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Why do so many high achievers burn out? Most of us think recovery is what happens after the work is done. We push through the week, take care of everyone else, and tell ourselves we'll slow down later. But according to Dr. Kristen Holmes, Global Head of Human Performance at WHOOP, recovery isn't separate from high performance. It's an essential part of it. In this conversation, I sit down with Kristen to unpack the science behind sustainable high performance and why recovery plays a much bigger role than most of us realize. We talk about why sleep consistency matters more than sleep duration, the habits that have the biggest impact on our energy, and how to stop running on empty. By the end of this conversation, you'll have a new way of thinking about recovery and practical strategies to put into practice right away. Pre-order Kristen's new book, Aligned. More from Molly: Get Molly's latest book, Dynamic Drive Website: mollyfletcher.com
On this episode, WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance and Principal Scientist, Dr. Kristen Holmes sits down with exercise scientist Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple for a refreshing, evidence-based conversation that cuts through some common myths in fitness. Together, Dr. Holmes and Dr. Colenso-Semple unpack how social media has fueled misinformation around hormones, menopause, menstrual cycles, strength training, and recovery.Dr. Colenso-Semple challenges popular narratives around cycle syncing, hormone optimization, and sex-specific training. The episode makes the case that while men and women are biologically different, the fundamental principles of building strength, improving fitness, and maintaining health are remarkably similar. The discussion also explores hormone therapy, hormonal birth control, testosterone, Zone 2 training, and why consistency is the true path to long-term results.Whether you're new to exercise or a seasoned athlete, this conversation offers practical, empowering advice rooted in high-quality human research rather than hype. If you've ever wondered whether you're "doing it wrong" because of your hormones, this episode will leave you feeling informed, confident, and ready to focus on what actually matters.(00:41) Who is Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple(01:24) The Misinformation Around Fitness(03:48) Understanding Fitness Facts(06:50) The 3 Biggest Fitness Myths(08:29) Addressing Fears Around Training in Perimenopause(17:36) What Habits Work and What's Just Marketing?(19:19) Improving Bone Health and Avoiding Fracture Risk(23:26) Does Hormonal Birth Control Affect Your Training? (29:23) "Women Are Not Small Men"(32:56) Should You Be Cycle Syncing Your Training(38:49) The Secret To Strength Gains & Achieving Body Composition Goals(44:06) Is Resistance Training The Key To Longevity? (46:05) How To Fit Movement Into Your Busy Schedule(48:55) The Important Role of Recovery on Fitness Gains(55:02) Should You Be Cycle Syncing Your Training?(01:01:35) Risks of High Testosterone For Training(01:10:24) Are There Any Fitness Shortcuts?(01:15:40) Combatting Misinformation OnlinesFollow Dr. Lauren Colenso-SempleInstagramWebsiteSupport the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
What if the data you're obsessing over is the very thing capping how far you can go? In this episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Michael Mogill sits down with Andy Walshe, the human performance leader behind Red Bull's high-performance program and the Felix Baumgartner stratosphere jump. They dig into why the metrics everyone chases can only take you so far, and why the traits that truly separate elite performers (character, creativity, how you show up when it's hard) are the ones almost no one is actually training. It's a look under the hood of what elite performance really requires when the stakes are highest. Here's what you'll learn: How character, not metrics, can be the real dividing line between good and elite How to train creativity as a skill instead of treating it as a gift you're born with What it takes to perform under extreme pressure when everything is on the line If you've been optimizing the measurable and ignoring the human, this is your wake-up call. (00:00:00) Introduction (00:02:40) From athlete to performance coach (00:03:31) Why Red Bull obsesses over performance (00:05:38) What makes elite performers special (00:07:18) Not everything can be measured (00:09:27) Training character and creativity (00:12:00) The Felix Baumgartner jump (00:20:32) Why the Enhanced Games flopped (00:23:12) Training under manufactured fear (00:27:05) The right dose of stress (00:30:00) What cold plunging really trains (00:32:09) No secrets: the 70-20-10 rule (00:36:55) The trait that predicts greatness (00:39:24) Do elite traits cross fields? (00:41:31) Ego, humility, and luck (00:45:47) What it means to be a game changer ---- Links & Resources: Andy Walshe Liminal Collective Red Bull Stratos Felix Baumgartner Joe Kittinger Enhanced Games Australian Institute of Sport ---- Learn what sustainable growth can look like for your firm at crispcoach.com. ---- Do you love this podcast and want to see more game changing content? Subscribe to our YouTube channel. ---- Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O'Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more. ---- If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like: 461. Mastering Biological Fundamentals for Elite Performance with Dr. Kristen Holmes 338. Will Ahmed - From Stress to Success: Optimizing the Entrepreneurial Journey 298. Rich Diviney - The Fundamental Traits Navy SEALs Use to Excel
Send us Fan MailAaron and Peaches sit down to talk Blue Angels flyovers, testosterone testing, military medicine, height-to-waist standards, and why the military has to get serious about health before people break.The episode starts with the Blue Angels beach flyover debate and whether something can be technically questionable while still being completely awesome. Then the guys get into the bigger conversation around the Department of War pushing testosterone checks for men over 30, why the military medical system has resisted basic hormone testing for years, and how operator syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, cortisol dysfunction, vitamin D deficiency, and low free testosterone can wreck performance and mental health.Aaron talks through his own fight to get blood work done, what the military missed, and why private-sector care finally helped him understand the difference between total testosterone and free testosterone.The conversation also hits height-to-waist standards, fat bodies in uniform, why some people will get flagged unfairly, and why most people need to stop making excuses. The bottom line: fitness is not just about looking good in uniform. It affects mental health, cognitive performance, readiness, durability, and who you become after the military.Check out Tasty Gains:TastyGains.comRegister for Operator Training Summit:OperatorTrainingSummit.comChapters:00:00 - Intro, Tasty Gains, and Operator Training Summit03:02 - Blue Angels Flyover Controversy03:39 - Unsafe vs. Inappropriate05:00 - Why Professionals Change the Risk Equation06:59 - Was the Flyover Necessary?08:22 - Pensacola, Nellis, and Airshow Culture09:20 - Testosterone Testing in the Military10:37 - What the Headlines Are Missing11:14 - Operator Syndrome and Low Testosterone12:11 - Fighting the Military Medical System12:55 - Vitamin D Deficiency in the Military14:34 - The Problem With “Normal” Testosterone Ranges16:00 - Trying to Raise Testosterone Naturally17:14 - Total Testosterone vs. Free Testosterone18:08 - TBI, Free Test, and Feeling Broken18:57 - Whoop Blood Work and Better Data19:19 - Breaking Down Institutional Resistance20:12 - Why This Could Lead to Better Screening21:02 - How the Referral System Fails People22:08 - Why Baseline Testing Matters22:34 - Trauma Medicine vs. Clinical Medicine23:55 - Military Medicine, COVID, and Bad Advice26:35 - Readiness Pressure and Medical Liability27:30 - SSRIs, Mental Health, and Missed Questions29:26 - The Military Health System Problem30:33 - Women, Hormones, and HRT30:42 - What to Ask Before Accepting Medication31:29 - Akron Bar Fight Story34:46 - Air Force Height-to-Waist Ratio35:11 - Body Composition Standards Come Back Around36:52 - Old BMI Standards and Fat Boy Programs37:19 - Height and Weight Charts39:41 - Peaches Tests the Calculator41:16 - When the Standard Misses Body Type42:40 - Trent's Monster Habit43:29 - Strategic Energy Drinks43:56 - Ten-Year-Old Crushes the Army PT Test45:30 - Kids, Discipline, and Internet Boundaries47:34 - Coaching Kids Through Hard Things48:25 - Wrestling Coach Motivation50:38 - Height-to-Waist and Job Performance51:40 - Human Performance and Mental Health52:34 - Obesity, COVID, and Comorbidities53:54 - Water, Sunlight, Nutrition, and Fitness55:26 - What People Cut First When Life Gets Busy55:42 - Sleep as a Performance Enhancer56:43 - Why Fitness Improves Mental Health58:26 - Confidence, Attraction, and Looking Better59:45 - Extrinsic Motivation Still Counts01:01:12 - Final Thoughts and Members-Only PreviewSupport the showJoin this channel to get access to perks: HEREBuzzsprout Subscription page: HERERegister for our Operator Training Summit: OperatorTrainingSummit.comFind an Air Force Recruiter: AirForce.comCollabs:Ones Ready - OnesReady.com 18A Fitness - Promo Code: ONESREADY ATACLete - Follow the URL (no promo code): ATACLeteDanger Close Apparel - Promo Code: ONESREADYDFND Apparel...
Welcome back to Season 16 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and this is where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. In this episode 403 The Movement Loop: How Movement Activates the Brain for Learning, Adaptation & Performance we will cover: ✔ Why movement is the biological input that prepares the brain for learning, adaptation, and performance. ✔ How Dr. Chuck Hillman's groundbreaking neuroscience research explains what happens inside the brain during and immediately after exercise. ✔ Why even one bout of physical activity can improve attention, executive function, and learning readiness. ✔ How Paul Zientarski translated neuroscience into practice through Naperville Central High School's internationally recognized Zero Hour PE Program. ✔ The science behind brain activation, neuroplasticity, positive stress, and cognitive reserve. ✔ Why movement isn't a break from learning—it's preparation for learning. ✔ How teachers, coaches, parents, and workplace leaders can use movement to improve focus, decision-making, creativity, and performance. ✔ How to apply the Movement Loop in everyday life using practical strategies you can begin today. ✔ Why movement is the input, adaptation is the process, and performance is the result. If you're just joining us, Season 16 explores Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—the Movement Loop. This season asks one central question: How does movement change the brain, adaptation change the body, and together create measurable improvements in performance? If you'd like the full overview of the five-phase framework, I encourage you to start with Episode 402. In Episode 402[i], we introduced Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—where we introduced The Movement Loop. We discovered one powerful idea. Movement is the input. When you move, your body sends a powerful biological signal to the brain that says: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." Adaptation is the process. With movement, repetition, and recovery, the brain and body strengthen, rewire, and become more efficient. Performance is the output. The changes become visible in everyday life—clearer thinking, better decisions, stronger health, and improved performance. Then the loop begins again. Today we're asking the next question. Why does movement come first? Not simply because exercise is good for our bodies. But because movement is one of the most powerful biological signals we can send to the brain. Before we can focus... Before we can learn... Before we can adapt... The brain must first be activated. That's why movement isn't the outcome. It's the beginning. When we first interviewed Dr. Chuck Hillman on Episode 123[ii], (back in April 2021) I wanted to understand how his neuroscience research inspired Paul Zientarski's revolutionary Zero Hour PE Program at Naperville Central High School. It was Naperville's extraordinary performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) that caught the eye of Dr. John Ratey. Naperville District 203 entered the international comparison as if it were its own "country" and ranked #1 in the world in science and #6 in the world in math. Those results made Dr. Ratey ask, "What are they doing differently?" That question ultimately led him to Naperville, (IL) where he discovered Zientarksi's Zero Hour PE initiative and made it the opening case study in his book Spark. We will cover this story on our next episode Then years later, we revisited that conversation in Episode 397[iii] through the lens of motivation—exploring how movement increases engagement and helps us want to move more. But looking back through the lens of Phase 3, I realized I had been asking the wrong question. The bigger question isn't whether movement motivates us. The bigger question is: What happens inside the brain the moment we begin to move? That's the question we're answering today. And it's the reason movement sits at the beginning of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. Let's begin where every performance story begins... with movement. As we begin Phase 3, Dr. Chuck Hillman's research helps us understand why movement is the first step in the Movement Loop. In our interview, he mentioned that his lab has consistently demonstrated that even a single bout of physical activity can improve attention, cognition, and academic performance. But what fascinated me most wasn't simply that exercise works. It was why it works. Listen carefully as Dr. Hillman explains how movement acts as a positive biological stressor that prepares the brain for learning. EP 403 — Clip 1 Summary Movement is the First Signal As we begin Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System, the first question is simple: Why does movement come first? Dr. Chuck Hillman has spent his career studying how physical activity changes the brain—from childhood through older adulthood. His research doesn't just focus on exercise, but on understanding how different life experiences shape brain health across the lifespan. One insight from our conversation completely changed how I think about movement. Dr. Hillman explained that even a single session of exercise can improve attention, cognition, and academic performance in children. His team is now studying why that happens, exploring how exercise acts as a positive stressor that activates biological pathways supporting brain function. But what struck me even more was why he chose to study children in the first place. Rather than waiting until someone reaches their 60s and begins experiencing cognitive decline, his goal is to help children build a stronger brain from the very beginning—to create what he calls a cognitive reserve that may protect brain health throughout life. That idea captures exactly what Phase 3 is all about. Movement isn't simply something we do to stay fit. It's one of the earliest investments we can make in the future health and performance of our brain. ______ This is the first piece of the Movement Loop. Movement isn't valuable because we eventually become fitter. This is what many of us used to think? I can't be alone in this…I used to move for fitness alone. Until I studied the brain…and learned that: It's valuable because it immediately changes the state of the brain. Before learning improves... Before memory improves... Before performance improves... The brain has to be activated. That's exactly what movement does. Key Takeaways from Dr. Hillman There are three ideas I'd like all of us to remember from this first clip. Movement is Information The Neuroscience Every movement you make sends information throughout your nervous system. As your muscles contract, they don't just move your body—they communicate with your brain. Your heart pumps faster, blood flow increases, oxygen and glucose are delivered more efficiently, and neurons begin communicating more actively. Movement also changes your brain's neurochemistry. Exercise increases the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which help regulate attention, motivation, mood, and learning. At the same time, it stimulates the production of growth factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to form and strengthen new neural connections. That's why I like to think of movement as sending a message to the brain: "Wake up. Pay attention. Get ready to learn." Movement isn't simply burning calories. It's providing your brain with the biological conditions it needs to perform at its best. Stress Isn't Always Harmful The Neuroscience When we hear the word stress, we usually think of chronic stress—too much cortisol, too little recovery, and the negative effects that follow. But the brain actually needs short, manageable challenges to become stronger. Exercise is an example of what's often called eustress, or positive stress. When you exercise, your body briefly increases stress hormones like cortisol and activates your sympathetic nervous system. At the same time, it stimulates beneficial signaling molecules and growth factors that help the brain adapt. Dr. Hillman's research explores how these temporary changes—including biomarkers like cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase—may help explain why even a single bout of exercise improves attention and cognition. The important point is that the stress is temporary. When it's followed by recovery, your brain and body adapt. Without recovery, stress becomes harmful. With recovery, stress becomes the signal that drives growth. That's why adaptation sits in the middle of the Movement Loop. The challenge isn't the goal. The adaptation is. Activation Comes Before Performance The Neuroscience One of the biggest misconceptions about learning is that we can simply decide to pay attention. The brain doesn't work that way. Before the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for focus, planning, decision-making, and executive function—can perform well, it must first be activated. Movement helps create that activation. Exercise increases cerebral blood flow, raises arousal to an optimal level, and improves communication across large-scale brain networks involved in attention and cognitive control. Think of it like warming up an orchestra before a concert. Before the musicians can perform together, they first need to tune their instruments. Movement helps the brain tune itself. That's why research consistently shows improvements in attention and executive function immediately after moderate physical activity. Performance doesn't begin when you sit down to work. Performance begins the moment you prepare your brain. That's why movement sits at the beginning of the Movement Loop. One final thought Movement isn't magic. It changes the brain because it changes the brain's biology. It increases blood flow. It changes neurochemistry. It activates neural networks. It stimulates neuroplasticity. And when those changes are repeated over time—and supported by recovery—they become adaptation. That's why movement is the input. Adaptation is the process. Performance is the result. TIPS to IMPLEMENT So what can we do with this research? Here are three simple ways to put the Movement Loop into practice this week. ✅ 1. Move with purpose. Before asking your brain to perform... Prepare it. Take a 10–20 minute walk. Ride your bike. Do a short workout. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Don't think of movement as taking time away from your work. Think of it as the first step toward doing your best work. I always park my car at the back of the parking lot, not afraid add bits of movement into the day. ✅ 2. Prepare the brain before expecting learning. Whether you're a parent... A teacher... A coach... Or a leader... Create opportunities to move before asking people to think. Movement isn't a reward after learning. It's preparation before learning. I discovered this one early on with this podcast. I can't focus on this topic, without moving first. ✅ 3. Start measuring brain performance—not just physical performance. The next time you move, don't just ask: "How many calories did I burn?" Ask: Did I think more clearly today? Did I focus more easily? Did I feel more energized? Did I recover better tonight? Am I becoming more resilient? Those are the real returns on your investment. Movement for me, is at the root of each of these questions. If I lacked movement (and sometimes I can't fit it in) I'll notice it show up in one of these questions, and know how important it is to get it back on track. Final Reflection Remember... Movement is the input. It's what we do. Every step you take sends a message to your brain: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." The more consistently you send that signal, the more opportunities your brain and body have to change. Over time, those changes become visible. You think more clearly. You learn more effectively. You recover more efficiently. You perform at a higher level. But here's the part I find most fascinating. When I look at the Movement Loop... I don't stop at Performance. I look at the final circle. Confidence. Because confidence is what keeps the loop alive. I'll be the first to say I can't always do this. Something gets in the way. It's not always easy to move. Some days we're busy. Some days we're tired. Some days we simply don't feel like it. But every time you complete the loop, you collect another piece of evidence. "I showed up." "I felt better afterward." "I handled that challenge differently." "I'm becoming stronger than I was yesterday." Those moments become evidence. Evidence builds confidence. And confidence makes it easier to begin again tomorrow. That's how lasting change happens. Not through one workout. Not through one perfect week. But by repeating the loop. Again. And again. And again. Because every movement today is an investment in the person you're becoming tomorrow. Movement is the input. Adaptation is the process. Performance is the result. And confidence is what inspires us to begin again. Clip 2 Summary Brain Activation Creates Readiness to Learn Paul Zientarski explains how Naperville Central High School achieved remarkable academic results through its Zero Hour PE Program and the use of heart rate monitoring. His work around getting students to move was inspired by Dr. Hillman's research. In this clip, Paul Zientarski describes how Dr. Chuck Hillman's research transformed physical education from something schools did for physical health into something they could use to improve learning itself. The research that ignited him showed that after just 20 minutes of walking, students demonstrated measurable increases in brain activation and performed better on cognitive tasks. For Paul, this wasn't simply evidence that exercise works. It explained why movement belongs at the beginning of the school day. Movement wasn't taking time away from learning. It was preparing the brain to learn. Looking at this through the lens of the Movement Loop, we can now see what was happening biologically. Movement activated the brain. An activated brain was better able to pay attention. Better attention improved learning. Repeated learning created adaptation. And over time, those adaptations translated into stronger academic and life performance. That's why movement is the first step in Phase 3. Key Takeaways ✔ 1. Brain activation is the bridge between movement and performance. Movement doesn't improve learning—or performance—directly. It first changes the brain into a state that's ready to focus, solve problems, make decisions, and learn. Whether you're in a classroom, on the athletic field, or leading a team at work, performance begins with brain activation. ✔ 2. Readiness comes before instruction/teaching/learning. One of Paul Zientarski's greatest insights was that not every student needed more movement. Sometimes they needed more recovery. By monitoring students' heart rates, he learned to recognize when a student was physiologically ready to learn and when the brain and body needed time to recover. That's a lesson for all of us. Teachers can observe energy before beginning a lesson. Coaches can balance challenge with recovery. Leaders can recognize when their teams need a reset before asking for peak performance. The question isn't simply, "What am I teaching?" It's, "Are people ready to learn?" ✔ 3. Small actions create lasting adaptation. One walk. One movement break. One active lesson. One walking meeting. None of these seem significant on their own. But repeated consistently, they become the biological signals that drive adaptation. Small actions, repeated often, create lasting change. ✔ 4. Performance begins long before the moment that matters. A student's success doesn't begin when they open the exam. An athlete's success doesn't begin when the whistle blows. A leader's success doesn't begin when the meeting starts. Performance begins much earlier— when we prepare the brain to perform. ✔ 5. Movement isn't a break from work. It's preparation for better work. Whether you're teaching a lesson... Coaching a team... Leading a meeting... Or solving a complex problem... Movement should be viewed as part of the performance process—not time taken away from it. Tips to Implement Prepare the brain before expecting performance. Before teaching... Before coaching... Before presenting... Before solving difficult problems... Ask one question: "Is the brain ready to perform?" Sometimes the best way to improve performance is to begin with five to ten minutes of purposeful movement. Build movement into the rhythm of the day. Instead of viewing movement as a separate activity, make it part of how you work and learn. Teachers can begin lessons with movement. Coaches can use dynamic warm-ups with a cognitive focus. Leaders can replace one seated meeting each week with a walking meeting. Movement becomes the signal that says, "It's time to focus." Balance challenge with recovery. Paul didn't simply encourage students to move more. He also recognized when they needed recovery. High performance isn't created by constant effort. It's created by alternating challenge with recovery. That's true in classrooms. It's true in sports. And it's true in the workplace. Think beyond fitness. Don't ask, "How do I fit exercise into my day?" Instead ask, "How can movement improve everything I do afterward?" That one shift changes movement from another task on your calendar... into the first step toward better thinking, better learning, better leadership, and better performance. Closing Reflection Every time we move... We send a message to the brain. "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." That's why movement isn't just something we do for our bodies. It's one of the most practical performance tools available to teachers, coaches, leaders, parents, and anyone who wants to think more clearly, learn more effectively, and perform at a higher level. Because in the end... Movement is the input. (What we do.) Adaptation is the process. (How the brain and body change.) Performance is the result. (What we're capable of becoming.) Paul Zientarski didn't change physical education at Naperville HS. He changed the purpose of physical education. Instead of asking, "How do we build fitter students?" he helped us ask, "How do we build brains that are ready to learn?" EP 403 Review and Conclusion As we review and close out this episode, I'd like to leave you with one final thought. When we first interviewed Dr. Chuck Hillman, I was fascinated by what exercise did for the brain. When we interviewed Paul Zientarski, I was inspired by how he translated that research into a school that changed lives. But looking back through the lens of Phase 3, I realize they were teaching us something even bigger. They were teaching us where human performance begins. Not with talent. Not with intelligence. Not with motivation. It begins with a biological signal. Movement. Every step you take... Every walk... Every workout... Every hike... Every time you choose to move... You're telling your brain: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." That's the first instruction your brain receives. From there, everything else becomes possible. Movement activates the brain. An activated brain pays attention. Attention makes learning possible. Learning creates adaptation. Adaptation improves performance. And performance builds confidence. Confidence is what inspires us to move again tomorrow. That's the Movement Loop. A Personal Journey This season has become personal for me. For years, I interviewed experts and shared their research. Over the past year, I began testing these ideas (their research) in my own life. Not to become a better athlete. Not to chase perfect numbers on my wearable device (as much as I would like to have them). But to see whether the neuroscience actually showed up in everyday life. It did. The more consistently I moved... The more consistently I recovered... The more my brain and body adapted. My recovery improved. My resting heart rate dropped. My hikes became easier. My thinking became clearer. Those weren't isolated improvements. They were evidence that the Movement Loop was working. And with every small improvement... my confidence grew. Not because someone told me I was improving. Because I could see it. I could measure it. I could feel it. That confidence became more than the result of movement. It became something I began carrying into other areas of my life. Into my work. Into my relationships. Into the challenges I was willing to take on. And that's when I realized something... Confidence doesn't end the Movement Loop. It becomes the beginning of another part of the Brain's Operating System. But... that's a conversation for another episode. Your challenge for the week So before our next episode, I'd like to leave you with a simple challenge. Don't focus on changing your life overnight. Just begin the loop. Tomorrow morning... Before work... Before studying... Before an important conversation... Move. Even if it's just for ten or twenty minutes. Then ask yourself one question: How did that movement prepare my brain today? Start paying attention. Notice your focus. Notice your energy. Notice how you think. Because once you begin looking for the changes... You'll start seeing them everywhere. Write down what you notice…because if you don't write things down, you won't remember that the change occurred. Looking ahead In our next episode, we'll continue exploring Phase 3 with one of the pioneers in this field, Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark. If Dr. Hillman showed us that movement activates the brain... Dr. Ratey helps us understand why exercise has been called "Miracle-Gro for the brain" and how movement literally changes the brain's ability to learn, adapt, and grow. We'll continue building the Movement Loop... one step at a time. Until next time... Remember... Movement is the input. It's what we do. Adaptation is the process. It's how the brain and body change. Performance is the result. It's the measurable improvement we experience in our thinking, learning, health, leadership, and daily lives. And perhaps most importantly... Confidence is what keeps the loop alive. Because every step you take today is building the brain you'll depend on tomorrow. By the end of this season, my hope is that we don't just understand the neuroscience of human performance—we put it into practice. That we begin moving with purpose. That we notice how our brain and body respond. That we embrace adaptation as part of the process. And that we experience measurable improvements in our thinking, learning, health, leadership, and everyday performance. I'm Andrea Samadi, and this has been the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'll see you next time. EP 403: How did movement prepare my brain today? EP 404: How did today's movement help my brain learn? EP 405: How did recovery help my brain adapt? EP 406: How did attention improve my performance? EP 407: How will I keep the loop going? RESOURCES: Full interview Dr. Chuck Hillman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ip5s2iDFLE&list=PLb5Z3cA_mnKhiYc5glhacO9k9WTrSgjzW&index=88 Full interview Paul Zientarski https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYNEhxkxfE Paul Zientarski's clip https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DmtkP_licdA REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 402 “Phase 3 Intro: How Movement Builds the Brain https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-loop-how-everyday-action-rewires-your-brain-and-boosts-performance/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 123 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/northeastern-university-professor-chuck-hillman-phd-on-the-impact-of-exercise-on-the-brain-and-learning/ [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 397 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/move-to-learn-how-movement-activates-the-brain-and-fuels-motivation/
Welcome back to the WHOOP Podcast's Science of Human Performance Series! On this week's episode, WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance and Principal Scientist, Dr. Kristen Holmes, sits down with WHOOP SVP of Research, Algorithms, and Data, Emily Capodilupo, to explore the science behind the WHOOP Recovery Score. Emily explains the progression of the recovery algorithm, from the company's origin to the supporting research that supports it today. Dr. Holmes and Emily identify the key metrics, like heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and sleep performance, that impact your recovery the most. Each physiological signal tracked by WHOOP helps to predict your body's readiness to adapt to the stressors of the day, boosting injury prevention, immune health, and decision-making. This episode is your essential guide to improving and understanding your recovery. (00:00) Recovery 101: How WHOOP Looks At Recovery(00:58) The Origin of The WHOOP Recovery Score(01:32) What Is The Overtraining Curve?(05:08) Adaptive versus Maladaptive Stress(07:49) Balancing Strain and Recovery (08:18) Recovery for Everyone(10:48) How Recovery Improves Sleep, Immunity, and Mood(15:44) HRV: How Recovery Impacts The Nervous System(21:04) Why Your Recovery Is Low(28:45) Why Recovery Matters For Performance(29:53) The Relationship Between Sleep and Recovery(31:50) Treating Recovery as a Lifestyle(33:21) Strain Coach Explained(40:26) Is A Solid Recovery Routine The Secret To Muscle Growth? (47:07) How Your Recovery Is Measured(49:52) The Correlation Between Recovery, HRV, and Mental HealthSupport the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
Why do you keep returning to the same level after making progress? This episode explores human performance, identity, resistance, and the complacent zone. Backsliding Away There is a strange frustration that shows up when you know you are capable of more, but your life keeps snapping back into the same familiar pattern. You make progress. You build momentum. You get closer to the thing you said you wanted. Then something happens. The excuses return. The procrastination shows up. The old habits quietly reappear. Before long, you are back inside the same range you were trying to escape. That is what this episode is about. Not motivation. Not information. Not another strategy. This episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast looks at human performance through a deeper lens: why people keep returning to the same level even when they want something more. Episode Overview Human performance is not just about output. It is not simply about how hard you work, how much discipline you have, or how much potential you carry. Human performance is the expression of your physical capacity, mental clarity, emotional regulation, values, beliefs, and identity under real-world pressure. That last part matters. Because pressure reveals the truth. Anyone can feel capable when life is calm. Anyone can set goals when motivation is high. Anyone can say they want change when the discomfort of staying the same becomes strong enough. But the real test comes when you move close to a new level. That is where the old identity pushes back. That is where many people start returning to the same level. The Complacent Zone In this episode, I talk about what I call the complacent zone. This is the familiar operating range you live inside. It has a floor and a ceiling. The floor is your mental line of support. This is the point where things become uncomfortable enough that you finally take action. Maybe your weight gets too high. Maybe your energy gets too low. Maybe your relationship becomes too strained. Maybe your finances hit a point where you say, “Enough.” That line of support creates urgency. You act. You recommit. You start moving again. But then you approach the ceiling. That ceiling is your mental line of resistance. This is where things get interesting. Because the resistance usually does not look like resistance at first. It looks like being too busy. It looks like needing a break. It looks like losing interest. It looks like confusion, fear, frustration, procrastination, or sudden self-sabotage. But underneath all of that is something more powerful. Your identity is trying to keep you inside the range it recognizes. (function(d,s,id) { var js; var fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://forms.aweber.com/form/30/1374258830.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "aweber-wjs-1506684634")); Why Returning to the Same Level Feels So Familiar Most people do not repeat patterns because they are weak. They repeat patterns because those patterns are familiar. The mind and body are always working with what has already been practiced. Your beliefs, emotions, values, past experiences, stories, environment, behaviors, and capabilities all help form the internal range you keep returning to. This is why progress can feel real without becoming permanent. You can lose weight and gain it back. You can save money and spend it again. You can build momentum and then quietly lose it. You can get close to the relationship, business, body, or life you want and still find yourself returning to the same level. From the outside, it may look like inconsistency. From the inside, it is often identity protection. The old self knows how to survive inside the old range. It does not always know how to live beyond it. Progress Is Not Always Change One of the strongest ideas in this episode is that movement is not the same as transformation. You may think you are making progress because you are moving upward again. But if you have already been at that level before, you may not be creating anything new. You may simply be recreating the past. That can be hard to admit. But it is also freeing. Because once you see the pattern clearly, you stop confusing short-term improvement with real change. Real change requires moving beyond the old ceiling and staying there long enough for that ceiling to become your new floor. That is the work. Not just breaking through once. Staying through. Probabilities vs. Possibilities Your current life is creating probabilities. Your past and present form a trajectory. If nothing changes beneath the surface, your future becomes fairly predictable. That does not mean it is fixed. It means your current identity system is already producing momentum. If you keep thinking the same way, choosing the same way, reacting the same way, training the same way, avoiding the same conversations, and tolerating the same internal limits, then returning to the same level becomes the most likely outcome. Possibility lives beyond the mental line of resistance. But possibility does not become real just because you can imagine it. Possibility becomes real when your behavior, beliefs, standards, and identity begin to align with that new level. That is where human performance changes. The Physical Side of Human Performance This is why physical challenge matters. The body exposes what the mind can hide. Put a man under a loaded barbell, on a steep trail, in a hard workout, or inside a physically demanding challenge, and his patterns show up quickly. Avoidance shows up. Excuses show up. Self-talk shows up. Emotional regulation shows up. The quality of discipline shows up. That is one reason training is such a powerful mirror. It does not just build strength. It reveals the identity behind the strength. A difficult workout can show you where you negotiate with yourself. A heavy lift can show you where you hesitate. Fatigue can reveal whether your standards are real or just convenient. Human performance is not separate from the body. The physical reveals the psychological. The Real Question Most people ask, “What am I capable of?” That is not a bad question. But it is not the deepest question. The better question is: Can your current identity carry the level of life you say you want? Because potential is not the problem for most people. Many people are carrying more capacity than they are expressing. They know more is possible. They can feel the unused strength, clarity, discipline, and purpose inside them. But potential alone does not change your life. Potential must be converted. Awareness must become action. Action must become practice. Practice must become identity. That is how returning to the same level stops. Key Takeaways From This Episode • Human performance is shaped by identity, not just effort. • The complacent zone is the familiar range between your mental line of support and mental line of resistance. • Your mental line of support is the internal floor that pushes you into action. • Your mental line of resistance is the internal ceiling where fear, excuses, procrastination, and sabotage tend to appear. • Backsliding is often the identity system pulling you back into the familiar. • Progress is not always transformation. Sometimes it is just the past repeating with new language. • Physical challenge reveals mental patterns faster than reflection alone. • Possibility becomes real only when it is practiced long enough to become your new probability. Reflection Questions Where do you keep returning to the same level? Where have you confused movement with real change? What goal have you approached before, only to pull back when it became unfamiliar? What excuses tend to show up near your mental line of resistance? What would have to shift in your identity for that old ceiling to become your new floor? These are not casual questions. They are performance questions. Because the next level of human performance is not found by collecting more information. It is found by identifying the internal range you keep living inside and expanding the identity that determines what you can actually sustain. Closing Thought If you keep returning to the same level, the answer is not always to push harder. Sometimes the answer is to look deeper. Not softer. Deeper. Look at the story. Look at the behavior. Look at the environment. Look at the emotional payoff of staying where you are. Look at the beliefs that keep making the familiar feel safe and the possible feel threatening. Because once you see the system, you can begin to change it. And once you change the system, human performance stops being random. It becomes aligned. Explore The Resilient Man Framework If this episode hit something real, the next step is to look at the structure underneath your performance. The Resilient Man Framework is designed to help you rebuild alignment across physical strength, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and meaningful purpose.
