wise athletes podcast

wise athletes podcast
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athletic longevity and peak performance as we age

  1. 4d ago

    #185 | GLP-1: Microdosing? | Vyvyane Loh MD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Vyvyane Loh MD Board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine, with a long focus on immunometabolism. Her book, The Architecture of Enough: Hunger, GLP-1, and the Immune Metabolic System, is available on Amazon (paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Enough-Hunger-Immune-Metabolic/dp/B0H2R8HKS4 — and Kindle) and Barnes & Noble. She also publishes an in-depth health e-zine at wellth-e.com (WELLTH-E — "wealth" as in money plus wellness); she points listeners to issue #3 Bottom line: For an otherwise healthy, fit person chasing a modest amount of weight, Dr. Loh's take is stay away if you can — the muscle and immune-metabolic costs outweigh the benefit, and these drugs are best reserved for clear medical need, used with a real clinician and a defined exit strategy. *Note: Educational, not medical advice. Dr. Loh stresses these decisions should be made with a clinician genuinely involved in your care.* Key learnings Ask "where's the receptor?" to tell a direct drug effect from a general weight-loss effect. Metabolism and immunity are inseparable — every metabolic change is an immune change. Insulin resistance is an adaptive response; acute is healthy, chronic is the problem. The drug delivers GLP-1 alone and supraphysiologically — missing the natural hormone "family" and overriding your own system. GLP-1 curbs appetite partly by inducing a low-grade "sickness" state via IL-6. IL-6 isn't just "bad"; suppressing it long-term may drive muscle loss and impair repair. Biggest risk for fit people: trading fat for lost muscle (obesity+diabetes → sarcopenia+diabetes). ~75% regain most weight within a year of stopping, even while keeping good diet habits. Beware catabolic states — surgery, illness, immobility — while on these drugs. Skip no-follow-up, online platforms; pair any GLP-1 use with real lifestyle structure (meals, protein, hydration, sleep, lifting). Summary Two years after her last appearance, Dr. Vyvyane Loh returns to tackle the drugs everyone's asking about — the GLP-1s (Ozempic, Wegovy, semaglutide). Joe comes in tempted, like a lot of listeners: not a hundred pounds to lose, just a stubborn ten and the promise that these drugs are also good for your heart, kidneys, liver, and longevity. Dr. Loh's job in this episode is to separate what's real from what's hype — and to explain what these drugs may be costing that the marketing never mentions. Her first tool for cutting through the noise is a simple question: "where is the GLP-1 receptor?" If a supposed benefit is happening in a tissue that has no GLP-1 receptor, it's probably just a general effect of losing weight (better sleep apnea, less inflammation) — not a direct, magical property of the drug. Much of the "good for everything" story, she argues, is really just "weight loss is good for people who were carrying excess fat." The conceptual heart of the episode is her core thesis: metabolism and the immune system are the same conversation. Any metabolic intervention is also an immune intervention, and vice versa. She reframes insulin resistance not as a villain but as a natural, adaptive response — during infection, inflammation, or pregnancy, the b...

