November 12, 2022

During our discussion, you'll discover:

–How would Tyson describe pickleball to people?…09:29 

• Best racquet sport out there
• It is the better version of tennis and ping-pong
• It caters to everybody, all demographics
• Learning curve is very quick
• It's easy to play, it's fun
• There is this whole new community that people feel like they're a part of, it's super embracing
• Tyson met his wife because of pickleball
• How pickleball started
• Ben’s experiences playing the game

-How did Tyson get into pickleball?…13:57

• Grew up in a family of wrestlers, the youngest of 7; dad was a wrestling coach for 40 years
• Had a wrestling and tennis scholarship; took the tennis scholarship
• In 2005, a guy at his tennis club who cannot play tennis anymore because of an injury invited him to the game
• Got his butt kicked by guys in their 50s and 60s at the local YMCA 
• Watched a lot of videos and a week later went back to that YMCA and beat up on some old timers 
• Within about eight months, Tyson played a guy that was ranked in the world's top 10 
• Started playing professionally
• Resigned as a director of tennis, went on the road, started teaching camps
• Tyson McGuffin
• TM Signature PB Camps
• The McGuffin Show

-Can you win money in pickleball?…16:06

• In tennis, if you make the first round of a Grand Slam, if you lose, French Open, US Open, or the Australian Open,  you are guaranteed 40K
• Pickleball has three different tours
  • PPA (Pro Pickleball Association)
  • APP (Association of Pickleball Professionals)
  • Major League Pickleball
• Tom Dundon, the owner of NHL's Carolina Hurricanes acquired the PPA
• Next year Tyson is going full-time pickle
• Brand endorsements, appearance fees, and prize money
• Last 7 years have been spent doing 20 to 40 camps every year and on content
• 90% of pickleball players now work an 8 to 5
• Winning the US Open guarantees $5,000, plus sponsorships
• Building your brand and making yourself marketable 

-What does a typical day look like for Tyson, like an optimized training day?…20:10

• Play 25 to 30 tournaments a year, on the road 30 to 35 weeks out of the year
• Tournaments are a total grind:
  • Practice session Tuesday morning
  • Tuesday afternoon, fly in, then get a good night's rest Tuesday night
  • Practice Wednesday morning and maybe afternoon
  • Rock and roll Thursday through Sunday
    • Thursday singles
    • Friday mixed doubles
    • Saturday gender doubles
    • Championship Sunday
  • Play anywhere from four to eight matches a day
  • Tournament days start at around 8 am and end around 2 to 6 pm, depending on how the day goes
• There is a 4- to 6-week break during the summer
  • Gym
  • Strength training and functional training
  • Mixture of boxing and cardio
• An average day
  • Wake up at 5 am, then hot tub
  • 6 am, check emails and get all social media stuff done 
  • Do some hot and cold in the morning
  • 7 to 10 am practice
  • Train with Craig Feistner at CDA FITNESS 1ON1
  • 2 hours at the gym with Craig
    • Interval training
    • Functional training
    • Band work
    • Cardio boxing
    • Core, hand speed, foot speed
  • 2nd practice 1-3 pm
  • The Zone for recovery – cryo, IV, NAD every 5 to 6 weeks
  • Bemer morning and night 
  • Compression boots morning and night
  • Mixture of everything high reps, low weight
  • Off-season – try to build some muscle

-Is there any special diet Tyson recommends?…24:06

• Stay away from sugar, bread, fried food 
• Stick to smoothies in the morning, supplements, protein shakes morning and night, protein and veggies
• Try to do everything to the best of his ability

-What's the best way to get started in pickleball?…25:43

• Go to usapickleball.org to get signed up as a member and check where those courts are
• Pickle Play app, owned by Blake and Alex Renaud from Indianapolis

-What kind of things could you do if you can't get to the court that help your pickleball game?…27:50

• Grab your paddle and do some shadow swinging
• Work on your paddle skills
• Do some flip flops
• Pickleball Kitchen YouTube channel

