Today's guest gives us a wide understanding as to why sport psychology exists and why athletes shouldn't ignore it. He has competed and won multiple swimming national championships at the Masters level, is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker focusing on sports psychology in performance optimization, Brian Bergford.

Brian works with athletes who want to develop a customized performance system and I ask him how he sets up different approaches to his athlete's unique needs. He then stresses the importance of paying attention to mental performance aside from physicality.

Brian also discusses how athletes should address their injuries, why he is proactive about it, and what happens to ignored muscle systems that are out of balance.

Our big topic we try to crack is diving deep on the issue of why. Why do we perform as athletes and how do you figure out your why that drives you. Many athletes have no idea why they do what they do and figuring that out gives them a key advantage to performing at a higher level.

Watch the full interview and get ready to hear more valuable discussion with Brian.

Check out Brian's services here: https://www.bergfordperformance.com/

Connect with him on:

https://www.instagram.com/brianbergford/

https://twitter.com/brianbergford

https://www.facebook.com/bergfordperformance/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bergford-35158912b/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChDApMAW_mPsAqAnxhtqICA/featured

Today, I sit down with an athlete who experienced an eating disorder and tells us how she survived it. She has masters in English, is an author of the poetry books "Surviving 23" and "I Like It Cuz It's Pink", and an ultra runner, Sarah McMahon.

Being an athlete with health problems is tough especially when it comes to eating foods and maintaining our body built.

Sarah tells her story on what she experienced when she had an eating disorder and how it affected her mental health during college. Her recovery wasn't easy and I can only be on the outside looking in at how big a challenge recovery truly was.

As we discuss her past journey, she then realizes an important mindset she could've had while she was a student athlete. This also leads to sharing what she thinks is a secret weapon to every athlete.

Moreover, we touch down a few "true" scenarios involving student athletes and their schools.

Hit the play button to learn more!

Visit her blogs at: https://www.theprosiest.com

Connect with Sarah on:

https://www.instagram.com/mcmountain/

https://www.facebook.com/sarah.mcmahon.775

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-mcmahon-creative/

I sit down today with a former banker and, now, a VP Of Business Development for ToolCASE LLC and founder of NoZeroDays.com, Sam Piccolotti. He has 30 years of experience as an endurance athlete and is the first person to finish a unique event in an Ironman competition.

Knowing that bankers make good money I ask Sam his reason for leaving his banking position. And his honest answer never involved the pay. It is more valuable we could ever imagine as he's a family man and an athlete who wants to pursue more in life.

He tried to balance his life to enjoy his personal desires and he tells me how important it is for him in pursuing his ambitions and knowing what his passion is.

He sticks to his vision when starting something new. So Sam shares with me how he started his company by realizing a simple action in daily life which also proves that time is gold.

We also dive into exactly where the idea of No Zero Days came from including the phrase itself.

Learn more about his services by visiting his website at: https://nozerodays.com/

And connect with him on:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/spiccolotti/

https://www.instagram.com/nozerodays_colorado/

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Visit their website at https://jojebar.com/

Today's episode brings a little bit of food cravings as our guest, Jess Cerra, shares what she eats as her fuel for training and race. She's a former pro XTERRA triathlete, pro road cyclist, and, currently, a professional gravel cyclist. She has a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and is the Founder of JoJé Bar.

I initially ask Jess why she chose this type of "cake" and what effect it had on her performance. As we talk more about this fuel food, I also ask her what her strategy would be to keep being hydrated during the upcoming Birkie race.

She tells me how she is preparing for this race and the important lessons she learned as this is her first time to join the Birkie event.

Her past "horrible" experience also leads her to make JoJé Bar with macronutrients that would help other athletes or active people during their training.

Jess mentions that she doesn't have a coach right now and we may wonder how is she doing with her Birkie training, right?

Listen to her reasons and let us know what you think.

Visit their website at https://jojebar.com/

Connect with Jess on:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-cerra-a2306245/

https://www.instagram.com/jesscerra/

https://twitter.com/jesscerra_

Today's guest gives me a boost for this new year and season through sharing his athlete career experience and his wisdom on how to improve living our life.

Most of you may know a lot of things about him which includes being a 6 time Ironman world champion, 10th time champion at the Nice International Triathlon (Ironman France), inaugural ITU world champion, ESPN's Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time in 2012, and, now, the founder of Mark Allen Sports, Mark Allen

With the help of my friends, I'm able to ask Mark various questions and learn a few tips from him about preparing for races, challenging yourself, using technology for training, nutrition and fitness.

Mark also tells me what physiological fitness really is and why athletes should follow this as well. Do you think you apply this to your training?

If you are going into a race, you may want to hear what's one of the biggest parts of Mark's preparation in races and skills that an athlete should practice. And if you want to go faster, he also has recommendations of what you could use.

So since we talk about enhancing performance, this leads us to discuss Mark's "secret" to recovery and how important it is in every athlete.

Lastly, as a coach, Mark reveals why he prefers to coach age groupers than the pros.

Watch the full interview and let me know in the comment section what you think of Mark's answer to this new season's question.

