231 - Q&A: Faster Run Times, Selection Prep, Training Volume, Injury Recovery + More

[00:00:01] Kevin Smith: Hello, I am Kevin Smith, and you have found the Terminator Training Show, your one-stop shop for no BS training, nutrition, and health information. For more, please go to Terminatortraining.com. Thank you for tuning in and enjoy the show. What's up guys? Welcome to another episode of the Terminator Training Show. I'm Kevin Smith. Today is going to be a QA where I go through my Instagram, ask me anything, and give you guys answers to your questions from this week. And today I'm going to do a little bit of a different flavor of QA's. So instead of going through this week and pre-selecting some of the better questions that I think are going to help the most people andor are more nuanced and or are more challenging for me, whatever have you, I am just going to go through the questions.

[00:00:47] Kevin Smith: I'm going to read them word for word. Not going to change anything about it. You might hear me stumble through them because there's some people who need some work on their writing. But I'm going to read them word for word. I'm going to go through, I'm not going to get to all of them. I think there's like 78 questions. So that would be insane. But they're going to be shorter answers, more brief. But I'm going to try and get to as many as I can to give myself a little bit more of a challenge. For those not aware, it's pretty challenging to just go off the cuff for these questions, mainly because most of them are different topics. So like I'll get a golf question and then I'll get a lifting question and then I'll get a selection prep question and then a military question and then a personal development question. So it's definitely a good challenge and I enjoy it and it makes me better at communicating and simplifying things.

[00:01:35] Kevin Smith: But today I'm going to just kind of out of boredom. I am doing a single topic episode in the next episode. It'll be all about physical training for selection prep. I'm looking forward to that one. But because I've been doing similar things for QA's for a long time, we're going to switch it up a little bit. And if you asked a question, there's a good chance I'm going to get to it today. One caveat is there are a few people who asked several questions, like the same person who asked like five, six questions. So I'll probably just get to like two from the same person instead of all of them, so I can get to more people. But that is going to be today. And again, I'm just going to read them word for word. So strap in. I'm looking forward to it. Oh, one housekeeping note the hypertrophy program is very close to being done.

[00:02:20] Kevin Smith: And should be released next week. We are shooting for Wednesday the 28th. So thank you guys for your patience. We have been working really hard on that one. I am doing my last little tiny attention to detail, nerdy, autistic stuff to make it as high quality of a program as I possibly can. The intro to this thing alone is going to be like 75 pages long, and it'll be instead of so I've had some longer intros in the past, and we've realized that guys who don't really want to read the intro every single time, which why would you? You'd have to scroll way down to get to the actual program. So what we've done is similar to the SFAS program, when you purchase this program, you're going to get two downloads. One is going to be the intro, the other is going to be the program.

[00:03:08] Kevin Smith: So there'll be two different things. You can read the intro to begin with if you want. Some people don't, which is stupid. You should read the intro. But you won't have to scroll through it to get to the program. You can just open the program every time you train. So that is going to be a big difference. And the main reason for this, the intro is really long. One of the things I've added is coaching notes. So if you're a coach and you purchase this program, one thing that I've always got a lot of value from is purchasing programs from other coaches and seeing how they roll. So what I've done with this one is I've put coaches' notes in. If you're not a coach, you don't care, you can skip over them. It's not going to at all affect your outcomes on the program. But if you are a coach or if you're just a nerd and you want to get really into the details as to why I do certain things, and a lot of my programming methodologies don't look very vanilla like a lot of programs do, like just on a Word document with a bunch of letters on them, you can learn all about it.

[00:04:04] Kevin Smith: So it can help you with your own education if you ever want to create programs for clients or create programs for the masses, whatever have you. So I've included that, and that's the main reason why the intro is so long, and it's taken a while. So anyway, we're almost done, and that'll be out soon. If you're a newsletter subscriber, that will be your best bet at getting most up-to-date information. There should be a link in wherever you're watching or listening to this if you want to sign up. But anyway, let's hop into the rapid fire questions. And by the way, the answers will be a little shorter and less in-depth than usual. So here we go. First question: how can one well-designed program benefit the majority for selection prep versus custom programming? Very, very cool question.

[00:04:49] Kevin Smith: And it's going to be a challenge for me to keep this short, but I'm going to do it anyway. I talked a lot about this on Instagram. It was like a four or five answer story on Instagram. So basically what he's asking, custom programming, one person getting a program from an expert coach versus one person following, let's say, my SFAS program or an SFAS program. The main three there are three main differences. One is individual recoverability. Everyone recovers at different rates. So a lot of it has to do with your training background, but it's also genetic. It's also your lifestyle. But even if lifestyles are matched, everyone, like two guys super dialed in, this would never happen really. Most guys are not very dialed in. But let's say they are. Still, they're going to recover at different rates. And still, they could benefit from different training. Additionally, just their background and their fitness levels coming into the program.

[00:05:36] Kevin Smith: Let's say one guy's really good at running, one guy's really strong, one guy needs to do a lot more running and rucking. The other guy needs to do a lot less running and rucking, well, maybe not rucking, but a lot less running. Focus more on lifting. So if it's a general program that's more balanced in these things, the each of these individuals would benefit more from a custom program. And the last one is scheduling. So if you guys have been listening for a little bit, and you've probably, I mean, a lot of people listening have probably asked this question how do I balance Jack is L3, or how do I balance SFAS prep program with my PT schedule, or with going to the field every couple weeks, or with doing CQ shifts or having a weird schedule, or if I'm a firefighter and I work two days on, four days off, whatever. If you have a weird schedule, you're definitely going to benefit from a custom program.

[00:06:22] Kevin Smith: Unfortunately, I don't do custom programs anymore. It is a big, big, big bandwidth suck, and I just don't have it at the moment. I used to do it, but I don't anymore. I do one-on-one coaching, and you're going to get way, way, way more benefit out of one-on-one coaching because you're going to get the program plus the nutrition, plus I do calls with all my guys every week. So it's a lot more beneficial, but custom programming would hypothetically definitely be a better option. That being said, if you're relatively squared away and you know a little bit about your body, you've been training for a while, and you get a really good program, like I'm not gonna lie, our SFAS program is, then you're probably gonna be totally fine on uh for the master's program. Next question any recommendations on improving cadence and form YouTube channels, websites, etc. So cadence, my favorite way is to just every time you run or every I let's say every week, try and get your cadence a little bit higher.

[00:07:14] Kevin Smith: So you don't really have to do anything other than like try and trend one to two to three steps per minute higher by just tracking your cadence. Ideally, you have an app or something, you're not actually just counting in your head, you got a watch, a smart watch and an app, and you trend up. As far as YouTube channels, my favorite running YouTube channels, one James Dunn. James Dunn is a lot more on running form and mechanics. Honestly, he's like all you need. And there are some other ones, but I'm like Sage Kennedy, I'm not a huge fan of his personality and his viewpoints. You can learn a lot from him. He's a really good instructor, really good coach. You could try it. I think it's VO2 Max Running Productions or something like that. But James Dunn is awesome. And Steve Magnus, he's not as much of a mechanics guy, but he's a big time like programming guy, and he's incredibly intelligent.

