Mike Smith: Rucking for Weight Loss and Mental Health Awareness

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I think rucking is great for weight loss. It

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really does a few things why I think it works

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well. Steady state cardio is great for health,

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not just weight loss. The downside to steady

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state cardio is the more steady state cardio

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you do, the greater risk you have of losing lean

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mass. I really love it because in a program,

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either for myself or for my clients, you can

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add steady state kind of zone two cardio that's

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easy and it's really nice on the body and actually

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help the body recover and if you ruck with about

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30 of your body weight you will decrease your

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chance of losing lean mass from your cardio significantly

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Welcome to the Rucker’s Edge podcast, a show all

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about rucking that is designed to help you develop

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a rucking routine, lose weight, and ultimately

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gain your strength and energy back. Whether you're

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an office worker with lower back pain, a fitness

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first timer, or a new parent trying to get back

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to your pre-kids weight, this is the show for

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you. I'm your host, Spencer, and today we're

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joined by Mike Smith. Mike has been training

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for some pretty ambitious goals, and today he

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shares why rucking is playing a pivotal role.

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Through rucking and other health decisions, Mike

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is on track to lose 100 pounds and is preparing

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to complete an ultramarathon while carrying 100

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pounds this October. We discuss why rucking is

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one of the best mechanisms for weight loss, why

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he chose such ambitious goals, his training philosophy,

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and the services his business, Union Health and

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Fitness, provides. After the show's over, check

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out our show notes at theruckersedge.com. All

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right, here's my conversation with Mike. Mike

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Smith, welcome to the Rucker’s Edge podcast. It's

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really nice to have you here today. The first

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time I saw you online was your post from June

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after you completed a half marathon with 100

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pounds, and I thought that was crazy impressive.

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And then I found out in a later post that you

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have even more ambitious goals ahead of you,

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and I have been itching to get you on the podcast

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to have this conversation, and I really appreciate

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you being here. Well, thanks for having me. I'm

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excited to be here. It should be a fun day. Agreed.

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So you're a rucker now, but from our pre -call,

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it sounds like you have a history of competing

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in other sports and athletic events. Can you

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describe your fitness background prior to picking

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up a rucksack for the first time? Yeah, so probably

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the main thing, I mean, obviously I did every

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sport growing up. I did a little bit of football

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and other things. But the main thing that I've

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done as an adult is MMA and jiu -jitsu and boxing.

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So I've done a few fights. handful of jujitsu

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competitions. And then, um, for a brief period

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of my life, I got into strong man guy, actually

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pretty big out of like 350 pounds, just, you

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know, like lifting big rocks and stuff. And so

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that, I mean, as an adult, that's been most of

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the things that I've done is, uh, MMA and jujitsu

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and strong man. Wow. Now I'm super curious about

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the strong man competition. So like, what kind

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of training did you do for those competitions?

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Um, so strongman's kind of an interesting sport

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because how it works i only i only did one comp

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but when you train for it basically you find

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a competition you want to go to and they'll have

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a list of events that you have to you'll be competing

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in right so mine had five and it was a couple

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years back so i don't remember all of them exactly

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but it was something like a It was an Atlas stone

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over bar. I think it was like 270 or 300 pounds

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for reps. So you just have a two minute timer

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and you basically pick it up over the bar as

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many times as you can. Like a mystery item carry.

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Mine ended up being a keg. It was like 250 pounds

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and it was just whoever could carry it the farthest

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in two minutes. And then had a pressing medley.

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So I had to lift some things over your head,

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like a keg and an axle and some different implements.

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I think it had a truck drag. So he did like an

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arm over arm pull and you had to pull a truck

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across to like a road. Oh, that's awesome. Things

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like that. So it's Strongman's. I mean, obviously,

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it's just based strength training, right? You'll

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do anything like you would for other strength

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sports. You're going to have all your classic

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static lifts. And where Strongman gets fun is

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you at any given event will just have, you know,

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five to six things you have to be good at. So

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you get to train for those things. I gotcha.

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Wow. That's, that is really interesting. So you're,

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yeah, you're used to carrying, uh, or moving

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heavy things. I'm curious. So how did you discover

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rucking and, uh, what was your first experience

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rucking? Yeah. So I've, I've always in strongman,

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I loved moving events. Um, so like things like

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yoke, where you would just pick up a big heavy

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thing and walk with it or farmer carries where

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you carry it in your hands and walk with those

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were always my. my favorite events, how I first

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got introduced to rucking. I mean, outside of

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generally just carrying a backpack around for

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scouts or whatever, when I was thinking of rucking

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as a training method was actually, I had a friend

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who his name's Dylan, a really great guy. He

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has a medical condition that gives him limited

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use of his legs. And he had a dream to run a

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Spartan. And so we had a mutual friend, Kevin

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Livingston, who I met Dylan through. And we were

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talking about a way to make it so he could actually

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run a Spartan. We came up with the idea that

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we could carry him basically from event to event.

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And then he could do the events that he wanted

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and was able to do with his upper body. So my

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first experience with that was actually just

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with rucking. I was training for that. He weighed

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180 pounds. I got two things of tube sand from

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Home Depot, which I think they weighed like,

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I think it was like 60, 80 pounds each. And then

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I got just a 45 pound plate. I just kind of strapped

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that all to my backpack. I just had a backpacking

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backpack. It's an Eberly stock. okay i just started

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training with that and that was absolutely brutal

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i do not recommend um starting with 180 pounds

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yeah um and just in general i just think it was

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a big shift for me that was coming straight out

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of doing strongman right so i was 350 pounds

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and then we we did the eight mile uh spartan

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and it was in utah um lots of elevation change

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whoa um It took us eight hours. I mean, there

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was a couple places on the trail where you could

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almost like reach out in front of you and touch

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the ground. It was so steep. Whoa. But yeah,

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so that was actually my first experience with

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rucking. And the reason I immediately fell in

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love with it, because at that time I was trying

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to transition out of strongman back into grappling.

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And so I wanted to lose a bunch of weight. And

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the biggest fear with losing weight is always

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losing muscle mass. And when I was doing the,

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you know, the rucking where I was basically just

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hiking. I'm here in Utah with 180 -pound pack.

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I was losing weight rapidly. I could tell both

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from body composition scans and just by performance

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that I was gaining muscle mass, which was really

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great. That was the first experience I had with

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it. The Spartan went great. We ended up completing

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it. It was honestly one of the coolest moments

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to see Dylan. I honestly tapped out. I finished

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it with him. Me and Kevin switched off and on

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for probably about the first seven miles. And

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then the last about mile, my legs were just shot.

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And he pretty much did the last mile by himself,

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carrying Dylan kind of into the finish line.

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I mean, I could imagine. Yeah, your legs had

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to just be burning. Yeah, it was the first time

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I had ever worked my legs to complete failure.

