Nick and Josh talk about Josh’s experiences being a father, coaching members, fixing people’s bodies, and using fitness to cope with life after the military.
Nick 00:12
So Josh, thanks for doing this. I have a bunch of questions for you. And we’re gonna dive into them. Josh has been with us for a long time. He’s a co-chair of SharkBite. He’s been in various roles here. Yeah. Going back to when we had a different name back in 2013. Yes, he’s Wow. He’s currently the head athletic therapist at athletic recovery services. And he’s been one of my best friends for a really long time. So I want to dive into one thing. First off, do talk to me, who are you? How long have you been interested in fitness? What brought you to SharkBite? All that stuff?
Josh 01:06
Yeah, it’s interesting. So I grew up here in the area, which you come from the other side of the stage, not many of us over here. And growing up, I wasn’t very athletic and just wasn’t there for it. And to find, you have a lot of things wrong with you growing up that you sometimes don’t find out about dressing until you get older. So I tried getting into fitness, but it’s like I always had painting and things like that. And I can never understand how it ended up making my way through the military. And when you’re in that setting, you don’t have a choice, but to kind of fall into the fitness lifestyle. Yeah. And it was interesting because you and I were both in around the same time frames. And that was around the time, like CrossFit and things like that were first starting to be foundational and start to creep their head in and make their way into society. And because the military was such a fitness driven community, especially out of the Marine Corps, there’s such a mindset about him. Like it had to be right, you had to be, we were making it. And then that’s where I really started to find it and fall in love with it. And it became a mainstay for me after getting out of the military. Cool.
Nick 02:04
And I mean, even with us, like you said in one way or another since like, 2013 2014, it’s been a really long time.
Josh 02:10
Yeah, it has.
Nick 02:12
You’ve been a good example of someone I think who has taken breaks from it right, you know, didn’t lose the love for it and chose to come back when it was the right time. And I always think that’s super cool.
Josh 02:23
Yeah, I think it’s a good example, like, we’re all people, we all have our own stories. Like there’s nothing, there’s nothing singular or replicable between yourself and your history and your background and myself and what I’ve been through and what I’ve done. And that’s unique, because it’s not a one style model that fits all. So I’ve gone through a lot of hard times, just as you and everybody else has, and I’ve had to step back and cope with them and the ways that worked for me for where I was at in my life. But I’ve been very fortunate because this became so integrated in it was always something that was there that was able to one help me when I really really needed it. And to just be something that has made me a better healthier person getting through life. Not just physically not really, mainly physically but mentally more than anything else.
Nick 03:08
Yeah, well, we’re gonna talk about that a bunch. But I know you and I both agree that the mental emotional portion of this is a whole lot more important than the physical part. Yeah, life changing. Like, okay, so your dad, you got a son, Landon, right. While to think because I’ve known you since you weren’t a dad,
Josh 03:26
we’re still kids. Yeah.
Nick 03:29
Talk to you about what it’s like growing up as a single working parent as your son kind of growing up around us in the GMs people like a fish. So,
Josh 03:39
so fortunate, so fortunate, because it gives him not just a sense of community, but what a sense of being around a good supportive community is to where everybody uplifts and is around each other to help bring each other up. And what better place would you want your kid to grow up than something that is teaching you to be better, do better to other people, as well as to maintain a healthy lifestyle for yourself? Like, it’s us parenting and him growing up like, fitness nutrition, like and for kids like fitness comes in a lot of different ways. Really, it’s just playing. So it’s like even here in the gym, he just gets to run and play on rings and jump on boxes and lift balls up and stuff like that. And kids don’t get to do that much anymore. So he’s very fortunate to have that opportunity to grow up in this setting.
Nick 04:27
Yeah, I think that’s one of the reasons that adults like this so much is because it’s kind of like a playground for adults. Yeah.
Josh 04:32
Like you and I were talking about the military back in the military. It’s like we just play in jungle gyms and stuff like that. And we’re like, oh, so it’d be a kid again. It’s like we’re here as adults and you were swinging on rings and we’re jumping up on bars. And
Nick 04:45
yeah, I think about that often. That’s like, my favorite thing to do is not even a standard workout now is just like playing around on the wings of the bars. Yes. We’re big and old and we’re not supposed to do that anymore. You
Josh 04:55
know? Well, I think I think that it’s a very unique thing for you because it brings you back to its home Maybe not right in that moment of being younger, but it allows your mind to kind of relax and escape and it not be something that’s a seriously driven task or topic that you’d have to address, you can do something that’s functional and good for your body in mind, while still getting that core sense of what play is like that.
