Buckets in the Streets: Spartan World Championship Exclusive

Hey, what's up? It's Ben Greenfield, and this is a bit out of the ordinary, but I happen to be sitting here with my trusty podcast sidekick, Brock. Jason Skywalker Armstrong. Brock, how you doing?

I'm doing well. Hello. Hello, everyone.

And you could get sick of that lulling Canadian accent over the next few days. Pshaw, pshaw. Because Brock and myself, to a certain extent, but Brock to a much greater extent, we are going to be bringing you some amazing interviews over the next several days because we are at Spartan World Championships.

So here's what to expect. First, if you're not an obstacle course junkie or an athlete, don't worry. We are right now here surrounded by some of the top fitness, health, biohacking, nutrition, and even personal productivity and lifestyle minds on the face of the planet, who Spartan CEO Joe Decenta has flown in to be here. And Brock and I have decided to get the microphone in front of them and take a deep dive with them into their top secrets that we can deliver to you. And we're also, of course, since we are surrounded by some of the fittest people on the face of the planet here, we're going to be interviewing some of the most hardcore men and women that exist when it comes to their insider training tactics, their nutrition secrets, their recovery hacks, and a whole lot more. So basically, you are going to be getting lots of podcasts over the next few days. Don't worry if you don't have time to listen to them. You can save them. And I believe these even a handy save function in Apple podcasts. You don't even most podcasting apps save them for layers. Next time you're bored on a drive or you have a few extra gym sessions or you're out on a long hike, you can basically listen into a lot of these extra episodes we're gonna be pushing out over the next few days.

You can bathe in them even.

You can bathe in them. Literally like a float tank or Epsom salts. Yes. So we are, in addition to a bunch of podcasts, you're going to get right here on the podcast feed, doing a bunch of short videos, video and audio interviews over on the Facebook page. And if you don't know the Facebook page URL it is Brock, take it away.

Facebook.com BG Fitness so go to facebook.com.

BG Fitness if you want extra photos, amazing, entertaining and educational content for you in addition to what we're giving you right here on the podcast.

I'd call it edutainment.

Edutainment. Did you make that up?

No.

Okay. Now, we may not have our usual show notes. I'm gonna warn you.

Yeah.

But because I'm illiterate, Brock is illiterate and dyslexic and listen and Canadian. And frankly, we're going to be so busy interviewing people, we're probably not going to have a lot of time to sit down and make for you show notes. But we will make for you plenty of extremely helpful content and we promise mad value if you just listen in the next few days. Again, we're not going to bore you with the ho hum. I eat Red Bull and Snickers before the race and my top recovery tactic is compression socks.

Nor are we going to bore you with a long intro than we've already done.

No.

This is getting a little bit long in the tooth. So I will be racing and I will be not only racing, but likely out there leading other racers through the course after I've done the race myself. So you're going to need to get used to Brock's Canadian voice and his beautiful shaven ballerina legs.

You betcha.

Which you actually can't see on an audio podcast, but I can vouch that they are quite beautiful. He'll be the voice you're listening to and seeing if you're on Facebook all weekend as we make you a part of what is widely considered to be the super bowl of obstacle course racing and is the crown race to discover who the fittest person on the face of the planet actually is.

Spartan World Championships.

Unless you're a CrossFitter, in which case it would be the CrossFit Games. So get ready of plenty of action. Get ready for plenty of action over the next few days. And if you want to have the most fun with this, stay tuned to all the live content and the conversations over at facebook.com bgfitness and keep a notepad or your own friggin noggin your own show notes. That's right.

Come on, we've been holding your hand for too long. Now it's your turn.

Take notes on everything that we bring your way. We promise we're going to make this a lot of fun for you. So that being said, listen in, because here we go.

He's an expert in human performance and nutrition, voted America's top personal trainer and one of the globe's most influential people in health and fitness. His show provides you with everything you need to optimize physical and mental performance. He is Ben Greenfield.

Power.

Speed, mobility, balance, whatever it is for you, that's the natural movement get out there. When you look at all the studies done, studies that have shown the greatest efficacy.

All the information you need in one place right here, right now on the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast.

