John Sullivan, DC PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY SHOW! I just heard my dear friend through fitness and health–Dr. John Sullivan passed away a couple of weeks ago… which is cause for some pause and reflection… I met “Doc” John through the RKC Kettlebell certifications, and we became fast friends. This show was from November 2011. It was one of…

PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY SHOW! Michael Campi joins me again as we discuss the definitions, history, and responsibilities of this thing we call “Freedom.” “Better starve free than be a fat slave.” -AESOP, “The Dog and the Wolf”, Fables (6th c. B.C.?) References & Recommended Reading: “What Price Freedom?” by Dave Pollard “Why Freedom Bec…

DISCLAIMER: This show discusses graphic and specific violent details of American slavery, the US Civil War, the Nazi Holocaust, 1960s race riots, as well as warnings from Russian and Turkish takeovers. Our objective is to prevent these parts of history from repeating and to come up with more positive options for improving the human condition. We li…

“We shall perish by the very instruments prepared for our happiness.” -Horace Mann, American Educational Reformer (1796-1859) In our time of glorifying and prioritizing “the machine” which is symbolic of technology, maybe we should hit the pause button a moment to consider the historical concerns and warnings about technology in relation to our hum…

It’s November 17, 2020, and things are getting quite chaotic with all things COVID. We dive into the problems of finding valid information and trustworthy sources and the importance of reading what you can then stepping away with your own damn common sense to figure it out. We disagreed on this show on more than one occasion which is productive to …

Our show today does NOT prioritize fitness or nutrition. In view of the times we are living in, we are jumping into cultural health and a more overall health focus for a while. We will still address fitness and all things health–but it needs to be related to our overall cultural elevation. PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY SHOW! Michael Campi jo…

By Bonnie Prudden (1975) October 2020. I’ve been getting more questions about what to do for PE @ home because of the COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning requirements, so I had veteran physical educator Enid Whittaker return for another show. Enid worked alongside American fitness legend Bonnie Prudden for over 40 years teaching quality physi…

“The Coordinated Classroom” by Darell Harmon (1949) PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY “PODCAST” SHOW! Welcome to an AMAZING show concerning education challenges and solutions! Please join me and special education teacher Angelique Chaverri, M.S.Ed. in a fascinating discussion concerning several educational challenges along with several important…

Jim Lynch & Willie Lanier “Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro Linebackers Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch overlooked racial tensions to become great players and great friends.” PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY “PODCAST” SHOW! “A Little Bit of Salt and Pepper” was an article published in a 1972 booklet by the National Varsity Called entitled, “Conditioning …

PUSH BUTTON @ BOTTOM OF PAGE TO PLAY “PODCAST” SHOW! APRIL 6, 2020 UPDATE: Since we recorded this podcast in late March 2020, there has been a change regarding face coverings. One of my key questions during the podcast was “to mask or not mask.” At the time, masks were not being recommended. Rationally speaking, I found it difficult to believe that…

By Bonnie Prudden (1975) March 20, 2020 is a good time to learn about family fitness at home, so I reached out to someone who knows more about this than anyone else I know–Enid Whittaker. Enid worked alongside American fitness legend Bonnie Prudden for over 40 years teaching quality physical education and movement all over the world. She’s a wealth…

Ron Jones & Eric Kenyon My good friend and strength coach “GO TO” pro Eric Kenyon joins me again to reflect on our philosophy of fitness conditioning and “mind conditioning” to prepare, not exclusively for the coronavirus or any other particular emergency–but rather, to prepare for LIFE. Whatever life brings, being fit and healthy surely will not d…

Dr. JB Nash & Wife Emma Nash “Skill work lays the basis for thinking–the hands are the eyes of the brain. Sometimes we have to muscle in on the mind.” -JB Nash Dr. Jay Bryan Nash (1886-1965) was cited by physical education scholars as one of the top physical educators of the 20th century. Overall, I call him THE most important. In my opinion as som…

Lt. Col. Jeff Crouch (1962-2014) If I had to name one individual responsible for steering me back into PE with an awareness that America had a huge problem in physical education, it would undoubtedly be Lt. Col. Jeff Crouch. Jeff contacted me years ago asking me to help with PE. He was concerned as a US Army officer and American citizen about our l…

Dr. Rusty Smith, Santa Barbara This was my very first podcast show for The Lean Berets back in February 2009. This show was one of many that got hacked out a few years ago, so I’m in the process of reloading and resharing. This very first show has a lot to say in view of the global events today on Monday, March 16th in reference to the global pande…

Anna Cannington & Dustin Rippetoe George Hebert, the French military physical educator a century ago who founded “The Natural Method” had the guiding philosophy of, “Be Strong To Be Useful.” This is a show and story about how a woman from the strength conditioning world used her physical and spiritual strength to be useful in order to help someone …

Chad Snow Chad Snow, PE teacher from Kansas City, MO joined me for a second time to discuss the joys and challenges of teaching physical education for today’s children. We discuss the importance of historic wisdom, building relationships with students, modifying our exercises, using dance and music in PE, working with grade ranges from K-12 and the…

