The NeuFit Undercurrent Podcast

Garrett Salpeter
  • 4.9 (17)
  • Alternative Health
  • Updated Semimonthly

We believe that the most powerful and transformative way to help people recover from pain and injury, heal from trauma, and reach their highest levels of fitness and performance is to focus on the nervous system! In this podcast, we'll share knowledge from the frontiers of neuroscience and inspirational stories of how applying that knowledge has empowered people from all walks of life to heal, adapt, and grow.

  1. 6d ago

    Ep 135: The Long Game: Two-Way Prospect Noah Franco on the Road to MLB Draft

    In this episode, Garrett sits down with Noah Franco -- a 6'3", 240-pound two-way player at TCU and one of baseball's most intriguing prospects -- for an unusually candid conversation about the road that got him here and where he is headed. Noah walks through his California-to-IMG-to-TCU path, explains the MLB draft rules that most baseball fans do not understand, and gets into the daily discipline behind training as both a pitcher and a hitter at the highest level of college baseball. In this episode, we get into: Why leaving home for IMG Academy at fourteen was the first time Noah "banked on himself," and how that single decision reshaped his career trajectory The draft rule most fans do not know: why signing with a four-year college takes you off the draft board until after your junior year, and how NIL is changing the math for the next generation Choosing TCU over real pro money out of high school, and trusting the moment to develop rather than cash in early Two-way life at TCU: pitching AND hitting, how the coaching staff builds his weekly workload, and how Shohei Ohtani has opened the door for players like Noah at every level The physical transformation from 189 pounds to 240 pounds, and the shift from focusing on raw strength to new areas like lateral stability and rotational efficiency What we worked on in the clinic: thoracic mobility, teaching the nervous system to safely occupy new range of motion, and rebuilding the eccentric "breaking force" behind a healthy pitching follow-through The mindset that keeps Noah moving forward through pressure and outside noise Whether you follow baseball, work with elite athletes, or just want to understand how the best young players actually make decisions and train their bodies, this conversation is a rare inside look at what it takes to bet on yourself and play the long game.

  2. Jul 31

    EP 134: All Things Achilles: Two Injuries, Two Roads Back, and How to Build Resilient Tendons

    Achilles injuries seem to be everywhere right now, from the NBA and NFL to weekend warriors. In this episode, Garrett sits down with physical therapist Luke Brohm, PT, DPT, OCS, for some big updates on our understanding of the Achilles tendon in 2026. It is a uniquely personal one, too: Luke is four months out from surgery to repair a full rupture, while Garrett is working back from a partial tear that became a stubborn tendinopathy. Together they compare notes on why these injuries happened, what actually drives recovery, and how anyone can build more resilient tendons for the long haul. In this episode, we get into: Why Achilles injuries appear to be rising, and what contributes to the "perfect storm" of under-recovery paired with spikes in load The load-vs-capacity framework that explains almost every injury, and why both of us were under-recovered the day we got hurt Luke's phase-by-phase comeback from Achilles surgery, from cast and isometrics to reintroducing plyometrics at four months Garrett's non-surgical tendinopathy journey: isometrics, resistance training, the Neubie, and the surprising setback culprit of the golf swing Modern tendon science: why "little and often" beats "long and hard," and how collagen plus vitamin C before loading feeds the repair Where the Neubie fits in tendon rehab: fighting atrophy, reducing inhibition, and restoring the neuromuscular connection The three biggest mistakes in recovery, and a prevention blueprint rooted in how our hunter-gatherer bodies are actually built to move Whether you are rehabbing an Achilles right now, working with patients who are, or simply want to stay explosive and injury-free for decades to come, this conversation will change how you think about tendon health.

  3. Jul 17

    Ep 133: My Four Biggest Shifts at 40: The Ideas that Have Actually Changed How I Live

