Tattooed Crossfitter To Bearded Monk: How Mushrooms Rewire Your Brain, Yoga Tune-Up Balls & More With Mike Bledsoe
Ben Greenfield Life
Ben Greenfield
4.6 • 5.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 June 2016
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The first time I met Mike Bledsoe three years ago, he was hunched over in the corner of a busy porch at the PaleoFX convention meditating with a "Headspace" app.
I took one look at this bearded, tattooed Crossfitter and judged him to be yet another exercise and fitness junkie meathead. I was dead wrong. Mike is profound, interesting, chock full of knowledge on everything from plant-based medicine to the fitness business to meditation and breathwork, and (like me) was homeschooled K-12.
He is one of the founders and owners of Faction Strength & Conditioning Home of CrossFit Memphis. He has a degree in Exercise & Sport Science as well as a long list of meaningless certifications that might awe some people but not most and definitely not the people who are probably on this website.
At 19 years of age, Mike thought he should donate his body and mind to the service of his country in the US Navy. It was there that he discovered that he didn’t like taking orders. He did extremely well and had a good time, but being part of a system was not his ideal (and he’s one idealistic dude).
Getting out was scary, but made the entire world available to him. At the ripe old age of 24, he began college at the University of Memphis in the business department but before the first semester could end he changed his major to Health & Human Performance. It was there that he was first introduced to Olympic Weightlifting, by Dr. Brian Schilling.
While in school he regularly donated his body and parts of it to research in the name of science. It was during his senior year that he and a guy named Rob Conner started CrossFit Memphis. Dropping out of school after the first semester of grad school, Mike devoted his time to growing the business and becoming a better coach.
Mike “Matraca” Bledsoe (matraca means chatterbox in portuguese) is most well known for his ability to not shut up, and you'll understand why during our discussion in today's podcast, in which you'll discover:
-Why Mike was so confused the first time he saw a PVC pipe in a gym....
-The strange story of Mike and Ben's meeting at Joe DeSena's farm in Vermont...
-What Mike discovered by going on his first magic mushroom trip in a dog park...
-How psilocybin and ayahuasca rewire neurons in your brains...
-How to find a good shaman if you decide you want to do ayahuasca...
-Mike's one-two combo for morning breathwork and deep tissue work...
-Mike's evening routine, and what he completely avoids for 90 minutes before bed...
-And much more...
Resources from this episode: -Ben's podcast on mushrooms -BarbellBusiness.com -BarbellShrugged.com -Jill Miller's yoga tune-up balls -Wim Hof Do you have questions, comments or feedback for Mike Bledsoe or I? Leave your thoughts at BenGreenfieldFitness.com and one of use will reply!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, it's Ben Greenfield. I'm podcasting from Paleo FX today. The episode that you're |
| 0:07.1 | about to hear is with a guy I've had the opportunity to hang out with a few times at Paleo FX |
| 0:13.2 | Mike Bloodsau. You're going to learn a lot more about Mike in today's episode, everything |
| 0:18.2 | from how he got started into CrossFit to his journey into plant-based medicine and far |
| 0:23.5 | beyond. I really dig this dude and I think you will too. But first, just a few quick |
| 0:29.2 | announcements. This podcast is brought to you by High Altitude Premium Coffee infused |
| 0:35.9 | with Neutropics. Camera Coffee. Now I haven't talked to that much about how this stuff |
| 0:41.8 | has grown. I've talked about what it has in it that spins the dials in your brain, everything |
| 0:47.4 | from alpha GPC to touring, to LTHDN-E, to DMAE. But this stuff has actually grown at |
| 0:53.6 | 5,000 feet altitude. They source their beans from a single estate coffee plantation that's |
| 0:59.0 | been run by the same family for over 40 years. They actually have a farming practice where |
| 1:06.3 | this coffee is grown in which they plant a really wide diversity of trees. That prevents |
| 1:11.6 | things like soil erosion. It also helps to maintain the perfect pH balance and soil nutrition |
| 1:17.7 | when they grow the coffee. So you can check this stuff out at CameraCoffee.com. It's |
| 1:22.0 | K-I-M-E-R-A-K-O-F-F-E-E.com. When you go there, you can use discount code Ben. This |
| 1:31.7 | podcast is also brought to you by something else that I've had a chance to try here at |
| 1:36.8 | PaleoFX, something designed by an award winning three Michelin Start Chef, the former head |
| 1:43.0 | of R&D at the Fat Duck that was ranked the number one restaurant in the world. Well, this |
| 1:49.7 | guy kind of designed something slightly unique. It's a protein bar. It's a protein bar |
| 1:56.5 | made with cricket. You may have seen it in men's health. You may have seen it in New York |
| 2:00.7 | times. Basically, what he's done is actually figured out a way to take sustainable protein |
| 2:06.4 | from crickets and put it into a pretty dang tasty bar. The flavor that I'm going to recommend |
... |
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