own value to it. It's like, yeah, you might never hit that sub six mile or whatever it is that you're aiming for. But the pursuit of it is worth it. - Allow me to say something possibly inflammatory. - Okay. - However, I'm going to go ahead and deflect the YouTube comments because my wife said it. So the bus is coming and here is me pushing her in front of the bus. So, you're talking about this topic today. And like how much fitness do you really need for real life? She was in the house and I was like, hey, I said, do you think like for regular life, like have you ever actually needed to pull up? And she was like, yeah, of course. And I was like, oh, I should help me out of doing the other one. I was like, oh, I was like, well, doing what? And she's like, you know, I've had to climb a fence now and then, I don't know if she's been a cat burglar or whatever happens. She's like, I've had to climb a fence now. - And she's like, hey, that's what I'm saying. That was also another response that I expected. And she's like, you know, it certainly helps, you know, like pulling up and over there if there's not a foothold. I was like, okay, like sure enough. And then, then this is what she said, which might be inflammatory, but she threw some other women under the bus, but maybe it's okay because she's a woman. And she's like, honestly, she's like, just, she's like, I feel like a pull up is super helpful. If you're just swimming to get out of the side of a pool, like where the ladder's not. She goes, I feel like if you've pushed most women into a pool and told her that they can only get out by the side, they wouldn't be able to get out. - And I was like, okay. - The words not mine, you know, but that was, you know, but she's just like, you know, that upper body pulling capacity probably helps in ways that don't look like a pull up, but I use all the time that you're not even aware of. So I'm like, which is true, but also, most people don't have a pull up and they're doing their regular life just fine. So that would be another, there's three things I would like to do once we get them to sign the waiver for our new YouTube channel when we show up at the fire station or the police department. There's 135 pound barbell for the men. There's a 95 pound barbell for women. There's a mobile pull up bar and just say, who's got one? - Yep. - Right? - Just one. - We just want to see one proof of life. I want proof of life. And then the other one is, my friend, Adrian Bosnian is a mile away down this road. I want you to run to him and I'm gonna time how long it takes you to get that. So it would be the one mile run. Can you do a pull up and then look at the barbell can you get it done? Those are the three things that'd be really fascinated about. - Man, I mean, you could do a lot worse as far as a comprehensive, just basic test of physical capacity. Yeah. I don't hate it, Pat. I don't hate it. I'll gladly stand on the other end of that with the stopwatch. - And for, you know, and going back to my like, old military days, like I'd love the mile run, I had no problem to pull up that barbell would have stopped me in my tracks. So once again, if you get somebody that could do all three, like, okay, you're not your average bear. Like what do you got going on? That's a decent mile time. You got yourself some pull ups and you move that barbell well. Like you've got to be doing something, you've got to be something right. So, - Yeah. - I, I, go ahead. - Well, I was gonna say, just to reframe it a little bit, you know, 'cause I do think you start getting into this hypothetical realm of like, are you prepared? You're like, well, prepared for what? And like, what is it that I'm expecting to see? - The zombie apocalypse, dude. - Yeah, yeah. So I don't know, man, maybe to follow the thread of your ascitation that, you know, we're living in kind of softer times and that's not a bad thing necessarily. Maybe a softer approach to that question is called for as well. So something like, hey, what is it that you would like to be able to do that you cannot currently? And I mean, like, hey, I want to go hike the Appalachian Trit,
or something like that. I don't think I've got the gas and the tank to be able to make it. Well, that's something that, yeah, that's easily trainable. Oh, okay, I want to be able to pick up this hobby. You just do it in my 50s. There you go. I don't know if I have the integrity, the joint integrity, the flexibility to make that a reality. I mean, it's like, hopefully with enough exposure to a GPP program, you don't have to be grappling with questions like that on intended. You just chill up and do the thing and you're like, yeah, maybe I'd like to be a little better at it, but I shouldn't have that feeling of like, man, I don't even know if I can make it to the start line here. So maybe that's like a better framing for people too, is it's not like, hey, is this catastrophe going to strike? Am I ready for it? But what are the things that I would like to do while I still have this time on Earth that I feel like I probably wouldn't be able to pursue otherwise? But you know, maybe that's something. I'm going to tell you one of the most physically demanding things that I do on a regular basis that doesn't look like a workout at all and probably will catch you off guard. And I want to be able to keep saying yes to this. Yep. Bouncing on a trampoline with my dog. Oh, jeez. Yes. So