The NonProphet Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This is a reboot of Episode 20, recorded in 2018 with my dear friend, Brian Enos. He published a new book on July 17th, 2024 so I figured it would be a nice means of sharing some of the history of the NonProphet podcast (formerly known as The Dissect Podcast) and helping listeners understand why they might very well be interested in the new book titled, "Practical Living". You may learn a bit more about the book by surfing to the Journal section of the NonProphet site.

In the first mobile recording of the Dissect podcast, Mark sits down with friend and mentor, Brian Enos, to talk about shooting, Zen, temperament, road tripping, psychedelics and thinking about how to think. Brian is the author of “Practical Shooting — Beyond Fundamentals”. It is considered one of the best books on the subject, and certainly the deepest. During his career, he won multiple Area and National titles and despite this success—or maybe because of it—one day he quit cold turkey, which also comes up during the conversation.

Mark and Carl Kuschke discuss the preparation for an endurance event which was quite outside Carl's normal training focus and activity. He was recruited into a college tennis program but quickly realized going pro wasn't in his future so after graduating he entered the workforce and his training occurred mostly in the gym where he finally put on some muscle because the tennis training volume decreased. We discuss the concept of functional fitness, what functionality means, how to navigate the wilderness of fitness once the university coaching and programming are done, time limitations due to demands of family and work (10 hours per week, max), as well as the utility of online, remote programs. Often, the solution to a sense of stagnation in the gym is to break the routine, to choose an unusual objective and train differently for it. Mark concedes that obstacle course racing may actually be pretty fun, and Carl extolls the reassurance offered by a solid training plan, one that had him well enough prepared to actually enjoy himself on the day of the event. There are some details about the training itself, from VO2 intervals to grip work and the notorious Bulgarian Split Squat Test, and discussion of choosing an appropriate objective according to one's physical history, available time and innate curiosity. This isn't about a high end performance done by a famous athlete, rather it's a conversation that maybe lights the way for anyone to improve their fitness and enjoy the experience.

Kegan and Lucas join Michael to discuss what is wrong with fitness culture and how to think about changing it. This conversation starts on the topic of training consistency and how folks maintain it, which requires them to define consistent training. This quickly presents the conundrum that negative feedback slows or stops consistency, that positive feedback is needed to maintain consistency, and one must train consistently in order to 'cause' positive feedback. And to train consistently one must be semi- or totally-obsessed; to excel requires obsession, you have to be thinking about it when you're not doing it.

Training, actual training, starts with a purpose, what are you training for? Why are you doing it? If the Why isn't defined, and precisely, then the work is difficult to sustain ... if you have nothing to progress toward and no way to measure or appreciate it, well, doing it isn't as easy or defensible as might otherwise be true.

The guys realize that one's timeline affects point of view but also the effectiveness of the effort. High intensity training leads to a short-term outlook; a 11-minute workout, regardless of how hard it is, does not compel or inspire you to think 72 hours ahead much less ten years ahead. How will what you are doing today influence your physical and psychological condition in ten years? Do you even care? Few actually think ahead, but we all should, because we might actually live that long. And "ahead" changes over time, with understanding. At a younger age, when an entire world was laid out ahead but our appetites were demanding, if acquiring a skill or developing a fitness characteristic took longer than twelve weeks it was too long. Later, with more experience and maturity we recognized it is totally acceptable to sit with the idea that learning to jump might take one year, and that's OK. The real outcomes take time.

Sadly, a short frame of reference and quick execution doesn't develop the habits that sustain the condition that was achieved in a short amount of time. To be sure, surface changes, appearance changes may happen quickly but deep, meaningful, lasting change takes time, it takes getting used to ... and living with it.

They discuss using competition wisely and wonder if the biggest mistakes made in business are the same ones made in fitness, which could be a launchpad for a marketing gimmick but Michael steers them back to the idea that the intent of a workout prescription affects and changes the execution AND the result of the training session.

A laundry list of exercises has no value ... but we can overwrite a lot of wrongness with a proper intention (or thesis). And more important than intent is the story surrounding it, no one remembers or cares about the science of a workout or training style, but they do recall and carry with them the story of it, the narrative built around the session or overall program ... the best storyteller might actually be the best coach or trainer. So while people chase the numbers of a set/rep/duration structure believing these to be the magical keys, others understand, and have proven that if you go long enough or hard enough stuff comes up ... and if you are sensitized and aware, that stuff might cause meaningful change.