  2. Jul 21

    #184 | Aging Athlete Heart Health | Guido Claessen PhD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Guido Claessen, PhD Guido Claessen is a Belgian sports cardiologist, physician-scientist (MD, PhD), and academic specializing in sports cardiology, exercise physiology, and advanced cardiovascular imaging. His research focuses on how intensive exercise affects the heart, distinguishing normal athletic adaptations from heart disease, and improving the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular conditions. Summary Sports cardiologist Guido Claessen — principal investigator on the Pro@Heart and Master@Heart studies out of KU Leuven and University of Hasselt — joins Joe to untangle one of the most uncomfortable questions in masters endurance sport: can you exercise too much for your heart? His answer is nuanced. The benefits of exercise are enormous and not in dispute: athletes live at least as long as the general population, probably longer, with far better quality of life. The benefit curve is steep early — the biggest gains come from going from sedentary to even an hour a week — and continues deepening to roughly three to six hours weekly before it plateaus. Past that point, Claessen argues, you're training for love of the sport, not for extra protection on the heart. The harder material is what his own coronary-CT data revealed. Lifelong athletes in Master@Heart carried more coronary plaque than even very healthy active controls — the opposite of what his team expected. But the story doesn't end there: compared with a typical sedentary population, athletes' plaque skews toward the calcified, stable, rupture-resistant kind, which may be relatively protective. And the single most important caveat threaded through the whole conversation is that nobody yet knows whether that extra plaque actually translates into more heart attacks — the outcome data isn't in. Claessen closes with the practical throughline for older athletes: fitness is not a free pass. Screen the hidden risk factors — Lp(a), ApoB, home blood pressure — treat what needs treating, and don't fear the statin conversation, because the alternatives are now excellent. The takeaway isn't do less; it's do it with your eyes open. Key learnings Don't fear exercise — the longevity case is settled. Even very high training loads are associated with living at least as long as the general population, with major quality-of-life gains on top. There is no signal pointing toward becoming sedentary. "Risk" is not one thing. Atrial fibrillation is more common in endurance athletes but it's a manageable nuisance, not sudden cardiac death. Disaggregating AFib from coronary disease from sudden death dissolves a lot of needless fear. The benefit curve plateaus around 3–6 hours/week. The steepest gains come early; beyond the plateau, extra volume is a hobby choice, not added heart protection. The athlete's heart is built by duration, not intensity. Counterintuitively, cumulative training volume — not how hard you go — drives cardiac enlargement. Tour-level pros trained less intensively than masters athletes yet had larger hearts. Lifelong athletes carry more coronary plaque — but more of the stable kind. More plaque than healthy controls (a surprise), yet compared with sedentary people it's more calcified and rupture-resistant. The crucial unknown: more plaque ≠ proven more events. Whether higher plaque burden in high-volume athletes leads to more heart attacks is genuinely undetermined; longitudinal follow-up is ongoing. This is the load-bearin...

  3. Jun 24

    #183 | VO2Max or What? | Mike T Nelson, PhD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Affordable (best pricing by far) Blood Testing at GoodLabs (use code WISE for 20% discount) Mike T Nelson, PhD Dr. Mike blends deep academic knowledge with practical, field-tested insights to burn fat, build strength, and recover more effectively.PhD in Exercise Physiology from University of Minnesota BA in Natural Science from St. Scholastica MS in Biomechanics from Michigan Technological University Adjunct Professor in Human Performance for Carrick Institute for Functional Neurology Mike T Nelson website Dr Mike's Newsletter signup link There's a fight on the internet about VO₂max. One camp treats it as the single number that rules your healthspan — get it as high as humanly possible, no matter the cost. Another camp says it's overhyped, mismeasured, and not worth your attention at all. As usual, the loudest voices are the least useful. So I brought the question to someone I actually trust: Dr. Mike T. Nelson, back on the show for his fourth conversation with me. Mike is the rare internet fitness voice with both the science and the scruples, and he's written about this exact controversy. My question for him was simple and a little selfish: I'm 64, I don't have unlimited time or unlimited recovery. How much should someone like me actually be chasing VO₂max — and once I've got "enough," where should my effort go instead? His answer is what this episode is about, and it comes down to a sweet spot. Yes, VO₂max is one of the most powerful longevity predictors we've ever measured — climbing out of the bottom of the pack buys you more protection than almost anything else you can do. But the benefit curve flattens. There's a point where squeezing out another few percent costs enormous effort for very little return — effort that would do far more good aimed at whatever your real weak link is. Along the way Mike takes apart some sacred cows. Why zone 2, for most of us, is not the magic everyone says it is. How to actually program intervals so you're building speed instead of just collecting misery. Why your fading max heart rate might be partly a use-it-or-lose-it problem. And how something as quiet as your breathing rate while you sleep can tell you whether you're sabotaging your own oxygen delivery. If you've ever stared at the VO₂max number on your watch and wondered whether to celebrate it, panic about it, or ignore it — this one's for you. Key learnings VO2max predicts longevity — strongly, but with a caveat. The mortality benefit of moving from very unfit to fit appears larger than almost any other measured intervention, exceeding smoking cessation. But most of that effect comes from rescuing the bottom of the range, not pushing an already-good number higher. (Human observational data; reverse causality is a standing confounder. The "VO2max is overblown" controversy is mostly noise. The complaint that studies use METs and submax estimates rather than gold-standard lab tests is technically correct — but the surrogates and the lab measures largely agree, so the distinction doesn't change the practical conclusion. VO2max is limited by your weakest link — either oxygen delivery (heart, blood flow) or oxygen utilization(muscle, mitochondria). T...