[00:08:00] Kevin Smith: And I would also get his book, The Science of Running. I think it's called The Science of Running. It's right over there. Uh yeah, The Science of Running. I would read that book. It was before he became a really, really prolific writer, so it's a little hard to read. He's a way better writer now. He's actually got some really, really good books that have nothing to do with running. Like I think it's uh Do Hard Things. Do Hard Things and Peak Performance are both fantastic books, and he's a way better writer in those. But the science of running is the holy grail of everything you need to know about the really nerdy stuff in part one. Some people could skip through that part, but I find that part interesting. But part two is all about programming and different types of running and things like that. So that's really all you need. I would not go any more widespread.

[00:08:46] Kevin Smith: The more people you get information from, especially if you're not like already an expert, you can't sort out the BS, usually the more you're gonna be confused. And if you just stick to those two guys, you're gonna be sorted out. Next question getting mid-boarded. Had big aspirations in the military. How to find purpose now? Ooh, that's a tough one. Yeah, man. I mean, just realize that there are so many different opportunities in the world right now, and you can just start building a skill set. Start reading about things, start learning about things, maybe hire a coach or a mentor, maybe go travel the world and do some thinking, deep retrospective thoughts. And either something will come to you or you just start building a bunch of valuable skill sets, get really good at selling things, get really good at communicating with people, get really good at marketing, get really good at sales, get really good at creating things.

[00:09:38] Kevin Smith: Like you could go do your own thing. You could also just go be a super highly valuable asset to any other business. Like if you don't want to work for yourself, that's totally fine. But you can just build all these skill sets that anyone in their right mind would want to have you work for them. I would strongly recommend reading So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport. And that should give you, as far as work and pursuing something professionally, that'll give you a really, really, really good starting point. And then you could go from there. But also don't rush it. Like take some time. Like I said, go travel the world, do some weird stuff. I don't know, whatever you fancy. If you got a family, this may not be possible. But like there's plenty of life to live. And depending on what you got med-boarded for, like you still probably can do physical stuff.

[00:10:24] Kevin Smith: I don't know exactly, but don't the worst thing you can do is just feel bad for yourself and feel sorry for yourself. That doesn't solve anything. It never has for anyone, and it never will. So get out there and figure something out, but just know that there's so many different opportunities. It would be insane to not jump on something right now in 2026. Like the world is just full of opportunities, and the bar is so friggin' low. Most people spend most of their lives scrolling on a phone and arguing on the internet. If you can do a little bit more than that, you can go do big things and you can feel fulfilled, you can make a lot of money and have a good time. So best of luck. Next question: two and a half months out from SFRE, lacking in pull-up and push-up, 13-minute run. What course should I get? What program I'm guessing?

[00:11:10] Kevin Smith: I would get either the two and five mile or jackazelle 3.0. Either of those will improve your push-ups and pull-ups, and either of those will improve your run times, and they both have rucking. The main difference is Jackazelle 3.0 has a little bit more uh lifting bias and a little bit less running bias. And then 2-5 miles, more running bias, but you still will do plenty of lifting to at least maintain your strength. If you're a little bit newer to lifting, you'll gain strength on it. So you can't go wrong with either one. What's up, guys? Real quick break in the action before we get back to the show. There's this really, really trite quote: fail to prepare, prepare to fail. And guess what? Quotes don't become trite accidentally. They become trite because they are actually true. Almost everyone experiences it, and so it becomes a quote.

[00:11:58] Kevin Smith: And this quote is applicable to nutrition more so than almost any other aspect of life. Those who prepare their meals ahead of time will see more success, regardless of what their goals. Honestly, any successful nutrition intervention I've ever been a part of, whether it's coaching, my own, or people I know, have had some sort of planning or preparation involved. And although you can absolutely do your own meal prep, let's be honest, most people either do it for short periods of time and then they fall off for several months and it's on and off like this roller coaster, and therefore they fail half the time. That's not a very good percentage. Or most people just don't have the time or the bandwidth or the gumption to do their own meal prep every week. And that is where a meal prep delivery service comes in.

[00:12:46] Kevin Smith: And I have tried dozens of them, and absolutely nothing touches Mega Fit. It is hands down the best I've ever tried as far as macros are concerned, and as far as taste is concerned. Me, I prefer to get some of the meals custom made. You can actually go in and choose the meat, the produce, the starch, and the macros that you want. They also have pre-made meals that are also delicious, and the macros are fantastic for performance, body composition, and just overall vigor and well-being. I usually eat five, six, seven of these per week, and they make my life very, very simple and low stress. I typically like to cook them on the stovetop with a little bit of bone broth, let them simmer for a little while, but they also work great in the microwave.

[00:13:34] Kevin Smith: And I've got a discount code for you if you want to try. You can either go to the description and click the link for megafit, you'll get 10% off, or you can go to their website, megafit.com, type in the code TTM at checkout for that 10% off. Alright, guys, back to the show. Next question: Do you offer any personal mentoring? Yes, I do coaching, one-on-one coaching. Right now I have quite an extensive wait list, and we have a very, very strict grading process or rating process as far as which clients we reach back out to and invite to join the team. And so it's not it's also not the cheapest because of the volume. I mean, I would be idiotic not to have high prices.

[00:14:19] Kevin Smith: Also, having high prices weeds out people who are cheapy and freebie seekers who typically complain a lot, bitch moan, and want extra handouts and things like that. That's just something I've learned over time as a business person. But yeah, if you are interested, apply for coaching. It's not just mentorship, it's also training and nutrition. I have one package where you can do personal development stuff with me. It's definitely my top-tier like premium package. But I've also got nutrition and training, and I've got training only. Most people, to be honest, who do training only don't make the same progress because nutrition's huge, and most people are just not squared away with their nutrition enough to know what to do themselves. But any of those are options. Just it's I wish I could take more people, but I only have so much bandwidth, and so I take only top-tier clients, and that's just kind of the way it is right now.

[00:15:10] Kevin Smith: Next question Did you suffer from imposter syndrome? Absolutely, I suffer from imposter syndrome to this day, to this second. Anyone who does anything, like anyone who pursues big challenging goals, for example, running your own business, getting out of the army and running your own business, and putting your face out on social media and being open to anyone who wants to, criticizing you, whatever have you, you're gonna suffer from imposter syndrome. That is just a fact, unless you are a super duper narcissist. So I feel it every single day. That being said, a lot of people feel it and they let it crush them. They're like, oh, I feel like an imposter, so I'm just gonna quit. You're gonna feel it regardless. If you want to do something lofty and something that a lot of people, like not many people, chase.

[00:15:57] Kevin Smith: You chase a big goal, you're gonna feel like an imposter. You just are. And for those not aware, imposter syndrome basically means you don't feel like you're qualified, as qualified as other people think you are, or you don't feel like you're living up to other people's image of you. And you're gonna feel that, but really your only options are to a quit and just use it as a a cop-out, or b, use it as fuel to get better and prove to yourself that you are friggin' good. Give yourself some evidence, build your skill sets, build your confidence, learn more about whatever you're trying to pursue, get fitter, get stronger, whatever. You can use it as fuel, or you can use it as a way to just quit and guess what, no one really cares at all. I would prefer the former using it as fuel, and I do that every single day, and works pretty well, even though I still feel it.

[00:16:50] Kevin Smith: I don't really have another option. I still just continue going forward because that's just how I'm wired, I guess. Next question: can Sopsi get someone in shape for selection? No, not from starting from zero. Honestly, if you're not selection ready, I always tell guys be selection ready when you go to Sopsi because you're maybe gonna get a little bit more fit. It's definitely beneficial if you've never done landav before, because you're gonna do land nav, so that's very, very important. Especially if you are like a city kid and you're just not used to being in the woods, in which case I would probably do landav before you go to, I would practice land nav or go to a land nav course before you go into the army, or at least before you go to SOPSy, or at least before you go to selection. But SOPSy is not like a okay, you're not even close to ready for selection.

