CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 3:13
Lockdown banter & recording on Skype (no more hidden reactions)
Chris, Jonny, and Yusef kick off with light lockdown humor and the realities of recording remotely. They joke about Skype showing everyone on-screen, removing the ability to silently react or pull faces off-camera.
- •Podcast catch-up format during early lockdown (April 4th recording)
- •Switch to Skype and everyone being visible at once
- •Playful teasing about snide reactions and making faces
- •Quick check-in on how each of their lives has (or hasn’t) changed
- 3:13 – 6:39
What’s actually changed in lockdown: routines, coffee shops, and health anxiety
Jonny explains that day-to-day life hasn’t shifted dramatically, aside from losing coffee-shop work sessions and social plans. He reflects on how his longstanding health anxiety and solo work habits oddly prepared him for a pandemic lifestyle.
- •Fewer coffee shop work sessions; last pre-lockdown café visit
- •Cashless payments and hygiene concerns around money/receipts
- •Reduced social plans versus typical in-person podcast setups
- •Jonny’s health anxiety and isolation practice becoming ‘useful’ now
- 6:39 – 12:35
Survivor guilt, lifestyle trade-offs, and ‘you fall to the level of your training’
Chris and Jonny discuss feeling guilty that lockdown suits their normal routines, while others struggle badly. Yusef reframes it as consequences of life design—every setup has advantages in some contexts and drawbacks in others.
- •Survivor guilt when you’re coping better than others
- •Examples of people struggling: living alone, relationship stress, extroversion
- •Yusef’s ‘choices have consequences’ framing—no moral advantage, just trade-offs
- •Routine and habits as resilience: ‘fall to the level of your training’
- 12:35 – 16:05
Home gyms, dog ownership, and improvised ‘Pikey Lifting Club’ training
They pivot to training during lockdown: why having a dog/garden or home gym is suddenly a huge advantage. The conversation becomes a tour of improvised lifting setups and the strange fitness content flooding Instagram.
- •Home gym economics vs control and consistency benefits
- •Dog adoptions surging; pets as lockdown hedges
- •Improvised equipment: wheelie bins as squat racks, doormats as platforms
- •Hashtag idea: #pikeyliftingclub and mocking low-load ‘bean can’ workouts
- 16:05 – 20:47
Frontline reality: applause for NHS, PPE shortages, and empty perks
Chris asks Yusef what it’s like working as a junior doctor during COVID. Yusef appreciates public support but notes the mismatch between symbolic gestures and the real need for proper protective equipment, reasonable hours, and safety.
- •Public applause is heartwarming but doesn’t fix systemic issues
- •Night shifts, fatigue, and higher viral load risks for staff
- •Frustration with shallow perks (discounts/free coffee) versus pay/PPE
- •Hope that society and businesses repay NHS workers post-crisis
- 20:47 – 21:48
Social media comedy, ‘Karens/Sharon,’ and the absurdity of pandemic culture
They trade favorite online jokes and memes emerging from lockdown culture—from applauding bin-taking-out to manager-of-coronavirus jokes. The humor acts as a coping mechanism amid anxiety and restrictions.
- •Geordie ‘took me bin out and got applause’ clip
- •Memes about hoarding, coercion, and sarcastic pandemic storytelling
- •‘Karen/Sharon’ archetype and who ‘deserves’ testing (Boris vs public)
- •Comedy as silver lining during stressful news cycles
- 21:48 – 29:19
Bidets, Wim Hof belly-button myth, and companies pivoting to PPE
The conversation detours into Yusef’s ‘bum gun’ bidet and a bizarre Wim Hof belly-button story, then returns to real-world pivots: major brands shifting production to masks and face shields. They also joke about everyone suddenly jogging and exercising more.
- •Bidet/bum-gun reduces toilet paper dependency
- •Wim Hof story and Yusef’s medical skepticism (post-surgical hernia theory)
- •Rogue/New Balance and others retooling to produce PPE
- •Behavioral reactance: tell people not to jog and everyone starts jogging
- 29:19 – 31:02
Online business plug & the online-coaching gold rush
Chris and Jonny briefly shift into practical business talk: fitness pros should learn to operate online. They address skepticism about saturation (‘everyone is an online coach now’) and point listeners to Propane Fitness resources.