"When it comes to high-intensity interval training work, quality is much more important than quantity,” says Fraser Thurlow, Ph.D. Thurlow is a high-performance coach, researcher, and lecturer with over a decade of experience helping people improve their fitness and performance. He holds a PhD in Human Performance, has published extensively on training, and has lectured at leading Australian universities in sport and exercise science. His work focuses on translating science into practical, evidence-based strategies that improve health, fitness, and athletic performance. 00:00 - How to actually raise your VO2 max 05:26 - Long vs short interval training 09:00 - Heart rate vs. perceived exertion 11:13 - Accurately monitoring heart rate 13:12 - The sprint interval training protocol 19:07 - A sample weekly plan 23:58 - Working exercise into the day-to-day 28:24 - Making the most out of supersets 31:58 - VO2 max mistakes 34:32 - How to train for HYROX 39:17 - Foot strength & barefoot lifting 43:37 - Overrated & underrated fitness 45:35 - Fraser's sprint research 50:40 - VO2 max vs. muscle for longevity Referenced in the episode: For more about Thurlow & his personal training, visit: https://stan.store/drthurlow Jan Helgerud sprint study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17414804/ Vollaard analysis of VO2 max studies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28079707/ We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on YouTube! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 16, Episode 402 explores the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance, focusing on Phase 3: movement, adaptation, and performance. Andrea Samadi explains how movement triggers neurochemicals and blood flow, recovery enables adaptation, and measurable performance follows. The episode shows how consistent, purposeful movement plus prioritized recovery creates lasting biological change—improved sleep, lower resting heart rate, higher VO2 max, and clearer thinking—and offers simple strategies to build the movement loop into daily life. EP 402 — Introducing Phase 3 Movement, Adaptation & Performance Watch Andrea teach this episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/Btaihnb5HPs On EP 402, We'll Cover: Why movement is the missing link in human performance—and why the brain evolved to move before it learned. The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—how the first three phases connect to create lasting change. The Movement Loop—my new framework explaining how movement leads to adaptation and ultimately performance. The science of adaptation—why the workout isn't what changes you, but the body's response during recovery is. My personal performance experiment—how tracking recovery, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, VO₂ Max, sleep, body composition, and biological age revealed measurable evidence of neuroscience in action. How the world's leading experts helped build this framework—and how their research fits together into one repeatable system. A preview of Phase 3—what you'll learn from Dr. Chuck Hillman, Dr. John Ratey, Kristen Holmes, Dr. John Medina, Jason Whitrock, and the bonus episodes throughout this season. Practical strategies you can begin using immediately to help your brain learn more effectively, your body adapt more efficiently, and your performance improve over time. Opening Welcome back to Season 16 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and this is where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. Seven years ago, when we launched this podcast, I started with one simple question: If results matter—and they matter now more than ever—how exactly are we using our brain to create those results? This question stemmed from the fact that very few of us were ever taught how the brain actually learns. How motivation begins. How emotions shape decisions. How relationships influence performance. Or how movement changes the brain. That single question has taken us on an incredible journey through neuroscience, psychology, education, leadership, and human performance. But something unexpected happened along the way. I thought I was collecting interviews. Instead... I discovered that I was uncovering a system. Looking back now, over the past 7 years, I realized every expert was describing the same mountain (or obstacle to overcome) but just from a different side (or with a different strategy). One explained motivation. Another explained attention. Another explained learning. Or repetition. Another explained recovery. Another explained movement. None of them contradicted each other. They completed each other. That was the moment I realized... I wasn't collecting interviews. I was assembling a blueprint. A Personal Discovery But there was still one question I couldn't answer. How would these ideas actually work together in everyday life? Could they work for anyone? Not a pro athlete who has all day to train, but a regular person, like me, who was determined to improve their health, well-being and productivity and results. That's when I stopped being just the interviewer... and participated in the experiment. Over the past year, I wasn't trying to become younger. I think our 50s, 60s and beyond, are an incredible time to practice and perfect our health beyond what we might have been able to do without as much effort in our 40s or younger. Looking back, I can honestly say that I wasn't trying to lower my resting heart rate. It just started to show up in my data when I did certain things, in a certain way. I wasn't trying to improve my WHOOP age (with my wearable device) or optimize my daily recovery score. I was simply trying to answer another question. If movement really changes the brain... Could I actually measure this? Can how much I move improve my data, and can I move too much (push too hard) and measure that as well? So I began paying much closer attention to my own data, and looking at what it meant. Not because I wanted better numbers. Well I did want better numbers, but I also wanted evidence. Something that could be replicated for others. There's lots of ways to measure our data with wearable devices. I used the Whoop wearable, something I have been wearing for the past 5 years. I was focused on my daily recovery. My resting heart rate. Heart rate variability. VO₂ Max. Sleep (specifically how much stress I had while sleeping), REM sleep, and restorative sleep. Body composition (how much fat and how much muscle) Then I looked at my hiking performance (did I need to run fast with a weighted vest to get zone 4 and 5), or could I walk along the canal with my dogs, and get my heart rate up that high without having to drive to the mountain. I looked at how high my heart rate went up with strength training. Week after week... Month after month... A pattern began to emerge. The improvements weren't random. They were connected. When I moved consistently...some easier workouts walking with one or two harder push hiking days, with some days at the gym on the stair climber, and others on the elliptical. My recovery improved. My resting heart rate dropped. My biological age became younger. My body became stronger. My mind became clearer. Long hikes felt easier. The numbers weren't the story. Adaptation was. For the first time, I wasn't just reading neuroscience week after week. I was watching it happen inside my own body. And that's when something clicked. Movement starts the change. Recovery allows the change. Adaptation becomes the change. And performance is simply the evidence that the change occurred. That realization became the foundation for everything you're about to hear this season. The Brain's Operating System As I reviewed hundreds of conversations with world-leading researchers over the past seven years, I realized these ideas weren't isolated discoveries. They fit together. Like pieces of one much larger puzzle. Today, I call that framework... The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. It's built on five interconnected phases. Each one depends on the one before it. Phase 1 — Regulation & Safety[i] Before the brain can learn... it must first feel safe. Phase 2 — Neurochemistry & Motivation Meaning creates motivation. Motivation creates action. Action begins change. Phase 3 — Movement, Adaptation & Performance Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Together they create lasting performance. Phase 4 — Perception & Social Intelligence Understanding ourselves. Understanding others. Building trust. Strengthening relationships. Phase 5 — Integration & Meaning Where knowledge becomes wisdom. Experience becomes insight. Performance becomes purpose. Performance doesn't begin at the finish line. It begins with the foundations. And every phase strengthens the next. Why Phase 3 Matters For decades we've treated learning as though it happens inside classrooms... inside books... inside meetings... inside our heads. But evolution tells a very different story. The brain didn't evolve to sit still. It evolved to move. Movement came first. Learning followed. Every step we take increases blood flow. Releases powerful neurochemicals like BDNF. Sharpens attention. Improves executive function. Creates the biological conditions for learning. Movement isn't simply exercise. It's the input that begins one of the most remarkable biological cycles in the human body. The Power of Loops I had to create another loop to show how this works. Nature rarely works in straight lines. Our hearts beat in rhythms. Our lungs breathe in cycles. Sleep follows repeating stages. The seasons repeat. Life itself is built on loops. Human performance is no different. The greatest mistake we've made is thinking performance is a destination. Or an end result that we will celebrate when we get there. Neuroscience shows us it's actually a cycle. One that repeats every single day. I call it... The Movement Loop. One of the biggest shifts I've made while building this framework is changing the way I think about exercise. Most of us think the workout is the goal. Or we think “I've got to go the gym” and I'm not sure about you, but my old way of thinking used to be something along the lines of “to burn fat, or calories, or so I can create a deficit with the workout.” But Neuroscience—and exercise physiology—tell us something very different. The workout is only the beginning. Think of it by looking at the movement loop. Movement is the Input Every system begins with an input. For our bodies, that input is movement. Whether it's a walk around the neighborhood, a strength-training session, a yoga class, or a hike in the mountains, movement sends a message to the brain and body. It says: "Something is being asked of you." The brain responds immediately. Blood flow increases. Attention sharpens. Neurochemicals like BDNF are released. The nervous system begins preparing for change. Movement isn't what changes us. Movement is what tells the body that change is needed. Adaptation is the Process This is where the real transformation happens. Not while we're exercising. But afterward. During recovery. While we sleep. While proteins rebuild muscle. While neural pathways strengthen. While the cardiovascular system becomes more efficient. While the brain reorganizes itself through neuroplasticity. Adaptation is the body's remarkable ability to respond to the demands we've placed upon it. If we repeat the right inputs consistently, the body doesn't simply recover. It becomes more capable. This is why recovery isn't the opposite of growth. Recovery is the process that makes growth possible. Performance is the Output Performance is simply the visible result of this successful adaptation. It's thinking more clearly during an important meeting. Remembering information more easily. Feeling stronger day to day. Recovering faster after stress. Leading with greater confidence. Sleeping more deeply. Seeing your resting heart rate decline. Watching your VO₂ Max improve. Noticing your biological age become younger. Performance isn't one great day. Or one workout. It's the evidence that your brain and body have adapted over time to your repeated efforts. Then the Cycle Begins Again The beautiful part is that the process never ends. Today's performance becomes tomorrow's starting point. As you become more capable, your brain and body are ready for the next challenge. So you move again. You recover again. You adapt again. You perform at an even higher level. This is why I call it The Movement Loop. It's not a one-time event. It's a lifelong cycle of growth. Every walk. Every workout. Every good night's sleep. Every recovery day. Every healthy habit. You're sending your brain and body another message: "I'm becoming a little more capable than yesterday." That's how sustainable human performance is built. Not through one extraordinary effort. But through thousands of ordinary repetitions that, over time, create extraordinary results. Movement The body moves. The brain responds. ↓ Brain Activation Blood flow increases. BDNF and other neurochemicals are released. The brain becomes ready to learn. ↓ Attention Executive function improves. Focus sharpens. Mental readiness increases. ↓ Learning New neural pathways strengthen through repetition and experience. Knowledge becomes skill. ↓ Recovery Sleep, regulation, and restoration allow the brain and body to rebuild. Recovery isn't the opposite of growth. Recovery is what makes growth possible. ↓ Adaptation The nervous system becomes more efficient. The cardiovascular system becomes stronger. Metabolism improves. The brain becomes more resilient. The body becomes more capable. ↓ Performance Performance isn't a single event. It's a capacity. The ability to think clearly. Learn faster. Recover better. Move more efficiently. Lead with greater confidence. ↓ Confidence Success reinforces belief. Belief increases motivation. Confidence encourages us to move again. And the cycle repeats. The Movement Loop doesn't end with performance. Performance creates confidence. Confidence inspires more movement. And every repetition builds a stronger brain and a stronger body. Throughout this phase we'll explore every step of this loop with some of the world's leading experts. Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Performance changes your life. The Experts EP 403 — Dr. Chuck Hillman & Paul Zientarski Movement is the Trigger We'll discover why exercise is one of the most powerful ways to prepare the brain for learning through BDNF, executive function, cognition, and academic performance. Key takeaway: Every adaptation begins with movement. EP 404 — Dr. John Ratey The Brain Adapts We'll revisit the groundbreaking work from his book Spark to understand how exercise literally rewires the brain through neuroplasticity and prepares us for learning. Key takeaway: Exercise changes the brain before it changes performance. EP 405 — Kristen Holmes Adaptation Happens During Recovery We'll explore why sleep, recovery, nervous system regulation, and capacity building determine whether the body actually adapts. This is also where I'll share my own WHOOP data—including recovery trends, resting heart rate, and biological age—to show how adaptation becomes measurable. Key takeaway: Recovery builds capacity. Consistency creates adaptation. EP 406 — Dr. John Medina Learning Creates Better Performance Attention, memory, and learning science come together to explain how movement-supported learning becomes real-world performance. Key takeaway: What we learn shapes how we perform. EP 407 — Jason Whitrock Adaptation Changes the Body We'll explore metabolic health, brain energy, body composition, VO₂ Max, and performance capacity while connecting the neuroscience of movement with measurable physiological adaptation. This is where I'll bring together my own data on muscle gain, fat loss, cardiovascular fitness, and healthy aging. Key takeaway: Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Together they transform performance. Bonus Episodes Throughout Phase 3 I'll also be sharing several bonus episodes using my own health data as a living case study. We'll explore: Why recovery is built—not found (so we need to build it into our day strategically). The story behind my resting heart rate. How adaptation changed my body. How it works when you Move Today so you can become Younger Tomorrow. Restorative Sleep Sleep Stress These episodes connect neuroscience to real-world data and show what happens when consistent habits become measurable biological change. Because neuroscience isn't just something we study. It's something we can measure. It's something we can experience. And ultimately... it's something we can use to become healthier... stronger... more resilient... and more capable throughout every stage of life. Key Takeaways for Today Movement is the input. (what we do) Every meaningful change begins with movement. It prepares the brain for learning by increasing blood flow, oxygen, and neurochemicals like BDNF that support attention, learning, and neuroplasticity. The actions we choose every day that provide the brain and body with a stimulus for change. Movement Exercise Walking Strength training Recovery habits Nutrition Sleep Adaptation is the process. The workout doesn't change you. Your body's response during recovery does. Every period of quality sleep, recovery, and restoration is an opportunity for your brain and body to become stronger and more efficient. Adaptation — What Happens The brain and body respond to those inputs by becoming more efficient and more capable. Neuroplasticity Increased BDNF Stronger neural pathways Improved cardiovascular fitness Muscle repair and growth Better metabolic health Nervous system regulation Performance is the output. High performance isn't something we find—it's something we build. Every repetition of the Movement Loop increases your capacity to learn, lead, recover, and perform. Output — The Result The measurable improvements we experience because of adaptation. Better focus Faster learning Higher energy Greater resilience Lower resting heart rate Improved VO₂ Max Better body composition Higher performance Greater healthspan What gets measured becomes visible. Tracking meaningful metrics—such as recovery, resting heart rate, VO₂ Max, sleep, or body composition—helps you see adaptations that would otherwise go unnoticed and reinforces the habits creating them. Your brain and body are one interconnected system. Better thinking, stronger physical health, emotional resilience, and sustained performance all emerge from the same biological process of movement, adaptation, and continuous growth. Tips to Implement This Week ✓ Move with purpose every day. Aim for 30–60 minutes of purposeful movement—whether it's a brisk walk, strength training, cycling, yoga, or hiking. Remember, consistency matters more than intensity. Every movement is a signal to your brain and body to adapt. A walk after dinner, when kept consistent, can have an incredible impact on your overall health improvement. You don't need to go all out for results to show up. Start paying attention to your body's signals. You don't need a WHOOP or smartwatch to begin. Simply notice how you feel before and after movement. Ask yourself: Do I think more clearly? Is my mood better? Do I have more energy? Am I sleeping better? Your body is always giving you feedback. Learn to listen. ✓ Protect your recovery. Treat tonight's sleep as part of today's workout. Prioritize restorative sleep, manage stress, and allow your brain and body the time they need to repair, rebuild, and become stronger. We are all at different stages here. This one is always a work in progress for me. I ran into someone I used to see every Saturday on the hiking trails this morning, and I asked him where he had been, or if he was hiking at a different time. I used to see him like clockwork and I noticed he wasn't there as usual. He told me that he was protecting his sleep, and worked out indoors more when the weather was getting hot. In order to beat the heat in AZ, early mornings are the best time for this, but this guy knew to protect his recovery. I thought it was brilliant that he was able to practice what he knew to be important. ✓ Measure one meaningful metric. Choose one health measure—such as your resting heart rate, sleep quality, daily steps, recovery score, or VO₂ Max—and observe how it changes over time. You're not looking for perfection; you're looking for patterns that reveal adaptation. I'll share what I noticed over time on our bonus episodes by watching certain metrics. This has been one of my biggest discoveries. For years I assumed harder was always better. But when I compared my data…you can see 2 of my data charts in the show notes. I found something surprising. A long hike and a morning walk created very different responses. My hikes pushed my cardiovascular system into higher heart-rate zones. My walks kept me primarily in Zone 1 while reducing stress and supporting recovery. Both improved my health. They simply trained different systems. Instead of asking… “Was today's workout hard enough?” Ask… “What system am I training today?” ✓ Move before you think. Before beginning a challenging project, studying for an exam, or making an important decision, spend five to ten minutes moving your body. Then notice how your focus, mood, creativity, and mental clarity improve. ✓ Think in loops, not isolated workouts. Instead of asking, "Did I exercise today?" ask yourself: "How did I support tomorrow's brain today?" Every walk. Every workout. Every healthy meal. Every recovery day. Every night of restorative sleep. Each one is another step around the Movement Loop—helping your brain learn, your body adapt, and your performance improve over time. Review & Conclusion Review and Conclude EP 402, Phase 3: Movement, Adaptation & Performance. As we close today, I hope you're (like I did) beginning to see movement differently. Not simply as exercise. Or to burn calories. Not simply as another item on your to-do list. But as the biological signal that tells your brain and body it's time to grow. Throughout Phase 3, we'll discover that movement does far more than strengthen muscles. It sharpens attention. It accelerates learning. It builds resilience. It strengthens the nervous system. It improves recovery. And over time, it transforms both the brain and the body through the remarkable process of adaptation. This season isn't about becoming an elite athlete. It's about becoming someone who understands how lasting performance is built. Together, we'll explore one simple but powerful truth: Movement is the input (what we do) Adaptation is the process (what happens when we do it) Performance is the output (what we get from doing it) Then the cycle begins again. That's the Movement Loop. Every walk. Every workout. Every night of restorative sleep. Every healthy choice. Every recovery day. Each one is another opportunity to build a stronger brain, a healthier body, and a greater capacity to learn, lead, and perform. Because when movement changes the brain... the brain changes the body. And when the brain and body begin working together... performance is no longer something we chase. It's something we build— one movement, one recovery, one adaptation, one day at a time. Next week, we'll begin our journey around the Movement Loop with EP 403, revisiting Dr. Chuck Hillman and Paul Zientarski, where we'll discover why every lasting transformation begins with movement—and why a single step today can change the trajectory of our brain, our health, and our performance tomorrow. Thank you for joining me, and I'll see you next week. RESOURCES: Phase 1 Anchor Episodes Episode 384 — Dr. Baland Jalal Curiosity, Sleep & Imagination → How curiosity, sleep, and imagination prepare the brain for learning and creativity. Episode 385 — Dr. Bruce Perry Trauma, Rhythm & Relational Safety → Why regulation and safety are the foundation for learning and performance. Episode 386 — Thoryn Stephens Biometrics & Performance → Turning HRV, sleep, and metabolic data into actionable performance strategies. Episode 387 — Dr. Sui Wong Lifestyle Medicine & Brain Health → How autonomic balance and healthy habits build long-term brain resilience. Episode 388 — Rohan Dixit HRV & Self-Regulation → Developing nervous system awareness through real-time biofeedback and HRV. Phase 2 Anchor Episodes Episode 393 — Bob Proctor Belief → Why our beliefs determine the actions we take and the results we create. Episode 394 — Dr. Caroline Leaf Thought Patterns → How our thoughts shape neurochemistry, behavior, and long-term performance. Episode 395 — Dr. John Medina Attention & Reward → Why attention determines what the brain values, remembers, and learns. Episode 396 — Dr. Anna Lembke Neurochemistry & Reinforcement → How dopamine reinforces behavior and why sustainable motivation matters more than borrowed dopamine. Episode 397 — Dr. Chuck Hillman Movement & Brain Activation → How physical movement prepares the brain for learning, focus, and performance. Episode 398 — Dr. Friederike Fabritius Neuroleadership & Energy → How to manage brain energy and sustain high performance over time. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 384 “How Learning Begins in the Brain: Sleep, Safety and Curiosity (Revisiting Dr. Baland Jalal) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/hypnagogic-genius-capture-your-best-ideas-at-the-edge-of-sleep/