Darryl Bolke retired after 19.5 years as a full time officer from a Southern California police department where he also worked as the Firearms Instructor and Armorer for the Special Weapons and Tactics Team for 17 years. He participated in the investigation of over 75 officer involved shootings, assisting with the firearms portion of these investigations, and provided expert testimony in regards to firearms usage and police tactics in numerous court cases.  Bolke also developed and implemented a nationally recognized edged weapons policy and training program for law enforcement. He has trained with the best of the best, literally, and offers insight that can only come from years of training, and more importantly, years of real world experience combined with a rabid curiosity and appreciation of history. This conversation ranges from the development of the MARS Armament THUG pistol to the differences between sport shooting and use of force shooting, the importance of training and education, the good and the bad aspects of modern policing, and the not-so-obvious value of an 8-shot, .22 caliber revolver.

This episode (recorded 9/1/20) starts in the gutter but quickly develops into a conversation about real estate and exodus-related price increases in states like Utah, Idaho and Colorado, where remote workers flock after realizing they don't need to tolerate the bullshit imposed by city, county and state governments in places like California or New York. Bullshit like increasing state taxes to the point that the most productive people — those most able to pay higher taxes — leave the state. And to impose those increases retroactively ... who in their right mind would participate in this Ponzi scheme? But since that topic was too serious and depressing we revisited the Ginocyde pizza shop idea, came up with the motto, "One slice at a time," because nothing goes better with pizza than self-determination, and realized that we are one cardboard box and logo away from opening at our new location, "Down the tracks, not across them." Enjoy!

Michael and Kegan discuss the downside of specialization and reductionism with regards to nutrition, and fitness, and pass by way of a critique of the for-profit medical establishment. Of course, #fitnessisfucked comes up — after all, this is The Worst Fitness Podcast In The World.

Casey Parlett was in town to coach at a CF Level 2 seminar and decided it was a good idea to sit down with Michael, Kegan, and forever guest George Briones to discuss training, nutrition, a bit about his background in Muay Thai, and his views on the lack of society's ability to be self-aware and the impact that is having.

The first hour wasn't useful so we deleted it. Then we settled in to discuss an idea tied to The Space, which was what we call our gym. The Space Program is a virtual gym, where the more creative coaches in our circle may post and discuss training concepts they are working with, examples of the physical expressions of those concepts, i.e. workouts or training sessions, and where participants can interact about their own experiences with the sessions. We will offer (paid) access to the beta version on October 9th, 2020 during a 24 hour-long buying window. The beta test will last for three months and inform the "alpha" program that should go live early next year — unless it's a bad idea, in which case we would drown it in its own sweat.

Let's talk about fitness! Or something. Fifteen years ago Mark designed and implemented the training, diet and recovery practices for the actors and stunt team making a movie titled "300". Some say this work changed how male action stars looked on the big screen, and whether that is accurate or not, the bodies shaped by this program caused a lot of speculation and imitation and tempted a number of frauds to claim they were there, did the work, knew the "secrets" and should be paid for having done so. This was fairly easy because the guy who did the work (and his assistant) never shouted from rooftops, or tried to recycle and resell the work. They understood that what allowed those remarkable changes to occur was specific to the particular context and involved many more elements than just the exercises. After "300" Mark trained actors and stunt crew for eight more Hollywood movies. Michael worked as his assistant or independently on four of those films. Recently, the brand, the company, once co-owned by Mark, offered a training program that follows "the exact regimen we used for our biggest movie clients", which is a fun marketing twist based on the premise that a brand or corporation is interchangeable with an individual. In response, Mark released the actual "300" training record fifteen years after the fact. The brand couldn't do that because no one currently employed there was present for that film or any other movie project where Mark (and Michael) were responsible for the outcome, held to a standard and a deadline, with real money riding on the results. If you want to read more about the motivation for this incendiary action you may find an essay here: https://www.nonprophet.media/300-training

Chris Worden — who previously joined us for Episode 19 — is a photo journalist, motorcycle enthusiast, a student of physical fitness, and someone who entertains our ideas, and bounces them back at us, sometimes rather forcefully. Chris drove down to SLC to spend a week training, rewriting his dietary plan, practicing a little jiu-jitsu and basking in the much-needed fellowship that COVID has stripped from all of our lives. A few days into the week he suggested a podcast that developed the idea of the unifying theory of all conspiracy. While we may not have solved that conundrum several others came up along the way. This is Not Safe For Work, unless you work from home ... but even there, if you are easily offended or don't like opinions that are not your own, do not listen. Move along.