Bulls Rise: The UB ENS Podcast

Dr. Chris Perry, Ph.D., CSCS
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Bulls Rise: The UB ENS Podcast,the official show of the University at Buffalo Exercise & Nutrition Sciences Department, hosted by Dr. Chris Perry. We educate, inspire, and equip through conversations with UB experts, athletes, students, clinicians, tactical pros, and the Buffalo community. Each episode turns science into action training, nutrition, recovery, sleep, mindset, and leadership so you can perform better, live healthier, and lead well. From the lab to the locker room to everyday life, we break down the why and the how plus tools you can use today, in Buffalo and beyond!

  1. Jun 1

    The Real Curriculum: How Fitness, Behavior Change, and College Are All Teaching You the Same Lesson ft. Heather Bieber

    You already know what you should do. So why is it so hard to actually do it? This week on Bulls Rise, Coach P sits down with Heather Bieber, Director of UB's undergraduate Exercise Science program and a behavior change expert whose career has revolved around one question: why do people struggle so much to change, even when they know what to do? Heather's path was never a straight line. from an aerobics class at 13, to personal training at a high-end Boston gym, to public health at Emory, to wellness coaching at Universal Studios, to running a program at UB. In this episode, she dismantles the myth that behavior change is about willpower, exposes the truth behind perfect-eating social media content, and explains why there's no one right way to exercise. She shares the rheumatoid arthritis client who taught her more than any textbook, breaks down why small steps beat total overhauls, and reveals why coaching is mostly psychology and barely about the program. When asked what it means to rise, Heather kept it simple: stay humble, be okay being vulnerable, dust yourself off, and get back on the horse. 🎙️ Bulls Rise is the official podcast of the University at Buffalo Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Hosted by Dr. Chris Perry, PhD, CSCS. #BullsRise #BehaviorChange #HealthCoaching #ExerciseScience #UBENS #UniversityAtBuffalo

    58 min

  2. May 13

    The Man Behind Bulls Rise: Coach P on Sleep, Teaching, and Why Serving Others Matters ft. Dr. Chris Perry

    For the first time in Bulls Rise history — the host becomes the guest. In this episode, Dr. Jen Temple takes over the microphone to interview Coach P (Dr. Chris Perry) — UB faculty member, sleep researcher, strength and conditioning coach, and host of the Bulls Rise Podcast. What follows is the most personal and transparent episode Bulls Rise has produced. Coach P walks through the full story of his journey — from Penn State undergrad to Eastern Kentucky master's student to Arizona State PhD to University at Buffalo professor. He shares the day a mentor locked him in a classroom and forced him to teach cold. He opens up about the Instagram DM from a high school classmate in rehab that nearly saved him from quitting social media. He breaks down sleep debt, shift work, and the truth about why you can't sleep in and make it up. And he closes the episode with a manifesto on what really matters: being a human being first. When asked what helps him rise, Coach P pointed to his faith, his family, and one lesson he's learned again and again across every chapter of his career: walk through the door of challenge — the fear disappears once you're on the other side. 🎙️ Bulls Rise is the official podcast of the University at Buffalo Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Hosted by Dr. Chris Perry. #BullsRise #CoachP #UBENS #ExerciseScience #SleepScience #UniversityAtBuffalo

    1h 6m

  3. May 5

    The Why Behind the Grind: Inside the UB ENS Trenches ft. Jenna Kersten & Rion Dugan

    Two students. One shared mission. The first-ever student episode in Bulls Rise history. Jenna Kersten is a first-year Doctor of Physical Therapy student in UB's combined three-plus-three program. Rion Dugan is a fourth-year exercise science major on the pre-med track, grinding through MCAT prep while teaching as Dr. Lee Kroll's TA. They both peer-tutor across the ENS department. They both lost their fathers. And they both turned that loss into the foundation of everything they're building. In this episode, Jenna shares her story of losing her dad to a medical mistake — and the moment she dedicated her career to ensuring no other family loses someone the same way. Rion tells the cinematic story of the 9 PM gross anatomy lab where twenty silent students gathered around his cadaver bench to learn the carotid artery — and applauded when he finished. He also unpacks the mentor moment that redirected him from PT school to medical school in a single sentence. This conversation dismantles the myth that exercise science is "just gym class," explores the hidden curriculum of learning to struggle, and delivers the most poetic moment Bulls Rise has produced yet — Rion's Buffalo eternal flame metaphor about finding the work that no amount of hardship can put out. Whether you're a current student, a prospective student, a parent, a mentor, or anyone who's ever wondered if you're on the right path — this episode will land. 🎙️ Bulls Rise is the official podcast of the University at Buffalo Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Hosted by Dr. Chris Perry, PhD, CSCS. #BullsRise #UBENS #ExerciseScience #PreMed #PhysicalTherapy #StudentLife