    Turning 40 inspired me to stop and reflect in a deeper way. In that reflection, I asked a question I hadn't asked in a while: which ideas have actually changed the way I live? Four rose above the rest (convenient since it was my 40th!), and one thing that surprised me is how they build on each other, almost like a manual for how to live. In this solo reflection, I walk through all four, along with the single thread that connects them: awareness/mindfulness comes before change, every time. Key insights include: Why alignment, not achievement, has been the biggest unlock for me, and ways to know when something is truly aligned.  How meditation became less about reaching some blissful end state and more about being still enough to hear what's actually true (with a nod to "self vs. parts" from Internal Family Systems). Why identity is built through repetition, and how treating life as an ongoing experiment turns results into feedback instead of judgment. How your standards, what you're willing to tolerate on your lowest day, quietly shape your health, relationships, business, and even the standards your team accepts. The balancing act of not postponing your life for a "someday" that may never come, and why success should expand your life rather than delay it. Tune in for an honest look at how a decade of small shifts, and one big birthday, changed the way I make decisions - plus a simple one-question challenge to carry into your week.   TRANSCRIPT: Garrett Salpeter (00:00.974) Hello, New Fit Nation. Welcome back to the Undercurrent Podcast. This is the first episode that I am recording in my 40s. I just turned 40, and that is actually the theme of today's episode because it certainly feels like a milestone. It has caused me to stop and reflect, and I'm going to share some of those reflections with you here today. In the recent years of Gone through periods of transition in business, in life, my kids have hit new milestones. This year, my daughter, older daughter started high school. I've also gone through some personal transitions with a separation and divorce. And all of this has caused me, especially in combination with with a significant birthday like this, caused me to look up from the day to day and ask some bigger questions and wonder if I'm living my life in the way that I wish to be living my life. I I look at and I think about. How I'm responsible for what has happened and is happening in my life. The one that immediately led to this episode, I also thought about and asked myself what ideas and principles have influenced me and actually changed the way that I live? And when I sat with that question, there's four principles that rose above the rest. So I was, as you can imagine, I was very excited to see that having four corresponds well with a 40th birthday. I'm glad the numbers work out. I also saw a common thread and realized that they're not necessarily four separate lessons, but that they build on each other. And there's almost a sequence that for me is like a manual for how to live. And that is what I want to share with you today. And before I get into that, a couple notes. One is that if you're familiar with me, with our work at Newfit, you know that for nearly 20 years now, for me it's it's all come back to one thing, which is the nervous system. And when we're Talking about the new fit method and the newbie, it all comes down to helping people retrain their nervous system. It's the operating system of the body. We want the whole system to be running better. And I, in reflection on these, I see how I've been doing the same type of thing with myself, trying to get my operating system to work better. And one of the biggest things that, as you know, the nervous system does it's to make us aware, aware of our internal and external. Garrett Salpeter (02:22.486) environments and so awareness is a thread that also ties together these four lessons that I'm going to share with you because each one of them is preceded by or begins with awareness with noticing noticing where I am where I'm not in alignment noticing what my habits are and how they're influencing my life noticing what I'm accepting or tolerating in my life and also noticing for me areas in which I've been postponing my life and waiting for something to happen so I could achieve something and then feel a certain way, things like that that that I'll get into here. So these are the four, I don't necessarily want to say lessons, but I'd say the four biggest shifts in how I've lived that really stand out to me as being very impactful. And my intention here and sharing them with you is that they'll also be worthwhile to you in some way. So on to the first shift. For me, it's all about alignment. This is number one, I'm choosing this first because choosing to share this first because I feel like alignment has been the biggest unlock for me in the sense that finding where I feel aligned or where I haven't felt aligned and how the decisions I made from that, I can see how things play out. And one of the first times where I really realized the the dark side of this of acting out of alignment was an issue with a a person I had worked with and I knew deep down inside that there wasn't alignment. It wasn't a good cultural fit. And I overrided or overrode that in part because of people pleasing tendencies, because it was difficult for me to have hard conversations and and let this person know what was problematic, what was not working, what needed to change, difficulty for me setting boundaries. And I also had this, this was very early on in my career, also had this sort of scarcity mindset as opposed to abundance mindset of like, gosh, can I ever find anyone else to work with me? You know, so there's this feeling of not being worthy, not being good enough, noticing these things certainly all influenced it. But in overriding that, I allowed to continue Garrett Salpeter (04:49.91) situations and dynamics that ended up costing far more in the long run, emotionally and monetarily, costing a lot more than the initial pain and cost or the immediate pain and cost would have been having a hard conversation up front or getting rid of a person, you know, who wasn't a good fit years ahead of when I finally found the courage and clarity to do it. And when I Look at at other times where I've made decisions that have come out of alignment. Like, for example, coming out of college, I had a physics undergraduate degree, and I was set to go to engineering graduate school at the University of Texas here in Austin, which is how I got down here. And it was a fabulous experience, and I'm so glad I did it. And I had options to take jobs. I had a job offer with a big consulting firm out of college. I had an opportunity to interview with a large, very well-known investment bank, which I may or may not have gotten a job, but I decided that I wanted to pursue this because it felt more aligned with who I was and what I was interested in doing. And that ended up being a great decision. And that engineering background ultimately gave me the the experience and the perspective to be able to lead the team that ultimately created the newbie device and do the things that I'm doing now. It was a big part of that journey. So I'm I'm so glad that I did it. Also early on in my career back when I was working in a clinic and I had this hundred and twenty square foot office in the chiropractic office, chiropractic clinic of the guy who was the U T Longhorns chiropractor, his private practice. I was using older versions of electrical stimulation. That's part of what led me to ultimately creating the newbie. And I you know, very young doing this, it wasn't sure no one was really sure where this was gonna go. Me l me most of all. but I I knew that I really want to do it. And there was a moment there when when Brianna and I, my former wife, got pregnant with our first daughter. And I was still in my early twenties and I was honestly scared. And there were some suggestions, like my father, for example, very reasonably and lovingly encouraged me to take my master's degree in engineering and go get a stable. Garrett Salpeter (07:13.814) job so I can provide for my family. And I understand and appreciate why he said that. And for me, I sat with that and realized that what I really wanted to do was to follow my heart and pursue this work, doing this clinic and this type of work that led to new fit and everything that that we're doing now. And I'm so glad I did it. And it came from alignment. So those are some examples of acting from alignment or overriding the internal knowing. and acting from a place of misalignment. So that to me, that really is the f foundational framework. And a big catalyst for me understanding this has been my experience in meditation over the last couple years. I probably first got interested in meditation From listening to and reading Sam Harris's work and conversations with my friend Wesley Cress, who's been on this podcast, and hearing his experiences and his his explanations of meditation really helped it resonate with me in a way that it got me interested in pursuing it. And I've done more formal work both with Shauna Shapiro and Corey Muscara. Shauna's been on the podcast as well. And I highly recommend both of their books and their online work and courses or in-person work and courses because For me, meditation has been the way to really clarify and crystallize this concept or operationalize this and bring it into my daily life, where a lot of times we think that meditation is about sitting still until we get to a place of bliss or happiness where nothing bothers us. But what it's really about, as I've learned from people like Corey and Shauna, what it's really about is Have being still enough so that we can be aware enough or mindfulness, right? Mindful enough to be aware of what's going on in our own experience. So that I can actually fee

