The InnerFight Podcast

Six weeks. Six shows. In this final episode of the Leaks in Performance series, Marcus closes the loop on everything. Identity, standards, emotional load, the gap between who you say you are and who you prove you are, complexity, and simplicity. The core message: your performance is not leaking because of your training plan. The leak starts with who you are and how you live. An overcomplicated pla...

In week five of the Leaks in Performance series, Marcus tackles one of the most common traps high performers fall into: complexity. Whether it's an overloaded training plan, a packed work schedule, or constantly chasing marginal gains, complexity is often just avoidance in disguise. It protects the ego, delays accountability, and hides the real leaks. The antidote? Simplicity. Marcus breaks do...

You've written down your values. You've set the goals. But at 3:59am when the alarm goes off, you can not move. In this episode, Marcus digs into one of the most overlooked leaks in human performance: the gap between the identity you claim and the behaviours you actually live. This week you'll explore how to audit your identity across every role you play: athlete, parent, leader, and h...

Episode 3 of the series is live. We're talking about emotional load. The real, practical reason why high performers plateau, burn out, or can't understand why their training isn't landing the way it should. The truth is your body doesn't separate emotional stress from physical stress. When life is heavy, relationship strain, work pressure, family chaos, your stress capacity is alre...

In Episode 1011 of the InnerFight Podcast, Marcus talks about the cost of unclear standards. From training and recovery to sleep, nutrition, work hygiene and phone hygiene, this episode explores the small leaks that quietly impact performance. “What is the standard?” If those standards are unclear, performance will drop. Listen now.

Welcome to a new series on the podcast:  Leaks in Your Performance. This series explores the small gaps where performance quietly breaks down, not just in training or work, but in the structure of your life. It’s not only about better plans, more intensity, or more effort. It’s about what happens outside of that. We dive into identity, standards, emotional load, alignment, and the unnecessary comp...

Part 3 of the InnerFight Coaches series, Marcus sits down with four incredible coaches shaping what it truly means to be “better at life.” Rob Foster shares why coaching starts with the person before the athlete, Zoe dives into pushing beyond perceived limits, Eduan opens up about empathy and real human connection, and Carmen reflects on patience, growth, and coaching through feeling, not just per...

What makes a great coach, teacher, or mentor? In Part 2 of the InnerFight Coach Series, Marcus dives deeper into the art of coaching by exploring how we guide, support, and impact others not just in sport, but in everyday life. Featuring conversations with InnerFight coaches Dan, Tom, Sarah, Rob J, and Andy, this episode unpacks the philosophies, behaviors, and mindset behind truly effective coach...

Training programs can be effective, but real life doesn’t always follow a plan. In this episode, Marcus opens up the conversation around the role of coaching in a world full of structured programs, using real-life examples to highlight how unpredictable life can be. This also marks the start of a new series featuring the InnerFight coaches. Over the coming weeks, Marcus sits down with each coach t...

What actually makes a great coach? In this episode, Marcus Smith explores the qualities that define great coaching and why the most valuable thing a coach can offer an human isn’t motivation or encouragement, but honesty. Marcus reflects on the foundations of strong coaching relationships and how trust is built through clarity, consistency and accountability over time. In this conversation he disc...

In Episode 1005, Marcus reflects on a phrase he has said hundreds of times on the show:  “I hope you had a good week.” But what actually makes a week  good ? Marcus explores why judging weeks purely on emotion can be misleading and why progress in life, work, and training rarely happens evenly across every area at once. He explains the importance of prioritisation, understanding capacity, and alig...

In this episode, Marcus challenges the idea that you need help with your food. He explains why most people already know what’s healthy and why the real issue is stress, sleep, structure, and the behaviours that quietly drive daily choices. Key points: Why food isn’t the real problem but your behaviour may be. How stress, poor sleep, and long workdays fuel bad decisions. The traps of restriction, m...

The evolution of InnerFight Endurance. This week Marcus and Tom have a chat in the car on their way back from Muscat 70.3. Great time for a podcast. They talk all about how InnerFight Endurance started and how it is way more than just training plans. A great reminder that the goal isn’t only better endurance performance. It’s better humans, doing hard things, and keeping it fun along the way. Key...

