“How much can I experience and not just, you know, ‘I saw the hotel lobby. Cool.’ I want to be able to experience stuff. And being physically fit and capable allows me to expand that world so much more,” says Ralph Rajs, COO of Forma Gym, and long-time friend and business partner of JC. Ralph came on the podcast to drop some knowledge on how he lives his life and how he keeps it going, even in his 50s. He has no plans to stop being physically active anytime soon, so anyone using the excuse, “I’m...
Oct 23, 2021•24 min•Ep. 759
“We use a term all the time, ‘balance.’ I don’t like that term. Life isn’t about achieving balance, it’s about integration,” says now Major General and Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army, Chaplain Solhjem. This week, we have another classic episode with a couple of the highest respected people we’ve had on the podcast. General Stanley McChrystal and BG Chaplain Solhjem tell us how having high expectations for yourself and those around you leads to you being a better performer and all a...
Oct 21, 2021•32 min•Ep. 758
Today we take our quest for resilience to the next level with data-backed insights from George Bonnano, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University where he heads the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab which has studied resilience in the face of extreme adversity for 25 years. He's the author of the new book "The End of Trauma: How the New Science of Resilience Is Changing How We Think About PTSD." In this episode Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, asks Bonnano the ultimate question...
Oct 19, 2021•32 min•Ep. 757
“I’m telling you, that’s one, the way we just did that-- if we could snap our fingers and get every single human walking the planet to listen to that one, the world would be a better place,’” says Yancy Culp, co-host of the DEKA Series Podcast, about the awesome podcast you’re about to dive into. Spartan Up Podcast, DEKA Series hosts Jarod Cogswell and Yancy Culp talk about how you handle life’s obstacles and how the way you handle it affects your life. In this episode you’ll learn: Do your rese...
Oct 16, 2021•23 min•Ep. 756
“We’re gonna check in on my wife and see if she’s happy. Happy wife, happy life...hope she’s home! Or somewhere that I can reach her!... Uh oh… She’s happy, she’s just not available!” says Joe De Sena as he calls his wife, Courtney. She picks up the phone, “Hey there!” and Joe asks, “Hey, are you happy?” “Me?” “Yeah.” “I’m happy!” “Alright, I’ll see you later.” “Wait, where are you?” “I’m just sittin’ with a monk, we were checking. I’ll see you later, I love you.” This week, we’re continuing our...
Oct 14, 2021•35 min•Ep. 755
You make decisions about your health every day - from nutrition to medication, to whether you should go out and race on an injured knee or ankle. Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, interviews Dr. Talya Miron-Shatz, author of "Your Life Depends on It: What You Can Do to Make Better Choices About Your Health." Dr. Miron-Shatz shares three simple essential questions you need to ask your doctor any time you're making a medical decision. AND Joe talks about a few big medical decisions he's had ...
Oct 12, 2021•30 min•Ep. 754
“So for all you leaders out there, let this pull you to the edge of your seat. When you pull up to work, or when you get ready to hit ‘play’ on the Zoom, or go live on the Zoom or Google Hangout, you need to say, ‘Wait a second, am I ready to win the caring game, today, with the people that are helping make me and this organization look good?’ And if not, you better take thirty seconds and say, ‘I gotta get my s*** straight, because it’s not straight right now,’” says Yancy Culp, co-host of the ...
Oct 07, 2021•30 min•Ep. 753
Coach Frank McKinney, one of the first Black college rugby coaches in the US, says "I didn't get into coaching to win games. My thing is to make young men better." It turns out those are also the ingredients of a winning team. Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, interviews coach Frank McKinney and critically acclaimed filmmaker Thomas Morgan about the new film "Scrum" and the incredible story behind it. Listen for the inspiring story, or for coach Frank's great coaching advice and insights....
Oct 05, 2021•34 min•Ep. 752
“‘Let's go for a walk, you know, let's go for a run.’ And whatever she could do, if she couldn’t run, she’d walk. If she couldn’t walk, she’d do something else. And she always put an adventure on her calendar so that when she was going through her chemo, she wasn’t just a cancer patient, she was a mountaineer in training, or she was, you know, training for her next adventure race or ultra run,” says Robyn Benincasa regarding her friend, Louise. This week, we’re continuing our Classics with some ...
Oct 02, 2021•25 min•Ep. 751
“Before I ever went to Mt. Everest, I saw every single YouTube video you could possibly imagine about that mountain, what I’m in for, right? All these dead bodies, all these other things, right? Like, how do you do this?” says Mark Pattison. Mark Pattison has played professional football, is an Executive at Sports Illustrated, and the 1st NFL player to climb the Seven Summits. In this episode, you’ll learn: The power of great coaches, mentors, and friends How to be mentally and physically prepar...
