Primal Endurance Podcast

Ryan Baxter is a part-time Primal health coach, father to two young kids, a full-time software engineer, and an athlete.

In this episode, Ryan joins host Brad Kearns to discuss training strategies, effective recovery methods, and his experience with embarking on a personal experiment to consume more calories and more carbs. Ryan offers incredible insights about training and recovery in this show, such as when he talks about a 28-mile bike ride he did in Barcelona, saying: “I didn’t come home with a medal or a trophy or anything like that, but I came home with what was a once in a lifetime experience and probably the highlight of my endurance training this year, which speaks to a lot of things—it’s not about the medals and stuff, but when you can find that when you put your fitness capacities towards something that creates lifelong memories and once in a lifetime experiences, then that is the ultimate use of your endurance and your training.” We also talk about a 14 mile obstacle course race Ryan partook in—at 4,000 feet elevation atop a ski mountain!—how to look, feel, and recover better, and much more!

 

TIMESTAMPS:

Ryan tells his story of his bike ride through the Barcelona wine country even though he had  not much training on long distance biking. [01:29]

You can find that you put your fitness capacities to something that creates lifelong memories. That is the ultimate use of your training. [03:45]     

The fourteen-mile obstacle course is quite an endeavor. You can train for an obstacle course with many simple things around your home. [06:37]       

Ryan has been on the journey of trying to figure out how to optimize diet and match to training. [12:03] 

If training at a comfortable aerobic heart rate, there is a strong argument that that training can be sustained with a ketogenic diet.  Did Ryan find that to be true? [18:42]

If the diet and the lifestyle don’t match the outcome you want, and you keep trying to do the same thing over and over, and it’s not working for you, you need to try something different. [24:56]

There are some studies that show that ketones can be a performance benefit. [20:46]
If we could just all clean up our diets, then we'd have kind of an open road toward the pursuit of optimization rather than damage control. {33:51]

Ryan has been charting his diet quantifying his increase in caloric intake. [40:22]

When you are well nourished, you will naturally be more active. [45:46]

There are so many benefits from just eating more protein. [53:00]

During his study, Ryan increased his caloric intake by 700 calories. [56:16]

 

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• Brad’s Shopping page
• Primal Endurance
• Dr. Herman Pontzer Podcast (Metabolism)
• Dr. Herman Pontzer Podcast (Energy Expenditure)
• RJBHealth.coach
• PrimalEndrance.fit

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to part two of this show detailing the seven essential habits of highly effective endurance athletes.

In this episode we cover the importance of aerobic efficiency, why following Dr. Maffetone’s method is so crucial, why the best benefits actually come from slowing down, and the seven habits to incorporate into your life in order to become a highly effective endurance athlete.

Enjoy the show!

 

TIMESTAMPS:

Aerobic emphasis in your training comes after sleep, stress reduction, rest and balance on your list of good habits for training [00:26]

Don’t forget Dr. Maffetone’s suggested heart rate of your age minus 180 in beats per minute. Don’t fall into that Black Hole. [02:23]

Even if you have a limited time to train, your best benefits are going to come from slowing down. [05:08]

You have to respect the need to engage in blocks of specific training focus as an immutable law of endurance training. [17:27]

Brad summarizes the seven habits of successful endurance athletes. [18:09]

 

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• Brad’s Shopping page
• PrimalEndrance.fit

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Mark Sisson and I talk about the origin of the fat-adapted athlete approach in contrast to the carb-dependent endurance athlete, which represented our main experience in endurance sports for those early years and decades.

This show will give you a nice overview of the rationale and the benefits of transitioning from being the typical carbohydrate dependent  endurance athlete to being a fat adapted athlete, and how you can do that through dietary modification and training modification. Mark shares how he feels about reconciling his longtime passion for endurance training and elite competition with his Primal living path and his recent breakthroughs in his endurance training philosophy. You will also hear us discuss the benefits of being fat adapted and the drawbacks of training in an inflammatory, oxidative carbohydrate dependency pattern.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

Brad is back with Mark Sisson to talk about the origin of the fat adapted athlete approach. [00:01]

What is going on these days with endurance training theory compared to 20 years ago? [01:42]

What kind of diet works best away from training? By cutting out carbs and cutting way back on sugars and starches and grains, Mark is a super fat-burning machine. [07:03]

