Today we’re talking to Devon Lévesque, a trainer and fitness influencer based out of Jersey City, New Jersey. Devon is probably best known for — and I promise I’m no exaggerating here — bear crawling a full marathon. In about 22 hours this past October, Devon — who already held the world record for distance in the bear crawl — bear crawled 26.2 miles and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for FitOps, an organization dedicated to empowering veterans to pursue health and fitness careers. Devon — whose father was a professional bodybuilder and whose mother was a pro arm wrestler — joins us to talk about his unconventional upbringing in wellness, motivation and preparation for his record breaking bear crawl, and much, much more.
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On this episode of The BarBend Podcast, host David Thomas Tao talks to Devon Lévesque about:
- Recovering from his record-breaking bear crawl, and why nerves in his hands need to regrow (2:02)
- Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge at night (4:50)
- The inspiration behind his marathon bear crawl and finding a cause to raise awareness and money (8:30)
- The goal behind FitOps Foundation (13:00)
- Devon’s unconventional upbringing in fitness (16:20)
- “Accidentally” getting into personal training (19:40)
- A wellness-first investment strategy (23:30)
Relevant links and further reading: