The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

  "Physically, our bodies are so capable to do what our mind wants to do," says Lisa Smith-Batchen, endurance athlete and guest on this week's Endurance Series episode.    SpartanUp Endurance Series host Johnny Waite talks with Lisa about her experiences racing the Badwater and the Badwater Quad. In this episode you'll learn:   -The extreme environments that runners face during the Badwater Ultram...

"The people who are advanced never don't do the basics," says Alex Hormozi, CEO of Gym Launch. Alex talks with SpartanUp DEKA series hosts Jarod Cogswell and Yancy Culp about how gym owners can thrive during the pandemic. In this episode you'll learn:    -How to increase client retention -How to inspire change with a client by using pain, not gain -The #1 principal for gym owners who want to achie...

Billionaire Mark Cuban joins Joe De Sena on Spartan Up today. The Shark tank star and owner of the Dallas Mavericks talks to Joe about how he would solve some pressing problems from fitness and childhood obesity to marketing Spartan races, to the idea of mandatory service. How can we solve some of our trickiest problems? Joe asked Mark Cuban how he would handle 8 of the biggest problems our countr...

"We will go to the end of the Earth to make sure our team gets what they need," says Bryan Medlin.  SpartanUp Combat Series host Ryan Warner talks with Medlin - one of the most respected greco-roman wrestling coaches in the country and current University of Illinois assistant coach - about how coaches can remove the ego. In this episode you'll learn:    -What 14+ trips to Russia taught Medlin abou...

From the border of Afghanistan to the border of China, the Running the Roof the crew traversed the Bartang Valley on foot!  This journey took over 20+ months to plan, and is the epitome of delayed gratification.    Spartan Up Endurance Series host Johnny Waite interviews Jody Bragger, Jodie Gauld and Gabriel Ghiglione, who together, ran across Tajikstan as part of a friendly bet.  The bet started...

Joe De Sena and Nick Shaw review all the most popular diet types.  What should you really be eating?  How do you simplify your food choices? Nick is the Founder and CEO of Renaissance Periodization - a diet and fitness company founded on evidence-based practices, the author of "Fit for Success," and the host of the RP Strength podcast.   This episode is brought to you by Honey Stinger. Visit Honey...

"I have a sticky-note on my wall that says 'Ryan Atkins made you look stupid," says Hunter McIntyre, who lost to Atkins at the inaugural Spartan Games.     SpartanUp DEKA Series hosts Jarod Cogswell and Yancy Culp talk with Hunter about his Spartan Games performance. In this episode you'll learn:    -That fitness is the one outlet in modern society that provides a constant feedback loop -Why Hunte...

It's not about the idea, it's about the people behind the idea who can make it happen.  That's the theme of today's StartanUp Endurance Series episode, where host Johnny Waite interviews Jody Bragger, Jodie Gauld and Gabriel Ghiglione, who together, ran across Tajikstan as part of a friendly bet.  The bet started in the dead of winter, where the crew picked a location on a map (blindfolded) and co...

They were desperate enough to call in an airstrike on themselves. Think about that. WIth that came ultimate clarity. Retired Navy SEAL Thom Shea says war teaches you what's real. He served 23 years with distinguished valor before writing his bestselling book, "Unbreakable: A Navy Seal's Way of Life." Today he talks about his latest book, "Three Simple Things: Leading During Chaos." The founder of...

When a decade of training wrestling, blindfolded, saves your life.  That's what Spartan CEO Joe De Sena and SpartanUp Combat Series host Ryan Warner talk about in today's episode.  The guys also cover Joe's passion for combat sports, why Spartan Nutrition and Joe's background in chosen suffering.  In this episode you'll learn…   How a dinner in NYC led Joe to fall in love with combat sports, speci...

"Keep climbing and stop whining," says Jarod Cogswell, co-host of the SpartanUp DEKA Series. "Keep climbing and stop whining," says Jarod Cogswell, co-host of the Spartan Up DEKA Series. Coaches Jarod Cogswell and Yancy Culp share their best advice for making the most of your 2021 in this episode solo.  They recap their biggest learnings from 2020, share strategies on how to get the most out of 20...

Mo Gawdat, today's guest on Spartan Up, tells Joe De Sena happiness, like fitness, is something you can build.  He's the author of "Solve for Happy'' and former Chief Business Officer of Google [X], and today he's on a mission to teach the art and practice of happiness.     Mo experienced a uniquely devastating event, the death of his son, it inspired in him a drive to understand the formula of ha...

