The Ready State Podcast

Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett
  • 4.9 (606)
  • Fitness
  • Weekly

A podcast about health, aging, fitness, recovery, nutrition, parenting, and living well, featuring conversations with leading experts, coaches, and thought leaders. Each episode brings warmth, humor, and real-world perspective to the conversation, turning expert insight into practical tools for building a stronger, more durable life — and living in your Ready State.

  1. 3h ago

    Social Isolation vs. Loneliness: The Hidden Longevity Risk | Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad

    View This Week's Show Notes Start Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility Coach Join Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The Ambush Could your social life be as important to your longevity as exercise, nutrition, & sleep? Kelly & Juliet sit down with Psychologist & Professor, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a leading researcher on social connection & health, to explore why loneliness & isolation deserve a place in the longevity conversation. Drawing on research involving millions of people, she explains why social isolation carries significant health risks, how modern conveniences & technology are changing our relationships, & what the latest data reveals about America's declining social connections. They also discuss practical ways to build stronger relationships, create community, & make social connection a priority in everyday life. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy social isolation can be more harmful to longevity than lonelinessWhat the latest research reveals about America's social connection crisisHow remote work, technology, and modern conveniences contribute to isolationHow relationships influence physical health and chronic disease riskSimple ways to strengthen friendships and build meaningful community Key Highlights: (00:42) Introducing Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Why Social Connection Matters for Longevity (02:53) Social Connection as a Vital Sign (07:31) Loneliness vs. Social Isolation (16:44) The Health Risks of Having Fewer Close Relationships (24:23) How Modern Life Is Making Us More Isolated (31:54) Social Media, AI, and Human Connection (39:23) Why Younger Generations Are Struggling (44:39) Alcohol, Socializing, and the Decline of Community (51:45) How to Build and Maintain Stronger Friendships (54:54) The Importance of Third Spaces and Community Design (1:00:54) Small Changes That Foster Connection (1:11:03) Building a More Connected Future Huge thanks to our sponsors, Momentous, LMNT, and BEDGEAR.

  2. Nov 5

    RECESS: A Pill for GLP-1 Muscle Loss, Social Gatherings Decline & the Team USA Act

    View This Week's Show Notes Juliet and I just wrapped our annual Halloween street party (Dune-themed, obviously), and we are heading to Eudemonia in West Palm Beach as this episode drops. In this episode, we get into all sorts of happenings, like Rich Roll running the New York Marathon at 60, post spinal fusion, and the upcoming launch of The Ready State Pro Network in December: a community for coaches and practitioners to crowdsource solutions, connect with experts, and stay plugged in to what’s happening in the field. We are all in on a new challenge. Americans are spending half as much time at social gatherings as they were 20 years ago. A Stanford professor issued a challenge worth taking seriously: host two parties for 10 or more people over the next year. We also got into the Team USA Act, which would cap international athletes at 20% of any college varsity roster. Good arguments on both sides, and we wanted to think through them out loud. Last stop, a pill targeting sarcopenia and cartilage regeneration is on the horizon. Stanford researcher Helen Blau found an enzyme that accumulates in tissues with age. Blocking it restored muscle strength and regrew knee cartilage in mice. A San Diego company, Epirium Bio, is moving into human trials. They’re calling it the GLP-1 for muscles. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the Golden State Valkyries may be the best live sports experience going right nowWhat went into building a Dune-themed Halloween street party for ~2,000 peopleWhat’s happening at Eudemonia and why Rich Roll’s marathon at 60 after spinal fusion is worth celebratingWhat the Ready State Pro Network is and who it’s built forThe data behind America’s social gathering collapse and a simple challenge to reverse itThe case for and against capping international athletes at 20% of college varsity rostersHow a Stanford-discovered enzyme could lead to a once-daily pill for sarcopenia and knee cartilage repair Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro / Golden State Valkyries and live sports (03:00) Dune-themed Halloween street party recap (06:30) Eudemonia preview and Rich Roll's marathon at 60 (09:00) The Ready State Pro Network: launching December (12:30) Why Americans stopped gathering and a Stanford challenge (18:00) The Team USA Act: capping international college athletes (23:30) The muscle pill: sarcopenia, cartilage, and what's coming

