Episode 437 of The Lifetime Athlete Podcast features a discussion entitled “The Last Word on Diets and Cold Plunges.” In reality, it represents the not so last word. It’s important to keep learning, growing, and evolving with our thinking. The conversation explores several popular subjects: The pronounced bias of many thought leaders and influencers. The only true things we can…
As Lifetime Athletes, we recognize that regular, purposeful exercise – aka training – is critical in the pursuit of longevity and performance. The training habit supports the resilience and robustness which characterizes a Lifetime Athlete. Most members of this community would agree that resistance training is the most important form of exercise that older humans can undertake. Not the only…
Training for the long haul. Performing exercise in order to optimize health, fitness, and athletic performance through the lifespan. That’s what we’re all about. Whether you are just getting started with this journey, or have been at it for decades, it’s great to assess and cogitate on occasion. I’ve got 7 questions for you to ask yourself. They may not…
I’ve always been fascinated by the training process. Exercise applied in the quest of a specific outcome. The stimulus-adaptation response in humans. This certainly explains my career choice. My interest in the relationship between performance and longevity continues to grow. How can we best improve fitness and athleticism at any age, and what are the ideal ways to keep those…
Lift for muscle. Jump for bone density. Sprint for metabolic health. Things we hear a lot about these days. Things I’ve been emphasizing on this platform and in my work for over 4 decades. Doing those things is nothing new. It’s just the way we’ve been thinking about it lately which may have experienced a slight focus shift. Lifting weights,…
This is a simple message about a potentially complex topic…changing versus maintaining. Essentially, what it takes to change a condition isn’t necessarily the same thing as that which is required to maintain the status once achieved. I believe there is a disconnect in popular thinking regarding this relationship. These differentiations exist in potentially many areas but training, dietary manipulation for…
Now here’s a topic to get excited about! Or frustrated. Or enraged. We’d better start off by defining the terms in the title. Aches and pains, when used colloquially, describe the familiar and annoying discomfort that practically all humans experience on occasion. Nagging irritation or sharp twinges that challenge and restrict movement. Impediments to feeling great and moving effectively. Something…
College basketball fans are in their glory this month. And rightfully so. The action is always intense, exciting, and impressive. That’s March Madness! But today’s message is about a different kind of insanity. Well, maybe not insanity, but certainly the condition of dynamic opportunity. You could even say mild craziness. Early spring weather, especially during the month of March, can…
There are many ways in which we can classify and customize training. One of the most valuable models that we utilize regularly at TLA is the Mobility-Stability Continuum. Whether you’re a self-coached athlete, a lifelong fitness enthusiast, or a therapist-coach-trainer, leveling up your game in this subject area is pure gold. Mobility is access to range of motion. It’s how…
Training for Life. Living LIFE! Going through the journey performing highly and feeling great. Certainly a worthy goal. Undoubtedly a great challenge. How in the world do we accomplish this objective? What’s the single most important consideration in such a quest? Not getting injured. Avoiding, within reason, injuries and all their associated factors is the essential task. So we can…
This piece offers a few tips and suggestions for Lifetime Athletes who are taking their resistance training seriously. This is a synopsis of a recent podcast episode and I’ve included that option below, but I’m listing out a series of pointers just in case you prefer to read as opposed to listen. You can also access The Lifetime Athlete Podcast…
Today we are exploring a continuation of the conversation around effort gradations with aerobic and anaerobic training. The recent article “Chiming in on the Zone 2 Discussion” generated a significant amount of much-appreciated community feedback. Feel free to refer back to that piece as a reference that may help you to put everything in context. The 5-Zone intensity classification has…
There’s been quite a lot of buzz around the topic of Zone 2 training over the past couple of years. Z2 exercise is recognized as essential for endurance sport performance, valuable for general health and fitness, and significant for longevity and functional independence. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a few thoughts and observations. Let’s begin with a…
I thought I’d start off with a quick look back at 2025 and a healthy dose of gratitude. Then I’ll lay out a number of suggestions that just might make 2026 your best year ever. 2025 was a very good year. If I was a sommelier, I’d say the wine produced across many regions during the past year was robust…
This article is being penned (typed) as I look out the window at darkness and snow. It is indeed winter. I hope this finds you enjoying the holiday season. Here’s a question I’m often asked. “Should we train the same way all year round?” Or more specifically, “Why can’t we just train the same way in winter as we do…
In Episode 421 of The Lifetime Athlete Podcast, I responded to a number of Lifetime Athlete App community member questions. Should Lifetime Athletes be using sleds? What’s the ideal training split? Are superfoods a hoax? And more. Worth a listen if you are going after healthspan and lifelong fitness.