Sugars are more than candy. There are tremendous quantities of sugars in fruit juices, pancakes, waffles, pasta, cereal. [09:21]

How does one dial this in with a primarily approved eating pattern as well as a sensible endurance training? [11:14]

What is the right amount of carbs? You need intuitive knowledge regarding your training program and your daily life. [15:55]

To do this right, you need to go back to a strong aerobic base. [21:22]

Form and strength training are important to plan out your program. [24:31]

The importance of rest seems to be overlooked in many areas of training. You can’t train on someone else’s schedule. [29:23]

 

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• Brad’s Shopping page
• PrimalEndrance.fit
• The Primal Blueprint
• Primal Endurance

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part one of this two-part show, I cover a key takeaway from Primal Endurance: the seven habits of highly effective endurance athletes.

What are the seven habits? In part one, we’re focusing on the first three: 1) Sleep, 2) Stress/Rest/Balance, and 3) Following An Intuitive and Personalized Schedule. You’ll learn why sleep is number one and the next frontier of performance breakthroughs in all sports, especially endurance sports, as well as how to wake up each morning without an alarm, but still feeling completely refreshed and energized. You’ll also hear why I recommend sleeping more if you are training more and the importance of observing “lower lows” (meaning implementing more rest with shorter, easier recovery workouts, and staying below aerobic maximum heart rate for most of your workouts) as you reach for higher “highs” like breakthrough workouts. We also get into the importance of keeping your training schedule sensible, intuitive, flexible, and even spontaneous. Instead of keeping things super regimented and pre-planned, give some respect to your daily life circumstances, motivation levels, stress and energy levels, immune function, even your mood—you’ll thank yourself for this later. I also reveal why artificial light is so harmful, how to effectively achieve balance between rest and stress, and share how you can make your schedule intuitive and personalized!

 

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• Brad’s Shopping page
• PrimalEndurance.fit
• PrimalEndurance Facebook
• How to Improve Your Triathlon Time
• Primal Endurance book
• Primal Endurance Mastery Course

 

 

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Welcome to the return of the Primal Endurance podcast! This is your host Brad Kearns, and we are going on a journey towards a kinder, gentler, smarter, more fun, more effective way to train for ambitious endurance goals. You can check out Primalendurance.fit to join the community and also enroll in a free video course! In this premiere episode, I share a bit about my background and athletic career, what I stand for and what I’m all about, and reflect on a lifetime of being an athlete, author, and coach, and the most important things these experiences have taught me.

I am also so excited to be back on the mic after over a 3-year long break from cranking out shows (I also invite you to go back to revisit some of the wonderful shows we have in our catalog, some of which will be airing again with edits and adjustments made to keep it fresh) and working on the Primal Endurance mastery course. I spent a couple years of my life working on this, traveling around North America interviewing many of the world’s experts in so many of these categories that are so important to your endurance training and racing goals—especially reconnecting with my old time athletic friends and hearing them talk about the times they were at the top of their sport and pushing the envelope for human performance. You’re going to get so much value out of these interviews that will not be published anywhere else, and the Primal Endurance mastery course is going to be such an epic journey of discovery, knowledge acquisition, and focus and motivation for all of your endurance goals in all sports. It is by far the most comprehensive online endurance mastery course and I strongly encourage you to sign up, as you will get so much more value out of the podcast as well when you do. You can also check out a free introductory course to see what’s coming in further detail that gives you access to some great eBooks.

I also encourage you to email us at [email protected] with all your questions, comments, and feedback about your training and competitive goals and experiences, especially those that will be interesting and/or relevant to other listeners, as we’re really aiming for making this a community experience. We’re in this together, so let’s do it right!

 

TIMESTAMPS:

Brad’s career as an athlete began with not making the football and basketball teams in high school to being a world class professional triathlete.  [04:26]

Brad shares what he learned about training and nutrition as he grew in his athletic career. [08:59]

Showing potential is good, but the training is and motivation is what gets you there. The beauty is in the journey. [17:51]

You cannot rush the process of fitness to happen and it's very unwise to compare yourself to other athletes in terms of your training protocols. [22:16]

Putting his professional competition behind him, Brad focuses on fitness and longevity with age-appropriate goals. [28:58]

Cultivate your internal passion for competition and maintain competitive intensity throughout life in an appropriate manner. [33:09]