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So if I stood up, they would just lock out and

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Charlie Horse and I would just kind of baby deer

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and fall back over. Yeah. And so. That was, you

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know, I think part of it was also just I wasn't

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used to competing for eight hours. Right. So

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I didn't have a nutrition plan. I didn't understand,

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you know, how to, you know, rehydrate and do

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those type of things I do now. I see. But yeah,

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it was great. And then at the end was such an

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amazing moment. The whole time we were training,

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Dylan just kept saying how much he wanted that

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T -shirt. They give you a. a t -shirt at the

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spa and we crossed the finish line and he sat

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down back in his wheelchair and we were all just

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like beat up and exhausted and they handed him

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a t -shirt and he just started crying because

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he was so happy oh man that's amazing it was

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just a really awesome moment um and that was

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kind of where i got started with rucking and

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then honestly after that i didn't touch it for

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a couple years um because i just was doing other

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things I gotcha. Well, good for good for you,

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Kevin and Dylan. That's amazing. What a great

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story. So that was where you started. Now I'm

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super curious about where you're going. Now,

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I saw on some of your socials, you have this

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really ambitious goal of doing an ultra marathon

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with 100 pounds strapped to your back. And, you

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know, I guess I'm curious, what is an ultra marathon?

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Is that is it 100 miles? Is that what ultra is?

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So I'm doing a 24 hour ultra. So mine's going

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to be a little bit different. I'll just basically

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have a 24 hour limit to go as long as I can.

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Um, so it's going to be a, just over a four mile

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loop and I'll just go as far as I can in 24 hours.

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There are people who can run a hundred miles

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in 24 hours. I am not one of them. I'm pretty

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big myself. Even after losing a good amount of

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weight for this, I'm still going to probably

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be about two 60 to 70. And then with the hundred

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pounds, so you can imagine a 360, 370 pound guy

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running for 24 hours. It's not very aerodynamic.

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And so I'm hoping to break about the 50 mile

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ski, hopefully landing somewhere between 50 and

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60 miles is what my goal is. So 50 miles I'd

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be stoked with. And then kind of the next. distance

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that people do in ultra marathons is 100 kilometers

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which is right around 62 miles okay so anywhere

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between 50 and 62 ish miles i'd be pretty happy

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to get a lot of it's just a time game it's it's

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hard to know how fast you're going to be able

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to go later on right so when i'm training i usually

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can average about a 17 18 minute mile but that's

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only for you know two days ago i did 20 ish miles

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21 miles and there's a big difference between

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20 miles and 60 oh sure yeah so it just depends

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on how quickly i can i can do it so and it's

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certainly different than the eight miles you

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did for the spartan i mean that's huge yep yep

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yeah and and luckily the terrain's way better

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right i mean we're not just hiking up the side

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of a mountain this is going to be on like a nice

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paved loop basically So what drew you to this

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specific challenge of doing the 24 -hour ultra

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with 100 pounds? The big part of it is I'm using

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it as a publicity event to raise money for mental

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health and suicide awareness. That's kind of

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how I got back into rucking. I won't get into

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the full details because sometimes it can be

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a little bit of a downer and it's a heavy topic

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when we talk about it. But in 2020, I had a really

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rough stint in life that... took, took its toll

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on my mental health and, uh, kind of pushed me

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to my limits. Um, I have plenty of media. If

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the listeners want to go listen to it and hear

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it in detail. Um, and really the thing that kept

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me going was my daughter. Um, I got to a point,

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I basically received a lot of injuries. I had

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a severe concussion and I got a condition called

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pneumomaniac, where you basically, the lining

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of your heart fills up with air. Um, And this

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was right when I was basically, I was doing my

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master's. I had started a company and I just

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had my first child. Wow. Right when we found

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out that my wife's employer lied and we weren't

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getting a paid maternity leave. So then I had

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to go and get another full -time job. Oh my gosh.

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Yeah. And so basically there's just all of these

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things were happening all at once. I didn't realize

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at the time how much I relied on exercise for

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kind of my mental health and stability. And I

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think anyone can kind of be tough when they have

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armor on. And when you take away those things

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that ease the pain, that's when it gets hard.

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And when I got both the concussion and then the

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heart issue, I couldn't do any of the activities

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I would normally do to basically blow off some

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steam, right? You can't go grapple. You can't

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spar when you have a concussion. I was to the

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point where if I walked up the stairs too fast,

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I'd get pretty bad chest pain, would have to

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sit down for an hour or so and let it, you know,

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kind of let the chest pain die down from the

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air stuck in my chest cavity. And at kind of

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my lowest, I knew I had to do something physical

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to start to rebuild my health. And my daughter

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was really the thing that was keeping me going.

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I had this brand new baby, so I was like, I got

00:13:38.250 --> 00:13:41.169
to keep going for her. And we had a little loop.

00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.059
um around our apartment complex and i would literally

00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:46.100
just pick her up and i just go walk around that

00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:48.960
loop and that was like what my exercise was um

00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.899
that's fantastic i started doing that yeah um

00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:55.419
i did it you know the first couple days was just

00:13:55.419 --> 00:13:57.000
one or two loops and then i got to the point

00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.360
where i was going longer and longer and i got

00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.059
one of those like little baby carriers yeah um

00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:05.100
yeah and then i would you know go on like a couple

00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:08.120
mile walks with her and and then at one point

00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:11.879
i had a I was actually like starting to feel

00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.080
better. And I had a weight vest just for other

00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.559
training things I was doing. And I think it was

00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:17.820
like 60 pounds. And I was like, I'm just going

00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:20.940
to go see how far I can go. Right. It was the

00:14:20.940 --> 00:14:24.100
first time in months I was feeling better. And

00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:26.700
I threw on a 60 pound pack and went for about

00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:28.840
eight miles. And I was like, Hey, like, I really

00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:31.220
liked this. Like this was a good workout. And

00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:33.639
I, there was something about rucking and kind

00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:36.480
of that. It gave me a lot of control to both.

00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:38.580
You could increase weight or increase distance.

00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:41.399
And when my body was kind of in that healing

00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:44.659
stage in that first three or four months, getting

00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:48.519
over those things, that was really nice. Because

00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.519
it was something that I could really dial in

00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.120
the difficulty. And if I was feeling dizzy or

00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:55.639
was getting chest pain, I could always just turn

00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:59.940
around and come home. And so after that 60 -pound

00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.919
vest day, I just kind of kept pushing it and

00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:05.320
pushing it. And I got up to where I was doing

00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.759
100 pounds. I actually attempted a marathon once

00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.519
and it didn't turn out great. That's a story

00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:17.879
for another day. Now, fast forward three or four

00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:23.139
years later, life's much better. Ever since then,

00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:26.019
suicide and mental health has always been very

00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:28.559
close to my heart. I thought, hey, this would

00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:33.299
be a cool way to do one last big thing with rucking

00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.500
and then also try to raise some money for a charity.