[00:17:37] Kevin Smith: We're gonna get you ready in this five-week SOPSY course. That's not how it works, it's not even possible to make that type of fitness adaptations in that short period of time. It can kind of refine you, but it's definitely at best just gonna like maintain your fitness, maybe make you a little bit more fit if you're a little less fit going into SOPSy. But honestly, if you're super fit and like ready for selection, you might get a little less fit at SOPSY, to be honest with you, because the program is just not very good. Next question: how to get over fear of joining soft and going into the unknown. Honestly, man, in order to be successful in any area of life, you have to have courage. Courage is like one of the most important traits to be successful in any area of life. If you want to do anything above average, and soft is well above average, by the way.

[00:18:26] Kevin Smith: And a lot of people think courage means that you don't feel fear. No, that is not what it means. It means you feel fear and you just do it anyway. So the and the more you actually employ courage, the easier it becomes, the more automatic it becomes. So I was scared of a lot of different things throughout my career, and I just did them anyway. Because really, the only other option is to, I mean, not do it and know that you didn't do it because you were too scared to do it. What I like to do is think about my 60-year-old self, 70-year-old self, 80-year-old self, whatever have you, and look back at my current self and be like, hey, you didn't do that because you were too scared. Like, that is weak. Like, what is my 60-year-old old self gonna think? He's gonna think I'm a weak sauce if I don't do something because I was too scared.

[00:19:12] Kevin Smith: Something that I really wanted to do. Like, if you don't want to do this, it's totally fine. It's not for everyone. But if you do and you just decide not to because you're scared, then I don't know how I'd I wouldn't be able to live myself. Some people maybe would, but I wouldn't. And it's it's really not for everyone. So if you're fearful of going in because of the unknown, and that's like really gonna hold you back, then guess what? Things are gonna get a lot more scary once you get there. But for a lot of people, that is super exciting, and for me, it's super exciting, but you just have to show some courage and do it anyway. Next question: how long before interval slash tempo run progress eventually regresses? So ideally, you are not gonna try and train, train, train, train, train, train, get better and better and better, and then just start getting worse.

[00:19:58] Kevin Smith: That's not ideal. If you're doing that, you're doing something incorrectly either in training or outside the gym or both. Yeah, you can have like certain periods of time where it feels like you're regressing, usually because you're fatigued and your fatigue is masking your ability to display your fitness at that given time. It could be a week, it could be two weeks, maybe three weeks, like if if you're intentionally overreaching, ideally under the watchful live a coach, then it could be a while. You're just more fatigued, so you can't actually it doesn't seem like you're getting better. You still are getting better, but it doesn't seem like it because you're not able to actually show it in your training sessions. However, like regressing, making progress for a while, going then starting to go backwards, unless you are past your physical prime and you're an elite athlete that has maxed out your genetic genetic potential.

[00:20:45] Kevin Smith: Let's say you're a 45-year-old marathon runner and you've been progressing your entire life and you're elite. Yeah, you're 45 now, so you're probably gonna just start getting a little bit slower because you're just past your athletic prime. That's just what happens. But no one listening to this, let's just say, is gonna ever come close to their max genetic potential. It's very, very difficult to get there. A lot of people think they are. They're not. There's a long way to go, and you have a lot of I's to dot and T's to cross that you're not doing that you could in order to get more out of your potential. So I would say if you're starting to regress, like don't expect to start making progress for a while and then start regressing. If you do, that's not a good thing. Next question: Have you tried the whole zero torque craze?

[00:21:32] Kevin Smith: And what are your thoughts? I'm not sure what you mean by the zero torque craze. Zero torque, for those not aware, is this mostly as far as I'm aware of, idealistic way to run so that your body perfectly lands center of midline every single time you take a step, and there is zero breaking force whatsoever, and you are the most efficient runner in history. That's really all I've gotten out of it. So I could be wrong there. But I think that's like kind of sums it up. So in reality, like there's so many different ways to run. There's so many different mechanical ways that many elite runners will run. And for the layperson, for someone who is trying to be a good athlete who runs, which is most people, most people listening to this are not trying to be elite runners only.

[00:22:19] Kevin Smith: They're trying to be good hybrid athletes or tactical athletes, which is involved. Running is definitely involved, but it's not the main thing. I would not even give it the time of day. Yes, it's a good idea to improve your form such that your body, your your foot doesn't land way out in front of you and you break every time. It's very inefficient. It's very high impact on your body, and it's going to slow you down and make you work harder to run slower. You want your foot landing at least pretty damn close to center midline. But I wouldn't really worry about the whole zero torque craze. I'm not exactly sure what the zero torque craze is, but I'm I'm familiar with the term when it comes to running. Next question: how to get ready for the worm log PT at RASP? Do you need to practice doing log PT? I don't think I would.

[00:23:05] Kevin Smith: If you have solid overhead mobility and solid overhead strength, then you should be totally fine. I personally, at selection, I was when I went to SFAS, they still did log PT back then and rifle PT, but we're talking log PT here. And I was way weaker than I am right now. And I had worse overhead mobility than I do right now, and I was still fine. So I would, it's it's a lot of it's mental, but if you're generally strong and you do some overhead pressing style work, that doesn't mean you have to do overhead strict barbell pressing all the time. You can do dumbbells, you can use machines, whatever have you, and you do some overhead mobility. Ideally, you can carry like kettlebells with our locked-out arms overhead. A lot of people, this blows my mind. This is a little tangent, but we'll we'll get back to the speed. A lot of people will do barbell overhead presses, which is definitely the most high-skill overhead press out of all of like compared to dumbbells, machines, etc., and the highest mobility requiring overhead press.

[00:24:02] Kevin Smith: And the same people can't walk overhead with a locked-out arm with a 30-pound kettlebell over their head, and they wonder why their shoulders hurt. It's because you should not be doing barbell overhead press if you can't walk overhead with a locked-out arm with a really light kettlebell. You don't have the mobility or the stability for it. So, anyway, just get strong overhead and also do some overhead mobility work. Have some mental fortitude. Hopefully, you got I'm guessing you have a few guys on your team on one big log. I'm not sure if it's like a one-person log or if it's a multi-person log. I'm guessing it's the latter, but hopefully you get some fit guys. If not, just suck it up and move on. It's it's really it looks a lot harder. It feels it seems a lot harder than it actually is. It's pretty miserable. Like log PT sucked at selection, but it it wasn't that bad.

[00:24:50] Kevin Smith: Next question: any knowledge of physical therapists in the military or kinesiology background? I do I have any knowledge of physical therapists? I mean, there are physical therapists at both groups I was at. So I guess I know of them. I usually avoided them. They were very, very by the book and very not into continuing their education, let's just say, and I am not you guys, anyone who's been listening for a while knows my take on correctives and mobility snacks and tissue prep and overemphasis on recovery methods that aren't sleep and nutrition and light movement and relaxing. So I usually steered clear of the physical therapists for the most part.

[00:25:37] Kevin Smith: And I that doesn't mean they're all bad, but for the most part, I mean physical therapists just like any profession. Some are really good, some of them are average, some of them suck, and I wouldn't want anyone near them that I want care about, like being capable and fit and intact. So any knowledge of them. Yeah, I have knowledge of them. And what was the second part? Or kinesiology background. I'm not sure what you mean by or kinesiology background. I don't know if you're asking if you have a kinesiology background. Can it help you in the military? I mean, maybe in a roundabout way for certain MOSs. But yeah, I'm not sure exactly. This is this is part of answering every question. Next question JG2 after JG 3.0.