    1h 13m

  4. Apr 28

    Practice Before Game Day: How Sim Lab Mistakes Save Lives ft. Dr. Sarah Krzyzanowicz, EdD, ATC

    A student forgot the AED in a simulation. Years later — when a parent went into real cardiac arrest at his workplace — he didn't forget it again. That story is the heart of this conversation. Dr. Sarah Krzyzanowicz is the Clinical Director of UB's Master of Science in Athletic Training Program, and she joins Coach P to break down the teaching philosophy producing clinicians who actually perform when lives are on the line. Dr. Sarah challenges the broken "sage on the stage" model of education, makes the case that confidence is built only through experience, and shares the three-question reflection practice she gives every student to turn experience into real growth. She also unpacks how simulation-based learning works (hint: it's not about expensive equipment), why she wants her students to fail in practice, and how the Adam Grant principle of "confident humility" shapes everything she teaches. We also get her unconventional origin story — growing up in a town with no stoplight, competing as a national-level snowboarder, singing with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the 17-year journey to her doctorate that proves it's never too late to keep learning. Whether you're a current athletic training student, a clinical educator, a coach, a healthcare professional, or just someone who wants to understand what real-world learning actually looks like, this episode will change how you think about expertise, failure, and the long road from classroom to competence. 🎙️ Bulls Rise is the official podcast of the University at Buffalo Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Hosted by Dr. Chris Perry, PhD, CSCS. #AthleticTraining #SportsMedicine #ClinicalEducation #UniversityAtBuffalo #ExerciseScience

    51 min

  5. Apr 20

    From Undeclared to Unstoppable: Heat Physiology, Fitness Culture & The Truth About Sweat ft. Ayla Gabel

    She went from undeclared to unstoppable — and she's already changing how we think about heat and health. This week on Bulls Rise, we sat down with Ayla, a second-year PhD student at UB studying heat physiology under Dr. Hayden Hess — and she came ready. Her dissertation is tackling something most of the research world has quietly ignored: how adults with obesity actually thermoregulate in extreme heat, and why decades of flawed methodology have left us with public health guidelines that may be failing the people who need them most. But this conversation goes far beyond the lab. Ayla walks us through the deadlift that left her with two bulging discs, the moment she stopped caring what her body looked like and started caring what it could do, and the mindset shift that turned a career-ending injury into the foundation of everything she's built since. She calls out the fitness industry hard in this one. She makes the case that motivation is overrated, that discipline is a schedule-not a feeling, and that the simplest tool most people ignore — reducing friction — is the actual key to showing up. She breaks down what sweat really does (and doesn't do) for cooling, why electrolyte culture may be oversold, and what every person should be doing right now to prepare for summer heat. And when asked what it means to rise, she didn't hesitate: Just keep showing up. 🎧 Full episode available now on all platforms.

    45 min

  6. Apr 13

    Cardiovascular Risk, Endometriosis, and the Power of Asking Questions ft. Dr. Lacy Alexander

    Join us as we explore the inspiring journey of Dr. Lacey Alexander, a Penn State alumna and leading researcher in vascular physiology and endometriosis. Discover her insights on curiosity, resilience, and the future of applied physiology research. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Lacey Alexander 02:43 Journey into Exercise Physiology 05:21 Transitioning from Medical School Aspirations 08:02 The Importance of Rejection and Self-Evaluation 10:56 Research Focus: Small Blood Vessels and Cardiovascular Health 13:57 Women’s Health and Cardiovascular Disease Risks 16:44 Personal Connection: Endometriosis and Research 19:13 The Impact of Chronic Inflammation 21:52 Clinical Applications and Patient Care 24:47 Curiosity and the Power of Questions 27:08 The Role of Pets in Our Lives 28:16 Myth-Busting Science: Making It Engaging 30:04 The Importance of Asking Questions in Education 31:45 Personal Journeys: From Fitness to Academia 35:11 Learning from Failure: The Path to Growth 37:41 Leadership in Academia: The Editor's Perspective 42:28 Navigating AI in Scientific Writing 45:35 Exciting Trends in Applied Physiology Research 46:27 Key Takeaways for Aspiring Scientists resources Journal of Applied Physiology - https://journals.physiology.org/journal/japplphysiol American Physiological Society - https://www.the-aps.org Penn State University - https://www.psu.edu Endometriosis Foundation of America - https://www.endofound.org

    54 min

  7. Apr 6

    Food Is Not the Enemy: The Family Table and What Nutrition Is Really About ft. Dr. Tegan Mansouri