  3. Oct 29

    The 800-Gram Challenge: A Simpler Approach to Protein, Fiber, & Calories | EC Synkowski

    View This Week's Show Notes Start Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility Coach Join Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The Ambush How much of your life have you spent thinking about food, only to wonder whether you're actually getting nutrition right? EC Synkowski is back for her third appearance on The Ready State Podcast, and this time she's celebrating the release of her new book, A Good Nutrition Book. Kelly and Juliet have followed EC's 800-Gram Challenge approach for nearly eight years, and they credit it with fundamentally changing their relationship with food. Together, they revisit the science behind eating 800 grams of fruits and vegetables daily, unpack the current obsession with fiber and protein, and tackle some surprisingly persistent nutrition myths. Does fruit really have too much sugar? Is organic produce worth the premium? Could chasing higher protein targets actually work against your body-composition goals? They also explore nutrition considerations for GLP-1 users, raising healthy eaters, and why the endless pursuit of dietary perfection can eventually become its own problem. EC's larger mission is refreshingly practical: give people enough knowledge to make good decisions about food, enjoy what they're eating, and get on with living their lives. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy 800 grams? The research behind EC's daily fruit-and-vegetable target, how it supports fiber intake and satiety, & why potatoes, beans, & frozen produce all count.Which nutrition rules deserve a second look: The truth about fruit sugar, organic versus conventional produce, food-ordering advice, & why nutritional quality matters more than many popular food rules suggest.How much protein is enough: Why EC recommends approximately 0.7 grams per pound of body weight, how excessive protein targets can increase calorie intake, & where total calories fit into her Three Pillars Method.How to apply good nutrition across different stages of life: Fueling adequately while using GLP-1 medications, helping picky kids develop healthy eating habits, & supporting performance & body composition.When to stop optimizing: Why EC believes diminishing returns matter in nutrition, & how building sustainable habits can free up time & attention for the rest of life. Key Highlights: (00:00) Introduction to EC Synkowski and A Good Nutrition Book (02:33) Why Kelly and Juliet have followed the 800-Gram Challenge for eight years (04:54) How the 800-Gram Challenge works (06:14) Fibermaxxing, gut health, & satiety (09:15) Why 800 grams can feel like so much food (12:23) The research behind the 800-gram target (15:52) Nutrition myths: food order, fruit sugar, and insulin (19:53) Organic versus conventional produce and the case for frozen vegetables (23:42) Making nutritious eating affordable and accessible (26:57) Measuring 800 grams without obsessing over a food scale (28:57) EC's Three Pillars: produce, protein, and calories (31:29) Why more protein can mean unnecessary calories (33:58) The inspiration behind A Good Nutrition Book (36:05) Nutrition and GLP-1 medications (39:31) Knowing when enough optimization is enough (43:38) Helping picky kids develop healthy eating habits (46:04) How parents' relationships with food influence their children (50:09) EC's mission to make nutrition manageable (51:57) Infinite Shelf: Food Intelligence by Kevin Hall Huge thanks to our sponsors, LMNT, BEDGEAR, and Momentous. #800GramChallenge #NutritionMyths #FiberMaxxing #ProteinIntake #CalorieBalance

  4. Oct 22

    RECESS: Smell Loss and Dementia Risk + the Downstream Impacts of California's School Sleep Law

