October 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Most people plan their defense around a holster and a hope. We build it around breath, movement, and the split-second choices that actually decide outcomes. With defense instructor and security professional Aaron Cobb, we walk through a practical framework for making your body a tactical asset—so you can think clearer, move faster, and choose the lowest force necessary when everything goes loud.
We start with the mindset shift: be a fighter with a gun, not a gunfighter. That means building functional capacity, not chasing gym aesthetics. Aaron breaks the work into simple blocks you can do at home: daily walks that grow into hills or rucks, bodyweight sessions that cover the core human patterns—squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, and twist—and mobility that lets you access and retain your firearm from awkward positions. We talk recoil control under adrenaline, why VO2 max matters in short chaotic fights, and how ground-fighting exposure from Krav Maga or integrative concealed-carry drills gives you a reality check on weapon retention and gas tank limits.
No fancy gear required. Resistance bands and TRX deliver scalable strength for apartments, travel, or injury constraints, including upper-body focus for wheelchair users. We map out nutrition that supports performance: anchor protein at roughly a gram per pound, swap processed carbs for whole-food sources, treat fats and carbs like a seesaw to avoid the worst combinations, and hydrate with electrolytes when heat or training spikes your needs. The goal is a routine that survives busy weeks—short, consistent sessions that stack into confidence when it counts.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you could fight for 90 seconds and still draw cleanly, this conversation is your blueprint. Subscribe for more skill-forward training talks, share this episode with a training partner, and leave a review with the one habit you’ll add this week. Your future self will thank you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
Hi, welcome to the Armed Guardian Podcast Season 1,
Episode 10.
Today will be our last episodeof Guest Episode of 2023.
And our guest today will beAaron Cobb from Viesal Defense
out of here from Michigan.
Aaron is a USCCA instructor, andtoday we'll be discussing
physical fitness and theconcealed carrier and what uh
(00:28):
they need to do and someconsiderations so that uh you're
able to defend yourself in thosesituations.
So sit down, enjoy today'sepisode.
Hi, welcome to the ArmedGuardian Podcast.
Today we're going to be talkingwith Aaron Cobb of Diesel
(00:51):
Defense from the Detroit area,and he's going to be talking
about physical fitness with usand the concealed carrier and
some things that you can do tokind of help stay in shape, uh,
be able to stay in the fight ifyou were needed to get into a
prolonged fight.
So without any further ado,Aaron, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER_02 (01:14):
I'm doing great, Brian.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Thank you for coming and talking on this topic.
Uh, it's one that I've every nowand then I'll get asked in a
class about physical fitness,but it uh it's not my number
one, I'm not the certifiedtrainer, uh, although I've been
in a lot of physical fitness uhstuff in former military and law
enforcement, but it's uhsomething that a lot of
(01:39):
concealed carriers kind of takefor granted.
You know, they think I don'treally need to do a whole lot,
but uh they don't if theyhaven't been in the physical
fight where they're you knowfighting for their life,
basically, it's um they theydon't recognize how much it
takes to stay involved in thefight.
(02:00):
But uh before we jump into thetopic, uh why don't you tell us
a little bit about Aaron Cobband what he does?
SPEAKER_02 (02:08):
Okay, uh as you mentioned, uh the next is Diesel
Defense.
Uh it is a firearms trainingcompany.
Uh, I also do teach uh massshooter training, uh countering
the mass shooter threat.
And I also do security training.
So I covered kind of legalaspect of security work, and
then I created a securityfirearms uh class.
(02:32):
Uh I'm still uh in the securityfield, I'm a security
contractor, so I do high threatsecurity, usually for people
with a whole lot of money.
Um, and I do uh I transportprisoners uh for the U.S.
Marshals.
I'm a contractor, and then Ialso do security assessments on
schools around the state ofMichigan to help them uh get
(02:56):
grants to improve uh theschools, whether it be cameras,
uh getting vulnerable, glassreplaced, that kind of stuff.
So those those assessments helpthem get the money they need to
make those uh changes if it'snot covered by a bond or a
millage.
Um and that's pretty much it.
(03:16):
That's pretty much it.
And uh just try to help peoplebecome you know their own first
responder is is the is the mainthing.
SPEAKER_00 (03:27):
Okay, gotta turn off the air conditioner for the
background noise.
No problem.
Uh okay, so someone that uh isgetting into uh self- uh
concealed carry, what are somethings are someone that maybe
has been involved in concealedcarry but hasn't really given
(03:48):
physical fitness much of athought?
What part does physical fitnessplay in the ability to fire your
firearm and to stay in thefight?
Uh if you want to take that intwo different topics there or
two different segments.
Uh what's your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_02 (04:08):
Well, my thoughts are that physical fitness is is
of the utmost importance, right?
Um, you know, I I I think thatin the in the two-way community,
uh at least observation, there'stoo much reliance on a firearm.
You know, the the thought is,you know, if anything happens, I
I have my firearms.
(04:29):
And um there's a a gentleman,and I can't remember his last
name, but his first name's Tim,and he has a company called IDS.
Um, and he talks about being anot being a gun fighter, but
being a fighter with a gun,right?
And we teach the use of forcecontinuum.
We teach that you know you onlywant to use the minimum amount
(04:52):
of force necessary to stop athreat.
And somebody who relies uhsolely on their firearm, well,
they're going all the way to 10,right?
They're like, okay, if somethinghappens, I'm gonna use my
firearm.
Um, but there may be otherthings you can do, you know,
based on your level of fitness.
If you're not physically fit,you may have to use force to
(05:15):
protect yourself.
Whereas in the same situation,if you were more physically fit,
you might have been able to buyyourself some time to get away,
all for help, that kind ofthing.
So it's it's very, veryimportant.
And and it's not only a two-waycommunity.
I mean, when I was a correctionsofficer, uh, I mean, I worked
with people who are out ofshape, and and I, you know, I
used to, I told people I I wouldbe afraid to come inside of a
(05:38):
prison if I was not in shape.
So it's it's definitelysomething that's overlooked kind
of by everybody, but I want andwhat I try to get my students to
understand is that you know,this is this is a tool and this
is part of the solution, but theother part of that is being hard
to kill, and being hard to killis being in in as best physical
shape as you can be.
SPEAKER_00 (06:00):
Right.
Yeah.
That's that's good.
Um I know that the physicalfitness part of it, uh just
being able to handle the gun andthe recoil, uh having a you
don't have to be overly fit andmuscle muscled up or anything
(06:22):
like that, but you've got tohave well-toned muscles, uh,
especially if you're you knowinvolved in a situation, your
your heart rate's gonna bealready uh elevated and you're
gonna start expending thatoxygen that's supposed to be
going to the muscles to helpcontrol the firearm.
(06:42):
And you know, we've all havedone you know several different
things.
You know, if you're talkingabout adrenaline, you know, the
ice bucket, you know, puttingyour hands in the ice bucket to
try to manipulate the weapon.
Uh you know, holding the gun outand you you're oh not you don't
have enough oxygen and you'renot you don't have enough muscle
tone uh or you know theconditioning, you you start that
(07:06):
shake and everything, and that'sgonna affect where your rounds
go, where where the uh if you'regonna be effective in that
potential gun fight.
And uh it's just something thatI think that a lot of people
don't really um practice toomuch, like we talked about.
So uh yeah, I think physicalfitness uh at least some sort of
(07:30):
basic conditioning.
And then also the ability uhmaintaining your flexibility
because you have to be flexiblein a you know in your shooting
stance, and then if you have toturn and engage uh or run, uh
you've got to have thatflexibility to be able to move
quickly.
Uh you don't want to be like uhan old man that's been out of
(07:52):
shape and and oh I gotta go.
And uh it's just something thatI I think a lot of people just
take for granted.
They don't they don't positionthemselves like they they
should.
SPEAKER_02 (08:04):
Um yeah, sure.
(08:39):
And and and to your point, youknow, it's something that that
most people just don't thinkabout.
You know, if somebody's neverbeen in a fight, they don't
know.
And so what I tell people is Isay, hey, listen, if you walk up
uh a flight of stairs and you'reout of breath, think about being
in a fight.