In this not-to-miss episode of Do Good to Lead Well, I am joined by Marcus Buckingham—the world's foremost expert on human strengths and engagement—for a candid, data-rich conversation about bringing love into leadership. Drawing on his latest book, Marcus redefines love for the modern workplace: not as romance, but as an intentional design for human flourishing and extraordinary results.Our conversation begins with the deeply personal, as Marcus shares the vulnerability and lessons he learned after selling his beloved company, sparking a compelling case for why “designing love in” must be at the core of modern organizations.He also directly challenges the widespread myths that love makes organizations weak or leaders soft. Instead, tough love emerges as a vital force; sometimes the most loving thing a leader can do is share hard truths or make difficult calls. This episode dives into the real-world consequences of unloving practices like inefficient handoffs or unmanageable spans of control, offering concrete strategies for leaders to build truly vibrant, trust-filled cultures.Whether you're a CEO who wants to transform your organization a team leader wanting to create an environment where you people flourish, this episode provides an evidence-based blueprint. Discover why love is the ultimate performance driver and how you can start designing it into how you lead today.What You'll Learn- The power of love at work.- Redefining love in organizations.- From 'OK' to 'I Love It': The J-Curve of Experience.- Tough love: The role of accountability.- What are loving and unloving practices at work?- The ABCs of leading with love (Authenticity, Beliefs, Customs)Podcast Timestamps(00:02) - Introduction and Origin Story(02:17) - Vulnerability and Lessons from Selling a Business(06:00) - The Business Case for Designing Love In(11:22) - Defining Love in Organizations(17:11) - The Critical Importance of “Fives”(23:18) - Loving and Unloving Workplace Practices(32:11) - Tough Love and Accountability(36:17) - The ABCs of Leading with Love(44:02) - Rebuilding Trust and The Five Feelings of Love(51:07) - The Future of Designing Loving ExperiencesKEYWORDSPositive Leadership, Human Performance, Gallup, StrengthsFinder, Business Case for Love, Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement, Workplace Love, Trust, Team Building, Positive Experiences, Spans of Control, Loving Handoffs in Customer Service, Customer Loyalty, Authenticity, Tough Love, Human Flourishing, Loving and Unloving Practices, CEO Success
Welcome Back to the WHOOP Podcast's Science of Human Performance Series! This week, WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance and Principal Scientist Dr. Kristen Holmes sits down with WHOOP SVP of Research, Algorithms, and Data Emily Capodilupo for a deep dive into the science behind the WHOOP Sleep Score and the habits that have the biggest impact on restorative sleep.Emily explains why sleep consistency is one of the strongest predictors of performance, recovery, and long-term health, and walks through the four metrics that make up your WHOOP Sleep Score: sleep duration, consistency, efficiency, and sleep stress. Together, Dr. Holmes and Emily unpack how nutrition, exercise, alcohol, stress, and your daily routines influence sleep quality, share practical strategies for falling asleep and staying asleep, and discuss how poor sleep can sometimes be an early signal of underlying health issues.Whether you're looking to better understand your WHOOP data or simply wake up feeling more rested, this episode offers a science-backed framework for building healthier sleep habits that last.01:11 How WHOOP Built The Sleep Algorithm02:17 The 4 Pillars of Sleep: Duration, Consistency, Efficiency, & Stress03:20 The Secret To You Best Night's Sleep: Sleep Consistency08:06 Sleep Efficiency Explained11:38 Impact of Alcohol on Sleep Quality18:01: How Your Day Shapes Your Night19:34: Exclusive Offer For WHOOP Podcast Listeners20:07: How Sleep Stress Impacts How Rested You Feel24:08: Is Your Sleep Normal?25:48: Why Sedatives Don't Actually Make You Sleep Better26:59: Defining and Combatting The 2 Types of Insomnia28:57: Light Timing: Benefits of Red Light Therapy on Sleep 30:57: Winding Down Before Sleep: Breathwork & Stress Reduction34:07: Understand Your Health with WHOOP Advanced Labs34:41: Impact of Exercise on Your Ability to Fall Asleep 42:40: How to Prepare for Sleep & Stay Asleep44:28: What Your Lab Results Can Tell You About Sleep 53:40: Creating Contrast Between Day and NightSupport the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
Jim Carrey wrote a cheque to himself for ten million dollars when he was a broke, unknown actor. Sara Blakely visualised a billion-dollar business and an Oprah appearance before either was remotely plausible. Easy to dismiss as coincidence. Harder to dismiss once you understand what an fMRI shows when a person runs a scenario in their mind. Andrew May breaks down the neuroscience behind why mental rehearsal works, and why leaders who ignore it are leaving a genuine performance edge on the table. Use Code "PQPODCAST10" to get 10% off your Lumo Coffee order:https://lumocoffee.com/ Interested in sharing your story? Email Producer Shannon at support@performanceintelligence.com today with your story and contact details. Learn more about Andrew and Performance Intelligence: https://performanceintelligence.com/Find out more about Andrew's Keynotes : https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/Follow Andrew May: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmay/Watch the Performance Intelligence Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@performanceintelligencepodcastIf you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.
Niall Moyna, Professor of Clinical Exercise Physiology from the School of Health and Human Performance in DCU, explains how that heart attack at age 60 could have started when you were 20-years-old, but that it's never too late to start working on your exercise and nutrition. He also discusses biological age tests.
Send us Fan MailThis week's EP 482 is a solocast. Just me updating you, the listener on all things life of Scotty. It's been an interesting last three months. Big changes. Just took a role as Head of Rehab for the Cirque du Soleil, and it's been an interesting shift in life and focus. I'm hoping I can still continue to do this podcast with the same level of guests and storytelling, and that you, the listener, will continue to love what you listen to each week. Please enjoy this little update, and we'll be back with another powerful guest next week! If you liked this EP, please take the time to rate and comment, share with a friend, and connect with us on social channels IG @Kingopain, TW @BuiltbyScott, LI+FB Scott Livingston. You can find all things LYM at www.LYMLab.com, download your free Life Lab Starter Kit today and get busy living https://lymlab.com/free-lym-lab-starter/Please take the time to visit and connect with our sponsors, they are an essential part of our success:www.ReconditioningHQ.comwww.FreePainGuide.com
In this episode of What Are You Made Of?, Tracy Duhs joins Mike "C-Roc" to challenge everything you thought you knew about hydration, wellness, and optimizing your health. A wellness educator, hydration expert, and host of the acclaimed HYDRATE Podcast, Tracy shares how a lifetime of health struggles—from growing up surrounded by pesticides to a life-threatening pregnancy caused by an undiagnosed mineral imbalance—led her to dedicate her life to understanding the true science of hydration.Mike C-Roc and Tracy explore why drinking more water isn't always the answer, the critical difference between intracellular and extracellular hydration, and how minerals, water quality, and cellular health impact everything from brain function and energy to longevity and performance. Tracy also explains why structured water, spring water, and proper mineral balance play a much bigger role in wellness than most people realize, while offering practical ways anyone can improve their hydration at home.The conversation also dives into biohacking, creatine, frequency medicine, and the importance of mastering the foundational habits that drive long-term health rather than chasing the latest wellness trends. Tracy shares how she transitioned from real estate investing to building a personal brand and educating millions about restorative wellness, proving that sometimes our greatest challenges become our greatest purpose.If you're looking to boost your energy, sharpen your mind, improve your health, and rethink one of the most overlooked aspects of human performance, this episode is packed with eye-opening insights and actionable takeaways.Website-https://tracyduhs.comSocial Media Links/Handles: https://www.instagram.com/tracyduhs/?hl=enhttps://www.youtube.com/user/DuhsTracy
Dr Nick Tiller, author of The Health and Wellness Lie, joined Philip Clark to explain how supplements, fad diets and unproven biohacks are marketed to exploit consumer biases.
If We Built It From Scratch — Drew and Alex Redesign Military Human PerformanceNo guest. No plan. Just Drew and Alex with keys to the kingdom. If you handed us the whole thing tomorrow, what would we actually change?MOPs & MOEs is proudly sponsored by Teamworks — the performance operations platform trusted by elite military units and professional sports organizations worldwide. Teamworks brings your scheduling, communications, athlete monitoring, and readiness data into one unified system — so your leaders stay informed, your people stay connected, and your unit stays ready. No more scattered spreadsheets or missed messages. Just one platform built for organizations where performance is the mission. Learn more at https://teamworks.com/Also supported by TrainHeroic — the coaching and programming platform built for strength and conditioning coaches who train serious athletes. Whether you're programming for a military unit, a tactical team, or individual athletes, TrainHeroic gives you the tools to build and deliver professional training programs, track athlete progress, and communicate directly with your people — all through one app. Your athletes get world-class programming on their phone; you get the visibility to actually coach them. Start your free trial at https://account.trainheroic.com/create-accountWhat we get into:Coach pay comes first. The DOD is on track to become the largest employer of strength and conditioning professionals in the world, which means contracting companies will be too. The contracting model is a race to the bottom on price, with staff salaries absorbing the cuts. That has to change.The five pillars get a rebrand — move, eat, think, recover, connect. Why dropping a dedicated spiritual pillar doesn't mean spirituality doesn't matter — it just means it's woven into everything else.Branding and marketing are undervalued. Embedded human performance has to compete for attention in a way that S1 never does. Drew's pitch: hand the whole thing to an ad agency and see what happens.The personal services contract problem, explained plainly. Coaches meet every FAR criterion for personal services but get treated as non-personal services. Cleaning this up would mean better pay, better working conditions, and actually being able to choose who you hire.GS billets for lead coaches — at minimum the lead strength coach and athletic trainer should be government employees with real career progression, same pay grade as the PT and dietitian.The coach-NCO relationship. Coaches exist to transport people from A to B — that's literally where the word comes from: a 15th century Hungarian horse-drawn carriage. Some coaches are getting fired for leading PT sessions. That's insane.Extender courses are teaching the wrong things. Periodization and physiology when people actually need interpersonal skills and session flow management.Data — stop making it the mission. Just watch what happens to the numbers that justified these programs in the first place.Wearables — a closet full of devices, service members pick what they like, a small subset of data flows to the HP team for trend monitoring and outlier detection, nobody touches a custom military interface.Policy — the Randolph Sheppard Act of 1936 and military dining, credentialing through MTFs vs operational leadership, and why language in DODI 1308.03 may have killed the original ACFT.Mentioned in this episode:Ben Bergeron — move, eat, think, recover, connect frameworkKat Oswald — recent podcast guest, helped implement the five factors at Alex's day jobRachel Chamberlain — community-based blueprinting, podcast appearance incomingDODI 1308.3 — DOD physical fitness and body composition program instructionRandolph Shepherd Act, 1936 — federal law governing vending and dining on government propertyLong and Strong — the Mops and Moes training program on TrainHeroic Views expressed are those of the speakers and do not represent any official organization.
Seller productivity is being redefined in real time, and the divide is no longer about effort or experience. In this segment, Alex Varel shares a grounded look at how AI is already reshaping the role, from a RevOps leader training multiple agents in a single weekend to the expectation that sellers will augment their own output. The conversation highlights a growing reality for revenue teams: those who get hands-on with AI will operate at a different level, while those who don't risk falling behind faster than they expect. Alex Varel is EVP of Worldwide Sales at Cerebras Systems, where he leads global go-to-market efforts at the forefront of AI infrastructure. He has built and scaled high-performing teams across MongoDB, Zscaler, and Multiverse, driving growth through IPO, hyper-scale expansion, and emerging technology shifts. Connect with Alex: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell "AI Superpowers" by Kai-Fu Lee “Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson "No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy “The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley” by Jimmy Soni Listen to the full episode: How AI Is Rewriting the Sales Playbook and Raising the Bar on Human Performance with Alex Varel Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management
In episode 401 Andrea Samadi welcomes Greg Hill to explore why trust is the essential foundation for learning, growth, and high performance. They discuss how trust creates psychological safety, encourages risk-taking and creativity, and acts as a multiplier for organizational results. Greg shares practical leadership practices—truthfulness, consistency, competence, and genuine care—and personal stories about marathon training to show how movement builds confidence and supports clear thinking, resilience, and sustained motivation. This episode launches Phase 3: Movement, Adaptation, and Learning in the podcast's brain operating system series. Welcome back to Season 16 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and on this podcast, we bridge the science behind social and emotional learning, emotional intelligence, and practical neuroscience so we can create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, productivity, and results. Watch the full YouTube interview here https://youtu.be/kfvSFMQZ3dk On EP 401, You Will Learn: ✔ Why trust is the foundation of learning, growth, and high performance. ✔ How psychological safety changes the brain, reducing threat and increasing engagement. ✔ Why great leaders create environments where people feel safe enough to learn, take risks, and perform at their best. ✔ How trust influences attention, confidence, decision-making, and long-term success. ✔ The connection between movement, trust, and the brain's readiness to learn as we launch Phase 3: Movement, Learning & Cognition. ✔ Practical leadership strategies from Greg Hill to build trust with your team, family, classroom, or organization. Before the brain can learn, grow, adapt, or perform at its highest level, it must first feel safe enough to trust. In this episode, Greg Hill explains why trust is the hidden foundation of every high-performing individual and team. Trust → Engagement → Movement → Brain Activation → Attention → Learning → Memory → Performance → Confidence. Over the past several months, we've been building what I've called The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. In Phase 1, we explored Regulation and Safety, learning why the brain performs best when the nervous system feels regulated, balanced, and secure. In Phase 2, we examined Motivation and Neurochemistry, uncovering what drives action, what sustains effort, and what breaks the motivation loop. Next we will move into Phase 3: Movement, Adaptation and Learning. The theme for Phase 3 did change and I'll explain that once we dive into EP 403. But before we can get there, we are going to go a bit deeper into something the brain needs to feel safe: trust. EP 401 — Trust: The Foundation of Learning Question: What must happen before learning or any change can occur? Trust → Safety → Engagement → Action → Learning Before movement changes the brain, the brain must feel safe enough to engage. With Trust. Because trust creates psychological safety. Safety creates engagement. Engagement creates action. And action creates learning. When trust is present, people are more willing to take risks, embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and move beyond what is comfortable. When trust is absent, the brain shifts its energy toward protection rather than growth. We've explored the importance of trust before on this podcast. Back on EP 207[i], we spoke with Greg Link, co-founder of the Covey Leadership Center and founder of FranklinCovey's Global Speed of Trust Practice. Greg Link shared how trust accelerates relationships, strengthens organizations, and serves as a multiplier for performance. Today's conversation takes that idea one step further. Throughout my career, whenever I've met someone who consistently brings out the very best in others, I've wanted to understand why. What are they doing differently? What principles guide them? How do they create environments where people feel safe enough to grow, learn, and perform at their highest levels? That's why I invited today's guest, Greg Hill, to join us. I've had the opportunity to work directly with Greg for over a year and a half, and one thing stood out immediately: I always knew that Greg trusted me to do my best work. That trust wasn't something we talked about. It was something he demonstrated. I felt it every day. Over time, I began to notice that this wasn't unique to my experience. Greg seemed to create the same environment for everyone around him. People wanted to do their best work, not because they had to, but because they felt trusted, valued, and supported by him. It made me curious. Was there something deeper happening beneath the surface? Could trust be one of the hidden factors that unlocks learning, growth, confidence, and high performance? Greg Hill is a respected leader, mentor, and trusted advisor who has spent years helping people and organizations reach their highest potential through relationships built on trust, accountability, and genuine human connection. Today, we'll explore the neuroscience of trust, its connection to leadership and performance, and why trust may be one of the most important foundations for learning, growth, and human potential. As we launch Phase 3, you'll hear why trust may be the bridge between motivation and action, and why people are often willing to enter the learning cycle only when they feel safe enough to take the first step. Welcome to Episode 401. Let's meet Greg Hill. Greg Hill, welcome to the podcast, and thank you for joining me. I've been looking forward to this conversation for quite some time because I've experienced firsthand the impact you've had on people around you, and today I'd love to explore some of the principles you've learned over the years that have helped you build trust, develop leaders, and bring out the best in others. Question #1 Greg, when most people hear the word trust, they think about whether they trust another person (in relationship to them). But I've always wondered if trust begins long before that. What do you believe are the foundations of trust, and what is it about certain leaders that makes people naturally feel safe enough to trust them? Question #2 Why is trust so important for performance? Stephen R Covey said that “trust is the one thing that affects everything else you're doing. It's a performance multiplier and it takes your trajectory upwards.” Why do you think this happens? Why do we perform best when we are in an environment where trust exists? Also, what happens when trust is absent? Question #3 We've spent the past season exploring regulation, safety, motivation, and performance. I wonder how do you foster trust and safety with those you work with? Is it an intentional part of your philosophy, or is it just something that comes naturally to you? Question #4 (Movement Connection) As we launch our phase on Movement, Adaptation and Learning, I couldn't help but notice that many high-performing leaders seem to have some form of movement practice in their lives. For me it's hiking mountains. For you it was marathon running. What role has movement played in helping you think clearly, manage stress, make decisions, and perform at your best throughout your career? Final Question As we begin this new phase focused on movement, adaptation and learning, What is one thing every leader, educator, parent, or coach can do right away to build more trust and create an environment where people can learn, grow, and perform at their best? Thank you, Greg, I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts on trust and leadership as we launch Phase 3 of our podcast. Your ideas have helped to explain why people are willing to enter the learning cycle in the first place, with trust that reduces threat, increases attention, strengthens relationships, and creates the conditions for growth. You've been an incredible mentor and leader in my life and I'm grateful that we are able to stay in touch. Final Thoughts Next week, we'll begin Phase 3: Movement, Adaptation and how this all ties into our performance, exploring what happens after engagement occurs and how movement literally changes the brain's ability to learn, remember, think, and perform. Because when trust creates safety, movement creates change. If Phase 1 taught us how to regulate the brain, and Phase 2 taught us what motivates the brain, today's episode showed us what creates the conditions for growth. Trust reduces threat and opens the door to learning. Next episode (in 2 more weeks), we'll discover what happens when movement steps through that door and begins changing the brain itself. See you the middle of July. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 207 with Greg Link on “Unleashing Greatness with Neuroscience, SEL, Trust and the 7 Habits” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/co-founder-of-coveylink-greg-link-on-unleashing-greatness-with-neuroscience-sel-trust-and-the-7-habits/
