Strong Ambition Podcast

Hosted by Rhyland Qually

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145

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

You know those people who hang out at the top? The kind of people who have an internal drive to excel at everything they do? Maybe it's sports. Maybe its' academics. Maybe it's a professional career. Whatever it is....each person has their own unique story about how they became who they are. The Strong Ambition podcast is all about having conversations with high-performers, and getting to the core of what drives their ambition, so that you can apply those same lessons to your own training, nutrition and mindset.

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September 2, 2026Episode 1471 hr 39 min

Episode 146 - How to Perform Better with Curiosity, Spirituality, and Motivation - Ricky Scruggs

Performance coach Ricky Scruggs joins the Strong Ambition Podcast to discuss how athletes and high performers can improve their performance by learning to become more present. Drawing from his background in professional baseball, coaching, business, and ministry, Ricky explains why constantly thinking about the future can interfere with our ability to respond to what is actually happening in front of us. Ricky and Rhyland discuss identity beyond achievement, curiosity over confidence, learning to let go of outcomes, and how everyday practices can train us to become more aware and present when performance matters. The conversation also explores Ricky’s Christian faith and how spirituality, grace, acceptance, and releasing control have shaped his approach to performance—even where Rhyland and Ricky approach religion from different perspectives. In This Episode, We Discuss Ricky’s journey from professional baseball to mental and spiritual performance coaching. How athletes can lose their identity when it becomes attached to their sport. Finding happiness and fulfillment within the pursuit of your goals. Why being present is a skill that can improve athletic performance. Changing the question from “What should I think about?” to “What should I notice?” How everyday walks and moments of awareness can train your ability to perform. Why overthinking can interfere with natural athletic movement. Finding the deeper “why” behind achievement and performance. Why Ricky teaches “curiosity over confidence.” Shifting from trying to prove yourself to seeing what you can learn. How to care about winning without becoming controlled by the outcome. How Ricky connects spirituality and Christianity to mental performance. Rhyland’s challenges and limitations with religion as a belief system. Finding common ground through grace, acceptance, and letting go of control. Separating your value as a person from your performance. Episode Roadmap 00:49 – Ricky’s Story: Baseball, Business, Ministry & Performance Coaching 05:55 – Ricky’s Difficult Childhood & Why Baseball Became His Refuge 10:43 – What Happens When Athletes Lose Their Identity? 12:00 – Finding Happiness Within the Pursuit 14:14 – Achievement, Acceptance & Letting the Game Come to You 16:45 – Why Being Present Can Be Difficult for High Performers 19:18 – Learning How to Rest & “What Should I Notice?” 22:22 – Overthinking Movement & Trusting Your Athletic Instincts 24:32 – Finding the Real “Why” Behind Performance 26:59 – Stop Trying to Prove Yourself & Start Trying to Learn 30:15 – How Everyday Presence Can Make You a Better Athlete 32:54 – Curiosity Over Confidence 35:14 – Letting Go of Results When Results Still Matter 38:45 – How Faith and Spirituality Connect to Performance 40:00 – Rhyland’s Challenges With Christianity & Religion 42:09 – Ricky’s Perspective on Faith, Heaven, Hell & Grace 45:30 – How Acceptance Can Actually Improve Performance 49:14 – Judgment, Grace, Free Will & Personal Growth 52:50 – Separating Human Value From Achievement 55:10 – Love, Trust & Learning to Release Control 58:25 – Where Rhyland and Ricky Find Common Ground 1:00:23 – Interpreting Christianity in a More Practical Way 1:05:30 – What Ricky Is Most Excited About Next 1:XX:XX – Rhyland’s Reflection www.rickyscruggs.com Instagram rickyscruggs19

August 19, 2026Episode 1451 hr 27 min

#145 - My First Registered Dietitian Guest: Do We Actually Agree on Nutrition? Featuring Meridan Zerner, MS, RDN, LD

