Marc Maikoski (Firefighter Fitness, Yoga and Creating a Mental Health Toolbox) - Episode 1091

Behind The Shield

James Geering

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Fitness

4.9 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2025

⏱️ 145 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Marc is a 25 year veteran of the fire service and serves at the rank of Captain for a Georgia Fire Department as well as working as a paramedic for the last 28 years. Marc is a certified instructor with Yoga For First Responders and an instructor with the Tactical Resiliency Training cadre. He’s also a tremendous advocate for first responder mental health.

In this conversation, we discuss his journey into the fire service, firefighter fitness, the power of yoga in tactical athletes, the Struggle Well program, The SIREN Project, his powerful healing journey and so much more.

Marc is a husband, a father and a grandfather. Marc has been in Public Safety for over 28 years and is currently a Fire Captain / Paramedic. From any early age his parents instilled in him a sense of service and empathy for others. He has been blessed to have many opportunities to serve and grow. He was able to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 13 and the values and lessons learned in scouting created a strong foundation for the life of service that he was called to.

Marc did two years of missionary work in Chile and is fluent in Spanish. After returning from doing mission work, he enrolled in EMT and subsequently paramedic school and has been serving in public safety ever since. After spending a couple of years working on an ambulance, he found his true passion of becoming a firefighter and has been blessed to be a student of the craft for 25+ years. He also served as a tactical medic on the SWAT team for seven years.

One of the most important lessons that he has learned throughout his career is the importance of resiliency and a strong support group. First Responders all too often are exposed to unspeakable traumas and hardships that are only understood by those who have walked similar paths.

He has learned that there is no “magic pill” to overcoming the daily challenges of life and has embraced a holistic approach to post traumatic growth. His own healing journey is based in faith, mindfulness and meditation, yoga and being anxiously engaged in good causes.

Marc is a huge proponent of peer support and has seen how valuable that is when someone may be struggling. He has volunteered with the Florida Firefighter Safety and Health Collaborative as a Co-chair for the Family Caregiver section. He is a certified in Peer Support through the ICISF and the IAFF. He is also active as a squad leader for Yoga For First Responders and travels the country teaching first responders how to use Yoga to enhance performance, build resilience and process stress.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Thorn, and I have some incredible news for any of you that are in the military,
0:05.2	first responder, or medical professions. In an effort to give back, Thorn is now offering you an ongoing
0:12.1	25% of each and every one of your purchases of their incredible nutritional solutions.
0:19.5	Now, Thorne is the official supplement of CrossFit, the UFC, the Mayo Clinic, the Human Performance
0:27.4	Project, and multiple special operations organizations.
0:31.6	I myself have used them for several years and that is why I brought them on as a sponsor.
0:36.5	Some of my favorite products they have are
0:38.5	their multivitamin elite, their weigh protein, the super EPA and then most recently Cinequil.
0:45.8	As a firefighter, a stuntman and a martial artist, I've had my share of brain trauma and sleep
0:51.1	deprivation and Cinequil is their latest brain health supplement.
0:55.6	Now to qualify for the 35% off, go to thorn.com, T-H-O-R-N-E dot com. Click on sign-in and then create a new
1:04.9	account. You will see the opportunity to register as a first responder or member of military.
1:09.7	When you click on that, it will take you
1:11.4	through verification with GovX. You'll simply choose a profession, provide one piece of documentation,
1:18.6	and then you are verified for life. From that point onwards, you will continue to receive
1:23.7	35% off through Thorn. Now, for those of you who don't qualify, there is still the
1:29.3	10% off using the code BTS10, behind the shield 10, for a one-time purchase. Now to learn more
1:36.9	about Thorne, go to episode 323 of the Behind the Shield podcast with Joel Totoro and Wes Barnett.
1:45.2	This episode is sponsored by Team Builder, yet another company that's doing great things
1:50.2	for the first responder community.
1:52.5	As a strength and conditioning coach myself who also trains tactical athletes, dissemination
1:58.1	of wellness information is one of the biggest challenges.
	...

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