    View This Week's Show Notes Juliet and I are back from a long stretch of travel with a lot to get into. I was inducted into the Best Hour of Their Day Hall of Fame at Affiliate Con in Dallas, but the bigger honor is being in a class that includes our late friend Rob Orlando, who brought strongman training into the modern gym. Juliet wants everyone to run, not walk, to the theater for the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything. She's not wrong. This week's actual science: we met Rob Leon at The Assembly, whose father is a neurobiologist at UC Irvine, and they're building a product around the connection between smell and brain health. The research on smell loss as a dementia predictor is genuinely surprising. We also break down the first real study out of California's later school start time law. The results are clear, and the math on what it means for how much sleep kids get is worth knowing. Plus Weird Longevity Shit, BFR recovery shorts, and some book sequels I've been waiting for. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy smell loss may be one of the most undervalued brain health indicatorsWhat a new study found when they measured California's later school start time lawThe math on how much extra sleep teenagers gained (and why it adds up fast)The strongman training legacy of Rob OrlandoBryan Johnson's "GLP Brian" and what our crew thinks of itHow BFR recovery shorts work as a travel-friendly recovery tool Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro + Kelly's Hall of Fame induction (00:58) RIP Rob Orlando + strongman legacy (01:55) Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything (04:23) Caroline at Cal Water Polo + Eszter Varró story (06:30) Book recommendations: Elder Race sequel + Thricebound Fool (07:23) Weird Longevity Shit: Bryan Johnson's GLP Brian (09:09) BFR recovery shorts (HYTRO) (09:51) The Assembly + Aescape robot massage (12:28) Memory Air: smell, brain health, and dementia research (18:43) California later school start times study (25:30) Upcoming: Eudemonia, Antarctica, Boner Protocol #BrainHealth #DementiaRisk #TeenSleep #Longevity #RECESS #TheReadyState #SmellLoss

  5. Oct 15

    Dr. Kate Ackerman: RED-S, Bone Health & What Female Athletes Need to Know

    View This Week's Show Notes Start Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility Coach Join Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The Ambush Women have always trained hard. The science surrounding how they fuel, recover, build bone, and respond to training has had a lot of catching up to do. In this episode of The Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet sit down with Dr. Kate Ackerman, a triple-boarded physician, former elite lightweight rower, and co-founder and president of the Women’s Health, Sports & Performance Institute (WHSP), to explore what changes when female physiology becomes part of the research question from the beginning. Kate traces her work back to her own experience making weight as an athlete, then unpacks the evolution from the Female Athlete Triad to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), including how underfueling can affect hormones, bone, cardiovascular health, injury risk, and performance. She explains why bone health begins much earlier than most people realize, how iron status should be evaluated in athletes, and why RED-S deserves attention in postmenopausal women, too. They also dig into menopause research, strength training, GLP-1s, and WHSP’s mission to answer the questions women themselves say matter to their health and performance. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow low energy availability and RED-S can affect bone, hormones, cardiovascular health, injury risk, and athletic performance and why RED-S can occur in both men and women.Why adolescence represents such an important window for building bone density, with roughly 90% of peak bone mass accrued by age 18.What athletes, parents, and coaches should understand about iron and ferritin, including why one lab value rarely tells the whole story.Why RED-S can matter after menopause, even when menstrual-cycle changes can no longer serve as a warning sign.How WHSP is approaching unanswered questions around female athletes across the lifespan, from adolescent health and pregnancy to menopause, strength training, hormone therapy, and performance.Key Highlights: (00:00) Intro: Dr. Kate Ackerman & the Future of Female Athlete Health (04:35) Kate’s journey from collegiate rowing to lightweight competition (06:04) Making weight, underfueling & Crystal Light cereal (09:30) Extreme weight-cutting tactics in lightweight rowing (12:05) When losing your menstrual cycle was a “badge of honor” (12:44) The Female Athlete Triad & Kate’s experience with menstrual loss (15:43) Kate’s unconventional path into sports medicine (16:33) Becoming triple-boarded in internal medicine, sports medicine & endocrinology (20:50) Understanding the Female Athlete Triad & RED-S (21:10) Why Kate calls osteoporosis a “childhood disease” (23:01) How low energy availability affects health & performance (24:49) RED-S warning signs for parents, coaches & athletes (29:16) Why WHSP was created & the research gap in female athletes (30:26) Building a one-stop medical model around the female athlete (33:33) Moving from reactive healthcare toward prevention & performance (39:06) Iron deficiency, ferritin & what athletes should know about their labs (41:26) Why ferritin alone doesn’t tell the whole story (43:53) WHSP’s research across the female lifespan (44:51) Menopause, hormone therapy & the questions we still need to answer (47:16) Strength training, bone health & better markers for RED-S recovery (48:47) What the Boston Marathon study revealed about underfueling & performance (53:06) What female athletes say they actually want researchers to study (55:10) RED-S in postmenopausal women (56:43) What RED-S can look like without a menstrual cycle as a marker (58:26) GLP-1s, underfueling & muscle loss (1:01:02) Strength training research for postmenopausal women (1:02:16) Kate’s vision for the future of female athlete health (1:05:34) Infinite Shelf: Ted Lasso & The Nightingale Huge thanks to our sponsors, BEDGEAR, Momentous, and LMNT.

