The Coaching Lab: Health, Wellness & Performance (Brad Cooper, PhD)

Brad Cooper, PhD (Catalyst Coaching)

Welcome to The Coaching Lab podcast, your trusted source for engaging, evidence-based, thought-provoking health, wellness & high-performance insights for those looking to improve their lives (or coaches/clinicians looking to enhance client outcomes). The Coaching Lab is the evidence-based journey toward better! If you've been looking for a health & wellness podcast that avoids the fluff and the headline-chasing fads while providing practical, real-world guidance, you just found it. We bring together the world's foremost experts, from world-class researchers and best-selling authors to elite athletes and coaches, sharing their insights about how to make the most of your personal and professional life. If you're looking for an entertaining format to help optimize your own health, wellness and performance through such evidence-based practices, this is the place for you! The Coaching Lab podcast is hosted by Dr. Brad Cooper, who brings a uniquely expansive background to the table. He has a PhD in performance psychology along with Masters degrees in both physical therapy (MSPT) and business (MBA) and a Bachelors degree in biology. He is CEO/Co-founder of Catalyst Coaching, an internationally recognized speaker, and elite masters endurance athlete (11 time Ironman, including 4 times at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, winner of the 2-person 3,000 cycling Race Across America and 2:47 marathoner). Most importantly, he's husband to Suzanna (celebrating 30 years of marriage) and Dad to three amazing kids, now ages 30, 28 and 25. You can tap into Dr. Cooper's "NOT DONE YET!" (Fitness & Life After 50) publication free of charge at https://betterpath.substack.com/ 

  1. 12/22/2025

    Science of Saunas: Wellbeing to Elite Performance (Daniel Gagnon, PhD)

    The use of saunas is exploding in popularity in the US, but they’ve been a standard part of life in other parts of the world. Finland is the best example, with more than one sauna for every 2 people! What is it about the health, wellbeing and high performance benefits that are driving such engagement? Is it a fad? Or is the trend driven by dependable evidence? What frequency, duration and temperature are recommended for better health & wellbeing? How about for athletic performance? What’s the difference between infrared and traditional saunas? Today’s guest, Dr. Daniel Gagnon is a thermal physiologist who has been studying the effects of heat exposure on human health & performance for over 2 decades! He is an associate professor at the University of Montreal and researcher at the Montreal Health Institute. If you’ve been curious about what the evidence is saying about saunas, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the two studies Dr. Gagnon mentioned during the discussion:  Meta-analysis 1 Meta-analysis 2 Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/ Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here. YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel Contact us: Results@CatalystCoaching360.com Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive Website: CatalystCoaching360.com If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218. This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more.

    1h 11m
  2. 11/24/2025

    Protein, Muscle, Aging and Performance: What the evidence tells us (Professor Stuart Phillips)

    Are we destined to lose our muscle mass over time? Is protein intake important? If so, what are the best forms of it? Does that amount change as we age? Is it influenced by physical activity? These – any related questions continue to dominate the world of health, wellness & peak performance, and there’s no better source for providing the answers than Professor Stuart Phillips from the school of medicine at McMaster University in Canada. He has published over 600 papers and is among the most referenced experts on the subject, with 70,000 citations. Professor Phillips joined us in 2020, and I thought it was time we brought him back. I was grateful when he said yes! Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/ Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here. YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel Contact us: Results@CatalystCoaching360.com Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive Website: CatalystCoaching360.com If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218. This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more.

    1h 8m
  3. 10/27/2025

    Finding Your People: Building Community in a Coaching Career

    If you're a current or future health, wellness & high performance coach, this is an absolute must hear episode! Coaches are helping change the world for the better, and yet we often find ourselves isolated from the world in the process. Experienced coaches Lindsay and Leigh (with occasional insights from Brad) discuss life as a coach, how to find - or build - community and some of their favorite options for doing so in their own lives. For details about the Coaching Retreat & Symposium Lindsay mentions, please visit https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/retreat/  For any other follow-up details or questions, feel free to contact us Results@CatalystCoachingInstitute.com Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/ Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here. YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel Contact us: Results@CatalystCoaching360.com Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive Website: CatalystCoaching360.com If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218. This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more.

    1h 9m
4.9
out of 5
107 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Coaching Lab podcast, your trusted source for engaging, evidence-based, thought-provoking health, wellness & high-performance insights for those looking to improve their lives (or coaches/clinicians looking to enhance client outcomes). The Coaching Lab is the evidence-based journey toward better! If you've been looking for a health & wellness podcast that avoids the fluff and the headline-chasing fads while providing practical, real-world guidance, you just found it. We bring together the world's foremost experts, from world-class researchers and best-selling authors to elite athletes and coaches, sharing their insights about how to make the most of your personal and professional life. If you're looking for an entertaining format to help optimize your own health, wellness and performance through such evidence-based practices, this is the place for you! The Coaching Lab podcast is hosted by Dr. Brad Cooper, who brings a uniquely expansive background to the table. He has a PhD in performance psychology along with Masters degrees in both physical therapy (MSPT) and business (MBA) and a Bachelors degree in biology. He is CEO/Co-founder of Catalyst Coaching, an internationally recognized speaker, and elite masters endurance athlete (11 time Ironman, including 4 times at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, winner of the 2-person 3,000 cycling Race Across America and 2:47 marathoner). Most importantly, he's husband to Suzanna (celebrating 30 years of marriage) and Dad to three amazing kids, now ages 30, 28 and 25. You can tap into Dr. Cooper's "NOT DONE YET!" (Fitness & Life After 50) publication free of charge at https://betterpath.substack.com/ 

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