Socrates said he was wise because he knew nothing and that is how I try to approach training and life. A one size fits all approach makes the bold assumption it knows you and where you are starting from. It’s only after meeting, talking with, and assessing my clients that I begin to figure out the best course to set. Once on course I can use my twenty years of experience to help make their path smoother than mine was.

If progress is eluding you or you’re looking for a fresh approach let’s try to figure it out together.

My name is Josh Lipka

Sports, high school, and college

I started sports just like everyone else. I played baseball for the light blue team, soccer for the purple team, and basketball for the green team. It was fun most of the time but it wasn’t until high school track and field under Coach Ron Namislo’s guidance that I learned what sports and exercise could be like. It was the first time that I felt supported, trained at my maximum, had an appropriate workload, saw continual progress, and most importantly wanted to be there. Other coaches would ask him how he always got his team so well prepared for the championships at the end of the season. He said, “Just watch.” There wasn't a set template for him from year to year. If it was supposed to be a hard day and the team looked low energy in the warm up then it turned into an active recovery day. It was the first time I had a coach take the time to teach us positive visualization. I never felt like there was any one thing to perfect but many things to explore. We didn’t miss the forest in the trees. Every day the goal was simply to get a little better. When I think about Ron Namislo I realize that his approach is what I now hope to emulate for my teams and athletes.

That experience was also partially responsible for my profession. I had always heard life would be more enjoyable if your work was something you liked doing so I decided to study exercise science in college. My freshman year our cycling team won the ECCC team cup. My junior year I finished on the podium at nationals and my senior year I won the yellow and green jersey competition. Of course I learned a lot in college. The exercise science, how to race as a team, and how to target season long competitions. I also learned an unexpected lesson and that was the real world usually doesn’t care about your goals.

I remember I had a course that required me to get up at 4 am a few days a week, including Monday. There were a few different times of the year I could have taken it and only one of them overlapped completely with my cycling race season. I asked the head professor if I could have one of the time slots that didn’t overlap with my racing season. It fell on deaf ears and my time slot was during my racing season. I was angry at the time because I saw other sports team members being treated like royalty. This time slot meant that I would get back from a race weekend at 2 am on Monday and have to wake up at 4 am for class. Starting the week of like that, on top of school and training, was far from ideal for both my race performance and studies. It was exhausting. Sometimes life isn’t conducive to your goals. I’m proud of the way I forged ahead anyway to win the ECCC yellow and green jersey that year. That’s the first time I learned that there will always be things and people that are working against you. You will either do what you need to do or find excuses.

After college

Since college I have primarily been a personal trainer at places like Canyon Ranch, Equinox, and Miraval. As the years progress I understand better what Socrates meant when he said that he was wise because he knew nothing. A long time ago I used to roll my eyes at people doing “little leg lifts.” I would think “What a waste of time. Why not squat, burn more energy, work bigger muscles, and not waste your time.” Now as a NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist I understand why. There is nothing wrong with going to a class and working so hard you hit your max heart rate or going to your personal trainer and doing the big main exercises the whole time. For your general health and well being that is great and there will be performance benefits.

Especially as an athlete there is much more to it than smashing the weights and pedals. Our joints need to be able to move through their full range of motion for our body to produce its maximum strength and power. Tight muscles are usually the main cause of decreased range of motion at a joint. A tight muscle does not create maximum force. The opposing muscle also creates less force because of something called altered reciprocal inhibition. This can happen either because we are sedentary, or more likely for us, because of repetitive motion, like sitting on a bike and pedaling for hours each week.

We as cyclists are leaving power on the table, creating pain inside of our body, and poor posture that gets harder and harder to correct over time. In order to fix this you have to know what ideal range of motion looks like at each joint, which muscles are responsible if a joint is not moving properly, and which of those muscles need to be lengthened and which ones need to be strengthened. Strengthened sometimes by those “little leg lifts!” Out of college I thought I knew everything, but knew little. Now I know so much more but understand how much more there is to learn.

This process requires an investigation. Sometimes the first thing you find isn’t what leads to improvements. In a year long training plan I have realized that in order to figure out the solution you have to find it. It is always a work in progress. I am weary of any fitness professional that claims they know exactly what is best for me without an assessment, fitness test, or asking any questions.