Let’s start off today’s message using two popular concepts. Longevity, and anti-aging. Both of these hint at our chosen topic, but neither of them quite do it justice. Longevity simply describes the condition of living a long life. Some will suggest that by default this long life needs to be relatively healthy in order to achieve its potential. But statistics…
You gotta do the stuff. At least a good chunk of it. Most of the time. If you want results. In training and rehabilitation. Magic, or at least a great outcome, does not tend to happen spontaneously. Putting in the requisite amount of work is what leads to better function and performance. Today’s message starts off with a few humorous…
Happy Thanksgiving! I appreciate every member of our community on many levels. Thank you for being a part of our quest for ultimate health, fitness, performance, and longevity. I value the opportunity to engage with you and to strategize and problem-solve. Thanks for challenging me to learn, grow, and share. And most of all, I’m grateful for you being in…
What does it really mean to be Hard to Kill? I end up touching on this with a lot of members in The Lifetime Athlete App during our Personal Coaching Consultations. Most people really jive with the HTK concept, but a few bristle at it and say it sounds too much like a macho action film theme. I’m certainly not…
For any human being, particularly a Lifetime Athlete, injuries happen. In fact, many would say that what happens is a four-letter word beginning with an “s” and ending with a “t.” Regardless, in the presence of an injury we have to determine what exactly is wrong and then embark upon the most appropriate path toward (full) recovery. This is essentially…
The intersection of longevity and performance is indeed a unique subject. It’s something that we’ve focused upon for years here at TLA. And it’s inarguably the most important consideration for members of this community. In discussing this topic, we must first examine some definitions. Longevity, in its broadest sense, simply refers to length of life. And performance, in our context,…
The developmental sequence constitutes a journey we have all taken. Many of us may need to take it again (more on this later). In today’s message I’m going to focus on the physical development sequence common to humans. This is represented by the motor programs, positions, and movement patterns that infants utilize to progress from a fetal position to independent…
You are a Lifetime Athlete. You train year round for comprehensive fitness and performance. You participate in one, several, or numerous sports that you enjoy immensely. There are practically as many ways to pursue lifelong athleticism as there are Lifetime Athletes. But there are a number of sports or fitness activities that are extremely approachable and adaptable for almost everyone.…
You hear a lot of discussion these days about prioritizing resistance training to emphasize muscular hypertrophy. But should that be our only focus? Not necessarily. Let’s dive in. As Lifetime Athletes, we train for LIFE and that involves a number of capacities such as endurance, speed, power, and agility. We can also include the targets of fun, fellowship, and overall…
Everybody’s talking about longevity. I always strive to be a voice of reason. I try to offer a balanced and sensible perspective on most subjects. Drawing a hard line in the sand and using terms like always and never, as they apply to exercise selection and performance, is something about which we need to be cautious. I want to respond…
Training for LIFE! Now this is a foundational concept for us Lifetime Athletes. Exercising, playing, and competing through the lifespan. Doing those things in order to maximize our vitality and participation in all of life. Keeping the training habit alive, in whatever forms that requires, all the way through the journey. Lots of ways to think about how to accomplish…
This topic comes up a lot in our App community, and it’s one that can be framed in a very specific manner. We need to consider the art form of how to get results in resistance training without getting hurt in the process. And we have to find ways to adjust the training process as we age. So, in a…
Goals. Objectives. Meaningful accomplishments. Diving into an experience you’ve been seeking. Checking off a bucket list item. These are things that we do throughout our journey and across all areas of life. Sports. Health. Finance. Travel. Celebrations. And so on. In this community, when we use terms like “take the athletic avenue into wellness” or “train for life,” they have…
This is an excerpt from our latest Lifetime Athlete Program in the App. It was created based on popular demand in our client community. The Dad Bod. It can sneak up on any man in this modern world. This Lifetime Athlete Program helps you to get rid of your Dad Bod, once and for all. Dad Bod Be Gone (DBBG)…
Influencer. I’ve come to despise the term as much as “biohacking.” And many of those who portray themselves as all-knowing. If one produces content – and offers products or services – in any field, authenticity is an imperative. This is especially true for any individual who is purportedly attempting to help others to experience long, healthy, and productive lives. Since…
Conversations about longevity are all the rage right now. Perhaps that’s even more true regarding the concept of healthspan. If you are a regular here (thank you if you are, welcome if you are new), you know we look at those items as a continuum at TLA. First, we have lifespan. This is simply length of life. Then we have…
I thought this would be an interesting title for today’s discussion. A unique perspective, perhaps, but there is indeed LIFE in the fast lane. If you’re like me, you’re thinking about The Eagles’ 1976 mega-hit Life in the Fast Lane. But our exploration has nothing to do with the drug and party scene. We’re actually talking about speed. Training for…
This topic has been coming up a lot lately. A number of clients and community members have been asking whether a weight vest or loaded backpack is best for their conditioning objectives. You won’t be surprised to know that my position on this topic is relatively “device-neutral.” Both can be great. It just depends on your specific goals. I’ll offer…
S*** happens. I mean, SORE happens. Especially for Lifetime Athletes. Sometimes in training. But certainly coming off of big events and competitions. You can get sore – and stiff and tired – anywhere in your body. But it is quite common in the legs and especially during summer and fall. We will generally see this in two distinct subsets of…
Now here’s a great topic! Ironically, it’s one which applies less to our TLA community than it does to the general population. Nonetheless, let’s explore with equal parts curiosity and reason. This will be a rambling conversation with the goal of neither informing nor convincing you…it’s simply intended to be food for thought. Depending on your historical perspective or favorite…
Admittedly, I struggled with the title for this article. I thought about “The Glory of Summer” and “Launching into a Spectacular Summer” among several other options. I settled on “Preparing for a Sensational Summer” and it’s with an enthusiastic and optimistic attitude that I embrace this season. First off, let me offer my heartfelt thanks to you for being a…