  4. Jun 14

    #182 | Leveraging Energy Stress | Jose Areta, PhD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Affordable (best pricing by far) Blood Testing at GoodLabs (use code WISE for 20% discount) Jose Areta, PhD Dr. José Areta is an Associate Professor in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (UK). Originally from Argentina and trained first as a biologist (with a minor in zoology), he completed his PhD in exercise physiology and nutrition at RMIT University in Melbourne, then spent roughly three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences before moving to Liverpool. His research centers on training–nutrition interactions in humans — how manipulating carbohydrate, protein, fat, and overall energy availability shapes adaptation to training and physical performance. In recent years his work has focused on the endocrine, metabolic, and physiological effects of energy deficiency, including the first dynamic proteomic profiling of how human skeletal muscle responds to a short-term energy deficit combined with exercise. He is also a practicing athlete, coach, and practitioner, and has roughly 60 peer-reviewed publications. Jose Areta, PhD profile Most of us treat an energy deficit as a problem to be corrected — a state where you've fallen below a known requirement, risking lost muscle and blunted performance. Areta's reframe: think of it as energy stress. Like exercise stress, it's a signal the body is built to adapt to, and — at least as a working hypothesis — one you may get better at handling with repeated, progressive exposure. We (probably) evolved under intermittent scarcity, and a body that responded to hunger by becoming weak and slow wouldn't have survived to find its next meal. The practical hook for the older athlete: if you're always in a calorie surplus to recover and build, you're adding fat alongside muscle. Energy stress, used deliberately, becomes the tool for managing body (low) fatness without sacrificing the performance and muscle you've worked for. Key learnings You can get stronger in a deficit without getting bigger. Energy deficit plus resistance training yields the same strength gains as energy-balanced training — but without the same hypertrophy. The gains come from neuromuscular adaptation, not added mass. (Function over form.) Protein is the lever that makes a deficit safe. Requirements rise to roughly 2.2 g/kg/day to preserve lean mass during a deficit. The threshold that matters: deficits beyond about 500 kcal/day impair muscle-building even with training; below that, recomposition (muscle gain + fat loss) stays achievable. Fat is the fuel; contractile muscle is largely spared. In Areta's short-term deficit study, energy came predominantly from fat oxidation, and most of the apparent "lean loss" was water — the contractile machinery was preserved. The deficit upregulates mitochondrial machinery. Deficit-plus-exercise increased mitochondrial protein synthesis and quality-control proteins — the stress acted as an adaptive signal, not just depletion. Meanwhile the collagen "scaffolding" proteins that rise with aging were reduced — though whether that's net-beneficial isn't yet settled. The body has no fixed metabolic rate. It adjusts expenditure and efficiency to energy ava...

  5. May 17

    #181 | No Time for Pain | Rick Olderman MSPT

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Affordable (best pricing by far) Blood Testing at GoodLabs (use code WISE for 20% discount) Rick Olderman, MSPT Author of "Fixing You" series Author of Pain Patterns www.rickolderman.com This episode focuses on addressing chronic pain in older athletes using a comprehensive "systems thinking" approach to physical therapy. Rather than treating pain as an isolated symptom with a checklist of generic exercises, the discussion highlights the importance of diagnosing the underlying root causes through a simplified series of diagnostic tests. The conversation digs into how systemic bodily compensations hide underlying structural issues, how dysfunctional walking patterns directly trigger chronic lower body pain, and how most chronic back pain is mistreated by conventional physical therapy methods. Key Discussion Points Immediate Pain Feedback: Effective physical therapy should yield almost immediate feedback and pain relief during testing if the correct underlying trigger is successfully targeted and adjusted. The "Spaghetti Against the Wall" Approach: Conventional physical therapy often hands patients a long list of general exercises without meaningful, personalized testing to determine the specific cause of pain. The Deception of Painless Damage: Our bodies are masterful "compensation machines," meaning structural degradation (visible on MRIs) can silently accumulate completely under the radar long before rising to the level of actual pain. Walking as a Keystone: Chronic pain tracking from the lower back all the way down to the feet is heavily tied to dysfunctional walking patterns; fixing the gait is fundamental to resolving this pain. The Over-Striding Error: A highly common walking issue involves throwing the foot too far out in front of the body with a heavy heel strike, which locks the knee and shuts off the gluteus maximus. Activating the Glutes: To properly engage the glutes and control pelvic/hip mechanics, walkers must focus on moving their entire body forward with the advancing foot, ensuring the knee stays automatically softened. The Three Body Systems and Patterns: The human frame operates on three distinct systems (movement, fascial, and reflex neurological) that get trapped in three fundamental problematic patterns: extension (too arched), flexion (too flat), or side-bending (uneven pelvis). The Back Crease Photo Test: A simple diagnostic test for a side-bending problem is having a photo taken of your bare back; a larger crease at the waist on one side indicates an uneven pelvis and rib cage, which typically aligns with the side of sciatic or SI joint pain. The Prevalence of Extension Problems: Roughly 99% of patients with chronic back pain suffer from an extension problem (an over-arched back), which is easily identified if back pain worsens when laying flat with straight legs or standing. The Flaw in Standard Back Care: Most traditional physical therapy methods treat chronic back pain by prescribing back-arching and prone press-up exercises, which actually worsen pain for 99% of chronic patients because it reinforces their existing extension problem.