Meridan Zerner, a registered dietitian with over 30 years of experience in preventive health and nutrition, joins the Strong Ambition Podcast for a thoughtful conversation about what actually creates lasting health. As the first registered dietitian to appear on the podcast, Meridan and Rhyland explore where coaching and dietetics align, challenge common misconceptions, and discuss why sustainable habits will always outperform extreme diets. Together they dive into today's biggest nutrition conversations—from protein, fiber, supplements, and body composition to behavior change, food guidelines, and the growing politicization of nutrition science. Rather than focusing on rigid rules, the discussion emphasizes building practical habits that fit real life and help people create healthier lifestyles they can actually maintain. Whether you're trying to lose fat, improve your health, build muscle, or simply cut through the endless nutrition misinformation online, this episode offers an evidence-based conversation that prioritizes nuance, sustainability, and long-term success. In This Episode, We Discuss Meridan's journey from journalism to becoming a registered dietitian. How a life-changing neck injury shaped her passion for health and wellness. Why information alone doesn't create behavior change. Building sustainable habits instead of relying on motivation and willpower. Why personalized nutrition always beats one-size-fits-all diets. The importance of structure, consistency, and realistic expectations. Optimal protein intake and how current recommendations have evolved. Why fiber may be one of the most overlooked nutrients in nutrition. Soluble vs. insoluble fiber and how they impact gut health, appetite, and longevity. Body composition versus body weight and why the scale often tells an incomplete story. When supplements like collagen, creatine, fiber, vitamin D, and multivitamins may actually be beneficial. Thoughts on MAHA, nutrition policy, and the importance of evidence-based recommendations. Why community, relationships, and purpose are essential components of long-term health. Meridan's book, The Thoughtful 30, and her practical framework for creating lasting lifestyle change. Connect with Meridan Zerner Website: www.meridanzernernutrition.com Instagram: @meridanzerner Episode Roadmap 00:00 – Meet Meridan Zerner, Registered Dietitian 01:30 – The injury that sparked a lifelong passion for health 05:30 – Why nutrition eventually replaced journalism 08:30 – Why information doesn't change behavior 12:00 – Building habits instead of chasing motivation 16:00 – Creating a nutrition plan that actually fits your life 20:00 – Coaching, dietetics, and simplifying nutrition 24:00 – Why body composition matters more than the scale 28:00 – The truth about optimal protein intake 35:00 – Why fiber deserves more attention 41:00 – Fiber supplements, gut health, and practical nutrition tips 44:00 – Collagen, supplements, and filling nutritional gaps 49:00 – MAHA, food policy, and evidence-based nutrition 56:00 – Translating nutrition science into everyday life 1:00:00 – The Thoughtful 30: Meridan's framework for lasting change 1:07:XX – Rhyland's Reflection

August 5, 2026Episode 1441 hr 26 min

#144 - Body dysmorphia, building muscle, and powerlifting strategies ranked - Coach Querwin Campeciño

Coach Querwin ( @fitnesscoachq ) joins the Strong Ambition Podcast to share his journey from growing up in the Philippines to becoming one of Winnipeg's respected personal trainers and powerlifting coaches. What starts as a conversation about his story quickly evolves into a thought-provoking discussion on what actually makes a great coach, realistic fitness expectations, bodybuilding, powerlifting, body image, and the biggest misconceptions surrounding fat loss, muscle growth, and strength training. Whether you're a coach, an experienced lifter, or someone simply trying to improve your health, this episode offers practical advice, honest conversations, and evidence-based discussions that challenge many of the myths spread throughout the fitness industry. In This Episode, We Discuss Coach Q's journey from the Philippines to Canada. Becoming a coach after helping hospital staff transform their health. What actually separates great coaches from average ones. Whether coaches need to experience the same struggles as their clients. Should fitness coaches "look the part"? Contest prep and the realities of bodybuilding. Why muscle growth is much slower than social media suggests. Body dysmorphia and unrealistic physique expectations. Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and how they change training recommendations. Why Coach Q transitioned from bodybuilding into powerlifting. Why powerlifting became more motivating than bodybuilding. The supportive culture of the powerlifting community. Training for strength versus hypertrophy. Ranking popular powerlifting tactics and discussing what actually helps build a stronger squat, bench press, and deadlift. Practical coaching lessons every lifter can apply to train smarter, recover better, and make long-term progress. Connect with Coach Q Instagram: @fitnesscoachq Episode Roadmap 00:00 – Meet Coach Querwin (Coach Q) 00:40 – Growing up in the Philippines and moving to Northern Manitoba 03:20 – How bodybuilding unexpectedly led to becoming a personal trainer 07:30 – Why coaching is harder than people think 09:00 – Does a coach need to personally experience the same struggles as their clients? 15:15 – Should fitness coaches "look the part?" 18:00 – PEDs, genetics, and why social media creates unrealistic expectations 21:30 – Why building muscle takes much longer than people think 28:00 – Why getting lean often changes how muscular you actually look 30:00 – Contest prep: Hunger vs. extreme fatigue 32:30 – Transitioning from bodybuilding into powerlifting 37:00 – Why powerlifting became more enjoyable than bodybuilding 41:00 – The downside of powerlifting that nobody talks about 43:00 – Ranking Popular Powerlifting Tactics: What Actually Works? 1:10:57 – Rhyland's Reflection