Because that's gonna be way moreaggressive than you simply going
(09:00):
upstairs to you know to thesecond level of your house or
the second level of a business.
And so the good thing is though,like you mentioned the ice
bucket training and stuff likethat, you can train, you can
increase your VO2 max.
And what VO2 Max is, is yourbody's ability to utilize
oxygen, which if you're out ofshape, it decreases.
(09:23):
But the good thing is you canimprove that.
So uh one recommendation that Ialways have for people is if you
don't do any exercise, if youhave a job where you sit at a
desk and then you typically gohome and sit on the couch, you
know, just start walking, startwalking after dinner.
Uh, and then as you become moreconditioned, you can always uh
(09:44):
increase the the uh theintensity by either walking
faster or walking up hills,things like that.
Walking with a backpack, put alittle weight in your back, uh,
which is a whole nother thing.
I'm I'm into rucking too, butthat's separate.
That might be another uhconversation, but um, but little
things, you know.
I that that's the other thing Ithink people think, oh man, I
(10:06):
gotta I have to go become a gymrat.
No, you don't.
You just have to be able to dothe basic things, um, such as go
up a flight of stairs.
If you're on the floor, be ableto get down on the floor and off
the floor.
Because I think the other thingis we romanticize gunfights.
We think, oh, if I'm gonna be ina gunfight, I'm gonna be in that
(10:26):
perfect isosceles or I'm gonnabe in that perfect weaver.
No, you might, I tell mystudents all the time, you might
have to shoot sitting up in yourbed.
You might have to shoot uh fromyour car, or you may be trying
to run away and fall, right?
Now you're on the ground on onon your a weak side, now you
have to try to get a firearm outand and and engage the threat.
(10:50):
So it's just thinking of allthese eventualities and then and
then working a basic routinearound that, and you don't need
any equivalence for that.
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Yeah, and it doesn't take a whole whole lot to think
outside the box to get into uh amoderate physical fitness or or
get into shape.
Um just think about you know, ifyou work in a the office
building, you take the stairsinstead of the elevator.
Um you know, you go groceryshopping and you come home, uh
(11:23):
you know, load up load your armsup with the bags and and carry
that extra weight instead oftaking just a couple and making
multiple trips, but you know,use that to kind of help you uh
tone the muscles or conditionthe muscles.
Um a lot of things you justthink out outside the box of
your lawn work, uh you gottaride lower in your bow, push
(11:47):
mower, and every now and thenyou know you use the push mower.
You know, different things likethat to maintain your that would
be your cardiovascular for themost part.
But um, you know, it's just itdoesn't take a whole lot to you
know pick up the bag, you canmove it, you can just you know
back and forth, uh, you know,whether it's uh groceries, trash
(12:10):
bags, trash whenever you take itto the trash can, picking it up
and dropping it in the dumpsterof the can.
So uh a lot of things we can dooutside the box, I think,
without that special equipment.
Um you got a lot of thingsaround the house.
Uh take a shower, dry off of thetowel, use your towel uh to kind
(12:33):
of tense up your muscles andrelax if that'll help build up
uh some of your your musclefitness.
Uh it's not you know, it's notlike you're picking up weights
or using resistance fans, butyou you are to a point with you
know that towel just kind oftensing up, uh building that uh
tension there and then releasingit, um a lot of things around
(12:56):
the house that we we kind ofplay off that uh we can use to
help aid our business that it'suh sure.
SPEAKER_02 (13:04):
And I think the the key is just kind of doing a
self-assessment of where you'reat, you know.
And uh, you know, if you don'thave any um ailments, if you
don't have any uh issues, uh youknow, any disabilities, you can
you can do calisthenics, like wekind of talked about off camera,
is you know, jumping jacks,running in place, push-ups,
(13:26):
sit-ups.
I mean, the very basic, you cando that uh in your living room
floor, right?
And then uh what I would say isif if there are people listening
who are like, you know, I'd loveto do all that, but I have you
know uh some sort of adisability, then that's where
maybe an occupational therapistuh would help uh or a good
(13:47):
personal trainer.
You know, there's uh back when Iwas, and that's one thing I
forgot to mention uh in my introthere is that I was a certified
personal trainer for 12 years.
But um, you know, having acompetent uh personal trainer
who can who can um make aprogram just for you, and and
(14:08):
and they should be.
If you're dealing with atrainer, there should never be
what we call a cookie cutterprogram.
And there's plenty, there'splenty of cookie cutter programs
out there.
You can just go on YouTube andand type in you know full body
exercise, and you'll see azillion of them.
You might even find one of myold ones out there.
But um, but but the key isgetting a plan that's specific
for you if you're dealing with acertain uh issue um and
(14:32):
explaining to that professionalsaying, hey, I'm not you know,
I'm not trying to be abodybuilder, I'm not trying to
run a marathon, I just want tobe functionally fit, and this is
what I'm these are mylimitations, and they they will
be able to create a programspecifically for you to help you
be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:53):
For without someone that's looking to get into
trying to better themselves orget into a little bit better
condition, we've talked a littlebit about the you know, just
getting out walking, takingsteps, uh things like that.
Uh if they were wanting to getinto, you know, extend that a
little bit, and we've used bodyweight exercises, but um what
(15:15):
are you you know as far as umresistance bands?
Uh would you say resistancebands are are are great,
especially if you're doing likea a home gym where you can't
have the weight pounding on thefloor because you live in an
upstairs apartment or something?
Um what are your thoughts orwhat are some exercises that you
think fashion for a concealedcarrier might uh might work?
SPEAKER_02 (15:40):
Um sure, yeah.
But exercise bands are anexcellent tool.
They're they're they're small,they're compact.
Uh you can get different sizesto uh have the different
resistance, whether it's lighterresistance, the thinner bands
are lighter, the thicker bandsare heavier resistant.
So those are apps, a great tool.
(16:00):
You can travel with them, uhthrow them in a suitcase.
Um, if you do travel for work,you know, have them in a hotel
room, that kind of thing.
Um, and then uh the other thing,um, kind of a uh along the same
line, but gives you a littlemore versatility is like
something like a TRX band,something like that.
Um there you go, yeah.
(16:24):
Yeah, and those are perfect.
And then um, you know, when itcomes to to uh designing a plan
for yourself, you just a plandoesn't have to be that um you
know detailed.
There's there's there's somemovements that as humans we need
to be able to do, and those aresquat, lunge, hinge, right,
(16:48):
twist, and then push and pullwith the arms.
That's it.
All these exercise programs thatyou see online on TV and all
that, they are all based onthose.
Those are the bare minimum uhmovements.
So, what is a squat?
Well, you know, me in mybodybuilding, heyday, I'd go to
the gym and put as much weighton my back as I could and I'd
(17:10):
squat with it.
But guess what?
You can do an air squat, what wecall an air squat with zero
weight, right?
Uh you can do that in yourliving room, and you just do uh
do a couple sets to failure tofatigue, and and that works just
as well.
You know, I got a buddy that's afootball coach, and he will
often have his guys do step-upsat on the bleachers out at the
(17:32):
football field as opposed tosquatting.
Now, they do you know 50 sets ata or 50 reps at a time, but it's
the same thing.
It's the exact same thing.
So, you know, so again, don'tdon't get too far in the woods,
keep it simple, and say toyourself, okay, I need to be
able to do these basic things.
Now, when it comes to cardioconditioning, uh, which is
(17:54):
actually gonna um I feel be moreimportant for you in a fight,
uh, I mean, all you gotta do islook at a UFC fight, and those
guys can fight three, fiverounds and don't even break a
sweat usually.
And that's because their cardiois insane.
I look at I get tired looking atit, but but being able to to
have that cardio fitness becausethe whole goal is you're hoping
(18:18):
that if the person attacking youmight be out of shape and you're
in shape, well, you just eventhe playing field as long as
they don't get their hands onyour firearm, right?
Right.
So um, so yeah, so there's that.
And then, you know, if you aredealing, let's let's talk about
somebody who might be wheelchairbound, right?
So they're obviously going to belimited to upper body exercise
(18:42):
and using um resistance bands asan example.