  6. Apr 18

    #180 | The Art of Avoiding Injury | Jeremy Bettle, PhD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the huge "always on" discount) Affordable (best pricing by far) Blood Testing at GoodLabs (use code WISE for 20% discount) Jeremy Bettle, PhD Award-winning coach and VITALITY expert UCSB – Director of Sports Performance Brooklyn Nets Basketball – Head of Strength & Conditioning, Director of Nutrition Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey – Director of Sports Science & Performance Anaheim Ducks Hockey – Director of High Performance New York City Football Club – Director of High Performance Vitality Collective – Co-Founder Bettle earned a Ph.D in human performance and a master’s degree in exercise science from Middle Tennessee State University. He also holds earned his bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise science from Leeds Metropolitan University (England). Vitality-Collective.com Discussion Points The Core Injury Framework Injuries happen when the demands of an activity exceed the capacity of the tissue being asked to perform. Demands come in three forms: force (how hard the impact), velocity (how fast the contraction must happen), and direction (planes of movement the tissue hasn't been trained for). Training is the process of systematically raising capacity to match and just slightly exceed demands — not avoiding demands. "The Sport Is Not Enough" Principle Playing your sport builds sport-specific fitness but does not prepare the tissues for the worst-case demands of that sport. The athlete who only cycles or only lifts has gaps in planes of movement that become injury sites the moment life — or a new activity like pickleball — demands something different. Training must prepare the body for more than the sport itself. The Range of Training That Matters Four modalities, all necessary: Strength training — high effort to near-failure, 8–12 reps; equivalent stimulus to heavy singles but dramatically lower injury risk Cardiovascular training — continuous aerobic work High-intensity intervals — critical for performance and longevity Power training / plyometrics — massively underrated, but inherently risky; must be earned through the progression below The Progression — Sequence Matters This cannot be rushed or reordered: Phase 1 — Foundation (weeks 1–8+): Core and hip training first. The core transfers force between upper and lower body — without it, every compound movement is a liability. Start with wall sits, hip work, fundamental movement patterns at 12–15 reps. Phase 2 — Strength: Progress to squat (goblet squat) and hinge patterns. Move from 12–15 reps down to 6–12 reps with heavier absolute load. This is where strength, muscle mass, body composition, and bone density gains accumulate. Phase 3 — Power (only after Phase 2 is established): Power = strength × speed. Sequence within this phase: Slow eccentric loading first (3–4 second descent on squats, pause, fast up) Fall-prevention drills: tip-toe fall-forward-and-catch, snap-downs Vertical jumps in place (no box required for masters athletes) Jump for distance, skater jumps side to side, single-leg jumps Box jump...