VBR Team Twenty24 Esports Director

One of my favorite roles so far in my life has been being the esports race director for Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24. Along with team owner and manager Nicola Cranmer and captain Kristen Kulchinsky we have assembled one of the best Zwift teams in the world. The team is full of interesting and great people who are also some of the best athletes on the planet. In 2023 the team was crowned ZRL Champions (of the world) and finished in third place in the Zwift Grand Prix. There is a lot that goes into my role including rider recruitment, strategy, and the spreadsheets that never end.

The best thing was watching the outdoor team dominate the season, especially the early stage races, and having Nicola say that the camaraderie the team built on Zwift and discord over the winter was palpable and a part of their IRL success. It is very rewarding to be a part of a team that is greater than the sum of its already very talented parts. I feel very fortunate to work with some of the best athletes and people on earth.

My racing career

I have been racing since 2004 and I’ve pushed the boundaries. Sometimes too far. I have been too skinny and worked way too hard. Cycling and exercise can be very beneficial for our mental health up to a point. Once you cross that point it can be extremely detrimental. Long ago I once retired from racing because of how far I took it. Luckily we can learn from our mistakes and I unretired a couple years later. I hope, and do believe, that I can recognize these behaviors in my athletes and help guide them away from them.

Over the years I have won the overall and green jerseys in college (2009) and the Lucarelli and Castaldi Race Series (2019) in Brooklyn. I had a pulmonary embolism and DVT (2020) and came back to win the CRCA Boyd Cup (2021) in Central Park. This past summer I became Master’s National Champion (2023). I have domestiqued for many teammates for even better results.

Philosophy

One of the things that has helped me more and more in recent years is a philosophy of life called Stoicism. If anyone wants to sit down for coffee and talk about Stoicism it’s one of the things I do for pleasure. Stoicism has a bad rap because most people don’t know what it actually is. The best athletes might not know it but they put many aspects of Stoicism into practice. Focus on what you can control. Don’t let emotion dictate your actions. Ponder what matters. Stoicism is the reason that I feel like I can live a good life. Our steps backward in life are often unnecessarily prolonged or even self inflicted. This philosophy is one way to reduce or diminish those backward steps. Fewer backwards means more forwards. I don’t usually tell my athletes I’m preaching this philosophy but I am. Mindset is the most important thing and I study the blueprint.

When I add all of this up I know I can help people

All of this makes me believe I can help anyone get closer to their goals. It’s possible that sometimes personalities don’t mesh. Sometimes people don’t enjoy my approach and that’s okay. One of my former employers tried to teach me their idea of the art of selling by manipulating people’s emotions. They would rather have had me take an approach I knew wouldn’t work for the client if it meant they kept paying. The only reason gyms try to sell you big training packages up front is so they have your money before you can decide you don’t want to do it anymore. It’s one of a few things that has left me disillusioned with the fitness industry. I’m not a salesman and I don’t offer months long packages because of this. If it’s working out then you’ll continue. Most of the time when people come to realize training isn’t for them it isn’t because they are not making progress towards their goal. If someone decides it isn’t for them I have no hard feelings. I honestly want what’s best for them, especially the ones who gave me a chance in the first place.

For every client that discontinues there are twenty that continue. I am always proud to see my athlete’s success and it makes me feel good to be a part of it. I have trained whole teams like the Rockstar Games women’s team in NYC. They achieved many wins this season including the Pro Harlem Skyscraper Criterium. They had a top ten finish at professional nationals. Two of their riders went pro by the end of the year. I also DS teams like the NYCC women’s team on Zwift (when it doesn’t interfere with my VBR Twenty24 duties).

I have a client coming back from a pulmonary embolism, just like I did. A PE can kill you and it’s something that could always happen again. To overcome it and live with that fact can be a lot to handle. It could make you live in fear. He hasn’t let it hold him back and he keeps getting stronger and stronger. Very soon he will be in the Zwift racing circuit. I’m full of gratitude to be able to be a part of his journey.

Another rider went from never racing to being one of the best indoor esports racers in the world. In April she was terrified to clip into her pedals outside but by August won three IRL hillclimbs in a row. Watch out next year!

I’m very grateful to do this for work. I know that I now have the knowledge and years of experience to help people. I just hope I can implement it for others like Ron Namislo did for me.