Uncharted Performance

Almost getting shot by my best friend is a fun story to tell looking back on it now that I’m healthy and sober but the fact that it happened at all is rather disturbing. The barbell was the furthest thing from my mind. I can’t tell you what time it was because I can’t remember, but it’s more likely because I couldn’t see straight. It was definitely late; or rather should I say early in the morning. It was another day of heavy drinking (another Sunday, that is) and my friends had wisely called it quits. Me, on the other hand, not so much.

The season finale of Uncharted Performance is upon us! We close out season 7 of the show with the multi-talented Misbah Haque, host of the very successful Airborne Mind Podcast and coach at Revival Strength. We find out how Misbah has accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time, and the unique characteristics that have enabled him to considerably expand as a person, coach, host, and entrepreneur. Our conversation centers around several main themes including creativity, exploring, questioning, listening, and coaching. We then learn how Misbah incorporates these five elements into his movement practice, relationships, personal development, and self expression through conscious and persistent effort while being vulnerable and breaking a few rules along the way. The future is definitely bright for this up and coming leader. Enjoy!

He's back by popular demand! Marcus Filly of Revival Strength and Functional Bodybuilding returns to the show New Year's day. We catch up on family and training then "build of the base" we established back in Episode 65. We dive deeper into Functional Bodybuilding and the Awaken Training Series to discuss the evolution of the program from it's inception of being a model of what Marcus' training looked like to having a greater impact on other people based on his experience. We outline the progression of movements and how different training variables are adjusted during the program, as well as emphasize the importance of tempo and time under tension. Our conversation is highlighted by the topic of commitment to change and being loyal to a process to reap its long lasting benefits.

Our guest on episode 78 of Uncharted Performance is Logan Gelbrich of Deuce Gym. He is a former pro baseball player, CrossFit Seminar staff member, coach, entrepreneur, writer, student, coach, teacher, philosopher, but to label him as these would not be fair because of the given the combination of all these he’s much more. Our conversation is a organic free flowing exploration of the ripe environment for development and it is not specific to coaching or training What does that environment look like? What are the key contributing factors and variables?We probe how we can push our development, through exposing ourselves to opposing view points, departing from our beliefs, and the manner in which one can accomplish that. The coaches prep course developed by Logan and staff is a spring board for much of our discussion that also leads into creating problems, providing solutions, insuring against mediocrity, and breaking from dogma to allow ourselves to both evolve and devolve. What is great coaching? Tune in to fi

What is going on fam. This week’s guest on Uncharted Performance is the fittest nurse on earth, Jessica Griffith, who in 2017 made the CrossFit Games as a rookie individual competitor. We discuss in depth her role as a Level 1 trauma nurse, what took for her to get there and why she absolutely loves what she does, starting all the way back to what drew her to the field of medicine. We explore the carryover over to training and competing in CrossFit, reconciling the two very demanding commitments, and the challenges as well as the opportunities presented by her unique schedule. One thing that you will quickly notice about Jessica is her very positive attitude and bright smile - find out in the episode exactly why.

Peter Nelson was a former high school basketball and track and field standout who later became a smoker and a back injury had him sidelined into his mid 40s. Then cold turkey he gave up smoking and picked up a new “addiction”, running. He quickly kept upping the ante from 5k to marathons to ultra marathons. Now at 54, he has ran over 60 races of marathon distance or longer in a span of only 6 years. He cover the mental challenges of running such long distances, the perseverance to overcome difficult scenarios, and the benefit running has had on Pete’s physical and mental health. It wouldn’t be an episode of Uncharted if we didn’t cover why he continues to run, so much and so far, regularly pushing past what is rational, and how it makes him feel, as well as some tactical pointers regarding his training regimen including insights on what to prepare for as we push the boundaries of human potential at any age in this week’s episode.

So where are we this week? Back to a familiar place with our friends at GrooveRyde. This time it is with one of their newer team members, Joe Callari of Callari Killer Fitness and Beat Box instructor. As you quickly find out in our conversation Joe can light up a room very quickly. He is a retired MMA fighter and a fitness entrepreneur with a heart of gold. We dive into the world of mixed martial arts, what drew him to the sport and how it turned a one time "bully" into one of the kindest and most positive people we hope you have the opportunity to meet. Getting knocked out or punched in the face has many lessons we can learn from - both good and bad. We talk getting knocked around, a lot , why he enjoys it, his growth and in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and the many valuable lessons he took away from fighting in the octagon. We also discuss developing as a personal trainer, growing your own business and brand, as well as several other topics related to nutrition, and his wonderful mission of Squats Over S

In Episode 74 with AJ Roberts we take you all the way back to South Hampton, England to being a basketball standout, coming to the US and the early challenges that led AJ to become on of the strongest human beings on the planet. You’ll hear early on that AJ set the bar very high and he was willing to do anything to get there. From becoming the strongest in his school to setting world records as part of the world famous Westside Barbell under Louie Simmons to leaving it behind and why. We also discuss his rise in the fitness business industry and the ability to thrive as an entrepreneur. Our conversation wouldn’t be complete without touching on some finer points of strength development and training. Enjoy!

