The Highly Effective Man

Test, Adapt, Conquer – Why Benchmarks Are the Key to Becoming Unstoppable

• JP Bolwahnn

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Are you tired of guessing your way through workouts, life goals, or personal growth?
Do you feel like you’re working hard but not seeing real progress?

Here’s the truth: If you’re not measuring your performance, you’re not growing.
You can’t conquer what you don’t track.

In this powerful episode of The Highly Effective Man Podcast, we’re diving deep into the game-changer that separates the average from the elite: Benchmarks.

Hosted by JP Bolwahnn—13-year Navy SEAL veteran, life and fitness coach, and the man who knows what it takes to break through limits—this episode will challenge you to stop guessing and start growing.

What You’ll Discover:

  • Why Benchmarks Are Non-Negotiable: The brutal truth about why most men fail to see progress—and how setting the right benchmarks changes everything.
  • How to Measure What Matters: The 3 key areas every Highly Effective Man must track—Strength, Endurance, and Mental Grit.
  • The Power of Facing the Truth: How benchmarks force you to confront your weaknesses so you can turn them into strengths.
  • A SEAL Success Story: JP shares a powerful story about coaching a future Navy SEAL who went from struggling with push-ups to crushing the SEAL PST—all because of strategic benchmarking.
  • The SEAL PST Challenge: Ready to test your limits? Learn how this brutal test can push you to new levels of strength, resilience, and discipline.

This Episode Isn’t for the Faint of Heart.

It’s for men who refuse to be average. Men who are ready to face the truth, adapt, and conquer.

If you’re tired of settling, if you’re ready to break through your limits and become the man you were meant to be—hit play now.

No more guessing. No more excuses.
It’s time to Test, Adapt, and Conquer.

Listen, subscribe, and share with another man who refuses to settle for mediocrity.

New episodes every week.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.

Get after it.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast, hosted by former Navy SEAL turned life and fitness coach. I'm your host, jp Bolwan. This podcast is your resource for unlocking the healthiest, most productive and highly effective man within you. Let's go what's up, guys. Welcome back to the Highly Effective man podcast. This is the show where we break barriers, build elite fitness and master the mindset needed to lead with purpose. I'm JP Bolwan, 13-year Navy SEAL, veteran life and fitness coach, and a guy who believes that being highly effective isn't about just talk. It's about action.

Speaker 1:

So today we're talking about something that separates men who achieve greatness from the ones who just coast by. We're talking about benchmarks, right, getting data of where we are at physically, not just, you know, having an idea. Right, it's cold, hard numbers. So if you're guessing your way through workouts or hoping that you're getting better, you're just fooling yourself, okay? Because if you don't have those hard numbers staring back at you, showing you exactly where you are, then you're just leaving progress up to chance. Right? You can't grow what you don't measure. And the great thing about benchmarks is that they don't lie. They don't care about how you feel, they don't care about how busy you are or what excuses you have. They're a mirror showing you exactly where you stand. Right? If you want to break through to that next level, you need that truth. There's no sugarcoating, no guessing, just cold, hard numbers, right? So let's get after it Now.

Speaker 1:

Most men avoid benchmarks because they're afraid of what they might see. Right, they don't want to face the reality that they're not as strong as they think, or they're not as fast, or maybe they're not as disciplined as they tell themselves. Right, that's like somebody who doesn't want to step on the scale because they don't really want to know how much they weigh. Right, but if you're willing to face the truth, then you're willing to grow, okay. And if you're not willing to face the truth, you you're willing to grow, okay. And if you're not willing to face the truth, you're not willing to grow. It's simple as that. Right?

Speaker 1:

And benchmarks are great data points that will provide a roadmap for you to pursue those goals. Right, they show you where you're at so you can create a plan of where you want to go. They tell you what's working and what's not, and without them, you're just spinning your wheels. You don't really know. You might have an idea, but you don't really know, Like if you don't ever take the time to measure your waist, you might say, okay, yeah, I'm probably about a 32 or 33. But, like, how do you know unless you actually measure it right? And then you measure it again in three months and see are you actually progressing, right? If you don't know how many pushups you can do in a minute or two minutes? How do you know if you're getting stronger If you don't know your mile time or mile and a half time? How do you know if your endurance is improving? Okay, if you don't know your deadlift max or your squat max? How do you know if you're actually building strength? Right, you don't. And benchmarks will give you that clarity. They give you direction, they give you purpose and if you're serious about becoming a highly effective man, you need all three.