Exercise is like the magic pill. You'll get better sleep. You're testosterone will go up. You're going to look and feel better. All because of exercise, says Olympic wrestler Jake Herbert.  Host of the SpartanUp Combat Series Ryan Warner talks with Jake about:   -How to track personal growth in 2021. Jake uses a journaling routine called the 4 B's to guide his personal growth tracking.  -Why exerc...

"If you want to identify your running inefficiencies, run naked" says ultra-marathon runner Patrick Sweeney, who talks with SpartanUp Podcast Endurance Series host Johnny Waite about how to become a minimalist runner.  In this episode you'll learn:   -How Patrick developed a love for running in the sandals -Why minimalist running improves your running form -How running with sandals heightens your...

We've been telling you for YEARS to do hard things.  Today Joe De Sena, our show host and the founder and CEO of Spartan, asks neuroscientist, psychologist, and University Distinguished Professor, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett if we're right.   The author of "7 1/2 Lessons About the Brain" and "How Emotions are Made," explains how the brain reacts to stress. How to keep your brain snappy into old age....

This interview is dedicated to our gracious, enthusiastic, and gone too soon series host Roy Wallack. Rest in peace. "The best social security is to keep on riding."   Tinker Juarez (@dtinker) is 59 years old and still rides 350 miles a week.  His consistency and dedication to training is the main focus of today's episode.  La Ruta Series on the SpartanUp Podcast host Roy M. Wallack talks with Tin...

One of the most decorated CrossFit athletes of all time - Sam Briggs - talks with Spartan Up podcast DEKA series hosts Jarog Cogswell and Yancy Culp about:   -Sam's origin story and what being a firefighter has taught her about team building -Why Sam participated in the Spartan Games -The benefits of functional fitness, regardless of age -When Sam takes on a new challenge, how does the evaluate th...

Pain is inevitable, right?  But how do you distinguish between the pain you should push through and the pain that's a red flag?  Dr. Sean Pastuch, founder of Active Life RX, gives Joe De Sena his 4 rules for pain assessment. He also talks about the importance of seeking out and overcoming some kinds of pain in our life. When assessing pain Pastuch says there are four important terms you need to un...

When you leave a high-paying job on Wall Street to fight MMA professionally in Peru. That's the decision Rollie Peterkin (@rolliepeterkin - Twitter)  made - our guest on today's episode of Combat on the SpartanUp Podcast - that would forever change his life.  Host Ryan Warner talks with Rollie about:   -Rollie's college wrestling career at the University of Pennsylvania -The breaking point that en...

Imagine running the Chicago marathon and then running to New York - spanning 22 days - to compete in the NYC Marathon. That's the kind of runner that Patrick Sweeney is and in this episode, he talks with Spartan Up Endurance Series host Johnny Waite about:    -How he developed a love for running in the early days and what drew Patrick to long-distance running -How Patrick chooses a race. Here's a...

He went to the DOJ. He testified to congress.  He went to the IRS. Instead of a "thank you," they threw him in jail!  But that wasn't the end of the story.  Next, the US Government awarded Bradley C Birkenfeld with over 100 million dollars. In fact, he holds the Guinness World Record for the largest payout by a government to a single individual! Sounds too crazy to be true?  Joe De Sena interviewe...

Meghan Hicks says "Don't put on a race or don't sponsor racers unless you are ready to sponsor women who perform at the same level as their male counterparts." Hicks tells Spartan Up Podcast Trail Series host Mauri Pagliacci about how gender equality, sustainability and COVID can pose unique challenges trail running.   #1 - Meghan's race adventures during Covid.  Meghan completed the Nolans 14, a...

"I chased the pain," says mountain biking legend Tinker Juarez (@dtinkerj), who has spent nearly 40 years atop the world of cycling.  Spartan Up La Ruta series host Roy M. Wallack (@roywallack) - author of Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100 -  talks with Tinker about his career, how Tinker has achieved longevity in the sport and advice on how to grow your own career.     In this episode you'll lear...

What defines you? Is it your origins? What you've overcome? What you've achieved? Who you are becoming? By any measure, Curt Maggitt is a champion. We met Curt, a former NFL Colts player, at the 2020 inaugural Spartan Games presented by Harley Davidson, where he launched out of his comfort zone tackling challenges ranging from Spartan courses and mountain biking to Deka fit and wrestling- all with...

Did you listen to the "Spartan Up!" interview with Ivor Cummins? Joe Desena interviewed the biochemical engineer and complex problem-solving specialist about what popular messaging got wrong about COVID-19 and the lockdowns. We asked you for your feedback, and Spartan racer Kyle Enfield MD reached out to us. Kyle runs the Covid ICU at UVA, has a master's in epidemiology, and was willing to come on...