00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:41.919
So I was thinking, obviously not very quickly,

00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.539
so I wasn't going to set any speed records. And

00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:47.220
so I was like, I wonder how far I could go. And

00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:49.139
there was a local race who was willing to partner

00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:52.220
with me. It's the Happy Trails race organization

00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:58.299
here in Utah. And they had a 24 -hour race going

00:15:58.299 --> 00:16:00.159
on. And they were like, yeah, you can just basically

00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:04.200
go as long as you want for 24 hours. Partner

00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.379
with them and then with the American Foundation

00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.659
for Suicide Prevention. And we're just doing

00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:11.879
a fundraiser, trying to raise awareness and funds

00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:13.860
for those people who are kind of suffering with

00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:16.659
their mental health. Mike, that is that is fantastic.

00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:20.379
I think that is such an amazing. A foundation

00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:23.200
that you've chosen to partner with, excuse me,

00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.480
in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:29.139
That's also something that's kind of personal

00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:32.120
for me, too. I've had some experience with loved

00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:36.299
ones and friends that have had, they were in

00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:39.419
dark places and, you know, thinking that there

00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:41.500
was only one way out. And it's incredibly heartbreaking

00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:44.639
when you find out that they've been struggling

00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.539
with that and you don't see it until you hear

00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:51.830
some news. Hearing your story, you had three

00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:55.830
to four monumental life changes all happening

00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:57.889
at one time. I can't imagine the toll that you

00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.149
were going through. And on top of that, having

00:17:00.149 --> 00:17:02.750
the news that you weren't going to have the maternity

00:17:02.750 --> 00:17:04.769
pay and finding another job on top of it. That's

00:17:04.769 --> 00:17:07.309
a crazy amount of stress. So, I mean, it's kind

00:17:07.309 --> 00:17:09.589
of no wonder your body was taking a toll and

00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:12.029
then not being able to work out. That's I mean,

00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:17.160
that's how I maintain a healthy level of. you

00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.059
know, my, my mental capacity is by exhausting

00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:22.940
myself and working out. So yeah, remove that.

00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.720
That's like a whole other element. And then you

00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:28.460
have a concussion. That's like, it's a, the perfect

00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:31.740
storm of, of some sort of mental decline. And

00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:34.140
I'm really, really happy that you found your

00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:37.339
way out of that dark place. And now you're raising

00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:39.640
awareness and really turning it into something

00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.180
really incredible. So Mike, that's awesome, man.

00:17:42.569 --> 00:17:44.490
Yeah. Thank you. Hopefully, hopefully it can

00:17:44.490 --> 00:17:47.609
help people. It's, it's hard. I think, you know,

00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:52.069
growing up, I think I kind of had a lot of pride

00:17:52.069 --> 00:17:54.150
in kind of being that like, you know, classic

00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:55.690
masculinity and just kind of toughing things

00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:57.789
out. And, you know, I always joke like a force

00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:01.069
doesn't work, apply more force. And, you know,

00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:02.690
I think that was the first time in my life where

00:18:02.690 --> 00:18:05.069
like that method finally broke and it didn't

00:18:05.069 --> 00:18:07.089
work anymore where I was like, Oh, like life

00:18:07.089 --> 00:18:10.309
finally made me yield. And it was really hard.

00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:14.380
I think. I think we're in the same boat where

00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:17.000
we use physical activity and kind of pushing

00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.039
our bodies to cope with mental stress. I think

00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.799
sometimes we have to realize that some of us

00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:25.700
who think we might be like the toughest individuals

00:18:25.700 --> 00:18:28.380
realize that we're walking on really thin ice

00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:33.339
because when you take away those outlets, you

00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:35.500
realize how quickly you have some deeper issues

00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.789
you need to work on that you maybe haven't. That

00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:40.609
was something that was really interesting. Having

00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:43.269
to go back through and be like, hey, when it's

00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:44.990
not about me and when it's gotten to the point

00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.930
where even my ego, which I thought was impenetrable,

00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:51.150
to be honest with you, wasn't enough anymore.

00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:55.569
What is it that keeps you going? For me, it was

00:18:55.569 --> 00:18:57.549
like, I have a family. That's the one thing that's

00:18:57.549 --> 00:18:59.549
bigger than me that I have to keep going for.

00:19:02.329 --> 00:19:06.789
Rebuilding yourself in a new way. Hopefully,

00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:11.059
No one else has to go through that, but that's

00:19:11.059 --> 00:19:13.140
always something I, I tell people when I kind

00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:16.920
of run into men or women in my position where

00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:20.579
they really use physical activity as their only

00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:23.660
outlet is you have to, you kind of have to have

00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:25.599
a backup plan because if that goes away, it can

00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.440
be a really, it can be a really slippery slope

00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:30.779
very quickly. That is an, that's an excellent

00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:32.859
point. Thanks for bringing that up, Mike. And

00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:36.220
I want to switch gears from, uh, from your goal

00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.220
of, uh, of rocking with a hundred pounds, but

00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:40.539
you also have a separate goal of losing a hundred

00:19:40.539 --> 00:19:43.599
pounds as well. How's that going? How much have

00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.740
you lost so far? Um, so kind of depending somewhere

00:19:47.740 --> 00:19:49.920
between about 70 to 80 pounds, depending on where

00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:54.579
you're counting from. Um, so the biggest I ever

00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:58.160
got was three 50. Um, I'm about two 70 is my

00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:03.039
recent low weigh in. Um, okay. And from, so that's,

00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.339
that's 80 pounds. Um, From when I kind of started

00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:09.099
this, I was around like 243. So I think I counted

00:20:09.099 --> 00:20:11.440
it started at like 240. So I think I'm down,

00:20:11.539 --> 00:20:14.299
you know, that'd be about 70 pounds. I'll probably

00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:20.660
get down to somewhere around 260 to 265 by race

00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:23.799
day, which is about a month from now. And then

00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:26.279
I'll finish hopefully losing the next, you know,

00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:30.839
20 -ish pounds in the rest of the year. And if

00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.460
my projections are correct, I'll probably have

00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:38.740
to lose about 125 to hit my kind of my goal body

00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:41.619
fat percentage. Wow. But yeah, no, it's going

00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:45.539
really well. I'd say 80 pounds, man. People struggle

00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:48.680
to lose five pounds. I mean, that's tremendous.

00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.759
And I want to hear about your process. And I

00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:53.799
know in some of your posts, you talk about your

00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:56.319
training cycles. Can you walk us through what

00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:01.440
a cycle looks like for you? Sure. Yeah. So in

00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.319
general, um, I usually run eight week cycles.