Dustin Rippetoe is a strong guy. I’ve known him for about ten years now first through the RKC kettlebell world then the Z-Health neuroscience education community. A couple of years ago he was challenged to find a deeper strength after he was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease. I’ve been following his journey the last couple of years and invite…

Calvin Hanson, Winner 1960 Mt. Whitney Marathon Very few people know that there were three full marathon races on Mt. Whitney. However, back in 1959-1961, Mary Jefferson was there personally to see them and shared her story with me and fellow ultra runner Dr. Ben “Badwater” Jones. Mary and her husband operated the livestock pack station on Mt. Whit…

A few years ago on 9-11-11, we sat down with strength coach and former NYC Fireman David O’Donnell to discuss his experience of being a first responder in NYC during 911. Here were his insights and how it effected his life and journey. To all our first responders…thank you for your service to our country. *PUSH BUTTON AT BOTTOM PAGE TO PLAY SHOW Th…

Ray Eliot-Circa 1950 In 1969, Coach Ray Eliot delivered a famous speech on “The Proper State of Mind” about what it takes to be a real man and live a BIG life with courage. While the speech centered around football, it was not really about football; it was about a man’s life. The speech was then marketed through vinyl LP sales by the Athletic Enter…

Ronnie Jones Join us with freshman XC and track Runner Ronnie Jones as she takes us through her very first year of distance running and the amazing things she learned along the way not just about running and form–but about herself, teamwork, and how to become a better person “through” her beloved sport of distance running. *PUSH BUTTON AT BOTTOM PA…

Frank Forencich Subversive: “seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution” Fitness. What has it become, and where did it come from? Why are we even supposed to do it? Should we think of “fitness” or just moving and moving with purpose? What does it all have to do beyond a selfie or the individual? Please join us for a deep-th…

XC & Track Coach Bob Covey & Ron Jones This is Part II with Coach Bob Covey on “The History of Bakersfield College Track & Field.” Part I was “The History of Running.” A special show for Bakersfield, CA with Coach Bob Covey who coached over 40 years. Covey was foundational to building up the X-Country and Track programs at Bakersfield Community Col…

XC & Track Coach Bob Covey & Ron Jones Part I on “The History of Running.” Part II will be posted soon on “The History of XC & Track at Bakersfield College” An inspirational show on the history and values of running for both athletes and general population alike with Bob Covey who coached over 40 years. During his career, Coach Covey worked with ma…

I had some great questions submitted to me on Facebook for a podcast show, so here they are. Thanks for asking. I hope you enjoy my historical perspective on current questions about fitness programming. For more on fitness for hunting and fishing, visit my friend Lucas Paugh at Rod N Arrow Outdoors where we have joined forces on some shows to discu…

Ronnie Jones Join us for a our first show with female eight grader Ronnie Jones. Ronnie Jones Ronnie had such a great PE story, we had to share it. Her PE story shows the power of young women when they want to work and work hard. Thanks Ronnie! Press Button Below to Play Show: The post Girl Power! with Ronnie Jones appeared first on The Lean Berets…

Michael Campi & Philippe Til during Natural Method training in Los Angeles When you get to a certain age, you are finally ready to say what you want and have enough experience and wisdom to make it worth the listen. Here’s what two veterans in the fitness industry have learned from their decades of life and movement at two men over age 50 who are f…

Hugh Rhoads (far right) during LaSierra High PE calisthenics circa 1967 Join us for our very first show with an actual alumni from LaSierra High School. Hugh Rhoads grew up a block from LaSierra, was a water boy for the LaSierra football team in middle school, and graduated from LaSierra High in 1967. LaSierra High School in Carmichael, CA was the …

Kansas City, MO PE Teacher Chad Snow An inspiring show to finish up 2016 with PE Teacher Chad Snow in Kansas City, MO who is using the historic LaSierra High PE Program with higher-risk youth and having great success with it. His students are buying in and getting stronger and more flexible too. There are some good things going on in American PE to…

Ron Jones & Tom Bolewski This is our second show with our friend Tom Bolewski who we consider “the hardest working man in show biz” when it comes to spinal rehab! Tom’s continued passion for the physical life, outdoor education and recreation, and being the best he can be continues to be inspiring. Tom’s Recovery Facebook Page C.O.R.E. (Center of R…

We caught up with our friend and health and PE teacher Tim Jordan in Edinburgh, Indiana who is entering his second year of running the vintage LaSierra High PE “Strength Endurance Exercise Routine” calisthenics program from the early 1960s. More Information: LaSierra High PE Program SandBell Figure-8 Tossing Movements “Educate Your Brain” by Kathy …

From our archives, our second show back in 2009 with Dr. Rusty Smith in Santa Barbara, CA. The post Dr. Rusty Smith-HardCore 360-Episode 2 appeared first on The Lean Berets.Af The Lean Berets

*To play show, click sound bar at bottom of page. George Hebert “The Natural Method” We are joined by Los Angeles Fitness Trainer and Physical Culture Historian Philippe Til who just translated the original work of George Hebert out of the French language into an English version entitled, “The Natural Method.” Philippe Til adjusts Ron Jones in Hebe…