[00:26:24] Kevin Smith: Yes, this is totally fine. Any of the Jackazells can be followed in any order. Ideally, like the perfect way to do it would be JG1, then two, then three, but no problem at all doing three. What is it? What'd you say? You said two after three. That's totally fine. Next question: what does a successful 18x slash option 40 guy look like physically, mentally, etc.? Okay, so yeah, this could be a very, very nuanced question that I could go for a long time on. But of course, physical fitness, you gotta be physically robust enough to meet all the standards. Ideally, you shoot to smash all the standards. So running endurance, rucking endurance, general full body strength, calisthenics. Ideally, you look the part so you're not fat, sloppy. Looking the part can come in many different shapes and sizes.

[00:27:10] Kevin Smith: I think it was episode 226 where I talked about looking the part as it pertains to SF guys. So you can go back and listen to that one. I would say Ranger's pretty similar, but you don't have to look like Rambo, you don't have to look like a cover model, but you want to look like you respect yourself. And respecting yourself means that you do the right things in the kitchen, you have discipline in the kitchen. Discipline is the highest form of self-respect, and the most blatant way to show other people that you are disciplined and therefore you respect yourself is your appearance. And further down than that is your nutrition, what you decide or don't decide to put in your mouth based on right and wrong versus based on how you're feeling. Generally, if you make nutrition choices based on right and wrong, good things are gonna happen.

[00:27:55] Kevin Smith: If you make nutrition choices based on how you feel, not so good things. You want to be confident, you want to be solid at communication, you want to be a good, strong leader and sure of yourself, a strong decision maker, strong character traits, integrity, there for the boys. Like you don't want to be in it for yourself. And of course, you need to be good at learning, picking things up, you need to be willing to work hard, you have to be mentally tough, you gotta have a lot of grit, fortitude, tenacity, resilience, adaptability. Those are all very, very important traits for GBs and or rasp guys. So that should give you a pretty good start at the like the very top overarching principles. Next question: at what point, be it scale weight or body fat percentage, do you move from a cut to recomp?

[00:28:46] Kevin Smith: So I don't like to go by scale weight or body comp because scale weight is just really person dependent. Well, like I don't even know you. What if I told you 160 pounds and you're already 159 pounds? Or what if I told you 160 pounds and you're a big fella and getting to 160 pounds means you'd have to chop your leg off? And then body fat percentage, depending on like if I knew where you were starting, I could give you a pretty good idea. But I like to go on time. 12 weeks or so is what I consider like ideal, maximum about 16 weeks before I would start to think about, or I would definitely think about getting out of the cut, going on a diet break, going back up to maintenance for at least probably a month before getting, like, if you still have body fat to lose after that, like your 16 weeks is up, you get out of the cut, you go back to maintenance, you still got body fat to lose, then you go back into the cut and you're fine.

[00:29:38] Kevin Smith: But you want to allow your metabol metabolic health to kind of reset for lack of a better term. You want to allow your hormone health to improve because if you're in a cut for four months, like your metabolism is gonna downregulate, you're gonna probably feel really hungry, you're gonna feel low energy, you're not gonna feel great, your thyroid's gonna downregulate, you're probably gonna have low testosterone, depending on whether you're natty or not, but your other hormones are gonna be a little bit imbalanced and not functioning at their best capacity. So just giving yourself a mental break as well as a physical break is a really good idea. Oftentimes, guys or gals who are in cuts for way too long, they do a lot of damage that is gonna take a lot of time on the back end to resolve, and or maybe it might not even resolve without actual like hormone replacement or other pharmacological interventions.

[00:30:31] Kevin Smith: So you want to go easy on yourself. If you have a lot, a lot, a lot of fat to lose and it takes you longer than 16 weeks, that's totally fine. But I would not continue, even if you're really stubborn, even if you are super mentally tough, I would not just continue just because you want to get there. It's not a good idea. Next question Fatigue mask plus got sick on time trial week seven, two and five mile. Keep current times for part two or recover for better time trial. Fatigue mask plus got sick on the time trial week halfway through two and five mile. Should you just keep your times from phase one or recover in I it's up to you. I would say probably do a couple weeks of phase two, like once you feel better, of course, and maybe do some easy, definitely do some easy runs getting back into it.

[00:31:20] Kevin Smith: Don't just like, oh, I feel better, I'm gonna go to whatever it is 12 by 400 on day one of phase two, but like do some easy runs, get back into it. Maybe do a couple weeks of training so you're getting your legs back under you, you're doing a couple of speed sessions, you're doing a couple of tempo sessions, and then maybe take a few days of just like dialed back, maybe three days where you don't do much, maybe a little bit of shakeout running. Do your time trials. I would do like the two mile and then a day off and then the five mile, or maybe two days off, but you could just do one day off. You could do them back-to-back days, wouldn't be ideal, but I would say every other like do two mile, day off, five mile, and then take another couple easy days. So basically like a delo week, but you're also doing the time trials in the middle of the week. You're just taking an easy pre and post-time trial and then get right back into the program.

[00:32:06] Kevin Smith: It'll be a little wonky, but you'll have some good solid times for the last few weeks and it'll be up to date, and you'll be able to see your the progress you made too. It may not be the same exact progress as it would have been had you not got sick, but it shouldn't be that far off. And still, in the future, you can continue making more progress. I wouldn't get too down about it if it's like not exactly what you expected. Next question: why did you decide to get out of the army? So I was coming up on my 12th year, which basically I was coming up on the end of my enlistment, my current enlistment. And considering the fact I was 12 years in, I would have had to either reenlist for in-death, which basically means I would have stayed in for eight more years until I hit 20 and retired, or med retired, which unless I got really badly hurt, like probably wouldn't have happened, or I could get out.

[00:32:55] Kevin Smith: And I had started TTM on the side, and I slowly but surely found that I was more fulfilled and more interested and more kind of all in on TTM as I got towards the end of my military contract, and to be a Green Beret and take yourself seriously and like have high integrity, which I is one of my biggest values. I feel like I have to be all in in order to do it. And had I re-enlisted, I would not have been all in, and that I just didn't think that was fair to those around me, and I just wanted to see what I could do if I went all in on Terminator training. And I wasn't making any money at the time, so it was a pretty big risk. I was maybe selling a couple programs per month, so really basically nothing.

[00:33:42] Kevin Smith: So it was a big risk, but it kind of started slow, but it at this point it's definitely worked out. Like I'm very happy where I'm at. I am making more money than I was from the army, and I'm more fulfilled, and now I have a kid and I get to see him every day, thank goodness. I mean, plenty of people do have kids while they're in and they make it work, but I am very happy that I get to see my boy every day, and I don't have to leave periodically for long periods of time in for deployments or training sessions or whatever where I'm far away from my family, and wouldn't have it any other way, to be honest. Next question: how do you weed out what are needle moving tasks and what is busy work? So, pretty simple, not easy.

[00:34:28] Kevin Smith: A lot of people spend their time doing busy work because it's more exciting and you feel like maybe it's getting you somewhere, but it's really not. So, this is probably I'm guessing you're talking about like business or some sort of personal development endeavor. But what I do is I ask myself, what is the end goal? And if what I'm doing right now is going to some in some way, shape, or form bring me closer to the end goal, then it is needle moving. If it is not bringing me closer, or if it's bringing me further away from the end goal, then it's not needle moving, it's busy work. So, for example, like right now, my big tasks, of course, like I pay attention to my clients, I update their programs, I'm bringing some clients on this month.

