The Driven Athlete

Dr. Kyle Volstad, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, CSCS
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

Helping driven and ambitious people elevate their performance in life, health, exercise, and injury prevention. Shedding light on best known health practices, lifestyle habits, and injury prevention.

  1. 3d ago

    What If The Biggest Limiter Is Not Your Body? | Ep 128

    You want a straight answer to a simple question: when will this pain finally be gone? We get it, and we also know why that question can feel like torture when you’re a driven, active person who just wants to train, work, and live normally again. The truth is that recovery timelines aren’t random, but they are personal. So we unpack the real factors that change how fast you heal and why “it depends” can still be a useful, practical answer. We walk through non-traumatic injuries like gradual shoulder pain or slow-building low back pain and explain how severity, irritability, the nature of symptoms, and the stage (acute, subacute, chronic) shape your progress. Then we zoom out to the human side: age, medical history, lifestyle choices, optimism, understanding the plan, and the kind of social support you have at home. We also talk about the fine line between being committed and being hyper-vigilant, because rumination can make pain louder even when your tissues are improving. For traumatic injuries, we cover a common reason people stay sore long after a fall or impact even when nothing is broken: bone bruises and bone contusions. And if you’ve had surgery like ACL reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, or knee replacement, we explain cellular turnover, why protocols exist, and why restoring range of motion in the right window can change your long-term outcome. If you’re ready for clearer expectations, smarter rehab, and a safer return to running and lifting, hit play, subscribe, share with a training partner, and leave a review so more driven athletes can find the show.

    24 min

  2. Jun 3

    NFL Defensive Back Taylor Rapp On Earning A Starting Spot Through Relentless Preparation | Ep 127

    A lot of athletes say they’re “all in” until the routine gets boring, the workouts get brutal, or the doubts get loud. NFL defensive back Taylor Rapp joins us to talk about what going all in actually looks like, starting with a childhood in small-town Washington where football wasn’t the main event and recruiting attention didn’t come easily. Taylor breaks down the decisions that changed everything: quitting baseball after travel ball burnout, sacrificing the typical high school social life, and understanding how recruiting momentum works once that first offer hits. We get into his underrated edge, graduating early to enroll at the University of Washington months ahead of his class, then surviving the shock of winter workouts, spring ball, and the mental grind of competing against grown men. He shares what it felt like to earn a start against Stanford in a top-tier atmosphere, and why that moment still stands out even after playing on the biggest stages. From there, we go deep on longevity and performance: why sleep is a real competitive advantage, how nutrition and recovery routines protect “availability,” and how overtraining can quietly raise injury risk. Taylor also opens up about the NFL Combine as a three-month pressure cooker, the interview and whiteboard grilling teams use to evaluate players, and what changes when you step into an NFL locker room with veteran leaders and family men. If you’re a driven athlete trying to level up your routine, your mindset, and your results, this conversation delivers. Subscribe, share it with a teammate, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

    1h 7m

  3. May 27

    Why Great Athletes Love The Process with Dr. Matt Morton Ep 126

    The biggest separator in sport is not a secret drill or a magic program. It’s the mental edge that keeps you showing up when the work is boring, the season is long, and the outcome is uncertain. We sit down with Dr. Matt Morton to trace how high-level competition shapes that edge, from growing up in New Jersey sports to playing around future Division I and pro talent. We unpack what elite athletes consistently do differently: they fall in love with the process, prepare like pros, and build discipline that lasts when motivation disappears. We also talk about the “too cool to try” trap, why maturity and awareness matter, and how team culture and the people you surround yourself with can raise or lower your standards fast. Then we shift into the physical therapy world and why the care model matters for real results. Dr. Matt breaks down the difference between high-volume corporate PT and one-on-one coaching-style rehab, including how listening longer can uncover better answers than rushing through cookie-cutter tests. We get into pain science in plain English, including how the nervous system drives pain, and we share a real athlete example where shoulder blade pain is actually referred from the neck, leading to a misplaced injection and a year of frustration. If you’re an athlete, coach, or active adult dealing with stubborn pain, this will change how you think about “where it hurts” versus “why it hurts.” Subscribe to the Driven Athlete Podcast, share this with a teammate who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest mindset or rehab takeaway you’re applying this week.

    52 min

  4. May 20

    Pressure Management For Pelvic Health with Dr. Letycia

    Leaking when you laugh or lift is one of those problems people quietly plan their lives around and far too many are told it is “just part of being a mom” or “just getting older.” That mindset keeps women stuck for years, even though pelvic floor physical therapy can be a straightforward path back to training, confidence, and comfort. We sit down with Dr. Letycia, a pelvic floor physical therapist based in Delray Beach in South Florida, to unpack what pelvic floor rehab actually is and why it is not a one size fits all stack of kegels or a machine doing the work for you. We get into the symptoms she sees every day in pregnancy and postpartum recovery, from urinary incontinence and pelvic pressure to pelvic pain, constipation, and painful sex. Then we connect the dots for active women and athletes: how breath mechanics, diaphragm function, and deep core timing change the amount of pressure your pelvic floor has to handle during squats, deadlifts, jumping, and running. You’ll also hear what a real evaluation looks like, why stress and “fight or flight” can drive pelvic floor tension, and how small tools like 4-7-8 breathing, body scans, and jaw release can support nervous system regulation. We dig into diastasis recti and what actually matters for healing, when compression can help, and why pressure management is the through line for performance and pelvic health. Finally, we break down stress versus urge incontinence, including bladder retraining strategies and the surprisingly effective calf raise trick to suppress urgency long enough to rebuild trust in your body. If this helped, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more athletes and moms can find real answers.