Should you train outdoors during the summer? Why would a Lifetime Athlete want to do this? What’s the value in doing so? This discussion is going to cover those and related questions. Let’s dive in! There are any number of manners in which we can frame this up. But I think one of the best would be to list out…
Is Everyone Really an Athlete? Yep. You bet. Or can and certainly should be. This will take a little explaining but it’s a topic which is frequently debated in the fitness and athletic community. Let’s break down the whole “is, can be, and should be” (an athlete) perspective. As humans we are amazing, complex organisms. But we are also animals…
A cool topic indeed for today’s message. Responsive autoregulation can at times seem quite obvious and in other instances we may find ourselves somewhat oblivious to this concept. As we figure out this healthspan to athletispan process, we frequently need to make adjustments in our training and recreational output in accordance with how our bodies are feeling. When we responsively…
Basic movement patterns are a key consideration in exercise selection and program design for Lifetime Athletes. When we are utilizing movement patterns in training, we can focus on a variety of objectives. Additionally, we utilize other patterns and positions which are both evolutionarily-consistent and fundamental in human performance. Part 1 of Basic Movement Patterns covers these and related topics. When…
It’s time for a little op-ed piece and as always, this is a discussion without judgment. That stated, the title begs the question regarding your choice of sport and fitness pursuits through the lifespan. Do you focus your training in mainly one area or do you diversify in the pursuit of a more well-rounded repertoire of movement options? This is…
Power is a unique word. It conjures up multiple images in our minds. She’s got the power. He’s really powerful. But what do those statements really mean? Power is an essential, yet often overlooked and neglected aspect of training. It’s not only critical for peak performance in almost every sport, it’s actually necessary for optimal longevity. So much of the…
This is definitely cornerstone content on the platform and consequently it’s going out in triplicate format. There will be a podcast and video with a parallel message. I think this topic is so important that I want to make sure it fills every media option within our community. Let’s begin with an expanded definition of deloading. With training, especially for…
The title doesn’t state that this piece will be about emerging science or facts surrounding the use of hot and cold for Lifetime Athletes. Just my opinions. I’ve always been interested in cool to cold plunges as well as saunas and the like. I remember as a kid when we would go on hiking and camping trips I usually found…
The use of high carbohydrate diets, as well as supplementary intraworkout (or competition) carb intake, is popular in athletics. This is particularly true considering endurance sports. The major objectives with this practice are twofold. There is very little argument that this approach enhances performance for most athletes (we’ll dive more deeply into this later) but there exists considerable controversy if…
Today’s topic is one which I find particularly fascinating. Let’s begin with a definition of what Training for LIFE means. Training for LIFE, in TLA terms, means two things. You are engaged in athletic and fitness training throughout your lifespan. This process will evolve and take on different shapes, but you’re in it to win it. And perhaps more importantly,…
Here’s a super-cool topic we are always bouncing around in our community. Members in The Lifetime Athlete App use locomotion in a variety of applications, depending on their goals and body situation. Episode 386 of The Lifetime Athlete Podcast features a discussion on the following:
This article is a resource for Lifetime Athletes. It serves two purposes. First, it describes the rationale and methodology we use here at TLA to design our Training Tribe and sport-specific programming. This provides our team and community members with an in-depth understanding of the program design and implementation process. Second, it empowers you with the knowledge and tools you…
Have you ever wished you had an easy way of evaluating your fitness level and athletic abilities? At TLA, we use the Athletic Capacity Rating System (ACRS). This is a simple and very customizable system that we employ in our community to help you to do three things. The ACRS is based on the 5 Capacities of Athleticism or human…
There are practically innumerable ways you can classify training. A lot of times the manner in which you describe your training is dependent upon your goals, or where your mind is in the moment. In many situations, a great way to consider your workouts is in regard to two distinctions. Is the session geared toward improving the mechanical efficiency of…
Fitness competition has been around for a while now. One of the all-time most popular articles on the platform, which I wrote over 4 years ago, is CrossFit vs. Spartan vs. Hyrox. I really appreciate the thought and variety applied to these and other forms of sport and movement. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to coach and train…
The title says it all. Well, almost! I’ve received a multitude of outstanding questions from our community over the past several weeks. It was time for a Mail Bag Q&A episode. I personally replied to all of the inquiries but I saved three great questions for a deeper discussion. Ever popular and for good reason, the topic of resistance training…
Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE, is something we are always talking about in our community. We’ve certainly featured RPE as a popular article and podcast topic. Yet I continue to encounter many well-meaning Lifetime Athletes who struggle with the concept. My goal today is to simplify RPE in the clearest way possible. We’ve talked about the original Borg Scale…
What should you eat and how should you train when you’re trying to lose weight? Sometimes, as a Lifetime Athlete, you may be wishing to tune up your body composition a bit. Immediately, there are two critical considerations we must observe. In these types of pursuits, every Lifetime Athlete needs to lose the fat and keep the muscle. Too many…
Let’s say you are a backpacker, hunter, fisherperson, skier, climber, mountain biker, kayaker…or anyone who ventures into the outdoors with a quest for experience and a concern for preparedness. You need to carry a knife. And that should be the ideal knife for your specific situation. Whether you are opening food packages, cutting paracord, processing game and fish — or…
One of the most common situations we encounter as Lifetime Athletes is the need to adjust a workout to fit our needs. Make a training session meet your unique body where it’s at…perfectly. This is a big FAQ in our community and it’s an outstanding topic for today’s discussion. Almost any workout can be scaled up or down, and that’s…