    What if the most important nutrition lesson you'll ever learn has nothing to do with macros, seed oils, or the food pyramid, and everything to do with who's sitting at the table with you? Dr. Tegan Mansouri is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Nutrition Science Program at the University at Buffalo. She's also a Registered Dietician whose mission is to make nutrition more accessible, not louder, not flashier, not more controversial, just more human. In this episode, Tegan takes us back to where it all started: a family kitchen where Persian stews simmered for hours on Sundays, where her dad adapted traditional recipes when she experimented with cutting out red meat, and where she learned that food has always been about so much more than nutrients on a label. That foundation shaped everything, how she teaches, how she counsels, and how she challenges the noise that dominates nutrition conversations today. We go deep on the topics that are confusing students and consumers alike. Why the flipped food pyramid contradicts its own recommendations. Why the seed oil debate is distracting us from the fact that over 90% of Americans don't eat enough vegetables. Why weight shouldn't be the holy grail of health. What a Registered Dietitian can offer that ChatGPT never will. And why the Dunning-Kruger effect might be the single biggest problem in nutrition right now, where people learn just enough to feel like experts and then start advising others without understanding the complexity underneath. But this episode isn't just myth-busting. It's about what happens when a student sits in your office, reads a chapter about helping people on GLP-1 medications develop a nutrition philosophy, not a meal plan, and says, "This is why I want to become an RD." Not for the science. Not for the credential. For the mission. That moment is why Tegan does what she does. And this conversation is why we do what we do here on Bulls Rise. Topics covered: the Mediterranean diet and its overlooked lifestyle components, the difference between a Registered Dietician and a nutritionist, why restricting entire food groups is the biggest nutrition mistake people make, how to actually start eating more vegetables without overcomplicating it, and why patience, empathy, and advocacy are the foundation of great nutrition education.

    1h 2m

  8. Mar 30

    Beyond Willpower: The Reality Inside the Obesity Brain & GLP 1 Medications ft. Dr. Elizabeth Mietlicki-Baase

    It's Not Willpower, It's Neurobiology: Inside the Brain Science of Obesity and GLP-1 Medications What if the reason you can't stop eating has nothing to do with discipline, laziness, or a lack of self-control? What if the answer has been sitting inside your brain this entire time? In this episode of Bulls Rise, Dr. Chris Perry sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Mietlicki-Baase, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the University at Buffalo, whose research sits at the intersection of brain reward systems, food intake, and the biology of obesity. Dr. Mietlicki-Baase has spent her career studying why we eat the way we eat, and more importantly, why the brain sometimes refuses to let us stop. From watching a talk show segment on Prader-Willi syndrome as a kid to detecting live dopamine signals in a postdoc lab at UPenn, Dr. Mietlicki-Baase's journey into neuroscience is as fascinating as the science itself. In this conversation, she breaks down some of the most misunderstood topics in modern health — including the real neurobiology behind GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, the concept of food noise and why it consumes people with obesity every waking hour, and why stopping these medications can bring all of that back almost overnight. She also tackles the stigma head-on. The belief that obesity is a moral failing. The idea that GLP-1s are an easy way out. The assumption that willpower is the variable standing between someone and a healthy weight. Dr. Mietlicki-Baase dismantles all of it with evidence, empathy, and the kind of clarity that only comes from spending decades inside the data. This episode is for the coaches, the clinicians, the graduate students, the skeptics, and anyone who has ever beaten themselves up for not being able to put down the bag of chips. The answer was never about you. It was always about your brain. What you'll learn in this episode: What Prader-Willi syndrome reveals about how the brain normally controls food intake in all of usHow fast-scan cyclic voltammetry lets scientists watch dopamine fire in real time and what that means for understanding obesityWhy GLP-1 medications reduce far more than just food intake — including alcohol, cocaine, and compulsive behaviorWhat food noise is, why people with obesity experience it constantly, and why GLP-1s may silence it almost immediately upon stoppingThe muscle mass problem no one is talking about with rapid GLP-1 weight lossWhy weight regain after stopping GLP-1s is nearly universal and what the science says about managing itThe emerging world of amylin-based medications and why they may be the next frontier in obesity treatmentHow a Gila monster's saliva launched one of the most important drug discoveries in modern medicineWhat it looks like to be wrong in science — and why changing your hypothesis is a sign of strength, not failureConnect with Dr. Elizabeth Mietlicki-Baase:University at Buffalo — Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Connect with Bulls Rise & Coach P:Instagram: @ubuffaloens , @drcperry001 Bulls Rise is the official podcast of the UB Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences — where faculty, researchers, and students come together to share the science that moves the field forward.

    47 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to Bulls Rise: The UB ENS Podcast,the official show of the University at Buffalo Exercise & Nutrition Sciences Department, hosted by Dr. Chris Perry. We educate, inspire, and equip through conversations with UB experts, athletes, students, clinicians, tactical pros, and the Buffalo community. Each episode turns science into action training, nutrition, recovery, sleep, mindset, and leadership so you can perform better, live healthier, and lead well. From the lab to the locker room to everyday life, we break down the why and the how plus tools you can use today, in Buffalo and beyond!

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Chris Perry, Ph.D., CSCS
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dr. Chris Perry, Ph.D., CSCS
  • Show Website
    Bulls Rise: The UB ENS Podcast