  4. Jul 3

    Ep 132: The Steering Wheel of Your Nervous System: Breathing, CO2 Tolerance, Healing & Longevity

    Dr. Sachin Patel believes the single most accessible, highest-leverage tool for our health has been right under our noses the whole time: the breath. In this episode, Garrett and Sachin go deep on why breathing is the "first domino" that knocks down a hundred others – influencing everything from our metabolism and circulation to the immune system and nervous system. If you've ever felt like your health routine is getting more complicated instead of simpler, this conversation is a powerful reminder that the most sophisticated answer is often the simplest one. We cover: Why breath is the "steering wheel" of your nervous system that helps you ramp up for immediate energy or ramp down for true healing CO2 is a misunderstood molecule that determines your calm, your energy, and your longevity, and why we want to train for greater "CO2 tolerance" How to measure your own breathing with the Control Pause (or BOLT) score, and what your number means Simple daily drills to build CO2 tolerance – at a traffic light, on a walk, or anywhere you can fit it in Client stories of how breathing practice has influenced health outcomes in real life Sachin's message is as empowering as it is simple: you already have everything you need to start, because you're already breathing. Tune in to learn how to take conscious control of that one process. Learn more and access his free trainings, guides, and live breathwork experiences at breathworkwithsachin.com.

  5. Jun 19

    Ep 131: Born to Run, or Born to Walk? Mark Sisson on the Movement Your Body Really Wants

    Most of us were told that running is the purest path to leanness, heart health, and a long life. Mark Sisson spent a career as an elite endurance athlete, becoming a sub-2:18 marathoner and top finisher at Ironman, before his own body forced him to question all of it. In this conversation, he makes the case that – for many people – "chronic cardio" quietly breaks the body down more than building it up, and that the movement your body is actually engineered for is one that we have stopped respecting: walking. In this episode, we get into: The broken promises of running for exercise, including injury rates, the fat loss myth, hormonal dysfunctions, and more Real aerobic training and why the fastest marathoner on earth trains 80% of the time at an easy, conversational pace Why persistence hunting was never a steady-state jog, but more of an alternating walking-climbing-sprinting endeavor How modern shoes "brace and encase" our feet, dulling our connection to the ground and setting up injuries What a fitness routine looks like when it aligns with evolutionary biology Mark is 73 and, by his own account, fitter than he's ever been. This makes him one of the rare voices on aging who is living the message in real time. If you want to understand a sustainable framework for fitness and longevity, this episode will clarify how you think about it.

