MMB Performance Podcast

Join me as I sit down with OCR veteran Hunter Holbrook to unpack his incredible 10-year evolution in endurance sports. From struggling to complete 30 miles at his first World's Toughest Mudder to conquering 100 miles in 2024, Hunter’s journey is a testament to grit, resilience, and the power of mindset.

We dive into:

The ups and downs of his progression: 30 ➡️ 50 ➡️ 75 miles and the setbacks in between.

Overcoming years of DNFs and developing the mental strength to match his physical ability.

Bouncing back from a devastating Achilles injury that derailed his 2023 goal.

The role of his father as a constant supporter in the pit through every race.

The training, mindset, and purpose it takes to excel in OCR and endurance sports.

Hunter’s story is a powerful reminder that the journey is often more meaningful than the destination. Whether you're an athlete, an OCR enthusiast, or simply chasing your own goals, this episode is packed with inspiration.

🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

I had an absolute blast chatting with Christian Brown Johnson about his incredible performance at this year’s World’s Toughest Mudder, where he crushed 105 miles and claimed 3rd place!

We dive into his experience, our thoughts on the event, what the future holds for Tough Mudder, and the goals we’re chasing next.

Whether you're into OCR, endurance racing, or just love hearing stories of grit and determination, this episode is for you!

This is my reflection and recap of Worlds Toughest Mudder 2024. I discuss my what Worlds Toughest Mudder is, my goals, my race experience, things I liked, things I didn't like, and my plans moving forward. Hope you enjoy!

After being thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel in a drunken haze, jeopardizing his career and relationships, Nick Klingensmith had to make a change. A 4-time cancer survivor, type-1 diabetic, recovering alcoholic with 4 herniated discs, nerve damage and sleep apnea, he defies it all when he finds Obstacle Course Racing. 

Refusing to accept his circumstances, he finishes numerous obstacle races, the Boston and Chicago Marathons, and the Spartan Ultra, culminating in 127 miles of endurance racing in 6 weeks. 

This isn’t just a story about a drunk, diabetic cancer patient who overcomes adversity to become a mediocre, middle-aged athlete. His story focuses less on physical achievements and more on his mental and spiritual approach to overcoming life’s challenges. 

Nick is a raw and passionate storyteller who holds nothing back when revealing who he used to be and the person he is now. The circumstances he faces show others that they are not alone, and that they too can defy their limitations.

If you were inspired by this story, Add his book called "Through The Fire" on Amazon. You won't regret it.

In this episode of the MMB Performance Podcast, I sit down with Zac Obray, a dedicated athlete, coach, and entrepreneur from West Jordan, Utah. Zac has been married to his wife, Zadie, for three years, and since 2022, he has fiercely competed in ultra-obstacle course races (OCR).

With a diverse background, Zac is a fitness trainer at Orangetheory, coaches wrestling at West Jordan High School, and runs his own window cleaning business. Now, he’s setting his sights on World's Toughest Mudder as one of the elite athletes, bringing an unstoppable mindset and ambition to win. Join us as we dive into Zac’s journey, training, and the grit that fuels his goals for the ultimate OCR challenge.

Unlock your full potential with the power of self-talk! In this episode of the MMB Performance Podcast, we dive into how mastering your inner voice can supercharge your performance in fitness and life. Discover the science behind positive self-talk, how to shift your mindset, and practical tips you can use to push through challenges and crush your goals.

Tune in and learn how to take control of your thoughts to reach peak performance!

Meet Joe Rucco, a 33-year-old from Gansevoort, NY, who’s living proof that grit and determination can turn a passion into greatness. Married to his incredible wife Lindsay, and proud dad to their nearly 2-year-old son Anthony, Joe’s story is one of transformation. With a degree in Biomedical Engineering from WPI and a life spent bouncing around the Northeast, Joe started doing obstacle course racing (OCR) back in 2012 — but it was just for fun…until 2018.

Everything changed when he set his sights higher, pushing himself to become a serious competitor. In 2023, Joe entered his first World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM) and came away with a staggering achievement: 100 miles, earning 3rd place overall, and securing the coveted orange jacket. Now, he’s gearing up to return in 2024, with his eyes on going 2-for-2 at WTM and continuing his reign at the top.

In this episode, we’ll dive into Joe’s path from OCR hobbyist to elite contender, the mindset that got him through the brutal 24-hour race, and how he’s preparing for another shot at WTM glory. Tune in to hear how Joe took on his toughest challenge yet and is coming back for more!

In 2019, Scotty completed World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM) with 60 miles and knew he wanted to return someday with a goal of reaching 100 miles. He didn’t compete in WTM in 2021 or 2022 due to having two young kids, but in 2023, he decided it was time for a comeback. After watching DJ Fox win in 2022, Scotty heard a podcast mentioning DJ’s coaching services and brought on the world champ as his coach.