Nick 05:18
Yeah, I know that, like, you know, a big running joke that Nick doesn’t like kids. And it’s not true.
Josh 05:25
I feel like it’s gonna be the greatest that ever.
Nick 05:27
But I know that it’s, that’s one of the coolest parts of me growing in here is, is seeing the kids that have been here a long time, and the change in lifestyle they’ve had because their parents have adopted healthier lifestyles, you know, I didn’t have that, like I, my parents are awesome, but I don’t think you would confuse either of them is very healthy, you know?
Josh 05:47
No, and that’s, that’s the same as the same scenario for me. And I think it’s fantastic. Like when you have an opportunity to grow up in this lifestyle, especially you and I are very fortunate to have a knowledge base that spreads back into fitness and the health and wellness cycle and things like that. And we come here, nobody’s here, you’re like, Dad, I want to do a workout with you, dad. He’s like, he gets a box that he gets to sit down and stand up from and he gets volunteers to pick up and he’ll jump over a box and hold onto a ring for as long as you can. And it’s like to be able to have that opportunity to share that type of experience with your kid. To be able to play along with them while doing something that benefits both of you is truly cool. Cool. Thank you.
Nick 06:26
Yeah, what was it like two weeks ago, I was doing some strength workout on the back. And you and him were doing a jumping contest for like, who can jump the further Yeah, that was awesome. He’s having so much fun. Yeah, yeah. I didn’t do that growing up.
Josh 06:37
That’s really cool. No, my parents like you can get on those, like, Let’s go for a walk the walk anymore.
Nick 06:45
Okay, so here at Shark Bite Cape Coral, right, you run athletic Recovery Services, courtesy of yours truly a talking about that a little bit talking about what you do, talking about how, what, how, who you help, and how you can benefit people,
Josh 06:58
dude, I I. So it’s hard for me to express in words sometimes like, you can have the ability to be in a position to where I’m able to impact so many individuals within the skill set knowledge that I had, because I come from a rehab background, it was six years now. And to be able to get out of the Medicare driven spectrum, and be able to get into an environment where people are actively trying to improve their lives and actually want to make a substantial step forward in bettering themselves so that they can continue to live healthier and happier is huge for me. So there’s something that I thought of recently, and I’m sure somebody said it before, because everybody said something just like The Simpsons in South Park, right? Yeah. And I think it was because I’ve been making more content videos recently, and I was like, to educate is the ability to impact. And that was something that really kind of popped into my mind. And it’s been something that’s been reoccurring recently, because within ARs and very education driven, it’s not that I’m stepping outside of any crazy boundaries or anything, I’m just giving people information about their body. And for something that may seem so I don’t want to say the word mundane, but just basic knowledge between yourself and myself is a far abstract thought for most of the population out there. Right. Right. Right, which you and I on often basis, even from a coaching standpoint, what doesn’t make a good coach is how much knowledge you have within your head. But how you’re able to break that down to the simplest way possible to be able to present to other people. Yeah,
Nick 08:33
that’s so important, right? Because who cares? How much you know? If you can’t help me understand that in a way that makes sense to me and affects change? Like, what does that matter?
Josh 08:40
Yeah, somebody, somebody can go write 1000 page book on physics, and that’s awesome. But if they can’t teach it to me, what is that to me? Yeah, right, exactly. So having that ability to take people that have been, especially because a large portion of my population is people that have been fitness world for a long time. And to be able to take foundational concepts that I’ve learned throughout my years that are very applicable. It’s not just a rehabilitation spectrum, but at what point do we not need to stop working on our foundations of what creates stability or proper mobility throughout certain ranges? Like it’s something that I think that we should all strive for on a pretty consistent basis? Yeah,
Nick 09:16
hopefully, we never stopped working on that. Right. Right. Yeah. Like I was talking to somebody,
Josh 09:18
and we’re late 20s, early 30s, something like that, like, I want to be working out for the next 65 years.
Nick 09:25
Without a doubt. Yeah.