Sep 30, 2021•33 min•Ep. 750
As parents, it's the ultimate question. Today Joe De Sena, founder & CEO of Spartan, talks with his friend Ilias Diakomihalis about building mentally strong kids. Ilias' son is wresteler Yanni Diakomihal a 2021 US World Team member and was the 2020 Pan American champion, 2019 US Open National Champion and a two-time age-group World Champion. https://www.spartan.com/10Rules Joe De Sena’s Parenting book “10 Rules for Mental Toughness for Families” Spartan.com/toughbible The Tough Bible - the b...
Sep 28, 2021•27 min•Ep. 749
“The original goal was to try to become the first NFL player to ever climb the Seven Summits, and when that got pushed out a year, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to double down. And I’m going to not only go up and climb Mt. Everest, I’m going to come back down, and then I’m going to go up the other side,’ which is Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world. And, at the end of the day, that didn’t happen because I would have died on Lhotse,” says Mark Pattison, former NFL player who just...
Sep 23, 2021•27 min•Ep. 748
When it feels like all hope is lost, how do you come back? Heard of the "Varsity Blues" college admission scandal? Have you asked yourself what happened next? How a family recovers? What’s next after jail after losing his career? That’s what Joe De Sena and Gordon Caplan talk about in this second half of their interview. Gordon Caplan was one of those parents, and he tells Joe De Sena (CEO & Founder of Spartan) exactly what he was thinking, and what he learned from the experience and the dee...
Sep 21, 2021•44 min•Ep. 747
“There are fishermen…that go out swimming, with nets, they don’t even have a boat. They’ll go out with nets in crocodile infested waters. And they’re like, ‘Well, we don’t have a choice, I can’t afford a boat, I need to eat, my family needs to eat,’” says Levison Wood, explorer who walked almost the entire Nile River in one go. We’re continuing our Classics with some conversations that tell us about the uncharted places in the world that many of us haven’t even considered visiting. These explore...
Sep 19, 2021•28 min•Ep. 746
“You know, if you think, every member that you’ve got in the gym knows three people, they know at least three people, who they’re friends with, that don’t exercise. Be a friend, bring a friend. That would be my message,” says Dr. Paul Bedford. Paul Bedford, the Retention Guru, is a fitness industry authority on retention, attrition and member experience. In this episode, you’ll learn: The fitness industry shouldn’t be waging war against others in the industry, rather, the industry should be wagi...
Sep 16, 2021•21 min•Ep. 745
Heard of the "Varsity Blues" college admission scandal? Maybe you've asked yourself "what were those people thinking?," or maybe you thought "does everybody do that?," or maybe you asked yourself "how far would I go if I thought it would help my kids?" Gordon Caplan was one of those parents, and he tells Joe De Sena (CEO & Founder of Spartan) exactly what he was thinking, and what he learned from the experience and the deep thinking he did in jail. Every parent of a high school-age kid, and ...
Sep 14, 2021•32 min•Ep. 744
“Well you know, this was a man who, at the time, I was contemplating, ‘How do I stop today? I can’t move on, I can’t get to the end. I have a fractured leg, something’s wrong. I’m in so much pain. How can I possibly get to land’s end?’ And then you get this card… what do you do? I did what anybody else would do and I made a promise to that lady that I would get to the other side,” says Tony the Fridge. We’re back with two more awesome throwbacks. We kick it off first with Chris Legh, you may rem...
Sep 11, 2021•30 min•Ep. 743
“I speak to people all the time that go, ‘I can’t do this because… of my age. Because of my gender. Because of my sexual preference. Because I’ve got hair. Because I’ve got no hair. Because of my accent. Because of where I was born. Because of the color of my skin. Because of the school I went to, or didn’t go to.’ People are carrying all of that, all of the time. And the thing I would say to the young me, and I’d also say to other people is, recognize your limiting beliefs, and recognize what y...
Sep 09, 2021•33 min•Ep. 742
You don't have to change everything - start with more plants. Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, talks to the authors of "The Plant Based Athlete," Matt Frazier (founder of the No Meat Athlete community) and Robert Cheeke (vegan bodybuilder) and the how and why of eating more plants. Find out what Joe and these experts have to say about the protein hoax, and an easy first step to getting more plants in your diet. More about Matt Frazier - he’s a vegan ultrarunner, best known as the founder...
Sep 07, 2021•29 min•Ep. 741
“You know, I’m sure you’ve heard that old adage of, I guess it’s credited to Winston Churchill, when he gets up to speak about accomplishment...three lines he says, ‘Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.’ And I think that, without question, is the key,” says Will Roseman, Executive Director of the legendary Explorer’s Club. In this episode, we take a look back at two original Spartan Up! interviews published in 2015. The episode begins with Will Roseman telling Joe De Sena the stories of ...
