Building the Elite Podcast

Exploring the mental and physical challenges of elite military training, emphasizing the significance of resilience and perseverance. Delving into Stoic philosophy for tranquility and resilience, with references to Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. Highlighting the impact of impactful morning routines and decision-making in preparing for demanding professions.

Strength and conditioning coach Casey Glass discusses training for longevity in special operations, highlighting energy balance and auto-regulation. She emphasizes the importance of movement quality and individualized training methods. The podcast explores optimizing training, nutrition's impact on cognitive resilience, and techniques for maintaining proper form during workouts.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL Lieutenant and an NSCA CSCS who graduated from the US Naval Academy and Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, also known as BUD/S. For over 25 years, he has been writing workout books that prepare people to ace fitness tests and selection programs. People from all fitness levels use his military preparation products for help with everything from losing weight and getting ready for basic training to preparing for special operations. Stew founded StewSmithFitness.com and Heroes of Tomorrow Fitness – an online fitness resource for people seeking to join the Military, Law Enforcement, and Firefighting professions. He and his team train over 5,000 young men and women who wish to serve their country and communities locally for free each year.In this episode, we discuss his career, his approach to coaching everything from the specifics of the CSS to big-picture SOF prep training, and what he's learned about successful SOF candidates in his 25+ years of coaching.  Timestamps:00:00:22  Intro00:01:12 Background00:03:50 What Have You Learned Since You Started00:06:31 Approach to Coaching CSS00:08:49 Technique Preference00:13:23 Working on Range of Motion00:16:25 Alternating Breaststroke Kick00:17:50 What Are You Currently Doing00:19:03 How Far do People Travel to Train With You00:20:05 How Does Your Coaching Change From Person to Person00:24:20 Helping People Prepare For The PST00:29:12 Most Common Beginner-Level Issues00:34:34 Balance of Treading Training00:37:01 Biggest Differences in Prep Strategies00:41:12 Reasons Attrition is High00:43:29 Have They Been Doing the Work00:45:21 Main Variables in Prep for Individual Characteristics00:48:09 Advice for Talking to Recruiters00:51:48 Scruff Duty00:54:10 Best and Worst Advice You’ve Ever Received00:58:21 Learn More About You00:59:24 Outro

The podcast discusses common mistakes in SOF preparation, emphasizing the importance of interactions over outputs, avoiding oversimplification, targeting limiting factors, prioritizing quality over intensity, understanding trajectory, identifying root causes, and applying principles to various life areas.

Dr. Douglas Casa has been the CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute since it was founded in 2010 and has been a professor of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut since 1999. The mission of the KSI (ksi.uconn.edu) is to provide research, education, advocacy, and consultation, to maximize performance, optimize safety, and prevent sudden death of athletes, warfighters, and laborers.Dr. Casa has written several books and authored many papers on maximizing performance and safety while training or working in the heat. He has treated hundreds of cases of heat stroke with zero fatalities and has served on the International Olympic Committee’s Adverse Weather Impact Expert Group, where he helps to ensure the safety of athletes competing in extreme heat during summer Olympic games.In this episode, we talk with Dr. Casa about his work at KSI, the science of heat stroke and how to manage it, how our bodies adapt to extreme heat, and how factors like saunas, hydration, and electrolytes affect our bodies in the heat. Timestamps:00:00:25 Intro00:02:01 Origins of KSI00:03:19 What Brought You to KSI00:04:42 What Does KSI do00:06:09 The Science of Heat Stroke00:09:34 The Consequences of Excessive Core Temp00:11:09 How to Recognize the Signs of EHS00:13:52 How to Treat EHS 00:19:19 Common Misconceptions00:22:20 What Conditions Create the Greatest Risk00:28:41 Objective Environmental Factors 00:30:23 Performance Clothing00:32:49 What Can an Athlete Do to Acclimate to Extreme Heat00:35:11 How do You Know Your Core Temp00:36:41 Type of Thermometers Recommended 00:37:19 Plasma Volume Expansion00:40:03 Train For Heat Adaptations at Home00:42:49 Sauna Guidelines00:43:22 Infrared Saunas 00:44:12 Manage Hydration00:47:36 Hyponatremia and Electrolyte Balance00:52:45 What do You Recommend For Hours Long Stressful Events00:55:02 Hydration Recommendations00:56:27 Are You More Likely to Get HS if You’ve Had it Before00:58:20 How do You Sign up For The Course00:59:20 Average Range of Cost to Work With KSI1:00:19 Outro

We often think of leadership, particularly in special operations, as manifest in the form of some big heroic act. That can be the case; the military is full of those examples. But far more often, a person’s character is revealed in the small moments that will never find space in the trailer of an action movie. Much of the respect and loyalty earned by somebody in a leadership role comes from their actions in these small moments. This episode discusses real-world examples of how that principle played out on a Naval Special Warfare deployment. To learn more about Dan Cnossen, who we mention in this episode, go to www.DanCnossen.com

Former SWAT/ERT member Seb Lavoie gives training tips for challenging selection courses, discusses mindset and leadership principles, and talks about his work at Raven Strategic. Emphasizes the importance of predictability, mental obstacles, trait selection, and the need for leadership development. Shares insights on the Collective Podcast and provides ways to connect with him on Instagram.

Seb Lavoie, a veteran with extensive experience in law enforcement and the military, discusses his martial arts training, leadership skills, and selection process for the Emergency Response Team. He shares insights on the importance of mastering combative skills, the benefits of Ghee and No Ghee Jiu Jitsu, and mindset preparation for military selection camps.

SOF selection is an equalizer. It's an egalitarian machine designed to reveal what's inside each candidate when suffering. It's in this suffering that your character - the raw material that determines whether you have the potential to become an effective special operator, is revealed. The suffering is the point. It doesn’t matter how good you are. You can't out-exercise the machine. You must know and expect that you will, at some point, hit rock bottom. You must train for this and plan to move forward through that moment. The skills you have at that moment will be those you practiced in the years leading up to it. Don’t be so arrogant to think that you can prepare well enough to avoid this reckoning, or it will catch you unprepared and you will become another statistic. 

When we fail to examine our expectations, and they don’t become a reality, we can have strong feelings of disappointment, resentment, anger, frustration, discouragement, or resignation.Expectations are another word for predictions. Our senses of predictability and control are the primary variables determining how strong our stress response is within any situation. A higher degree of both equals a smaller stress response.Conversely, our stress levels increase when our predictions don’t come true. Negative emotions stemming from faulty predictions often lead to decreased motivation.So, we can shape our stress response and performance in challenging situations by understanding and analyzing our expectations.In this episode, we talk about expectations: why examining them is so important, and how to manage them when they arise.