Josh 09:26
Like, why not? Like, we’re picking up
Nick 09:29
when I was still around, why not write it might look different, might not be quite as intense as what I did this morning, you know, but if it’s gonna give me the same kind of feeling, then that’s exactly
Josh 09:36
what I want. That’s exactly what I want. Yeah, I mean, all the way down to the foundational levels of they’re finding that whole my gosh, you take somebody with osteoporosis and you put them into structurally good positions and you load them properly. You start to improve the process of osteoporosis, right with objectable scans that track those things.
Nick 09:57
I mean, I I know you have to be a little more care about what you say that I do, I don’t do it anymore. I would always say like, you know, find your mom, make your lift some weights, you will just light weights, you will affect such significant change. Yeah, yeah.
Josh 10:13
So that’s so getting back to the core, because, you know, we evolved so much. My mind was my ability to stay on one single topic like 000, somebody told me once upon a time that you do one thing really well, but you start stacking a bunch of me.
Nick 10:31
So like, who would benefit from ARS? Like what? From athletic credit services like who who benefit from what you do there?
Josh 10:37
Honestly, I find that I have the ability to impact just about everyone from every population down to individuals that have neurologic deficiencies, because I play kind of unique role, and I’m offering a service there that is, even if you’ve been to a lot of rehabilitation centers, it’s a little bit more unique than what you’re going to find in a lot of areas, I get to blend both my license and massage therapy. And then I get to take my knowledge and expertise as a corrective exercise specialist, where I’m actually breaking down individual’s movements, not for function in daily life, but to where they’re here in the gym. And then they can continue to load those structures. So it’s even even somebody that’s just working a desk job or something like that we can, we can impact and make a substantial turnaround for a lot of people.
Nick 11:20
Yeah, I like something you said right? Like the, that it can impact almost anybody, right? The and especially people in athletic environments, right? I have a friend who is a physical therapist, he texted me the other day for some help with a patient with with a knee problem, right. And I just provided advice, not not medical, anything, just advice. We talked about things like knee valgus, and how to how to keep heels on the ground during a squat rack. And he was talking about some of the rehab protocols, he exercises he was giving the person and he was upset that you wouldn’t do them. And I said, well then make them less boring. You know.
Josh 11:57
So it’s interesting that you say that. So we were just doing a case study on the course that I’m doing right now, on to separate. It was a research study that measured the rehab outcomes of two separate groups of people. And one was like, your basic exercise your basic like low trap exercises, your arm raises your stability with the wall, like nothing dynamic, nothing functional, nothing impactful. And then they tested it next to people that just came in, and they deadlift, heavy. Yeah. And that’s what they did. And those people they enjoyed coming, they had better compliance with what they’re doing the exercise they’re doing afterwards. But it’s like, who wants to just go home and just do the basic little exercises when, unfortunately, things are saying that if you move you’re going to get better. It’s a crazy concept, right? Quite wild idea. So I say something stagnant, it breeds disease, like your body wants to move it wants to go, which is the foundation, what I do in ARS most of is just helping the muscles do what they want to do. Which is a crazy concept, because it’s so flexible in so many different areas in life. But it’s like the functionality of being able to especially like you said, make them more interesting, do something that adds a little bit of load, you get the mental benefit from it, you get a lot of chemical releases, when you’re exercising and lifting that is literally having drug reactions within your brain compound and complex and making you happier.
Nick 13:22
I would always think, right, like, you know, working in the fitness world for a long time now, people will happily spend lots of money on things they don’t need, you know, like 47,000 pills, they’ll buy a GNC or something. Or seven different styles of shoes that will increase something right when like, you know, you learn how to move your body a little bit better. You’ll you’ll fix a lot of that. Yeah, it’s wild having that. I mean, we’ve had tons and tons of people work their ass now and have serious roles. I mean, like, I’m one of them, you know? Yeah, we know that I have the mobility of a rock and the things you help me with help quite a bit.
Josh 13:57
Yeah, no, it’s it’s awesome. I’m very fortunate to be able to have the ability to impact those individuals especially when a lot of them they don’t know where to find it.