Now here’s an absolutely scintillating discussion topic. If we consider the difference between generalists, or all-around athletes and single-sport specialists, there are several distinguishing characteristics we can identify. I’m thinking about this in the context of our community. Lifetime Athletes who are going through the journey with a perspective. Behaviors which define their intentions. I thoroughly enjoyed the book Range:…
In the spirit of the New Year, we’re kicking things off with the Lean4LIFE 30-day Challenge! It’s popular to jumpstart the year with a month-long challenge and that’s especially true in the realm of health, fitness, and body composition. Strategically using diet, exercise, and lifestyle to reset the metabolism…and “stuff” like that. The Challenge starts January 6th it’s exclusively available…
Jumping is fun. It’s a natural, playful action in the human beast that is equal parts performance-enhancing and function-preserving. Jumping helps us to maintain our fast-twitch capacities, reactivity, and youthful vitality. The key to successfully incorporating jumping into your routine is doing so safely and sensibly. We use jumping with almost all our clients, including those in their 70’s and…
I absolutely love this topic. It represents the crux of our quest at TLA. At some point, every Lifetime Athlete ponders some version of the following question: “How can my lifestyle interventions and behaviors, including but not limited to training and nutrition, impact both the length and quality (health, functionality, performance) of my lifespan?” What matters most? Living as long…
Today’s topic is being presented secondary to popular demand. I frequently receive inquiries from our community regarding exercise selection concerning a variety of performance capacities. Recently, and extensively, Zone 2 Cardio has been at the top of the list. The questions abound and they are very insightful. I’ll bullet them out and then address each one independently. But before I…
Ergonomics…the study of human efficiency at work. What on earth does this have to do with longevity and peak performance? Well, when you think about it, we spend roughly ⅓ of our time on earth at work. This has the potential to profoundly impact our health. And, if your neck, back, mojo (or anything else) is messed up because of…
Many exercises and movement patterns offer us a selection option between the open and closed kinetic chain. As a Lifetime Athlete, you may want to give consideration to how you utilize these tools. Let’s begin with a few simple definitions. A kinetic chain implies that a series of segments or linkages within the body are involved in the execution of…
Exercise selection is a fascinating topic. We choose exercises based on our desired outcomes and with regard to what works best for our unique bodies. And we determine how we perform those movements pertaining to body position, load, range, and tempo. Last week we talked about training for movement competency. We acknowledged the value of an exercise for strength, hypertrophy,…
We train for many reasons. Peak performance in sport is often a target. You might work out to improve your strength or muscle development. Maybe you exercise to increase your VO2max. Others engage in sessions to enhance their mobility. All of those things are good…in fact they are great. The objectives of training are indeed many. The intention of becoming…
Every now and again I like to reflect back on something I’ve written or said in the past and see where my mind is at currently. Occasionally, I end up not agreeing with a portion of what I’ve stated because my experience and knowledge has changed with the passage of time. But often, I find myself in concurrence with past…
This post could also be labeled “Staying Bouncy as You Get Older,” or “Jumping for Joy.” Such phraseology connotes the preservation of elastic properties in the evolving human. Aging. Doing so gracefully. Maintaining health until right up to the very end. Keeping performance, and functional capacities, at a relatively high level for as long as possible. This is good stuff…
This is a sequel to Part 1 on this topic, which I posted almost 3 years ago. While this followup may seem long overdue, it has actually taken a full 33 months to complete my investigation and reach my final conclusions. Since it’s been quite a while, you may have interest in reading Shooting with a Recoil-Sensitive Shoulder, Part 1.…
Training does not need to be elaborate to be effective. Sometimes simple is best. In our Training Tribe programming, we often use just a single implement for all or part of a workout. This month, in some of our sessions, we are employing a Simple Kettlebell Warmup. We start all our workouts with an activation or preparatory segment. Depending on…
Success stories are fun to hear. Steven Graves, a member of our Lifetime Athlete community, and now a true mountain badass, just got back from an amazing adventure. He checked off a bucket list item at 53 years young, scaling mountains and battling extreme weather in Southeast Alaska. This resulted in him taking a trophy mountain goat at 44 yards…
Do you need a coach? The answer to this question ranges anywhere from “absolutely yes, maybe, or probably not.” This is definitely a concept worth exploring. If you are performing at your maximum potential, are free from injury, have excellent health markers and body composition, feeling fantastic, and totally satisfied with your training and lifestyle…you don’t need a coach. In…
Here at TLA, we talk a lot about training. All-around fitness. Complete athleticism. Developing strength, speed, power, agility, and endurance. We train for health, longevity, and performance in all aspects of life. But we also give equal consideration to sports. We train for sports. We participate in sports. Play. Compete. Win. Lose. There are unique benefits from sports. While we…
As summer comes to a close, it’s fitting that we conclude the season with a discussion of endurance. We’ve talked about strength (and hypertrophy), speed, power, and agility. The 5th and final capacity of athleticism in our training discussion is endurance. And of course it’s always important to keep in mind that all of these capacities are of equal importance…
The most basic definition of agility is the ability to move quickly and easily. Here at TLA, we take that a bit further. Agility is one of the 5 major Components of Athleticism. A complete, and thus lifetime athlete, needs to be not only strong, fast, powerful, and enduring. He or she must be AGILE. Agility consists of 4 unique…
This is DEFINITELY one of the most popular topics in our community, and it’s being featured in the Longevity Training Series because it is so important. In the simplest terms, a layoff is any time period away from regular training that’s long enough to cause some (or much) deconditioning. For any reason and they are all valid. Just got busy…
Speed haters need not apply. Same for speed doubters and speed deniers. Speed is one of the attributes of a Lifetime Athlete and it’s also a premier expression of youthfulness. Speed training, done properly, can help you to perform at higher levels and to look and feel your best. Here’s how!