Welcome to the Science of Human Performance Series where we are breaking down the key metric for you to improve your fitness. This week, we're unpacking Strain with WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance, Principal Scientist Dr. Kristen Holmes and WHOOP Staff Research Scientist Dr. Greg Grosicki. Together, Dr. Holmes and Dr. Grosicki explore how both cardiovascular and musculoskeletal load are taken into account when measuring a member's daily strain to help balance training, recovery, and build long-term fitness. The conversation explains the influence of WHOOP Strain on overall fitness goals, from improving fitness to supporting weight management, and increasing VO₂ max. This episode will give practical guidance on your training routine, helping you build the habits necessary for performance, healthspan, and longevity. (00:00) Looking To Gain Fitness? WHOOP Strain Can Help(01:25) What is Strain?(02:07) How Does WHOOP Measure Strain?(03:21) What Is The Neuromuscular System – Why Does It Matter For Strain? (03:57) How Does WHOOP Measure Musculoskeletal Load?(08:09) Creating Impactful Strain Recommendations: WHOOP Coach(11:16) Exclusive Offer For WHOOP Podcast Listeners(11:50) Why Is Strain Measured on a 21-Point Scale?(16:37) The Power of Consistency: Improving Fitness By Following Strain Coach(23:21) Refer A Friend: Get 2 Months Free!(23:56) Is Strain The Biggest Lever For Improving Cardio Health? (24:57) How To Improve Strain (Habits For Busy Individuals)(27:03) Focussing on Heart Rate Zones(29:32) What Does VO2 Max Tell About Strain?(32:21) Building A Fitness Routine: Is Changing Strain Activities More Effective?(39:06) Exclusive WHOOP Advanced Labs Offer(39:40) Can You Still See Fitness Gains With High Strain & Low Recovery? (41:01) Greg & Kristen's Go-To Strain Activities For Fitness(44:50) Thanks For Listening: New Member Offer & WHOOP Apparel & Accessories DiscountSupport the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
On this episode of What Are You Made Of?, Mike “C-Roc” sits down with Dr. Nicole Rakowski, a PhD-trained health expert, IFBB Professional Athlete, internationally recognized speaker, and science-driven leader in the world of fitness, longevity, hormones, body composition, and human optimization. Dr. Nicole shares the mindset, discipline, and resilience that have fueled her journey from the daughter of hardworking Polish immigrants to becoming a globally respected authority featured on the BBC front page and recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 NYC Journal honoree. Together, they dive into sustainable fitness routines, the truth about “muscle confusion,” balancing intensity with recovery, and the non-negotiable habits that drive long-term performance. The conversation also explores the role of adversity in building character, raising resilient children, and how discipline—not motivation—creates extraordinary results. Packed with practical health insights and powerful life lessons, this episode is a masterclass on pushing past limitations, embracing challenges, and intentionally building a stronger body, mind, and life.Social Media Links/Handles:https://www.instagram.com/drnicolerakowski/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-rakowski/
Red and near-infrared light may be the most underestimated recovery tool in your environment, and the science behind what it actually does inside your cells is far more compelling than the wellness industry gives it credit for. Scott Chaverri didn't set out to build one of the leading red light therapy companies in the country. He was a burnt-out caregiver looking for anything that would help him sleep and function after two years of watching his son fight cancer. He found red light therapy in 2017 and noticed real changes. When the price of adding more panels shocked him, he decided to build his own. Mito Red Light did a million dollars in sales its first year. The science behind photobiomodulation is worth understanding. Red and near-infrared wavelengths penetrate several centimeters into the body and act directly on the mitochondria, accelerating ATP production and triggering downstream effects that include better circulation, reduced inflammation, and a meaningful boost in cellular melatonin. A study on elite female basketball players found serum melatonin levels rose 67% after a single 30-minute session, which lines up with the number one piece of feedback Mito receives from customers: better sleep. Scott's broader argument reframes the whole conversation too. Modern humans spend roughly 93% of their time indoors, and much of what red light therapy accomplishes is correcting a light deficiency most people don't know they have. For the biohacking crowd chasing marginal gains, that reframe matters. Dr. Fix brings a clinician's perspective throughout, connecting photobiomodulation to the laser and dry needling work at PhysioRoom and asking the questions practitioners actually want answered: dosing, distance, timing, device selection, and when a panel outperforms a mask. The episode also gets into the single biggest reason people return their devices without ever giving them a real shot, and it has nothing to do with the technology. Quotes “Modern humans have very indoor lifestyles and they're sunlight deficient." (08:44 | Scott Chaverri) "If the cells have more energy at their disposal, they can do their jobs better. And so theoretically, any cell that has mitochondria, which is every cell in the human body except red blood cells, has the potential to benefit from exposure to these wavelengths of light due to that increased ATP production." (11:36 | Scott Chaverri) "We're spending 93% of our time indoors. And so when they correct the deficiency, they notice that they're feeling better, they sleep better, whatever the case is." (09:01 | Scott Chaverri) "We just giving it a little bit more energy so it can do its job. It knows what to do. Just have to give it what it needs." (21:50 | Scott Chaverri) "The sun rises. We're meant to get copious amounts of red and infrared light at dawn. It's the reason why the sky is red at sunrise and sunset, because that's the only wavelengths that are reaching us. And so that is like the signal to wake up." (1:01:40 | Scott Chaverri) Connect with Scott Chaverri: Visit The Mito Red Light Website Red Light Therapy (@mitoredlightofficial) Scott worked for several Fortune 500 companies, in the business services, medical device, financial services and ecommerce industries. Having dealt with health challenges in childhood and early adulthood, Scott has always been passionate about all things health and wellness. Constantly learning, tinkering and evolving, his goal is to build Mito Red Light Inc into a preeminent health and wellness company empowering people with tools and information to optimize their performance and maximize their health spans. SideKick Tool Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board 15% off Promo Code: DRA15 RAD Roller Revogreen HYDRAGUN Athletic Brewing 20% off: ANDREWF20 Connect with Physio Room: Visit the Physio Room Website Follow Physio Room on Instagram Follow Physio Room on Facebook Andrew's Personal Instagram Andrew's Personal Facebook Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
MOPs & MOEs is proudly sponsored by Teamworks — the performance operations platform trusted by elite military units and professional sports organizations worldwide. Teamworks brings your scheduling, communications, athlete monitoring, and readiness data into one unified system — so your leaders stay informed, your people stay connected, and your unit stays ready. No more scattered spreadsheets or missed messages. Just one platform built for organizations where performance is the mission. Learn more at teamworkstactical.comWe are also supported by TrainHeroic — the coaching and programming platform built for strength and conditioning coaches who train serious athletes. Whether you're programming for a military unit, a tactical team, or individual athletes, TrainHeroic gives you the tools to build and deliver professional training programs, track athlete progress, and communicate directly with your people — all through one app. Your athletes get world-class programming on their phone; you get the visibility to actually coach them. Start your free trial at trainheroic.comNavy Human Performance Is Coming — Commander Kevin Bernstein ReturnsKevin Bernstein is back for round two, fresh into a brand new role as Director of Human Performance for naval aviation on the East Coast. He's six weeks into building something the Navy has never had: a real program of record for the sailors flying, fixing, and fighting from carriers and squadrons across the fleet.What we get into:Why Navy's body composition data is the worst of any service, and why basic readiness tasks like firefighting and damage control on a ship demand a level of fitness the current PT test doesn't measure.The staffing model Kevin's building, borrowed from what's already worked at Naval Special Warfare — sports medicine physicians, physical therapists, strength coaches, dietitians, and cognitive specialists all under one roof, no turf wars, all reporting to the operator's needs.Why staffing needs differ wildly by platform — fighter jets versus cargo aircraft versus rotary wing all create different injury patterns and demand different specialists, and Kevin's building ratios around that instead of a one-size-fits-all model.The credentialing fight nobody talks about — whether embedded providers get privileged through the local hospital or through service leadership that actually understands the mission, and why that distinction will shape every branch's human performance program going forward.Scope of practice in the field — Kevin's blunt take on doing an ultrasound exam in a squadron space versus a sterile OR, and why "industry standard" sports medicine practice shouldn't get flagged just because it's happening outside a hospital.The Federal Acquisition Regulation deep dive — Drew and Alex make the case for a personal services contract exemption for strength coaches, and Kevin confirms he's quoting the same FAR language in the contracts he's writing right now.The actual rollout plan — POM-29 request for 73 new billets, a phased approach starting with strike fighter wings, and a realistic timeline stretching from 2028 to 2033.A surprisingly deep tangent on Pilates, Joseph Pilates' origin story rehabbing WWI soldiers, and why it might become part of the Navy's spine preservation programming.Mentioned in this episode:WPO — Warfighter Performance Optimization, the Pentagon-level effort referenced throughoutVice Admiral Vi and Rear Admiral Hancock — instrumental in standing up the human performance center at Camp Lejeune's School of Infantry EastLong and Strong — the Mops and Moes training program on TrainHeroic Views expressed are those of the speakers and do not represent any official organization.
Ray'n Terry, Chief People Officer at MOO, joined us on The Modern People Leader to discuss why AI should create more space for humanity at work instead of simply increasing productivity. We talked about balancing business performance with employee wellbeing, rethinking performance management in an AI-powered world, and why leaders must intentionally help people reclaim time, creativity, and connection.---- Sponsor Links:
Unlocking the Power of Walking: Feet, Movement, and Health. This episode dives deep into how something as simple as walking is a foundational pillar for health, longevity, and overall well-being. Dr. Karen Litzy welcomes expert insights from Dr. Courtney Conley and Dr. Melissa McDowell, you'll learn practical strategies to optimize foot health, rethink footwear choices, and incorporate walking into everyday life for maximum benefit. In this episode: · Why walking is considered a sixth vital sign and what it means for health assessment · The evidence-based optimal step range and busting myths around 10,000 steps · How foot strength and proper footwear influence pain, injury, and longevity · The biochemistry of walking and its effects on hormones, brain health, and disease prevention · Strategies clinicians and individuals can use to operationalize walking as a therapeutic and preventive tool · Challenging misconceptions about shoes, orthotics, and barefoot walking Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Rethinking walking as a vital sign and its importance 02:15 - Walking as a necessity: Beyond exercise, a core biological requirement 03:40 - The myth of 10,000 steps: Evidence-based step targets for different health outcomes 05:04 - Micro walks and ambient activity: How small moments add up 06:31 - Meeting people where they are: Tailoring step goals and activity levels 08:32 - Debunking the 10,000 steps myth and the influence of misinformation 09:56 - The impact of walking on mental health and chronic disease management 11:44 - Foot mechanics and gait: Insights into movement patterns and predicting systemic health 13:15 - The importance of foot strength and preserving foot biomechanics over time 14:32 - Foot health's relationship to fall risk and aging 16:54 - Biological impacts of walking on hormones, brain growth factors, and cognitive function 18:14 - Walking as an intervention for menopause symptoms, depression, and anxiety 19:41 - The power of specific step targets for reducing disease risk 21:01 - How walking should be integrated into chronic pain management 23:34 - The simplicity of behavior change: Making walking accessible for everyone 26:54 - Overcoming pain and fear: Starting with micro walks and building confidence 28:01 - Footwear essentials: Respectting anatomy and choosing proper shoes 30:46 - The influence of shoes on foot health, posture, and systemic health 33:33 - Identifying inappropriate footwear and the role of orthotics 35:45 - Addressing footwear for children and the importance of fit during growth 38:31 - The impact of heel-toe drop and shoe structure on gait and health 41:35 - How indoor shoes and surface changes affect foot and overall health 43:54 - Walking and longevity: Connecting foot strength, fall risk, and lifespan 46:22 - Practical tips for strengthening feet and the dark side of cushioned shoes 50:02 - Tips for clinicians to integrate foot health and walking into practice 53:38 - Business opportunities in community health, workshops, and education 56:23 - Final advice for practitioners interested in promoting walking and foot health 57:59 - The journey of publishing a health-focused book: Tips and encouragement 58:06 - The importance of passion and ongoing learning in health professions 66:35 - Resources, social media, and where to find expert guidance Resources & Links: · Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking and How It Can Improve Your Health and Happiness · Gait Happens - Foot and gait analysis training · Melissa McDowell - Instagram | Website · Courtney Conley Website| Instagram | YouTube More About Dr. Courtney Conley: Dr. Courtney Conley is the founder of Gait Happens, where she pursues her passion for helping as many people as possible reclaim their foot function. As an internationally renowned foot and gait specialist, Dr. Conley teaches both nationally and internationally. She is a chiropractic physician with a BA in Kinesiology, a BA in Human Biology, and a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. Based in Lakewood, CO, Dr. Conley owns and operates Total Health Solutions clinic and Total Health Performance gym, where she leads patient care focused on restoring gait mechanics and resolving foot problems to help people move more easily and pain-free. She is also a founding member of the Healthy Foot Alliance, an international team of practitioners dedicated to promoting the benefits of natural footwear, preventing unnecessary surgeries, and improving foot function to create a stable foundation from the ground up. More about Dr. Milica McDowell: Dr. Milica McDowell holds two Bachelor of Science degrees (Exercise Physiology and Health Promotion, (Montana State University), a master's degree (Physical Therapy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center), and a Doctorate degree (Physical Therapy, Idaho State University). She served as a university faculty member in Human Performance for nearly a decade, has developed numerous medical education curricula and has been an invited speaker on many national stages, including the American Physical Therapy Association and American College of Sports Medicine's conventions. She has been an invited presenter for numerous professional organizations, and she has delivered over 300 educational lectures at state, regional, and national levels. Dr. McDowell founded Clearwater Physical Therapy, Bluebird Medical Supply Company, and co-founded Epic Fitness, 4C Sports Injury Analytics, and CrossFit Send It. In 2023, Dr. McDowell was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in Healthcare by the Women We Admire organization. She has edited textbooks, written several university science courses, and developed professional continuing education courses that are sold in a global marketplace. One of her present interests is the responsible use of AI technologies to produce multimedia learning experiences in professional education. Jane Sponsorship Information: Book a one-on-one demo here Mention the code LITZY1MO for a free month Follow Dr. Karen Litzy on Social Media: Karen's Instagram Karen's LinkedIn Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: YouTube Website Apple Podcast Spotify SoundCloud Stitcher iHeart Radio
Send us Fan MailThis week on Leave Your Mark EP 480, I sit down with Victor Hall, a leader, educator, and coach who has spent more than 25 years helping athletes, coaches, military personnel, and performance professionals reach their potential.Victor currently serves within the Education and Tactical divisions at EXOS, where he helps shape performance systems, coach development, and strategies focused on optimizing readiness, resilience, and long-term performance. His journey, however, began far from elite sport on a family farm in Northern California, where hard work, responsibility, and problem-solving were daily requirements.In this conversation, Victor shares how the loss of his family's farm shaped his perspective on adversity, the accidental path that led him into strength and conditioning, and the lessons he learned while developing from a quiet, introverted young coach into a respected leader within one of the most influential performance organizations in the world.We discuss:• Growing up on a family farm and the lessons that still guide his work today• The challenges of losing the family farm and rebuilding a new future• Finding strength and conditioning by accident• Learning to coach as an introvert• Building meaningful relationships with athletes and coaches• Leadership, management, and personal growth• The impact of parenthood on coaching philosophy• Working in tactical and military performance environments• Balancing career ambitions with family life• The importance of self-awareness and continuous growthVictor brings a thoughtful, grounded perspective to coaching and leadership that will resonate with anyone working in performance, education, sport, business, or life.Enjoy the conversation.If you liked this EP, please take the time to rate and comment, share with a friend, and connect with us on social channels IG @Kingopain, TW @BuiltbyScott, LI+FB Scott Livingston. You can find all things LYM at www.LYMLab.com, download your free Life Lab Starter Kit today and get busy living https://lymlab.com/free-lym-lab-starter/Please take the time to visit and connect with our sponsors, they are an essential part of our success:www.ReconditioningHQ.comwww.FreePainGuide.com
In this episode of the “All Things Endurance Podcast,” host Rick Prince chats with Dana Sowards. Dana holds a Master of Science degree in Nutrition and Human Performance, is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) and is a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD). Rick and Dana chat about what GLP-1s are, their origin and intended demographic, implications for coaches, key considerations for those on GLP-1s, and much more! Below are the specific areas that Rick and Dana chat about during this episode: 1. Could you tell our listeners about yourself and your business?2. What are GLP-1s, and what does GLP-1 stand for?3. What do GLP-1s do in the body?4. What purpose and demographic are they intended for?5. When and why did GLP-1s start being used outside of the specific, intended demographic?6. A lot of people have had weight-loss success with GLP-1s. Are there any downsides?7. Are there any studies on the long-term effects of GLP-1 usage outside of the intended demographic, or is it too new?8. Aside from fat loss, are there any other benefits of GLP-1s?9. GLP-1s are reshaping why people come to the gym, as fat loss is a decreasing reason to work out. That said, how important is weight training for someone on GLP-1s?10. If someone has a “bad” diet while on GLP-1s, will they still lose weight?11. A lot of people do cardiovascular exercise to lose/maintain weight. Do you think that, as more people use GLP-1s, there's a possibility of fewer people doing cardiovascular exercise, leading to an overall less aerobically healthy population?12. What happens when someone stops using GLP-1s? Do you need to wean yourself off, or can you stop cold turkey?13. Do you need to keep increasing the dose of GLP-1s the longer you're on them? To learn more about Dana and her performance nutrition business, please visit: https://www.adashofdana.us/For $75 off a UESCA certification, use code ATE75
