Pushing the Limits

Today I had the privilege of sitting down and chatting to Letchen du Plessis who has just recently qualified for the CrossFit Games as an Adaptive Athlete after coming 1st Worldwide in the Neuromuscular Division.

After obtaining a Netball scholarship at North West University Potchefstroom, Letchen had her eyes set on pursuing Netball as a further career. However, 3 months into University Netball, Letchen suffered an injury in which she dislocated her hip and had to undergo 3 hip operations within the year. She ended up with Avascular Necrosis of the hip joint and was eventually diagnosed with Dystonia and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome; a journey that has challenged her to learn to walk again and compete again as an athlete.

What I enjoyed most about this episode was purely Letchen's energy and mindset; so positive, so optimistic, and so ready to take on new challenges as her own and thrive. She believes that anyone can achieve anything if they set their mind to it, stay open to opportunities, and always finish things.

If you are looking for some motivation for your day, then be sure to listen to this episode!

On this episode of PTL I speak to a very good friend of mine, Monique, who has constantly inspired me to further explore my spirituality when it comes to what I do, how I think, and how I eat. 

Nowadays, the practice of mindfulness is no longer trapped within the box of Buddhism, as we see more and more ambitious and successful people incorporate this practice into their lifestyles; from athletes to entrepreneurs to clinical psychological treatments, this way of interpreting the world around us and ourselves has proved to be highly beneficial.

Monique is the quintessential mindfulness guru; having a deep knowledge and understanding of what it means to be spiritual, how to practice spirituality, and how to engage and connect with ourselves and with the world around us.

Join us as we explore the concepts of spirituality, the ways in which one can practice mindfulness, and the effects of wholesome foods on us as spiritual beings. 

"Your mind is so powerful. If you push hard, you can overcome those limits set on you by other people"- Victor Buitendag.

Today I speak to adaptive athlete and CrossFit coach Victor Buitendag.

Victor became a quadriplegic after experiencing a motor vehicle accident in the military 28-years-ago. While in rehabilitation he asked a nurse to give him a dumbbell and that was the first workout he ever did as an adaptive athlete.

Victor went on to become an international South African wheelchair rugby player and is currently training as a CrossFit athlete and adaptive CrossFit coach.

In this amazing episode, Victor talks about the power of gratitude and talks us through his mindset of embracing our lives and our experiences and using them to inspire those around us. He talks about the importance of not entertaining fear when it comes to living, and how our expereinces and our circumstances do not dictate who we are.

He also sheds light on the challenges experienced by disabled people in South Africa, and shares with us his goals to help create and inspire a platform where adaptive athletes can train and compete within South Africa.

An amazing journey and an inspiring person, I am so grateful to have Victor share his story with us. I hope you find inspiration in his words just as much as I did.

In this episode I talk to Justin Maguire, the head of Autonomic Coaching; a company that uses biochemistry, biomechanics and psychology to help improve health and wellness, helping people who experiencing chronic exhaustion, digestive problems, and those who haven’t quite been able to reach their true and deserving potential. 

Justin has studied nutrition, biochemistry and physiology since 2005 and believes in creating the opportunity for everyone to have access to tools that can improve their health and well-being. 

During this episode we talk about his experiences using the psychological techniques and methods of Autonomic Coaching to help him through his life's challenges. We touch on the topic of energy and the importance of being kind to yourself in improving both psychical and mental health, as well as the topic of sleep and the biochemical effects that having poor quality sleep can impose.

Join me as we explore the human body from the inside-out; and as we learn more about how we can achieve our true potential purely on what we think, what we eat and how we behave.

Hello to all my amazing listeners and welcome to Season 3!

This season promises to introduce you all to an amazing group of inspirational people who we will all get to know more about and learn from as the weeks go on!

Today we are talking to Lil Kimble; a South African Powerlifter who is currently ranked 2nd world-wide in the 52kg weight category.

Amongst all of her achievements, which I will list below, Lil is also talks to us about her journey of drug addiction, the need to be patient when competing and the importance of always finding a silver lining.

I hope you all enjoy this episode and learn something new from Lil's journey; something which I definitely did!

Lil Kimble:

1. #2 worldwide at 52kg

2. 4 x GPC World Champion

3. 5 x South African Champion

4. 19 x GPC world record holder

5. 6 x GPC European record holder

6. 44 x GPC South African record holder

We have made it! The final episode of Season 2! I hope you have all enjoyed this journey as much as I have. Throughout these 2 seasons we have had the privilege of meeting and getting to know amazing people who push their limits in everything that they do; and who have shared with us some ways in which we can push our limits within our own lives.

For our season finale we are chatting to Dylan Sage. Dylan is a professional rugby player who is currently playing in France and has a history of going to the Olympics with the South African Sevens Rugby team as well as playing for the Blue Bulls in Super Rugby.