[00:35:14] Kevin Smith: So, like these are big tasks that like are needle moving tasks because clients pay me and it's part of my business. But I also have a program I'm working on. So anytime I go and work on my program, and by the way, at this point, I am so close to being done, the excitement has worn off. So everything I do every single day on the program right now is like the fine minute details, and these little details that I pay attention to, they are not enjoyable, they're not like there's no novelty to them. I'm basically staring at the same thing every single day and just making these fine-tuned adjustments. But these things separate our programs, they set our programs apart, and therefore we sell a lot of them, and therefore, like it's a good way to set our business apart in the marketplace.

[00:36:00] Kevin Smith: So it's a needle-moving thing because it's gonna help me sell more programs, it's also gonna help more people get jacked because the more thorough the program is, the more, the better it's gonna work. So little needle little things like that are needle-moving things. If I were to get bored with that and go start doing something else that's random, like, oh, let's start on this next program or let's start on this next ebook, whatever have you. Yeah, one could argue that's needle moving, but right now it is not the most pressing task. That is a future task for future me. Even though it'd be more exciting and I'd enjoy it more, it'd be more novel. Eventually it would get stale, but at the beginning it'd be more novel. That is not part of the plan right now. So that would be like busy work. And there are a bunch of other things, like a lot of people will go on email all day, or they'll have meetings, like, oh, let's have all these meetings.

[00:36:51] Kevin Smith: These are gonna be really, really important meetings, and they're gonna move the needle. They really don't move the needle, it's just like a waste of time to have a bunch of meetings. Not that all meetings are waste of times, but excessive meeting having is a very, very common thing in a lot of businesses, and it doesn't really get anyone anywhere. It makes them feel productive, it makes them feel like they're doing something right, but it really isn't. Same with checking email, same with things like that. So ask yourself is this taking me closer to my end goal? Yes, okay, it's needle moving. And it could be, it doesn't have to be necessarily be like directly. If it's you're gaining knowledge, you're getting better at a skill set, or you are learning something that is gonna make your business stronger, or you're developing a system, or you're working with a coach that's gonna help you. Those things are also needle moving, even if they're not directly like the direct inputs from those are not actually going into improving whatever you're trying to pursue.

[00:37:44] Kevin Smith: So pretty simple, just not easy. A lot of people do a lot of busy work. Alright, next question best exercises to supplement and improve rucking and running. Honestly, your best bet at getting better at running is to run. And your best bet at getting better at rucking is to ruck. Yes, there are certain things like playos and lifting in the gym, getting stronger. Those things can help for sure. Doing some cross-training, biking, rowing, swimming, whatever have you, to give your joints a little bit of a break, but specificity is key. Nothing will get you better at running than running. And nothing will get you better at rucking than rucking. That is why the best runners in the world, almost all their training is running or something in support of running, like lifting in playos.

[00:38:32] Kevin Smith: And the best people at rucking, the best ruckers I've ever been around, especially those who can do it day after day, like in selection, they do plenty of rucking. So, nothing crazy. Next question: best programs for option 40, either yours or outside resources you recommend. So, best programs I have before you go to basic would be Jackazelle 3.0 or 2 and 5 mile or 2 and 5 mile, then Jack Azell 3.0, or you could hop on T850, my training team. Those are all awesome hybrid programs. And you don't need to be training specifically for RASP before you go to basic training. A lot of people do. A lot of people will follow Ruck Run Lift before they go to basic training or OSIT, not a very good idea. If you have the ability to, between like when you get done with OSIT and before you go to RASP, if you want to follow a selection prep program, Ruck Run Lift is definitely, I mean, I'm biased, of course, but it's probably the best RASP program there is.

[00:39:28] Kevin Smith: And also it works for other ruck-based selections, run-based selections. There's a bunch of different ways you can kind of choose your own adventure. I do have a full episode that breaks down the whole program. I don't know, I can't remember what episode it is, but if you go to my YouTube and type in Ruck Run Lift on the search bar, it should bring you to it, like breaking down the ultimate selection prep program or something like that. But those would be your rest. Next question: what's the best program to run post Ruck Run Lift? Want to maintain running gains? Yeah, so ideally after Ruck Run Lift, which is a selection prep program, you attend selection. That would be the best thing to do after Ruck Run Lift. But since you ran Ruck Run Lift just randomly, if you want to maintain your run gains, I would do run advanced.

[00:40:15] Kevin Smith: That would be a good idea. You're gonna do less rucking, less lifting, but a lot of running, and that is by far my best running, most running bias program. But if you if you're listening to this and you haven't done ruck run lift or you haven't come off two and five mile, or you haven't come off, I would say JG3, then I would start with one of those. Don't start with ruck run lift, start with JG3 or two and five mile, then do run advanced. It starts at like 25 to 28 miles per week and it works up to high 40s, low 50s, just depending on how good of a runner you are. But yeah, for those listening, follow selection prep programs, ideally, one time leading into selection. Training for selection, doing a selection prep program is not longevity friendly. It is totally arbitrary to do it when you're not going to selection.

[00:41:02] Kevin Smith: I talk about this a lot. Obviously, this person hasn't heard me answer this, but for those who are wondering, don't do selection prep unless you're going to selection. Next question Is conjugate style training effective for SFAS candidates with a strength background? So it can be if you know what you're doing. I have a little bit of a conjugate flair to some of my hybrid programs, but it's not like conjugate as in what you're probably familiar with, West Side style, where you do dynamic max effort stuff early in the week, dynamic effort stuff later in the week. Although I do set up my programs to have higher intensity, lower volume normally at the beginning of the week, and then a little bit lower intensity, higher volume towards the end of the week, both with lifting as well as conditioning, especially strength bias programs, a little bit different for a hypertrophy program.

[00:41:53] Kevin Smith: Like Jackaz L 2.0 is a little more hypertrophy biased for as far as a hybrid program, but it's not exactly the same. And there's a big time art component to making a really high quality, like an elite hybrid program or selection prep program. So even if you have a background in doing hybrid strength training, unless you know what you're doing as far as like incorporating the more important stuff, which is the endurance training, into it. I mean, you could you could make it work, you could try it, try it, do it yourself. But I would say, I mean, best of luck. That's all I'll say. Next question advice for rehabbing IT band pain with running and rucking. So, I mean, there's a lot of different things that go into this, but one thing I don't recommend doing at all, even though most people do this, is actually foam rolling your IT band.

[00:42:41] Kevin Smith: Your IT band is fascia. Foam rolling non-muscles basically in your body is essentially useless. And in fact, if you foam roll the hell out of your IT band, which a lot of people do, it's just gonna make it worse. If you've had IT band issues before and you foam roll the hell out of your IT band, you'll probably thinking back on it, you'll probably be like, oh yeah, it didn't make my IT band any better or my IT band issues any better. It may have, in a roundabout way, like you took time off from other things, and the time off helped your IT band issues go away, but it wasn't the foam you you did the foam rolling during that time off, but it wasn't the foam rolling, it was the time off. Anyway, don't foam roll your IT band. You can definitely, you should, foam roll the muscles around it.