Nick 14:05
Totally right. I mean, there’s there’s too much information online and it’s intentionally confusing you know, if we can create just like a like a guideline for like, Hey, you have this problem this is what you need. We can help with it or we can and we know knowledgeable experts who can you know, yeah, that’s what I like most about it right? So, what do you love most about like functional fitness like what we do here? Shark Bite shark shark fit CrossFit? Like, what what do you like most
Josh 14:29
about it really comes down to the mental aspect. Like just coming from our background within the military like you get the camaraderie aspect of it like we had touch base on when we’re talking about Landon is it’s just a good supportive community. We’ve got a member here who came from a pretty difficult background and stuff like that, and she’s now currently doing things that she never thought that she could and she had been through a string of gyms prior to and the big thing that she said that really stood out to me more than anything else is I finally found a place for that I can come to work out and people don’t make me feel like I’m and they support me in what I do. And I think you know who I’m talking about. And once that, like that was always there for me. But especially coming from somebody who is in a very vulnerable place like that, to be able to say that comfortably with a lot of determination behind it, and is now living a significantly better life because of it. His magnitude. Yeah. And
Nick 15:23
that’s what I like most about it too, right? Like the way you just said it is. We’re just exercising, right? Yeah. But it makes the rest of your life better. Yeah. Right. And that’s why I like functional fitness, the most out of all the other things that we could possibly do not that any of them are bad, right? Like, if you go to a Zumba class, and it gets you fit, and it gets you happy. I’m all for that. Do you know? Absolutely. That the what we do that the functional fitness style training, it makes every other aspect of my life better. And I feel like all the people that have been given this chance and been here a long time feel the same way. You know,
Josh 15:54
there’s been those floating around recently. And it was it your one bet your one workout away from a better day?
Nick 16:00
I mean, I had that this morning. Yeah, yeah. You know, like, I’m stressed out right now I woke up, I had a bad day, I came in and got my butt kicked at the 930 class. And all of a sudden, my day is better. Yeah, like magic. Yeah.
Josh 16:10
It’s a it’s a fantastic little trick that we all have available to us.
Nick 16:15
So as they’re in addition to being an athletic trainer, or started working with recovery services, you are also a personal trainer. Here. chargeback, right. Yeah. Talking about some experience with it. What’s fun about that? Personal Training is relatively new for us. Oh,
Josh 16:29
yeah. This is been significantly more impactful than I ever imagined it was going to be turned. Remember
Nick 16:35
I said that I said we had the exact conversation. Yeah,
Josh 16:40
I’ve been very fortunate since coming here, there’s been a select few individuals that have been had very colorful health passes that has put their trust in me to work with them. As we discussed earlier, I came from a foundational background of rehabilitation. And now that we’re taking, I’m getting to work with individuals that would kind of be extensions of what I would see within my alternate setting. And then I’m able to take principles of strength and conditioning that I’ve learned and be able to couple and apply them with the principles of rehabilitation. And the outcomes and effects have been absolutely incredible. I’ve seen a man it took a while yeah, we’ve had everything from I’ve worked with your standard individual, that’s just your average functional fitness individual is just looking to get a little bit better, all the way up to individuals with multiple sclerosis to where we’ve seen the impact of the neurologic population with strength and conditioning and loading. Yeah, that was life-changing, like absolute life changing within a two-month period, the number of changes that we saw from balance, stability, the ability to just have a more normal looking walking pattern.
Nick 17:45
I remember when he walked in the first time versus money went back home. The change is astounding.
Josh 17:51
Yeah, he was able to do I think 36-pound kettlebell deadlift from a 12-inch box. And when he left, he did 17 reps at 70 pounds from the floor with a good hinge position and good hip mechanics, and just
Nick 18:03
all the things in life that are going to be better because of that, you know, yeah, well, he has probably been told for a long time that he shouldn’t work out or he couldn’t or X amount of things out of his life are no longer possible.
Josh 18:14
Yeah, well, that’s a shame. We’re talking about. We were discussing earlier, the different variances of like the medical community, like how many, especially to we’re very fortunate, also with the extensive information that’s available to people, and we’re starting to break away. But there used to be an old school mindset where people just said, Don’t do that. It hurts. Don’t ever go Yeah, find something else to do. And to now have the ability to be like, Okay, well, that’s bothering you. So let’s modify that a little bit. So we can still get what we’re trying to get from it, we can still get the stimulus impact that we’re going for from it, you can still get the feel-good hormones and the feel-good chemical releases, so that you can continue to have a better day, and you can still help your body. And that’s a cool thing is that it’s not one recipe for anybody, everybody’s especially in the personal training realm, like so significantly different from person A, B to C, and just the ability to impact on a functional level where I think medical leaves off.