*To play show, click sound bar at bottom of page. Join us for a special story on the health journey of Brent Ilott who has lost 50% of his body fat the last couple of years as he went from obese to the healthiest category for body fat by eating well and exercising daily. We are honored to also have Linda Finley from BodyFatTest.com on our show agai…

Ron Jones & Monteen LeProtti with Life Magazine cover story on LaSierra High School Physical Education Program, January 1962 *To play show, click sound bar on bottom of page. Want reflective motivation about quality physical education and what it can do to help rebuild America? Here’s your chance. The Stan LeProtti story about LaSierra High School …

Lavon Hellinga & Ron Jones “You owe your country, and your country does not owe you…live up to what our forefathers fought for and sacrificed for…if it wasn’t for your WWI and WWII veterans giving you freedom–you might be somewhere else today.” -Lavon Hellinga *To play show, click sound bar at bottom of page. All of our previous shows have been ver…

Evan Strong & Fitness Coach Eric Kenyon from Form Is Function in Nevada City, CA *To play show, click sound bar at bottom of page. When we did our first show with Evan Strong and Eric Kenyon, they were preparing to make the US ParaOlympic Team for Snowboarding. Now Evan has a GOLD MEDAL from Sochi with another National Championship Para Gold. Join …

Click sound bar BELOW at bottom of page to listen. Fasten your seat belts then rip them off before launching for this energizing show with Stephen Jepson! We hope you enjoy this inspiration show about healthy and ACTIVE aging, experimenting with learning new movements that are brain challenging, improving balance, FOOT FITNESS (and hands), maintain…

Washington State Gymnastics Team Pacific Northwest Champs-1952 with Jake Monlux (Center in glasses) *To play show, click sound bar on BOTTOM of this page. We are honored to present this historic show with a true gentleman from America’s “Greatest Generation” named Jake Monlux from KidsFailedFitness.org. We sought out Jake to help us with our histor…

Bonnie Prudden Administers the Kraus-Weber Psoas Test This is our second fitness history show with Enid Whittaker who is the Managing Director for the Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy in Tucson, AZ. In this show, we dig into the history of the Kraus-Weber Test for MINIMUM Muscular Fitness which was a historic test created in the early 1940s that tested fo…

Keep Fit-Be Happy, V.2 Bonnie Prudden (1962) Photo by Ron Jones Copyright 2014 This show is a wonderful look back at the life and fitness history of American fitness expert Bonnie Prudden with Bonnie’s long-time friend, colleague, and Managing Director of Myotherapy Enid Whittaker. Prudden not only was one of America’s top fitness experts from the …

SOCHI UPDATE!!! Evan Strong won the Gold Medal. This show features one of the top Para Extreme Sport athletes in the world–Evan Strong and his fitness coach Eric Kenyon, owner of Form Is Function in Nevada City, CA. An inspiring story about how an initial tragedy of losing his leg turned into world championship triumphs for Evan Strong. Evan shares…

We caught up with our friend Chet “The Jet” Blanton recently who is one of the top “ultra” distance triathletes in the world. Chet calls himself just a normal guy–who is getting ready to do the Triple Deca Ironman Triathlon in Italy. What is a triple IronMan triathlon? 30 full length IronMans in 30 days! That is “only” 72 miles of swimming, 3,360 m…

We are honored to post this show with our great friend Army Maguire from Ageless Strength in Redondo Beach, CA. Army is one of the top experts in America on the use of Indian Clubs–both light clubs and heavy clubs. He is also a very skilled martial artist in numerous systems with over forty years in combatives. This show goes deep into the history …

Move Theory by Dr. Kwame Brown Neuroscience and developmental movement specialist Dr. Kwame Brown has an inspiration message to help our children move better–PLAY! Join us as we explore some fun and efficient ways to actively engage children with playful movement and games while building better communities in the process. Dr. Brown has over 20 year…

We had the pleasure of interviewing Brendan Cosso of CrossCore about not only the great equipment at CrossCore for rotational training and modular pull up racks, but just as importantly, the philosophy behind CrossCore and what they are doing to promote both health and fitness across America and beyond. We know you’ll enjoy the show and learn a lot…

Finally some good news for improving school lunches and snacks! There are new standards for school meals in America–which represent the most significant improvements in school nutrition in decades. The USDA has shifted school nutrition towards “food based” instead of vitamin and mineral “fortified” foods that often are merely junk foods in disguise…

Most of your success as a health professional can be attributed to communication. You can have great information, but how will you get the word out? If you do get the word out, will people understand what you are saying? We had Jason Lengstorf and Copter Labs redesign The Lean Berets website so we could optimize the delivery and reception of our un…

Got rope? If not, you need one! One of the hottest trends and most valuable equipment choices today is to invest in a good fitness rope. There are many variations of ropes used for fitness from the larger “Battle Ropes” to climbing ropes, climbing rope nets, tug-o-war ropes, pull up ropes, and even more. Fitness ropes are cost effective compared to…