You know, you could secure oneend of a resistance band uh on a
door or in a door, and then youknow, do bicep curls, uh do
rows, that kind of thing, youknow, by locking the the
wheelchair in place and gettingthe resistance that way.
(19:04):
Um, I mean those bands are arehonestly, I mean, you're
unlimited with those bands.
You can do so much.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
Um and talking about the cardio,you know, and we mentioned it
briefly, is uh if you got into asituation where your attacker
was within arm's reach foreither your lack of situational
awareness or you being caught atthe you know them approaching
(19:36):
and you're either can't get toyour weapon or you don't have
any other means of uhself-protection.
That can be that basicallyground fighting.
But uh you know, a lot of peopledon't realize uh if they get in
in an actual true fight uh whereyou're having to fight off a
(19:56):
attacker that you're you'll burnoff, you'll uh get to the point
where you're gonna fatigue andit's gonna be fairly quickly,
regardless of how fit you are.
You know, just because you'refit, you're not gonna be able to
endure a 15-minute fight morethan likely uh in a self-defense
situation.
(20:17):
Uh there's an incident that Ithink kind of brings to point uh
that happened here not too farfrom us over in Woodvine,
Georgia, where the I don't wantto get into the there's some
some playing um things going onwith it, but if you watch the
dash cam footage, uh you know,the guys resistant to the
(20:39):
officer, yeah, that they've gota different agenda, the officers
going in dealing with theviolation of the law.
But you know, again, put it inthat you know, you lost
situational awareness, you walkaround a corner, there's a guy
right there.
Um they see this person becomingvery aggressive with the uh
officer and attacking them.
(20:59):
Unfortunately, the guy is uhofficer ends up shooting the
person, but afterwards you seethat officer who is in looks to
be in fairly decent shape, uhstanding over his patrol car on
the hood, huffing and puffingbecause he's you know expend all
that energy, fatigue, thosemuscles in that short fight that
(21:21):
he had.
So uh you know, just because youknow, like you had mentioned,
the uh got the gun, that's allI'm gonna need, or I got pepper
spray and stuff, anything likethat, always be prepared for
that ground fight, basically.
Um and I I'm an advocate of Ithink everybody should at some
(21:44):
point take some sort of groundfighting if they're able to, uh,
some sort of uh martial arts orground fighting uh class just to
be aware of that energy that isexpensive and how how quickly,
you know, don't depend on yourphysical fitness uh or the the
(22:08):
weapon or anything, but uh be beaware of what it's gonna take
and how long you're actuallygoing to last in a situation.
SPEAKER_02 (22:18):
Yeah, I agree.
And and you know, one of thethings I kind of um was
considering at one point was uhyou know either taking like
jujitsu, that kind of stuff.
And I did play around with KravMaga.
And uh and and even if you takeKrav Maga for a month, it it's
well worth the money because uhat the end of every, well, I
(22:41):
shouldn't say the end, but thelast portion of every class, it
there's maybe four or five ofyou, and one of you is being
attacked, and so everybody isattacking you, and so you're
full on fighting for 90 seconds.
I mean, you're getting your buttkicked for 90 seconds, and even
though it's a controlledenvironment, you know, obviously
these people aren't trying toreally kill you, it will really
(23:03):
wake you up and say, holy cow, II felt like I was in great shape
until I started going to that.
And you know, you're justdrenched, and you're still
getting that adrenaline dumpbecause even though you know
your life's not in danger, youstill have a task to complete.
When that when that timer goesoff, you have to react.
And you know, but again, there'sthose some of those systems, you
(23:25):
know, it takes you a coupleyears to get really good at
them.
So um uh here out here in MetroDetroit, um, there's a a guy
that puts on uh integrativedefense strategies is what it's
called.
And it's it is fight-based, butit's a concealed carry combat
class.
(23:45):
And so a scenario like say youand I were partners, uh, we
would have cert pistols on us uhand holsters concealed.
I've broken three holsters, bythe way.
So you quickly find out whichholsters are worth the money and
which aren't.
Uh but but the instructor mightput me and you facing each other
on our knees and say, okay, yourjob is to get each other's
(24:08):
pistol.
So and and you know, we're notreally using any.
I mean, they teach us sometechniques and all that, but
they don't get in the woods onit because you don't have years
to become masters, right?
You got an hour.
And so I encourage that anybodylistening, if there's anything
like that around you, uh, oreven a Krav Maga class, and I
and it seems like the samepeople are gravitating.
(24:30):
There's a lot of concealedcarriers in Krav Maga classes.
Uh, there's a lot of concealedcarriers, obviously, they're in
the combat concealed class, andit gives you that reality check,
but it also gives you that thatconfidence you begin to gain
that confidence.
But I tell you, I'll tell youthis, that even with that, I
still walked out of there andsaid, you know what, I need to
run, I need to run some morebecause I was getting out of
(24:51):
breath pretty quick.
And again, that lactic acidsystem that the that the cells
use for energy gaming, it unlessyou can dominate your opponent
in about 15 to 30 seconds, youwill have to resort to using
your firearm because other thanthat, you know, it's game over.
And I've seen some of the samedash cam footage that you
(25:14):
mentioned.
Uh, there was one where the andthe officer was very obviously
uh out of shape, but the kid gotthe best of him, and because of
that, the officer, you know, thekid mounted the officer uh on
his back on the ground.
The officer had no choice butto, you know, to use his
firearm, otherwise he wouldn'thave made it out of there.
So, you know, I can't stressenough that by improving your
(25:38):
your physical fitness, it justgives you that edge, it gives
you that chance.
That maybe you don't have to useyour firearm if you can buy just
a split second to get out ofbeing mounted or to um to get
away.
I don't know, can you hear thattraffic out there?
SPEAKER_00 (25:55):
Hopefully you can occasionally I'll hear it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah, I live right on Ford Road, I'm in
Dearborn, right?
The home of Ford Motor Company.
And it seems like everybody thatowns a charger or a challenger
lives in this neighborhood.
But so yeah, yeah, I can'tstress that enough.
Um, and again, people don't haveto spend a ton of money on gym
(26:18):
memberships and all this kind ofstuff, just start simple,
evaluate where you're atphysically and say, okay, what
can I do to be just a little bitbetter?
You know, maybe walk afterdinner every night, something
like that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:31):
Okay.
Something I I didn't uh includein the in our pre-questions, but
it just kind of hit me.
And if you're not real sure ordon't feel comfortable, just let
me know.
But uh part of the physicalfitness, I think, is also
learning the proper diet to feedyour your muscle system, uh,
(26:52):
because you know carbs uh arequick for that quick energy, but
then you also need a balance ofprotein and and other things.
Uh do you subscribe or or do youhave any suggestions on on
dietary or physical fitness?
SPEAKER_02 (27:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I've got a uh I was certified inthat too.
They went together with uh so soyeah, so so what I tell people
is you know, um part of part ofbeing in shape is not being uh
overweight, right?
Right.
If let's say you let's startthere.
(27:31):
So let's say somebody thatthat's listening to this,
they're overweight, um, youknow, they're doing the huffing
and puffing, going up and downthe stairs with their concealed
carrier and they want to get inshape and they want to uh eat
better.
Uh the the thing is is processedfood overall, but especially
processed carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are an energysource.
(27:53):
And believe it or not, dietaryfat is an energy source as well.
Um, but the body loves carbs.
And so what I tell people isstart switching out your
processed carbs for naturalcarbs.
So instead of having a Snickersbar, have an apple.
Um, the body knows what to dowith sugar, even though excess
(28:14):
sugar will get us in trouble.
The mitochondria in the cellrecognize sugar and every cell
in the body can use it forenergy versus artificial
sweeteners, uh, highly processedsweeteners.
The body doesn't know what thatis, so the body will store it as
fat.
Um, and then uh when it comes toprotein, should be the basis for
(28:35):
everything.
You everybody should be gettingin at least one gram of protein
per pound of body weight.
I don't care if you're 15 yearsold or 95 years old, that should
be the basis.
In fact, the older you are, themore protein becomes very
valuable to uh help with musclewasting and that kind of stuff.
And then uh dietary fat.
(28:57):
So when it comes to fat and uhwhen it comes to fat and sugar,
what I tell people broadly isthink of a sea salt.