July 22, 2026Episode 1431 hr 26 min

#143 - A pastor and a coach debate faith & fitness — Rick Meyer

Rick Meyer is a pastor who's also run over 143,000 miles since he was 11 years old. Which is a combination I've never had on the podcast before. I brought him on to talk about faith and fitness. How discipline actually gets built. Why people who show up for their families and jobs still struggle to show up for their own health. Rick has a mantra he uses when he runs — I can't. Christ can. We are. He talks about training as stewardship. You take care of your body so you can better serve the people in your life. Whether you're religious or not, that framing hits different than "I want to lose 20 pounds." But that's not the part I want to talk about. Halfway through, I told Rick something I don't usually bring up on the podcast — that I grew up religious, that Christianity shaped a lot of my character, and that at some point I lost the faith itself. The values stuck. The belief didn't. And then I asked him a question I've been chewing on for years. I call it the Blood Diamond Problem, because that's where I first really thought about it. If you've not seen the Leonardo Dicaprio movie, it involves a kid in Africa who gets kidnapped by rebels, brainwashed, and turned into a child soldier. Eventually he ends up turning on his own family. He didn't choose any of that. His environment made him. So what happens to that kid? How does he get judged by a God he was never given a fair chance to know? And there are billions of people like that — not in the same circumstance, but people who've never heard about Christianity, or heard about it but grew up somewhere it couldn't stick. If salvation only runs through Jesus, where does that leave them? I've heard a lot of religious people try to answer that question. Most of the answers don't hold up for me. Rick's did. And it's not because he had some perfect scripture that closed the case — but because he was willing to just say he didn't fully understand it. He said faith reaches people in ways he can't explain. And then he said something a lot of religious leaders won't — that certainty is a bad look, including for him. I don't know if I'd say we agreed. But I felt like I got an honest answer from someone who'd actually thought about it, which is all I really want in these conversations. We got into: Farm-life discipline and why it's the closest thing to fitness discipline Rick's mantra: "I can't. Christ can. We are." Why motivation and discipline are two sides of the same coin, not opposites The weird similarities between getting to the gym and getting to church Gratitude as a performance tool (there's actual psychology behind it) Why Rick thinks Christians have an obligation to take care of their bodies The Blood Diamond Problem and Rick's honest answer What happens to people who never hear about Jesus Why "I don't know" is the most honest thing anyone can say about the big stuff Why I still value the Christian character I grew up with, even without the faith This one probably isn't for everyone. But if you've ever tried to reconcile the values you grew up with against the beliefs you can't quite hold onto anymore — this conversation might hit home. Find Rick's books here: Leadership Books Speakers Bureau : here Instagram : @rickmeyer9014 TikTok : @running.on.faith3