Speaker 1:

And it's funny because yesterday I met with a friend right and you know, talking about benchmarks, one of the first things that we did when we met was basically this guy. He wanted to become a Navy SEAL, right, and he reached out to me about eight years ago. And this guy right now he's thriving, he's crushing it, he's on his way to a stellar career in one of the world's most demanding environments. But I'll take you back to how it all started. So you know, about eight or nine years ago he came to me and said like you know, jp, I heard you were a SEAL, can you help me become one? And now there's. You know, obviously there's a lot of guys that say that or they think it'd be cool to become a Navy SEAL, but very few people have what it takes to make it.

Speaker 1:

We sat down, asked him a few questions just to see where his mind was at and see if this was somebody that I wanted to put effort into training as a coach, then spending your time putting in a lot of effort to hopefully help somebody reach their goals, but then they don't reciprocate that same amount of effort, right? Well, he didn't come across as that way. So obviously I took him on board and you know we started training right. But one of the things I wanted to know was what his numbers were on the seal, on the seal, pst, and that's the? Uh, the PST stands for physical screening test.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and for those of you guys that don't know what the, the physical screening test is, it's. It's basically a benchmark test that measures your swim time, your pushups, your pull-ups, sit-ups and a run, and it's the very first barrier to entry and it's no joke, okay, I mean, if you've never done it and it's like something that you know is new to you, it can be somewhat challenging, right, but he was a swimmer, so his swim was solid, his pull-ups were okay, his push-ups were terrible, his sit-ups were average and his run was decent, but not great, right, but we had a benchmark, we had a baseline. We knew exactly where he was and where he needed to go and what numbers he needed to get if he wanted to have a chance to show up to buds, or what's also known as just sealed training. Okay, but with those initial numbers, we created a plan and a targeted strategy to attack some of his weaknesses, like the pushups and, uh, you know, maximize his strengths, right, just get his swim time better, get his runtime better. But we hammered pushups like crazy. We did all kinds of things to improve his pushups, uh, but we also improved his runtime. We turned his okay pull-ups into a strength and he didn't just pass the PST, he crushed it, right, and the rest is history.

Speaker 1:

Now he's, you know, nine years in the SEAL teams and you know he's thriving, right, he's facing some challenges that most men can't even imagine. And it all started with just getting some benchmarks Right. Without those numbers, we wouldn't have known where to focus, how to train or how to measure progress Right. And that's the power that benchmarks have they give you the data to make real progress Right. They allow you to see if what you're doing is actually working right. And this isn't for just SEAL training, it goes for everything your fitness, your health, your mindset, you know it can be even like your blood work. You're looking at, you know, is my blood work getting better? Right, every time you get your blood work taken, that's a data point right. Body composition or performance metrics. Benchmarks give you the data that you need to grow right.

Speaker 1:

So, right now, this week, uh, we're doing some benchmarks in the highly effective man community, right, and I've sent, I've, I've set out some benchmarks for the guys, uh, but we're testing, you know, endurance and work capacity. We're looking at a strength, a benchmark. And then I threw in the CLPST in there, right, and for a lot of those guys it'll be the first time they've ever done the COPSD, and I'm sure some of those guys, when they signed up on the program or to be in the community. They're like I didn't sign up for this, but guess what it's? It's something that's going to push you and it's going to, you know, show you where your limits are. Right. But it's also just going to give them a benchmark that they can compare against in the future.

Speaker 1:

Right, and if you're not in the community and you still want to test yourself this week, just set benchmarks in three areas. Right, look at what's a good strength benchmark for me, what's a good endurance benchmark, what's a good mental grit benchmark? And then track the numbers, write them down and face the truth. Right. If you don't like what you see, just adapt to it. Right, start creating a plan and that's going to take you in the direction that you want to go.

Speaker 1:

Right, If you hit new personal records, don't get comfortable. Push harder, see if you can, you know, break a record on the next one, you know. And if you fell short, don't beat yourself up, just adjust and then attack again. Okay, because that's how highly effective men operate. We test, we adapt, we conquer. Right, and I'm gonna leave you with this the man who tests his limits becomes limitless, right? So if you're ready, then let's get after it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and if this episode fired you up. Do me a favor subscribe, share it with somebody who needs to hear this and leave a review, and your feedback means the world to me and it helps get this message out to more men who need it. All right, and if you're ready to take it to the next level, join us in the Highly Effective man community, because that's where we're putting these benchmarks to the test, building elite fitness and mastering the mindset to lead with purpose. So until next time, stay strong, stay disciplined, stay highly effective. Let's go.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the Highly Effective man podcast. If you found value today, hit that subscribe button and stay connected. I want to invite you to join my incredible community, the Highly Effective man. The link is in the show notes below. It's a powerful space where you'll find support, accountability and camaraderie with men who are committed to growth and living purposely, and your voice matters. So leave a review and share your thoughts and help us reach more men just like you. Together, let's elevate our lives and become the best versions of ourselves. Stay highly effective. See you next time.