if somebody for the uninitiated might be like, well, that sounds super easy and stupid. Fair. But I'm, but kids don't want to bounce for 45 seconds. They want you to be continuously jumping for 30 to 45 minutes nonstop. I don't know when the last time you tried to jump for 49 stop minutes is, I would rather do the seven. I mean, it is like, it is a leg burn like you did nothing but like bottom to bottom to bodice squats while running repeats. Yeah, it's funny. You mentioned that because I as somebody who grew up with a trampoline and I could tell you some stories, good and bad uses that we came up for with that thing. But you know, and then I pursued gymnastics and acrobatics and things like that. No stranger to the trampoline path. But once I stopped doing those things and you know, years later revisited being on the trampoline, I was really surprised at just how much core integrity. Oh, my goodness. It was it was in that bounce and around, especially for something that like I've been very comfortable with in the years past. I was like, whoa, this is a lot different than I remember it as a kid. So yeah, that's no surprise to me that yeah, that's a that's a no joke. Yeah, so I know like, look, I know that the thing bounces. But if you if anybody doubts it, go put on your favorite watch. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Well, they're in jump nonstop for 30 minutes. And then let me know in the comments how easy that was. Yeah, when you feel like you want to quit when the kid says it's done. They're never tired. They're just never tired. It's always five minutes more. So I put these three simple metrics of like the back squat, strict pull ups in the mile run in the your friend and mine AI. And I asked it to pull research from as many fancy universities and papers as it could as to the demands of regular life and then related to these strengthening conditioning exercises. What would be what would be adequate? Yeah, are you ready? I'm ready. I'm already coming up with caveats in my mind about the squat. I'm like, I just think that anybody being able to squat like anybody above the age of 30. Being able to display full range of squat. I'm like that alone. I'm like, never mind having any weight on the bar. 100% 100% and it added a couple movements that I didn't request because it's sentient. And one of them was like, oh, I think you're overestimating people's capacity here. So here with the realistic benchmarks that should be good enough for daily life. Here's what most will actually need what it says. And then it even said in parentheses, it was like being snarky with me. It said not what social media or cross the gyms tell you. Hey, hey, take a step back there. So the five movements that it decided to give me information for the back squat, strict pull ups, a one mile run. Push ups and then carrying objects, which I like the carrying objects. That's cool. So here's what it said on the back squat. We'll just stick with that. It gave me three levels. Good enough for daily life. Then in what would be considered. Wrong or fit. And then elite. Yep. Okay. Truly exceptional. The back squat. Good enough. One times body weight. Good enough. Yes, I think that seems high to be honest. I agree. I think that for most people that is. Yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, great. Yep. It said strong or fit would be one times five, one point one point five times body weight and elite two times. Okay. Sure. There. I like those. I like I like those. I think the good enough for daily life is highly subjective. Sure. Yeah. But the other two I'm like, okay, I like the two. Yeah, strict pull ups. Good enough for daily daily life. One to five reps for men and one to three for women. Yeah. Again, I think that's. Those are fine numbers. Charitable and ambitious. Yeah, I think most people. Most people have zero. That yeah. Yeah, it's zero. It said strong or fit. For the strict pull up would be men having eight to 12. And women three to eight. All right. I got no drama with those and elite was 15 to 25 or more. Fair enough. Yeah. The one mile run. A mixture of walking and running is fine. And if you can cover a mile and 10 to 12 minutes. Okay. Yeah. Strong or fit would be in the eight to nine minute range. Okay. And elite would be men sub six women sub seven. It's a pretty big gap from six to eight minutes there. That's just kind of missing. But but okay. This is what the Android told me. Okay. Here's the one. This is the sleeper that I was like, Oh, push ups. I just think pushups aren't given the respect that they deserve. And if we're talking clean full reps, I think that's the thing. I think pushups are really hard. I agree. And it's really hard to get on a push up out of almost anybody. So to me, I'm like, man, push up anything is always taking with the grain of salt. Yes. 100%. Everyone, you know, not talking to our audience because I was you're a wonderful group of people. Yeah. A lot of people who just like, Hey, how many pushups you got? And then you saw them start you. All right. Hold what you got. Oh boy. Not a single push up has been done. Good saying. Good enough for regular life is 15 to 25 consecutive pushups. That's a steep entry for that's what I'm saying. That's the one that is like, that's crazier than the back squat. 