Building the Elite Podcast
The Building the Elite (BTE) podcast discusses all facets of human performance - from physical training to the mental and emotional factors of resilience. Each episode looks at principles drawn from the world of special operations. These concepts help people succeed in the toughest military training courses in the world and can help anyone thrive in chaotic and challenging environments.
Episodes
126 episodes
Aaron Love - Ones Ready, Ep. 126
Aaron is an active duty Pararescueman currently stationed at a Special Tactics Squadron as a Troop Chief. He is a Team Leader, Evaluator, Special Operations Combatives Program (SOCP) Lvl 2 instructor, and an Onnit Certified Trainer, with a focu...
Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon - Mental Skills: Defining "Good Enough," Ep. 125
Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon is a trained counselor specializing in the psychology of behavior change, with certifications including motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, DBT, CBT, and trauma counseling.She’s the author of numer...
Steve House - Training Mountain Athletes and Special Operators, Ep. 124
Steve House serves as the managing director, coach, and official mascot of Uphill Athlete, which he co-founded in 2016. He lives in a remote and mountainous corner of Austria with his wife and two sons.Steve’s biggest coaching challe...
Dr. David Walton: SFAS Guidance for 2026 - Ep. 123
Dr. David “Wally” Walton is a retired Army Special Forces officer with 25 years of experience in the SF community. His career spans service with the 7th Special Forces Group, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and the Special Warfare Cent...
Brad Stulberg: The Way of Excellence - Ep. 122
Brad Stulberg is a bestselling author of the new book The Way of Excellence, a performance coach, faculty member at the University of Michigan, and a husband and father.The Way of Excellence comes out tomorrow, and you can pick ...
Nick Caldwell: The Mill Gym - Preparing the Next Generation of Special Operators
Nick has over 12 years of military experience, including 4 years as an Australian Commando and 6 years as an SAS operator. His operational service included deployments throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including Iraq and East Timor...
Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon: Mental and Emotional Prep for SOF Selection - Ep. 120
Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon is a trained counselor specializing in the psychology of behavior change, with certifications in motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, DBT, CBT, and trauma counseling.She’s the author of numerous boo...
Feeding the Rat - Ep. 119
SOF selection is a proving ground, where your physical, mental, and emotional raw material will be laid bare, with nothing to hide behind. It's a place where you voluntarily walk into a brutal challenge to find out if who you think you...
Dr. Daniel Cooper: The Psychology of High Performance - Ep. 118
Dr. Daniel Cooper is a human performance and behaviour specialist who focuses on improving individual and team performance in high-pressure, high-consequence environments. He provides a unique perspective that sits at the intersecti...
Elias Kfoury: From Hunter to Protector, Ep. 117
Elias Kfoury was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and immigrated to the United States at an early age in search of a brighter, safer future. After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving 21½ years before his medical retirement. Beginning ...
Heat Acclimation Training - Ep. 116
If your selection will be held in a hot environment, it’s important to acclimate to the heat before heading out. Any SOF selection will push you to your physical limits, and not being acclimated to the heat can significantly increase your risk ...
Matt Stevens: From SEAL to CEO - The Honor Foundation, Ep. 115
Matt Stevens transitioned from the U.S. Navy in 2017 after serving for 26 years as a SEAL.Transitioning from the SEAL teams to civilian life brought him to The Honor Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting U.S. Special O...
Rima Ziuraitis: Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) in Ukraine - Ep. 114
Rima is a medic in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a tactical medicine instructor originally from the United States. She came to Ukraine as an NGO volunteer in 2022 and began medical studies in 2023 before enlisting in 2024. Now, she works on m...
Chris Brennan: Leadership Lessons from the Australian SAS Regiment - Ep. 113
Chris Brennan served for 15 years in the Australian Army, 11 of which were as an operator within the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR).He fulfilled multiple team specialist roles, including as a JTAC and Tandem Bundle Master within a ...
Philip A. Armstrong, STS PJ: Bronze Stars and Gummy Bears - Ep. 112
Philip Andrew Armstrong is a decorated combat veteran, elite-level medic, program manager, and resilience-driven father of four. Raised in the woods by hippies and unable to read until the age of 14, his early life was unconventional, marked by...
Ben Strahan: Self-Leadership in Wildland Hotshot Firefighting - Ep. 111
Ben Strahan is a Hotshot Superintendent and wildland firefighter with over 25 years of operational leadership on the fireline. Ben has spent decades in high-risk environments where clarity, discipline, and trust mean survival. His journey throu...
Everyday Heroism - Ep. 110
What makes a hero? It’s easy to point to the dramatic moments in history: the burning tanks and bullet-swept battlefields. This form of heroism is important, but it's not the only form. Heroism also manifests in other ways that impa...
Alex Potter: From Frontline to Fireline - Ep. 109
Alex Potter is a photojournalist, trauma nurse, former wildland firefighter, and co-founder of Global Response Medicine, a humanitarian non-profit bringing emergency medicine to low-resource and high-r...
Mauri DiMeo: Tactical Alpinism - Ep. 108
Mauri DiMeo is an Infantry officer in the US Army currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Military Science (APMS) at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He attended Ranger, Airborne, SFAS, the SFQC, and the Austrian High Alpine School....
Harry Moffitt, Australian SASR: Eleven Bats - Ep. 107
Anthony ‘Harry’ Moffitt retired from the Australian Defence Force after almost 30 years, most of which was spent with Australia’s Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment as a Team Commander and Team Specialist. He completed 11 active ser...
Josh Bridges: USN SEAL to Crossfit Games Athlete
Josh Bridges is a former Navy SEAL, with multiple deployments as a member of SEAL Team 3. He’s a competitive CrossFit athlete and has competed in the CrossFit games six times, placing second in the world in 2011. Josh le...
Ryan Wilson: The Mental Game in Australian SASR Selection - Ep. 105
Ryan Wilson completed a long and challenging career in the Australian Army spanning 18 years, primarily in the Special Air Service Regiment, where he gained extensive experience leading teams in highly complex and uncertain environments on mult...
Dr. Daniel Allen: Training for New Zealand SAS Selection - Ep. 104
Daniel Allen is a doctor of clinical psychology and a strength and conditioning coach specializing in preparing candidates for military and special operations service in New Zealand.He spent 6 years as a medic in the NZ Army before leavi...
Training When Sick - Ep. 103
One of the most common training questions we answer, particularly in the winter when people’s kids are going back to school and concocting new diseases, is about training when sick. While the answer is obvious if you’re bedridden or...
Scott Ryder - Forged In Fire: Australia's 2nd Commando Regiment, Ep. 102
Scott Ryder served for 22 years with the Australian Army, including 16 years as an operator with the 2nd Commando Regiment. He served in East Timor and multiple tours of Afghanistan and Iraq. He holds numerous commendations and a Masters of Bus...
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