Nick 19:10
Yeah, but so like we I think about this for personal training, really, we’ve decided we agree coaching is fantastic, right? So coaching is what gets you the most results, right? So now I can spread that coaching time between four or five or six or 10 people or I can dedicate it all to one person who’s going to have the fastest results there. Yeah, one person easily right easily. I know that I’ve had some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as a coach, as a personal trainer. Yeah, working one on one with somebody who’s been in their 30s 40s 50s has been told you will never do this again. You know, you will never be able to do this thing you like doing again, you know, and then fast forward a couple of months later and they’re jumping on boxes where they’re running again, you know, or they’re playing soccer with their kids or their auto carrying boxes up to their stairs when they were told they never be able to do that. You know,
Josh 20:00
take take the psychology of that. So you’re talking 3040 50 years old, 7060 7080 years left to live, right? Tell somebody, they can’t do something that makes them happy. And they’ve got more than half of their life left to live.
Nick 20:18
I mean, man, we could actually talk about this one for two hours. But just it sucks that that is the situation they have to be in. Right. But it’s awesome that we get to, like, help them through that situation. Right. Yeah. And let’s be real. Some people do have, you know, injuries or issues where they won’t they,
Josh 20:34
there’s obviously always going to be a medical leeway. And we’ll get that out of the way. Like, it’s not a one-size box fits all everybody has everybody’s a unique person.
Nick 20:41
But okay, we can’t do that. Let’s find the thing. We can do that safely, that you can get better at and enjoy. Yes, yeah. You may not be able to run marathons anymore. Right. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get your endurance workout on. It’s exactly,
Josh 20:52
There are all sorts of alternates.
Nick 20:55
Cool. Yeah. I know that I was, I was hesitant to personal training and a couple of years into it now. Like, I love it. Yeah, I didn’t think I would you asked me before. And I would absolutely say that that’s not true. But I love it. You
Josh 21:08
know what, I think there was such a stigma about who used to go to personal training. Totally. Yeah. And I think that we’ve been able to have a very fortunate population of people that have come through, searching for searching it out for what it is, and especially with how we’re able to offer it with the skill that we have to offer it with.
Nick 21:24
Yeah, that matters a lot, right? I guess like if you went to a, somebody just graduated from
Josh 21:30
somebody can go get their CPT and start turning around one of the local gyms,
Nick 21:35
right? versus somebody who’s doing you know, constant continual education has some, as a medical background has a constant want and desire to get better at it, you know? Um, okay, so this was topic. So you and I are both in the military. We’re actually both in the infantry. Strange world. Yeah. Strange, right? Right around the same time, we deployed around the same time. You were in the Marines, I was in the army. Talk to me about getting out of the Marine Corps out of the military. What was that? Like? Why did you get out wasn’t like adapting to the real world.
Josh 22:06
It was, I’ll be honest, man, it was hard. It was very hard for me. Um, I got out and there’s a running joke because I was a year off. And I was talking to one of our friends about it. And I was like, I think that I may have just blacked that first year out of the military. Because you for most of the population, you leave for the military, and you’re still a kid. You get out, you’re still getting, like,
Nick 22:34
You’re not to do a whole bunch of weird stuff. But you’re still a kid. Yeah.
Josh 22:37
You see some of the pictures of like the 18-19-year-old kids that are like winning these words.
Josh 22:45
New countries knew they were still kids. Yeah. But it also, we’re very fortunate because we have a lot of drive to not want to be status quo. Unfortunately, you and I have both gone through periods of difficulties where we run into other individuals that don’t have that. So obviously, it’s not an easy transition for any of us. Absolutely. In fact, I, I hit points in periods where I had to find others to relate to and I had to find avenues of things that were going to help me feel better so that I could be productive, and I could continue to achieve and work towards the goals. And then on the flip side of that, continue to still be a good father for my son. So getting out, I had to find a, I had to find that sense of drive and purpose. And I think that that’s a journey that is going to be different for everybody. But I think that it’s a journey that everybody needs to invest in and take the trip with. That’s one of the biggest, like, if anybody happens to listen to this little podcast of us sitting here talking, like for anybody that gets out of the military. Even if it’s a little abnormal, then the world the life that you grew up with prior to during find a sense of purpose, find a sense of drive that is going to help you take those next steps.