Send us Fan MailThis week on Leave Your Mark, I sit down with Chris Chapman, a veteran Strength & Conditioning Coach, Sport Scientist, educator, and outdoor adventurer whose career has spanned eight Olympic quadrennials, multiple sports, and the rapidly evolving world of performance technology.Chris currently serves as the Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach for Canada's Slopestyle and Big Air Freeski Team, while also working as a Sport Scientist with WHOOP. Over the course of our conversation, we explore a career that has taken him from traditional Olympic sport environments to startup culture, innovation, and entrepreneurship.We discuss:• Growing up with dreams of becoming a fighter pilot, video game tester, and martial artist• How martial arts shaped his approach to coaching and life• The role nature plays in his mental health, creativity, and personal growth• Lessons learned working across eight Olympic cycles• Building trust and buy-in with athletes in high-risk sports such as freestyle skiing• Why context matters more than absolutes in coaching• The transition from high-performance sport to the technology sector• Product development, innovation, and the realities of bringing new ideas to market• Mentorship lessons from legendary Canadian coach Chris Delcin• The importance of humility, kindness, and choosing your battles wisely• Why innovation often struggles inside large organizations• His vision for creating a nature-based training and wellness retreat in Northern OntarioChris is thoughtful, reflective, and deeply passionate about helping people perform at their best. Whether you're a coach, therapist, sport scientist, entrepreneur, or simply someone trying to build a meaningful career, there are lessons in this conversation for you.Enjoy the conversation.If you liked this EP, please take the time to rate and comment, share with a friend, and connect with us on social channels IG @Kingopain, TW @BuiltbyScott, LI+FB Scott Livingston. You can find all things LYM at www.LYMLab.com, download your free Life Lab Starter Kit today and get busy living https://lymlab.com/free-lym-lab-starter/Please take the time to visit and connect with our sponsors, they are an essential part of our success:www.ReconditioningHQ.comwww.FreePainGuide.com
How can artificial intelligence unlock the full potential of the human brain and body? In this episode, Thoryn Stephens, Founder & CEO of BRAIN.ONE, explores the cutting edge of brain health, human performance, and longevity, translating advanced science into actionable protocols for everyday optimization. With a 20-year career spanning data science, digital innovation, and consumer behavior—including roles at Cytokinetics, Unilever Prestige, and Fox Networks—Thoryn applies predictive modeling and AI-driven insights to enhance cognition, focus, and overall wellness. His work sits at the intersection of human biology and intelligent machines, helping people live sharper, longer, and more productive lives. In this conversation, we explore: · How AI and health optimization intersect to improve cognition and performance. · Ways behavioral design and personalized technology are reshaping how we think, focus, and age. · Key breakthroughs in AI and human optimization from 2023 and what they mean for the future. · Emerging trends at the convergence of AI, neuroscience, and personalized health. Follow Thoryn Stephens on Instagram @ragearea and connect with him on LinkedIn for updates on AI-driven brain health. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr
Step into a raw, powerful, and deeply embodied conversation about what works… with Grant Dziak, human performance and nervous system strategist, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Grant is the founder of The Forged Method, helping high-functioning individuals stop white-knuckling life and start leading from a regulated, embodied, and deeply self-aware state. His work bridges neuroscience, behavioral change, somatics, and emotional integration with a grounded, no-BS approach to healing and transformation. Grant shares the painful experiences that shaped his path, including growing up with an abusive alcoholic father, being surrounded by strong women he longed to protect, and carrying deep childhood wounds around safety, responsibility, and self-worth. He opens up about the moment he discovered his sister had been assaulted as a child only feet away from him, and how that trauma quietly shaped his nervous system, identity, and relationship with masculinity for years. We explore how his journey began through fitness coaching, but quickly evolved into something far deeper. Grant realized that discipline alone could never override nervous system dysregulation. Some clients followed every protocol yet remained stuck in cycles of stress, sabotage, inflammation, and emotional collapse, while others who felt safer and more connected began transforming effortlessly. That realization became the foundation of his life's work. The conversation moves into intuition, emotional intelligence, and the profound ability to hear what people are not saying. Grant shares how years of understanding his own pain opened an extraordinary capacity to feel others deeply, often sensing hidden truths, suppressed emotions, and unconscious patterns before they were ever spoken aloud. Together, we explore the sacred responsibility of holding space for people to finally tell the truth their body has been carrying. We also dive deeply into nervous system regulation, trauma integration, and the difference between reacting from survival versus responding from presence. Grant explains how regulation is not about suppressing emotion, but about creating enough internal safety to actually feel, process, and integrate what has been stored in the body for years. Together, we unpack how healing requires both self-regulation and safe relationships where the nervous system can finally exhale. We also talk about: -Childhood trauma, hypervigilance, and emotional survival -Masculinity, protection, and learning to feel safe enough to feel -Nervous system regulation versus emotional suppression -Intuition and hearing what people are not saying -Why discipline alone eventually breaks down -Co-regulation, relational healing, and safe attachment -The body's intelligence and survival-based coping patterns -Self-awareness, identity reconstruction, and embodiment -Why pain can become a portal to truth and transformation -Responding versus reacting in relationships and everyday life -Reconnecting to intuition beneath conditioning and fear This episode is a profound reminder that healing is not about becoming someone new. It is about stripping away the layers of protection, coping, and survival that disconnected us from who we already are. Grant's work invites us to stop performing strength and instead cultivate the kind of nervous system safety that allows truth, intimacy, and real transformation to emerge. You can learn more about Grant and his work through The Forged Method and connect with him on social media on Instagram at @grantdziak for teachings on nervous system regulation, embodiment, and human performance. Go deeper with me inside The Intimate World. patreon.com/AllanaPratt #TheIntimateWorld ➡️ Go check out patreon.com/allanapratt for Exclusive content! About Grant: Grant Dziak is a Human Performance and Nervous System Strategist and the founder of The Forged Method, a framework designed to help high-functioning individuals stop white-knuckling life and start leading it from a regulated, embodied state. His work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, behavioral change, and identity reconstruction, helping people understand why discipline alone eventually breaks down and how nervous system dysregulation quietly sabotages performance, relationships, and decision-making. Grant is known for his direct, no-nonsense approach and his core message: you cannot outwork a dysregulated nervous system. Sustainable strength comes from regulation first, not more pressure. Website: https://grantdziak.com Facebook URL https://www.facebook.com/share/1EXwkELPEs/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram URL https://www.instagram.com/grantdziak Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana https://allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW Finding the One is Bullsh*t. Becoming the One is brilliant and beautiful, and ironically the key to attracting your ideal partner. Move beyond the fear of getting hurt again. Register for Become the One Introductory Program. http://allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 to get over 40% off. Let's stay connected: Exclusive Video Newsletter: http://allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram - @allanapratt [ / allanapratt ] Facebook - @coachallanapratt [ / coachallanapratt ]
In this episode of The Big Table Podcast I sit down with Colby Jubenville: a human performance expert, professor, trusted advisor, and co-author of Zebras and Cheetahs for one of the deepest conversations we've had on leadership, identity, burnout, culture, and what really causes people and teams to fail.Colby breaks down the psychology behind bad leadership, why high performers sometimes become toxic, and how unresolved tension destroys organizations from the inside out. We discuss accountability, trust, questions-based leadership, emotional exhaustion, team dysfunction, and why most leaders avoid the hard conversations that actually create growth.We also revisit lessons from our book Zebras and Cheetahs and reflect on over a decade of working together in the business world — from staying in cheap hotels and building consulting businesses to helping leaders scale teams, develop culture, and navigate adversity under pressure.If you're an entrepreneur, leader, coach, executive, athlete, or someone trying to unlock higher performance in life and business, this conversation will challenge the way you think about leadership and human behavior.Chapters:00:00 - Dr. Jubenville02:30 - Zebras and Cheetahs03:50 - How To Stop Workplace Drama06:50 -Toxic High Performers08:31 - The Dysfunction and The Dance13:45 - Asking Questions18:38 - The Big Table19:22 - The Low Hanging Fruit23:30 - Trusted Advisor30:30 - Battle Testing36:45 - People Focus On The Negative40:30 - Zebras and Cheetahs Revisited41:10 - How Did We Get Here43:40 - Like and Subscribe!________________________________Get connected with Coach Burt:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/michealburtTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@therealcoachburtFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/CoachMichealBurtLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michealburtDive deeper with Coach and his concepts:Free PreyDrive Planner: https://planner.coachburt.com/plannerEvents: https://www.thegreatnessfactory.com/eventsJoin Our Group Coaching: https://www.thegreatnessfactory.com/membershipHire Me To Speak: https://www.coachburt.com/bookcoachCheck Out My Books: https://books.coachburt.com/books
We're continuing our conversation on human performance by asking why some performers keep improving under pressure while others hit a ceiling. One of the most powerful answers is curiosity. In this Teamcast, released in partnership with The Emergency Mind Podcast, Dan talks with Marius Aleksa, a performance advisor who has coached elite performers across professional baseball, special operations, medicine, and high-level athletics. Together, they explore how curiosity helps people recognize their strengths, uncover hidden leverage points, and build the kind of solid foundation that supports growth at the edge of their ability.
Beliefs are one of the most powerful—and least examined—forces shaping human life. They determine what we notice, what we ignore, what we attempt, what we avoid, and ultimately what we believe is possible for ourselves and for others. Long before we act, long before we speak, long before we even consciously choose, our beliefs are already organizing our perception of reality. In this conversation, Shawn Achor brings us into the deeper architecture behind that idea. Shawn is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of positive psychology and human performance. He is widely known for his bestselling book The Happiness Advantage, which challenged a long-standing assumption in psychology and business: that success leads to happiness. Instead, Shawn's research shows the reverse is often true—our level of happiness, optimism, and mindset significantly influences our ability to succeed in the first place. His work has reached millions through his writing, research, and one of the most widely viewed TED Talks of all time, The Happy Secret to Better Work. In his newest book, The Power of Belief, Shawn turns his attention to a question that has fascinated philosophers, psychologists, theologians, and scientists for centuries: why do beliefs exert such an outsized influence over human behavior, performance, resilience, and well-being? At the center of his work is a deceptively simple idea: beliefs are not passive thoughts we hold about the world—they are active filters that shape the world we experience. They influence how we interpret stress and opportunity, how we respond to setbacks, and even whether we see ourselves as capable of growth or constrained by circumstance. Some beliefs expand us. Others quietly constrain us. Beliefs such as “I matter,” “my behavior has impact,” or “I have something to contribute” tend to unlock motivation, resilience, and connection. Meanwhile, more limiting internal narratives—“I'm not ready,” “I can't do this,” or “it's safer not to try”—can quietly narrow ambition and diminish possibility long before external circumstances ever get in the way. What makes Shawn's approach particularly compelling is that he grounds these ideas not in philosophy or motivational thinking, but in research across neuroscience, behavioral science, and organizational psychology. His work explores how beliefs become self-reinforcing systems that shape attention, interpretation, decision-making, and ultimately outcomes. This conversation goes beyond individual mindset. It touches something deeper about leadership, culture, and human flourishing. Because every organization is, whether intentionally or not, a belief system. People are constantly asking themselves questions like: Do I matter here? Does my work matter? Am I supported? Are problems solvable? Do I belong? The answers people perceive—often unconsciously—shape everything from performance and engagement to resilience and well-being. At its core, this episode is about the invisible narratives that run human life. The stories we repeat to ourselves become the boundaries of what we believe is possible. And if we can learn to see those narratives more clearly, we may also learn how to expand them. This is a conversation about perception, possibility, and the quiet power of belief to shape not just what we achieve—but who we become. The post Shawn Achor: The Power of Belief and the Hidden Architecture of Human Performance appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.
Brady Holmer has a Master's degree in Human Performance, writes the incredibly popular Physiologically Speaking newsletter, and has recently run a 2:24 marathon. He also trains unconventionally: gone are the 100-mile weeks and in place of them are moderate mileage weeks (60-80) with 10+ hours of cycling. In this episode, we rank the core 3 performance metrics of VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, and Running Economy and discuss how they interact with physiological resiliency, how they can be improved, and which one is the most important. Extra Resources: Zone 2 Myths, Heart Rate vs. Effort, Heat Training, and Zone 3 (one of our most popular episodes with Brady!) How to Improve the 3 Threshold (LT1, LT2, and VO2 Max) Jason's VO2 Max test (video) How to start strength training Thank you Previnex! Get yourself 15% off your first purchase with code jason15 here. Previnex is a unique supplement company - one that I trust because they do things differently when they don't have to. Their products use clinically proven ingredients, are tested before and after formulation, and they donate vitamins to needy kids. Maybe more importantly, their products do what they say they're going to do. Listen to this feedback about Joint Health Plus! "My ankle and knee pain was completely gone in a week. Amazing!" - Kim "I thought I was on the verge of having to give up running due to severe hip pain and luckily discovered Previnex - complete game changer for me!" - Anna "I am so grateful for Joint Health Plus! As a certified fitness professional and still an extremely active, competitive amateur athlete, I was getting discouraged with an increase in pain simply kneeling down, or bending down to the floor and getting back up while assisting clients, or in my own training! Once deciding to give this product a try, I was floored when I finally noticed I was not bracing in anticipation of pain when I had to kneel down; not whincing in discomfort upon standing! Thank you, Prevenix!" - Jessica Joint Health Plus is so powerful because the main active ingredient is clinically proven to reduce joint pain, reduce joint stiffness, and improve joint flexibility in just 7-10 days. It's also clinically proven, not just tested, but actually proven in double-blinded, placebo- controlled studies to protect joint cartilage from breaking down during exercise. You can get 15% off your first Previnex purchase by using code jason15 at checkout. Visit previnex.com. Previnex offers a 30-day money back guarantee where if you don't feel benefits on their product you get your money back no questions asked. And keep sending in those testimonials. They fire me up! Thank you Lever! Lever is back as a sponsor and I couldn't be more excited. They make a treadmill attachment that reduces your body weight, letting you run more mileage than you typically could with less injury risk. They're also trusted by physical therapists, where they're commonly used during injury recovery so you can keep running with less load and impact. They're a "secret weapon" during rehab of many pro runners. Lever attaches to any treadmill and you hook into it like a harness. It effectively makes you lighter, allowing you to do more running with less risk. So maybe you want to build more mileage, or run hard workouts but you're hesitant because of injury concerns. The pro's have been using Lever for years, letting them get the advantage of more training with fewer injuries. I had the chance to go for a run using Lever and it was deceptively easy to set up and use. All of a sudden, I was running 7min mile pace with the heart rate of 8:30 pace. You can see it in action on our YouTube channel. Go to levermovement.com and use code Strength20 (with a capital S) for 20% off any system!
Most triathlon training focuses on physiology and skills. Dr. David Spindler argues that the brain is the missing piece, and that you can (and should) train your brain to better process pressure, adapt under stress, and execute under fatigue. This episode will teach you how to do this. Dr. David Spindler is a neuroscientist and cognitive performance specialists who has worked with athletes at the very highest level (including with Sir Mark Cavendish, Sam Laidlow, Chelsea Sodaro, Katie Courtney, and Tom Evans) and across sports from cycling, triathlon and trail running through soccer and Formula 1. HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: The brain's central role in athletic performance: coordination, decision-making, focus, emotional regulation, fatigue perception, and recovery. Allostatic load: why amateur triathletes carry far more cognitive stress than professionals, and how to account for it in training. How the brain controls pacing, and why perceived effort rises and the efficiency of firing muscles drops when the brain decides an effort isn't sustainable. Self-efficacy vs. confidence: why they are different, and how to address a lack of self-efficacy as a triathlete. Self-regulation: why understanding how your brain and body behave under stress matters, and how poor self-regulation undermines both triathlon training and the athlete-coach relationship. Joy and happiness as recovery tools: why they are the most effective mediators of cortisol, and how to find joy and happiness in training and life (it's not the same as dopamine hits) DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES: We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode. The shownotes for today's episode can be found at https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts699/ LINKS AND RESOURCES: Psychobiology of fatigue during endurance exercise - book chapter containing much of the seminal work of Prof. Samuele Marcora. For more related research and science, see Prof. Marcora's ResearchGate page here, and listen to my podcast interview with him here. Mark Cavendish: Never Enough - Netflix documentary in which Dr Spindler makes an appearance Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance - book by Alex Hutchinson How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle - book by Matt Fitzgerald Relentless: Secrets of the Sporting Elite - book by Alistair Brownlee WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT? If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll love the following episodes, related to the brain, psychology and mental skills aspects of triathlon and endurance performance. Brain training and psychobiology of endurance performance with professor Samuele Marcora | EP#17 Mind, body, and the curiously elastic limits of human performance with Alex Hutchinson | EP#101 Mindfulness, Mental Fatigue, and Brain Endurance Training with Walter Staiano, PhD | EP#207 Psychology and triathlon performance with Stuart Holliday | EP#364 Josephine Perry, PhD | EP#415 You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Triathlon Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc. You can also find separate archives for specific series of episodes I've done, specifically Q&A episodes, TTS Thursday episodes, and Beginner Tips episodes. LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON: The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do Contact us through our contact form or email me directly (note - email/contact form messages get responded to much more quickly than Instagram DMs) Subscribe to our Newsletter Follow us on Instagram Learn more about our coaching, training plans, and training camps. We have something to offer for everybody from beginners to professionals. HOW CAN I SUPPORT THAT TRIATHLON SHOW (FOR FREE)? I really appreciate you reading this and considering helping the show! If you love the show and want to support it to help ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time. Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released. Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far! Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones). Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack. SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration produce our favourite gels, sports drinks, and electrolyte and carbohydrate products here at That Triathlon Show and Scientific Triathlon. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake in your next event, and get 15% off your first 2026 order by using the code TTS2026 at checkout. Rouvy is hands down the most complete indoor cycling platform for triathletes. Among their thousands of beautiful bike courses from all around the world, all filmed in stunning quality, they have over 75 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race courses plus 20+ Challenge Family courses, so you can pre-ride your race from home. Real gradients, real visuals, and real feel! Head to rouvy.com and use the code TTS to get your first month free on top of a 7-day free trial. Effortless Swimming produce the best swim goggles for triathletes and open water swimmers. Their NanoClear anti-fog lenses give you clear, fog-free vision that lasts and doesn't wear off. Don't let foggy or leaky goggles ruin another swim. Go to shop.effortlessswimming.com and use the code TTS15 to get 15% off your goggles, and get a free two-month Effortless Swimming course membership. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
We visit with Fort Hays State cross country and track and field coach Dr. Jason McCullough who recently announced he will stepping away from coaching to move into a full-time teaching role within the Health and Human Performance department at FHSU.