[00:43:28] Kevin Smith: So your, what is it, your vastus lateralis, the outer quad muscle. You can foam roll your other parts of your quads, you can foam roll your rec fam, like the the top of your quad. You can foam roll your VMO, you can foam roll your calves. I would definitely do that. I would take a lacrosse ball, really get into the glute. I would also do a good amount of hip and ankle mobility. If it's bothering you right now with running and rucking, I would take a little bit of time, maybe not off running and rucking, but at least reduce the stress from that. So maybe do some cross training. Most of the These things resolve with time. And when I say time, I don't mean like don't train at all. I just mean reduce how much stress you're giving to that area right now.

[00:44:15] Kevin Smith: Allow it some time to like reduce inflammation. Again, work a little bit on mobility, do a little foam rolling to the musculature that surrounds it. Do some training that doesn't involve making it worse, like running and rucking. When you get back into rucking and running, or you rebuild your volume back higher up, make sure you're doing so at a reasonable manner. You're not doing too much too soon. You're treating them as skills. You are really paying attention to your cadence, your running form, etc. And over time it should get better. But don't just foam roll away like you're rolling out pizza dough on pizza night on your IT band. That is not going to do anything. If anything, it's just gonna make it more inflamed. Next question.

[00:45:00] Kevin Smith: Ooh, man, this one, this one's gonna be tough. I'm gonna try. How would you train for a 1.5 kilometer plus 20 foot 20 second rest plus 8 kilometer less than 40? Yeah, man. Uh French SF. I don't know if I can read this one. There's a lot of colons and semicolons and yeah. I I can't get this one. Sorry, bro. Next question: how to program for a base building phase of running while still hitting the gym. Yeah, I mean, pretty easy. Do a few runs per week. I would listen to my episode 95 all about base building. I would also add some. I didn't really mention any of the touching on speed that I would add.

[00:45:47] Kevin Smith: So maybe once or twice a week, do some strides, maybe once a week, do some steep hill sprints with long rest periods, working on power, like eight to ten second hill sprints, very low volume, long rest periods. And then you can kind of, and as long as you're not doing an insane amount of lifting volume, I would say three days a week full body for most people would be a good idea, or like upper lower full, or like an upper biased full body day, lower biased full body day, more balanced full body day. Or you could do uh upper, lower, upper lower, something like that, four four days a week. Most people honestly don't need five days a week of lifting. I'm just gonna say that right now, even if you're not doing a lot of intense conditioning, if you can't make gains on four days per week, it is not the number of days per week that you're training. It is something else. It's either in your programming, your programming's all over the map, or your lifestyle is all over the map, or it's both.

[00:46:36] Kevin Smith: So you can kind of follow whatever as far as whatever your lifting goals are. If you want to get jacked, you want to get strong. As long as the volume's not crazy, crazy high and it's decent exercise selection, it's not just smashing you up, then you should be able to just do base building and the programming. You don't have to set it up like a hybrid programming methodology where you're having really high intensity runs and you're trying to fit your lifting in around those because all the runs are basically easy, even strides, you're running faster, but it's not super fatiguing if you're doing them right. And the hill sprints are so short and so low volume and so infrequent, they shouldn't really interfere. Next question Over 60 here. Recovery? What's that? What now? Not a power lifter, bodybuilder, or road racer, still training.

[00:47:23] Kevin Smith: My man. I don't know if that if you're trying to get an answer to a question or whatever, but keep smashing, dude. Keep training. I don't care if you're not a power lifter, bodybuilder, or road racer. Just do your thing. Next question Is it bad to sleep in slash catch up on sleep after a physical FTX with limited sleep? No, I would recommend doing that. Ideally, you get back onto a generally similar sleep schedule to what you have coming up, like if you're going back to work. But a couple days where you sleep, you go to bed earlier, ideally, and you sleep in, I would say you're way better off than sleeping in, you're way better off going to bed early and waking up at around the same time that you're going to need to wake up for your next upcoming work week or whatever.

[00:48:08] Kevin Smith: Way better off than staying up late and sleeping in. But trying to get extra sleep after a physical FTX where you didn't sleep much is a really good idea if you want to get back to being able to train hard, recover, not get sick, and things like that. Next question: Would you ever run a class on medical/slash marksmanship in the Bragg area? So I don't know if it looks like I have all this extra bandwidth, like running my business, my training, golf, raising my newborn, being there for my wife, etc. But honestly, I don't. And this would be a massive bandwidth suck. Because mainly, one, I would have to significantly brush up, brush up on both of these things. I wasn't even a medic for the last two years or so of my career. I was an 18 Fox. So I would have to do a lot of refreshing on my medical skills and my medical instruction.

[00:48:58] Kevin Smith: And I haven't shot much since I've been out. So I'd have to do a lot of brush up on my marksmanship as well as my ability to teach marksmanship. So this is just way outside my lane. It would be like someone who does medical or marksmanship classes. It'd be like you asking them, you ever plan on doing a fitness seminar? Because you used to do a job that involved fitness? Probably not. They'd probably have to go way out of their way in order to educate themselves, and it would just be a massive bandwidth suck, and it would take away from all the things that they're currently doing. So I try my very best not to chase squirrels. And I'm pretty good at sometimes I do chase squirrels and I do things that I probably shouldn't do, but I'm pretty good at just focusing on the task at hand, and this would not not not be focusing on the task at hand whatsoever.

[00:49:49] Kevin Smith: So I am not your guy for this type of thing. Next question: how would you handle JG 3.0 or T850 for a soldier with unpredictable deployments slash fields? So I would opt for T-850. That way you can hop on and hop off like you're not paying for it while you're in the field. I mean, you could, I guess, Jackazelle, you just pay for it once, and you can follow it when you want. You're gonna have it forever, basically. So either one is fine. But there's so many different uh it just it depends. I I would need to know like what your schedule looks like, and I would need to know what your goals and your timelines look like, how long you're going out in the field, how often you're going out in the field, unpredictability.

[00:50:35] Kevin Smith: I mean, what is that like? Are you this is going back to the very first question? The custom programming versus the for the masses programming. Ideally, you do some auto-regulation, you listen to your body. You I would say probably start from the week that you left off. If you go to the field, it's just so hard to answer because if you go to the field for two weeks versus two days or three days, I would have a different answer for you. If you are going to the field really often, but really often once a month, that's a different answer than really often every other week or maybe every three months or whatever have you. So auto-regulation is your best friend listening to your body, not trying to make up for all the shit. I I will give some principles. So instead of not answering your question, one mistake people make is they come back from the field and they're mad at themselves for whatever reason, even though it's not their fault, they were in the field, they're like, oh damn, I've lost so much, I'm a piece of shit.

[00:51:31] Kevin Smith: So they try and either like double up on training and like punish themselves for missing training, or they try and like make up for lost ground, or they'll come back and they'll just look at whatever's next in the program and just do that no matter what. Like, oh, I haven't I've been in the field for 10 days. I haven't ate much, I haven't slept much. I'm just gonna go and do this 8x400 meter workout in this leg day, day one. Not a very good idea. What you can do is train like pretty damn hard going into the field and almost use the field as like a pseudo-deload, even though, of course, being in the field is like high stress. You're not training at least, so you're giving your body a little bit of a break from the actual structured training. So that can be one thing if it's a few days, but if it's longer, then it's not really a delo.

