Ideas in the Wild: How Former Special Forces Physician Mike Simpson Aims To Help Men Reach Peak Performance

In 2013, Mike Simpson was still running missions in Afghanistan with U.S. Special Forces. He was forty-eight years old. How did he keep up? By combining three decades of Special Forces training, the ancient wisdom of martial arts, and his own specialized knowledge as a doctor of emergency medicine assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command.

Now, in Honed: Finding Your Edge as a Man Over 40, Mike makes his unique formula available to the general public, teaching readers how to reach peak physical condition in their forties, fifties, and beyond so they can compete with men half their age. I recently caught up with Mike to learn more about what inspired him to write the book and the biggest lesson he learned.

What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment you realized these ideas needed to get out there?

For years, I was used my education and experience as a physician and Special Forces operator to navigate my way through maintaining a high level of fitness as a middle-aged man. What I found was that there is a lot of conflicting information, and some huge knowledge gaps, especially when it comes to addressing the needs of the more seasoned warrior-athlete.

Once I figured out the right formula for diet, exercise, supplementation, and recovery I wanted to share it with others. Through my podcast, Mind of The Warrior, I picked up a pretty significant following and was getting emails on a regular basis asking me questions.

“What workout routine should I follow?”

“What supplements should I be taking?”

“What’s the best nutrition plan?”

The pattern of similar emails kept repeating, and I found myself answering the same questions over and over again. Then, it dawned on me: If I just wrote down EVERYTHING I had learned on my own and put it into one reference, then every time someone had a question I could simply direct them to my book! It was at that moment that I began to put all of my knowledge and experience together in order to write Honed: Finding Your Edge as a Man Over 40.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned going through the journey you share in the book?

The biggest lesson I learned in writing this book is that we have been lied to.

All our lives we are told that aging is just a huge shit sandwich that we all have to eventually take a bite of. Society tells us that getting fat and out of shape is “Normal” and we will just have to accept it as we age. The medical establishment tells us that we will get high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes because they are all “normal” byproducts of aging.

They are not!!! Even worse, that same medical community allows us to believe that these things are completely out of our control, and rather than attempt to do so through lifestyle modification, we should simply accept the maladies of age and then seek “Treatment” in the form of medications and procedures after they occur. This is the wrong approach!!

Of course, we are not without blame in accepting these lies.

Believing the lies is easy because it absolves us of personal responsibility. The fact of the matter is, once we reject the lie and take ownership of our own health and fitness, we can not only lead a healthier life but continue to live a robust and athletic lifestyle that is just as vigorous and rewarding as that which we had in our youth.

With an intelligent approach to fitness that encompasses all aspects of a healthy lifestyle, we can perform at a high level of physicality well past the age of 40. The first step is to recognize that what is “average” is not “normal” and we should never accept it as such.

How will you apply this lesson in your life moving forward?

At age 55, as I look forward, I really do see my best years ahead of me. Over the last decade, I have increased both the frequency and intensity of my workouts. Drawing on the wisdom of my own experience, and the wisdom of the tremendous advances in the field of physical fitness, my approach to strength and conditioning is smart and sustainable.

I have learned to modify my relationship with food to view everything I put into my body as fuel. Rather than put blind trust in the conventional approach to nutrition that is heavily impacted by the marketing machine of industrial farming and a multitude of other corporate interests, I have spoken to experts and looked at the research on what our body needs as we age, especially if we maintain an athletic lifestyle.

My outlook on rest and recovery has changed, and I have drastically improved my sleep hygiene. The fact that real athletic gains occur during rest and sleep is true throughout our lifetime, but this becomes supremely important as we age. It is vital to put effort into proper rest and recovery.

While others in my age group are content to put on extra pounds, and watch their blood pressure, blood sugar, and cardiac risk go up year after year as their lean muscle mass and deadlift personal record move in the opposite direction, I have made the conscious choice to put in the hard work to keep the bad numbers down and the good numbers going up. I refuse to accept the bill of goods we have been sold on what aging actually means.