When Megan Roark first learned to row at 12 years old, she couldn’t have known the sport would one day shape not only her athletic identity, but her approach to medicine. Years later, through her training and practice as a naturopathic doctor, Megan has come to appreciate rowing not just for its physical demands, but for its meditative qualities, too. But rowers are famously stubborn: pushing through pain, skipping recovery work, showing up to early practices under-fueled and dehydrated. In this episode, Megan shares a holistic approach to caring for the athlete as a whole for long-term health and performance. We talk about habits for deeper sleep, nutrition and hydration, building a strong “therapeutic alliance” with your doctor, and yes — even why showering matters more than we realize. GUEST: Megan Roark, ND IG: @naturally_meg_med This episode was made possible in part by RowSource and our Supporters. QUICK LOOK 00:00 - Introduction 03:34 - Welcome and Megan’s rowing week on a scale of 1-10: hitting the erg in CrossFit workouts and seeing stamina and muscle mass improvements 07:00 - The Huddle 09:06 - The Hot Seat 12:49 - Rowing origin story: at 12, followed her brother into rowing, which reconnected her to the water after her dad died 15:39 - Teenage body awareness, finding nuance of body mechanics, and how a back injury led to a college minor in exercise science 21:20 - From “stumbling upon” naturopathic medicine to working to create a two-sided “therapeutic alliance” with her patients 26:08 - Rachel falls in love with Megan’s approach and Tara talks about the reality of being a practicing naturopathic medicine patient 32:28 - The connections between stress, performance, sleep, hormones, recovery 33:57 - Performance optimization vs longevity: making adjustments post-injury and working within the mobility abilities of your crew 35:03 - The importance of deep sleep as a “reset button” for our brains and muscles 38:50 - Habits for better sleep 41:30 - Pre- and post-practice nutrition guidelines 46:03 - The surprising reason you should shower in the first hour after a workout 47:50 - Megan’s philosophy on health, wellness, and being active in community 49:37 - Steady State Network news and notes . To see photos of Megan, and to get links to the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website. . Steady State Podcast is a production of Steady State Network. It is hosted and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering, books show guests, and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel writes our scripts and e-newsletter, and manages the website and social media. Our theme music is Open Mind by Soundroll. . SHOP SSN GEAR: www.steadystatenetwork.com/shop SIGN UP FOR THE SSN NEWSLETTER: www.steadystatenetwork.com/newsletter MAKE A DIFFERENCE: www.steadystatenetwork.com/support CONNECT: FB - /SteadyStateNetwork IG - @SteadyStateNetwork FB - /AllieswithOars IG - @AllieswithOars Connect on FB and IG with the hosts: Rachel Freedman - @RowSource Tara Morgan - @CmonBarber