- •CTA: propanefitness.com/modernwisdom and the free 7-step guide
- •Why ‘everyone doing lives’ doesn’t eliminate differentiation
- •Online coaching as a viable pivot during lockdown
- •Positioning and systems over trendy content formats
- 31:02 – 34:04
When boredom nukes a career: Billy Joe Saunders scandal
Chris recounts how boxer Billy Joe Saunders managed to implode his reputation quickly—first with a coronavirus prank, then with a leaked domestic-violence ‘advice’ video. They discuss how unrecoverable brand destruction can be in public-facing careers.
- •Airport coronavirus prank that got a friend detained
- •Leaked video encouraging violence; license revoked
- •How viral clips end careers faster than poor performance
- •Brand damage and the impossibility of a clean pivot afterward
- 34:04 – 36:32
Good pivots: Eddie Hall’s YouTube success and strongman culture
In contrast, they praise Eddie Hall for successfully building a compelling YouTube channel and trying absurd challenges with humor. They riff on strongmen doing CrossFit-style workouts and unusual athletic feats.
- •Eddie Hall’s content quality, self-deprecation, and production value
- •Videos with Ross Edgley, Nile Wilson, Jamie Johal
- •Strongman ‘unexpected athleticism’ in other sports/workouts
- •Sponsorship/brand modernization (e.g., Boohoo Man)
- 36:32 – 46:59
What to watch/listen to: Tiger King, Ozark, Apple TV+, and news synthesis
They answer the common lockdown question—what content is worth consuming. Yusef has little time, Jonny recommends Ozark and other shows, and Chris recommends specific documentaries and a daily news podcast routine.
- •Tiger King reactions and why it hooks people
- •Jonny’s picks: Ozark, Liar, Official Secrets, Apple TV+ trial
- •Chris’s picks: Ken Burns’ Vietnam War, The Office, Fat Tony doc
- •Ben Shapiro podcast as daily recap; Worldometer for data
- 46:59 – 50:13
5G conspiracies, dangerous misinformation, and healthcare’s coming IT shift
Yusef shares a long conspiracy audio claiming 5G causes COVID, and Jonny criticizes misinformation that discourages hospital care. Yusef predicts the pandemic will accelerate telemedicine and force healthcare systems to modernize operations and triage unnecessary visits.
- •5G/COVID conspiracy claims and how they spread via voice notes
- •When ‘opinions’ become dangerous public-health guidance
- •Telemedicine and remote consultations likely expanding post-pandemic
- •Healthcare and society reassessing what truly matters (and what’s inefficient)
- 50:13 – 52:35
Businesses trimming fat: processes, E-Myth lessons, and operational resilience
They discuss how the crisis forces companies to scrutinize roles, eliminate waste, and document procedures. Chris references entrepreneurs and the importance of making a business that can run without the founder.
- •Naval-style idea: ‘silent’ unproductive roles exposed in remote work
- •Bureaucratic middle layers as vulnerable cost centers
- •Process documentation: ‘how to be X.doc’ inside a business
- •E-Myth framing: a job vs a business; crisis-driven refinement
- 52:35 – 1:08:30
Gratitude roundtable, what they miss, and coping tools (sleep, noise, routines)
Chris asks each of them for two things they’re grateful for and one thing they miss most. The answers span family health, business stability, routines (Wim Hof/cold showers), tech improvements, and Yusef’s loud upstairs neighbor—leading to sleep-mask solutions and biohacking talk.
- •Jonny: misses in-person time; grateful for business setup and routines
- •Yusef: misses being home; grateful for health, family, medical capacity, tech shifts
- •Upstairs neighbor drums/sex noise; discussion of sleep gear and eye masks
- •Ben Greenfield ‘full-stack’ routine; temperature-based wakeups and lucid-dream masks
- 1:08:30 – 1:16:03
Wrap-up: links, isolation workouts, overeating confession, and ‘Train Guy’ recommendation
They close with plugs for Propane Fitness resources and free isolation workouts, then Chris admits he can’t stop eating and shares his daily diet. He ends by recommending Bob Mortimer’s ‘Train Guy’ Instagram series and signs off with plans to do more catch-ups.
- •Where to find Propane Fitness: business guide + calculator + free bodyweight program
- •Chris’s overeating/weight gain in lockdown and macro tracking
- •Chris’s simple meal-prep routine and protein target challenges
- •Bob Mortimer’s ‘Train Guy’ Instagram rabbit hole recommendation