Nick 24:00
Yeah, that’s a super important thing, man. And we’re definitely going to spend some time on a separate podcast on that, right. Because of that conversation by itself we get that how did because I agree with you, right like that finding that purpose, like I found mine.
Nick 24:19
So how did finding the gym at the time? You did? How did that help with that adjustment?
Josh 24:27
That so it put me around a community that pretty much every gym that you’re going to find that’s a functional fitness-based gym is going to have some semblance of a military presence within it. Yes, right. First responders. Yeah, like and there’s a reason why I think that population is driven to it because you have that community you have that camaraderie and it also so thinking a little bit more selfishly, it also puts you in a lot of communication with a lot of people. They can help build a strong network for you. Yes. Which I think is an often understated aspect of the benefits fit that you can get from it, especially when you’re coming out. So one of our fellow coaches, he or she moved here, and she knew nobody, right. And then all of a sudden she joins the gym and she’s got had the perfect, she’s got somebody that she can trust for this. She’s got somebody that she can trust for this. She needs help with something and she’s got somebody that’s going to be there for her. She now has a network of people that she can trust that makes her feel safe and secure. And I think that that’s something a lot of people don’t, it doesn’t quite get highlighted for a lot of people. And I think getting out of the military. That’s one of the best things you can do for yourself.
Nick 25:31
You’re from here, you came back to a place you lived in the place might have been different, but it wasn’t lazy land. I came here knowing nobody. Yeah. And I think both of us our entire support structures are like out of this jam. And the people used to come to it and friends of the members that they don’t come here, but we became friends with throughout it if I need literally anything. There’s somebody at the gym, who’s who I’d love to pay for their service.
Nick 25:57
Well, so it’s funny, because like, we’ve talked about this, and I don’t know how well this is known outside of the military, but like, especially the time we were in. It was very fun to talk poorly about CrossFit. Yeah, right. Like, everyone made fun of CrossFit. Yeah, I was one of them. I imagine you were one of them. Like, I made so much fun to the people who were like doing CrossFit. Like, I didn’t know what that meant. But if you were doing CrossFit, I was making fun of me while I was doing my stupid five-mile. Yeah, exactly. It was, it was far less PG than what we’re saying. Right. Yeah. You know, like, fast forward. I’ve been out I’d realization I’ve been out five and a half years now. Right? Yeah. We made from CrossFit so much, but we obviously like dedicated our lives to it.
Josh 26:42
Yeah, we are lives now at least a portion for myself and all of it. You centralize the concept of it.
Nick 26:50
So like, what would you tell? Let’s say we have a vet friend who’s getting outright? And he has those same ideas. He has the same misconceptions about how lame CrossFitters are sharp fitter, functional fitness, whatever you want to call it is right. Yeah. What would you tell them to let them know, like, You’re wrong? Can this benefit you?
Josh 27:05
Yeah. That’s a great question. A way to break it down for somebody that just doesn’t have a positive outlook on it. Like, at the end of the day, what’s it going to hurt? For one? Yeah, give it a try. And for the other, like, is it really going to be worse than what you’re doing right now? Like,
Nick 27:24
That kind of thing highlights it. Especially if you’re not in the best place once you get out, that’s exactly it.
Josh 27:31
Like, it’s not gonna be worse than what you’re doing right now. And, I mean, everybody has their own thing that’s gonna kind of get it for him. But even if you just want to come in, like, a very big thing that we preach all the time, is you don’t have to do what the standard is like, you can adjust it and make it specific for you. Which I think is important to say, because everybody needs a different prescription of what’s going to be right for them that day, like tomorrow. I’m not doing anywhere near that. That’s intelligence that I think that we should all be able to have and realize that it’s good for us.
Nick 27:59
Yeah, you’re right. It’s like, what’s the worst gonna happen? You just did not like it. You know, I, I remember making fun of it so much. And I’ve never tried it. I had no idea what I was talking about. It’s a valid point. And it wasn’t till I tried it that I was like, oh, okay, like, this is all I ever want to do again. Yeah. I don’t ever want to do a five-mile run in 2 million pushups.
