Ultra Running, Extreme Endurance Challenges & Addiction Recovery - Chris Taylor

The Music Teacher Who Taught Special Forces Memory Techniques To The Marines | Alexei Janssen

For 17 Years Alexei Janssen was a Lead Learning & Performance Coach at The Royal Marines, Royal Navy and Special Forces. He accidentally fell into the role and ultimately helped to transform the way that Royal Marine recruits are taught. Alexei was known as the ‘nod whisperer’ for his ability to psychologically coach any recruit to success. In this interview Alexei explains how to better understand fear, different ways of learning, Special Forces Selection memory techniques, and much more. We also spoke about his current work - helping high achievers to recover from long-term dysregulation and stress, and to find new purpose.

The Mindset That Took Me From Rock Bottom To 10 Ironmans In 10 Days - Fergus Crawley

Fergus Crawley is an (extreme!) hybrid athlete who survived the darkest depths of depression 10 years ago and recently completed 10 Ironmans in 10 days to commemorate his journey since. In this interview Fergus speaks very openly about his battle with mental health, the important life lessons he learnt coming out of that experience, some of the huge fitness challenges he has done since, the origin and definitions of hybrid training, and how to properly plan your hybrid training. If you enjoy this episode, I would hugely appreciate if you could follow and leave a rating. Thank you.

Injury Recovery & The Optimism Scale - Top Sports Psychologist Chris Bodman

Leading Sports & Performance Psychologist Chris Bodman shares elite athlete mental tools for handling injury recovery, how ‘realistic optimism’ could be your superpower, building purposeful reflection into your routine, and his ‘react or respond’ framework for handling life's setbacks. Chris also tells the story of his time helping my previous guest, former Team GB cyclist Vic Williamson, recover from her near-death accident in 2016. The full interview with Vic is available here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/24IsMUCRzmBXY2uXZF4oz0?si=68XdN03rQoSAYBDaBHZXQw

Harry Lightfoot - The Mantras That Got Us To The CrossFit Games

CrossFit Games athlete Harry Lightfoot recounts nail-biting stories from elite competition on his rise to the top of the sport. We also talk about his coaching team’s performance mantras, figuring out his optimal ‘arousal’ state for competing, and how he’s feeling in the build up to this year's Semi Finals at the French Throwdown. In this video: * Building a coaching relationship around data, brutal honesty…and bromance! * The arousal curve and finding his optimal competition state * Performing under pressure and how being over-stimulated has led Harry to execution errors * Reminiscing on wild moments in competition * Hoping to qualify for the CrossFit Games at this year’s French Throwdown! About Harry Lightfoot:Harry Lightfoot is a 2x CrossFit Games athlete. He recently secured sponsorships with Adidas and Red Bull. He competes at the elite level and works closely with coach Mike Allen and the team at AOD Fitness. About The Opponents Podcast: Iona Roberts interviews elite athletes and high performers who share their extraordinary stories and mindset lessons - from the setbacks, mental toughness, resilience and breakthroughs that shaped who they are. We go deep into athlete mindset, sports psychology and the human stories behind elite sport and high performance. If training seriously is part of who you are, this show is for you.

Ultra Running, Extreme Endurance Challenges & Addiction Recovery - Chris Taylor

Running coach Chris Taylor is an ex-Royal Marine and the man who organises many of the extreme endurance challenges and world record attempts you may have seen including Spencer Matthews' 30 desert marathons in 30 days and Imo Boddy's 3 Peaks challenge. But before any of that, Chris was battling addiction and depression, planning his training around his drug use, and nearly didn't make it out the other side. If you enjoy this interview and would like to support the show, you can do so by leaving your feedback in the comments, and leaving a rating. Thank you!