Josef Šálek (CZE)
Coach, Motivator and Extreme Athlete
„My calling is to be happy. My mission is to inspire others to live a happy and fulfilling life.“
He likes to overcome seemingly impossible challenges and inspires many others to cope with anything that comes up. Not just physically, but also mentally. Josef runs barefoot, consumes only liquid food, and is currently preparing for attempting to break the world record for the longest plank, which currently stands at an astounding 9.5 hours.
Josef went through a major transformation from an overweight person with poor self-confidence into a strong and happy person who does sports and breaks both Czech and world records.
Since 2008, he has been organizing lectures and motivational events for personal development. But it was only in 2017 that he got more interested in lifestyle and movement. He started running barefoot, stopped eating heavy foods and meat, and gave up alcohol. He has been only on liquid nutrition for a year and a half now.
In 2021, Josef broke the world record for the fastest barefoot half-marathon run on snow and ice, previously held by a well-known fitness enthusiast Wim Hof. In the same year, Josef also set two new Czech records: one for the longest endurance in the plank position (2 hours and 16 minutes), and one for the fastest 10 km barefoot run (41 minutes and 6 seconds). All these achievements are Josef´s way to show how to work with awareness and mental attitude, which is a skill that can be helpful not only in sports but also for overcoming any other difficult life situation.
Josef is also the author of the book Zlaté dno (Golden Bottom) describing his experience of being arrested by mistake in an Arab prison.