00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:06.640
They're broken into two mesocycles. So basically

00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:12.960
two, four week periods. And so, uh, they progress

00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.319
in difficulty for three weeks. So weeks one through

00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:17.079
three get harder. And then the fourth week is

00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:19.359
a rest week. Um, and I'll basically do that twice

00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.819
and then make all new workouts. Um, so with like

00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:26.220
my strength training, that means every eight

00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:28.859
weeks I, you know, find, you know, We'll start

00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:32.839
over a whole new workout cycle and get new exercises

00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:35.299
and that type of stuff. As far as rucking goes,

00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:39.819
there's kind of a few phases I went through.

00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:42.099
The first phase with getting ready for this was

00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:46.079
since I was so big starting out, I was like 340.

00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:50.099
Having a 100 -pound Pac -Man, I had 400 -something

00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:54.319
pounds on my feet when I was walking. And so

00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:56.420
just getting your body used to carrying that

00:21:56.420 --> 00:21:59.799
much weight was kind of a rough thing in itself.

00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:02.359
So the first, you know, five, three, probably

00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:04.839
three to five months was just slowly building

00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:08.299
up tolerance to the pack itself and working out

00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:10.220
the details and, you know, building the pack

00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:12.859
and finding out how it worked with the very best.

00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:18.059
And then the second phase after that was just

00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:20.200
getting mileage up. So then I got mileage up

00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:23.869
to about 60 miles a week. And now I'm in the

00:22:23.869 --> 00:22:26.490
last phase, which is just basically every three

00:22:26.490 --> 00:22:30.470
days I do almost kind of a mock event. So now

00:22:30.470 --> 00:22:32.589
I have the mileage and the base is built. So

00:22:32.589 --> 00:22:34.210
now I'm just trying to get good at what I'm planning

00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:38.049
on doing. So two days ago I did 21 miles. Tomorrow

00:22:38.049 --> 00:22:42.829
I'll do 26. And then just kind of slowly build

00:22:42.829 --> 00:22:46.910
on that. But in general, going back to kind of

00:22:46.910 --> 00:22:52.690
what the training periods look like. You know,

00:22:52.690 --> 00:22:54.990
when I was building up mileage, that would mean,

00:22:55.009 --> 00:22:56.769
you know, for three weeks, I'd increase mileage

00:22:56.769 --> 00:22:59.150
weekly. My rucks would get longer on that fourth

00:22:59.150 --> 00:23:02.190
week. I would take off the pack and kind of just

00:23:02.190 --> 00:23:05.210
repair all the damage I had done. I like to think

00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:08.589
of when I talk with people about how your training

00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:10.369
cycle should be like week one, you should show

00:23:10.369 --> 00:23:12.269
up and be doing what you need to to get the results.

00:23:12.349 --> 00:23:15.230
Week two, you build on that. Week three, you

00:23:15.230 --> 00:23:17.170
go as hard as physically possible. I always call

00:23:17.170 --> 00:23:19.109
it peak week where you kind of leave nothing

00:23:19.109 --> 00:23:22.200
in the tank and you're trying to. push your body

00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:24.380
as hard as it can. And then week four, you're

00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.720
just fixing the damage from everything you just

00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:31.240
did. Okay. So I decreased lifting volume, a bunch,

00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:36.019
uh, rucking, you know, your distance gets decreased

00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:38.380
a bunch. I take off the pack and I'm just doing

00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:40.680
normal walks. Um, I actually think that's really

00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.599
important. I think sometimes I see a lot on like

00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.259
Facebook, the Facebook pages. I'm on the rucking.

00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:47.660
People are always talking about getting faster.

00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:50.000
I think one of the best things is like periodically

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.180
taking off the pack and just walking quickly

00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:55.660
and like let your body get used to moving quick

00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:59.079
again. Um, because I think you get, you naturally

00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:00.940
kind of slowed down when you're carrying the

00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:04.900
weight. But yeah, so, um, that's, that's basically

00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:07.519
what the, the overall outlook of it looks like

00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:09.980
is, uh, three increasing weeks and then kind

00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:12.299
of a deload week. And then I do that twice and

00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:15.500
then we, I'll switch up the entire. Very cool.

00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:18.619
Yeah, I'm a huge advocate for taking recovery

00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:21.740
rucks or just time off in general. Yeah, I recently

00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:24.220
did that. I kind of went on vacation and I just

00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:26.400
did some pretty, pretty slow rucks in my first

00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:29.180
ruck back. I was like set in PRs. It was pretty

00:24:29.180 --> 00:24:32.059
incredible. And that was like eye opening. It's

00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:33.700
like, yeah, maybe I should do this a lot more

00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:35.960
regularly. And then like reading into it, it's

00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:37.799
like, yeah, you're going to decrease the amount

00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:41.250
of injuries you could. incur if you don't take

00:24:41.250 --> 00:24:43.150
breaks. So yeah, I've definitely built that into

00:24:43.150 --> 00:24:47.069
how I ruck as well. So in our pre -call, I think

00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:48.789
you had disclosed that you have a master's degree

00:24:48.789 --> 00:24:52.089
in nutritional science and you seem to be all

00:24:52.089 --> 00:24:54.589
in on rucking. So is it safe to say that you

00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:56.529
have a strong opinion that rucking is a great

00:24:56.529 --> 00:25:00.150
exercise for weight loss? Yeah, I think rucking

00:25:00.150 --> 00:25:03.269
is great for weight loss. It really does a few

00:25:03.269 --> 00:25:05.700
things why I think it works well. steady state

00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:07.759
cardio is great for health not just weight loss

00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.000
the the downside to steady state cardio is you

00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.140
the more steady state cardio you do the greater

00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:17.359
risk you have of losing lean mass right like

00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.279
no one's ever looked at like a marathon runner

00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.740
and be like man that guy's jacked right like

00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.720
typically we we it's pretty easy for us to understand

00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:26.980
that so one of the things that's nice about i

00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:31.839
really love it because in a program either for

00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.319
myself or for my clients You can add steady state

00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.440
kind of zone to cardio. That's easy and it's

00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:40.140
really nice on the body and actually will help

00:25:40.140 --> 00:25:42.319
the body recover. And if you rock with about

00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:46.619
30 % of your body weight, you will decrease your

00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:49.299
chance of losing lean mass from your cardio significantly.

00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:54.480
So during this entire time, like I said, I'm

00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:56.480
down about 70, 80 pounds. I've been tracking

00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:02.150
it with a lab -grade body composition. So if

00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:04.450
you know what a bod pod is, I'm not, I, I do

00:26:04.450 --> 00:26:07.549
also just for my, uh, corporate wellness program,

00:26:07.650 --> 00:26:10.809
I own basically like a, an in body type machine,

00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.569
like a higher end bioelectrical impedance. Wow.

00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:18.150
But for myself, I go, I go to, uh, like the lab

00:26:18.150 --> 00:26:21.509
I used to work in at school and get, um, you

00:26:21.509 --> 00:26:23.430
know, paid to have like lab grade testing done.

