Navigating a High-Stress Society with Joe DiStefano

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Up and Adam is an Operation Podcast production. For your podcast needs email us at info@operationpodcast.com. This show is filmed at IBBLE studios in Austin, TX.

Joe DiStefano is a coach, educator, the Founder of RUNGA, and host of the STACKED podcast. Joe joins Adam on this episode of Up and Adam to do a deep dive into the science of stress, how the modern world has cornered us into a neverending state of survival mode, and how to break out of that vicious cycle.

Joe kicks things off talking about his transition out of the corporate side of the wellness industry into pursuing an NASM certification in 2004, during a time when “the fitness scene was very much ‘sit-and-push’ and personal trainers were basically ‘rep counters’.” After a brief period of learning in physical therapy circles he opened his own gym, Ultimate Athlete, at the age of 24. Down the road, he sold the gym and got the opportunity to become an early-stage company advisor—and later full-time executive—for Spartan.

“In the fitness franchise,” says Joe, “I learned how to scale coaching.” This was the reason he joined Spartan, and a foundational experience that led to his success as an sought-after authority in the world of fitness.

Asked about the psychology of those that dive into endurance events, especially one as grueling as the Spartan Death Race, Joe says that it comes down to the accessibility of endurance sports and the opportunity they give us to stretch ourselves beyond our limits. This led down into a rabbit hole that contained the real meat of today’s discussion: navigating stress in our fast-paced and increasingly tribalistic society.

The prevalence of chronic stress in today’s world means that a large amount of our energy is being shuttled away from our vital systems and toward those that fuel our primal survival instinct. This high-stress state that too many of us have been living day-in and day-out has been a huge blow to our gut and reproductive health, not to mention mental health. Joe and Adam go into how “bad” stress negatively impacts our lives in more ways than most think, and how we rise above the noise.

Follow Joe @coachjoedi

Follow Adam @vonrothfelder

Key Highlights

• Joe shares what motivated him to sell his gym and work with Spartan.
• What type of personality becomes motivated to take part in the Spartan Death Race?
• Joe talks about the difference between “good” stress (ex. athletic activities) versus “bad” stress (ex. watching the news), and when it might be a good idea to exercise less.
• Joe explains why you shouldn’t get your news from the same place you read up on conspiracy theories.

Powerful Quotes by Joe

• We all need something, and I think that endurance sports are just low-hanging fruit.
• Exercise is beneficial, but if your exercise is a super beatdown, and you’re super-stressed already from watching the news or having some sort of emotional stress or fighting with your spouse, then you might have been better off doing a half-hour foam roll than doing some super-hard exercise session.
• Anything that’s metabolically expensive and doesn’t lead to an increased chance of survival under stress is basically stunted, or shunted, until the stress goes away—but the stress never goes away these days.