15 to 25. Wow. Yeah. Okay. For both both generous students. Yes. Yes. Okay. Clean full range of motion. I think if you stopped most people and asked them to do 25 clean, unbroken pushups. Get challenged. Oh. Without a doubt. It says strong slash fit is 30 to 50. Hey, yeah. I mean, I don't disagree with that assessment. But again, I don't disagree with that either. But I would say if you're knocking out 50 clean pushups, that is pretty. Pretty. That is very impressive. Yep. I'm with you. Now, a quick, quick note. Back to, you know, we're joking about the old days. I would love to see back in the days because, you know, pushups are just a part of every military test. Sure. And what you're supposed to accumulate in like two minutes without breaking the plank position, like, get a perfect score is like, I don't know, it's a high number. Price more like above 80. And everyone always quote unquote, maxes them out. If I wish there was a video camera on me doing those and see what how atrocious those pushups actually were. I bet there were like a 20% range of motion. It's what I bet they were. And then it says elite 75 or more. Brutal. I said 75. Dude, I'm sorry. I forgot so many. And just now, I don't know who this person was. He's on YouTube. Does yokedude. Lighter color hair. I don't know who he was. I think he was overseas in Europe. But he was like this body weight specialist. But he was jacked like a gymnast. And he had on these gloves because there's going to be there. So one, he ran this video several years old. Like so pre AI. Of he was. Where he was allowed to like shake out an arm, but he never broke the plank position and they were beautiful. It took him. So I couldn't hold a plank for as long as he was there just trying to do these actual pushups. It was one of the craziest like feats of human strength I've seen. So I'm not sure if I'm going to do that. Anyway, it's a. I'll try to. Wow. Yeah, that's crazy. Without coming up. Yeah. Yep. So anyway, all right. And the last one, carry strength. Good enough for daily life to carry groceries, kid or suitcase is carrying 40. Your ability to carry 40 to 60 pounds or 50 to 100 meters. Okay. Okay. Not bad. Yeah, I don't know. Drown with that. And then it says strong or fit would be to be able to carry your body weight for that distance, 50 to 100 meters. And then elite would be being able to carry.
for that distance, farmers carry 100 pounds warmer or more in each hand. -With no drops. -I'm sure with no drops. Yeah, so that was what they had to say. Not too crazy. I agree with you. The back squat is probably a bit too ambitious. The pushups, yeah, I'd have to see them. But hey, not too bad for a robot. -Yeah, it's all things considered. -For talking points to just chop it up a little bit. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't have a lot of thoughts there other than. -Man, those pushups. -That's a pushup. -Then I wrote to my friend, the AI, I said, "Okay, thanks. Appreciate you. I would like to address that as if it's a person because I figured that day when the robots take over, they'll know that I was kind to them and then maybe that will be reciprocated." So I said, "Yes, thank you. Appreciate you. I hope your family's well." And I said, "Yes, I said, what about if somebody has a five minute brand, which is a classic process workout?" And they just wrote, "Oh, yes, a five minute brand is very good. It means the person is quite fit." And well above average, a five minute brand puts somebody firmly in the advanced category. So way beyond what you need for real life, I was like, "Oh, that's cool. At least I recognize that." -Interesting. Yeah, it's crazy that there's enough of that on the internet that it can be scraped and it can be scraped. -Yes. -It outages you like that. It's interesting. -Huh. -That's it. That's all I got on to. So point being, most of us are doing great. That doesn't mean get complacent. That doesn't mean stop striving. That doesn't mean try to get another five kilos in the back squat or faster, mile, faster fran. But every now and then when you're done beating yourself up because you're doomed, scrolled, social media for 15 minutes, take a pause, realize you're crushing it, then get your tail back in the gym and get after it. -Amen, Pat, that's well said. I think if anything else, just recognizing the head space that that can create is the biggest benefit. It's not no way to live to feel like you're always behind the April despite the fact that you're in there grinding it out and getting it done. My knowledge is exactly like you want it to be, but what in life does? So don't let that happen. -Amen to that. -Yeah. Hey everybody, keep posting questions. Find this episode on the BTWB YouTube channel. Post your thoughts and comments on this topic. -Or be your metrics for fit enough for regular life, not necessarily to fight a tiger, a registered regular life. And then maybe even though you are probably good enough, what are some goals that you're still striving for? Or if you have other topics, post them there. You can find the very not random Instagram account. Leave a public comment there on these same topics or you can send a direct message. You want to be more anonymous. They'll make their way back to us. They help you drive the show forward. So for Adrian Bosman, I'm Pat Sherwood and we will see you next time.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
The speaker had a good Jiu Jitsu session despite feeling unwell earlier, illustrating that performance can surprise you.