  6. Oct 8

    Romania's Black Card for Youth Sports, Diet Drink Research, and Outplay Is Finally Done | RECESS

    View This Week's Show Notes Juliet and I just got back from Vancouver and 27 straight days of back-to-back conferences. The shift at the YPO Health Summit from two years ago was striking. The conversation has moved from mitochondrial supplements to something more basic: are you doing the fundamentals? We call this third wave fitness, and it finally feels like we are cresting into it. Romania's football federation just introduced a Black Card for youth soccer, and it is unlike anything we have seen before. Referees can now permanently end games because of how parents and spectators are behaving. No rematch, no restart, just over. There are also silent game days where adults cannot cheer or coach at all. The whole platform is built around joy, respect, and optimism in youth sports. With Outplay finished and heading to shelves next fall, we are paying close attention. EC Synkowski's A Good Nutrition Book dropped October 1st. We wrote the foreword to the book because her work and thinking around nutrition have been genuinely transformational for us. And finally, the University of Liverpool just published the longest randomized trial ever run on diet drinks. The results are going to surprise you, or at least give you permission to enjoy your crispy Diet Coke in peace. We have opinions, a bedazzled can, and an unhinged passion that we can't totally explain. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the YPO Health Summit felt fundamentally different this year and what the return to basics actually looks like in high-level wellness spacesWhat first, second, and third wave fitness means and why the shift matters nowWhat's in EC Synkowski's A Good Nutrition Book and why the 800-gram challenge changed how Kelly and Juliet think about nutritionHow Romania's Black Card system works for youth soccer sidelines and whether something like it could take hold in the USWhat the longest randomized trial on diet drinks found about weight loss and potential harm Key Highlights(00:00) Intro (00:24) Empty nesting and an overbooked fall (01:43) YPO Health Summit Vancouver: the back-to-basics shift (05:01) First, second, and third wave fitness (06:32) Rope flow for 100 CEOs, forgotten anniversaries, and 16 years of Mobility WOD (08:21) Outplay: manuscript submitted (11:06) EC Synkowski's [A Good Nutrition Book](https://a.co/d/0519vMrI) and the [800-gram challenge](https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/ec-synkowski-sustainable-nutrition/) (13:38) Romania's [Black Card](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7586821/2026/09/12/football-black-card-referee/) for youth sports sidelines (19:15) The diet drink study and the Diet Coke debate (25:21) Wrap