  6. Jun 5

    Ep 130: First Move Well, Then Move Often: Gray Cook on Functional Movement

    As a physical therapist and creator of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Gray Cook has spent more than 30 years changing how we think about human movement. In this episode, recorded at the Functional Movement Systems headquarters in Chatham, Virginia, Garrett sits down with Gray for a wide-ranging conversation on what "functional" actually means, why most of us are chasing symptoms instead of causes, and how to build a body that moves well for life. If you've ever wondered why your training isn't translating into real-life movements or why pain keeps coming back, this episode is for you.  We cover: Why Gray defines "functional" as simply meaning "good enough" in the most important areas that influence musculoskeletal health. How movement screening is a status check for the musculoskeletal system, just like we take blood pressure for the cardiovascular system and use an eye chart for the visual system. The value of "regressing to progress" by working through the developmental phases: roll → crawl → kneel → squat → stand → walk → run The difference between calibration and conditioning (and why most warm-ups are wasted) Reclaiming physical culture for everyone from kids in school to adults who have "given up" on regular movement practices A real-life example in Gray's assessment of Garrett's movement during their time together If you check a wearable every day to see your readiness and recovery, what are you doing to check your movement system? In this episode, you will learn a clear framework for running that same type of diagnostic on your musculoskeletal health. And underneath all of this is a deceptively simple principle. As Gray puts it, the sustainable path to health, fitness, and vitality is to "first move well, then move often."

  7. May 22

    Ep 129: The Speech Therapist Who Lost Her Voice – and Rebuilt Her Practice on What She Learned

    Imagine being a speech therapist and waking up in an ICU, unable to speak, swallow, or move your head and neck. That's what happened to Vanessa Abraham, MS, CCC-SLP, seven years ago when she was paralyzed by the pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB) variant of Guillain-Barre. In this episode, she shares the full story from ventilator, tracheostomy, G-tube, and eye gaze boards through her path to eventually rebuilding her voice, her ability to swallow, and her clinical practice.  We cover: The PCB variant of Guillain-Barre and what recovery actually looks like How Vanessa found the Neubie, which turned out to be the missing link in her recovery The ways she uses electrical stimulation on the head and neck in her speech-language pathology practice, and how she dials in for swallowing and vocal cord function Polyvagal theory, why the body can't heal in a state of fight-or-flight, and how Vanessa uses the Master Reset Her frameworks for working with children with autism, adults with neurodegenerative conditions, and people experiencing PICS (post-intensive care syndrome) Vanessa is now one of the first SLPs in the world using the Neubie and has become a passionate educator through her book Speechless, her various talks and appearances, and her clinical practice. Her story is a very powerful pain-to-purpose conversation.

  8. May 8

    Ep 128: From Smelling Salts to Sensorimotor Testing: A Better Way to Treat Concussions

    When Dr. Ted Arkfeld started as a team chiropractor in the early 2000s, the standard sideline concussion test was a whiff of smelling salts and a question: "Feel okay? Get back in." Twenty-plus years later, he's built one of the most rigorous neurological assessments in the field, and is one of the only chiropractors in the country presenting concussion research alongside the world's foremost authorities. In this episode, he walks us through what changed, what's still broken, and a better way to treat concussions from the nervous system up. We cover: Why you cannot have a concussion without a cervical spine injury and why mainstream concussion medicine has been late to catch on The Neuro Sports Performance Evaluation that combines autonomic testing, sensorimotor function, and Neubie mapping The 3x increase in lower-extremity injury risk after a concussion and how to prevent it Why even gentle treatment can metabolically overwhelm a concussed brain and how a $20 pulse oximeter solves it The layered treatment protocol Dr. Arkfeld uses: Cox flexion-distraction, Master Reset, Normatec, BrainTap, and progressive neuro rehab If you treat athletes – or you're the parent of one – this conversation will change how you think about concussion management.

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We believe that the most powerful and transformative way to help people recover from pain and injury, heal from trauma, and reach their highest levels of fitness and performance is to focus on the nervous system! In this podcast, we'll share knowledge from the frontiers of neuroscience and inspirational stories of how applying that knowledge has empowered people from all walks of life to heal, adapt, and grow.

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