Joe De Sena On How To Train Like A Spartan
The Mindvalley Podcast
Mindvalley
4.5 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 24 December 2018
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's more than a race; it's a lifestyle.
In this interview, we hear from founder of the world’s best obstacle race, Joe de Sena. This innovative, one-of-a-kind adventure race is more than a test of physical ability - a Spartan race represents the discipline, commitment and self-awareness that is needed to overcome any obstacle in life.
Vishen and Joe discuss how the epic race, like life, is a mental game. It's a test to push past the point of suffering where most people give up, to push our body past any preconceived notions of what we think it's capable of.
Joe expands on other principles of the Spartan Way, including passion, prioritization, courage and integrity, and explains how they are the pillars we need to master to surmount adversity.
He shares tried-and-true fitness tips, his personal exercise regime and the types of training programs required to successfully complete the different levels of races. He proves how the average person can get ready for a Spartan race in as little as 30 days.
“I saw the transformations taking place in the people that were doing the races. And I know how good I felt. I wanted to just be around that energy and that lifestyle. And I just wouldn’t quit.”
Are you ready to hear from the man who did 14 Ironman events in one year? Don't miss this one!
In this episode you'll discover:
- The Best Free Workout that we can Start Today
- How Joe lost Half a Million Dollars (and a person!) in his First Adventure Race
- Why Joe carries a 40lb Kettlebell with him Wherever He Goes
- How an Average Person can Get Started Training
- Why Mobility and Stability Exercises are Critical
- The 21 Key Body Weight Exercises Joe uses to Stay Ready
- The #1 Exercise Joe did to Take his Fitness to the Next Level
- The Magic Bullet we need to Supercharge Our Morning (not the blender!)
- The 4 Types of Spartan Races
- Why Yoga is Critical for Injury Prevention
- The Only Thing that Might Stop You from Racing
- How to find your True North (and why it matters)
- The Correlation between Spartan Racers and Life Improvements (measurable examples)
- Why a Vegan Diet is Key for Longevity
“If your mind wants you to get to that finish line, you’re going to get to that finish line.”
Are you ready to uplevel not only your physical performance, but every aspect of your life? Don't miss hearing from the man who designed the world's most challenging obstacle race to get started!
~
Bonus:
- Subscribe to Mindvalley Membership to discover 30+ Mindvalley Quests, watch our podcast sessions live, interact with the guests, connect with the world’s best teachers and find your community 👉 https://go.mindvalley.com/NOW
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I am Vichin Lacayani, founder of Mind Valley, the School for Human Transformation. |
| 0:05.2 | You're listening to the Mind Valley podcast where we'll be bringing you the greatest teachers and |
| 0:09.2 | thought leaders on the planet to discuss the world's most powerful ideas and personal growth for mind, body, spirit and work. |
| 0:17.0 | Hi everyone from the Mind Valley community, I'm with a guide that we've been trying to get in our |
| 0:21.5 | podcast for a while right now. |
| 0:23.6 | Joe the Santa, the founder of Spartan Race. Joe, how are you doing? |
| 0:27.6 | Great, how are you doing? |
| 0:28.6 | Joe, I don't think you have any idea just how impactful Spartan Race has been on our team here at Mind Valley this past month. |
| 0:36.8 | This month, 27 of our team members ran the Spartan race in Johor, Malaysia. |
| 0:43.1 | This was the Spartan sprint, which is the five mile race, right? |
| 0:47.4 | 27 people, many of them three months before, |
| 0:50.6 | were clinically obese. |
| 0:51.9 | They just hammered through training. They ran that |
| 0:54.4 | Spartan race. Our team came in number two, super proud of it, and we're signing up |
| 0:58.8 | for another race in January and another race in March. We will have around 40 people in our next |
| 1:04.8 | Spartan race. Now that is almost 40% of our entire workforce right here. |
| 1:09.2 | Love it. Love it. So we want to train as many people in our company our target is 50% we have 300 |
| 1:15.4 | employees globally we want 50% of them to be Spartans we're so committed to it I |
| 1:20.4 | have this statue of Leonidas right on my desk right now. I just had a knee injury |
| 1:26.6 | and I'm like fuck it I'm training for the next partner race I'm running with my team |
| 1:30.8 | doctors told me I should give up running for good. But |
| 1:33.5 | screw that I'm taking part in your Spartan race. So Joe, thank you for being |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mindvalley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Mindvalley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

