Ariana, Alex, and Trevor try to work out how they'd rate the relative importance of 20 training priorities, from 1-20 (1=most important, 20=least important). In this hour they manage to discuss roughly 10, so expect a second episode for sure. The theme of today is "It Depends."

The 20 "Commonly Discussed Priorities" are as follows (and in no particular order, trust me): Individualised coaching, NEAT, Structured training, General nutrition, Intra workout nutrition, Sleep, Training periodization, Training volume, Training specificity, Extra recovery (cold plunges, saunas, thera guns, etc), Body work (self or massages), Stretching and mobility, Mental grit, Consistency, Training Intensity, Training environment, Equipment, Data acquisition tools (smart watches, power meters, etc), Basic supplements (creatine, stimulants, protein), Specific supplements (fat burners, beta alanine, testosterone boosters).

Discussed at length were: Extra Recovery, Sleep, Intra Workout Nutrition, Mental Grit, Consistency, Training Environment, General Nutrition, and Training Specificity/Volume/Intensity as a "blob" rather than truly separate entities. I know.

Thankfully for you, we all had very different opinions!  Keep your eyes open for episode 2.

Join Ariana as she chats with Tyler Koch about his time working as a Subject Matter Expert for the United States Air Force, overseeing Human Performance within the F-35 fighter pilot community.

He was also integral in founding the first ever Human Performance Initiative within Undergraduate Pilot Training. He has an M.S. in Exercise Science from George Washington University and prior to his role in the Air Force, he owned a gym, worked with professional athletes, and thoroughly explored the private sector of strength and conditioning. Currently, Tyler is training to become a Physician Assistant at Penn State’s Medical School.

Discussed:

Immediately, Ariana getting Tyler's last name wrong, even though she asked him how to pronounce it right before she hit record

What it takes to be a Fighter Pilot, what school looks like, and what training looks like

The purpose of the Human Performance Initiative, and its positive impact on the fighter pilot community

Testing to become a fighter pilot: how do you train to resist 9 gs of force? How do you physically resist 9 times the force of gravity while piloting a jet?

You can reach Tyler via his Instagram:

@twominutemechanics

Tyler (@twominutemechanics) • Instagram photos and videos

Or via email, tylerkoch41@protonmail.com

Susan Lopez MS, RDN, CSSD, LD, TSAC*F is a Registered Dietitian working for a Special Operations unit, and boy does she have some fascinating insight for hybrid and tactical athletes.

Susan outlines the different strategies she uses for the two most common athlete archetypes she encounters in Special Operations, including approaching protein intake, total calories, supplementation, and working around their difficult and unpredictable lifestyles. Learn how she provides for her team by protecting their health and performance in the now, and designing their intake and supplement protocols to support their health and longevity in the military.

Follow Susan on In1stagram at @tactical.dietitian

Meet Jack Driscoll, self-proclaimed "overall fitness enjoyer," firefighter, coach, and phenomenal hybrid athlete. A guy who enjoys launching himself at a wide variety of fitness events, Jack burst into the competitive scene by winning Rally in the Valley, around the same time that he was tackling Hybricon Regionals, followed by a bodybuilding competition, and then an Ironman. Back to back to back. There may have been a powerlifting meet in there, too.

Jack discusses how he trained for a sub-3 hour marathon in 18 months, as a dude who "runs like a refrigerator" and doesn't even particularly like distance running. How did he trick himself into doing the long runs? How slowly, carefully, and sustainably did he start out? 

Fitness shouldn't be a punishment, and Jack finds joy in trying new things and developing his fitness in new ways. Jack of all trades, Master of none - with the unbeatable mindset that treats failure as a lesson and a challenge, not an end.

"Send it" with Jack as he trains for his 100-miler on Instagram at @jack.d_fitness

Kaleb is a tenured Spartan pro athlete, HYROX racer, DEKA athlete, and hybrid competitor - listen to him discuss how he arrived at this competitive level, what appeals to him about hybrid sport, and the pros and cons of being a "larger" competitor (6'3, 210+ lbs). On top of that, Kaleb is an upstanding gent and brilliant sportsman, bringing a ferocity and amicability to the start line that few people balance just right.

Kaleb discusses how he gets into the right mindset for competition, how that's evolved during his time as a competitor and after his time in the military, and how his network of fellow competitors keep him focused. Hybricon 2024 sounds like it's going to be lit, and he's already signed up for Rally in the Valley 2024.

Coming right off of crewing Kris Rugloski at the World's Toughest Mudder 2023, Kaleb discusses the planning and challenges that come with a 24 hour race (plan A needs a plan B, C, D, E, F, and Z), and the ways he's prepping for this DEKA and Hyrox Season alongside Hunter McIntyre.

Follow Kaleb on Instagram at @kaleb.yates.fitness

Follow BLDR at @bldrsports

Follow CHP at @completehumanperformance

Sit down (although I'm pretty sure he stood the whole time) with Phillip Muscarella, the champion of the 2023 Hybricon Games. 