He previewed a community cup workout, felt overly sore afterward, and underestimated the time cap.
He encourages older beginners in Jiu Jitsu to focus on learning, not winning.
He enjoys trash-talking a younger training partner occasionally to maintain respect.
Today's workout includes strict weighted chin-ups (using a DIY ratchet strap belt), farmers carries, and air bike intervals, which he finds unpleasant.
The discussion shifts to how much fitness is needed for real life, using a 10-minute Grace (135 lb ground-to-overhead) as a benchmark for basic preparedness.
Most people live comfortable lives with limited physical demands, but first responders may vary widely in fitness.
Maintaining physical capacity over decades (e.g., at 70) is more valuable than chasing constant PRs.
The speaker's wife suggests pull-ups are useful for tasks like climbing fences or pool exits, especially for women.
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They propose a basic fitness test
Summary:
The conversation begins with the speaker sharing a positive Jiu Jitsu session, despite waking up with a strange allergic reaction, and notes that performance can be unpredictable. He also mentions previewing a community cup workout, which left him unexpectedly sore and humbled by the time cap. He encourages a 50-year-old beginner in Jiu Jitsu to prioritize learning over winning.
The speaker describes today's workout, including strict weighted chin-ups with a DIY ratchet strap belt, farmers carries, and air bike intervals, which he dislikes. The main topic explores how much fitness is truly necessary for real life. They argue that benchmarks like a 10-minute Grace (135 lb ground-to-overhead) indicate solid preparedness, since most daily tasks are far easier.
They acknowledge that while chasing performance goals is motivating, maintaining capacity over decades—like still doing pull-ups at 70—is more impactful. They propose a simple test for first responders: one pull-up, a one-mile run, and a barbell complex, noting that many might fail despite professional demands. The speaker’s wife adds that pull-ups are practical for climbing fences or pool exits, especially for women.
Overall, they emphasize that basic, maintained fitness offers immense real-world utility, even if it’s not flashy.
FAQs
The speaker had a great Jiu Jitsu session despite waking up with an odd skin tingling sensation. He caught a younger, athletic training partner in a couple of moves and enjoyed some friendly trash talk.
It's a competition based on how you performed in the Open. The speaker tested a version of one of its upcoming workouts and found it much harder than expected, especially with the time cap.
He was thrilled and said it was really cool. He advised that person to focus on learning Jiu Jitsu rather than trying to win, noting that winning isn't going to happen anyway.
He uses a ratchet strap with hooks, similar to what you'd use to secure cargo in a truck, wrapped around his waist and connected to a weight. It's cheap, old-school, and works great for him.
It includes strict weighted chin-ups and side planks (not for time), followed by five intervals of a 100-meter farmer carry and a 30-second air bike sprint, with three minutes of rest between intervals.
The speakers argue that a moderate level, like completing Grace (135 lbs ground to overhead 30 times) in 10 minutes, likely covers real-world physical demands. They emphasize that most lives are cushy, so maintaining a solid baseline is more important than chasing extreme numbers.
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