I sit down today with a former pro cyclist and, now, a co-founder of Israel Cycling Academy and the founder and Director of Gino Bartali Youth Leadership School, Ran Margaliot.

As I always ask our guests about their journey in sports, Ran's story may surprise you on how he started his since he tells me it happened by "mistake". But the mistake and frustration he experienced gradually led him to do inspiring things.

Ran teaches young athletes how to build milestones in their sports careers. Because he spends so much time giving back to his community I have to ask him "Do athletes in general have a responsibility to give back?" His response was unexpected, but definitely on point.

Altogether an insightful and well thought out conversation, speaking with Ran is just what the doctor ordered if you're looking to live a meaningful and active life. .

Learn more about the Gino Bartali Youth Leadership School here: https://www.ginobartalischool.com/

Or connect with Ran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ran-margaliot-17a09b13b/

Our guest today, Michelle Mead, is a multi-sport athlete who became part of gymnastics, ballet, dancing, running, and cycling. A life-threatening accident changed her path in sports and now works with different businesses to improve their processes.

Her experience in this accident may sound scary knowing there's a low survival rate but her determination to survive and recover is really something everyone should hear.

She shares with me her recovery process and how her goal in sports shifted.

Michelle tells me how she felt after learning what her like could be like as an elite athlete after the surgery. This also sheds light on what it takes to be at an elite level and how difficult it is to give up when you don't want to.

In the middle of our conversation, Michelle and I share laughter after hearing what she did when she came back home from the hospital. Can you guess what it is?

Listen to learn more from an inspiring athlete survivor!

If you need Michelle's help with your business, you can reach out to her in the following social media accounts:

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

https://twitter.com/runnertridugirl

https://www.facebook.com/michlmead

https://www.instagram.com/michlmead/

Today, I sit down with the former pro freestyle skier and co-founder of Cintri Media, Evan Schwartz. His sports career and business bring us insights of how to excel despite the difficulties crossing our paths.

I initially ask him how he started skiing and he tells me a "sweet" story about training during his childhood. This reminds me of the season 1 question about the perfect recovery food and I ask Evan whether this "sweet" is still his go-to.

Evan tells me how his life transitioned from being an athlete to business owner. As I wonder how media businesses help others, he mentions some of the key services they do to make other businesses' products promoted in several modern ways.

Another thing that surprised me is find out Evan knows AK Ikwuakor (Ep. 106). Evan then shares with me how they met and what kind of experience he had with him.

I also asks Evan his idea on how young athletes perform their best at their age (e.g. bagging gold medal at Olympics) and what's the good thing about it.

Play the video and listen to how Evan stays active.

Interested to see their media projects? Visit their website at https://www.cintri.media/

Our guest today, Maryke Louw, proves that doing online consultation is not only not crazy, but can be the best way to bring solutions to injured people. She has a masters in Sports Injury Management and has two telemedicine businesses which continue to grow.

The Internet has been a great help to everyone's lives in different aspects whether its for business or personal needs. Its convenience makes Markye's medical business reach its success to treat her patients anywhere.

But when she started it, she shares with me how people reacted to her idea and even called her "crazy" for doing an online consultation as a physio. This didn't stop her to continue what she believes in making her patients reach out to her easier especially during the time of pandemic when everything turned out to be done virtually.

Markye tells me the key skill that she has which helps in identifying the pain and treating the injury of her patients.

Moreover, aside from her two businesses, she's also involved in building an app which diagnoses sports injuries and designs individualized treatment plans without interacting with a physiotherapist. This was an idea of an athlete whom she helped get treatment through online consultation.

Let's hear more about how she was able to manage to successfully establish this kind of method of treating patients online.

Want to try their online consultation? Visit the links below:

https://exakthealth.com/

https://www.sports-injury-physio.com/

https://www.treatmyachilles.com/maryke-louw

Today I sit down with a former Canadian Pro Triathlete, Certified Exercise Physiologist, PhD candidate, and an online triathlon coach, Alex Coates.

While she's in their lab during our interview, I get to ask how they perform their test on athletes who contribute to their studies and she tells me about the current experiment she is working on.

Alex had an amazing transition from a high school graduate to pro triathlete at a young age. Her various experiences when pursuing her performance goals led her to train and coach more athletes. She also explains what makes young athletes get faster.

As we talk more about gaining weight and what nutrients to take in, I ask Alex how she convinces athletes to eat more when gaining weight and her insights about following different diets.

We also talk about Alex's area of specialty - overtraining. And how to avoid getting yourself into trouble by training too much without recovering. Her advice goes against traditional training thought so you might be surprised what she recommends for a training regime.

Watch the full interview and let's find out from Alex how athletes can perform better.

Connect and learn more with Alex!

https://www.oneathlete.ca

https://twitter.com/superalex_c

https://www.instagram.com/superalex_c/

Today, another South African pro cricketer joins me to share his inspiring story and journey, Lwandiswa Zuma.

