Overcome

What are the key attributes of Olympic athletes? Resilience, perseverance, and discipline are among them. Nina Cutro-Kelly has all of those and twenty years later, she is fulfilling her Olympic dream. In this episode Nina talks about her main obstacles to achieve this dream, her training leading to Tokyo and her mindset to overcome the difficulties that she faces in and out of the mat.

As a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, Ramon Macedo achieved many things titles in his career, won the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2019 and right after that earned his black belt. Life was indeed going in the right direction when he felt emptiness and decided to retire from BJJ. What lead him to make this decision? How he changed his mindset to focus on pursuing true happiness and giving away competition...

When you have to overcome difficulties in life just to practice the sport you love, you develop a different level of resilience. In this episode Abraao Magalhaes, black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, IBJJF World Champion and MMA fighter is going to talk about the rough start in BJJ and how he evolved in the sport despite all the obstacles and injuries. Abraao is also going to talk about his new jour...

After 7 years dedicated to MMA, Daniel Sullivan had a successful transition to bodybuilding, winning many local shows in US and placing top three in the Olympia Amateur 2019. In this episode Daniel is going to talk about the lessons learned from the time he was fighting MMA and how that helped to shape his mindset to overcome the challenges in bodybuilding. Daniel is also a fitness coach with an o...

As a professional bodybuilder, Leah Dennie always chased improvement, working relentlessly to build herself show after show. Some years back she had some personal setbacks that derailed her mindset and affected her personal and athlete life. This year she came back to national bodybuilding stage and won one of the most prestigious show of the IFBB PRO League, the NY PRO. In this episode Leah talks...

IFBB PRO with more than 25 years of experience in the personal trainer field, Vicki Diaz is an example of an athlete that continuous to make improvements over time based on the key foundation of always staying consistent. In this episode Vicki is going to talk about longevity in the fitness industry and how to keep a well-balanced life where you can incorporate fitness into your daily routine with...

From 300 lbs US National level Bodybuilder to a 210 lbs athlete preparing for his MMA debut. What happened in Josh Thomas’ lifestyle that drove this change on his mindset and physique? In this episode, Josh is going to cover the rationale behind this change, the obstacles along the way and how he is focusing on building a better life for him, his family and clients. Josh also talks about his curre...

A herniated disc in the lower back may be one of the biggest obstacles for a Strongman to recover and keep making progress. In this episode Austin Haye, Strongman competitor from Texas talks about his journey to recover from his back surgery and continue to make improvements on his lifts. Austin also talks about his most recent contest after almost one year without competing due a change in lifest...

How to continuously improve your physique and lift heavy while staying injury? With more than 15 years of experience in the bodybuilding industry and being consistently on top three in national level bodybuilding competitions, Jonathan Irizarry talks about his journey to achieve the perfect physique while staying healthy and injury free. Jonathan talks about different strategies that he used for n...

How to work your way back after a major surgery that took you out of training for almost a year? In this episode Alan Shebaro will describe how he was able to overcome this phase of his life and start performing in a high level again. Shebaro is a Black Belt in BJJ /Judo, and he was 1 of only 4 Black Belts in BJJ in the U.S. Army and is the first BJJ Black Belt in Special Forces Regiment. Shebaro...

What are the side effects of hyper focus when chasing your goals? In this episode, Delane Hart (IFBB PRO) talks about her bodybuilding journey and how she overcame one of the biggest challenges in her life while preparing to compete at the Olympia 2019. Delane talks about her transition off the stage to focus on her career as coach and the lessons learned competing at the highest level in the spor...

How to persist pursuing your dream even after so many setbacks? In this episode, John Meadows, Coach and IFBB PRO, explains how he was able to overcome all those obstacles based on a strong mindset, impeccable work ethic and a foundation based on gratitude. John also emphasizes the importance of having a good circle of people around you and how this influences your attitude. John also touches on t...