00:26:23.690 --> 00:26:26.630
And I've, I've not lost it really any lean mass

00:26:26.630 --> 00:26:30.299
during the. During the 80 pounds of weight loss,

00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:34.000
which is really, really important because like

00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.079
you said, when someone's trying to, you know,

00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.019
you grew up people losing like five pounds or

00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:40.440
10 pounds. If you're losing, you know, one out

00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:42.779
of 10 pounds is muscle. When you lose five pounds

00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:44.920
to 10 pounds, it's not that big a deal. In my

00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:47.240
world where I'm a lot of times helping with large

00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:49.099
scale weight loss or myself where I'm trying

00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:53.000
to transform, you know, transform my body. If

00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.079
you're losing 120 pounds, 12 pounds of lean mass

00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:59.900
is a lot of lean mass. That's probably as much

00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:02.700
lean mass as people are going to put on within

00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:05.279
a couple years of serious strength training.

00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.079
Why I love it so much for weight loss is because

00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:15.019
it really is protective of lean mass. It helps

00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:17.880
you stay in a caloric deficit. I think it really

00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:20.220
helps the body recover. That's why I got into

00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:22.720
rucking. Like I said, it's an easy way to go

00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:25.180
out and get your body moving without banging

00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:28.470
up your joints. And so I love it for weight loss

00:27:28.470 --> 00:27:31.849
and body recomposition. Very cool. And, you know,

00:27:31.869 --> 00:27:34.250
I'm also curious about something you mentioned

00:27:34.250 --> 00:27:37.130
before. You mentioned something about nutritional

00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:38.869
timing. Can you talk a little bit about that?

00:27:39.930 --> 00:27:43.170
Yeah. So nutritional timing is what I focused

00:27:43.170 --> 00:27:45.569
my research on when I was doing schooling. I'm

00:27:45.569 --> 00:27:49.849
a huge fan of caloric front loading. So I get

00:27:49.849 --> 00:27:52.089
most of my calories in the morning. And how I

00:27:52.089 --> 00:27:55.119
typically do caloric front loading is. I kind

00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:56.880
of break up my protein evenly throughout the

00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:01.900
day and then I move most to all of my carbs into

00:28:01.900 --> 00:28:04.880
the morning. So breakfast time is kind of the

00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.980
only time I get high glycemic carbohydrates.

00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:09.819
So anything like breads or pastas or if I'm going

00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:13.259
to eat sweets, sweets and stuff like that. By

00:28:13.259 --> 00:28:17.339
one o 'clock, I'm completely done with any of

00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:19.980
that. Usually even by about 11, I've kind of

00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:21.839
switched to if I'm getting carbs or fruits and

00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:27.390
vegetables. And then, um, after one, any, any

00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:29.390
carbohydrate I'm getting is, is going to be just

00:28:29.390 --> 00:28:31.569
be like a low glycemic vegetable, you know, like

00:28:31.569 --> 00:28:33.630
a, I think what most people think of like a low

00:28:33.630 --> 00:28:36.910
carb diet, right? So, you know, broccoli, asparagus,

00:28:36.930 --> 00:28:38.829
and then I'm mostly just focusing on like lean

00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:43.230
meat, um, protein sources. So, okay. Um, caloric

00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:45.390
front loading is great. Once again, the research

00:28:45.390 --> 00:28:48.250
that we did showed that it's protective of muscle

00:28:48.250 --> 00:28:51.829
mass during caloric deficit. Okay. So. basically

00:28:51.829 --> 00:28:54.630
you lose less lean mass when you calorically

00:28:54.630 --> 00:28:56.250
front load we did a study where we basically

00:28:56.250 --> 00:28:59.150
put half the group was eating a big breakfast

00:28:59.150 --> 00:29:00.690
and the other part was eating a big dinner it's

00:29:00.690 --> 00:29:02.349
actually a crossover so they would do two weeks

00:29:02.349 --> 00:29:04.690
and then switch and then do two weeks i really

00:29:04.690 --> 00:29:06.430
enjoy it there's a lot of really good health

00:29:06.430 --> 00:29:08.710
benefits to it with weight loss it's really great

00:29:08.710 --> 00:29:11.609
because the other thing that's been shown really

00:29:11.609 --> 00:29:14.150
clearly in literature is it reduces hunger throughout

00:29:14.150 --> 00:29:16.730
the day so if you're somebody who you really

00:29:16.730 --> 00:29:21.019
struggle with like feeling hungry if that's one

00:29:21.019 --> 00:29:23.140
of the things that you like is you know when

00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:25.079
i work with clients some of my clients like that's

00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:26.460
their big hiccups right now i just feel like

00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:30.119
i'm starving typically what happens when you

00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:32.759
eat more in the morning is it increases satiety

00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:34.880
throughout the day so you're less hungry throughout

00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:38.240
the entire day oh interesting yeah this whole

00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.359
kind of branch of research started from a study

00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:43.660
done by a woman named daniela jacobowitz where

00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:45.640
she did a big breakfast versus a big dinner for

00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:49.500
16 weeks both Both groups were instructed, right?

00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.440
I say instructed because it's really hard in

00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:54.000
nutritional research to get people to do what

00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.519
they're supposed to, but to eat 1 ,500 calories.

00:29:56.680 --> 00:30:01.099
And the big breakfast group lost over twice the

00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:05.900
amount of weight in that 16 weeks. And as follow

00:30:05.900 --> 00:30:08.160
-up studies have gone through, they basically

00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.519
are able to show that the main thing that it's

00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:13.660
coming from is you end up eating less because

00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:17.910
you are... you're more like satiated throughout

00:30:17.910 --> 00:30:19.750
the day. And then also you hold on to lean mass

00:30:19.750 --> 00:30:22.049
more when you're in a caloric deficit. Cool.

00:30:22.109 --> 00:30:23.869
I appreciate you educating me on that. Yeah,

00:30:23.910 --> 00:30:26.670
I had no educational background in any of this.

00:30:26.670 --> 00:30:29.569
So it's all fascinating to me. Now, moving on,

00:30:29.670 --> 00:30:32.230
you're the owner of Union Health and Fitness.

00:30:32.450 --> 00:30:35.670
So what is that? And who do you serve? What are

00:30:35.670 --> 00:30:37.990
their goals? Union Health and Fitness, it's an

00:30:37.990 --> 00:30:39.849
online health coaching company. So I basically,

00:30:39.970 --> 00:30:42.789
I have clients that are from California to Florida,

00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:45.059
kind of across the nation. Generally, the two

00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:47.420
kind of groups I serve the most is people looking

00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:49.819
for general wellness, just trying to look better,

00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:53.680
feel better, live longer type stuff. I do a lot

00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:55.740
with weekend warriors, right? You know, people

00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:59.039
either doing ultras or, you know, stuff like

00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.359
that as well. But then the other thing that I

00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:05.579
specialize in is large scale weight loss. So

00:31:05.579 --> 00:31:09.059
I've helped several people now lose over 100

00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:13.099
pounds naturally, right? Like no steroids, no

00:31:13.099 --> 00:31:16.869
ozempic. just through diet and exercise and basically

00:31:16.869 --> 00:31:20.829
adjusting your relationship with food. One of

00:31:20.829 --> 00:31:22.470
the main things we do is large scale weight loss.

