BioJacked #1: Meet Monte Spicer

This past Tuesday, March 27th, we quietly announced in the morning on Facebook that we’d be going on live internet radio to do our first radio show EVER*.

Introducing BIOJACKED: the weekly 2-hour radio show focusing on the science of human performance.  (Dedicated website coming soon.)


BioJacked Episode 1: Meet Monte Spicer

Meet Monte Spicer Part 1 (60 mins, 74 MB, mp3)

Meet Monte Spicer Part 2 (27 mins, 35 MB, mp3)

In this first episode, Kiefer and I sat down in the studio with good friend and amazing trainer Monte Spicer, co-owner (with Tammy Marquez) of Kinetic Chain Sport in Dublin, California.

We decided to rag on CrossFit for the first half of the show, but not just to criticize. We were really interested in getting to the meat of the matter, on WHY CrossFit tends to result in far higher numbers of injuries, why so many people do it and keep doing it and succeed (or don’t) with it, and what’s right about CrossFit that other training styles could learn from.

Later on, Kiefer answers some questions from listeners who were tuning in (we only put the link up on Facebook, I know, many of you had no idea… that’s because we figured it wasn’t going to be that good of a show…). I also unearthed some outstanding questions from the DH forums, which Kiefer and Monte were happy to answer. We’ll definitely be making a habit of using some time every week to answer questions, so if you have any, you can post questions for the next podcast over here in this (new) section of the DH forums.

In the last 10 minutes, Monte and Kiefer talk about how there’s no perfect workout, no routine that guarantees the same results for 2 guys even if they’re at the same starting point and life situation.

Then we wrap up by talking about what we’ve got planned for the NEXT show: namely, we’re getting Josh Whiton, autophagy autodidact, on the show so we can have a super dorky conversation about intermittent fasting.

Below is the full show run-down. You can download this show in two parts — we have 2 hours at the studio to play with, and we used them! I edited it out most of the music and the PSAs we had to play.

Part 1 – How the Industry has Changed

  • 2:30 – With CROSSFIT, “you’re sacrificing technique for repetitions and time.” –Monte Spicer
  • 3:45 – Greg Glassman (not “Gary”, apologies to Greg! -N)
  • 6:50 – The importance of community involvement in fitness and diet programs.
  • 8:30 – STIMULATE, NOT ANNIHILATE. “Injuries keep us in business!” –Monte Spicer
  • 10:00 – Why you should never skimp on recovery (incl sleep).
  • 13:30 – Lack of distinct goal in CrossFit
  • 16:45 – An insult to Olympic lifters.
  • 18:00 – What’s RIGHT about CrossFit? What the bodybuilding community could learn from CrossFit.
  • 19:15 – How do we FIX CrossFit so we can keep all the great stuff and skip all of the injuries?
  • 25:30 – Paleo: what’s right about it? Where does it fall flat? (At least it’s better than The Zone.)
  • 27:00 – The problem with “gurus”.
  • 31:15 – Convo about intransigent trainers — how Monte is different.
  • 32:30 – Monte discusses the importance of clients taking responsibility for their own training.
  • 35:45 – Training to Failure: when to use? when to avoid? Kiefer and Monte both weigh in.
  • 45:45 – Q about StrongLifts, Wendler’s 5-3-1, other programs…
  • 50:15 – About KINETIC CHAIN SPORT (aka Planet Swole).
  • 57:15 – The funny thing about Ambien…

Part 2 – Kinetic Chain Sport and Qs from the Peanut Gallery

  • 00:00 – KINETIC CHAIN SPORT – training philosophy, how to get in touch, rant about the way NPC has been treating bodybuilding lately…
  • 07:30 – What’s up with DH supplements? Are they going to happen soon? (short answer: yes, and we can’t talk about them on this radio station).
  • 08:30 – Q: Can you eat too much for your first meal? even if you are at the correct 50/50 fat/protein ratio? (i.e. can lunch be the biggest meal for CBL?)
  • 09:15 – Could you put all of your 30g carb allotment into a single (pre-training) meal?
  • 10:00 – How to do CBL Intermittent Fasting – use of fats? WPI? who should do what? (what do the small quantities of fat and protein do?)
  • 14:30 – Q: What sort of time under load [time under tension] is necessary to create the optimum conditions for growth?
  • 15:45 – Back to discussion w/ Monte: There’s no perfect workout!
  • 20:50 – FREAKS! Monte Spicer is 5’7″ at 250lbs. (At 5’7″ 130lbs, Naomi is a “dumbbell” to him.)
  • 22:20 – Where CrossFit could shine — some ideas and suggestions.

… and we finish by talking about what we’ve got lined up for the NEXT show and who we’re going to try to grab for future interviews.

Remember to go check out Monte’s gym at KineticChainSport.com and “leave your ego at the door!”

Recorded live at the Mutiny Radio Studio and Cafe on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

Visiting San Francisco? Come to the studio on any Tuesday at 9am and hang out with us before the show! The station has its own coffee bar and cozy cafe with some of the best coffee in the city. They stock pure rendered bacon fat for use in lattes. Yes.

Thanks for listening! (We’ll get better and smoother at this, I swear.)

What’s Next for BioJacked?

We have a schedule! We’re on every Tuesday from 10am to 12pm. (We do not guarantee we will start on time, but we’ll definitely fill most of the time.)

The next three shows:

#2 – April 3 – Josh Whiton (autophagy expert)
#3 – April 10 – Max Aita (Olympic powerlifter, aka MadMax)
#4 – April 17 – Mark Bell (powerlifter, owner Super Training Gym)

*Well, okay, technically it was our second episode… but our first foray in the station was lame, trust me.