#15 - Nobody Wins Alone: Robyn Benincasa on Human Synergy & Comebacks
Today’s guest is Adventurer Robyn Benincasa
Turning high-performing individuals into cohesive, change-proof teams—so people can navigate setbacks, sustain performance, and win together. Robyn Benincasa tackles the gap between “talent” and “team culture,” giving you a playbook for collaboration under pressure.
In today’s conversation Robyn Benincasa and Dr. Greg explore how ordinary, repeatable habits and world-class teamwork create extraordinary results in sport, work, and life. We dig into simple training architecture (Fit–Fast–Force–Flex), clean nutrition principles, and why recovery builds fitness. Robyn shares vivid expedition stories (Ecuador, Tibet, Missouri River 340), the psychology of low points, and how “bricks on the confidence wall” are earned. She also unpacks Project Athena—using team-based adventures to help survivors transform setbacks into comebacks.
You will learn how to structure a realistic four-session training week (cardio, intervals, strength, mobility); the difference between training vs. race nutrition; practical anti-inflammatory food choices; when cold exposure helps (and when it hinders) adaptation; and the mindset tools Robyn uses to flip adversity into forward motion (teammate accountability, future-self decisions, and building that confidence wall one brick at a time).
You will discover that sustained high performance isn’t built on hacks—it’s built on simple systems repeated consistently, supported by teammates, and protected by recovery. That’s how you earn “confidence bricks” you can stand on when things get hard.
Conflicting health advice and constant change lead to overtraining, under-recovery, and scattered teams. Robyn’s approach replaces confusion with a clear rhythm (train, fuel, recover) and a culture of shared ownership so you perform longer—and stronger.
Key take aways:
Fuel training; keep daily insulin stable.
Recovery builds fitness; schedule true rest.
Use teammates for accountability and courage.
Earn “confidence bricks” through hard, chosen challenges.
“Am I going to win a brick for my confidence wall today?”
Today’s Expert Guest - Adventurer Robyn Benincasa
Robyn Benincasa is a world champion adventure racer, award-winning keynote speaker, 20+-year San Diego firefighter, New York Times best-selling author of How Winning Works, and founder of the Project Athena Foundation. She’s also a CNN Hero and three-time Guinness endurance paddling world-record holder.
Robyn translates lessons from the planet’s toughest team races and frontline firefighting into practical tools for leaders: “nobody wins alone,” human synergy beats heroics, and culture is a daily discipline. Through Project Athena, she operationalizes this philosophy—designing team-based adventures that help survivors rebuild identity and confidence through shared challenge.
Follow Robyn Benincasa on Instagram & Linked In.
Check out her website.
Explore her book.
How Winning Works: 8 Essential Leadership Lessons From The Toughest Teams on Earth
Robyn Benincasa is going to let you in on a secret: Nobody wins alone. In Robyn’s bestselling book, “How Winning Works” you’ll learn all the teambuilding and leadership skills used by Robyn and her teammates on their quest to repeatedly win the toughest races on earth. Find inspiration and practical tools to improve your mindset, performance, and collaboration, no matter what your goals may be. Creating connections and building winning teams is knowing that we are better together than we could ever be alone.
This podcast contains advice and information relating to health and wellness. It should be used to supplement rather than replace the advice of your doctor or another trained health professional. If you know or suspect that you have a health problem, seek your physician’s advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. All efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this podcast / interview / article as of the date of publication. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any medical or other outcomes that may occur as a result of applying the methods suggested in this material.