On this week's episode of the WHOOP Podcast, WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance, Principal Scientist Dr. Kristen Holmes welcomes Happiness Expert and Yale Professor Dr. Laurie Santos to explore what makes humans happy. This science-backed conversation looks at the key mindset, habits and behaviors that drive a person's happiness, beyond chasing achievements. Dr. Santos shares the information you need to create lasting joy and quiet negative emotions when they arise. Each practical tool shared in this episode will help to overcome stress, perfectionism and create the self-compassion needed to truly improve your everyday life. (00:35) Inside Dr. Laurie Santos's Record-Breaking Yale Course(02:04) Differentiating Happiness and Joy (And How To Find Both)(03:33) The Importance of Finding Purpose(05:52) What Happens When You Aren't Aligned With Your True Self(09:54) The Largest Misconception When It Comes To Happiness(11:40) Happiness in Athletes: Overcoming The Need For Achievement (15:05) Quieting A Negative Mindset (18:52) The Key Mental Shift for Fulfillment(21:36) Fighting Back Against Perfectionist Self Talk(24:50) How Social Comparison is Taking Away (29:39) Impactful Effects of Gratitude and Kindness Meditation(32:26) Creating Psychological Safety & How It Impacts Happiness(33:30) What Role of Sleep Play in Happiness?(39:19) Benefits of Scheduling Your Worry(40:30) The Overwhelming Impact of Social Connection on Health and Happiness(41:50) Social Connection For Extroverts vs Introverts(50:39) Happiness in Marriage: Finding Joy Within Yourself and Your Partner (52:25) How Ruminating In Negative Thoughts Can Hinder Growth(55:38) Attention and Intention in Mindfulness and Meditation(01:01:01) How to Dr. Santos Defines A Good Life(01:01:47) 3 Ways To Bring Happiness Into Your Life TodayFollow Dr. Laurie SantosInstagramYouTubeXWebsiteSupport the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
Host Andrea Samadi welcomes Dr. Anna Lembke to explain how pleasure and pain share the same neural circuitry and how dopamine governs motivation. The episode explores why overconsumption of easy rewards dulls motivation, creates withdrawal-like deficits, and shifts the brain toward pain. Through clear takeaways—delay borrowed rewards, try temporary abstinence, create friction for temptations, and practice purposeful effort—the episode shows how recalibrating the brain's reward system restores enjoyment in ordinary activities and builds sustainable motivation. Welcome back to Season 15 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and on this podcast, we bridge the science behind social and emotional learning, emotional intelligence, and practical neuroscience so we can create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, productivity, and results. Season 15 Orientation This season, we're exploring what I call: The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. Instead of looking at neuroscience, health, learning, motivation, and emotional intelligence as separate topics, (like we did for the past 14 seasons) we're exploring how these systems come online in sequence. Each phase builds on the one before it: ✔ Phase 1 — Regulation & Safety Is the nervous system safe enough to learn? ✔ Phase 2 — Neurochemistry & Motivation What drives behavior, focus, and sustained effort? ✔ Phase 3 — Movement, Learning & Cognition ✔ Phase 4 — Perception, Emotion & Social Intelligence ✔ Phase 5 — Integration, Insight & Meaning By the end of this year my hope is that we can step back and ask: Where am I out of alignment? Is it regulation? Is it my thinking? Is it my focus? Or Belief? Is it how I'm learning or connecting with others? Or do I need some work with integration, insight and meaning? Because once we can see our gap… We can begin to close it. “The goal is not more effort—it's better alignment.” “And when these systems are aligned… Effort feels easier Learning becomes faster And results become more consistent Because peak performance is not about doing more. It's about aligning the systems that drive our results. Recap Where We've Been In EP 392[i], we introduced the Motivation Loop and explored how the brain decides what is worth doing. In EP 393[ii], we looked at how our beliefs trigger neurochemistry that drives action, feedback, and repetition. In EP 394[iii] we looked at how our thought patterns impact our neurochemistry and results with Dr. Caroline Leaf. Then in EP 395[iv], reviewing Dr. John Medina's work on Theory of Mind, we explored something equally important: The brain pays attention to what it believes matters. Dr. Medina showed us that attention and reward are deeply connected. When the brain predicts something will be valuable, relevant, or meaningful, attention increases. And when attention and reward align: ✔ Learning improves ✔ Memory strengthens ✔ Motivation increases ✔ Behaviors become repeatable But that leaves us with an important question: What creates that sense of reward in the first place? What makes the brain continue pursuing something? What makes us stay motivated and what makes us lose interest? And why can effort sometimes feel rewarding—and other times feel exhausting? Today's Episode To answer those questions, we're turning to Dr. Anna Lembke, author of the book: Dopamine Nation who we first met September 2021 on EP 162.[v] Her work helps to explain the neurochemical engine underneath the Motivation Loop that we've been covering. While John Medina helped us understand how attention and reward influence learning, Dr. Lembke helps us understand: ✔ Why the brain seeks reward ✔ How dopamine drives motivation ✔ Why pleasure and pain operate on the same neural system ✔ And what happens when the balance gets disrupted Because the real goal isn't simply just feeling good. The goal is understanding how the brain learns to associate effort with reward. And when that happens, something powerful occurs: Effort itself becomes rewarding. That's where sustainable motivation begins. EP 393 — Motivation Loop ↓ EP 394 — Belief triggers neurochemistry ↓ EP 395 — Theory of Mind: Attention + Reward determine what matters ↓ EP 396 — Dopamine Nation: Why the brain seeks reward and how effort becomes rewarding It keeps the loop intact and shows listeners that Medina answered "What gets our attention?" while Lembke answers "Why does the brain keep pursuing it?". CLIP 1: The Neuroscience of Pleasure and Pain Based on Dr. Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation CLIP SUMMARY Let's see what Dr. Anna Lembke has to say about the neuroscience of pleasure and pain. In this clip, Dr. Lembke explains one of the most important concepts in modern neuroscience: Pleasure and pain are processed in the same brain system and work like opposite sides of a balance. Whenever we experience something pleasurable—whether it's social media, sugar, shopping, gaming, alcohol, or even achievement—the brain's balance tips toward pleasure. But the brain is always seeking equilibrium. To restore balance, it responds by tipping the scale in the opposite direction, creating a corresponding feeling of discomfort, craving, dissatisfaction, or pain. The more often we seek quick pleasure, the harder the brain works to compensate. Over time, this can leave us in what Lembke calls a "dopamine deficit state" where we need more stimulation just to feel normal. The surprising solution? Activities that require effort and involve manageable discomfort—exercise, cold exposure, fasting, learning difficult skills, and meaningful human connection—can help restore balance and rebuild motivation. KEY TAKEAWAYS & HOW TO PUT THEM INTO ACTION 1. The Brain Is Always Seeking Balance IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation. Dr. Lembke explains that pleasure and pain are not separate systems. They operate like opposite sides of a seesaw. When we repeatedly tip the brain toward pleasure, (you can see an image in the show notes with some examples like with eating chocolate, shopping or using social media) the brain compensates by tipping toward pain to restore balance. Brain Rule: Every pleasure has a neurobiological cost. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: Where am I getting large rewards with very little effort? Examples might include: ✔ Social media ✔ Sugar ✔ Constant news consumption ✔ Streaming ✔ Or Online shopping The goal isn't to eliminate pleasure. The goal is just with our awareness. Because what we measure, we can begin to manage. 2. Overconsumption Changes the Brain What feels exciting today becomes normal tomorrow. The brain adapts to repeated dopamine spikes through a process called neuroadaptation. Over time: ✔ Rewards feel weaker ✔ Cravings increase ✔ Motivation decreases ✔ More stimulation is needed to create the same feeling Put This Into Action Choose one highly stimulating habit and observe it for a week. Notice: ✔ How often you engage in it ✔ What triggers it ✔ How you feel afterward Simply collecting data can reveal patterns you didn't realize existed. 3. Not All Dopamine Is Created Equal: Borrowed vs. Earned Dopamine (we have covered this topic previously). Dr. Lembke's pleasure-pain balance helps explain an important distinction: Borrowed Dopamine Borrowed dopamine comes before effort. Examples include: ✔ Scrolling social media ✔ Energy drinks before a workout ✔ Sugar when stressed ✔ Online shopping ✔ Gaming ✔ Endless entertainment These rewards feel good immediately. But because they require little effort, they often weaken motivation over time. The brain begins expecting reward before work. Earned Dopamine Earned dopamine comes after effort. Examples include: ✔ Finishing a difficult workout ✔ Completing a challenging project ✔ Climbing to the summit of a hike ✔ Finishing a podcast episode (for me) ✔ Learning a new skill ✔ Solving a difficult problem These rewards feel different. The brain learns: Effort leads to reward. And over time: Effort itself becomes rewarding. This strengthens the Motivation Loop. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: Where am I borrowing dopamine? And where am I earning it? For the next week, look for opportunities to delay rewards until after effort. Examples: Instead of: Reward → Effort Try: Effort → Reward Instead of checking your phone before starting work... Complete one task first. Instead of rewarding yourself before your workout... Reward yourself after the workout. Instead of seeking immediate comfort... Lean into a small challenge. Each time you do this, you're teaching your brain: "Reward follows effort." And that's how motivation becomes sustainable. 4. Temporary Abstinence Reveals the Truth One of Dr. Lembke's most powerful strategies is taking a break from a highly rewarding behavior. When we step away from constant stimulation, the brain's reward system has an opportunity to recalibrate. Only then can we see whether a behavior is serving us—or controlling us. Put This Into Action Consider a short experiment. Choose one behavior that may be overstimulating your reward system and reduce or eliminate it temporarily. Notice: ✔ Energy ✔ Focus ✔ Motivation ✔ Mood ✔ Cravings The goal isn't punishment. The goal is information. 5. Lasting Change Requires Systems, Not Willpower Many people believe success comes from discipline alone. Dr. Lembke argues that creating the right environment is often more powerful. Instead of relying on willpower every day, create barriers that make unwanted behaviors harder to access. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: How can I create more friction between myself and temptation? Examples include: ✔ Turning off notifications ✔ Keeping unhealthy foods out of sight ✔ Scheduling device-free time Small environmental changes often produce large behavioral results. CLIP 2 How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State When The Motivation Loops Breaks In this clip, Dr. Anna Lembke explains why many people struggling with depression, anxiety, insomnia, low motivation, or emotional distress may actually be experiencing the consequences of chronic overstimulation. Her first recommendation is often surprisingly simple: Remove the "drug of choice" for a period of time. The "drug" isn't necessarily alcohol or drugs. It can be social media, gaming, shopping, sugar, constant entertainment, or any behavior that repeatedly floods the brain's reward pathways. Lembke explains that people often feel worse before they feel better because the brain has adapted to high levels of dopamine stimulation. When the stimulation is removed, the brain temporarily experiences withdrawal-like symptoms as it works to restore balance. Over time, however, the brain's pleasure-pain system recalibrates, allowing people to experience pleasure from ordinary, everyday rewards again. Her larger message is: We live in a society with unprecedented access to pleasure, and many of us have unintentionally shifted our pleasure-pain balance toward pain. The solution is not necessarily more pleasure. The solution is restoring balance. How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State KEY TAKEAWAYS & HOW TO PUT THEM INTO ACTION 1. Feeling Worse Can Be a Sign of Healing One of the biggest misconceptions about behavior change is that improvement should feel good immediately. The brain doesn't work that way. When a highly stimulating behavior is removed: ✔ Cravings increase ✔ Discomfort rises ✔ Mood may temporarily decline This is often the brain recalibrating rather than failing. Put This Into Action When reducing an overstimulating habit, don't judge success by how you feel in the first few days. Instead ask: "Could this discomfort be evidence that my brain is adjusting?" Sometimes the discomfort isn't a sign you're moving backward. It's a sign you're recovering. 2. The Brain Adapts to Excess Dopamine The brain is remarkably efficient. When exposed to constant stimulation, it reduces its sensitivity to reward. What once felt exciting becomes normal. What once felt normal may eventually feel boring. This is why people often need more stimulation to achieve the same feeling. Put This Into Action Identify your "drug of choice." Ask yourself: What do I consistently turn to when I'm stressed, bored, anxious, or uncomfortable? Examples: ✔ Social media ✔ Sugar ✔ Streaming ✔ Shopping ✔ Gaming ✔ Constant notifications Awareness creates choice. 3. Modern Life Makes Overstimulation Easy This is one of the central themes of Dopamine Nation. For most of human history, pleasure was scarce. Today: ✔ Entertainment is unlimited ✔ Food is always available ✔ Social media never stops ✔ Information is endless The challenge is no longer finding pleasure. The challenge is regulating access to it. Put This Into Action Look for places where you can create friction between yourself and temptation. Examples: ✔ Turn off notifications ✔ Keep unhealthy foods out of sight ✔ Schedule screen-free time ✔ Create boundaries around technology use Small barriers often create significant behavioral change. 4. Sustainable Motivation Lives Near Baseline The goal isn't to feel intensely excited all the time. The goal is to restore the ability to enjoy ordinary rewards. IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation Put This Into Action Reconnect with activities that once felt naturally rewarding. Ask yourself: What activities did I enjoy before constant digital stimulation? Examples: ✔ Reading ✔ Walking ✔ Meaningful conversation ✔ Learning something new ✔ Creative work As the reward system recalibrates, many people discover these activities become enjoyable again (if the pleasure for them had disappeared). 5. Doing Hard Things Strengthens the Brain One of the most exciting findings in neuroscience involves the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (AMCC), sometimes called the "Do Hard Things" circuit. This region appears to strengthen when we voluntarily engage in difficult activities. Examples: ✔ Exercise ✔ Learning challenging skills ✔ Delayed gratification ✔ Difficult conversations ✔ Endurance challenges The brain learns: "I can handle discomfort." Put This Into Action Ask yourself each morning: What's one hard thing I can do today on purpose? Because we've learned that doing hard things is valuable. Every time you choose effort over comfort, you're strengthening the circuits that support resilience, persistence, and long-term motivation. REVIEW & CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week's EP 396, Clip 1 taught us that pleasure and pain share the same neural circuitry. Clip 2 teaches us what happens when that balance is disrupted. The lesson isn't that pleasure is bad. The lesson is that when pleasure becomes too easy and too abundant, the brain stops valuing effort. But when we reduce overstimulation, embrace manageable discomfort, and begin earning our dopamine instead of borrowing it, something remarkable happens: Motivation returns. Effort feels worthwhile. And the Motivation Loop begins working the way it was designed to work. As we close today's episode, let's return to our Phase 2 roadmap. If you're looking at this graphic, you'll notice that Dr. Anna Lembke sits right in the center. And that's intentional. Because everything we've covered so far in Phase 2 flows through this central motivation system. We began with Bob Proctor and the power of belief. Belief creates expectation. Expectation shapes what we think is possible. Then Dr. Caroline Leaf showed us how our thoughts influence our neurochemistry. The thoughts we repeatedly think shape the chemical signals that influence our behavior and performance. Last week, Dr. John Medina helped us understand attention and reward. The brain pays attention to what it believes matters. And what gets rewarded gets repeated. Today, Dr. Anna Lembke helped us understand the missing piece. She showed us that dopamine is not simply about pleasure. It's about motivation. It's about anticipation. It's about pursuit. And ultimately, it's about what the brain decides is worth the effort. When dopamine becomes disconnected from effort through constant stimulation and easy rewards, the Motivation Loop begins to break. But when reward becomes connected to effort, challenge, growth, and progress, the loop strengthens. And that's where sustainable motivation begins. THE "DO HARD THINGS" CONNECTION One final insight from today's episode. Dr. Lembke's work helps explain why doing hard things matters so much. Every time we choose effort over immediate gratification... Every time we choose growth over comfort... Every time we voluntarily do something difficult... We strengthen the brain circuits that support persistence, resilience, and long-term motivation. The brain begins learning: Effort is worth it. And eventually: Effort becomes rewarding. That's when motivation becomes self-sustaining. Not because the work gets easier. But because the brain learns that the effort itself has value. Dr. Anna Lembke isn't just another stop in the loop—she's the core motivation system that sits in the center of everything. But there's 2 more pieces still to cover in the Motivation Loop we haven't explored yet. We've learned that belief shapes expectation. Thoughts shape neurochemistry. Attention and reward determine what matters. And dopamine helps the brain decide what is worth pursuing. But once we're motivated... How do we turn that motivation into action? That's where we'll turn next. Next Week: Dr. Chuck Hillman Movement, Motivation, and Brain Activation We'll explore: ✔ How exercise activates the brain ✔ Why movement improves attention and learning ✔ The connection between physical activity and motivation ✔ How movement strengthens cognitive performance ✔ Why action often comes before motivation ✔ And how movement helps keep the Motivation Loop moving forward Because in Phase 2, we're not just asking: What makes effort feel worth it? We're also asking: What helps us take action once motivation is present? And Dr. Chuck Hillman's research shows that movement may be one of the most powerful ways to activate the brain for learning, performance, and sustained effort. Until next time, I'm Andrea Samadi, reminding you that when we understand how the brain works, we can align our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and actions to create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, productivity, and results. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next week. RESOURCES: Full Interview with Dr. Lembke from Sept 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pu82wZRZwo CLIP 1: The Neuroscience of Pleasure and Pain CLIP 2 How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 392 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/belief-first-the-neuroscience-of-motivation/ [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 393 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/belief-first-the-neuroscience-of-motivation/ [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 394 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/thoughts-as-biology-how-your-mind-shapes-neurochemistry/ [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 395 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/theory-of-mind-the-missing-link-between-attention-reward-and-motivation/ [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 162 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/medical-director-of-addictive-medicine-at-stanford-university-dr-anna-lembke-on-dopamine-nation-finding-balance-in-the-age-of-indulgence/
Welcome to the Win Cycle Podcast! In this Episode, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon discusses the critical role of human performance in the AI revolution, emphasizing the need for leaders to be equipped to handle the pressure. He reflects on a conversation with senior partners at Kirkland & Ellis, highlighting the importance of investing in human readiness alongside technological changes. Dixon stresses the necessity of a human-first approach to performance leadership, integrating physical readiness, mental resilience, and a coaching culture. He argues that sustainable high performance requires strategic investment in people, not just technology, to build resilient teams and thrive in the future. Purple Patch and Episode Resources Hiring Purple Patch Coach: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/careers-page Fast Track Run Squad: purplepatchfitness.com/fasttrackmarathon Check out our world-class coaching and training options: Tri Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/squad 1:1 Coaching: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/11-coached Run Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness/com/run-squad Strength Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/strength-1 Live & On-Demand Bike Sessions: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/bike Get a free needs assessment and learn more about our programs: https://purplepatchfitness.simplybook.me/v2/#book/service/19 Live in San Francisco? Explore the Purple Patch Performance Center: https://center.purplepatchfitness.com Everything you need to know about our methodology: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/our-methodology Amplify your approach to nutrition with Purple Patch + Fuelin https://www.fuelin.com/purplepatch Get access to our free training resources, insight-packed newsletter and more at purplepatchfitness.com
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford are joined by Jacob Chase, CEO of Infin, for a strategic exploration of leadership, accountability, and the future of human performance.The discussion examines how organizations can evolve beyond traditional performance management systems and succession planning models that often fail to capture the full scope of individual and team contribution. Jacob introduces a performance intelligence framework that leverages collective feedback to surface more accurate, bias-resistant insights into how work is actually delivered across teams.Melanie and Mel also unpack the ongoing leadership challenge of balancing work quality, revenue generation, and managerial input, offering a practical lens for strengthening accountability in complex organizational environments. Mel Rutherford adds a succession planning perspective, emphasizing the importance of intentionally developing future leaders well in advance of transition points.This conversation highlights the shift toward more adaptive, data-informed, and values-aligned leadership systems that better reflect real organizational impact.