If you're gonna have a high uhcarbohydrate, I said sugar, then
sugars are carbs, if you'regonna have a high carbohydrate
meal, then fat should be low.
(29:18):
And then vice versa.
If you're gonna have a high fatmeal, let's say you're gonna
have a nice juicy, thick brisketwith a lot of fat on it, marbled
really good, that's a meal whereyou would want to avoid having
bread or potatoes or anythingwith it.
So that way it's just a way tokeep it simple.
You know, protein should beacross the board, one gram, at
least one gram per pound of bodyweight, and then carbs and fat,
(29:41):
just think of a seesaw.
And if you think of it, what isice cream?
Ice cream is sugar and fat.
And that's it's awesome, but itgets us in trouble, right?
Yep.
Yep.
So just making those subtlechanges.
And I've as as a as a formerbodybuilder and a personal
trainer and nutrition coach, I Ihave literally tried every diet
out there.
(30:01):
Uh, the other thing is not to bedogmatic.
Like, you know, there's peoplethat are dogmatic about veganism
or about whatever, but it's likeeverything is in phases.
You'll find that if you cut outall processed foods, you're
gonna see a change in your body.
But is that gonna get you to theend?
No.
Maybe somewhere through thatjourney, you say, okay, I think
what I'm gonna do now is I'mgonna cut carbs for 30 days.
(30:25):
You know, do like a carnivore,keto style diet.
unknown (30:28):
And
SPEAKER_02 (30:29):
And then you might see some results.
But if you're somebody who is uhdoing a lot of cardio running,
biking, you need thosecarbohydrates.
You have to have them, but youhave to have good carbs.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yeah.
And then well, with the exerciseand even with your regular diet
and stuff, uh, especiallyimportant if you're exercising
or if you're sweating a lot, uh,maintain that water intake uh
because that water will helpregulate the the body uh and the
(31:01):
electrolyte system to keep youfrom getting dehydrated and uh
uh just keep keeps the systemregulated.
SPEAKER_02 (31:10):
Sure, sure.
So you definitely want to makesure your water intake, even if
you're sedentary, you shouldn'tbe having eight cups of water a
day, and then that's adjusted upfor exercise or heat.
Let's say you don't exercise,but like about you know, the
heat index is 130.
Well, you're gonna want to havesome more water that day, right?
Right.
But then also uh throw inelectrolytes.
(31:32):
Uh, you got the chewableelectrolytes and you got the uh
the powders that you dissolve inwater because you can actually
flush if you drink just water,let's say it's an excessively
hot day, let's say it's 100degrees, and you're doing yard
work or whatever, and you'redrinking a ton of water, you can
actually flush out a lot ofminerals if you drink strictly
water.
So that's why you want to makesure you have an electrolyte
(31:54):
drink in there as well.
So, what I'll do is if I'm gonnago for a run, let's say it's a
longer run, like a three orfive-mile run, I'll definitely
have a glass of um electrolytesbefore I go out on that run.
And if I'm gonna be out longer,uh when I'm in CrossFit and
stuff, I'll have an electrolytedrink with me.
But water's key, but don'tforget about those electrolytes.
SPEAKER_01 (32:15):
Okay, all right.
Anything, David, you want toask?
Or feel filled?
Feel good?
SPEAKER_02 (32:23):
Oh, David's just gonna hang out, huh?
You ain't got you ain't gonnasay something.
SPEAKER_01 (32:30):
Y'all been covering it pretty good.
SPEAKER_00 (32:32):
Yeah, since he didn't get any questions to me,
I I kind of threw them togetherand I said, well, we'll go with
this.
Uh, but uh yeah, I I think youknow for a short uh episode
here.
I I really appreciate your inputand your talking to us about it
because I think it's somethingthat we often overlook in
firearms training and self uhself-defense is we focus so much
(32:56):
on the firearm, uh situationalawareness.
Um maybe we do do some krobmagob bringing jiu-jitsu or
whatever, but uh we don't maybestep up our physical fitness
regime quite as much as weshould overall.
(33:16):
And I think that this was a goodbeginning point.
Uh, you know, like you said, youknow, it's a good idea to find
you a gym if you can to get youa person or a personal trainer
to help you formulate thatoptimal fitness that you're
wanting to attain, and uh butjust you know maintaining the
(33:37):
the stretches, the um thingsthat you can do around the house
uh to maintain your currentfitness without you know
affecting or degrading any toyou know where you're talking
about uh losing muscle or losingbone mass and things like that.
Because if you sit all the timelike a daytime job or like I do
(33:59):
with driving, uh you may nothave a whole lot of physical
fitness, and you know if you'renot doing something physically
fit, um you know you risk muscleloss, uh bone uh losing uh some
bone mass.
And uh it's uh you've got to beactive to maintain our body.
(34:21):
Our body's designed to beactive.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
Uh so uh it and I think real quick, I think if as
long as people have a holisticview of this thing where they're
like, okay, I'm getting somestrength training, whether that
be body weight, resistancebands, gym, whatever, getting
some cardio.
And for some people, cardio mayjust simply be walking, right?
For some people, that cardio hasto be something that gets their
(34:46):
heart rate up, and then thefood, right?
The food kind of cutting outsome of the sweets and stuff.
And you know, I I can feel yourpain on the on the sitting thing
because some of the securitydetails that I do, you know,
like right now, sitting in frontof a mansion uh from somebody
that's well to do, but they'reworried about people coming to
their house.
I'm I'm sitting in my vehicle intheir driveway for 12 hours.
(35:09):
Yeah, there's no exercise goingon, right?
So um, you know, so kind of whatI do to make up if I'm working a
couple of those 12 hour shiftsback to back, I make it a point
on my days off to work out atleast once, if not twice.
But um, you know, I think ifpeople just think of taking baby
steps, um personal training maynot be uh feasible for some
(35:33):
people.
There are a ton of informationout there on the internet.
What I would say is if they doseek someone on the internet,
just check their credentials,make sure that they are um uh
credentialed by a reputablesource such as um the
International Sports Sciences orACE, the American Council on
Exercise.
(35:53):
And there's a few others, notjust some guy that's making a
video, right?
Um, but yeah, yeah, I think ifyou just start at the very basic
level, um, you know, that you'regoing the right direction.
SPEAKER_00 (36:07):
Well appreciate you coming on and uh talking about
this with us, Aaron.
And uh, I think maybe we mighthave you back uh later for some
dive in deeper or something withabout this topic.
And uh I know Tramp is uh he herecommended me to you and uh
said well hey Aaron does myphysical fitness articles on the
(36:29):
magazine and uh uh reach out tohim and uh uh I'm glad that uh
glad that he gave gave thatconnection to us.
Uh so uh if somebody wanted toget in contact with you, uh how
would they go about contactingyou if they had some questions?
SPEAKER_02 (36:48):
Oh uh sure.
Uh the name of my business againis Diesel Defense.
Uh I can be contacted onInstagram, also Facebook, um, or
my website is uh uhwww.missioncpl dot pro, not dot
com dot pro.
Uh yeah, those couple of ways uhthey can reach out.
SPEAKER_00 (37:10):
Okay, uh we appreciate it.
So one thing we're asking uh allof our guests, although I forgot
to ask Sarah about it the otherday whenever I uh got her on.
What is your getaway or what doyou do for relaxation away from
your normal everyday work life?
(37:31):
What do you do to findrelaxation or get uh to get back
into that uh uh stage?
SPEAKER_02 (37:40):
That's easy.
That's exercise.
You know, I I uh I like to getoutside though.
I I found that I I get chiefswhen I'm on the trail.
So if I'm trail running ormountain biking, a lot of times
I won't wear earbuds or anythingjust to hear nature, especially
in the winter, believe it ornot.
You know, you hear the treeskind of creaking and you see
some deer.
So yeah, it's exercise,preferably outside.
SPEAKER_00 (38:02):
Okay, all right.
Yeah, well, we appreciate that.
So um again, I thank you.
And um for anybody that has anyquestions, uh feel free to reach
out to Aaron or if you want tocontact us, we'll get you in
touch with Aaron or someonelocally if you're in the
Southeast Georgia area.
