017: The Dichotomy of Mindset Mastery with Stefi Cohen

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation between 25x powerlifting world record holder, Stefi Cohen, and myself, Tom Foxley.

One huge topic we cover is the difficult balance of femininity and the masculine parts of athleticism.

This one goes deep and we dive into appearance and social pressure to look like everyone else.

Stefi is an incredible human. She is one of those rare breeds who seemingly excels in multiple areas of life. Plus, she's a lovely human being.

Stefi is a 25x world record holding powerlifter and the first woman in the history of the sport to deadlift 4.4 times her bodyweight. She recently took a break from the platform and transitioned to professional boxing (1-0-1). She is also a doctor of physical therapy and exercise physiologist who is passionate about education and bringing her audience a "no B.S." evidence-based view of all things training and nutrition through her company, HYBRID Performance Method. Stefi is also the co-author of Back in Motion with Dr. Ian Kaplan and co-host of the HYBRID Unlimited podcast.

The main topic of conversation: how a beneficial mindset is often found between two oppositional factors:

• Hard work and self-compassion
• Professionalism and relaxing
• Masculinity and femininity
• Force and passivity
• Recovery and work

It’s a balancing act that we must seek to maintain. We also discuss:

• Self-doubt and how to deal with it

• Trusting the process

• Those moments of discovery which are uncomfortable

• Never loving powerlifting

• Femininity in a “masculine” sport, and identity challenges around that.