We’re always talking about how here at TLA we use the same methods to achieve peak performance that the pros do. As you are watching the Olympics, you’ve probably noticed that in practically every sport, the athletes — and particularly the champions — are FAST. Genetics are involved here, but every top athlete trains for speed. As we get older,…
A term you hear occasionally is “What’s your WHY?” It’s often used by motivational speakers (even if you’re Matt Foley living in a van down by the river). I’d like to pose a different question in today’s brief post: What’s YOUR Olympics? The Olympics are a celebration. Human potential. Competition. Sportsmanship. National pride. Worldwide community. The current, 33rd Olympiad, is…
The Olympics will be happening soon. Citius, Altius, Fortius – or Faster, Higher, Stronger – will be exemplified. Today’s post will be addressing the Citius component. Speed. At TLA, we value speed as one of the 5 Capacities of Athleticism, or human performance. Along with strength, power, agility, and endurance, speed is an essential item in the lifelong peak performer’s…
The entire platform at TLA is dedicated to maxing out health, performance, and longevity. Rooted within this focus are a number of first principles. And among those are strength and hypertrophy. Both matter. They are complementary. And they are to some degree inseparable. Strength is the ability to produce force, and it’s usually quantified in maximal amounts. Hypertrophy is muscular…
This week the topic in our community is Power Training. Specifically, as part of the Summer Longevity Training Series on The Lifetime Athlete Podcast, we’re talking about how to safely and effectively develop and maintain power in the older athlete. This is an interesting subject because power is, relatively speaking, poorly understood and often overlooked in fitness and longevity circles.…
This is a fantastic topic. It’s cornerstone content here at TLA. We’re kicking off the Summer Longevity Training Series. Utilizing resistance training to effectively, and safely, build strength and muscle mass in mature athletes and fitness enthusiasts…is an absolute art form. In Episode 356 of The Lifetime Athlete Podcast, I discuss the literature and my experience concerning this subject. A…
As is frequently the case, we’re running a brief series on The Lifetime Athlete Podcast this summer. The show is available on all the major pod playing platforms. In case you’re as intrigued and excited by this topic as I am, I’ve included the Preview for The Summer Longevity Training Series right here. Beginning June 24th and over 4 shows,…
Giving advice on footwear selection is a tricky topic. This is particularly true when it comes to backcountry hunters and mountain athletes. Across the footwear industry, from manufacturers to retailers, there are inconsistencies in the recommendations provided to consumers. Unfortunately, much of this is driven by aggressive marketing and the goal of convincing, more than educating, the customer. It gets…
Swimming, water exercise, water immersion, water exposure. It’s all a part of summer life, and training, for The Lifetime Athlete (YOU). The benefits are numerous, as are the ways you can get them. I’ve included a few podcasts and videos to give you some ideas for your summer programming. You may also be interested in becoming a member in The…
This document provides a relatively succinct overview of how we do things at TLA. Historically, I’ve made this available to anyone in our community as a downloadable PDF (that will continue). However, since this guide has been recently revised, I wanted to post it here on the Blog as well is in the App so it’s easy for any team…
Now this is a post I’ve really been looking forward to writing. As the title states…The Lifetime Athlete App is Live! This is exciting news because the debut of the App represents evolution in the company as well as a new chapter in our content and structure. My mission has always been to guide people toward the highest levels of…
I hope you had a Merry Christmas and you are getting set up for a fantastic New Year. 2024 is right around the corner, and it’s going to be a great year. I’ve got a lot of interesting content and exciting updates at TLA to share over the next several weeks. Today I wanted to feature a recent podcast that…
It’s a busy time of year. I just got back from an antelope hunting trip and soon I’ll be heading out for elk. The antelope expedition was one filled with challenge, humility, success, and gratitude. Experiencing amazing people, beautiful places, and personal growth. It’s all in this podcast discussion.
Honestly, I’m not sure we should call this short piece an endurance training primer. It’s more of “a few thoughts about endurance training” type of thing. First, let’s define endurance. It’s unique among the 5 Capacities of Athleticism (along with strength, speed, power, and agility) in that it is complementary, or supportive, to the others. Endurance is certainly driven by…
As many of you will recall, we set up the Summer 2023 Fitness Challenge back in May. Our goal was to test and train a unique capacity of athleticism, which is power. We sampled anaerobic power with a lifting test and used the mile run for aerobic power. The lifting test used a trap bar deadlift, or similar setup depending…
This is a little op-ed piece that I’ve been wanting to get out for a while. The topic has been on my mind practically forever but I don’t think I’ve ever stated my position quite this way. The care and feeding of the optimized human requires more than just nutrition, although that is very important. The model I’ve developed, which…
Now here’s an interesting thought! There are definitely some parallels between sprinting and surfing. Allow me to explain. Surfers do three main things in their process. So do sprinters. Get out. Get up. Get on. A surfer will get out, or paddle in accelerating fashion to catch the forming wave. Sprinters drive out hard from the blocks or a 3-point…
Perhaps the title lacks a little originality, but it’s genuine. This has been a great summer so far, but for me it has seemed to fly by more quickly than usual. I was sort of on the “party circuit” in June and July. We had several birthday parties, retirement parties, weddings, and BBQ celebrations to attend. Like 3-4 times per…
A lot of people run as their primary form of aerobic exercise. Many athletes, in all sorts of sports and not just running, need to be able to access their speed and go fast. At least if they want to be competitive or even win. Interestingly, the game of life also benefits greatly from sprinting. But you have to warm…
It’s Speed Week! This week the featured topic at The Lifetime Athlete is SPEED. I’ll be doing a daily podcast (on all the major podcast platforms) July 24-28 with some bonus video and article content. Today’s post will set the stage and highlight the week’s schedule. Speed is one of the 5 Capacities of Athleticism. Along with strength, power, agility,…
A lot of thought. A considerable volume of study. Extensive experimentation. Many conversations. That’s what went into today’s topic. We are of course going to be discussing the Ultimate Anti-Aging Workout! Right off the bat, I’ll admit that the title is a bit sensational. We are all aging. No doubt about it. Can’t deny it. But are there things we…