Today we’re joined by our in-house Kiwi, Jamie Clarke, to dive into the culture of the All Blacks and what it reveals about legacy, humility, and, most importantly, how human beings show up for and interact with each other. The All Blacks blueprint:  Why they’ve won 76.6% of games over 122 years — and why they focus on standards, not winning The Kiwi perspective:  How New Zealand and Māori culture...

After 1,000 episodes and a short break, this isn’t a reset or a rebrand. It’s a continuation. Fewer rules, less structure, more honesty. Some episodes will be long, some short. Some solo, some with guests. When there’s something worth saying, the mic comes on. Episode 1001 reflects on the pause, the coaches summits, community, performance, regulation, and why February felt like the right time to r...

For the 1,000th episode of the InnerFight Podcast, Marcus turns the mic on someone very close to home – his dad. In this deeply personal and powerful conversation, Marcus explores the man behind so many of his own values: hard work, simplicity, honesty, and doing the right thing even when it’s hard. They talk about: Taking bold career leaps  – from Yorkshire to Africa, Jeddah, and Dubai, and how t...

In episode 999 of the InnerFight Podcast, Marcus sits down for a long-awaited and deeply personal conversation with his wife, Holly — his emergency number, and the quiet force behind much of InnerFight’s growth over the past two decades. The episode follows Holly’s journey from small-town Australia to Dubai in 2003, where she joined Emirates and spent 13 years flying long-haul around the world. Sh...

In this episode, Marcus is joined by coaches Vic, Andy, and Eduan for a fast-paced mix of banter, coaching insight, and real talk about training and life. You’ll hear how the friendly rivalry between Andy and Eduan is playing out in workouts (and Movember moustaches), what actually happens when coaches train together, and why “suffering side by side” can be such a powerful part of community. The t...

Jitin Joshi isn’t “just” one of the world’s most respected Michelin-star chefs. He’s also a multiple-marathon finisher who’s raced across several continents and, for his 50th birthday, took on the highest marathon in the world – the Ladakh Marathon. In this conversation we dive into: What it’s  really  like behind the scenes in top kitchens around the world Long hours, brutal schedules, poor nutri...

Every day, you’re surrounded by toxins — in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and even the products you use on your skin. In this eye-opening conversation, Marcus Smith sits down with Dr. Joe Nieusma, a toxicologist with nearly 40 years of experience, to expose the hidden dangers of modern living and what you can do to protect yourself. Dr. Nieusma explains why humans today are living in a...

When Tom Hill was diagnosed with rectal cancer, he made one choice — go all in. In this episode of the  InnerFight Podcast ,  Marcus Smith dives deep into Tom’s journey of fasting through chemo, rebuilding his mindset, and finding strength when there was no Plan B. “There’s no point in having a Plan B — you just go all in.” Key Points: No Plan B: Tom Hill shares how adopting an all-in mindset help...

In Episode 994 of  The InnerFight Podcast , Marcus dives deep into The Long Game — a mindset built on  purpose, adaptability, consistency,  and  patience. He shares powerful reflections on why instant gratification has rewired our brains for short-term thinking, and how to rebuild your ability to go long — in fitness, in career, in relationships, and in life. 🔥 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why ...

In this deeply vulnerable conversation, Eduan Viljoen—now an InnerFight Strength & Conditioning Coach—shares the inflection points that shaped him: a late surge into sport, losing (and rebuilding) confidence, navigating a complex childhood, and discovering why doing hard things matters far beyond the gym. We unpack empathy as a coaching superpower, how to spot when validation drives your goals...

In this episode of the InnerFight Podcast,Marcus Smith sits down with Dr. Geoffrey Mount Varner — a Harvard-trained ER physician, former Assistant Chief Medical Officer for Washington D.C., and a three-time cancer survivor. Through 30 years on the front lines of emergency medicine, Dr. Geoffrey has learned that overthinking kills momentum — in the ER, hesitation can cost a life. He shares the same...

In this episode of the InnerFight Podcast, Marcus Smith sits down with Rob Jones for a heartfelt conversation on  making good decisions fast  as a parent. Rob shares how everyday choices — from the clothes his daughter wears to redefining what “success” means for his family — have reshaped his perspective. It’s an honest and uplifting look at parenting, resilience, and the small wins that truly ma...