What could happen if we all started paying attention? What if we could utilize fitness as a platform to express ourself, encourage people, and collectively grow? An eye opening conversation that transcends strength training, Olympic Weightlifting, or whatever your fitness endeavor might be with the one and only, Carl Paoli, the author of Freestyle Connection and creator of Gymnastics WOD. Carl and I discuss his roots, his gymnastics background, awesome studies and work in marine biology, and how all that led him to here and the environment and movement he is creating and championing through the freestyle connection and other endeavors. We get into why should we move like we care, what impact being kind to yourself can have, the importance of being present, creating an intellectual experience, how and where to make the biggest impact. Enjoy our conversation with Carl!

We are keeping the party going with non other than 4 times CrossFit Games athlete, total badass, Emily Abbott. We get into a ton of different topics, tattoos, growing up in Canada, travel, adventure, getting outdoors, using fitness and strength to experience the world, being one with nature, college basketball, as you might have figured out, a little bit about CrossFit, and what the future holds for this incredible human being.  If you are sense a pattern here, there isn’t one. This is a conversation about being human, being imperfect, vulnerable, having self doubt, imbalance, about there not being a finish line, pushing yourself, putting yourself in tough and uncomfortable situations, becoming strong, fierce, aggressive, daring to be you, and welcoming death, knowing you have dared and lived.

If you have been living under a rock, Scott Panchik is a very familiar face in the CrossFit community, qualifying for every CrossFit Games since 2012, and finishing this past year just under ten points from this year’s podium. He is the epitome of consistency, dedication and professionalism. But where does that come from? Our awesome conversation centers around the themes of family, building strong relationships, community and sacrifice. Scott will be the first to tell you that much of his success can be attributed to his wife, his parents, and younger brothers. What role do they play and how have they helped Scott develop and evolved are covered in our conversation. He is a tremendously driven individual outside of CrossFit as well, and gives much of himself as a teacher to grow and build his community at CrossFit Mentality. We dive into the process of starting a business, what the community means to him, at the same time remaining a competitive athlete. Of course we discuss what it takes to make the games m

Hello friends and welcome to the season seven finale of Uncharted Performance. Massive thank you to our very good friend Mark Valenti of Blind Dog Gym for brining us together and letting us share our stories on his awesome podcast, the Refined Savage. This is the episode we finally introduce my partner in crime, my coach, the immensely beautiful, extremely talented, my best friend, badass, movement and nutrition guru, my wife, Alina Wencel. Alina and I both took different paths coming America. We share our stories of coming to the states, how we met, my dark days with substance abuse, Alina coming to the rescue, how finding the right person is the key to motivate you to do the right things, our fitness journeys, what we do, and why we do it. Our passions. Our pursuit of balance and a healthier life, creating values that will lead to a more meaningful and rewarding life, overcoming your own fears, and getting to do things that you love to do. We hope to motivate change, and that our stories provide a dose of p

This week on Uncharted Performance we are joined by the awesomely bearded, Yuri Marmerstein, originally from Odessa, currently living in Las Vegas, by way of our hometown Cleveland. Yuri has been exploring the physical culture for over 15 years as an acrobat, entertainer, performer and teacher. Personally, we think what he is capable of doing with is body is very impressive but he might not agree given his high standards. We get the wonderful opportunity to get an inside look at his unique learning process that started out by imitating Kung Fu movies in the backyard. His advanced practice originated with little direction and has developed into a Webster’s dictionary mistakes to learn from and develop. The better Yuri got and more he surrounded himself with high level coaches and athletes he realized, in his words, how shitty he was which motivated him further in his pursuits. We tackled the difficulty subjects of getting through plateaus and appropriate skill development using handstands as an example but a m