I think I’ll be able to keep this one relatively brief. Yet, however succinct this message may be, I believe it to be of critical importance for our community. I was in a performance coaching meeting with one of my amazing clients the other day. After we dissected some workout programming, examined a few key performance indicators (KPI’s), and made…
Last summer I did a recap, but this year it’s a preview! The 2nd Annual Lifetime Hunter Online Summit will be taking place on Friday, July 7 from 6:00-8:00pm. It’s one of the features of the Fit for the Field hunter conditioning course and it’s always great fun for me to connect with members of our team. Similar to last…
The Summer Solstice is upon us and summer is officially kicking off. I’m hoping you’ve been doing lots of fun things and have many more planned. Seize the season! I’m sharing a brief video which depicts one of the many awesome things we are doing in the Training Tribe, again this year. We train for LIFE! And we live it.…
The title of today’s post makes me think that listening to Billy Squier’s “Emotions in Motion” album would be a good way to set the scene for this topic. I’ve been having some great interactions with members of our community and the subject of emotions, hormones, and metabolism has been getting some attention. Today’s discussion is a brief exploration of…
Recently, I sent out a “community query” and I’m delighted to state that I received some outstanding feedback. First of all, to everyone who commented, thank you very much. I appreciate your participation and assistance with this project. In that inquiry I asked 3 simple questions: The responses I received were very insightful. They both validated what I’ve been doing…
How ya doin’? I hope the answer is great, fantastic, or sensational! I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to engage with so many of you in a variety of manners. In this post I want to pose a few questions and inquire how I can possibly inspire, educate, or entertain you in an ever-improving way. Because I value you as a…
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article entitled “CrossFit vs. Hyrox vs. Spartan…Who is the Fittest?” That post was very well-received and it’s been one of my most popular to date. In the article I compared the different fitness competitions and identified the types of athletes that tend to do best at each discipline. All-around fitness is an…
Howdy you amazing and fantastic community member! There’s been so much going on lately I felt like an update of sorts was in order. I’m often humbled and inspired by how my job description continues to be refined and defined. Offering the promise of vitality. Applying advanced athletic and wellness science to the general population. Trying to stave off The…
Your athletic baseline is the level of conditioning around which you oscillate over the course of time. You can think of this in terms of seasons, years, decades, and more. It’s obviously something that is both variable and dynamic. The athletic baseline varies a bit from person to person and it also dynamically vacillates within the individual over the lifespan. …
Anterior Truncal Obesity. Abdominal Fat. Now here’s a popular topic and it’s worth examining. In an ideal world these terms never apply to Lifetime Athletes. But the world isn’t always ideal, even for us health and performance oriented folks. First, let’s set the tone for this brief discussion and make sure it is super clear that this is not a…
Ok, so here I am finding myself training a lot of people with passionate lifestyle pursuits. Backcountry hunters, backpackers, triathletes, skiers, mountain bikers…people who love what they do and are motivated to be able to do it for a lifetime. Folks who have goals, trips, and events targeted this year for which they are preparing. Our discussions will often arrive…
It can be said that only YOU know your body best. And in most cases that’s true. But self-knowledge is an ongoing process and when we can enhance our understanding of our uniqueness…good things happen. This is both the central tenet of how I work with my coaching clients as well as the theme of a series I’m doing right…
Nutrition. Food. Diet. Sustenance. Nourishment. Dining. Meal Planning. Health. Longevity. Performance. All are interesting topics which occupy the popular mindset in no small manner. And for good reason. What we consume can certainly have profound impacts on our beings…and their well-being. This is much more a reflection and opinion than any summation of research. I’m going to list out a…
Happy New Year! Regardless of whether you believe in making resolutions, it’s great to have visions and goals and to build your plans and programs around them. I’ve got a couple quick tips for you, and I’m going to present them in an interesting manner. At least I think so. I’ll tell you first how to fail at your resolution…
By popular demand, from multiple community requests – as well as my own passion project – I bring you Christmas Elk Chorizo! Yep, it’s that time of year again when I make sausage and jerky, and it varies from year to year what products get produced. All that depends on which animals got harvested, and what I’m feeling like creating.…
Hi guys…here’s a short post to share what I’ve been thinking, and maybe to get you thinking also. These days we hear so much about Zone 2 cardio and all its attributes. But I think there is a tendency to overlook or bypass Zone 1 in the presence of all the recent chattah. So I guess before we can distinguish…
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to call this post, so it is indeed a report from TLA HQ! Technically, every post I write comes out of the headquarters of The Lifetime Athlete so I guess that’s pertinent. I’ve worked with a couple clients in Europe and South America so I can literally say I’m writing from the…
Hello everyone and I hope this day finds you feeling great and crushing goals! Today’s post is in response to some great feedback and questions I’ve recently received. Folks have asked “How can I train to prepare specifically for an upcoming surgery, what can I do to maintain at least some of my conditioning on both the front and back…
By nature, being an athlete for life means being Hard to Kill. But what does that really mean? Let’s start out by defining each of the preceding two terms. An athlete for life is a Lifetime Athlete. A person who looks, moves, and lives in a natural, elastic fashion, practically through their entire lifespan. This is someone who views herself…
There are some questions that clients ask me so often, I wanted to pay tribute to these inquiries. Honestly, rarely does a week go by that I don’t have a stimulating conversation on at least one of these topics. For the sake of brevity as well as clarity, I’m going to address these questions one at a time, over some…
Greetings Readers! I hope you are having a great Autumn and a safe Halloween. This is a short post to share with you some information about cardio training, or aerobic exercise. In Episode 154 of The Lifetime Athlete Podcast, PK & I recently had the opportunity to address some audience questions about cardio training. These occur frequently and it’s really…
As the world is engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to band together to most effectively deal with this crisis. My deep concern goes out to anyone who has been adversely affected. The information we’ve received from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other organizations, is important for us to employ. Recommendations regarding hygiene tactics, temporary social…