Over the past two years, Scotty has grown tremendously as both an athlete and a person.In 2023, Scotty had a successful year of ultra running, going into WTM aiming for 100 miles and coming away with 80 miles. The hard work he put in, along with meeting Christian Brown Johnson, opened up the opportunity to compete with them in Saudi Arabia earlier in the year.2024 has been a strong year of training for Scotty.

While he almost considered pulling out of WTM, the support of his family and DJ Fox agreeing to crew for him kept him all-in for the past four months. With massive training volume behind him, Scotty is going after that 100 miles and the coveted orange jacket.

This was an awesome podcast with Christian Brown Johnson. For those that don't know Christian He has competed in 150+ races that include Worlds Toughest Mudder, Tough Mudders, Ironman, Ultras, Spartan, Triathlons and many more. He is a BEAST!

In this episode we discuss our excitement and hype being 44 days out from Worlds Toughest Mudder. We also about about the mindset training and racing WTM. We discuss purpose, mental toughness, self belief, training, and so much more! This is a long one so lock in!

Chase Discomfort

Brant and I discuss the excitement for this upcoming 2024 Worlds Toughest Mudder in Florida November 9th, our training, mental approach, setbacks, balancing life with training and so much more!!

For those who didn't listen to our first podcast last year together, Brant is an awesome guy and great father of 3, Hailey, Jackson, Leo. He has been coaching people for 15 years and focuses his energy and time into training athletes at all levels for triathlons. Brant competed as a division 1 pole-vaulter at the University of Indiana and then carried that competitive spirit into endurance sports such as Triathaons, Ironmans, Spartan Races, and Worlds Toughest Mudder.

If you haven't yet, give our first podcast a listen!

Chase Discomfort!

I was lucky enough to have Billy Richards on the podcast today. I can honestly say that I haven't had anyone on quite like him. The amount of people he has impacted and the amount he has accomplished in 42 years of life is truly inspiring.

Billy is a veteran of the armed forces, who served 4 years with the Marines in the Infantry, and 3 years in the Army as a Paratrooper. He is currently a personal trainer working at Fitlife East Islip on Long Island. Billy is a Certified as a Master Trainer through ISSA and NCSF, along with having over 60 other fitness certifications. He currently runs races and other fitness events with the American Flag, having carried it at every event since 2015, to honor the military, law enforcement and first responders. Bill has also set a record for most Spartan Trifectas by a male athlete with 32 in 2023 finishing a total of 158 events that year with a bad hip.

Athletic Accomplishments

-792 Fitness events-currently at 623 with the American Flag

-45 100 mile Ultramarathon finishes, all carrying the American Flag the entire distance. 37 of those 100 milers were finished in a 12 month period. Only 4 people in the world have ever done that.

-Winner of 3 100 mile races(carrying the American Flag)-5x World's Toughest Mudder Contender-Winner of the 2014 Team Death Race

-Open Heat winner of the 2018 Lake Tahoe Spartan Ultra and Dallas Spartan Ultra(carrying the American Flag for both)

-winner of the 2013 Winter Throwdown CrossFit competition

-won his division in Powerlifting Meet in 2016

-first to finish the Savage 7 50k(31 miles) series, by doing 7 50ks in 7 consecutive days-2017

- did the Texas Quad (4 marathons in 4 days) while wearing a 45 pound pack filled with canned goods and carrying the American Flag to raise money for struggling veterans.

-2016 - did a "Thank the Police Tour" running at 39 precincts around the country, carrying the American Flag, delivering the American Flag, a handwritten Thank you card, and handwritten list of donors to the police to let them know the community still supports them.

-2017 - ran 8 Ultramarathons and a Marathon in 9 consecutive days carrying the American Flag to help out struggling veterans.

-2018 - 12 Spartan Trifectas, finished the Savage 7 50k series(7 50ks in 7 days)-

-2019 - finished 35 100 mile races(37 were from November 2018 to November 2019)

-2022 - 16 Trifectas in 3 countries-2023

- 32 Trifectas(most ever by a male athlete) in 17 different countries-2024

- finished 11 Marathons in 11 States in 11 days raising money for Operation Vest who provides funding for counseling services for veterans, to help end the Veteran Suicide epidemic.

This has been my longest podcast to date which ended up being about 1:40 and this was only part 1! Look for part 2 next week where we dive into how racing with the USA flag started and why he does it to the Thank You Police tour.

In this podcast Christian and I discuss his full experience racing Tough Mudder Infinity in Saudi Arabia in the largest prize pool in OCR history. We also discuss some changing in Tough Mudder, goals, and future races to come!