Sep 04, 2021•19 min•Ep. 740
“You know, I mentioned, when you move with other people, you trust them more and you like them more. There’s something about moving with other people and in synchrony with them that you just project a lot of good onto them,” says Kelly McGonigal, PhD. Kelly McGonigal is an award-winning Stanford lecturer, health psychologist, author, and public speaker. We finish our conversation with part 3, focusing on gaining or learning compassion. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to develop the willingnes...
Sep 02, 2021•19 min•Ep. 739
As a parent, as a warrior, as a veteran, as a human - what’s the value of keeping a promise. What’s the power of trust. What’s the power of commitment. Today Scott Mann, one of the originators of “Task Force Pineapple” the volunteer movement of Veterans and others committed to keeping a promise to the men and women they worked with side by side in Afghanistan, joins Joe De Sena and retired Col. Tim Nye to talk about all this. You can support task force pineapple at https://www.operationrecovery....
Aug 31, 2021•28 min•Ep. 738
“...Weight loss is hard, you know? There’s so much information out there telling you how you should live your life, to lose weight. So many fad diets, it’s pretty hard to sift through. But I would say the most important thing, and running has also taught this to me, is you need to fuel your body for the life you live,” says Kyle White, running enthusiast who has lost 185 pounds over the pandemic and through a grueling Eastern Canada winter. Filling in for Johnny Waite while he’s organizing Spart...
Aug 28, 2021•31 min•Ep. 737
“When you exercise, your brain is receiving signals from your body that really tell you who you are and what you’re capable of. So when we talk about exercise boosting confidence or being empowering, sometimes we think about it very abstractly, but I think about it very literally,” says Kelly McGonigal, PhD. Kelly McGonigal is an award-winning Stanford lecturer, health psychologist, author, and public speaker. We continue our conversation, but this time about resilience relating to happiness and...
Aug 26, 2021•24 min•Ep. 736
Can you inoculate yourself from stress? Paul Taylor, of the Mind-Body Brain Performance Institute, says you can. He calls himself a "PracAdemic," part practical part academic. He's a former British Armed Forces Aircrew Officer who is now a Neuroscientist, Exercise Physiologist & Nutritionist who is doing a Ph.D. in Psychology, focusing on resilience. His training includes rigorous military combat survival and resistance to interrogation. In this episode, he and Joe discuss practical, proven ...
Aug 24, 2021•26 min•Ep. 735
“If you can recognize that you want to feel empowered, that you want greater vitality and health, that you want to be able to deal with stress better, that you want to find a community that you belong to. Things we know are part of what exercise gives us. If you get clear about that, that “Why?” It can help you find the willingness to go,” says Kelly McGonigal, PhD. Dr. Kelly McGonigal is an award-winning Stanford lecturer, health psychologist, author, and public speaker. Health psychology may n...
Aug 19, 2021•26 min•Ep. 734
Sports teams have been using data to select new team members for decades behind. Today Mike Zani talks about how you can use personality based data to hire, manage and maybe even parent better. MIKE ZANI is the CEO of The Predictive Index, a talent optimization platform designed to help businesses create high-performing teams and culture and make more objective hiring decisions. Zani is also an avid sailor and coached the 1996 US Olympic Team. His new book is called “The Science of Dream Teams.”...
Aug 17, 2021•25 min•Ep. 733
“Listen, some people are whooped right now. Wag your tail, find what's good in your life. Find gratitude, what's going on. Write it down. Because the one thing, when I come home, good day or bad day, and there are days that are bad and I'm tired and everything else, or come home from a trip and it didn't go the way I wanted, or back's hurting or something like that. Guess what? I'm coming home to a waggin' tail,” says Todd Durkin, Motivational Speaker, Personal Trainer, Best Selling Author and L...
Aug 14, 2021•20 min•Ep. 732
“For me, for the younger guys, I don't care where you're from. If you're an Iowa guy, right, we 'don't like each other,' but as soon as you get on my team, you're on my team. Right? I want to take care of you. And so that's what's exciting for the young guys that want to come in and fight is that, you know, wrestlers are gonna look out for each other. It doesn't matter where you're from. All that's done, behind us. It'd be fun to see these guys, see more guys that don't want to be done competing...
Aug 12, 2021•36 min•Ep. 731
Retired Navy Seal John Macaskill was desperate when his doctor prescribed meditation. The results were so powerful he now teaches it. Listen today to hear how to get started, how to use mindfulness to be a better parent, CEO, or athlete, and even how it can impact your diet and nutrition. John Macaskill is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness and meditation teacher, podcast host and producer, keynote speaker, and grit and resilience coach. His goal in life is to help others live thei...
Aug 10, 2021•25 min•Ep. 730