[00:52:18] Kevin Smith: Then you're gonna have to like kind of build rebuild back in, maybe have some easier days where you keep lifting volume a little lower. I would say coming back into it, you want to consider what's the most fatiguing. So lifting volume is more fatiguing than lifting intensity. You can train pretty hard, but I would drop sets from compound lifts first sessions back, and then add your sets as you go. And then intensity or conditioning-wise, intensity is going to be more fatiguing. So ease back into your running, your rucking, whatever you're doing with easier runs, maybe some strides, get your feet back under you, and then get back into the intense stuff. But it's just really hard to answer without specifics, and I get questions like this all the time. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I would need to know specifics. And again, this just goes back to the custom programming thing.

[00:53:04] Kevin Smith: Next question: should I try and maintain 180 BPM on zone two runs? No, I would not try and maintain 180 BPM. Not because, not just because 180 BPM is probably higher than zone 2 for you. It will be for most people unless you're an outlier. Shooting for a single heart rate is you could replace 180 BPM with any number, and I would still say it's a bad idea. Especially, I'm guessing just by the way that question is asked, you're not very experienced with running, which is fine, you gotta start somewhere. But a new runner trying to shoot for a single heart rate on their zone two runs is just missing the forest for the trees, you're gonna focus on things that you should not be focusing on. You should go out and focus on running easy, subjectively easy. This is pretty damn easy.

[00:53:50] Kevin Smith: You could use an RPE scale if you want. One RPE is walking to the fridge to grab a snack. Ten RPE is the last 200 meters of a two-mile run. Right in the middle there. That should be your zone two. You could also use the ability to talk. If you can say a 10 to 12 word sentence or hold a conversation, you still are breathing, but you're able to hold a conversation, that's around zone two. Even if you go a little higher than zone two, not a big deal. You're probably not running enough. So don't he? I mean, you could use heart rate if you want, but I just don't like it for new runners. I absolutely hate it. Guys get way, way, way too wrapped around the axle. They're looking at their watch every three seconds, every three seconds. They don't make any decisions based on how their body feels. It's all based on how they're what their watch is telling them. And you don't want to become a puppet to your watch.

[00:54:38] Kevin Smith: You want to be in tune with your body and able to decide things based on how you're feeling. So focus on one, running easy, two, increasing your volume over time, three, getting really good at the skill of running. Understanding that running is a skill and it's a very high skill thing. If you look at a running venue, uh people like place where people go and run, you will quickly see that most people's running form is absolutely it's like a dumpster, like a bunch of different untamed dumpster fires all over the running venue. Because most people don't treat it as a skill, and they just aren't athletic and they they don't respect the fact that running is a skill. So if you, as a new runner, can start from day one, I'm gonna go get really, really good at running.

[00:55:24] Kevin Smith: I'm gonna really focus on my cadence, really focus on my form, and treat it like that and go easy. You're gonna be setting yourself up for future success. Next question. What does the current culture of SF look like? Still savage and dialed? I have been out of SF for the last three years, but yeah, I would say they're pretty savage and dialed. I mean, you're gonna have guys in SF from all in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life. You're gonna have guys who party hard, don't take their fitness that seriously. They still perform. Most of these guys that like party super hard, they go hunting on weekends, whatever. They only work out like if they're told to. A lot of these guys are like weirdly decently fit. They're not super studs, but they're fit enough to like hold their own, and they're really usually really tough.

[00:56:11] Kevin Smith: I can think of a couple guys in my recent team that this applies to perfectly. Like, they're not the most fit dudes, they're not gonna get great PT scores, they're gonna get an like do well enough to meet the standards, but they're just super tough and they're never gonna be that liability. They just they're super tough individuals and they get it done. Some guys slip through cracks, there's some bad apples that just let their fitness slide, and I don't stand for it, and I'm not, you know, I I throughout my career I was relatively it was clear that I was not a fan of guys that got complacent about their fitness, their nutrition, etc. So I don't really stand for that, but that's not the average guy. There's definitely some guys like that, and then some guys are absolute savages, so it's a mixed bag, but yeah, I would say savage and dialed would be would apply to a lot of people, but it definitely doesn't apply to everyone as far as like their lifestyle.

[00:57:05] Kevin Smith: But when it comes to day-to-day, like the best Green Berets, when it comes to day-to-day work, dudes are very, very much high speed and into their job and absolute killers and savages, even no matter what they do outside of the duty day or outside of the mission, dudes are focused. For the most part, dudes are focused and they want to crush and they want to do right by the guys behind to their left and right, and they look out for their buddies and they're badasses, they're the two type of dudes you want fighting for your country. So hopefully that answers your question. Alright. Losing my ability to talk. So I'm just gonna finish this page of questions. Next question: will I see run gains in JG3 if I do it after two and five mile and run advanced?

[00:57:53] Kevin Smith: Is that okay before going option 40? To answer your second part, yeah, totally fine. Great option. For the first part, you're probably not gonna see a whole lot of gains because you are pretty much cutting your running volume in half and you're gonna be doing a lot more lifting. So run advanced is very much run biased and it does not have a lot of lifting. The lifting is just in support of running, it's not a hybrid program. Then you're going into Jack Azell 3.0, so you've made probably, I'm guessing, a pretty good amount of run gains coming off two running programs. So you're gonna it's gonna be good for you to dial back your running for a little while. You're still gonna do some running, so at worst, I would expect to maintain your running, but you're also gonna be exposed to a lot more productive strength training, so you're gonna get stronger, you're gonna get better at calisthenics as well, which is important going in.

[00:58:38] Kevin Smith: So will you get better? And there's just so many other factors too. What you do outside the gym, your nutrition, your sleep, your stress management, your daily habits, what you do, what you don't do. If you go out drinking at night or on weekends, all these things are other factors that can potentially determine your gains. So I doubt you'll make significant run gains. You still might make some. If you are coming from like no running background, you might make some run gains on Jack's L 3.0, even though you're cutting your volume back. Because the running is very intentional. There's not a lot of like easy runs, like there are in, and there's not like the weekend long runs are not as long as they are in Run Advanced, but still it's very intentional. So you should at least maintain you might make some small gains.

[00:59:25] Kevin Smith: Next question: can dips be subbed as a primary press in T850? I don't have the program open in front of me right now, so I can't remember if dips are. I want to say dips are on one of the days, but I can't remember. I mean dips would be I would consider dips more of like a secondary press, although you could definitely argue that like weighted dips or machine dips would be a primary press, like a bottom of like lower pec primary pressing exercise, almost like a decline bench. I like dips a lot better, especially machine dips, but I also like weighted dips like chest bias ones. So if you're subbing it on a day that already has dips, then no. If you're subbing it on another day, I don't love doing dips twice a week.

[01:00:11] Kevin Smith: Unless one day is more tricep bias dips, and the other day is more chest biased, maybe one day is machine dips, the other day is body weight dips, maybe one day's weighted dips, the other day's body weight dips, that's a little more fair. But if you're doing like main lift dips twice per week, that can be a little bit rough on the shoulders, a little bit redundant as well. I'd rather you have you do like dips one day in a low incline press with dumbbells or a machine or a barbell or Smith machine on another day or even a flat press. So again, I don't have the program in front of me, but I would just use those principles to make your decision. Next question: best prep for BorTac 12 months out. I would say probably T850. Just hop on T850. You can try it for a week for free and see if you like it.