Josh 28:20
It’s so much more beneficial. Yeah, right. Yeah. Reasons. Reasons why I got out though. It’s so one of the big things for me because I got out I think I just hit eight years. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. 2012, October 2012. I got out. So I got out because I was in the infantry. And one I saw people that retired out of the infantry and they looked like, they were like, 65, when they were like, yeah, that’s, that’s strange. Now, because we’re coming up on the age now where people would have been 12 years. And they’d be like, 89, for some of them are wild dogs. That’s a wild thought. Yeah. So I got out because I couldn’t see myself doing anything. So I had this concept in my mind when I went into the military, that, you know, the patriotic like, I had a sense that freedom wasn’t free. And you could either choose to enjoy your freedoms, or you could try to choose some way to participate in bringing those freedoms to everybody that gets to enjoy them. And I realized that I did my time. I did what I felt that I was there to have done in whatever aspect that may have been. But I also felt that there were other things that I wanted to accomplish in life. And that was one of my big drives for getting out. I had no idea what it was because once you become an infantry, you realize you still aren’t really transferable like in any way I blew up walls and doors I shot. That’s, that’s what
Nick 29:47
I did. Those are exactly transferable skills.
Josh 29:51
So I wanted to get out and do that. So for me, I had a very unique perspective and infantry. We went through an area and I was able to make a pretty significant impact where we were, I’ll be it as it was, just as well with anybody that was in infantry or deployed position. Like we all went to areas that I think at a later date we heard had fallen or been taken back over which I think you and I actually had a conversation like three or four years about that on the impact of what that was and how that felt for us, which is topic for a different time, stuff like that, save that for the next one. Yeah. But while I was over there, we went from an area that was in a constant hot zone on daily multi multiple times a day basis, to by the time that we had left, we had set up school systems for a population of individuals where women were looked down upon and kids weren’t allowed to go outside to do anything to wear that we had set schools up and provided spies for them to have an education. So I realized that I liked having the ability to make an impact on people. I just wanted to do it in a way that one was gonna save my body, not the infantry. And choose where I could do it a little bit more in terms.
Nick 31:08
It’s so funny, you said that, right? Because like we were, we were both in combat environments, right? And that the school thinks what sticks out the most, you have all the things that stick out the most viewers when I see it, a little kid got shot one time like we did all these cool combat things. And those are not necessarily combat-related. No way. And I think that’s a big part of why we kind of found our way into this, you know, I agree, is that the high that a lot of people are looking for they’re from like, the excitement was way less about shooting guns and way more about having a significant impact on somebody. Yeah.
Josh 31:39
Like I like getting the feel good. Hi, a lot more of like, having somebody come in, they’ve got a ton of stiffness, tightness, and soreness that is just really uncomfortable to make them go through something. Yeah. And they can have a marketable and objective improvement and movement and tolerance afterward, a lot more than I do shooting and stuff like that towards other people.
Josh 32:05
I think we’ve had the discussions before like when I have the ability to make a quick impact on somebody who feels good.
Nick 32:14
Endorphin hit like nothing else. Absolutely.
Josh 32:16
I’ll take the selfish card.
Nick 32:21
Okay, so 2020 was an insane year, right? There’s an insane, crazier, crazier, we all had so many stresses over and over and over and over again, right. You were an important part of what we were doing as we adapted to this year. But you had your own individual stress. Right. That happened about a week into that right.
Josh 32:45
So April Fool’s, I had a light day at work. And I did a little work out of the house afterward. It wasn’t even crazy and aggressive. And I got in the shower, and I had a hernia. Yeah. And then I ended up putting myself in the ER that weekend. And because COVID started the week prior, I think, yeah, they weren’t doing surgeries. Because as long as I laid on my back, I wasn’t losing any blood to the intestines. So I had to wait six weeks to get surgery on it. So I ended up being out of work for three and a half months.
Nick 33:22
Yeah, I mean, and it was, you know, during a pretty stressful time and every other way to you know, yeah, that’s exactly it. So how far are you past surgery now?
Josh 33:31
I just hit seven and a half months, seven and a half months.
