Navy SEAL Ryan "Birdman" Parrott: The Blast That Changed Everything and How He Rebuilt From Scratch

The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Spartan Races

Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Alternative Health, Health & Fitness, 792700

4.7 • 870 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ryan "Birdman" Parrott grew up without direction, failed classes, and struggled to connect. One sentence from a Marine teacher flipped a switch and pushed him toward the Navy SEALs. That decision dropped him into one of the toughest training pipelines on the planet and later into Iraq, where a roadside bomb almost killed him.

In this episode, Ryan breaks down the mindset that carried him from a chaotic childhood to SEAL Team deployments, a near-fatal blast, and the long climb to rebuild purpose after war. His story shows what grit, discipline, and resilience look like when the pressure is real. If you want a clear picture of mental toughness from someone who earned it, this conversation will push you to get moving.

Three Key Learnings

1. How daily discipline builds real toughness.

2. Why taking care of your body keeps you in the fight.

3. How purpose and forward movement rebuild you after hard hits

Timestamps

00:00 Who is Ryan "Birdman" Parrott
01:00 Growing up without direction
03:08 The teacher who changed his life
04:09 Discovering the SEALs and committing fully
05:53 What it really takes to survive BUD/S
00:00 Ryan "Birdman" Parrott
00:13 Growing up lonely without direction
03:14 Committing to becoming a SEAL
05:48 Surviving BUD/S and learning real toughness
07:24 Entering the teams and finding meaning
08:42 First deployment realities
12:30 Explosion & how Team survived
17:00 Returning injured to deployment
18:47 Leaving the Teams
19:42 Rebuilding purpose
21:08 Sons of the Flag

Tools & Frameworks Mentioned

Win the fight first
Get off the X
Take care of your body after training
Repetition as progression
Movement prevents idleness
Stay busy to avoid complacency

Remember that omorrow is not promised. Discipline and movement keep you sharp, intentional, and ready for whatever comes next.

What's your hard? If this story moved you, sign up, show up, and do something about it. Spartan.com. No more excuses.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You somehow developed a resilient mindset. You have today, you have this moment when you can seize it, or somebody else is going to take it from you. I have to stay busy, I have to get going. If you're sitting on the couch and you're watching TV, you're letting your life pass you by and tomorrow's not promised. There's your perfect example right there of get off your ass and get moving. Spartans, listen up. We need to sleep better.
0:21.6	How do you sleep better?
0:22.6	Never thought about it before.
0:23.6	And so I met Jack.
0:24.6	I met Ascentia.
0:26.6	Pay attention to the mattress to sleep on because it's lowered with chemicals.
0:30.6	Recovery, cooling, and pressure relief.
0:32.6	All in one mattress.
0:34.6	Up to 60% more deep and REM sleep. Less inflammation, faster bounce back.
0:41.0	No toxins, no EMFs, no BS. My buddy Jack, over at Ascentia, he's kind enough to give us a code
0:47.9	for the Spartan community. That's Decca, that's tough mother of all of us. Use Spartan 25,
0:52.4	get a discount, prioritize your sleep so you can sleep
0:55.5	faster, you can do more burpees, you can train more, you can get healthy. When you sleep well,
1:00.7	you live well. Joe Descena, CEO and founder of Spartan, host of the Hardway podcast. I've got
1:06.6	Ryan Birdman Parrot. This guy's an overall badass Navy SEAL. Welcome aboard, sir.
1:12.3	Thank you, brother. It's good to be back. You withstood a pretty serious explosion. How many
1:17.1	years ago? 2005, about 20 years ago. 20 years ago and live to talk about it. But before we get
1:24.5	into that, I love to go back to that. So 2001, you walk into a recruiter's office? Or walked into the recruiter's office on 9-11 to go sign up and they're like, you can't join. First, you can't become a seal like right out of the gate. Secondly, I can't let you join today because you're too young. So I'd wait six months to actually do the delayed entry program. but I got a free membership to the YMCA. I'm like, why wouldn't anybody join? You get free membership?
1:48.2	I'm in. So I was running and I was training. And this is something I just told a group of kids. I saw a guy in the gym who had these huge biceps. He was working out and he was lifting 15 pound dumbbells curling curling them. I'm like, can I ask you a question?
2:01.7	How do you get those arms curling that little weight? And he goes, because it's all about sustainment. I want functionality. I want health and wellness. I don't want, and I mean, I'm not saying he was like a bodybuilder huge, but they were bigger arms than 15. And so he worked with me and he showed me it's not about overtraining, it's about proper training,
2:18.2	and it's about lifting the weight that you can do perfect form.
2:21.3	Wow. 15. And so he worked with me and he showed me it's not about over training. It's about proper training
	...

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