00:31:22.569 --> 00:31:25.230
So if someone needs to lose like 50 to 100 plus

00:31:25.230 --> 00:31:30.809
pounds while in school, I basically came up with

00:31:30.809 --> 00:31:32.710
an algorithm that helped me measure metabolic

00:31:32.710 --> 00:31:38.089
adaptation. And so it helps me keep you consistently

00:31:38.089 --> 00:31:40.069
losing weight where we can make sure it's all

00:31:40.069 --> 00:31:44.309
fat and not muscle. So that you can get to where

00:31:44.309 --> 00:31:46.990
you need to safely and you don't end up messing

00:31:46.990 --> 00:31:50.390
up your basal metabolic rate and lose all your

00:31:50.390 --> 00:31:53.430
lean mass. Because the scary thing about weight

00:31:53.430 --> 00:31:56.029
loss is most people are going to regain some

00:31:56.029 --> 00:31:58.569
of it, if not all of it, if you don't make proper

00:31:58.569 --> 00:32:01.670
precautions. And so worst case scenario, obviously,

00:32:01.670 --> 00:32:04.750
is someone loses 100 pounds and 20 of its muscle

00:32:04.750 --> 00:32:07.210
and then they regain it. And then they don't

00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:10.190
have that lean mass. You can only do that so

00:32:10.190 --> 00:32:14.559
many times. One of the big things I focus on

00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:16.559
when we're training is making sure that people

00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:19.400
are losing weight, but they're losing very high

00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:21.359
quality weight so that they can do it safely

00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:24.940
and actually maintain it once they get to where

00:32:24.940 --> 00:32:28.460
they want to be. I see. If someone listening

00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:31.480
is overweight or they want to lose 50 to 100

00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:33.480
pounds and they're just starting their journey,

00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:36.900
what's your best advice for getting into rucking

00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.839
without burning out? One of the main things,

00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:43.109
if you're a bigger person, Proportionally, you're

00:32:43.109 --> 00:32:44.430
probably going to be rucking with less weight.

00:32:45.289 --> 00:32:47.390
So I think there's that temptation to be like,

00:32:47.450 --> 00:32:50.269
oh, I'm a big, strong guy. I can just throw on

00:32:50.269 --> 00:32:53.410
60 pounds or something like that. We're already

00:32:53.410 --> 00:32:58.190
carrying a lot. And so one of the things is just

00:32:58.190 --> 00:33:01.130
making sure to start really slowly. Start with

00:33:01.130 --> 00:33:03.410
even 5, 10 pounds and just build up on it. It's

00:33:03.410 --> 00:33:05.710
always easier to add more. It's really hard to

00:33:05.710 --> 00:33:08.910
rehab an injury once you've blown up a knee or

00:33:08.910 --> 00:33:12.539
a hip or something like that. And so when someone's

00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:15.460
starting out, like always just figure out a way

00:33:15.460 --> 00:33:19.579
to make it fun. Um, when I started rucking, you

00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:22.960
know, the, the second time around, like I said,

00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:24.880
it was just literally something out of necessity

00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.660
where it's like, it was just a walk with my kid.

00:33:26.859 --> 00:33:29.759
Like it wasn't even rucking, you know? I mean,

00:33:29.779 --> 00:33:31.779
I guess she weighed 15 pounds. Right. But I mean,

00:33:31.779 --> 00:33:34.000
that, that was it. Like, and that's where it

00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:36.319
stayed for a while. And then slowly I added weight.

00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:42.940
Um, but I think. Having that mindset, going in

00:33:42.940 --> 00:33:45.000
and knowing, hey, I can shoot low and then build

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:47.880
on it is always great with fitness goals. Then

00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:51.640
just having some type of realistic plan to build

00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:55.599
over time. Then at the end of the day, and this

00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:57.099
may not be the best way to answer the question,

00:33:57.160 --> 00:33:58.920
is if you get burnt out and it's not fun, move

00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:03.880
on to the next thing. Yeah, you know, I'm not

00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:06.519
gonna lie to you. I am already to the point where

00:34:06.519 --> 00:34:08.320
I think once I'm done with this ultra, I'm probably

00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.119
not putting on that backpack for a couple months.

00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:14.019
Yeah, you know, I totally get that. Yeah, go

00:34:14.019 --> 00:34:16.360
find something else that'll keep keep you on

00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:19.199
your fitness journey. Yeah. So as long as you're

00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:22.340
safe, and just start slow, and then slowly increase

00:34:22.340 --> 00:34:24.000
kind of as you lose weight and take care of your

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.119
joints. That's, that's where it's at. And it's

00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:29.960
always keep fitness fun. I don't believe people

00:34:29.960 --> 00:34:32.219
really have willpower. I don't think that's how

00:34:32.219 --> 00:34:34.039
we work. I think people do what they want to

00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:36.480
do and what they have to do. And when it comes

00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:38.380
to our health, if it's something that we want

00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:40.260
to do, we probably, if it's something that we

00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:42.840
feel like we have to do, we'll do it. But if

00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:45.460
like, it's not something we feel like we want

00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:46.940
to do, it's probably just not going to get done.

00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:51.820
Awesome. I really like that. Yeah. I don't, I

00:34:51.820 --> 00:34:54.139
don't, I've never seen it in my practice where

00:34:54.139 --> 00:34:56.199
I have someone who like hates exercise and hates

00:34:56.199 --> 00:34:59.150
all these things. still just does it for a long

00:34:59.150 --> 00:35:01.230
period of time. I don't think that exists. I

00:35:01.230 --> 00:35:03.070
don't think even willpower your way into a new

00:35:03.070 --> 00:35:05.210
lifestyle. I think it has to be something you

00:35:05.210 --> 00:35:10.030
enjoy. More with Mike in just a moment, including

00:35:10.030 --> 00:35:12.269
a description of the custom rucksack he made

00:35:12.269 --> 00:35:14.530
and how he helps other people drop weight without

00:35:14.530 --> 00:35:17.150
losing strength. But I want to take a quick break

00:35:17.150 --> 00:35:19.579
to say thanks for listening to the podcast. Please

00:35:19.579 --> 00:35:21.239
share this episode with a fellow rucker that

00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:23.579
might be interested or a friend that could benefit

00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:25.920
from rucking. Sharing this episode would help

00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.239
the show grow and help more people improve their

00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:33.699
health and lives. Okay, back to it. You posted

00:35:33.699 --> 00:35:35.820
photos of your rucksack, which you stated that

00:35:35.820 --> 00:35:40.019
you made. This thing is impressive. And I'll

00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:41.760
post a link to it in the show notes. It's really,