The Reaper is out there. He is coming for everyone. Eventually, he’ll get all of us. But you have some say in how it all goes down. You can go out on your own terms. There are choices we can make. We can choose to live a healthy, high-performing lifestyle and maintain wellness over a potentially longer and certainly higher-quality…
The journey that each of us takes over a lifetime is indeed remarkable. I’m excited to announce that The Lifetime Body is now the Lifetime Athlete! This change of one word in my business name represents a subtle shift in the company’s focus and it has been driven by readers, listeners, and clients like you. Over the last several years,…
I’m in the business of helping people to seek and achieve peak performance. I love training others and myself for the highest athletic outcomes. But a lot of my clients start their journey toward peak performance at a point where they just want or need to get healthy first. They have to learn to eat right, sleep well, and to…
This is Part 2 of the dietary experiment discussion. As you’ll recall from Part 1, my intention was to raise the question of individual dietary optimization, to report on some of my personal culinary explorations, and to encourage you to consider your own diet’s impact on your health and performance. That last edition has some stories of my eating evolution,…
It’s fun to experiment. And it can be very interesting and informative when you experiment on yourself. One of the easiest and perhaps most productive areas in which to conduct personal investigations is in the realm of dietary intake. Through trial and error, and a little good science, you can learn what foods really work (or don’t) for you. Done…
Weight loss isn’t complicated. And it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it really can be EFFORTLESS! We have a genuine need for body weight reduction in much of our population. There is no denying that. We’re currently faced with an obesity epidemic and all the associated disease and diminished quality of life it brings. And there are also…
Kicking Ass is a term that each of us can relate to in one fashion or another. In Lifetime Body terminology, it is not just the act of getting things done — it is the reality of efficiently and effectively achieving high levels of outcomes across every category in which you participate in life. Some would say you are “crushing…
How we go about our training for health, fitness, athletic performance, and longevity are great topics of debate these days. Are you a bubble boy who goes easy all the time and fears hard effort? Or are you a warrior princess who slashes and burns every workout in full-crush mode? Humor aside, there is probably a place for both of…
I recently had the extreme pleasure of visiting with Doug Fletcher, who is the co-author of How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services. Doug was a guest on the podcast and we discussed how results-getters in business are RainMakers, and how the principles explained in his book can help you to become your…
It’s kinda like “Car Talk” if you ask me. Does meat consumption make you aggressive, lower your IQ, and identify your political orientation? Or does eating rice crackers and lettuce make you irritable and give you the right to be critical of others? Dietary choice is indeed a potentially meaty subject. Debate has gone on for decades, if not centuries…
Happy New Year! I hope your 2018 was utterly amazing and your 2019 has kicked off in an incredibly spectacular fashion. An FAQ that I often hear is “What are your top 10 or 20 foods?” Obviously, such a list can take many forms based on any number of criteria. It can vary from season to season, and certainly be…
Happy Holidays! I hope that you have been enjoying the season and all the great things that come with it. As I sit by the woodstove (might sound corny but is true) and put fingers to keyboard, I’m finding myself in a particular state of mind. I’m struggling to frame this perspective, but I think I can capture it with…
Get ready to Unleash your Inner Beast with AnimalFit!
It was Pink Floyd, in “Another Brick in the Wall”, who posed this question (x2): “If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding…how can you have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?!” Let’s get into that. The subjects of meat consumption in the human diet; the science surrounding meat, nutrition, ethics, and the environment; and…
This week on the video I highlighted some common wellness practices that “Git my Goat” and suggested we ask ourselves a few key questions when considering them. PK and I dove a bit deeper in the podcast. I think you’ll find this interesting. Is your wellness guru or health and fitness leader knowledgeable and reliable? Is he or she…
Are you a master athlete?
We all travel for a variety of reasons, and this can include business trips as well as vacations. But does travel have to leave you exhausted, with an illness, out of shape, and having gained a ton of weight? Of course not, if you do a few simple things. This week’s topic is all about not just surviving, but…
I recently had the utterly fabulous opportunity to engage with a dude who has many valuable insights into the world of health and fitness, as well as LIFE. That’s Elliot Canfield, and he’s a guy who shared with me many of his views and approaches to wellness…including how he used Project JACKED to lose 50 pounds and keep it off!…
Embrace your inner athlete and get more out of your training…and LIFE!
Losing weight at the right pace so that you don’t lose muscle mass is very important for the health enthusiast.
I’ve got some exciting news! The Lifetime Body Podcast was just named the inaugural “Show of the Week” by Castos. This is a huge honor for PK and I to be recognized as innovators in podcasting and health information delivery. We are proud and thankful and will keep on bringing you quality wellness education and entertainment! There are a…
It seems folks often want to lose in the moob department and gain in the booty department. We’ll show you how to do just that.
Getting leaner, healthier, fitter, and more energized are all connected. When you get JACKED, you get all this and more. Get your copy of Project JACKED today.
Improving our health and performance is dependent upon being true to our genes. Modern lifestyle can be inconsistent with our ancestral patterns. But there is hope…
Enjoy listening to a show that boils down the science and gives you Pearls of Wellness Wisdom to help you Make Your Body Last a Lifetime!
You may want to consider what just a small amount of running can do for your health, longevity, functionality, and disease risks.
Find out how each participant in Project JACKED lost weight and summed up their experience.
We saw amazing outcomes from the participants in Project JACKED! They shredded fat, built muscle, and upregulated their lives. They got JACKED!!
The control group of Project JACKED, coming off 4 months of the Standard American Diet, and a sedentary lifestyle, have some important things to share.
Considering our health is always paramount when we are pursuing fitness goals. Learn more…
Using the latest science to design your next health and fitness project has never been easier.
Receiving consulting services to make your health, life, fitness, and productivity AWESOME is a rapidly emerging trend.