  7. Mar 1

    #179 | TRT: Less is More | Nayan Patel PharmD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the "always on" discount) Nayan Patel, PharmD Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy and serves as adjunct faculty there. Hormone health influences everything from energy and sleep to mood, metabolism, and libido—yet mainstream treatments are often driven by generic protocols and limited lab interpretations. Dr. Patel has helped thousands of patients find clarity and results by looking beyond “normal” hormone levels and building therapy around how people actually feel and function. He offers a practical view into what personalized hormone care should look like—and where most systems are getting it wrong. He is globally regarded as an expert on glutathione, a molecule often referred to as the “master antioxidant,” and is recognized for research into its absorbable forms. He has authored a book titled The Glutathione Revolution: Fight Disease, Slow Aging & Increase Energy with the Master Antioxidant. Find Dr Patel here: centraldrugsrx.com and here: aurowellness.com Discussion Points The hard truth is that you cannot inject your way out of a broken lifestyle Sex hormone optimization is a necessary but small piece of the puzzle.   Extra (more than the minimum) TRT is a poor solution to overcome poor lifestyle for stress and diet, and it comes with extra negative side effects.  Find the least effective dose for your physiology; use bio-identical hormones (have to use every 1-3 days) How to “feel” like the young you. The solution pyramid is: Sex hormones— 10% (necessary for older athletes but not sufficient) Thyroid mgmt — 20% (pollution, autoimmune) Diet / insulin - 30% (over eating, visceral fat) Adrenals / Stress mgmt - 40% (lifestyle; sleep) Also have to address oxidative stress issues (glutathione).  Related Episodes & Links: Episode 178 | Athletic Longevity isn't Easy | Brenden Egan PhD Episode 155 | Hormonal Triple Whammy | Kyle Gillett MD Episode 144 | Muscle for Athletic Performance | Mark Tarnopolsky MD PhD Episode 115 | Winning Athletic Longevity | Rick Cohen MD & Daniel Tawfik, Healthspan Episode 102 | Maximizing Performance Health | Jim Lavalle R.Ph. Help the show: 3 ways to support our show:  Leave a review (or share this episode) Check out our Fullscript site to save big on high quality supplements. Thank you! Email us your questions at info@wiseathletes.com....

  8. Feb 15

    #178 | Athletic Longevity isn't Easy | Brendan Egan, PhD

    Professional Supplements for Wise Athletes (click to see the "always on" discount) Brendan Egan, PhD Associate Professor of Sport & Exercise Physiology at Dublin City University Associate Dean for Research (Faculty of Science & Health) Current research investigates skeletal muscle function and adaptation across the life course, with special interest in the synergy between nutrition and exercise interventions ranging from athletes to older adults. Nutrients investigated include caffeine, creatine, omega-3 fatty acids, resveratrol, leucine, protein hydrolysates, beetroot juice, and exogenous ketones. Outside of academia, through his sporting career as an Gaelic footballer, Brendan has had a lifelong association with sport, training and performance at all levels of competition from grassroots to elite level, and also practices in the field as a performance nutritionist with emphasis on intermittent field-based team sports, and endurance athletes, most recently with the Dublin Hurlers and the Irish Paratriathlon team. Find Brendan's work here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brendan-Egan and contact info here: https://www.dcu.ie/researchsupport/research-profile?person_id=35443 https://sigmanutrition.com/episode591/ Discussion Points Personal Peak & Glide Path— peak as high and as late as possible, then hang on baby. “Use it or lose it”. It’s an old thing but now we lose faster and it’s harder to get back. Consistency is the name of the game now. Spikes in training load and intensity lead to injury which leads to inconsistent training. DO NOT GET INJURED! “I’m not what I was” — so true. I can't train like I used to because I can’t recover as quickly. (And don’t have as much time?)... and my body doesn’t respond to stimulus as well as it used to either...ergo, I'm not what I was. What to consider for improved recovery? Sleep, adequate protein, adequate carbohydrate fueling, hot/cold exposure, hydration, hypoxia exposure. Dr Egan likes a hot bath (me too). Testosterone falling? What else isn’t what it was? How important to get back to more youthful function of the body? Balancing calories surplus against calorie deficit. Keep fat and protein steady; ramp carbs to match activity (“fuel for the work required") Protein load: active older athletes probably don’t have anabolic resistance. May not need extra protein for age but probably do need extra for extra exercise. (1.5-1.6g/kg per day). It’s not a silver bullet of course. Collagen for tendons? It can t hurt. Get collagen into bloodstream right before (30 min?) workouts. Wallsits might help. Periodization of training. (3-5 weeks cycles). Keep it fun. Cover your bases. Build in time for recovery day to day as well as deep recovery every few weeks. Minimum effective dose?  What is the least attention I can put into an area of fitness to keep it alive.  Is there Inverted U shaped curve for fitness. More is better but too much is possible. Is that true? Too little time in other key elements of fitness? Performance vs. health and athletic longevity:  with time and recovery constraints, older athletes in particular have serious limitations.  If you put too much into one area of athleticism, you necessarily have to neglect others. ...

    #178 | Athletic Longevity isn't Easy | Brendan Egan, PhD
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athletic longevity and peak performance as we age

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  • Creator
    wise athletes podcast
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    195
  • Rating
    Explicit
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    © 2020-2025 wise athlete podcast
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