  7. Oct 1

    Joel Jamieson: How to Use HRV, Zone 2, & VO2 Max to Train Smarter

    View This Week's Show Notes Start Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility Coach Join Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The Ambush What if the fitness metrics you’re obsessing over aren’t telling you what you think they are? HRV. VO2 max. Resting heart rate. Zone 2. Wearables have given us more data than ever… but do you know how to use it to inform your training? In this episode of the Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet Starrett sit down with renowned strength and conditioning coach Joel Jamieson to cut through the noise around cardiovascular fitness, recovery, and resilience. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience coaching UFC champions, Olympic athletes, special operators, and professional sports teams, Joel explains why a higher HRV isn’t always “better,” what Zone 2 training is really trying to accomplish, and why your aerobic engine matters even if endurance sports aren’t your thing. They also explore how to balance low, moderate, and high-intensity training, practical ways to measure whether your conditioning is actually improving, and why stress outside the gym has to factor into how you train. The takeaway? Better fitness isn’t about chasing a perfect score – but about understanding what your body can handle, how well it recovers, and how to train accordingly. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy a higher HRV doesn’t always mean you’re better recoveredWhat Zone 2 training is actually trying to accomplishWhy cardiovascular fitness is important for improving resilienceHow to balance low, moderate, & high-intensity conditioningWhy stress outside the gym should influence how you trainKey Highlights: (00:00) Intro: Joel Jamieson on HRV & Conditioning (03:33) The HRV Problem for Midlife Athletes (05:13) What Is HRV? (09:41) The Evolution of HRV Tracking (13:32) What's a Good HRV? (16:18) Morning vs Overnight HRV (20:49) Why Higher HRV Isn't Always Better (24:00) HRV, Resting Heart Rate, & Heart Rate Recovery (26:50) Chest Strap vs Wrist-Based HRV (29:33) How to Improve Your HRV (34:10) How Fast Cardiovascular Fitness Declines (37:53) Training Intensity Zones Explained (43:30) Low, Moderate, & High Intensity Training (45:59) Why Low-Intensity Training Builds VO2 Max (48:33) Is VO2 Max Testing Worth It? (51:04) The Cooper's Test (55:09) How Fast Can Conditioning Improve? (59:55) Team Athletes & Recovery (1:01:46) Life Stress, HRV, & Training (1:04:00) Lifestyle Sets Your Gym Limits (1:05:21) Infinite Shelf Huge thanks to our sponsors,Momentous, LMNT, and BEDGEAR.

  8. Sep 24

    RECESS: New Ferritin Thresholds, CTE Research & the Outplay Book

    View This Week's Show Notes This one's a first: Juliet and I are recording from different states. I'm up in Evergreen, Colorado, fresh off the Farren Summit in Boulder, where Juliet and I ended up in the same room as Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf. Felt like CrossFit 2.0. The American Society of Hematology just raised the diagnostic floor for ferritin from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and if you've ever been told your iron levels are fine while running on empty, this is a massive deal. Juliet shares her 30-year story here, including what finally worked. Two landmark CTE studies dropped the same week: one out of Australia showing 61% of examined rugby league brains had CTE, and one from the US putting it at 1 in 4 NFL players. We get into what that means for families and youth athletes thinking about contact sports. Plus a real update on Outplay, our book on youth sports performance for parents, which we are nearly ready to turn in. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the American Society of Hematology raised the ferritin diagnostic floor from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and what the thresholds are for different populationsHow to tell if iron deficiency may be affecting you, low ferritin symptoms, and which tests to ask your doctor about (ferritin, TIBC, CBC)Why standard iron treatments so often fail, and what finally worked for Juliet after three decades of tryingHow CTE differs from a concussion, and what two new studies on rugby league and NFL brains actually foundHow families and coaches should think about youth contact sports in light of the new CTE researchWhat the Outplay book covers and where it stands in the writing process Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro: first time recording apart, Kelly in Colorado (00:40) Farren Summit recap and the Boulder trip (01:13) Kelly's CU Boulder days and the shared senior thesis story (04:48) CrossFit reunion: Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf (06:59) Fall travel: YPO Vancouver and the Brett Bartholomew conference (07:57) Eudemonia with Momentous and the Antarctica trip (10:24) New ASH ferritin thresholds explained: from 15 to 30 ng/mL (11:38) Low ferritin symptoms and why standard treatments kept failing: Juliet's 30-year story (14:35) What finally worked: iron infusions and menopause (17:26) Which tests to ask your doctor for (18:24) Kelly's concussion history and CTE intro (19:24) New CTE research: 61% of rugby brains and 1 in 4 NFL players (20:02) CTE vs. concussion: what's the difference (21:37) Youth contact sports and how families should think about risk (24:27) Guardian caps and other interventions; Eric Freitag episode on concussions, (https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/eric-freitag-concussions/) (26:27) Outplay book update and the Outplay Way card deck (30:50) Skateboarding as free play, shoutout to Lisa's son Fox:(https://www.instagram.com/p/DdiCvqzp1HL/)

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out of 5
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About

A podcast about health, aging, fitness, recovery, nutrition, parenting, and living well, featuring conversations with leading experts, coaches, and thought leaders. Each episode brings warmth, humor, and real-world perspective to the conversation, turning expert insight into practical tools for building a stronger, more durable life — and living in your Ready State.

Information

  • Creator
    Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    217
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 The Ready State Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Ready State Podcast

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