An entrepreneur mindset that is always looking to ways to improve his business can also be applied into his fitness journey. In this episode Todd Abrams, IFBB PRO and CEO of Icon Meals explains how he stays on top of his game all year long, and how he uses some of the business principles to apply into his fitness journey. Todd also talks about key characteristics of successful athletes such as con...

There are many obstacles when moving to another country to start a new life and achieve your dreams. Shinjiro Sasaki overcame many hurdles to build his School and teach the art of Judo. In this episode Sensei Sasaki talks about his Judo journey that started in Japan and how he evolved in the sport from not being able to win because he was the smallest, to use his body mechanics in his advantage ag...

What are the common attributes of a champion? In this Episode, Jimmy Pedro, Olympian medalist athlete from USA Judo Team, World Champion, Pan American Champion, and Coach of many elite athletes, is going to share these attributes based on what he learned over the years as an athlete and coach. Jimmy also talks about the importance of a strong mindset, longevity in the sport and the challenges that...

How to advance in your career and overcome plateaus?  Dr Rhadi Ferguson High Performance Enhancement Specialist, Olympian Judoka, PhD in Education and Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu talks about the power of visualization to make progress as an athlete.  At the age of 29, Dr Rhadi Ferguson used his visualization techniques to be part of the USA Judo Team that competed at the 2004 Olymp...

As an amateur boxer, Tony Mack was awarded bronze medal in the USA Boxing National Championship, five-time Dallas Golden Glove Champion, and three-time Texas State Champion. On his professional debut in August 2012,  he quickly defeated his opponent in the second round. After a good start in the professional league, Tony discovered that he had multiple tears in his retina, which forced him to...

How does it feel to have your ACL ruptured in your Senior year and prematurely leave your last competitive year playing soccer? In this episode, Dr Emily Krenek talks about this case and the ups and downs of her recovery journey. Dr Emily also talks about her career as a Physical Therapist, some common practices she observes on patients that are able to recover faster, her experience with dry need...

How to continue to make progress after 30 years of training and find the motivation to keep grinding day after day? Skip Hill has the answer for this question and many more. After releasing his Longevity DVD, Skip adapted his training style to stay in the game for more years, stay lean and continue to evolve as an athlete. Skip also talks about his recent injury, how it was the recovery process an...

What's the mindset of an athlete that had a shoulder replacement surgery and is able to go back to an international level Judo tournament after only 10 weeks? In this episode, the former number one Judoka in USA, Carrier Chandler will talk about this story and many others overcome situations. Carrier also talks about mental health, what it takes to go to the next level as an athlete, her career as...

What reflections would you have if you were just watching the clock ticking and waiting for news that could mean the end of your life? In this episode, Greg Hamilton, Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is going to talk about the reflections he had while waiting for results in the ER. Greg describes the struggle he faced as a result of a major injury that almost took his life and how he rebuilt hims...

Have you heard about neuromuscular re-education? In this episode Patrick Brennan, Functional Movement Specialist L2, Performance Nutritionist with many industry certifications including NASM CPT, PICP 1&2, FST LVL 2 and RPR LVL 2, is going to talk about the important role that our nervous system plays during the rehab process. Patrick also talks about training while recovering from an injury a...

What if an injury that takes you out of for months is there to allow you to reflect on your life and allow you to restart from scratch? In this Episode Jason Lee, BJJ practitioner, shares his story about overcoming spiritual boundaries and using his ACL/meniscus injury as a way to reset his life and find a better purpose. Jason also shares the struggles during the rehab and how he was able to come...

In this episode Yuri’s guest is Nathalia Melo, former Ms Olympia, IFBB PRO, number five in Flex Magazine as an all-time fitness model, front cover of many mainstream fitness magazines and author of pregnancy related books. With more than ten years in the fitness industry, Nathalia has faced many obstacles and was always able to overcome them with resilience and relentless work. Now she is using th...

In this episode Yuri’s guest is Doctor Michael Piekarski, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, Former MMA Fighter and Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. With vast experience recovering athletes and martial arts practitioners, Doctor Michael shares some insights around injury prevention and recovery. He also talks about the importance of taking the appropriate time to rehab t...