Nick 33:35
And you were doing some heavy deadlifts the other day, right? Yeah, I was
Josh 33:39
So again, being able to take the knowledge that you and I have or protocol for myself, because, for hernia repairs, there’s no real solid protocol or research on it. General out there as far as rehabilitation. And I was very fortunate with 2020. So along with all the negatives, I follow a principle in life that if you look hard enough, there’s a golden line into just about every situation. Obviously, there are shitty situations that just aren’t gonna cut the cake on it. But I was able to probably make 2021 of my most successful years ever. Like I couldn’t be more appreciative of what had happened. What I learned to like after my hernia, I got to spend my entire son’s last quarter school doing some work and helping them out with it and things like that. I was able to take a lot of issues that I had going on both mentally and physically and address them and take care of them in a fashion that was good for me. And seven and a half months after I’m moving better. I’m lifting stronger, and I’m safer than I’ve ever been mechanical.
Josh 34:46
It’s really incredible. And it’s cool. Yeah, excited. Fold 315 For three the other day and it was pretty smooth and the structure was good. Yeah, and I was pushed 185 Yeah. It’s awesome. I’m happy with where I am.
Nick 35:03
Yeah, I mean, you beat me to the end of the question, I would say, what did you learn from this year? But like, yeah, right, like, we all had to grow so much. You could choose to look at it as the worst year ever, but I, you know, I’m choosing not to, I feel like we gained so much out of it.
Josh 35:14
So whether it be like test-taking, or whether it be self-analysis or anything like that a lot of people have a difficult time reflecting. And I like to take this principle that I feel that a lot of people, people are very over-reactive. And so how do I say that? I feel that people overreact before they fully take in a situation and assess what’s going on. And I feel that the ability to look at something and say, Okay, I see what this is, let me sit on it for a second and get a better full picture view of it before I make a decision on how I want to move forward with it. And once you do that, and you start assessing things a little bit more deeply, you have the ability to take a lot more information away from what happened and be able to make it a lot more successful for you moving on in the future. Yeah, I
Nick 36:01
feel like that’s what we did, right?
Josh 36:02
I mean, you’ve got a very forward-thinking mindset, to begin with. So it’s unintentional, you’re already starting the ball, for everything that happened. So it’s your ability to be able to integrate into the way that the times have changed that is really what’s gonna stand the test of time and see who stands out on the long end?
Nick 36:24
I was telling Chris, right, like, that’s something we just can’t have without the right people on board. No, it doesn’t matter what ideas we come up with.
Josh 36:30
The world’s always changing, and everyone’s smiling to get fortunate to have the perfect storm of things moving in the right direction.
Nick 36:36
Yeah, I think about how bad the last year could have been, if we had, say, lost all our staff members, or which happened with lots of businesses, you know, we hadn’t been able to continue paying staff, which happens with a lot of businesses. And none of those things happened here. And I’m just forever grateful for it.
Josh 36:51
Yeah. Kudos, you’re your drive, and want to always try to find that next to proper step forward. Thanks.
Nick 36:57
So somebody doesn’t want to try working out, right? What would you tell them? What’s the one thing you don’t?
Josh 37:05
If they don’t want to try working out? I said, Do you want to keep living a functional life while I am there? There’s way too, we’re way too far into the educational circle of life. Now to be able to say that this isn’t something that’s going to benefit nearly everybody, like from one Capet from some capacity to another. I’ve got a buddy of mine. He’s a boat captain. and I was talking the other day and was like, How are you feeling? And he’s like, you know, man, with the way that I’m pushing on the boat and stuff like my joints, my body, it just hurts. And I said, Well, if you think of what’s happening, like, one of the best things that are going to help you is loading those joints and getting weight through it. Like no matter what your position or role in life, you’re going to find some sort of health and benefit to lifting weights, or lifting or playing or moving functionally in some regard or just finishing some hours fitness and somehow exactly.
Nick 37:57
I love that. Okay, Josh, where can we find you on social media if you need to?
Josh 38:04
Yeah, reach out online. Athletic Recovery Services, that’s going to be both Facebook and Instagram. You can also find me personally, Josh Michaelson, on both Facebook and Instagram also. Cool. And I’d love for anybody to reach out. Let’s have a conversation. Awesome, dude. I think we’re gonna do a bunch more. Yeah. Last Friday.
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