We delved into what it takes, mentally, to play professional rugby as well as the importance of developing mental toughness. We touch on the importance of reflection; on how crucial it is to  be able to make mistakes and learn quickly from them. We also chatted a bit about the food in France, because there is no real conversation unless it involves food.

So sit back, plug in those ear phones and enjoy listening to this podcast of mental toughness, passion and travel!

It's Thursday which means a brand new episode from Pushing The Limits! It's the 2nd last one of Season 2, I can't believe how quickly it's going! But I hope you've all been enjoying this journey as much as I have! 

Today I had the privilege of speaking to the lovely Denae Brown; CrossFit Games athlete and performance coach.

We spoke about the importance of keeling a balanced mindset when it comes to training and competing and knowing when to be hard on yourself and when to practice kindness. We also touched a bit on Denae's past experience with Domestic Violence and how her awareness of her self-worth was an important aspect of her choosing a better path for herself in her life.

Chatting to Denae was amazing as she showed so many signs of strength, but was probably one of the kindest and sweetest people I had ever spoken to. It's amazing how true strength lies in the act of kindness and empathy!

Today we chat to EFC MMA fighter Dansheel Moodley. It was actually our second time recording an episode together! Due to lockdown everything's been done over the laptop and we all know technology; one day it hates you, another day it hates you a little less!

However, we had some great discussions about the importance of studying as an athlete as well as how the skills of time management can actually aid in your training. We also touch on the ideas of meditation; how it improves focus in training and competing as well as in daily life. One of the ideas I enjoyed the most from Dansheel was the idea of visualising your future-self; an amazing concept that truly can hold so much power!

If you are interested in the mental aspect of MMA and the positive benefits of meditation and mindfulness, then this episode is for you!

What are you waiting for? Throw those earphones in and let's get deep into the world of MMA...

'It's not useful to think about assumptions or beliefs as right or wrong. It's more useful to think of them as helpful or harmful. Get rid of the harmful ones and keep the helpful ones' - Dr Alan Barnard

Welcome back to another episode of Pushing the Limits!

Today I had the privilege of sitting down and chatting to Dr Alan Barnard; one of the world's leading Decision Scientists and Theory of Contraints experts in the world. He is the CEO of Goldratt Research Labs and has worked for over 20 years with his mentor, Dr Eli Goldratt, the creator of Theory and Constraints and best-selling author of The Goal.

On this episode we learn where Dr Alan's journey of self-development and success began; having conversations with his grandfather on the importance of reading books and studying successful people. We also explore the importance of decision-making, the significance that decision-making has on life, different leadership styles and the evolutionary benefit of vulnerability and chaos.

If you are interested in hearing more about Dr Alan's experiences with Richard Branson on Necker Island and interviewing people like Dr Phil, then make sure to press play and potentially make a life-changing DECISION!

Hello to all my amazing listeners!

I thoroughly hope that you all enjoyed episode 1 and the return of PTL!

On this episode I talk to the very talented and very down to earth Namibian Red Bull BMX Rider Eric Garbers.

The extreme sport of riding really does require absolute belief and confidence in your abilities to stay in control of your movement and safely and successfully perform your tricks. Its amazing how the techniques used to execute this sport (techniques such as visualisation, which we talk about more in the episode) are also techniques that are so crucial when wanting to perform well in any sphere of life; business, arts, public speaking etc. 

The need for passion in doing what you are doing is also a critical point in finding success and joy in your journey. No matter what you do, if you are embarking on something that is challenging, it is imperative that you are doing something that you ENJOY. This will enable you to get through those tough and rough patches and it will make the completion of those challenges some of the sweetest parts of the journey.

I really enjoyed chatting to Eric; this conversation was really relaxed and it was awesome to learn more about a sport that I had almost zero knowledge on to begin with!

I hope you all enjoy listening to Eric speak more about BMX and the intricacies it has to be great and have fun!

AND WE'RE BACK! 

Season 2 of Pushing the Limits is BACK and with an absolutely amazing group of guests! 

What you can look forward to in this season:

1. Paralympic athletes who talk about the importance of never giving up.

2. Expert decision makers who tell us their stories of their friendships with people like Richard Branson and share insights on how to make decisions for the best possible outcomes.

3. MMA fighters who share their insight on the importance of hard work and dedication.

4. Red Bull BMX riders who take us through the importance of visualisation and confidence.

And so much more! 

In today's episode I speak to Olympic Weightlifter and Business owner Vuyani Mashego. We talk about how he handled the cancelation of his Olympic qualifying events, the importance of not putting yourself in a box and limiting what you think you can do AND we touch on some philosophy for all those Plato lovers out there.

