Joe Rogan Experience #2568 - Ross Edgley
📚 Main topics
- Extreme swims and their dangersRoss Edgley recounts swimming for 60 hours in Loch Ness, where hypothermia and a staph infection led to him blacking out and spending time in hospital. He also describes heat stroke and severe muscle breakdown during other endurance swims. 3:07
- Swimming around IcelandEdgley explains how he swam around Iceland over 112 days, facing storms, dangerous currents, jellyfish, volcanic hazards, and ice. He says becoming a father gave him a powerful reason to finish and return for his son’s birth. 47:40
- Dangerous wildlife and survivalEdgley shares encounters with great white sharks, bears, and other wildlife, while Rogan discusses how unpredictable encounters with animals and the ocean can be. 22:41
- Rituals, folklore, and enduranceEdgley tells stories from travels with Indigenous communities, including a snake-biting initiation and a reindeer-castration practice. He and Rogan also discuss Icelandic elf lore, Viking berserkers, and the way folklore can shape people’s experience of nature. 10:22
- Pain, purpose, and the mindThey discuss how purpose can help someone persist through suffering, and Edgley describes using mental reframing and strategy when grit alone is not enough. 53:56
- Athletic performance and trainingEdgley explains why strength training and muscle mass help him endure long swims, while Rogan and Edgley discuss fighters’ cardio, altitude training, recovery, and the role of experience in building composure. 1:16:11
- Fighting, resilience, and competitionThe conversation ranges across MMA athletes, mind games, water polo, and endurance races, highlighting how different competitors develop distinctive strengths and tolerance for adversity. 1:39:37
- Ocean conservationEdgley describes using endurance swims to draw attention to ocean conservation. He and Rogan discuss overfishing, pollution, and claims about toxic waste dumping off Somalia, while noting uncertainty about some of the reporting. 1:29:37
✨ Key takeaways
- Preparation matters, but conditions can overwhelmEdgley’s swims demonstrate how cold, heat, infection, currents, and injury can combine into life-threatening situations, even for a highly trained athlete. 3:37
- Purpose can change what feels possibleEdgley says he kept going through extreme discomfort because he was determined to make it back for his child’s birth. 48:43
- Strength can support enduranceEdgley argues that building strength and connective-tissue resilience helps him sustain repeated strokes over long distances, even if it does not make him a faster swimmer. 1:16:42
- Different people need different approachesRogan and Edgley discuss how some people thrive on relentless self-discipline, while others are better served by a more measured routine or by finding a form of challenge that fits them. 1:12:34
- Extreme efforts can shift expectationsRogan suggests that Edgley’s feats can help people reconsider what they believe they are capable of, even if they do not attempt anything as extreme themselves. 2:41:59
🧠 Lessons learned
- Know the risks before entering the waterEdgley says his experience with cellulitis taught him to learn more about the dangers of freshwater swimming. 9:21
- Persistence can include changing strategyEdgley describes grit as one option, but says reframing the challenge or changing technique can also help someone continue when their initial approach is failing. 1:06:19
- Experience builds composureThey discuss how repeated exposure to demanding situations—from water polo to frequent fights—can make people calmer under pressure. 2:07:28
- Recovery and medical care deserve scrutinyThe two discuss newer recovery treatments and the need for more research, while also stressing that medical interventions carry risks and require careful judgment. 2:34:51
- Extreme endurance has real costsEdgley’s stories of infection, hypothermia, injury, and swimming in a soiled wetsuit make clear that persistence can come with serious physical consequences. 2:39:26
🏁 Conclusion/next steps
- Continue pushing limits with a purposeEdgley says his goal is not to encourage everyone to copy his lifestyle, but to help people shift their sense of what they might be capable of. 2:42:30
- Keep the larger mission in viewEdgley frames his swims as sporting spectacles that can help bring attention to ocean conservation. 1:29:37
- Consider the personal costTheir conversation closes by celebrating Edgley’s drive while acknowledging the risks and sacrifices involved in extreme endurance challenges. 2:42:30
Transcript excerpt
0:01 Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out. >> The Joe Rogan Experience. >> TRAIN BY DAY. JOE ROGAN PODCAST BY NIGHT. All day. >> Thank you. My man brought 18year-old. >> That's good. >> Woo. That's the real deal. 18year-old single malt scotch whiskey. >> That's smoky. >> Delicious. >> That is smoky. I had a this is a true story. I had a deal set up for a a
0:34 whiskey deal like they wanted to do, you know, they do these things like with celebrities and I was like, "Well, we got a lot of money. I guess I could do it. All right, let's do it." And so they said that they could help me like design the whiskey. I'm like, "Oh, that'd be really cool." So, at first I wanted to do it with Buffalo Trace, but Buffalo Trace was like, "Look, we love you, but the reality is our whiskey takes like eight years in a barrel, period. M like this. This the only way they do it. Like, oh, that makes sense. That's why it's so good. Okay, that makes sense. So, I tried this whiskey and I was like,
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Questions & Answers
Common questions about this video
¿Qué le pasó a Ross Edgley durante su nado de 60 horas en Loch Ness?
Empezó a alucinar y perdió el conocimiento por hipotermia y celulitis, una infección de la piel que relacionaron con el traje de neopreno y el agua dulce. Despertó en el hospital y, según estimaron, estuvo inconsciente unas 13 horas. 3:37
¿Qué problema tuvo Ross durante su nado de 60 horas por el río Yukon?
El cierre diseñado para ir al baño en su traje no funcionó. Ross siguió nadando con sus heces dentro del traje, que permanecieron allí durante casi todo el recorrido. 2:39:26
¿Cómo explica Ross Edgley su capacidad para seguir adelante cuando sufre?
Describe la perseverancia como un equilibrio entre dolor y propósito: si el propósito pesa más, sigue. También menciona la disciplina de aguantar y la posibilidad de replantear el sufrimiento o cambiar de estrategia. 54:27
¿Por qué Ross Edgley dice que su musculatura le sirve para nadar largas distancias en aguas frías?
Dice que el volumen muscular le ayuda a generar calor con cada movimiento y que el entrenamiento de fuerza fortalece tendones y ligamentos. Para él, en un nado extremo el límite puede ser que algo se desgarre, no solo quedarse sin resistencia. 1:16:11
¿Qué experiencia tuvo Ross Edgley con tiburones blancos en Tasmania?
Mientras buceaba con un grupo, notó que los tiburones se acercaban a él y que parecían reconocerlo como el nadador menos experimentado. Los buzos le pidieron que dejara de respirar con tanta agitación y de actuar como una presa. 23:12
¿Qué importancia tuvo la paternidad durante el nado alrededor de Islandia?
Ross quería volver para el nacimiento de su hijo. A pesar de la tormenta, el hielo y otros peligros, se mantuvo nadando y llegó tres días antes del nacimiento. 48:43
¿Qué mensaje espera transmitir Ross Edgley con sus hazañas de resistencia?
Dice que no pretende que la gente copie su estilo de vida, sino que sus retos ayuden a ampliar, aunque sea un poco, lo que cada persona cree que puede lograr. 2:42:30
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