#108: Eb & Swole - Men's Health Fitness Director Ebenezer Samuel (Sandlot Jax & GORUCK Games 2023 Series)

Biceps are earned not given. The evolution of fitness has seen trends come and go; but one thing has never changed…push-ups, pull-ups, squats and going hard still work. Fran Racioppi is joined by Men’s Health Fitness Director Eb Samuel live from the 2023 Sandlot Jax and GORUCK Games to bring fitness back to the basics and dispel the myths of today’s fads. 

Eb started his career as a sports journalist covering the NY Giants biggest headlines, but also creating relationships with players based on his unique approach asking questions about workout routines, not just how they played on the field. Fran and Eb cover the evolution of journalism, the rise of social media and how great journalists maintain relationships with the athletes they cover. 

They also dig into foundational fitness. Simple movements based on precision execution and hard work. That’s Eb’s simple key to lifelong fitness for everyone from Arnold Schwartzenegger to freshman football. Eb also shares his new YouTube series Eb and Swole where he’s coaching all of us on the basics, teaching us how to manage our training load as we age and instilling the importance of the mind-muscle connection. 

Learn more from Eb Samuel on social media. 

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. Watch the full video version on YouTube.

Highlights:

• 0:00 Welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast and the Dodge WC-51
• 2:20 Eb becomes a journalist to cover athletics
• 5:00 How do you develop trust between journalists and athletes
• 10:16 Why journalists are putting their opinions before the story
• 13:02 Eb lands his dream job at Men’s Health (and interviews Arnold Schwartzenegger)
• 17:08 Eb’s theory on building fitness
• 22:39 Managing an athlete’s threshold training as they age
• 26:42 The mind-muscle connection to drive muscle development
• 30:49 What’s next for fitness?
• 33:12 Eb’s Three Daily Foundations To Success

Quotes: 

• “To develop a good relationship with those guys it's about being around and being available.” (6:11)
• “It’s pretty much my dream job…I wanted to talk to athletes about fitness and I wanted to get as fit as them.” (13:29)
• “The very basics of fitness don’t change. Push-ups, pull-ups, squats. They all work.” (16:53) 
• “The two things we really want to do are build as much muscle and strength as possible.” (19:24)
• “When we’re younger we can play in all the tool sandboxes.” (24:50)
• “A lot of exercises are skill and you have to feel them in order to be able to do them.” (30:15)

Eb Samuel’s Three Daily Foundations To Success

• Pick up something heavy
• Build meaningful relationships
• Set a written to-do list

This episode is brought to you by Jersey Mike’s, Compass Workforce Solutions and GORUCK.