• Dealing with competition anxiety, and operating from a place of gratitude and joy
• Coming into "hybrid" from a CrossFit background
• Differences and improvements from last year at the Hybricon Games
• Creating a balanced hybrid competition ("you can't call this a strength event if there's running in it") and seeing "creator bias" in event selection
• Bettering yourself and finding your fullest potential using sport
• The way a competition plays out doesn't represent you, or your total value, as a person. 
• "How big and strong can you be, but how fast can you still move?" Pushing the boundaries on both sides of the coin to find true human capability.
• The value of competition for development and growth

Listen in and leave your thoughts! 

Follow Phillip on IG at @pmuscky55

@officialsportacademy @hybricongames @thebattlebunker

@completehumanperformance

Join Director of Coaching Ariana Scalfo as she chats with her friend (and hero) Lauren Weeks. Lauren is a 3x Hyrox World Champion, CrossFit competitor, DekaFit solid, 2x GoRuck Games competitor, Spartan Games Champion, Spartan Race winner, and Battle Bunker finalist 2022/contender 2023. After her explosion into hybrid athletics thanks to Deka's unstoppable Yancy Culp, Lauren has dominated every sport she touches. She's also a mother of a 1 year old daughter, and has competed in nearly all of these competitions within the last year.

• What brought Lauren to hybrid training from CrossFit?
• How did she adjust her training initially, and how has her approach to training for these events evolved as she has spent more time training and competing?
• How does she choose which competitions to prioritize, when she's got so many to choose from?
• What were the challenges in pregnancy and postpartum, and how does she feel it's affected her priorities and fitness a year later?
• Advice for new moms (Ariana's 20 weeks into her own pregnancy, upon recording)
• What is her new training program, The Hybrid Engine, and how do they approach programming?
• What are the benefits of setting 'intentions' for individual weekly workouts, as well as strategies for races?
• How to approach your first race or event of a new kind
• And more.

You can find Lauren on Instagram at @lauren_e_weeks , and her training company The Hybrid Engine at @thehybridengine .

You can find Ariana at @running_peaches and @completehumanperformance

If you have any business or coaching inquiries for Lauren, you can email her at thehybridenginelauren@gmail.com

CHP Director of Coaching Ariana Scalfo sits down with Laura Gordon, who is both a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology and an extraordinarily talented hybrid athlete. Recently at Battle Bunker Regionals in Texas, Laura uses her career to educate her fitness and coaching practice, while simultaneously using her fitness and coaching practice to assist her in her career. Areas of interest for Laura include: trauma informed weight lifting, ocean therapy, recreational therapy, and breath work. Laura's sports include: surfing, weightlifting, running, big mountain adventures, and Deep End Fitness.

Listen in as Laura and Ariana discuss: 

• Laura's work in detox and addiction rehabilitation facilities
• What maladaptive coping mechanisms can look like at their most extreme, and their most "normalized"
• The benefits of graded exposure to noxious/uncomfortable stimuli for athletes, especially athletes with PTSD/CPTSD, substance abuse, or chronic pain or disease
• Replicating stress-scenarios that could be found in sport practice in training, safely (breath-holding under extreme stress to replicate stressful and dangerous surfing conditions, or grappling in MMA, etc)
• The differences between being competitively driven, and challenge-driven, and how they intersect and educate goal selection
• The importance of visualization and pre-activity mental preparedness and processes
• How these tools can be implemented by coaches and by athletes for themselves
• TBH, a lot more

To find Laura on Instagram, search @lauragordon__

To contact Laura for coaching, email her at Gordon.v.laura@gmail.com

Find Ariana on Instagram @running_peaches

@completehumanperformance

A 60min primer with Director of Coaching Ariana Scalfo on how to think about approaching nutrition as a hybrid athlete, including common mistakes, the best way to approach recomposition as a hybrid athlete, and answers to some more specific questions like:

Some hybrid/endurance athletes are using BCAAs during long runs/events - do you recommend?

Is the spacing of macronutrients throughout the day important, other than protein?

Training events and race nutrition - always train with race day nutrition? Or just race-pace/race replica workouts?

Supplements - should I take ??? ??? ??

Want to ask questions, learn more, or schedule a nutrition consult? 

www.completehumanperformance.com

IG: @completehumanperformance

@Running_peaches

Join CHP Director of Coaching Ariana Scalfo as she chats with Sam Hartman, longtime CHP client and collaborator, about a wide variety of topics that all circle back around to the importance of community in fitness. Hear what drew the two of them to CHP in the first place as clients, and how their personal goals have changed over the years; why CHP has so many military/LEO clients; tackling the complex question of how to get people moving; what CrossFit did right, and what it gets wrong; the positives and negatives of a "Goggins Mentality".

Have a question, need to contact the show, or are interested in training with Complete Human Performance?

You can email Ariana at: ariana@hybrid-academy.com

You can email Anthony at: anthony@hybrid-academy.com

Follow Sam Hartman on Instagram at @sam_metal

Follow TINAR Race Series on Instagram at @tinarraceseries

Follow Ariana on Instagram at @running_peaches

Follow CHP on Instagram at @completehumanperformance