Connect and explore with Mark on:

https://markallensports.com/

https://tennantproducts.com/

https://www.fitsoul-fitbody.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo1wRRtMrNVfK6A15b3NfBA

https://www.facebook.com/markallencoaching/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markallen08/

Have you ever avoided training in the heat because it's unbearable? You might want to rethink that after listening to the podcast today.

Today, I talk with professor of Human Physiology at the University of Oregon, expert in Environmental and Exercise Physiology, and who has Ph.D. in Exercise Science, Dr. Chris Minson.

I start off asking him about the different research studies he has done which lead us to talk about managing heat stress in athletes.

There are various ways Chris mentions how to use heat stress to improve athletes' performance even when in cooler environments. He also tells me how he studies athletes' heat management - what device or machine he's using.

One thing I notice in research studies, the subjects are mostly men. So I also ask him what he thinks is the reason behind it as well as if there are struggles in doing such studies.

This leads to Chris telling me why he has developed such a passion for getting more studies about women specifically over the years and that he wants to make sure people understand that female athletes are not simply small male athletes.

Watch the full interview to learn more about heat acclimation, heat therapy and the different physiological changes to occur.

Connect with Dr. Christophen on:

https://twitter.com/chrisminson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-minson/

Today I sit down with the race director for the Vancouver Beer Mile who had his PB that he's most proud of, his 6:59 beer mile. He's an endurance sports enthusiast and co-founder of RunGuides.com, Cory Jennermann.

To begin our talk, I ask Cory about the beer mile running and he gladly shares his experiences with it as well as his personal technique for this kind of race. You may want to try it if you're running the beer mile soon!

We discuss how he and his team find races to be placed on their site: RunGuides.com. Their beginning faced different challenges which led them to continue developing this website to provide accurate details to runners who are looking for various races. His previous work experience is one of the influences that made him co founded this run guide service.

Listen the whole way to hear Cory's few pieces of advice to new runners including how to deal with performance data and why should a runner limit beliefs to her/himself.

Find your runs/races here: https://www.runguides.com/

Connect with Cory on:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-runguides/

https://www.instagram.com/runguides/

https://twitter.com/runguides

https://www.facebook.com/runguides

My guest today has been competitively running for 13 years, weightlifting for 7+ years now, has her masters in public health, is the founder of Strong Runner Chicks, and is a running coach, Megan Flanagan.

As someone who's moved largely around their own city - I have to ask Megan about how she moved to different places growing up and how she adapts to the new place she's currently living in. Given that she's a runner - can you take a wild guess where she feels like she's able to put down a few roots and stop moving at least for a bit?

We touch on her running career and I ask about why she stays racing competitively instead of becoming more casual about the sport like many post-college runners. She mentions how she loves the process of training and building community with fellow runners.

We dive into the deep end as I ask her why it was important for her to build a community specifically for women runners. Strong Runner Chicks started off as a bit of a side project, but has really grown into something much bigger than Megan anticipated and I get to hear all the details about the projects she's working on with the group now.

Megan also tells me why she hasn't got injured and what training she loves doing most of the time.

Join me today and listen to Megan's humble answer to my "new" question for next podcast season.

Connect with Megan on:

http://www.strongrunnerchicks.com/

http://www.meginspire.com/

https://www.facebook.com/strongrunnerchicks/

https://www.instagram.com/strongrunchicks/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/flanaganmegan/

Today's guest is a former civil engineer who is now bringing a new kind of wellness solution to everyone. She is the owner of Koru Wellness Ltd, Executive Director of World Halotherapy Association, founder of UK Halotherapy Network, Erin Lee.

In the beginning of our talk, as I'm really curious with her career transition, I ask Erin how she switched to doing halotherapy from structuring buildings and residential properties. And her story tells how her new life makes her more grateful and pursue the halotherapy solutions.

Prior to halotherapy, Erin does install saunas in different homes to bring wellness. As time passed by, an idea popped up in her mind to upgrade the wellness solution. I can tell this new idea was a success since she experienced the life changing result after trying it out on her own.

There's a bunch of benefits that Erin mentioned to me about halotherapy and if you want to try it, she offers a special discount to anyone who uses the code "SA101" on all of their products here https://halotherapysolutions.com/halotherapy-infrared/

Register to learn more about halotherapy here: https://worldhalotherapy.com/world-halotherapy-conference/

Contact Erin at [email protected]

Today I sit down with the first American to win the Olympic gold medal in Whitewater Canoe Slalom and, now, a performance coach, Joe Jacobi.

He's currently residing in Spain and I ask Joe what made him move to this place and how he adapts to the country's speaking language. He gladly tells me how he respects their heritage and makes the citizens comfortable meeting him.

As most of you may have heard the metaphor I often use, "life is a river", I get a chance to talk about it with Joe and ask him what made him use the river as a metaphor for life in his current book. And he has valuable insights I want you all to hear that may help you realize how to paddle to live our life.

Joe also shares with me how he "connects" with the river to better navigate his kayak when in a competition.

Get more updates about his book and his social life via:

http://joejacobi.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobijoe/

https://twitter.com/JoeJacobi

https://www.facebook.com/5withjoe/

https://www.instagram.com/joe_jacobi/