Send us Fan MailEP 476 of the Leave Your Mark podcast features entrepreneur, esports founder, and lifelong sports enthusiast, Caleb Cousens.Caleb Cousens grew up in a passionate soccer family and developed an early fascination with sport, performance, and business. From becoming employee number one alongside the CEO at Fortius and helping build one of Canada's premier high-performance environments, to moving to Germany in pursuit of love and starting over in a new culture, Caleb's story is one of growth, adaptability, and entrepreneurship.Over the last eight years, Caleb has built businesses in the esports space while navigating the intersection of sport, technology, media, and leadership. In this episode, we dive into his upbringing in a homeschooled entrepreneurial family, lessons learned from building companies and teams, and the realities of raising children in a technology-driven world.We also explore: • The evolution of esports and gaming • Leadership and relationship building • Parenting and screen time in the modern era • The value of live experiences and meaningful human connections • Confidence, culture, and personal growth through entrepreneurship • Building businesses with integrity and purposeThis was a thoughtful conversation about sport, business, technology, fatherhood, and the importance of staying grounded while building in a rapidly changing world.If you liked this EP, please take the time to rate and comment, share with a friend, and connect with us on social channels IG @Kingopain, TW @BuiltbyScott, LI+FB Scott Livingston. You can find all things LYM at www.LYMLab.com, download your free Life Lab Starter Kit today and get busy living https://lymlab.com/free-lym-lab-starter/Please take the time to visit and connect with our sponsors, they are an essential part of our success:www.ReconditioningHQ.comwww.FreePainGuide.com
Send us Fan MailMost people chase performance by pushing harder, grinding longer, and hoping willpower holds up. That works until life gets loud, stress stacks up, and your “discipline” disappears at the exact moment you need it most.I'm joined by John Neyer, an executive leadership coach and consultant, and Troy Black, a retired U.S. Marine whose career reached the most senior enlisted leadership levels in the Marine Corps and at the joint force. Together we unpack what elite leadership looks like when the stakes are real, and why the best lessons translate cleanly into business leadership, team culture, and everyday family life. We talk about holistic human performance, the mind body spirit connection, and why purpose is not your job title, it's your anchor when conditions are imperfect.You'll hear practical tools you can use immediately, including the “Freeze” exercise to check what you're thinking, feeling, and doing, plus a clear framework for building habits that last. We get honest about willpower vs systems, discipline vs atomic habits, and why doing hard things on purpose can train you for chaos without burning you out. If you care about peak performance, leadership development, resilience, perseverance, and becoming your best self without sacrificing your relationships or health, this conversation is for you.Subscribe, share this with three people who need it, and leave a review so more of the Bamboo Pack can find the message. What's one habit you're ready to build next?Support the showhttps://bamboolab3.com/
https://hungrywarrioracademy.com/What does it take to perform at an elite level in business, fitness, and life? In this episode, I sit down with JD Tremblay, Director of Human Performance at Hungry Warrior Academy, to break down the mindset, discipline, and systems needed to thrive under pressure.JD shares how high performers can overcome decision fatigue, mental burnout, and lack of focus by building discipline, resilience, and cognitive durability. We also dive into how AI is changing the game for executives, entrepreneurs, athletes, and leaders who want to make faster decisions, reduce stress, and maximize performance.If you want to become more disciplined, sharpen your focus, improve productivity, and operate at a higher level, this episode is for you.How to build discipline when motivation fadesWhy high performers struggle with decision overloadHow to stay calm and focused under pressureThe role fitness plays in leadership and successHow AI can improve productivity and decision-makingHabits that separate elite performers from average performersHow to reduce stress and maximize executionWhether you're an entrepreneur, athlete, executive, or someone chasing big goals, this conversation will give you tools to level up.
Send us Fan MailOn this episode of the Voodoo Power Podcast, Steven Thompson sits down with Platteview High School strength and performance coach Nick Crouse to talk long-term athlete development, high school strength culture, and building better athletes from the ground up.Nick shares his journey from Northwest Missouri State baseball to earning his master's degree in Human Performance and Wellness Management, while discussing how those experiences shaped his philosophy on coaching young athletes. The conversation dives deep into the Nebraska Strength Coaches Organization, hosting elite clinics, and the realities of coaching in a small school environment.Steven and Nick break down the 1x20 method, APRE programming, velocity-based training, modified tier systems, and practical ways to manage large groups of athletes while still individualizing training. They also discuss Olympic lift alternatives, readiness testing, teenage athlete recovery, and why foundational strength and movement quality still matter more than chasing trends on social media.This episode is packed with practical coaching insight for strength coaches, PE teachers, and anyone invested in developing athletes the right way.https://youtube.com/@platesandpancakes4593https://instagram.com/voodoo4power?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=https://voodoo4ranch.com/To possibly be a guest or support the show email Voodoo4ranch@gmail.comhttps://www.paypal.com/paypalme/voodoo4ranch
Elite performance is not a personality trait. It is biology, managed intentionally. In this episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Michael Mogill sits down with Dr. Kristen Holmes, Global Head of Human Performance at WHOOP, to talk about what health tracking should actually do for you. They break down how to use wearable data without getting trapped in day-to-day noise, why sleep consistency beats chasing perfect sleep duration, and how recovery drives the capacity you need for clear thinking, stable energy, and better decisions. If you want the upside of high output without the crash that usually follows, this conversation gives you the framework. Here's what you'll learn: How to read your data in a way that supports better decisions, not more second-guessing What a strong baseline looks like across HRV, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and VO2 max A simple starting point to stabilize sleep and recovery before you chase optimization If you want to perform like an outlier, start living like your biology matters. (00:00:00) Introduction (00:02:22) Wearables, Data, and Anxiety (00:05:47) HRV, CV, and Adaptation (00:09:55) VO2 Max and "Hard to Die" (00:14:50) LeBron Rules Apply to Everyone (00:16:56) Sleep Consistency Beats Duration (00:20:32) Sleep Debt and "Social Jet Lag" (00:23:01) Why Deep Sleep and REM Matter (00:25:26) Light Diet and Circadian Alignment (00:28:55) Why "Recovery" Isn't the Couch (00:29:39) Capacity, Stress, and Survival (00:32:37) Train Heart and Build Muscle (00:34:49) Heart Rate and Decision Quality (00:41:36) Wearables vs Drinking (00:43:22) The 80/20 Life and Your "Why" (00:47:24) Purpose, Autonomy, Connection (00:51:41) Building Team Capacity at Work (01:02:18) "Aligned": What the Book Covers (01:06:00) Closing ---- Links & Resources: WHOOP Heart rate variability (HRV) Respiratory rate VO2 max Peter Drucker Dr. Russell Foster's TED Talk Rory McIlroy Scott Galloway "Aligned" by Kristen Holmes ---- Learn what sustainable growth can look like for your firm at crispcoach.com. ---- Do you love this podcast and want to see more game changing content? Subscribe to our YouTube channel. ---- Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O'Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more. ---- If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like: 323. James Lawrence - The Power of One More: A Journey of Grit and Determination 170. Mat Fraser - The Fittest Man on Earth 21. Will Ahmed - Unlocking Human Performance
Send us Fan MailIn this solo episode of Leave Your Mark, I reflect on the deeper meaning of action, possibility, and the danger of waiting too long to live the life we know we are capable of living.Inspired by Mother's Day weekend and a walk through old photographs and memories, I explore the reality that most meaningful things in life begin long before we ever feel fully ready. Parenthood, relationships, creative pursuits, career shifts, difficult conversations, and personal reinvention all require us to move before certainty arrives.This episode is a reminder that life is not simply about outcomes or achievements. It is about participation. Exploration. Experience. The joy, heartbreak, frustration, growth, and meaning that come from fully engaging with the opportunities life presents to us.Throughout the conversation, I reflect on the importance of presence, the illusion of “better timing,” and why action itself is often the pathway to clarity and purpose.If you've been hesitating on something important in your life, this episode is for you.Because eventually, time runs out for all of us.The question is:What will you do today?If you liked this EP, please take the time to rate and comment, share with a friend, and connect with us on social channels IG @Kingopain, TW @BuiltbyScott, LI+FB Scott Livingston. You can find all things LYM at www.LYMLab.com, download your free Life Lab Starter Kit today and get busy living https://lymlab.com/free-lym-lab-starter/Please take the time to visit and connect with our sponsors, they are an essential part of our success:www.ReconditioningHQ.comwww.FreePainGuide.com
Dr. Courtney Conley holds a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine as well as two bachelor's degrees in Kinesiology and Human Biology. The founder and creator of Gait Happens, she has worked with professional athletic teams including the Phoenix Suns, New York Yankees, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and Minnesota Vikings. Dr. Conley is Head of Patient Care at Total Health Solutions and Total Health Performance, premier healthcare destinations renowned for their comprehensive and science-based approach to patient care. Dr. Milica McDowell holds two Bachelor of Science degrees (Exercise Physiology and Health Promotion, (Montana State University), a master's degree (Physical Therapy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center), and a Doctorate degree (Physical Therapy, Idaho State University). She served as a university faculty member in Human Performance for nearly a decade, has developed numerous medical education curricula and has been an invited speaker on many national stages, including the American Physical Therapy Association and American College of Sports Medicine's conventions. Today on the show we discuss: why the 10,000 step rule is a myth rooted in marketing not science, how walking is a biological necessity that impacts your metabolism brain and mental health, why small “micro walks” can dramatically improve mood confidence and long-term consistency, the truth about fat loss and why walking works when you stack it with better sleep breathing and nutrition, how modern shoes are weakening your feet and what to do instead, and how to build a simple walking routine that actually improves longevity reduces depression and lowers your risk of disease and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of the WHOOP Podcast How To Series, WHOOP Global Head of Human Performance and Principal Scientist, Dr. Kristen Holmes, sits down with renowned longevity expert, Dr. Darshan Shah, to break down how to maximize longevity. The episode focuses on what truly drives healthspan, drawing from Dr. Shah's own experience as a trauma surgeon. Dr. Shah explains why most chronic diseases are preventable and reversible and why lasting change comes from mastering the fundamentals: sleep quality, daily movement, nutrition, stress management, and consistent data tracking. The conversation explores key biomarkers, the dangers of sedentary living, the role of toxins and environment, and the importance of habit formation, purpose, and emotional health. Together, Dr. Shah and Dr. Holmes reframe longevity not as living longer, but as living better— extending vitality, resilience, and performance throughout life.(00:47) Intro to Dr. Darshan Shah, Longevity Expert(01:14) How Chronic Illness Impacted Dr. Shah Firsthand(06:15) Dr. Shah: From Trauma Surgeon to Longevity Focused Lifestyle(09:30) Building Next Health: Dr. Shah's Impact on the Longevity World(13:10) Biggest Barrier For Patients: What Trends Dr. Shah Is Seeing (19:50) The Influence of a Morning Routine on Health and Longevity(21:36) Looking At The Biggest Game Changer: Movement Throughout The Day(24:26) Eliminating The “All or Nothing” Mentality(28:23) Beyond Sedentary Behavior: Habits Declining Longevity(37:18) Best Biomarkers Promoting Longevity(48:04) Optimization Beyond Nutrition, Sleep, and Exercise (Advanced Advice)(52:28) Combatting Trauma and Understanding The Nervous System(56:18) Dr. Shah's Wellness Wheel: 12 Aspects of Health(58:52) Technological Development In Health and Longevity(59:43) Menopause and Longevity: How Women Can Mitigate Symptoms(01:08:18) Policy Changes That Will Aid Health and LongevityFollow Dr. Darshan ShahInstagram WebsiteDr. Shah's Guide to Minimizing Toxic ExposureDr. Shah's Guide to Biomarkers Support the showFollow WHOOP:Sign up for WHOOP Advanced LabsTrial WHOOP for Freewww.whoop.comInstagramTikTokYouTubeXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will Ahmed:InstagramXLinkedInFollow Kristen Holmes:InstagramLinkedInFollow Emily Capodilupo:LinkedIn
Send us Fan MailAaron goes solo—and finally says what he didn't have time to say on national TV.After getting pulled onto Fox News, Newsmax, and News Nation, he had a narrow window to talk about one of the most complex operations in recent memory… and it wasn't enough. So here's the full version. No time limits. No interruptions.This isn't about one team or one headline. It's about the entire machine—pilots, PJs, maintainers, intel, logistics, medical, and the countless people behind the scenes who made the mission possible.Aaron makes it clear: when everything went sideways, it wasn't luck that saved the day—it was preparation, professionalism, and a system that worked exactly how it was supposed to.And if you're hung up on who didn't get mentioned? You missed the entire point.⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why This Episode Exists 02:00 The Fox News Experience 04:30 What Didn't Get Said 07:00 This Was Bigger Than Headlines 10:00 Pilots & Aircrew Under Pressure 13:00 Why the A-10 Still Matters 16:00 Intel & ISR Behind the Scenes 19:00 Maintainers—The Unsung Backbone 22:00 Logistics & Support Roles 25:00 Training Made This Possible 28:00 Human Performance & Readiness 31:00 Every AFSC Played a Role 34:00 When It Goes Wrong—Who Fixes It 37:00 Final Thoughts—Be Proud
We bring you a special edition of Conqu'ring Heroes this week, as Jon presided over a panel discussion at Saturday's Spring Game Celebration Donor Appreciation Event. The discussion focused on the Human Performance & Sport Science (HPSSC) Athlete Innovation Lab, a new laboratory that is integrated within the Michigan Athletics Department as part of a strategic framework to elevate the sport science experiences at U-M to a level that will position the institution as an international leader in educational and research opportunities in this rapidly-advancing field. Panel participants included Ken Kozloff, PhD (HPSSC Co-Director), Nora Boerger (Assistant Coach, Women's Lacrosse), Laila Kostorowski (student-athlete, Women's Lacrosse), and Skylar Reynolds (master's student who works in the HPSSC lab).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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