We have to prioritize peak performance, protect our health, promote longevity in the process and never fall into that trap of more is better nor allow your ego to drive the narrative. [37:20]

Fantastic endurance sports records are getting broken. [44:55]

The term 80/20 training is often misinterpreted. Take a more sensitive, sensible, enjoyable rewarding approach to endurance training.  [46:58]

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• Brad’s Shopping page
• PrimalEndurance.fit
• PrimalEndurance Facebook
• How to Improve Your Triathlon Time
• Brad’s Fastest golf hole
• Primal Endurance book
• Primal Endurance Mastery Course

 

QUOTES:

• "Struggle gives meaning and richness to life." (Roger Bannister)

 

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Future Primal Endurance shows will be published on the Primal Blueprint Podcast channel. Please subscribe and enjoy the diverse content on this thriving channel. You'll see the Endurance shows designated accordingly for quick access at a glance. You'll also enjoy feature interviews from ancestral health leaders, shows dedicated to keto, and narrations of MarksDailyApple.com posts.    In this fast-paced show, Brad hits you with a barrage of hot topics and reflections about healthy eating and training: Shifting from HIIT to HIRT, as advocated by Craig Marker at StrongFirst (listen to his Primal Endurance episode). Stands for High-Intensity Repeat Training. The importance of gut health, especially for endurance athletes who tempt gut dysfunction with long, hot workouts. How Brad healed his gut dysfunction by pounding probiotic foods and supplements and making his own kombucha. Brad's surprising recent test results from NourishBalanceThrive (listen to previous shows with Chris Kelly and with Dr. Tommy Wood), possibly indicating he should eat more food! A fantastic success story from UK, where coach Morgan has healed from serious heart problems with the Primal Endurance approach. Can I add 5 more beats to my MAF based on AeT test results? I'm concerned about going slower after a couple of months of MAF. Comparing the aerobic benefits of running and cycling and the cross training effect. A question about the great Walter George, 1880's era world record-setting runner, and his amazing "100-up" running drill. Finally, Brad describing his spontaneous, intuitive, sometimes keto, sometimes not eating patterns. 

We are switching the publication of Primal Endurance podcasts over to the Primal Blueprint channel. [00:00:34] 

When preparing for high Intensity repeat training make sure you are rested and motivated, then recover. [00:01:51] 

Poor gut health is very prevalent and we might not even know we have a problem. [00:06:23] 

Learn how to make your own Kombucha. [00:13:09] 

It is believed that Triglycerides to HDL ratio is a key to heart disease risk factor metric. (1 to 1 or better is the goal.) [00:17:05] 

Success story from Morgan Williams talks about how the primal endurance program helped him get out of the unfit coach trap.  [00:22:50] 

Lisa, age 48, is seeing limited results from Maffetone aerobic threshold. How to adjust your training is suggested. [00:25:34] 

When someone like MaryAnn is trying something new, it's okay to ask "What is normal?" [00:28:44] 

Mike asks: Running is much more taxing than biking. Is there a comparable maximum duration training run? [00:30:56] 

Mike also asks does building the aerobic base for running will help your cycling base and vice versa? [00:34:54] 

Sauna is highly recommended for recovery. [00:35:52] 

Lor asks about the 100-up drill. Is it a good way to build foot and leg strength for running?  [00:38:24] 

Brian asks about the Keto Diet.  What does Brad's eating day look like? [00:43:46] 

Do you know what happens to an animal that is stressed at the moment they die? [00:52:21] 

Dark chocolate is great but you should look at label and see "bean to bar." Cacao bean should be the first ingredient. Also you should see "fair trade" designation.  [00:55:24] 

LINKS:

Craig Marker Podcast

Jacques Devore

Chris Kelly

Dr. Ron  Sinha

Dr. Rhonda Patrick

Walter George

Wild Idea Buffalo

Fast Food Nation Book

Brad’s podcast on chocolate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad welcomes back popular Australian guest Andre Obradovic to go off script and talk about real-life matters not related to workout strategy, but of critical importance to your happiness and effectiveness as a parent, partner or career person. If you caught Andre's previous shows, you will love his colorful, hard-hitting commentary about what it takes to succeed as an endurance athlete and his important call for "no muppets" (blind followers who can't think for themselves). In this show, Brad and Andre, both age 53 as it happens, reflect on their journey as fathers of kids who are now adult age and offer some choice feedback for young dads trying to balance raising kids with intense athletic and career goals. Yes, this show takes an important and memorable detour from the constant talk about training. You will love Andre's insightful commentary in fresh Aussie spirit. An important show to reflect upon, especially for young dads trying to do it all. 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