    47 min

  5. Apr 22

    From Multi-Sport Kid To Sports PT - Dr. Kyle's Journey | Ep 124

    You can rack up awards, earn a starting spot, and still feel like you don’t belong. We get personal and honest about that gap between what others see and what you believe about yourself, tracing Dr. Kyle’s path from a multi-sport childhood to college football and Division 1 men’s volleyball. The stories aren’t about highlights for the sake of highlights. They’re about how confidence actually gets built, how insecurity can quietly cap performance, and why “you don’t look like a football player” can stick longer than you think. We also talk through the moments that changed the entire trajectory: a coach promising a D1 volleyball scholarship at tryouts, choosing college only because athletics opened the door, and the late pivot from a would-be firefighter plan into physical therapy school. From there, it’s the real-life evolution many athletes understand: the shift from competing yourself to treating athletes, weekend warriors, and active adults who just want to play pain-free again. If you care about sports physical therapy, injury rehab, and returning to sport with a smarter plan than “ice and Advil,” you’ll hear the mindset behind how we approach care. The thread tying it together is purpose. We unpack character traits that sports build over years of practice and pressure: discipline, grit, patience, courage, and the ability to perform when you’re not at your best. Then we end with ikigai, the Japanese philosophy of aligning what you love, what you’re good at, and what can support your life, and how that lens explains why we’re so driven to keep leveling up for our patients. If you want more conversations like this, subscribe and share the show with a driven friend, then leave a review so more athletes can find it. What part of your athletic story still shapes how you show up today?

    20 min

  6. Apr 19

    A Labrum Tear On MRI Does Not Automatically Mean Surgery | Ep 122

    The Driven Athlete

    20 min

  7. Apr 14

    Stop Chasing 1 MPH And Start Chasing Strikes w/ Prime Performance | Ep 123

    Most athletes think the next “secret drill” will unlock their pitching velocity or fix their command. I’ve learned the opposite: progress comes from clear assessment, smart workloads, and the patience to stack good reps for years, not weeks. That’s why I brought on Joe Clancy from Prime Performance in Port St. Lucie for a wide-ranging talk on baseball development that stays practical the whole way through. We break down how Prime Performance runs one on one training with a single coach covering mobility, strength and conditioning, correctives, and skill work. Joe explains why they match high intent throwing days with high intensity lifting to manage central nervous system stress, especially in season when your job is to perform on the mound, not “win” the weight room. We also get into what separates elite pitchers: routine, preparation-based confidence, and the ability to limit damage when things get messy. Joe shares his own journey through elbow injuries, Tommy John surgery, and the rehab choices he wishes he could redo, plus how scar tissue and nerve compression changed his career. From there we go deep on pitch design and fastball shape, why movement disparity can matter more than velocity gaps, and how command is trainable when catch play and bullpens become intentional. If you’re a pitcher, parent, or coach looking for real-world pitching mechanics and training principles, this one delivers. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a teammate, and leave a review so more driven athletes can find the show. What part of your training needs more intent right now?

    1h 8m

  8. Apr 2

    Stop Warming Up Like A Maniac | Ep 121

    If you’re motivated to train but secretly dread the moment your shoulder, back, or knee starts barking again, we get it. We see driven people all the time who want to be leaner, stronger, and more energetic, yet they feel like they’re “not built” to work out because pain keeps showing up. Our take is simple: most of the time, the issue is not you, it’s the setup and the progression.  We break down the nuts and bolts of a repeatable workout structure that supports longevity and performance, starting with what we consider the foundation: resiliency. That means building a body that can handle stressors like travel, poor sleep, and hard training without turning into a six-week flare-up. You’ll learn our 15-minute movement prep sequence: blood flow activation, targeted mobility work, then priming drills to clean up muscle recruitment before the real lifting starts. We also dig into common problem areas, especially shoulder mechanics, scapular upward rotation, and why the rotator cuff gets overloaded when the shoulder blade is not doing its job.  From there, we map out a practical three-day training week for active adults returning to fitness, including higher-rep base building, controlled movements, and circuit structure so you finish workouts feeling loose and strong, not wrecked. We also zoom out to athlete training, covering off-season strength and power programming, rep ranges, and how rotational sports like baseball, golf, and tennis change the emphasis. We touch on nutrition basics that drive results, including protein targets and when creatine monohydrate can make sense.  If this helps, subscribe and share it with a friend who keeps getting hurt, and leave a quick review so more people can find pain-free strength training. What’s the one movement or lift that always triggers symptoms for you?

    27 min
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5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Helping driven and ambitious people elevate their performance in life, health, exercise, and injury prevention. Shedding light on best known health practices, lifestyle habits, and injury prevention.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Kyle Volstad, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, CSCS
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    128
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Driven Athlete
  • Show Website
    The Driven Athlete

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