July 8, 2026Episode 1421 hr 22 min

#142 - Stage 4 cancer, Ironman training, and choosing to live — Jim Logan

Jim Logan was 59 years old, extremely fit, and had no symptoms when he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer. The doctors gave him six months to two years. He spent the first six months preparing to die. Closed his bank accounts. Shut down his home inspection business of 30 years. Got his family ready. Then treatment started shrinking his tumors. Surgery became possible. And Jim made a different decision. He started preparing to live . Since then he's been through 24 rounds of chemo, radiation, and multiple major surgeries — including removal of most of his liver, his colon, his rectum, and his gallbladder. He now trains and competes while living with an ostomy. He's been declared cancer-free twice. And he's still on chemo. He's also training for the Ironman World Championship in Kona! I've talked to a lot of people about resilience on this podcast. Most of the conversations end up in the same place — some version of "mindset matters" or "just keep going." Jim doesn't talk like that. He's specific. He has a framework he actually uses: Discipline, Sacrifice, Suffering, Pain. He talks about the pain you choose preparing you for the pain you don't. And he said something in this conversation that I keep thinking about — "everyone is terminal. I just found out sooner." The other thing that stuck with me is how much he talks about training as identity, not motivation. He didn't keep swimming, biking, and running through chemo because he was motivated to. He kept doing it because that's who he is. The diagnosis didn't change that. If anything, it made him lean into it harder. We got into: Why Jim kept training through chemo ( "cancer may kill me, but swimming won't" ) The six months he spent planning to die, and what changed Why he calls cancer both the worst and the best thing that's ever happened to him His D.S.S.P. philosophy — Discipline, Sacrifice, Suffering, Pain Why the pain you choose prepares you for the pain you don't Why "everyone is terminal" isn't dark, it's clarifying What good coaches actually do (it's not "push harder") Zone 2 cardio, why beginners train too hard, and what actually builds endurance Why happiness lives inside pursuit, not at the end of it Jim wrote a book called Just Keep Tri-ing . He's also raising money for cancer charities through his Ironman training. Links to both are below. Find Jim on Instagram : @stage42025 His book on Amazon : Just Keep Tri-ing Ironman fundraising page: Donate here Facebook fundraising page: Donate here

June 29, 2026Episode 1411 hr 34 min

#141 - 10 lessons from 100 days of fun food fat loss — with Rhyland Qually

100 days ago, I started a challenge. Every single day, I ate some form of fun food while trying to lose body fat. Cookies.Chocolate bars.Pizza.Burgers.Ice cream.Crispers.And yes... even more cookies. Now the challenge is over. In this episode, I review my final body weight, body fat percentage, DEXA scan results, and we assess how my training impacted my results. I also break down some of the biggest mistakes I made along the way and the lessons I learned from the entire experience. Some of these lessons are things you've probably heard me talk about before. Others completely surprised me. And what might surprise you most is how many of the mistakes I made are probably the same mistakes you're making right now. Throughout the episode, I explain how each of these lessons can be applied to your own fat loss journey. Because the truth is, despite coaching this stuff for a living, I still screw it up sometimes too. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all: After 100 days of eating fun food every day , I don't actually think most people should eat fun food every day. Not for the reasons you might think. I explain why in the episode. I also break down the 10 biggest lessons I took away from the challenge and how they can help you build a nutrition and training plan that allows you to enjoy the foods you love while still making progress. And just as importantly, how to keep the weight off after the fat loss phase is over. The 10 lessons I cover: • Meal Plans Kick Ass• Diet Pop Is F ing Awesome• How To Fit In Your Fiber• Finding The Right Size Treat• Pre-Workout Meals Work More Than I Realized• Own The Fat Loss Challenge• Tighten Up The Calories And Do It Sooner• Machines Are F ing Awesome - But not the whole picture• You Should NOT Eat Fun Food Every Day Like I Did• Plan For After The Weight Loss — With Accountability If you're someone who wants to find a balance between enjoying fun foods, improving your health, losing body fat, and keeping the weight off long-term, I think you'll get a lot out of this one.