00:35:41.800 --> 00:35:44.199
really cool. But can you tell us a little story

00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:46.440
about the custom rucksack that you built and

00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:51.260
what inspired it? Yeah, so the thing that inspired

00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:53.619
it was a complete failure of the first time I

00:35:53.619 --> 00:35:56.440
attempted something like this. I mentioned earlier

00:35:56.440 --> 00:36:00.420
in this podcast, I attempted a marathon. And

00:36:00.420 --> 00:36:04.800
all I had at the time was like kettlebells and

00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:09.199
sandbags. And so I put like a really heavy sandbag

00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:11.599
on the backside, which I think weighed like 20

00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:13.619
pounds. And I just had like a backpack that I

00:36:13.619 --> 00:36:17.260
literally tied a kettlebell in. yeah and it kept

00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:19.780
breaking the whole time i was trying the marathon

00:36:19.780 --> 00:36:21.860
so i think i ended up doing like 23 miles that

00:36:21.860 --> 00:36:23.619
day and then just didn't finish it because i

00:36:23.619 --> 00:36:26.460
was out like seven hours or something but um

00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:29.840
it kept everything just kept falling apart and

00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:31.420
kept breaking so i realized like okay i have

00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:33.719
to have something that is going to be a little

00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:35.739
bit more secure and work better the other thing

00:36:35.739 --> 00:36:38.780
was i realized that um i was talking to my friend

00:36:38.780 --> 00:36:42.539
tim who was a marine so did tons of rucking these

00:36:42.539 --> 00:36:44.099
type of things and he said that the higher you

00:36:44.099 --> 00:36:47.440
can get the weight the, the better it'll, the

00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:50.139
more comfortable it'll be. Right. And so what

00:36:50.139 --> 00:36:51.980
I realized is I actually ended up giving myself

00:36:51.980 --> 00:36:53.940
a lot of kind of like hip injuries because the

00:36:53.940 --> 00:36:56.260
weight was so low in the ruck pack. It was kind

00:36:56.260 --> 00:36:58.679
of down on like the, I have the Everly stock

00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:00.920
mainframe. So it's, it's one of those packs that

00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:03.460
has kind of an L shaped frame. And I had everything

00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:06.539
just sitting on that L like on the bottom. And

00:37:06.539 --> 00:37:08.699
so I was leaning really far forward, which was

00:37:08.699 --> 00:37:11.320
causing like a lot of issues with my hips. So

00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:13.840
the goal behind building this was basically to

00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:17.139
make the weight as high as possible. And so,

00:37:17.159 --> 00:37:21.239
um, and then also secured. So, uh, me and my

00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:25.380
friend Elijah, basically we, I got an inch and

00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:28.079
a half tubing and we just cut it and then welded

00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:31.500
it into a frame. And then I filled it with the,

00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:34.460
uh, sand that comes in those like sandbag weight

00:37:34.460 --> 00:37:38.000
vests. I mean, is that black iron sand? Yeah.

00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:39.579
So that got all filled up. Right. So I think

00:37:39.579 --> 00:37:42.780
the frame itself weighs like 15, 20 pounds. And

00:37:42.780 --> 00:37:45.260
then on the frame, we basically welded on mounts

00:37:45.260 --> 00:37:51.159
where we can, I could move around. They're actually

00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:53.460
the plates from like an old set of adjustable

00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:57.679
dumbbells and just screw them into the pack itself.

00:37:58.019 --> 00:38:01.559
So the frame basically comes up all the way up

00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:04.239
my back and then kicks forward about 10, 12 degrees.

00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:06.280
So it kind of comes up over my head almost a

00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:10.440
little bit. And then I have probably. 60 ish

00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:14.699
pounds on the very top um and then inside the

00:38:14.699 --> 00:38:17.280
frame i added some more probably the other 40

00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:21.739
of the of the um those kind of adjustable dumbbell

00:38:21.739 --> 00:38:24.239
plates it looks it looks ridiculous um i'm sure

00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:27.500
i look silly i think it just looks it looks intense

00:38:27.500 --> 00:38:30.500
and it looks like you're methodical about designing

00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:32.699
it and yeah it's like the first rucksack that

00:38:32.699 --> 00:38:35.000
i've seen where the weight's kind of coming over

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:37.579
somebody's head it's really it's really cool

00:38:37.579 --> 00:38:40.170
and like the the uh i guess the weights that

00:38:40.170 --> 00:38:42.789
you have they're kind of uh there's like a piece

00:38:42.789 --> 00:38:44.769
sort of missing from it it looks kind of like

00:38:44.769 --> 00:38:47.829
a pac -man yeah it's like it's the most unique

00:38:47.829 --> 00:38:49.769
rucksack i have ever seen i was like man i gotta

00:38:49.769 --> 00:38:52.309
ask mike about this this is so cool We're getting

00:38:52.309 --> 00:38:54.389
close to the end here, but before we jump into

00:38:54.389 --> 00:38:56.170
the rapid fire round, Mike, I wanted to thank

00:38:56.170 --> 00:38:58.889
you again for coming on to the podcast and talking

00:38:58.889 --> 00:39:01.210
about your wrecking goals. Some really incredible

00:39:01.210 --> 00:39:04.449
accomplishments, and I'm happy for you. I'll

00:39:04.449 --> 00:39:06.710
be donating to the American Foundation for Suicide

00:39:06.710 --> 00:39:10.849
Prevention for your cause, and best of luck to

00:39:10.849 --> 00:39:13.250
you. I'll be pulling for you. I'll include a

00:39:13.250 --> 00:39:15.510
link in the show notes where listeners can go

00:39:15.510 --> 00:39:19.119
and donate as well. If people are interested

00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:21.300
in seeing if Union Health and Fitness can help

00:39:21.300 --> 00:39:23.320
with their weight loss journey, how can they

00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:26.199
get in touch with you? I can probably give you

00:39:26.199 --> 00:39:30.679
a link for the website, but it's just unionhf

00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:34.920
.com. Perfect. If people are looking for that,

00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:36.900
I can give you a link there. I'm also on Facebook,

00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:40.360
Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. It's Union Health

00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:42.739
and Fitness, I think, on all of them. I'll put

00:39:42.739 --> 00:39:46.289
those links in the show notes as well. Is there

00:39:46.289 --> 00:39:48.829
a way for people to track you as you do the ultra?

00:39:49.590 --> 00:39:52.449
I mean, I upload constantly to all of the different

00:39:52.449 --> 00:39:55.050
social media. And I'm sure I'm probably going

00:39:55.050 --> 00:39:57.210
to... I mean, obviously, probably not live stream

00:39:57.210 --> 00:40:00.010
all of the 24 hours because that would be monotonous.

00:40:00.050 --> 00:40:02.969
But while competing, I'll be updating people.