[01:00:59] Kevin Smith: But BorTac, as far as I know, I'm I'm not familiar with like the down and dirty specifics, but if you're a really good, robust hybrid athlete, then you're gonna do well. Other options would be like the Jackazell's two and five mile, things like that. Next question: any single leg machine exercises you swear by? Yes, I am a huge fan of the split squat, rear foot elevate elevated split squat, losing my ability to talk. RFE split squat and or the reverse lunge on. I like the Roger Squat. These are not commonly found in gyms, but the Roger Squat's great because they have pads that kind of go over your shoulder, it's almost like a safety bar. And they also have multiple weight horns. So you can, if you know what you're doing, you can adjust the resistance profile so you can make it heavier at the bottom or heavier mid-range or heavier at the top lockout, depending on what you're training, what you're biasing.

[01:01:52] Kevin Smith: So I really like that. However, not a lot of gyms have them, so Smith Machine is totally fine. And if your goal is maximum muscle growth and or maximum strength, your best bet is to use a machine because it's gonna be more stable. And the less you have to externally stabilize yourself, the more tension you're gonna be able to place on the tissue, especially for hypertrophy. One could argue strength doing free weights could be beneficial, especially if you're like doing it as like a squat, like a back squat assistance movement movement, doing it with like a safety bar or a regular bar could be a decent idea. But I love machine single leg stuff. It's way better than dumbbells, way better than anything else for hypertrophy. And it's the stability component. That is the reason why. Couple things.

[01:02:38] Kevin Smith: One, give yourself a deficit. So if you're just doing them with both feet on the floor, you're not gonna be going deep enough to like really get good solid stretch on the glutes and or the quads, whatever you're kind of biasing, to make it as effective as possible because your back knee is going to bottom out. So what I do is take a 45 and a 25 pound bumper plate and put them under my front foot. That gives me a couple extra inches of ground clearance so I can step back, get a little bit more ROM. My hip crease is well, well, well below. I go hamstrings to calves on these. Not everyone's going to do this. I honestly have never seen anyone doing this basically in person. I'm sure other people do it, but it's very rare to see someone squat hamstrings strings to calves bilaterally, let alone single leg. But I go hamstrings to calves, get that really, really, really good stretch.

[01:03:24] Kevin Smith: This is if I'm going for quad bias. I'm going glute bias. I don't do the same thing because your shin's gonna be more vertical, but neither here nor there. Anyway, get that good stretch because you have that deficit, and really the other thing is really train them hard. Almost nobody trains single leg stuff hard. You should do one leg at a time if you want to make gains, strength gains, or hypertrophy gains, one leg at a time. That way you're not limited by your cardiovascular system going leg to leg to leg. And you should need desperately need rest in between legs. So let's say I train my right leg first. If I don't need at least for me, I take two to three minutes of rest between legs. But depending on how strong you are, if you don't need desperately need rest after that first leg, you can go straight into your second leg, you did not take that first leg hard enough, not even close to make it an actual effective set, unless you're doing like ten sets, which I is the least practical thing I can think of.

[01:04:22] Kevin Smith: If you want if you're doing like two or three sets, which you should be for a single leg exercise, because that's really four to six sets if you're doing it right, you need you should be able to train, you should be training very, very close to failure and therefore needing rest between legs. And almost nobody does this. So those are the two big things deficit and rest. But yeah, big fan of both of those. If I gave the nod to one of them, I would say split squat, but I really like the reverse lunge. Just note that if you haven't done the reverse lunge in a while, you're gonna be very sore in the especially adductors your first week, depending on how you execute them. But the adductors are putting you're putting the adductors on a under a big, big stretch, and you'll be sore, but great movement. Alright, two more questions. Felt great during a lift and a run on a program. Felt great during a lift and a run on a program.

[01:05:10] Kevin Smith: Should I add volume in this case or stick to the plan? Yeah, so again, this is one question that just it makes me think like the that the person asking it is not as accustomed to training, especially hybrid training. Maybe you're a more of a beginner, and that's totally fine. You gotta start somewhere, just the way the question's asked. You'll find as you continue training, you're not gonna feel great every single time you train, unfortunately. Some days you're gonna feel awesome, some days you're gonna feel mediocre. I would say most days are gonna be pretty mediocre days you're not gonna write home to mama about. Some days you're gonna feel horrendous, and all those are valuable. You can still train when you feel bad, not a big deal. Unless it's like a recurring thing, you're just getting worse and worse.

[01:05:56] Kevin Smith: Yeah, you should probably intervene. But just to Expect that. So if every time you feel really good on a training session, you just sue a sponte and add stuff to it and do more or go harder, whatever, eventually you're going to hit points of either diminishing returns where like you just can't make any more progress and you're probably just fatiguing yourself needlessly and doing too much, or you're going to hurt yourself. Or maybe you're going to overtrain or overreach and need to like take some serious time off. So I don't know what the program is, but I would not just base the fact that you felt good on one session. I would not use the fact that you felt really good on one session to just bump up the volume and crank it up and do more.

[01:06:43] Kevin Smith: I would trust the process. If you're on a shitty program, then I feel bad for saying trust the process because it might lead you astray. But if the program's decent, if it's one of my programs, I can confidently say you're in a good in good hands. But if it's a decent program, you should be good if you just stick to it to a T. In the future, if you like become more in tune, when you become more in tune with your body and better at auto-regulating, there's a time and place for dialing it back. There's a time and place for dialing it up. But early on in your training career, usually not the time or place. Next question Do you think newtonics actually improve focus, or could it just be placebo? So Newtonic is Chris Williamson and James Smith energy drink. Chris Williamson is, for those not aware, the host of the Modern Wisdom podcast, which is I recommend, highly recommend listening to if you don't.

[01:07:34] Kevin Smith: But they make an energy drink. And does it improve focus? I mean, it to me it's just like an energy drink. I drink coffee too, so it's not like I have like super sensitivity to caffeine, but I just treat it like any old energy drink. Yes, it has certain things in it, like L-pheanine. I would have to look at the ingredients. It's got some other ingredients in it that can help focus, but I don't when I take it, like when I drink one, which I've been drinking quite a few lately, I get them online. I think you can get them in stores, but I get them online and I really like them. They're delicious and they don't have a bunch of crap ingredients in them. But and the caffeine is reasonable. It's 125 milligrams. So if I drink one at like 11 a.m., it's not gonna keep me up. Like if I drank something that was 200, 300 milligrams. I don't drink those anymore, but I like them.

[01:08:21] Kevin Smith: They taste good and they give me a little bit of a boost, but they don't like they don't laser focus. It's not like taking a legit nootropic for me, at least, maybe for some people, but not for me. But pretty solid drink, and I like to support Chris Williamson because I have learned so, so, so, so, so, so, so much from that dude's podcast from so many different people, and I really look up to him because he is an incredible, incredible podcaster, and there's a reason. I think he's the number in 2025, 2025, he was number eight podcast in the world. So, again, if you don't listen to it, strongly recommend. Not every episode is super interesting. He has a wide, wide, wide variety of guests on, but he's a very, very good communicator, and you can learn so much from him. So his energy drinks are not cheap, but I have no problem supporting him because yeah, he's changed my life in many different ways.

[01:09:12] Kevin Smith: So, anyway, that was pretty wild. I don't know how many questions I got to, but it definitely challenged me. So hopefully you guys got something good out of that. Because I had a good time doing it. It's not gonna be every episode. I'm literally sweating from like changing different things that my brain's focusing on, but good times. Anyway, thank you guys very much for the awesome questions, and thank you for tuning in. I'll be back soon with another episode. Till then, Terminator Out. Thank you for listening. If you like this show and want to start crushing your goals, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And for more fitness content, follow me on Instagram at Terminator underscore training, or check out my website, Terminator Training.com. All right, guys, Terminator Out.