Minnesota-raised biathlete Leif Nordgren started skiing when he was just three and shot his first rifle at 14. He won a bronze at the Youth World Championships in 2008 and went on to join the US biathlon team, participating in his first world championship in 2011. Leif has competed in both the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games on the 5-man US Olympic Biathlon Team and continues to compete annually in the international Biathlon World Cup.

It’s been a pleasure working with Leif over the past year as a member of our own Elite Performance Program.  He’s on the podcast with me today to talk about his journey becoming a professional biathlete, including his training approach and diet, and the resilience needed to shoot a firearm with precision right after an all-out sprint. Leif also shares about the health challenges he’s overcome along the way, including gut pathogens and food intolerances that required some detective work and experimentation to identify.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Leif Nordgren:

[00:00:14] NBT Elite Performance Program (EPP).

[00:05:54] Becoming a competitive skier.

[00:07:31] US biathlon team.

[00:07:39] Skate (freestyle) skiing.

[00:09:55] VO2 max.

[00:13:22] Shooting.

[00:17:59] Junior World Championships.

[00:21:08] Training approach.

[00:21:21] Vladimir Cervenka.

[00:26:24] Per Nilsson.

[00:26:57] Periodization.

[00:27:37] Knowing when you've overtrained.

[00:30:04] World Cup racing.

[00:32:44] Implementation Intention: planning for the unexpected.

[00:35:30] 2014 Olympics in Soche.

[00:43:35] Making a living.

[00:45:25] Lake Placid US Olympic Training Center; US Olympic Committee.

[00:46:56] Diet.

[00:50:05] Autoimmune Protocol (AIP).

[00:53:12] H.Pylori, Candida.

[00:54:47] Ironman study: Jeukendrup, A. E., et al. "Relationship between gastro-intestinal complaints and endotoxaemia, cytokine release and the acute-phase reaction during and after a long-distance triathlon in highly trained men." Clinical Science 98.1 (2000): 47-55.

[00:55:47] Book: The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain, by Dr. Steven Gundry.

[01:01:46] Podcast: Robb Wolf Paleo Solution Episode 226 with Christopher Kelly.

[01:02:19] Sleep improvements, timing of training, DUTCH test.

[01:06:18] World cup races live streamed: www.biathlonworld.com; teamusa.org/US-Biathlon.

[01:07:47] Instagram: @leifcnordgren; Twitter: @leifcnordgren; Facebook: Leif Nordgren.