Midlife Male by Greg Scheinman

Dr. Garth Davis is a leader in the field of bariatric medicine, He is recognized as a Texas Monthly Super Doc and starred with his father, Dr. Robert Davis, on the hit show docu-reality medical series, BIG MEDICINE. He is the author of the book Proteinaholic and competes in Ironman events.

Billy Mann is dedicated to the proposition that a Hit Life is richer than the pursuit of a Hit Song alone. He is however one of America’s most celebrated songwriters and producers having worked with Pink, John Legend, Celine Dion, and many others. He has been a top executive at EMI and President of Creative for BMG North America. He is a successful entrepreneur heading up the management firm Manncom as well as Green & Bloom/Topline a publishing venture and The Colors You Like which provides creative services for a variety of high profile artists and brands. Mann’s philanthropic involvement is even more impressive than his music career. He led more than 50 EMI artists from around the world in an initiative named “Answer The Call” after Earthquakes in Haiti and Chili. As the father of a family impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder, he is a board member of Autism Speaks.

Eric Hinman is an entrepreneur, influencer, 2x Kona Ironman, and CrossFit Athlete. Eric loves helping brands that he’s passionate about share their products services, messages and stories. A prolific social media influencer, Eric is also the founder of Urban Life Athlete, Original Grainsters and Fellow Gent. Listen to Eric talk about structure, discipline, health, wellness and balance.

On the Midlife Male podcast today, I have Jeff Mahin, chef and partner at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, one of the top restaurant groups in the country. He is the driving force of Stella Barra Pizzeria, one of my favorite places out in Santa Monica, my family and I love it. If you're out there, check it out, it’s some incredible pizza. He's also the founder of a super cool new company called Split Nutrition. For years, Jeff was living by the mantra that taste trumps nutrition but was suffering with some depleted energy levels, as he was juggling his restaurants, long hours in the kitchen, and being an elite level cyclist.   As he started to become a little bit more mindful about what he ate, and the combinations of foods that he put into his body, he started to feel better. So, what came of that? He built Split, it's a result of a lot of tinkering in the kitchen, his passionate experimentation, and it's the perfect combination of two real foods in a very smart, ready-to-eat pack, so you can feel good about eating and sharing. If you are a PB&J fan, and I am, or an almond butter and jelly fan, you are going to love this. Almond butter and strawberry, peanut butter and blueberry, almond butter and raspberry, all of my favorite combinations, go check out Split Nutrition. Let's get into Jeff's story a little bit, he's going to tell you about how he went from being kicked out of high school to being a successful entrepreneur, restaurateur, and elite level cyclist. Pretty amazing stuff. So let's get to it, Jeff Mahin on the Midlife Male podcast.

Super excited for this week's show, I've got Mr. P.J. Nestler joining me. P.J. is the director of performance at XPT, Extreme Performance Training. If you are not familiar check out XPTlife.com and listen to the rest of this podcast, because P.J. is going to fill you in on what XPT life is all about. First, let me tell you a little bit about XPT and my experience with it. I got introduced to XPT through a buddy of mine named Justin Singer, he owns Mechanics Calisthenics down here in Houston, Texas. He is also a certified XPT coach. He introduced me to P.J. when P.J. was in town, we did a breath work class together. We actually hung out with Rob O'Neill, a Navy Seal who took down Osama Bin Laden as well, had some good times together. XPT was founded by Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reese. If you think about the quintessential midlife male you've got to talk about Laird Hamilton. Big wave surfer, father, husband, entrepreneur, risk-taker, super fit guy, super spiritual guy, awesome stuff. Pick up his new book Liferiderand check out more on Laird at XPTlife.com. Let's talk a little bit about P.J. too, because he's going to fill us in on XPT, his philosophy, what all this stuff means. He is a human performance specialist with over a decade of experience preparing top athletes for competition. His life mission is to help athletes, coaches, and guys like us realize their true potential. He's been a leader in sports performance training for years, he's worked with dozens of athletes from the NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, over 100 fighters including multiple Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champions, top 10 ranked UFC fighters. He is out there raising the bar for fitness and lifestyle professionals with XPT. XPT is about pushing your body to readapt. This is a program that's rooted in dynamic stressors and human adaptation. The idea being to maintain a well-balanced body and mind. It's a lifestyle. If you want to get out there and go paddle boarding, go do it. If you want to swim underwater holding dumbbells, go do it. The idea with XPT, and what Laird Hamilton says, is “Don't be a liability”. Be flexible enough to be able to jump into any new activity presented to you and forget any limitations or negative construct holding you back. And that's how you live. Sustainable, longevity-based, performance-based fitness. The ability to get up and do what you need to do, when you need to do it, when you want to do it. It's about breathing, it's about moving, it's about recovering. My personal regimen right now, consists of a lot of XPT. Constantly mixing it up, trying different things, moving a little bit better. Listening to my body, recovering a little smarter. As I get older I start to realize what's most important, and that's feeling good, having fun, being able to do the things that I want to do. So let's get into this XPT life, XPT lifestyle story, learn a little bit more about it and learn more about P.J. Nestler, here on the Midlife Male Podcast.