-Why does the paddle matter?…30:34

• Ben’s paddle is a Selkirk – one of the top pickleball equipment manufacturers
• Tyson McGuffin uses a Selkirk Invicta
• Paddle technology, in general, is starting to get a lot more advanced
• Starting to play with different materials like honeycomb and carbon

-What sort of training program would you put together for a top pickleball athlete?…39:29

• Ben recommends a combination of very super slow training
• Single set to exhaustion exercises like:
  • Full body chest press, row, shoulder press, pull down squat, deadlifts
  • Single set to failure to exhaustion, 20 to 25 minutes three times a week
  • Lots of walking
  • Calisthenics
• With pickleball, you want a high amount of power and fast twitch muscle fiber capacity without necessarily excess, slow twitch muscle fiber
• Avoid the advice to take 15,000 steps a day
• Kettlebell (use code GREENFIELD to save 15%)
• Pavel Tsatsouline
• BGL articles on kettlebells:
  • My Favorite Dirt-Cheap, Portable Workout Modality For Building Muscle, Increasing Endurance, Burning Fat, Enhancing Recovery & Much More.
  • The Resurgence Of The Kettlebell: How An Old-School Tool For Strongmen Became A Must-Have Piece Of Equipment For Athletes And The Average Person.
• Plyometrics like box jumps, lunge jumps, clap push-ups, kipping pull-ups with weighted vest
• Podcast with Ben Patrick:
  • How To Get Rid Of Knee Pain Forever, The Best Knee Rehab Exercises, The Ancient Chinese Technique To Keep Your Knees Young & More With Ben Patrick, The “Knees Over Toes Guy.”
• ATG for Life by Ben Patrick
  • Athletic training group for life 
  • Bulletproofing the body and addressing a lot of the weak links
• Mobility component (young muscle component)
• Becoming A Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett
• Foam rollers
• Lacrosse balls
• Peanut rollers
• Vibrating Platform
• X3 bar
• JOOVV
• Infrared sauna
• Podcast with Dr. Eric Goodman
  • Episode #172: Why Your Back Is The Most Important Part Of Your Core Workout, And What You Can Do About It.
  • Foundation by Dr. Eric Goodman
  • Breathwork and isometrics and elongation of the spine and what's called decompressive breathing
• Core Foundation trainer Kate Murphy
  • How I “Turned On” My Butt: Why My Posture Completely Sucked And How I Fixed It Fast.
  • How To Turn On Your Butt, Activate Deep Breathing & Decompress Your Spine (And Why I’ve Completely Changed My Morning Routine).

• Crossover symmetry bands with 8 to 10 different shoulder-based exercises
• Heat and cold component
• Cold plunge
• BGL article with Brad Kearns
  • The Unfrozen Caveman Runner: How To Get A “Free” Endurance Workout & Blast Sprints On A Norepinephrine High From Cold Water Exposure.
• Othership app
• Episode #130: Tim Ferriss and Ray Cronise Explain How To Manipulate Your Body’s Temperature To Burn More Fat.

-What to do about cramping?…58:57

• It is rare that cramping is due to a loss of electrolytes and dehydration during actual competition
• The number 1 reason people get cramps is alpha motor neuron reflex  
• Alpha motor neuron reflex is a protective mechanism
• Magnesium deficiency is the number one reason for cramping
• Recommendations
  • Cymbiotika Topical Magnesium
  • Ancient Minerals Topical Magnesium Lotion  
  • BiOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough (use code BEN10 to save 10%)
  • Trace minerals
  • Hydrogen
  • Salt sticks
  • Jigsaw Health Adrenal Cocktail (use code BEN10 to save 10%)
  • Pickle juice
• Fast Vitamin IV

-And much more…

Upcoming Events:

• Elements Of Vitality with Dr. John Lieurance, Ben Greenfield & Friends: December 2, 2022, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST.

Dr. John Lieurance & Ben Greenfield offer a rare experience to explore the elements of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water with unique treatments, technologies, modalities, and biohacks to represent the healing powers of each element individually. Learn more here.