Brant Bahler is an amazing father and human that I met at Worlds Toughest Mudder 2023. Brant completed 90 miles, finishing 7th overall in a field of 700+ racers and to top it off, this was his first Worlds Toughest Mudder race. Brant competed in sports growing up and was a D1 pole-vaulter at the University of Indiana. This led him to challenge himself in triathlons, Ironman's, Spartan races that include Beasts and Ultras and finally, Worlds Toughest Mudder. I connected to Brant because of his positive and determined mindset and his story of what he faced in the past year. In 2023, Brant and his family lost several life long pets and his wife of 15 years, Karen after an 8 year battle with Breast Cancer….yet he continued to push himself mentally and physically to be an amazing father of his 3 kids, Hailey 18, Jackson 11, Leo 9, and continued to crush his goal of competing in Worlds Toughest Mudder. I highly recommend listening to this episode and hearing from someone that has had everything throw at him and yet continues to push forward with a positive outlook on life.

It was great catching up with my boy Nick Hadge and having him back on the podcast. If you enjoy this one, give our first one a listen! For those of you who dont know, Nick was the former Junior World Strongest Man and has been competing in Strongman all around the world. He is one of the most positive and genuine people I have ever met. I’ll never forget back in 2016 when we worked together at Equinox. I was competing for my Bodybuilding Pro Card while Nick was training for Junior World Strongest Man which we both ended up winning. We have had some great times over the years and its always amazing to catch up with him.  In this podcast Nick and I disucss our goals for this year, life, and as always talk about the important of having a positive mindset. We also talk about breifly about idenity in training and coaching and how to find balance in your life.  Enjoy!

Jordan Syatt is an online fitness and nutrition coach that has helped 1000's of people over the past 10 plus years of coaching. He is the founder of Syatt Fitness, The Inner Circle, and co-authered the book EAT IT. He is an amazing human and such a genuine guy and oh ya, he has deadlifted 4x his bodyweight and set multiple records at his bodyweight. He over the past few years has fell in love with the sport of jujitsu and is currently a blue belt. He and his wife are also new parents of a beautiful baby girl. I am very grateful to have him on and exited for you all to get to know him and learn a few things over this interview!

This episode is all about self belief. Without it, you have no shot of achieving what you want out of your life.

All of us go through times of self doubt and question ourselves. This is why it’s so important to do the little things every day that help keep you in a good headspace and also why it’s so important to surround yourself with the right people.

Chase Discomfort means too push yourself to be uncomfortable. This is the only way to grow comes from. In this episode I discuss the importance of pushing yourself to be uncomfortable every day! This can come from working out, waking up earlier, changing your nutrition, reading a book and in so many more ways. It's all about doing the little things each day that in most cases you don't want to do.

Another amazing podcast with my boy Isaiah Hoyt . We covered so many great topics today from posting content on social, creating a growth mindset, building discipline, motivation, taking control of your life and finally perspective! Give this a listen! You will not regret it!

I had a blast catching up with my friend Matt Ferrara yesterday. He is someone that I’ve know for about 7 years. Matt is a great coach and even a better person that is in the fitness industry for the right reasons. He puts his clients first and really wants to make an impact in people’s lives. He is a Strength & Conditioning coach with a Bachelors in Exercise Science. He also is a massive dog lover. How can you not like the guy! With all that being said, I really think you will enjoy this interview and learn something along the way.

What’s going on everyone! So, I switched it up for this interview and I told my story! It was a blast honestly to just reflect and talk about my journey and how it got me to where I am today.

I talk about how I got started into fitness and why it changed my life. I talk about my journey through school and how I balanced competing in bodybuilding. This leads me to graduating and moving to Boston which was a wild ride. From biking everywhere and working crazy hours and finally winning my pro card. I discuss my jobs out in Boston and what leads me back to Connecticut and where I am today. 

It has been a wild ride with lots of challenges but the one thing that I truly believe is that my positivity and willingness to always be better has allowed me to keep moving forward and chase down my dreams.

I want to thank my friend Adam Salvatore for coming on the show! Like many of my guests I meant Adam at Springfield College. I instantly connected with Adam because of his incredible energy. He is one of those guys that your instantly drawn to. Adam and I also bonded in the weight room because of our passion for strength and conditioning.   Adam graduated from Springfield College and is now working as a Strength Coach and Exercise Specialist at Marathon Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine. He works with people of all ages and has the goal to bring the best out of everyone he works with. If you are looking for a coach that truly puts other first and is the of the most positive people I know, check Adam out!  

You can find Adam on..  

Facebook: Adam Salvatore 

Instagram: adam_swolevatore 

Instagram Coaching page: swolevatore_strength

It was so nice catching up with Mike. Mike and I went to school at Springfield College at the same time and connected over weightlifting. Hes competed or trained in so many different ways. From power lifting, strongman, crossfit, jujitsu and the list goes on. He then spent time at Beth Israel Hospital and a Physiologist which he got to help all kinds of people and ages. From the day I met him. I could tell he was a very driven person that is always trying to get better each day. Today Mike is an Army Performance Coach where he truly gets to really put his passion to the test when it comes to impacting others peoples lives not only physically but mentally. He is someone that truly believes in being kind and puts everyone first. This is an amazing listen that really digs deep on the impact of your mindset and how much you are capable of it you allow yourself to tap into your true potential.