Today on the podcast, musician and author of "Dad's Know Best" John Luzzi joins the show!

Aaron Hinde, the Co-Founder and President of Life Aid Beverage Company, joins the show!

Joseph Maroon is an American neurosurgeon, author, and triathlon athlete. He is the professor and vice chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and is the current Medical Director of WWE. He is a sports medicine expert and innovator in concussion management, personal fitness and nutrition. As an Ironman triathlete, he lives and breathes his own advice. He is the author of Square One: A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life. Dr. Maroon joins me on The Midlife Male Podcast this week to talk about his journey from despair to redemption and happiness. “I was 40 when I suddenly lost my father to a heart attack and a marriage and family subsequently to divorce. I had been so focused on my work that I neglected most other aspects of my life – including my health. I was out of shape, living on fast food and not exercising. All these factors resulted in a deep depressed. Within a week, I plunged from a bright career as a clinical professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh to helping my mother run my father’s dilapidated truck stop in Wheeling, WV, which included pumping gas into 18-wheelers as they rolled in from the nearby interstate.  My metamorphosis back to a healthy lifestyle began months later when a friend and running enthusiast invited me to go for a run. I ran just four times around the track and was exhausted. But that night was the first time I’d slept well in about a year. This memory still makes me smile. I started running more and more, and began to feel better and better. I became something like the Forrest Gump of Bridgeport, Ohio. After experiencing some muscle strains from running too much, I discovered cross-training: I learned how to swim, started biking, and soon competed in the first of what would be more than 70 triathlons. The exercise propelled me out my depression and back onto my feet, and soon after I returned to the University of Pittsburgh as Vice Chairman of the Department Neurological Surgery.”

I’m a huge fan of Greats Brand sneakers. I own 9 pairs of their Royale (yes, I have a sneaker problem…) so this is a huge pleasure for me to have Greats CEO and Founder on the podcast to talk to the man himself Ryan Babenzien about his passion for footwear, how he got Greats started, having the balls to call the company Greats, growing up on Long Island, fashion and what building an iconic brand really means and the loneliness and challenges of being an entrepreneur. In 2013 Ryan Babenzien founded the online footwear company Greats Brand with Jon Buscemi. He knew that he wanted to create a high quality footwear brand that was sold direct to the consumer rather than through 3rd party retailers. Taking a similar concept to what had previously been successful in other arenas, GREATS rapidly gained traction in a finicky market. By going direct-to-consumer, GREATS has been able to offer high-quality footwear -- not unlike other luxury footwear labels -- but at reduced costs. Babenzien began his career managing clients at ICM Partners. Towards the end of the 1990s, he began consulting with fashion companies, including Eckō Unltd. and Mecca. He later worked for Puma, eventually landing with K-Swiss. Babenzien served as the director of lifestyle and entertainment marketing for that company, and then the Global Director of Entertainment Marketing. Babenzien became the CEO of Boast in 2010, re-establishing the retail brand that had been founded in 1973. Babenzien worked with Andy Spade to revive the company, and began showing collections for both men and women in advance of the company’s 40th anniversary.

Seth Weisser, the co-founder of "What Goes Around Comes Around" joins the podcast!