00:40:03.050 --> 00:40:04.989
So if they just follow me on any of the social

00:40:04.989 --> 00:40:07.769
media, they'll get plenty of updates the whole

00:40:07.769 --> 00:40:10.789
time through. Gotcha. This week, I have been

00:40:10.789 --> 00:40:14.110
watching, I guess... Yesterday and today, I've

00:40:14.110 --> 00:40:16.809
been kind of peeking into Go Rucks selection.

00:40:17.010 --> 00:40:18.849
They have that going on right now and they're

00:40:18.849 --> 00:40:20.530
live streaming it through their Instagram. It's

00:40:20.530 --> 00:40:24.369
been really impressive to watch. And I was just

00:40:24.369 --> 00:40:26.130
curious if you're doing anything like that. But

00:40:26.130 --> 00:40:28.849
I know you post on the Facebook Rucking Group,

00:40:28.909 --> 00:40:31.309
so I'll definitely keep tabs on your progress

00:40:31.309 --> 00:40:34.329
with that. And again, good luck, man. Okay, so

00:40:34.329 --> 00:40:36.469
let's move into the rapid fire round just to

00:40:36.469 --> 00:40:38.469
wrap things up here. You've already talked about

00:40:38.469 --> 00:40:40.969
your first rucksack. I love hearing people's...

00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:43.960
first rig and how they get creative and everything

00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.260
but the first question is if you can only ruck

00:40:47.260 --> 00:40:49.679
one trail for the rest of your life what trail

00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:54.980
would that be probably the y i mean it's terrible

00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:58.980
it's not a in provo there's a hike up to the

00:40:58.980 --> 00:41:02.099
the big y on the side of the mountain um okay

00:41:02.099 --> 00:41:04.329
which is a mile like straight up It would not

00:41:04.329 --> 00:41:06.170
be for enjoyable purposes, but it's like one

00:41:06.170 --> 00:41:07.949
of the best leg workouts that there is, in my

00:41:07.949 --> 00:41:10.130
opinion, is hiking that thing. Gotcha. I like

00:41:10.130 --> 00:41:12.329
that choice. What's your favorite non -rucking

00:41:12.329 --> 00:41:17.849
workout? Probably combat sports. I love grappling

00:41:17.849 --> 00:41:21.530
and fighting. It's a lot of fun. And what do

00:41:21.530 --> 00:41:22.630
you listen to when you're rucking? I see you

00:41:22.630 --> 00:41:26.309
have some headsets on when you're rucking. Some

00:41:26.309 --> 00:41:29.630
AirPods, maybe. What do you listen to? People

00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:34.940
are going to laugh at me. honestly mostly audiobooks

00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:39.579
and my taste of audiobooks is when I my entire

00:41:39.579 --> 00:41:42.199
life I've never read any book fiction ever I

00:41:42.199 --> 00:41:44.059
always just read non -fiction I'm kind of a nerd

00:41:44.059 --> 00:41:48.780
that way and my wife got me hooked on all of

00:41:48.780 --> 00:41:52.769
the like romantic novels and so actually most

00:41:52.769 --> 00:41:54.269
of the time i'm listening to something like a

00:41:54.269 --> 00:41:58.170
romantic novel wow did not i would have never

00:41:58.170 --> 00:42:01.769
guessed that yeah i know it sounds it sounds

00:42:01.769 --> 00:42:04.849
funny i uh just something some type of story

00:42:04.849 --> 00:42:07.429
you can get lost in um i mean i'm just doing

00:42:07.429 --> 00:42:10.730
a lot of hours and so you get burnt out of music

00:42:10.730 --> 00:42:13.409
right i mean yeah yeah i'll probably be out there

00:42:13.409 --> 00:42:16.909
for seven hours so hey man that's what i listen

00:42:16.909 --> 00:42:19.280
to Alright, last question. What is your bucket

00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:24.780
list wrecking trail? Oh. I've seen those guys

00:42:24.780 --> 00:42:28.500
who go do the marathons or half marathons in

00:42:28.500 --> 00:42:32.940
Antarctica. I think that would be cool. I don't

00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:35.179
know if that's a trail, but I think to go explore

00:42:35.179 --> 00:42:37.889
Antarctica would be pretty. Oh, sure. Pretty

00:42:37.889 --> 00:42:40.429
fun. Yeah. I mean, I'm here in Louisiana where,

00:42:40.510 --> 00:42:42.610
well, I guess historically it doesn't snow. It

00:42:42.610 --> 00:42:44.250
actually, we had a lot of snow this past winter,

00:42:44.289 --> 00:42:46.829
but yeah, to be able to rock in snow, that would

00:42:46.829 --> 00:42:48.550
be really cool. And then to do it in an environment,

00:42:48.590 --> 00:42:50.429
something like Antarctica, I'm right there with

00:42:50.429 --> 00:42:52.690
you. That would be awesome. Well, cool. Well,

00:42:52.730 --> 00:42:55.130
Mike, thanks again so much for joining me today

00:42:55.130 --> 00:42:57.929
on the podcast. Really appreciate it. And best

00:42:57.929 --> 00:43:00.550
of luck to you with Ultraman. Thank you, sir.

00:43:00.630 --> 00:43:03.650
Have a nice day. All right, that wraps up my

00:43:03.650 --> 00:43:05.710
conversation with Mike Smith. I hope you picked

00:43:05.710 --> 00:43:08.050
up some valuable takeaways. I enjoyed hearing

00:43:08.050 --> 00:43:10.469
how rucking helps preserve lean mass while dropping

00:43:10.469 --> 00:43:12.949
weight personally. You can connect with Mike

00:43:12.949 --> 00:43:16.909
at unionhf .com or on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,

00:43:17.070 --> 00:43:20.329
or TikTok at unionhealthandfitness. I'll drop

00:43:20.329 --> 00:43:22.510
those links in the show notes. If you want to

00:43:22.510 --> 00:43:24.349
reach out to me, head on over to theruckersedge

00:43:24.349 --> 00:43:27.969
.com or on Instagram at theruckersedgepod. If

00:43:27.969 --> 00:43:30.050
you enjoyed today's episode, make sure you follow

00:43:30.050 --> 00:43:32.389
or subscribe so you're notified of new episodes.

00:43:32.590 --> 00:43:34.429
And you're not going to want to miss next week's

00:43:34.429 --> 00:43:36.389
episode because I reached out to a few leaders

00:43:36.389 --> 00:43:38.130
in the rucking community and a few accomplished

00:43:38.130 --> 00:43:40.829
ruckers and asked them to share their best piece

00:43:40.829 --> 00:43:43.750
of advice for new ruckers. They provided some

00:43:43.750 --> 00:43:46.010
really useful and inspiring guidance you're going

00:43:46.010 --> 00:43:48.869
to like. Okay, that's it for today. Thanks again

00:43:48.869 --> 00:43:51.050
for listening to this episode of The Rucker's

00:43:51.050 --> 00:43:51.210
Edge.