I want to extend a special “Thanks!” to our audience, as response to the previous post regarding observations and comments has been outstanding. Our community of HEALTH orientation and CARING for each other extends far and wide. It’s actually the true form of “healthcare,” but that’s a slightly different topic I’ll save for another time. This post has some reporting…
This is a report about observations. They represent topics worthy of comment and experiences of enlightenment. The observations have been made by our JACKED group collectively during meetings, by individual participants as they made “mid-term” assessments, and by myself as the progenitor of this Project. We’ve been cruising along now, in an oh-so-JACKED manner, for 2-½ months. That has been…
Whoa! Where has this post and others been? I had originally intended to share observations and insights about Project JACKED on a weekly, or close to that, basis. However, I have become so engrossed in all of the internal meetings and educational presentations, the individualized coaching, and the data collection of JACKED that somehow we are at the halfway mark…
And that, my fellow health and fitness enthusiast, is the question. Or is it? 2018 is off and running, or at least that is a popular conception. In reality, time neither stands still nor speeds up, but we have many cultural norms that suggest otherwise. Year-end, at least the month of December, is a very quiet time for me.…
My goodness! Time does fly by, doesn’t it? We are fast approaching year-end and here at TLB HQ that means one thing…it’s time to get ready for next year’s health and fitness project! And what a project it will be! After spending the past several years using myself as a case study subject, a lab rat, or a guinea…
Are we out of shape, addicted to sugar, and possessed of broken-down knees? Recent research implies these associations, and it stimulates within me great interest as well as concern. A study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in August 2017 by researchers from Harvard, reported that Americans today are twice as likely to have knee…
In any given week, how much time to do you spend at a workstation? When considering this, count your job, your home office, time spent with a device or pen and paper (remember those?) at the counter, on the couch, or at a coffee shop. If we do this honestly, most of us can come up with 30-60 hours per…
I hope this post finds everyone enjoying a wonderful summer. Heat and forest-fire smoke notwithstanding, summer is a glorious and brief time in southwest Montana, and seizing every opportunity it presents is paramount. Big changes are on the horizon for my company, and for me, and I wanted to let you know about all the exciting happenings. I’ll be…
Howdy, and thanks so much all the great feedback and questions I’ve been receiving on Project Ninetenseventeen and my health consulting work. Turns out that the number one topic of late has been the subject of Nutritional Ketosis (NK). So I’ve decided to offer a free seminar that addresses all this interest in a fun, interactive session. And it also…
I’ve got a new program, or a slightly different format for a program I’ve been doing for the last few years, to share with you. But before I do that, I’d like to share some exciting news about temperature. I’m an advocate for outdoor activity and exercise. That’s not saying that I’m opposed to training indoors when the weather is…
I recently had the opportunity to sit down over coffee with Jackie Rainford Corcoran, author of the Explore Big Sky health column, “From Jackie, With Love”. Jackie is a colleague in the profession of health enhancement, and I am pleased to share with you some of her valuable insights. Whether one’s title is health coach, health consultant, health engineer, health…
Recently I was on a trip to the other side of the country, and I found myself out for a morning walk down a rural road. As I ambled along and amused myself with all sorts of thoughts and self-talk (yes, some of it verbal but no one was around), I was startled by a sudden noise coming up the…
The New Year is upon us and I sincerely hope that you had a great 2016 and a wonderful holiday season! I’m filled with excitement and enthusiasm for the coming year, and for all the fantastic new information we can use to enhance our health, fitness, and happiness. This is a short post to start the calendar off right and…
The controversy regarding butter, margarine, vegetable oils, saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, trans fats, and cardiovascular disease has raged since the 1950’s. We’ve always been taught the diet-heart hypothesis that suggests that saturated fat intake raises serum cholesterol which in turn leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease. We’ve also been led to believe that consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable oils is “cardio-protective”…
Every month I consume over 100 professional journal articles, magazines, books, emails, blog posts, and podcasts in the health, wellness, fitness, rehab, nutrition, and related fields. I do this because it is one of my major interests and relaying accurate information on these topics to my clients is my job. Because diet and exercise, in particular, are some of the…
Just in case it isn’t obvious, the primary focus of The Lifetime Body is to Make Your Body Last a Lifetime. Keeping your body functioning at optimal levels of health and fitness through the lifespan allows for maximum quality, enjoyment, and productivity in all areas of life. It’s about more than just the physical body, but the being, the mind,…
There is perhaps no better way to introduce this new delivery format for health news than to begin with the topic mentioned above. A friend recently shared an article from The Atlantic entitled “How Back Pain Took Over the World”. This article covered an update to the Global Burden of Disease Study which was recently published in The Lancet. Essentially, the study…
As many of you know, I am a lifelong student of human performance and function. I never tire of learning new things and pondering old ones when it comes to what makes us tick and what might be a good way to keep us ticking just a little better or a little longer. Of course this has been true for…
(This is a transcript from a conference presentation I gave last year on wellness.) The topic of my discussion today is Wellness…or more specifically wellness in the workplace. It is indeed one of the great subjects of our time and I’m thrilled to share some of my insights and experiences. When I found out that I was speaking in the…
I find that being involved in fitness training, and in writing and speaking about those activities, is very stimulating for my brain. Along those lines, some extremely interesting data, and an associated article, have caught my attention. Earlier this month, a study was published in the Journal of Physiology, and a subsequent article was written in the New York Times,…
The Harvard Health Blog recently had a post entitled “How is the Affordable Care Act Doing?” and it is a very quick and interesting read. The post cites a study from the New England Journal of Medicine and goes on to emphasize that while the ACA has resulted in more Americans having health insurance, it has accomplished very little. The…
The relationship between body composition (lean body mass plus bodyfat), levels of fitness, health, and longevity, continue to be hot topics in the wellness world, and this is especially true at the beginning of a new year. Many people focus on fitness or weight loss at this time, and it’s no secret, given the extensive marketing campaigns built around the…
I recently chatted with my friend Steve Stowers, PhD. Steve is a professor of Neurobiology at Montana State University, and a national-level competitor in ultramarathon running. He shared with me an article from Velo News entitled “Cycling to Extremes – Are endurance athletes hurting their hearts by repeatedly pushing beyond what is normal?”. The link for the article is http://velonews.competitor.com/cycling-extremes…
I’m going to comment on what is really a popular topic in the current health/fitness mindset. If I really want to live as long as my genetics and good fortune will allow me, how much exercise is enough, and of what type? In the Well section of the New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds recently wrote a great article on this…
In this post I’m going to look briefly at a few popular words. Activity is simply what it sounds like. If you walk to work, mop the floor, stack some firewood, etc., this is activity. Studies show that you get most of the health benefits available from activity if you burn about 2000 calories per week being active. Differing from that,…
The topic of healthcare in America is a massive and complex one. It is a topic that I may address with multiple posts in this blog. What I’m going to focus on today is the term and its potential definitions. When I think of the term “healthcare”, I envision a system that is committed to keeping people in an optimal…