Our talk begins with me asking why Lwandiswa does a 4k run and how he benefits from it even though he openly tells me that he hates running. To help him get a little more out of his running without hopefully hating it - I share a couple tips on how to make running more enjoyable for anyone.

As a fast bowler, he tells me how he conditions his body to maintain his power. And it's good to hear from him why it's important to take care of the body when doing heavy training.

Lwandiswa also tells me about the painful experience he endured when he had a back injury and what was the root cause of it. Something that doesn't occur in the cricket world anymore to his knowledge.

I'm sure you can feel how hard it is for him to have handled this kind of situation and how he perfectly managed it throughout the recovery period.

This experience led him to inspire more young athletes and proved how sports changed his life.

Listen to our conversation to hear more great stories from him!

You can connect with him through the following social platforms:

https://www.instagram.com/lwandi57/

https://www.facebook.com/lwandiswa.zuma

https://twitter.com/lwandi_97

https://www.instagram.com/lwandi57_realtalk/

It's an enlivening talk with Kevin Carr and Mary Kate Feit who are the authors of the book, Functional Training Anatomy. Kevin is a strength and conditioning coach and manager at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning (MBSC) while Mary Kate is an assistant professor of strength and conditioning in the School of Physical Education, Performance, and Sport Leadership at Springfield College.

First off, I ask them what pushed them to write the book and how it goes when it comes to dividing their duties in filling in information since they are both working on it. Kevin also mentions the people who are involved in making them come up with creating this medium to serve as a guide to active people.

Our conversation flows within the content of their book that also gives me more understanding when it comes to doing the proper training and performing different movements. As for movements, Kevin answers my question if he will be doing a video series to show the correct posture and movements that are demonstrated in their book.

Kevin and Mary Kate openly share their story about how their respective clients improved a lot while following their training programs. Mary Kate mentions as well how she gives programs to the people who want them.

Since they also encounter people who have been injured due to training, Kevin tells me what they specifically do for them, which is something most people will truly admire to hear from him.

There's more to learn from them so watch this full interview and find out their straightforward but uplifting answers to our last question.

Want to connect with Kevin and Mary Kate? Follow them on:

https://twitter.com/coachkevincarr

https://twitter.com/mkfeit

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

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-kate-feit-0293677/

Today I talk with a running coach and an ultra runner who set the new American record of 95 marathons in 95 days, Alyssa Clark.

She tells me about how she never set out to do 95 marathons and the thing that set the whole journey in motion.

I also ask her if she will make another attempt to further her record again in the future.

Alyssa honestly expresses her thoughts with me when she became the talk of the town after setting the record.

Despite my power going out in the middle of the interview we somehow manage to get back to our conversation and finish up the last 20 minutes.

Moreover, she shares advice to those people who are planning to be a runner and how to make yourself more connected to running.

Watch the full video and find out what's Alyssa's go-to fuel food.

Want to connect with Alyssa? Check her out here:

Instagram: @theory_in_motion

Website: alyssaclarkruns.com

Today's a good time to reminisce about past sports events with a former pro triathlete who has seen significant changes in the sport. Now he is the Executive Director and Race Director for Run Ottawa and the Director at Canadian Endurance Sports Alliance, Ian Fraser.

Before we jump into our main discussion, Ian shares his previous experiences with businesses he managed that helped him to come up with fresh ideas to make his career more productive.

We discuss how triathlon has changed over time and what his thoughts are on the present tools and strategies used in promoting races. He stresses one of the best things that happened with their current charity events with the help of modern technology.

He also mentions to me what's the difference between an Executive Director and Race Director which are two of the important roles needed to bring fun and successful running events. To make this kind of event, Ian pointed out the "value proposition" that should be delivered to every event participant.

Play the video to hear more Ian and listen to his answer on how to be a great athlete despite the continuous changes in sports.

If you want to be part of their running events, just visit:

www.runottawa.ca/ro#

Or connect with Ian on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ian-fraser-a8b07516/

I sit down today with AK Ikwuakor who does a lot of different things (just like me). He is an entrepreneur, consultant, founder of Coach AK enterprise, former Top 10 world-ranked athlete from the University of Oregon, and a start up coach at Google for Startups.

We start our talk about how mindset affects a person's decision and actions towards different situations. He emphasizes how to correctly use and apply the various thoughts that keep popping into making decisions. There's also one thing AK mentions how to make a change in one's life aside from having consistent motivation.

AK tells me before he became a speaker that he was afraid of public speaking because he thinks he might commit a mistake. Time passed by and he realized this one thing that made him recover from his fears and performed his best speech.

He also shares with me how someone can recover from fears and react to unexpected situations. When he once experienced a canceled event, that's when he looked into another direction which gives a valuable result.

As he has been helping a lot of people, I ask him what are his reasons behind it. So hit the play button to hear more from AK.