We'll see what we can do to tryto help out.
(38:24):
But uh thanks again, Aaron, anduh hope you have a wonderful
evening, sir.
SPEAKER_02 (38:29):
Thanks, Brian.
Thanks, Dave.
See you guys.
SPEAKER_00 (38:34):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostand the guest, and do not
necessarily reflect the viewsand opinions of the podcast
publisher, its affiliates, orany other enemy.
The information contained inthis podcast is for
entertainment purposes only andshould not be construed as
medical, legal, or financialadvice.
The podcast publisher and itsaffiliates assume no
(38:56):
responsibility for anyliability, loss, or damage
caused by the use of informationcontained in this podcast.
Listeners are advised to consultwith a qualified professional
before making any decisionsbased on the information
contained in this podcast.
Hi, welcome to the Armed Guardian Podcast Season 1,
Episode 10.
Today will be our last episodeof Guest Episode of 2023.
And our guest today will beAaron Cobb from Viesal Defense
out of here from Michigan.
Aaron is a USCCA instructor, andtoday we'll be discussing
physical fitness and theconcealed carrier and what uh
(00:28):
they need to do and someconsiderations so that uh you're
able to defend yourself in thosesituations.
So sit down, enjoy today'sepisode.
Hi, welcome to the ArmedGuardian Podcast.
Today we're going to be talkingwith Aaron Cobb of Diesel
(00:51):
Defense from the Detroit area,and he's going to be talking
about physical fitness with usand the concealed carrier and
some things that you can do tokind of help stay in shape, uh,
be able to stay in the fight ifyou were needed to get into a
prolonged fight.
So without any further ado,Aaron, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER_02 (01:14):
I'm doing great, Brian.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Thank you for coming and talking on this topic.
Uh, it's one that I've every nowand then I'll get asked in a
class about physical fitness,but it uh it's not my number
one, I'm not the certifiedtrainer, uh, although I've been
in a lot of physical fitness uhstuff in former military and law
enforcement, but it's uhsomething that a lot of
(01:39):
concealed carriers kind of takefor granted.
You know, they think I don'treally need to do a whole lot,
but uh they don't if theyhaven't been in the physical
fight where they're you knowfighting for their life,
basically, it's um they theydon't recognize how much it
takes to stay involved in thefight.
(02:00):
But uh before we jump into thetopic, uh why don't you tell us
a little bit about Aaron Cobband what he does?
SPEAKER_02 (02:08):
Okay, uh as you mentioned, uh the next is Diesel
Defense.
Uh it is a firearms trainingcompany.
Uh, I also do teach uh massshooter training, uh countering
the mass shooter threat.
And I also do security training.
So I covered kind of legalaspect of security work, and
then I created a securityfirearms uh class.
(02:32):
Uh I'm still uh in the securityfield, I'm a security
contractor, so I do high threatsecurity, usually for people
with a whole lot of money.
Um, and I do uh I transportprisoners uh for the U.S.
Marshals.
I'm a contractor, and then Ialso do security assessments on
schools around the state ofMichigan to help them uh get
(02:56):
grants to improve uh theschools, whether it be cameras,
uh getting vulnerable, glassreplaced, that kind of stuff.
So those those assessments helpthem get the money they need to
make those uh changes if it'snot covered by a bond or a
millage.
Um and that's pretty much it.
(03:16):
That's pretty much it.
And uh just try to help peoplebecome you know their own first
responder is is the is the mainthing.
SPEAKER_00 (03:27):
Okay, gotta turn off the air conditioner for the
background noise.
No problem.
Uh okay, so someone that uh isgetting into uh self- uh
concealed carry, what are somethings are someone that maybe
has been involved in concealedcarry but hasn't really given
(03:48):
physical fitness much of athought?
What part does physical fitnessplay in the ability to fire your
firearm and to stay in thefight?
Uh if you want to take that intwo different topics there or
two different segments.
Uh what's your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_02 (04:08):
Well, my thoughts are that physical fitness is is
of the utmost importance, right?
Um, you know, I I I think thatin the in the two-way community,
uh at least observation, there'stoo much reliance on a firearm.
You know, the the thought is,you know, if anything happens, I
I have my firearms.
(04:29):
And um there's a a gentleman,and I can't remember his last
name, but his first name's Tim,and he has a company called IDS.
Um, and he talks about being anot being a gun fighter, but
being a fighter with a gun,right?
And we teach the use of forcecontinuum.
We teach that you know you onlywant to use the minimum amount
(04:52):
of force necessary to stop athreat.
And somebody who relies uhsolely on their firearm, well,
they're going all the way to 10,right?
They're like, okay, if somethinghappens, I'm gonna use my
firearm.
Um, but there may be otherthings you can do, you know,
based on your level of fitness.
If you're not physically fit,you may have to use force to
(05:15):
protect yourself.
Whereas in the same situation,if you were more physically fit,
you might have been able to buyyourself some time to get away,
all for help, that kind ofthing.
So it's it's very, veryimportant.
And and it's not only a two-waycommunity.
I mean, when I was a correctionsofficer, uh, I mean, I worked
with people who are out ofshape, and and I, you know, I
used to, I told people I I wouldbe afraid to come inside of a
(05:38):
prison if I was not in shape.
So it's it's definitelysomething that's overlooked kind
of by everybody, but I want andwhat I try to get my students to
understand is that you know,this is this is a tool and this
is part of the solution, but theother part of that is being hard
to kill, and being hard to killis being in in as best physical
shape as you can be.
SPEAKER_00 (06:00):
Right.
Yeah.
That's that's good.
Um I know that the physicalfitness part of it, uh just
being able to handle the gun andthe recoil, uh having a you
don't have to be overly fit andmuscle muscled up or anything
(06:22):
like that, but you've got tohave well-toned muscles, uh,
especially if you're you knowinvolved in a situation, your
your heart rate's gonna bealready uh elevated and you're
gonna start expending thatoxygen that's supposed to be
going to the muscles to helpcontrol the firearm.
(06:42):
And you know, we've all havedone you know several different
things.
You know, if you're talkingabout adrenaline, you know, the
ice bucket, you know, puttingyour hands in the ice bucket to
try to manipulate the weapon.
Uh you know, holding the gun outand you you're oh not you don't
have enough oxygen and you'renot you don't have enough muscle
tone uh or you know theconditioning, you you start that
(07:06):
shake and everything, and that'sgonna affect where your rounds
go, where where the uh if you'regonna be effective in that
potential gun fight.
And uh it's just something thatI think that a lot of people
don't really um practice toomuch, like we talked about.
So uh yeah, I think physicalfitness uh at least some sort of
(07:30):
basic conditioning.
And then also the ability uhmaintaining your flexibility
because you have to be flexiblein a you know in your shooting
stance, and then if you have toturn and engage uh or run, uh
you've got to have thatflexibility to be able to move
quickly.
Uh you don't want to be like uhan old man that's been out of
(07:52):
shape and and oh I gotta go.
And uh it's just something thatI I think a lot of people just
take for granted.
They don't they don't positionthemselves like they they
should.
SPEAKER_02 (08:04):
Um yeah, sure.
(08:39):
And and and to your point, youknow, it's something that that
most people just don't thinkabout.
You know, if somebody's neverbeen in a fight, they don't
know.
And so what I tell people is Isay, hey, listen, if you walk up
uh a flight of stairs and you'reout of breath, think about being
in a fight.
Because that's gonna be way moreaggressive than you simply going
(09:00):
upstairs to you know to thesecond level of your house or
the second level of a business.
And so the good thing is though,like you mentioned the ice
bucket training and stuff likethat, you can train, you can
increase your VO2 max.
And what VO2 Max is, is yourbody's ability to utilize
oxygen, which if you're out ofshape, it decreases.
(09:23):
But the good thing is you canimprove that.
So uh one recommendation that Ialways have for people is if you
don't do any exercise, if youhave a job where you sit at a
desk and then you typically gohome and sit on the couch, you
know, just start walking, startwalking after dinner.
Uh, and then as you become moreconditioned, you can always uh
(09:44):
increase the the uh theintensity by either walking
faster or walking up hills,things like that.