This week we are joined by Tom Mountjoy of Primal Movers all the way form beautiful Bergen, Norway. This is a truly awesome and fascinating conversation with Tom and his process of integrating the mind and body, and what it took to get there, and spoiler alert it was not easy. We find out what it took for Tom to recognize that instead of being united, his strength training practice and mindset were at odds, and how that recognition led him to a different way to navigate through both, and that both practices, the mental and physical can be united. We learn from Tom how to be still and more aware of the capability of our bodies, how nature can free us from distraction and allow us to experience different variables, that holding onto tension can be a sign of weakness, that there can be a wider perspective of movement through which more gets revealed, how we can engage with our emotions through our movement practice or strength training and how that can inform other parts of our life to make more mindful lifestyl

This week on Uncharted Performance we are joined by Jim Klopman, the inventor of the SlackBow and the book Balance is Power. Jim was born with brain damage, ADHD, dyslexia, just didn't have the other parts of the system working and how to operate properly in society - as one doctor told him he had the brain of a NFL football player. He was a not a very good student, flunked a few times, took nine years to graduate college. He used athletics to overcome these challenges he was faced with, lettering in five different sports.  After years of being an athlete and unsure of his purpose in life, Jim found his purpose and developed his own business called the SlackBow Balance Training System.  He created the SlackBow Balance Training System to enhance his own balance as well as others.  Jim has worked with professional athletes, including the likes of Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors to both NFL & Major League baseball team, and has benefitted them immensely. 

In episode 66 of Uncharted Performance we are joined by Mike Dewar of J2Fit Strength & Conditioning and . Barbell CEO. We go from growing up in Ohio to landing in the big city with little direction but with a sense of rush and great opportunity. Mike is a big believer in using circumstance to drive positive change and creativity. He has been driven by his innate desire to know  more, and by knowing more, seeing even more possibilities. As an entrepreneur, it is all about doing something, no matter how small or what it is, but to take action, make mistakes but learn from them, all in with the intention to create momentum. Don’t be hampered by perfection and fail to launch. It doesn’t have to be perfect.  As a coach, his passion is to turn everyday people into everyday champions and helping them be the best at what they do, no matter what it is, from marathon runner to corporate CEO. 

On this episode of Uncharted Performance we are joined by a very successful and immensely intelligent athlete and coach, 6 times CrossFit games competitor, founder of Revival Strength and most importantly new dad, Marcus Filly. What Marcus has developed is to what to outsiders might see as a seamless blend of how many of us first got into fitness, chasing that pump, and what many of us have transitioned to and grown to love, functional fitness. Before we get to Functional Bodybuilding and a walkthrough the very popular Awaken Training Series, we discuss how he got to now starting with his first ever training session and how that left him, his interest and passion in the physical and health sciences, the role medical school played in defining his mission, and the five major impact points in his training life, all along connecting all the dots. What is Functional Bodybuilding then exactly? Great question, but you will just have to listen to the episode to find out specifically.

Our guest this week is Matt Walrath of Beyond Macros. We learn how Matt became a nutrition coach, what it means for him to be one, and the approach he takes with his clients. He walks us a through a primer on macronutrients, what they are, what role they play, and why we should care. We then shift to the topic of the day, creating a new normal for his clients and how one goes about doing so through the development of sustainable and appropriate habits. Subjects we cover include how to become aware and recognize triggers, getting our body and mindset to break from homeostasis, and different externalities that could deter our nutrition journey. We finish of the episode talking about Matt’s core values which definitely bring the episode to an epic conclusion. Enjoy!

In this week’s episode of Uncharted Performance we are joined by Mike Flynn of the Impact Entrepreneur show. Mike provides tons of wisdom on how we can become better box owners, coaches and most importantly, human beings. He is an avid CrossFitter through which he pursues developing his mind, body, and spirit. A successful entrepreneur in his own right as the owner of Flynn Wealth Strategies, he is a husband, father, who wants to have a game changing impact in the lives of others. We discuss what impact moments are and what they can mean to our development, how CrossFit and Entrepreneurship are very much alike, the concept of self efficacy, the power of choice, the true meaning of legacy, how to develop the right skills to develop confidence to be able to perform, the peak performance framework, and an in-depth look at the six bridges of personal growth and the importance of the concept of the future five. In Mike’s words, lets brace for impact!

In this episode of Uncharted Performance we are joined by Tracy Beck, physical therapist and creator of Connected Physical Therapy and Wellness. Tracy is here to tell us, it is not enough to simply get better after seeing a PT, we want to be well, and that often requires a practitioner who is able and wiling to find out the root cause. She has chosen to break off from the traditional/rigid model of physical therapy and find her own unique approach. Among other things, you’ll find out how fascia works and how crucial it is, what types of movements can facilitate the development of a healthy fascial system, how we can challenge tissue in a healthy way and what makes flexibility so important for all sports disciplines.