Welcome back to the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast. I'm Brock, filling in for Ben because Ben is still sleeping, probably because it's 8:30 in the morning and he's racing tomorrow. But two people who aren't sleeping are sitting across from me at the top table here at the Pod Fest at the Spartan World Championship Races. And I'll get them to introduce themselves in just a moment. But first, I want to say this is sounding a little bit weird and there's some noise in the background and all that, because we are recording live at the. At Lake Tahoe at The Spartan Up Podfest, which is part of the 2017 Spartan Race World Championships. And we're really happy to be here. It's been. Been a really fun weekend and we haven't even been here for a full 24 hours yet. So it's, it's probably promising to be really fun. But you're stuck with me here on the microphone while Ben is off sleeping. But we've got some great guests here and they are some international competitors that have come from really far away. I mean, I came here from Canada, but that's, that's nowhere near as far as these guys have come. So I'm going to get, get them to introduce themselves. And we start on this side. Ladies first.

Yes. Hi, my name is Jasmina Alexandrov and I'm from Serbia, Belgrade. And I'm so happy to be here. And there's so many international athletes. So I'm happy to be your host and to co host with you this podcast and with my friend Manuel. So thanks for having me.

All right.

Hi, guys. I'm Manuel digeronimo from Italy, Florence. I'm one guy from the Reebok Team, Italy. And after a few years, I had the possibility to come here, Lake Tahoe, for this crazy, amazing race. And I'm so excited to join.

It is crazy. It is a crazy. I had a look at the course last night. Some of the obstacles, they are nutty, but. So you guys both had to qualify to be in this race. Where did you do your qualifying race?

I think I got my COIN in title in Austria weeks back. Yes, I got it right as soon.

As I crossed from Serbia. But you went and raced in Austria and now you're in Tahoe.

Yeah, there is no races in Serbia, so the Spartan Races is still kind of far away from my home. But I try and go to as many races as possible to meet awesome people first for hanging out with everybody, the great energy, all the crazies that step on the start line. And so I love Spartan racing. After I retired from professional basketball, this is my new passion. I'm really excited to be a part of the Spartan Global team.

I have to ask before we'll get back to you, but professional basketball in Serbia, is it a big thing?

I actually played here.

Colorado, Boulder. I went to school here for four years to college and then I went played professional overseas. I played for Greek teams, French teams, German teams, Italian teams. So I'm accustomed to move around and meet new people. So this is another level. So when I retired professionally, so I started playing new sports, so participating in ocr running. So I'm excited to be here and represent my country. Although I'm the only one, so. But it's a blast. I'll bring some more people next year for sure.

If you're the only one, you're definitely representing your country.

Thank you. Thank you. I do my best.

Okay, so where did you do your race that you called?

Essentially, I didn't get the coin this year, but I will run the competitive. I'm here also because I'm the manager of Instagram or Sparta Race Europe. So I'm here because I know almost everybody to help the people and help them to.

To share them because it's not that popular. The European people in US and we have many, many amazing athletes. And I think tomorrow the American athletes will have to fight for win the title and.

For the things that I'm here, I will also run the best and I can't wait.

Awesome. I think you're right. Just looking across the street where all the international athletes were all just. I don't know, was that a breakfast that was going on over?

There is a meeting with Joe Desina.

Okay.

We will met the. The founder of Sparta race and after we will have a brunch away with them with these, all these great international athletes.

I just, I looked across the street and generally I feel like I'm a pretty fit person. But I looked across the street and was like, oh, oh, damn, that's some. Those are some badass athletes across the way.

So it's world championship, so all the best athletes I think that represent the sport are here. So I'm really honored to be a part of the entire squad.

I would be too. There's no way I could have qualified for this. I need to step up My game, obviously.

Yeah. It's more of having fun. And the results come, I think, along the way. I think hard work always pays off so well.

Okay, so speaking of hard work, what we like to talk about on this podcast is interesting ways to train. Like, unconventional, different ways to train for any kind of event, not necessarily just for a Spartan. Is there something that you have done in your training that you think is different than other people or outside the box?

Well, I live in a capital in Belgrade, so there is not a lot of nature and a big close by in the city. I live close by some good terrains, and I go around, but there is no altitude. There is no, like, different terrains to practice on. So I actually take the streets of Belgrade as my gym. So I carry Vols buckets and stuff through the.

Through the street capital city.

Yes. So it's pretty awesome to see a tall tattoo girl carrying a bucket with.

Very fancy pants on.

Yes. Most of the time.