Walking with a backpack, put alittle weight in your back, uh,
which is a whole nother thing.
I'm I'm into rucking too, butthat's separate.
That might be another uhconversation, but um, but little
things, you know.
I that that's the other thing Ithink people think, oh man, I
(10:06):
gotta I have to go become a gymrat.
No, you don't.
You just have to be able to dothe basic things, um, such as go
up a flight of stairs.
If you're on the floor, be ableto get down on the floor and off
the floor.
Because I think the other thingis we romanticize gunfights.
We think, oh, if I'm gonna be ina gunfight, I'm gonna be in that
(10:26):
perfect isosceles or I'm gonnabe in that perfect weaver.
No, you might, I tell mystudents all the time, you might
have to shoot sitting up in yourbed.
You might have to shoot uh fromyour car, or you may be trying
to run away and fall, right?
Now you're on the ground on onon your a weak side, now you
have to try to get a firearm outand and and engage the threat.
(10:50):
So it's just thinking of allthese eventualities and then and
then working a basic routinearound that, and you don't need
any equivalence for that.
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Yeah, and it doesn't take a whole whole lot to think
outside the box to get into uh amoderate physical fitness or or
get into shape.
Um just think about you know, ifyou work in a the office
building, you take the stairsinstead of the elevator.
Um you know, you go groceryshopping and you come home, uh
(11:23):
you know, load up load your armsup with the bags and and carry
that extra weight instead oftaking just a couple and making
multiple trips, but you know,use that to kind of help you uh
tone the muscles or conditionthe muscles.
Um a lot of things you justthink out outside the box of
your lawn work, uh you gottaride lower in your bow, push
(11:47):
mower, and every now and thenyou know you use the push mower.
You know, different things likethat to maintain your that would
be your cardiovascular for themost part.
But um, you know, it's just itdoesn't take a whole lot to you
know pick up the bag, you canmove it, you can just you know
back and forth, uh, you know,whether it's uh groceries, trash
(12:10):
bags, trash whenever you take itto the trash can, picking it up
and dropping it in the dumpsterof the can.
So uh a lot of things we can dooutside the box, I think,
without that special equipment.
Um you got a lot of thingsaround the house.
Uh take a shower, dry off of thetowel, use your towel uh to kind
(12:33):
of tense up your muscles andrelax if that'll help build up
uh some of your your musclefitness.
Uh it's not you know, it's notlike you're picking up weights
or using resistance fans, butyou you are to a point with you
know that towel just kind oftensing up, uh building that uh
tension there and then releasingit, um a lot of things around
(12:56):
the house that we we kind ofplay off that uh we can use to
help aid our business that it'suh sure.
SPEAKER_02 (13:04):
And I think the the key is just kind of doing a
self-assessment of where you'reat, you know.
And uh, you know, if you don'thave any um ailments, if you
don't have any uh issues, uh youknow, any disabilities, you can
you can do calisthenics, like wekind of talked about off camera,
is you know, jumping jacks,running in place, push-ups,
(13:26):
sit-ups.
I mean, the very basic, you cando that uh in your living room
floor, right?
And then uh what I would say isif if there are people listening
who are like, you know, I'd loveto do all that, but I have you
know uh some sort of adisability, then that's where
maybe an occupational therapistuh would help uh or a good
(13:47):
personal trainer.
You know, there's uh back when Iwas, and that's one thing I
forgot to mention uh in my introthere is that I was a certified
personal trainer for 12 years.
But um, you know, having acompetent uh personal trainer
who can who can um make aprogram just for you, and and
(14:08):
and they should be.
If you're dealing with atrainer, there should never be
what we call a cookie cutterprogram.
And there's plenty, there'splenty of cookie cutter programs
out there.
You can just go on YouTube andand type in you know full body
exercise, and you'll see azillion of them.
You might even find one of myold ones out there.
But um, but but the key isgetting a plan that's specific
for you if you're dealing with acertain uh issue um and
(14:32):
explaining to that professionalsaying, hey, I'm not you know,
I'm not trying to be abodybuilder, I'm not trying to
run a marathon, I just want tobe functionally fit, and this is
what I'm these are mylimitations, and they they will
be able to create a programspecifically for you to help you
be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:53):
For without someone that's looking to get into
trying to better themselves orget into a little bit better
condition, we've talked a littlebit about the you know, just
getting out walking, takingsteps, uh things like that.
Uh if they were wanting to getinto, you know, extend that a
little bit, and we've used bodyweight exercises, but um what
(15:15):
are you you know as far as umresistance bands?
Uh would you say resistancebands are are are great,
especially if you're doing likea a home gym where you can't
have the weight pounding on thefloor because you live in an
upstairs apartment or something?
Um what are your thoughts orwhat are some exercises that you
think fashion for a concealedcarrier might uh might work?
SPEAKER_02 (15:40):
Um sure, yeah.
But exercise bands are anexcellent tool.
They're they're they're small,they're compact.
Uh you can get different sizesto uh have the different
resistance, whether it's lighterresistance, the thinner bands
are lighter, the thicker bandsare heavier resistant.
So those are apps, a great tool.
(16:00):
You can travel with them, uhthrow them in a suitcase.
Um, if you do travel for work,you know, have them in a hotel
room, that kind of thing.
Um, and then uh the other thing,um, kind of a uh along the same
line, but gives you a littlemore versatility is like
something like a TRX band,something like that.
Um there you go, yeah.
(16:24):
Yeah, and those are perfect.
And then um, you know, when itcomes to to uh designing a plan
for yourself, you just a plandoesn't have to be that um you
know detailed.
There's there's there's somemovements that as humans we need
to be able to do, and those aresquat, lunge, hinge, right,
(16:48):
twist, and then push and pullwith the arms.
That's it.
All these exercise programs thatyou see online on TV and all
that, they are all based onthose.
Those are the bare minimum uhmovements.
So, what is a squat?
Well, you know, me in mybodybuilding, heyday, I'd go to
the gym and put as much weighton my back as I could and I'd
(17:10):
squat with it.
But guess what?
You can do an air squat, what wecall an air squat with zero
weight, right?
Uh you can do that in yourliving room, and you just do uh
do a couple sets to failure tofatigue, and and that works just
as well.
You know, I got a buddy that's afootball coach, and he will
often have his guys do step-upsat on the bleachers out at the
(17:32):
football field as opposed tosquatting.
Now, they do you know 50 sets ata or 50 reps at a time, but it's
the same thing.
It's the exact same thing.
So, you know, so again, don'tdon't get too far in the woods,
keep it simple, and say toyourself, okay, I need to be
able to do these basic things.
Now, when it comes to cardioconditioning, uh, which is
(17:54):
actually gonna um I feel be moreimportant for you in a fight,
uh, I mean, all you gotta do islook at a UFC fight, and those
guys can fight three, fiverounds and don't even break a
sweat usually.
And that's because their cardiois insane.
I look at I get tired looking atit, but but being able to to
have that cardio fitness becausethe whole goal is you're hoping
(18:18):
that if the person attacking youmight be out of shape and you're
in shape, well, you just eventhe playing field as long as
they don't get their hands onyour firearm, right?
Right.
So um, so yeah, so there's that.
And then, you know, if you aredealing, let's let's talk about
somebody who might be wheelchairbound, right?
So they're obviously going to belimited to upper body exercise
(18:42):
and using um resistance bands asan example.
You know, you could secure oneend of a resistance band uh on a
door or in a door, and then youknow, do bicep curls, uh do
rows, that kind of thing, youknow, by locking the the
wheelchair in place and gettingthe resistance that way.
(19:04):
Um, I mean those bands are arehonestly, I mean, you're
unlimited with those bands.
You can do so much.
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
Um and talking about the cardio,you know, and we mentioned it
briefly, is uh if you got into asituation where your attacker
was within arm's reach foreither your lack of situational
awareness or you being caught atthe you know them approaching
(19:36):
and you're either can't get toyour weapon or you don't have
any other means of uhself-protection.
That can be that basicallyground fighting.
But uh you know, a lot of peopledon't realize uh if they get in
in an actual true fight uh whereyou're having to fight off a
(19:56):
attacker that you're you'll burnoff, you'll uh get to the point
where you're gonna fatigue andit's gonna be fairly quickly,
regardless of how fit you are.
