Today I’m talking to my (new) friend Luka Hocevar. He’s got one of the more fascinating stories I’ve ever heard in the fitness industry. He grew up and played pro basketball in his native Slovenia, then he eventually transitioned to a career in fitness. After permanently relocating to the United States, he gradually — and all good things take time — became one of the fitness world’s most in-demand coaches for pro athletes and general population folks alike. Now, he runs a fitness empire from the Seattle area and mentors dozens (if not hundreds) of coaches making their way in this industry. He has some of the hottest takes in fitness, and I’m curious what our listener feedback is like after this episode with one of the industry’s true straight shooters.
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In this episode of the BarBend Podcast, host David Thomas Tao talks to Luka Hocevar about:
- Owning a gym for 16 years – how does it weigh on you? (2:00)
- Learning from restaurants/hospitality and applying those principals to fitness (5:50)
- How fitness helped turn Luka from basketball sideliner to pro (10:10)
- The “passion hypothesis” (13:30)
- Starting from scratch in the United States (18:20)
- Why self-identification can make or break fitness journeys (22:08)
- If you want to help people transform their bodies, you need to understand and help coach behavior change (25:30)
Relevant links and further reading:
- Follow Luka on Instagram and YouTube
- Follow David Thomas Tao on Instagram and Twitter