She's wearing very fancy tights right now.

Yes. So I try and make my workouts fun as fun. So I carry my volleyball to work, and then I work in my gym and I do some training. And then maybe some other day I go up by the lake and run in different terrains or swim and just switch up my routines. I hate the routine, so I just pick up, practice or call my friends and give me a workout so I can do something different. So I try to switch it up and change my routine so I escape the casual training.

So if you're. If you're going through the streets just to give people an idea, is there a. Have you been to another city? And maybe in America that is similar.

That is similar. Maybe San Francisco or New York, because it's so congested. There's a lot of people going to work and they don't pay attention. And there's like a tall chick carrying a bucket. They're like, what is going on? I'm like, yeah, I'm a Spartan. So when people get involved in this and some media picked up so they recognize me when I run through the streets, I was like, that's a crazy girl. Yeah. So it's fine.

How many people are in Belgrade? Is it a few million?

Yeah.

Yeah. So it really is a. This is a big city.

Yes. It's a big capital, but it's nice communities and we'll try to get people involved in ocr, so. And I like to give a good example for kids not to be embarrassed to run with buckets and stuff. It's fun.

It's funny. That's. That. Is that a problem in Serbia as well? Like in North America, like being a Canadian, being here in America, it's. It. Sometimes exercise is viewed as a punishment.

Exactly. That's the big. I play professional basketball, so I was in training from when I was 10 years old and I had training camps. I went to College. It was 6am running stairs, stadiums, powerlifting and everything. So when I stopped being professional, I started enjoying my workouts. And I see what workouts do to my body, and I get so happy. And I. I transmit that energy to other people. So I try to get people involved. Not to view training as punishment, but something that helps you get better and makes your energy better, positive energy.

You feel better.

Nobody ever complained that they did a bad workout. Everybody's smiling after a workout. They're like, oh, I don't feel good that I did 100 burpees. They're awesome. I completed 100 burpees. So that's an accomplishment. So I try to push people just to make little accomplishments every day.

That's a very good mindset. That's a good way to look at it, especially if you're gonna work out in the mean streets of a big city.

Yes. And I look at it as a video game. So I get in the zone and I, like, move across the people. I see where the bus is. I try to avoid the cars. So it's like a mini game, like an OCR through the city.

That's funny. Ben Greenfield, who This is his podcast, he actually uses those same words about his workouts. He said he likes to work out like it's a video game.

Exactly. I really think I the video game. So. Okay. It's fun.

Cool. Very cool. All right, so your training, you're from another part of the world in different. Different city altogether. But what. What do you do that's different than maybe the rest of the people, you know, that are training for. For Spartan, for sure.

That's the unconventional. Was that just the experience of the race? Few weeks ago, we were in Andorra for European Championship. I was nowhere.

Andorra.

Andorra is close to the Spain. Between Spain and France was the European Championship. It was snowing all the day before the race. We did all the European Championship in the middle of the snow. So was crazy tough about me. I'm from Florence and is a city really rich. So where the kind of people are really rich and there are people that are not, like, love the fitness and they think more about the fashion than how to be fit. So work there and introduce people in this kind of world is like take out for their nature and bring in another set mind another world. Because if you think about the fashion, all these people can get dirty. Bring one model and put in the mud is like the craziest things that you can do it. And what we have that in the city is really high. Living center is a bit hard, but around Florence there is a lot of hills. And this is great because we have a lot of hills and rivers and small lakes where we can train and we can wake up in the early morning and get lost in the middle of the night.

So it's really the opposite of Yasmina. Total opposite, yes.

It's what the goal of me in my city, because I'm personal trainer, is not bring the people, let train in the city is bring the people and train outside. Show there is something outside. In Italy, the people are a bit close about their culture, because the culture is really deep. To stay in their city, bring them out of this mindset is really a big deal. People really grow up, start thinking different. Personally, for example, I'm from central Florence and I met people from everywhere in the world. My wife is from another country. And still people doesn't understand this.

So that's not. That's very unusual where you're from. Wow, that's funny. When I think of Italy, I think that they're much more in touch with their roots and more earthy kind of people. I always think North Americans, we're the ones who are so hung up on how we look and making money and stuff. But you're really saying that's what is happening in Florence?