You know, just because you'refit, you're not gonna be able to
endure a 15-minute fight morethan likely uh in a self-defense
situation.
(20:17):
Uh there's an incident that Ithink kind of brings to point uh
that happened here not too farfrom us over in Woodvine,
Georgia, where the I don't wantto get into the there's some
some playing um things going onwith it, but if you watch the
dash cam footage, uh you know,the guys resistant to the
(20:39):
officer, yeah, that they've gota different agenda, the officers
going in dealing with theviolation of the law.
But you know, again, put it inthat you know, you lost
situational awareness, you walkaround a corner, there's a guy
right there.
Um they see this person becomingvery aggressive with the uh
officer and attacking them.
(20:59):
Unfortunately, the guy is uhofficer ends up shooting the
person, but afterwards you seethat officer who is in looks to
be in fairly decent shape, uhstanding over his patrol car on
the hood, huffing and puffingbecause he's you know expend all
that energy, fatigue, thosemuscles in that short fight that
(21:21):
he had.
So uh you know, just because youknow, like you had mentioned,
the uh got the gun, that's allI'm gonna need, or I got pepper
spray and stuff, anything likethat, always be prepared for
that ground fight, basically.
Um and I I'm an advocate of Ithink everybody should at some
(21:44):
point take some sort of groundfighting if they're able to, uh,
some sort of uh martial arts orground fighting uh class just to
be aware of that energy that isexpensive and how how quickly,
you know, don't depend on yourphysical fitness uh or the the
(22:08):
weapon or anything, but uh be beaware of what it's gonna take
and how long you're actuallygoing to last in a situation.
SPEAKER_02 (22:18):
Yeah, I agree.
And and you know, one of thethings I kind of um was
considering at one point was uhyou know either taking like
jujitsu, that kind of stuff.
And I did play around with KravMaga.
And uh and and even if you takeKrav Maga for a month, it it's
well worth the money because uhat the end of every, well, I
(22:41):
shouldn't say the end, but thelast portion of every class, it
there's maybe four or five ofyou, and one of you is being
attacked, and so everybody isattacking you, and so you're
full on fighting for 90 seconds.
I mean, you're getting your buttkicked for 90 seconds, and even
though it's a controlledenvironment, you know, obviously
these people aren't trying toreally kill you, it will really
(23:03):
wake you up and say, holy cow, II felt like I was in great shape
until I started going to that.
And you know, you're justdrenched, and you're still
getting that adrenaline dumpbecause even though you know
your life's not in danger, youstill have a task to complete.
When that when that timer goesoff, you have to react.
And you know, but again, there'sthose some of those systems, you
(23:25):
know, it takes you a coupleyears to get really good at
them.
So um uh here out here in MetroDetroit, um, there's a a guy
that puts on uh integrativedefense strategies is what it's
called.
And it's it is fight-based, butit's a concealed carry combat
class.
(23:45):
And so a scenario like say youand I were partners, uh, we
would have cert pistols on us uhand holsters concealed.
I've broken three holsters, bythe way.
So you quickly find out whichholsters are worth the money and
which aren't.
Uh but but the instructor mightput me and you facing each other
on our knees and say, okay, yourjob is to get each other's
(24:08):
pistol.
So and and you know, we're notreally using any.
I mean, they teach us sometechniques and all that, but
they don't get in the woods onit because you don't have years
to become masters, right?
You got an hour.
And so I encourage that anybodylistening, if there's anything
like that around you, uh, oreven a Krav Maga class, and I
and it seems like the samepeople are gravitating.
(24:30):
There's a lot of concealedcarriers in Krav Maga classes.
Uh, there's a lot of concealedcarriers, obviously, they're in
the combat concealed class, andit gives you that reality check,
but it also gives you that thatconfidence you begin to gain
that confidence.
But I tell you, I'll tell youthis, that even with that, I
still walked out of there andsaid, you know what, I need to
run, I need to run some morebecause I was getting out of
(24:51):
breath pretty quick.
And again, that lactic acidsystem that the that the cells
use for energy gaming, it unlessyou can dominate your opponent
in about 15 to 30 seconds, youwill have to resort to using
your firearm because other thanthat, you know, it's game over.
And I've seen some of the samedash cam footage that you
(25:14):
mentioned.
Uh, there was one where the andthe officer was very obviously
uh out of shape, but the kid gotthe best of him, and because of
that, the officer, you know, thekid mounted the officer uh on
his back on the ground.
The officer had no choice butto, you know, to use his
firearm, otherwise he wouldn'thave made it out of there.
So, you know, I can't stressenough that by improving your
(25:38):
your physical fitness, it justgives you that edge, it gives
you that chance.
That maybe you don't have to useyour firearm if you can buy just
a split second to get out ofbeing mounted or to um to get
away.
I don't know, can you hear thattraffic out there?
SPEAKER_00 (25:55):
Hopefully you can occasionally I'll hear it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah, I live right on Ford Road, I'm in
Dearborn, right?
The home of Ford Motor Company.
And it seems like everybody thatowns a charger or a challenger
lives in this neighborhood.
But so yeah, yeah, I can'tstress that enough.
Um, and again, people don't haveto spend a ton of money on gym
(26:18):
memberships and all this kind ofstuff, just start simple,
evaluate where you're atphysically and say, okay, what
can I do to be just a little bitbetter?
You know, maybe walk afterdinner every night, something
like that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:31):
Okay.
Something I I didn't uh includein the in our pre-questions, but
it just kind of hit me.
And if you're not real sure ordon't feel comfortable, just let
me know.
But uh part of the physicalfitness, I think, is also
learning the proper diet to feedyour your muscle system, uh,
(26:52):
because you know carbs uh arequick for that quick energy, but
then you also need a balance ofprotein and and other things.
Uh do you subscribe or or do youhave any suggestions on on
dietary or physical fitness?
SPEAKER_02 (27:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I've got a uh I was certified inthat too.
They went together with uh so soyeah, so so what I tell people
is you know, um part of part ofbeing in shape is not being uh
overweight, right?
Right.
If let's say you let's startthere.
(27:31):
So let's say somebody thatthat's listening to this,
they're overweight, um, youknow, they're doing the huffing
and puffing, going up and downthe stairs with their concealed
carrier and they want to get inshape and they want to uh eat
better.
Uh the the thing is is processedfood overall, but especially
processed carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are an energysource.
(27:53):
And believe it or not, dietaryfat is an energy source as well.
Um, but the body loves carbs.
And so what I tell people isstart switching out your
processed carbs for naturalcarbs.
So instead of having a Snickersbar, have an apple.
Um, the body knows what to dowith sugar, even though excess
(28:14):
sugar will get us in trouble.
The mitochondria in the cellrecognize sugar and every cell
in the body can use it forenergy versus artificial
sweeteners, uh, highly processedsweeteners.
The body doesn't know what thatis, so the body will store it as
fat.
Um, and then uh when it comes toprotein, should be the basis for
(28:35):
everything.
You everybody should be gettingin at least one gram of protein
per pound of body weight.
I don't care if you're 15 yearsold or 95 years old, that should
be the basis.
In fact, the older you are, themore protein becomes very
valuable to uh help with musclewasting and that kind of stuff.
And then uh dietary fat.
(28:57):
So when it comes to fat and uhwhen it comes to fat and sugar,
what I tell people broadly isthink of a sea salt.
If you're gonna have a high uhcarbohydrate, I said sugar, then
sugars are carbs, if you'regonna have a high carbohydrate
meal, then fat should be low.
(29:18):
And then vice versa.
If you're gonna have a high fatmeal, let's say you're gonna
have a nice juicy, thick brisketwith a lot of fat on it, marbled
really good, that's a meal whereyou would want to avoid having
bread or potatoes or anythingwith it.
So that way it's just a way tokeep it simple.
You know, protein should beacross the board, one gram, at
least one gram per pound of bodyweight, and then carbs and fat,
(29:41):
just think of a seesaw.
And if you think of it, what isice cream?
Ice cream is sugar and fat.
And that's it's awesome, but itgets us in trouble, right?
Yep.