June 10, 2026Episode 1401 hr 42 min

#140 - Weight loss without calorie tracking — with Rachel Schwartz

Rachael Schwartz coaches women through fat loss without making any of them track calories. None of them. Not her 1:1 clients. Not her group coaching (which sometimes runs 300 people deep). That probably sounds like the opposite of what I usually say. Because it is. I think calorie tracking is one of the best tools out there for fat loss. Rachael disagrees because she believes tracking creates problems for the people she works with. Perfectionism. Obsessing over the number. Throwing the day out because they went 200 calories over. Her system gets around that by building structure into everything. Instead of "hit your numbers," her clients get parameters: Protein servings sized to them. Specific eating windows. A built-in dessert every day (she calls it BID). One treat meal a week with actual rules around it. Drinking nights capped at two with specific drinks. It's basically a pick-your-own-adventure meal plan with guardrails. The calorie deficit happens, they just don't see the math. We also had a pretty good debate over intermittent fasting (she thinks it backfires for most women because they get too perfectionist about the timing). And we disagreed on whether fasting itself provides longevity benefits or whether it just makes a calorie deficit easier to hit. But the conversation that surprised me most was peptides. A few years ago Rachael was firmly anti-Ozempic. Now she's been microdosing for months. Not for weight loss — but for inflammation, energy, and what she described as "feeling like a sponge that finally got wrung out." She's also been experimenting with NAD+, GHK-Cu (the copper peptide for skin and hair), BPC-157 for gut health, and a few others. We got into where this is all headed — and why she thinks microdosing GLP-1s will eventually be classified as a longevity tool, not a weight loss drug. I'm more cautious. But I think she's probably right about where this is going. We get into: Why Rachael's clients lose weight without tracking a single calorie Her actual system (built-in dessert, treat meals, alcohol rules, eating windows) Why "the habits that get you lean should be the same habits that keep you lean" The intermittent fasting debate — and why she thinks it backfires for most women How her view on Ozempic completely flipped Microdosing GLP-1s as a longevity tool, not a weight loss tool The other peptides she's experimenting with right now Why she rates exercise as a drug — and why the data backs her up Where weight loss medication is probably heading in the next 10 years Click below to listen to this great conversation! Find Rachael on Instagram : @rachaelschwartznutrition

May 27, 2026Episode 1391 hr 23 min

#139 - He got off 7 medications by changing what he ate — Jeffry Hannah

Jeffry Hannah weighed 315 lbs when he graduated high school. Then he spent the next nine years trying to lose it. He tried keto. Carnivore. Paleo. He even tried what he calls the "hospital food diet" — canned everything. Some of the diets worked for a bit, but nothing stuck because nothing felt like a sustainable lifestyle. And while he was trying to fix his body, Jeff felt like his mind was falling apart. He hit rock bottom mentally, lost the ability to mask his autism and ADHD, and spent about two years struggling with suicidal thoughts. Imagine this: Seven medications a day, and still not feeling okay. The thing that eventually changed Jeff's relationship with food wasn't another diet. It was finding out that people with ADHD and autism burn through vitamins and minerals faster than the average person — and that what he'd been eating was making his mental health worse, not just his weight. He landed on a modified Mediterranean approach. More grains, beans, lentils, vegetables he didn't really want to eat, fatty fish a couple times a week. Plus some Little Debbie's double decker fudge rounds, because he's still a person. Today, Jeff is off all seven medications. Then, halfway through our conversation, Jeff and I did something different. We ranked squat variations — every major quad exercise — from S tier to F tier. Back squat, front squat, Zercher, goblet, hack squat, Smith machine, safety squat bar, leg press, pendulum squat — all of it. We disagreed on a bunch of them. Because the thing about ranking exercises is that the same one can be S tier for one person and C tier for someone else. It depends on your body, your strength, and what you can actually feel. Here's the rule I use: if you can't get to failure on a quad exercise in under 20 reps, it's probably not building your legs. It's cardio. In this episode, we get into: How Jeffry went from 315 lbs to off his meds entirely The link between ADHD, autism, and how fast you burn through nutrients Why keto and carnivore "worked" but didn't actually fix anything His modified Mediterranean diet (Little Debbie's included) Why beans + a grain beats expensive protein every time The 9 years he wasted listening to influencers instead of the science Mechanical tension vs. time under tension — what actually builds muscle Why the stretched position is where most of the growth happens Rest-pause sets and the time I wrecked my hamstrings for days Why the hack squat is undefeated The Zercher debate — practical strength or unnecessary? Find Jeffry on Instagram : @geek_body__nutrition_417