Yes. The point is about how to look like things, about the culture. That is one country where the fashion is really big. We talk about the big brands and so you have to look like in one way. So be a Spartans, become like be an hero like this. Because you are totally the opposite. The people are really, really curious. And this sport is growing up really fast in my country.

So what we need to do is make Spartan or some sort of sport really fashionable and then they'll adopt it. If you're looking really good when you're doing it, would that be helpful? Like, I'm joking a little bit, but.

It'S just bring the people out of how they think normally. Because the people obviously like everyone that think that the right way to think is how we think. But sometimes we have to go outside for. Then how is the thing out of the comfort zones?

Yeah, that's interesting. We've sort of In. In both of your stories, we've uncovered that there's some obstacles for your societies or for your culture to be getting over in order to be not necessarily doing Spartan races, but just being fit and being out there.

It's a great thing now because it's modern to be fit, which is awesome. So you can see a lot of celebrities in states and in Europe being fit and trying to go to a gym. Maybe not.

I was about to say, maybe it's healthy, but it's how you influence the young ones. So they already see they are in the gym, so they're gonna ask about it, and it's just stepping out of the comfort zones. I try to coach because I own a gym in Serbia. I try to coach people that can represent me when they go outside and talk about workouts and how do I switch up their routines, how I make them step out of their comfort zone and push their limits. So we try to influence, I think, both Manu and me in their own countries, to change people opinions about either racing and sports and doing all the little extra things that makes you grow as a person, not just as an athlete, but just pushing your limits is going to make you better person in the daily life, to exceed more, to influence more people. So being a Spartan represents all the little changes you have to make in your daily life, in your daily routine, to bring something else to the community that you live in. I think the same in Italy because he's representing Italy here. He's different. We clicked three years ago. We met, so we stay in touch. And we have totally different cultures, but we have the same passion for fitness, for sport, for influencing people, for making a global community. And to change each other is like a butterfly effect. You know, small changes make a big changes, maybe further away.

That's.

You said that very well. I don't even know what I can say beyond that.

What is really great about Europe, that me that I'm traveling a lot around Europe for the race now. We are a lot of country, a lot of different people every time. We are like 3, 4, 15 kind of culture in the same table. I'm here with one person from the other part of the culture, really different than me. We split the same place, the room. I'm here with people from all the countries, and every time is a real experience for myself. For learning new things, for learning human things, how to think, how to be like, go outside from the mindset, be more open, learn that the thing can work also in different way. This is. Things in Europe is happening Be with people from different culture is really wholesome. It's really something that changed me a lot and I think will change a lot the mindset of people also because it's a little bit cheaper in Europe travel than usa and if you go just, I'm Italian and my wife is Spanish. We are just really different. And this make you think different way. So is another point that make you think different. I never thought to put in the middle of the mud, the water, do crazy things, wake up at four in the morning for training and now for me it's totally normal.

Yeah. Yeah. So I guess Spartan has somehow opened our minds as much as it's made us, made us more fit and has brought cultures together. This is amazing.

As I don't want to repeat myself, but as a professional athlete, I'm used to. I'm from a small city in Serbia. I grew up in a small city. So playing with that ball bring me so many opportunities in my life. I studied school here, I traveled the world, I've been around the world. So I learned so many things that I continued doing when I got older and retired. So I really appreciate all the opportunities that I get. So it's really nice. Like, it's nice. It's a nice feeling when you come and meet all the people and feel the energy. I'm all about the energy.

Yeah. Well, and the energy so far. I mean, it's. It's not even 9am the energy is through the roof.

Exactly, exactly. I see all the people smiling. You never see a, like, you know, everybody's happy to be here.

I actually got thanked earlier for being so cheerful.

Exactly, exactly.

I know how awesome I gonna be.

Yeah, exactly. You're here.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's a beautiful day. The sun rising over the beautiful mountains and there's all kinds of fit people around. This is, this is amazing.

And we have all. We're all here for the same great reason.

All right, well, I'm gonna be cheering for both of you tomorrow.

Thank you.

And thank you so much for coming on the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast.

Thank you for having us talking about cheering.

Yeah, no worries. And I just have to say thanks again to our Spartan host, Joe decenna for having us all here. And of course, the Spartan up podcast for setting up this great weekend here at the 2017 Spartan World Championships.

Perfect. Thank you.

Bye.

You've been listening to the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast.

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