Yep.
So just making those subtlechanges.
And I've as as a as a formerbodybuilder and a personal
trainer and nutrition coach, I Ihave literally tried every diet
out there.
(30:01):
Uh, the other thing is not to bedogmatic.
Like, you know, there's peoplethat are dogmatic about veganism
or about whatever, but it's likeeverything is in phases.
You'll find that if you cut outall processed foods, you're
gonna see a change in your body.
But is that gonna get you to theend?
No.
Maybe somewhere through thatjourney, you say, okay, I think
what I'm gonna do now is I'mgonna cut carbs for 30 days.
(30:25):
You know, do like a carnivore,keto style diet.
unknown (30:28):
And
SPEAKER_02 (30:29):
And then you might see some results.
But if you're somebody who is uhdoing a lot of cardio running,
biking, you need thosecarbohydrates.
You have to have them, but youhave to have good carbs.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yeah.
And then well, with the exerciseand even with your regular diet
and stuff, uh, especiallyimportant if you're exercising
or if you're sweating a lot, uh,maintain that water intake uh
because that water will helpregulate the the body uh and the
(31:01):
electrolyte system to keep youfrom getting dehydrated and uh
uh just keep keeps the systemregulated.
SPEAKER_02 (31:10):
Sure, sure.
So you definitely want to makesure your water intake, even if
you're sedentary, you shouldn'tbe having eight cups of water a
day, and then that's adjusted upfor exercise or heat.
Let's say you don't exercise,but like about you know, the
heat index is 130.
Well, you're gonna want to havesome more water that day, right?
Right.
But then also uh throw inelectrolytes.
(31:32):
Uh, you got the chewableelectrolytes and you got the uh
the powders that you dissolve inwater because you can actually
flush if you drink just water,let's say it's an excessively
hot day, let's say it's 100degrees, and you're doing yard
work or whatever, and you'redrinking a ton of water, you can
actually flush out a lot ofminerals if you drink strictly
water.
So that's why you want to makesure you have an electrolyte
(31:54):
drink in there as well.
So, what I'll do is if I'm gonnago for a run, let's say it's a
longer run, like a three orfive-mile run, I'll definitely
have a glass of um electrolytesbefore I go out on that run.
And if I'm gonna be out longer,uh when I'm in CrossFit and
stuff, I'll have an electrolytedrink with me.
But water's key, but don'tforget about those electrolytes.
SPEAKER_01 (32:15):
Okay, all right.
Anything, David, you want toask?
Or feel filled?
Feel good?
SPEAKER_02 (32:23):
Oh, David's just gonna hang out, huh?
You ain't got you ain't gonnasay something.
SPEAKER_01 (32:30):
Y'all been covering it pretty good.
SPEAKER_00 (32:32):
Yeah, since he didn't get any questions to me,
I I kind of threw them togetherand I said, well, we'll go with
this.
Uh, but uh yeah, I I think youknow for a short uh episode
here.
I I really appreciate your inputand your talking to us about it
because I think it's somethingthat we often overlook in
firearms training and self uhself-defense is we focus so much
(32:56):
on the firearm, uh situationalawareness.
Um maybe we do do some krobmagob bringing jiu-jitsu or
whatever, but uh we don't maybestep up our physical fitness
regime quite as much as weshould overall.
(33:16):
And I think that this was a goodbeginning point.
Uh, you know, like you said, youknow, it's a good idea to find
you a gym if you can to get youa person or a personal trainer
to help you formulate thatoptimal fitness that you're
wanting to attain, and uh butjust you know maintaining the
(33:37):
the stretches, the um thingsthat you can do around the house
uh to maintain your currentfitness without you know
affecting or degrading any toyou know where you're talking
about uh losing muscle or losingbone mass and things like that.
Because if you sit all the timelike a daytime job or like I do
(33:59):
with driving, uh you may nothave a whole lot of physical
fitness, and you know if you'renot doing something physically
fit, um you know you risk muscleloss, uh bone uh losing uh some
bone mass.
And uh it's uh you've got to beactive to maintain our body.
(34:21):
Our body's designed to beactive.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
Uh so uh it and I think real quick, I think if as
long as people have a holisticview of this thing where they're
like, okay, I'm getting somestrength training, whether that
be body weight, resistancebands, gym, whatever, getting
some cardio.
And for some people, cardio mayjust simply be walking, right?
For some people, that cardio hasto be something that gets their
(34:46):
heart rate up, and then thefood, right?
The food kind of cutting outsome of the sweets and stuff.
And you know, I I can feel yourpain on the on the sitting thing
because some of the securitydetails that I do, you know,
like right now, sitting in frontof a mansion uh from somebody
that's well to do, but they'reworried about people coming to
their house.
I'm I'm sitting in my vehicle intheir driveway for 12 hours.
(35:09):
Yeah, there's no exercise goingon, right?
So um, you know, so kind of whatI do to make up if I'm working a
couple of those 12 hour shiftsback to back, I make it a point
on my days off to work out atleast once, if not twice.
But um, you know, I think ifpeople just think of taking baby
steps, um personal training maynot be uh feasible for some
(35:33):
people.
There are a ton of informationout there on the internet.
What I would say is if they doseek someone on the internet,
just check their credentials,make sure that they are um uh
credentialed by a reputablesource such as um the
International Sports Sciences orACE, the American Council on
Exercise.
(35:53):
And there's a few others, notjust some guy that's making a
video, right?
Um, but yeah, yeah, I think ifyou just start at the very basic
level, um, you know, that you'regoing the right direction.
SPEAKER_00 (36:07):
Well appreciate you coming on and uh talking about
this with us, Aaron.
And uh, I think maybe we mighthave you back uh later for some
dive in deeper or something withabout this topic.
And uh I know Tramp is uh he herecommended me to you and uh
said well hey Aaron does myphysical fitness articles on the
(36:29):
magazine and uh uh reach out tohim and uh uh I'm glad that uh
glad that he gave gave thatconnection to us.
Uh so uh if somebody wanted toget in contact with you, uh how
would they go about contactingyou if they had some questions?
SPEAKER_02 (36:48):
Oh uh sure.
Uh the name of my business againis Diesel Defense.
Uh I can be contacted onInstagram, also Facebook, um, or
my website is uh uhwww.missioncpl dot pro, not dot
com dot pro.
Uh yeah, those couple of ways uhthey can reach out.
SPEAKER_00 (37:10):
Okay, uh we appreciate it.
So one thing we're asking uh allof our guests, although I forgot
to ask Sarah about it the otherday whenever I uh got her on.
What is your getaway or what doyou do for relaxation away from
your normal everyday work life?
(37:31):
What do you do to findrelaxation or get uh to get back
into that uh uh stage?
SPEAKER_02 (37:40):
That's easy.
That's exercise.
You know, I I uh I like to getoutside though.
I I found that I I get chiefswhen I'm on the trail.
So if I'm trail running ormountain biking, a lot of times
I won't wear earbuds or anythingjust to hear nature, especially
in the winter, believe it ornot.
You know, you hear the treeskind of creaking and you see
some deer.
So yeah, it's exercise,preferably outside.
SPEAKER_00 (38:02):
Okay, all right.
Yeah, well, we appreciate that.
So um again, I thank you.
And um for anybody that has anyquestions, uh feel free to reach
out to Aaron or if you want tocontact us, we'll get you in
touch with Aaron or someonelocally if you're in the
Southeast Georgia area.
We'll see what we can do to tryto help out.
(38:24):
But uh thanks again, Aaron, anduh hope you have a wonderful
evening, sir.
SPEAKER_02 (38:29):
Thanks, Brian.
Thanks, Dave.
See you guys.
SPEAKER_00 (38:34):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostand the guest, and do not
necessarily reflect the viewsand opinions of the podcast
publisher, its affiliates, orany other enemy.
The information contained inthis podcast is for
entertainment purposes only andshould not be construed as
medical, legal, or financialadvice.
The podcast publisher and itsaffiliates assume no
(38:56):
responsibility for anyliability, loss, or damage
caused by the use of informationcontained in this podcast.
Listeners are advised to consultwith a qualified professional
before making any decisionsbased on the information
contained in this podcast.
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