To watch this episode, please visit Rachel’s YouTube channel.

Listeners can find Stan Efferding at his website Stanefferding.com, and on Instagram @stanefferding and on YouTube @stanefferding

Stan Efferding is an IFBB Professional bodybuilder and World Record Holding Powerlifter. He is one of only 10 men in the world to ever total over 2,300 pounds lifted in competition. Stan holds the title of the World's Strongest Bodybuilder. 

Stan studied Exercise Science at the University of Oregon and has been training high school, Collegiate, and Professional athletes for over 25 years. Stan conducts seminars all over the country for various sports, nutrition, and training techniques. He has appeared in many magazines and writes for Muscular Development, Flex Magazine, and Power Magazine. Stan is also a successful Entrepreneur having built three different start-up businesses into multi-million dollar companies.

In this episode, Stan and I talk about the top 10 things everyone should be doing to optimize fitness and health, incorporating habits around existing routines, weight management, supplement recommendations that are hard to get from food, and much more!

“The best diet is the one that you’ll follow. And the best exercise is the one that you’ll do.” Stan Efferding

Top Takeaways:

• Stan’s recommendations for how to optimize your sleep
• The general rule of thumb for the amount of protein intake needed as you age
• Benefits of daily 10 minute walks
• Critical components to short and long term success within a diet phase
• Two supplements to consider implementing into your diet that is hard to get from food

Show Notes:

• [0:00] Welcome back to MetFlex and Chill! Today we are welcoming repeat guest Stan Efferding @stanefferding 
• [1:00] Episode 59: Achieving Optimal Health with Stan Efferding 
• [1:30] Stan gives a brief intro and bio about himself and his journey 
• [2:30] The Vertical Diet
• [3:30] Today’s main topic is how to stay fit over 50
• [6:00] “The best diet is the one that you’ll follow. And the best exercise is the one that you’ll do.” Stan Efferding
• [8:00] “Compliance is the Science.” Stan Efferding
• [9:00] First component to staying fit over 50: sleep optimization
• [13:30] Question: Can you chat in terms of weight management after 50 and what you've seen to work for your clients and yourself?
• [13:30] Second component to stay fit over 50: weight management
• [17:30] Question: Can you speak to general movement and your experience with NEAT and if it increases or decreases after retirement?
• [19:30] The value of NEAT and being cautious of overexercising to not cause excess hunger 
• [21:00] Question: Can you speak to the importance of protein as we age?
• [24:30] Question: Can you chat about the misconceptions and misunderstandings around red meat?
• [32:30] Question: What is the importance of strength training especially when it comes to aging?
• [35:30] Question: How many times a week would you say is optimal for training?
• [38:30] “If you're trying to create a habit, attach it to a behavior that you already do. Everybody eats every day -so now we just attach a 10 minute walk to every meal.” Stan Efferding
• [42:30] Question: In terms of insulin resistance and type two diabetes, can you speak to the blood sugar issues in the population over 50 and your tips to help regulate that?
• [50:00] Research implies that 7% of your body weight is the average amount of weight to lose to help resolve metabolic health
• [52:30] Increasing protein can help with managing blood sugars
• [53:00] Question: Can you chat about the blood pressure management tips you recommend? 
• [54:30] Question: What is the overall importance of hydration and electrolytes?
• [1:01:30] Sodium benefits for blood flow and training in the gym
• [1:02:00] Question: What blood tests do you recommend getting? 
• [1:02:00] For a full list of blood test recommendations, check out www.stanefferding.com, scroll down and click on blood tests
• [1:06:30] Digestive distress
• [1:08:00] A low fodmap diet- elimination approach to diagnosing your digestion issues
• [1:10:30] Question: Should rice be part of the protocol for those who want to lose weight? 
• [1:11:00] Question: The effects on muscle growth from pre workout stimulant use?
• [1:11:00] “If you're not continuously taking your body somewhere it hasn't been before you're gonna stop progressing.” Stan Efferding
• [1:12:30] Question: Is there a nutritional difference in the different kinds of salts that you consume?
• [1:13:00] The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully
• [1:15:00] Question: What are the essential supplements we need to take that we don't get from food?
• [1:16:00] Question: What are the foods required for calcium to meet daily 1000 milligram requirements for the body in the vertical diet?
• [1:17:30] Question: Favorite ways to bring up a low HDL?
• [1:18:30] Question: How many grams of fiber from non irritating sources per 1000 calories should we aim to ingest for colon health?
• [1:19:30] Question: What is a good resting heart rate zone? And how do we get there?
• [1:20:30] Question: Should natural athletes stop bulking and cutting cycles once they are near their natural limit, and just be happy with maintaining while building strength or skills?
• [1:22:00] Learn more about Stan by checking out his Instagram @stanefferding or his latest book The Vertical Diet and www.verticaldiet.com
• [1:22:30] Stan Efferding KOMPLETTES Seminar in THOR's Power Gym 

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Rachel Gregory (@rachelgregory.cns) is a Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist, Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and Author of the best-selling book, 21-Day Ketogenic Diet Weight Loss Challenge. She received her Master’s Degree in Nutrition & Exercise Physiology from James Madison University and Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Miami.

Rachel helps her clients transform their lives by starting with the physical (body), realizing the power of the mental (mindset), and ultimately gaining massive confidence that bleeds into every aspect of their lives (family, relationships, work, etc.).