Welcome back everyone! I'm excited to go on this journey with you all again! May we all enjoy hearing these incredible stories from these incredible people and may we all learn a little bit more on how WE can push our limits every single day! 

And just like that, we reach the end of Season 1!

What an incredible journey this has been! I have had the opportunity to speak to and learn from amazing people and what makes it even greater is that I have been able to share that with all of you guys!

But wait, we are not done yet.

For our season finale I speak to CrossFit Games Athlete and Coach Tia Wright. This episode was so much fun to record! I learnt a lot about the importance of flexibility and adaptability in everyday life and in approaching your journey. We talked all things personalities, goal setting and the importance of positivity and having a good belief system. We also touched a bit on social media and the influx of information that can overwhelm people if not used correctly. 

Another thing I also learned, through practical application in the podcast, was the term "power washing" haha!

The main point I took away from this podcast was the importance of positivity, and always keeping a positive mindset even when you have negative lulls.

Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who helped create this podcast, and to everyone who tuned in and to listen.

I definitely learned a lot through this journey and I hope that you all did too!

Enjoy this season finale, and I will see you all soon for Season 2!

Hello listeners!

For today's episode I sat down with Level 3 CrossFit coach Dylan Fyfe. He has been my CrossFit coach for the past year and besides learning a lot from him in my sport and from a competitive standpoint, I have also learned a lot from him on other topics relating to pursuing ultimate potential.

I decided to have Dylan on the podcast because, honestly, we have chats like this all the time at training. I like to view it as a part of my mental training; an opportunity for me to learn more things that I can apply to my training and my competitions. 

Dylan has a lot to offer on both how to be a good coach and a good leader and how to optimise performance as an athlete. He is one of the most highly qualified CrossFit coaches in South Africa having attained certifications from all over the world, from Germany to America to Ireland, and has also spent time with the likes of Ben Bergeron and Chris Hinshaw.

Join me on today's episode to learn more about how to push your limits as a coach and leader, and perhaps, how to become a better athlete!

Hello listeners!

I hope that everyone is taking full control of what they can during this lockdown!

On today's episode I speak to the very accomplished and well-rounded athlete Mona Pretorious. 

Mona is an Olympic Weightlifter who came 3rd at the Commonwealth Games, obtained the title of African Champion after a serious ligament injury, a CrossFit Games athlete and a 6x Karate World Champion. 

We talk a lot about her mindset around the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, how her training has changed because of that, how to keep a positive mindset throughout lockdown and how this situation has really proved itself to be the ultimate test of athletes mental toughness. 

The main point of conversation that truly stuck with me after this conversation was the importance of being flexible in a time like this; being flexible with your routine (while still keeping a routine) and being flexible with your goals. 

Join us through this journey of positivity, injury, mentality, setbacks, toughness and belief! 

Hello podcast listeners!

Today we have a very special episode on Pushing the Limits! 

This podcast is about learning from as many exceptional people as possible, regardless of their profession. I believe that it is important to garner inspiration from a wide range of people. It expands your learning and broadens your mind.

Today we are introduced to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company; Stephen Goodburn.

We explore the main points of reaching success; courage, continuous learning and curiosity; and talk about different leadership styles and his experience with John Eales, an ex-Australian rugby captain. We also delve into the importance of mindset when setting high goals and working towards reaching them, the importance of taking risks and the importance of making mistakes.

This was a podcast that took me completely out of my comfort zone (and into a corporate environment) and I hope that everyone learns a great deal from this highly-experienced businessman!

In this episode of Pushing the Limits I speak to Red Bull featured athlete; Evan Margetts. He is one of South Africa's top rock climbers, attaining a 4th in Lead, a 5th in Boulder and a 1st Combined placement in South Africa.

Being a pioneer of rock climbing in South Africa, Evan takes me back to when he first started this incredible sport. He shares insight on visualisation methods, training methods and the need to eliminate fear in order to succeed. We also talk about his experience with Alex Honnold, the notorious free solo climber who starred in the Academy Award winning documentary Free Solo.

Leave your fears on the ground and join me in my illustrious climb up the unforgiving mountains of the life of a rock climber!

Welcome to Pushing the Limits! 

Our very first episode of this journey begins with CrossFit Games athlete, Khan Porter. Not only is Khan a well-known athlete in the CrossFit community, having competed at the Games 6 times, but he is also well-known for being outspoken and supportive of mental health. In this episode we delve into topics relating to the mind; what Khan has been doing during quarantine to maximise the use of his time for both training and his mental well-being.

I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Khan; it felt like catching up with an old friend! He gave me a lot of insight into the importance of mental care and maintenance, and highlighted possibly the most important aspect I took away from this conversation; the importance of PLAY.

If you are interested in psychology, this episode is for you!