May 13, 2026Episode 1381 hr 27 min

#138 - Debate: Sugar Free or Flexibility? — Mike Collins

This was one of the most fun debates I've had. Mike Collins doesn't believe calorie deficits exist. Not "are hard to sustain." Don't exist. As in, the framework itself is wrong. That's where we ended up about 20 minutes into this episode, and it turned into of the more interesting debates I've had on the show. Mike runs SugarDetox.com. He's worked with around 60,000 people. And his whole approach is built on the idea that sugar (and flour, and caffeine) functions more like a drug than a food. For about a third of the population, he says, moderation isn't possible. They're biochemically incapable of stopping once they start. I come at it from the flexible side. Whole foods most of the time, room for the foods you actually enjoy, and an understanding that calorie deficits still matter even when nobody likes hearing it. So, we went at it. And here's the thing — I didn't agree with a lot of what he said. But some of it landed. His point about selection bias was a real one. My clients finds me because they want flexibility. His finds him because they've tried flexibility and it didn't work. Those are two different populations, and neither of us is going to fully understand the other one's clients. Some points we debated: Does eating fewer calories than you burn actually cause weight loss — or do sugar and flour mess with your body in ways that calorie math can't explain? Is sugar addiction a real thing people can be diagnosed with — or just emotional eating wearing a fancier name? How do scientists actually measure calories in food? Can people genuinely not stop once they start eating sugar — or can anyone learn to moderate with the right approach? Are eating disorder treatment centers helping people by letting them eat sugar and bread again — or making things worse? Does eating "a little bit of everything" actually work long-term — or does it just give people an excuse to never really change? Is the way bodybuilders eat (lots of carbs, then cutting hard before a show) dangerous — or is it just intense training that works? Was my own history of binge eating an addiction, a way of coping with loneliness, or both? We disagreed on how weight loss actually works, but we agreed on more than I expected — that sugar is a problem, behavior matters more than meal plans, your community changes your outcomes, and the person delivering the message matters as much as the message. I referenced a few research articles in my closing monologue that back the flexible side. They're linked below if you want to actually read them instead of taking my word for it. If you've been wondering whether you're someone who genuinely can't moderate — or if you've tried flexible dieting and it's not working — this one will be useful. If you just want to hear two coaches disagree hard (respectfully) — also worth a listen. Find Mike Collins at SugarDetox.com And on Instagram @realsugarfreeman

April 29, 2026Episode 1371 hr 17 min

#137 - Emotional Eating Part 1 - How we develop our coping patterns - with Megan Grimord

Do you ever wonder why or how you developed your emotional eating habits? Do you think about how you’d want to raise your kids so they don’t struggle with the same issues? That’s exactly what Megan and I discussed this week. Megan has been on the show before (Episode 127), and we realized we needed to go deeper into emotional eating and how it’s impacted both of our lives. We didn’t even get to everything we wanted to cover, but this week we really focused on our own development and how we might influence our kids’ relationship with food. In this episode, we talk about: • What emotional eating actually looks like (not the cleaned-up version) • How different upbringings can lead to the same struggles • The quiet habits that follow you into adulthood without you realizing it • Why “fixing your diet” doesn’t fix your relationship with food • What changes when you finally stop avoiding the deeper stuff • Why forcing kids to clean their plates can backfire • How labeling foods as “good” or “bad” can really mess with them • The difference between making food normal vs. making it emotional • Letting kids have a choice without turning every meal into chaos • Why some of the habits we thought were harmless weren’t If you’ve ever said, “I don’t even know why I eat like this sometimes…” This will hit. Because it’s not just about food. It’s about where the pattern started and whether you’re willing to actually look at it. This is part 1, and we’ll be doing another emotional eating episode in the future. Find Megan on Instagram: @megan_grimord