• Keep up on Ben's LIVE appearances by following bengreenfieldfitness.com/calendar!

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

– Tyson McGuffin:

• The Pickleball Playground
• TM Signature PB Camps
• The McGuffin Show
• USA Pickleball

– Podcasts And articles:

• How To Get Rid Of Knee Pain Forever, The Best Knee Rehab Exercises, The Ancient Chinese Technique To Keep Your Knees Young & More With Ben Patrick, The “Knees Over Toes Guy.”
• My Favorite Dirt-Cheap, Portable Workout Modality For Building Muscle, Increasing Endurance, Burning Fat, Enhancing Recovery & Much More.
• The Resurgence Of The Kettlebell: How An Old-School Tool For Strongmen Became A Must-Have Piece Of Equipment For Athletes And The Average Person.
• How I “Turned On” My Butt: Why My Posture Completely Sucked And How I Fixed It Fast.
• How To Turn On Your Butt, Activate Deep Breathing & Decompress Your Spine (And Why I’ve Completely Changed My Morning Routine).
• The Unfrozen Caveman Runner: How To Get A “Free” Endurance Workout & Blast Sprints On A Norepinephrine High From Cold Water Exposure.
• Episode #130: Tim Ferriss and Ray Cronise Explain How To Manipulate Your Body’s Temperature To Burn More Fat.

– Books:

• ATG for Life by Ben Patrick
• Becoming A Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett
• Foundation by Dr. Eric Goodman

– Other Resources:

• Selkirk
• Craig Feistner
• Kate Murphy
• Pavel Tsatsouline
• CDA FITNESS 1ON1
• The Zone
• Kettlebell (use code GREENFIELD to save 15%)
• Crossover Symmetry Bands
• Bemer
• Compression Boots
• Morozko Forge
• Foam Rollers
• Lacrosse Balls
• Peanut Rollers
• Vibrating Platform
• X3 Bar
• JOOVV
• Infrared sauna
• Pickle Play
• Othership
• Cymbiotika Topical Magnesium
• Ancient Minerals Topical Magnesium Lotion  
• BiOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough (use code BEN10 to save 10%)
• Trace minerals (use code GREENFIELD to save 10%)
• Hydrogen (use code GREENFIELD to save 10%)
• Salt sticks
• Jigsaw Health Adrenal Cocktail (use code BEN10 to save 10%)
• Pickle juice
• Fast Vitamin IV

Episode sponsors:

Seed: If you’re taking supplements, but not a probiotic, you might be overlooking your gut—which affects your whole-body health. If you want to add a probiotic + prebiotic to your daily routine, use code BEN15 at seed.com/ben to redeem 15% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Dry Farm Wines: Dry Farm Wines is offering an extra bottle in your first box for a penny (because it’s alcohol, it can’t be free). See all the details and collect your wine at bengreenfieldlife.com/dryfarmwines.

Inside Tracker: InsideTracker provides you with a personalized plan to build endurance, boost energy, and optimize your health for the long haul. Get 20% off the entire InsideTracker store when you go to insidetracker.com/ben.

Levels: If you want to better understand how food affects your health by trying continuous glucose monitor, go to levels.link/Ben to learn more. They also have a really well-researched, in-depth blog that I recommend checking out if you’re just looking to learn more about topics like metabolic health, longevity, and nutrition.

Organifi Gold Chocolate: Organifi Gold Chocolate is a superfood hot chocolate healthy enough to drink every day. It was formulated to deliver the same amazing benefits as Organifi Gold, but with a delicious chocolate flavor to help curb those holiday cravings. Go to organifi.com/Ben for 20% off your order.

Ben Greenfield Coaching: Personally vetted and trained by Ben Greenfield, these coaches will personalize your diet and lifestyle, and get you looking and feeling your best. Visit BenGreenfieldCoaching.com to learn more about which plan might be right for you. 

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Beth McDougall or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!