Recommended Listening: Joe DeFranco’s Industrial Strength Show, Episode 11

I have recently been listening to the Industrial Strength podcast with strength and conditioning coach Joe DeFranco. The thing I love about this podcast is that it is a guy and a mic spreading the truth as he sees it. It isn’t polished and Joe isn’t a great interviewer. That is part of what I enjoy about it. This podcast is basically BroScienceLife with actually useful information. Joe’s Jersey accent and constant references to meat heads and being jacked reminds me of Dom.

I specifically want to recommend a great episode: Episode 11 with Jim “Smitty” Smith.

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Smitty talks about a lot of great things such as:

  1. Professional passion. Smitty left a job he hated for one he loved, taking a huge risk in the process. He outlines his crazy personal schedule working his regular job to pay the bills, staying up late working on his blog, and doing seminars on the weekends.
  2. His personal organizational techniques. He basically describes the Getting Things Gone (GTD) system, which is one of my top recommended books to read, and how I personally organize myself as well. He talks about the “brain dump” to get things on your mind out of your head and on paper (or digits). Then prioritizing it. Then doing things. He also recommends Evernote, my number one application I use each day. I picked up another good tip from this: listing your top 3 action items for the next day before you go to bed at night. I usually spend the first part of the morning doing this. Night before may not be a bad idea.
  3. Meditation and Breathing. They spend a good amount of time talking about the value of specific breathing techniques and mindful breathing. I personally downloaded this app per his recommendation and have integrated it into my meditation practice. Joe talks about how he has integrated a breathing technique (5 sec inhale, 5 sec hold, 5 sec exhale, 5 sec hold, repeat) post-workout to bring you down from the high intensity workout into the recovery phase (what happens the other 23 hours in the day).
  4. Recovery. Smitty discusses the value of a recovery strategy for longevity (mobility, breathing).
  5. Don’t Be Angry. He talks about the impact of being an angry person or having negative feelings and how this has cascading impacts on your health.
  6. Books. He recommends Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Illusions, and the Tao Te Ching. I haven’t read any of them, but they are on my wishlist now.
  7. Podcasts. They talk about the value of listening to podcasts and using them for current information. I am a 100% podcast listener in the car for years now and while walking.

I hope you take an hour to listen to this one. Well worth your time.

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