These two experienced athletes and fathers talk about how to balance their lives. [00:00:16] 

What impact does our behavior as parents affect the children? [00:02:33]  

We can look back and see a culture without today's technology and yet we were still too busy to learn to relax.  [00:08:23] 

The parent needs to set the example of healthy eating, more sleep, healthier lifestyle. [00:15:15] 

What are some tips on how to teach your kids or partners to make healthier choices? [00:19:03] 

As you get older, how should you set your goals?  [00:21:18] 

Are the helicopter parents pushing too hard? [00:23:44] 

Think about how you are teaching your children about money. [00:27:55] 

It's a high priority to help your children learn to make healthy meals. [00:38:25] 

Stress at home can disrupt your performance at work and training.  Pay attention to family. [00:41:34] 

LINKS:

Andre Obaradovic

QUOTES:

Life’s too short to suffer.

If you were to die tomorrow, how would you want your kids to remember you? To talk about you?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the awesome big picture show about healthy living and avoiding the manipulations of today’s mainstream media and marketing forces, Brad welcomes Dr. Maffetone back for a show on the usual popular topics of endurance peak performance. First, Phil discusses the amazing marathoner Eluid Kipchoge, and how he can finally hit the magic 1:59 barrier. First, running barefoot would achieve a significant time improvement! Yes, hard to do if you have been in shoes for years. Second, getting muscular balance treatments, because hard training creates imbalances that increase injury risk and slow you down. Dr. Phil says even extreme endurance goals are not necessarily unhealthy for older folks if you adopt the correct approach. He cites examples of world class endurance athletes around age 40, and also recommends that you have more patience with recovery as you get older. On the topic of explosive training, Phil relates how important this is even for endurance athletes, who “epidemic” show physical and functional weaknesses. Try to add a vertical jump test to your MAF test as an excellent fitness marker. If you can’t exceed 12 inches from a standing start, you best add more explosive training. 

A couple great ideas: Sprint for 7 seconds several times, with long recovery periods between (~30 seconds) and repeat a couple times per week. Consider Maffetone’s “slow weights” idea, where you perform a single set of a single exercise, but repeat it several times a day. I have a hexagonal deadlift bar in my backyard for this purpose. Choose a weight that’s about 80% of your single rep absolute max and do about six reps. If you do this several times a day, you are talking about a fantastic increase in strength in a short time! What you are doing with these brief workouts is recruiting more of your existing muscle fibers to perform a function. This differs from the hypertrophy workouts when you break down and exhaust muscles, slam down protein shakes, and prompt the growth of bigger muscles—often these are for looking rad only and can obviously compromise endurance performance. With these brief single set, single exercise sessions, you avoid the risks and the adverse consequences of post-workout muscle soreness, something Brad complained to Phil about and he confirms is no bueno. Soreness leaves the muscles weak for a couple days, and if you get sore a couple times a week, well…FYI, did you know Ben Franklin was the one who made up “no pain, no gain?” Always fun insights from Dr. Phil. Enjoy, and check out his PhilMaffetone.com website and products!

It's time to start thinking about running barefoot. [00:00:43] 

We are now close to an athlete breaking two-hour marathon. Look at Eliud Kipchoge. [00:03:41] 

Muscles imbalance is a big concern. Posture and gait are important. [00:12:59] 

Running at the same pace with muscle imbalance could raise your heart rate 5 or 6 beats! [00:15:27] 

What kind of practitioner would deal with muscle imbalance? The assessment is really important. [00:17:19] 

The times of the marathon have decreased in recent years. Why have people slowed down?  [00:19:18] 

Diet is primary to the training. You cannot run away from a bad diet. [00:22:51] 

As we age, do we need to rethink the basic premise of these endurance goals? [00:24:16] 

What about in the explosive sports? [00:29:04] 

As you age, are there some modifications one would make to their training? [00:31:53] 

What kind of parameters do you recommend to assess whether the subject is recovered and ready for another explosive workout?  [00:36:18] 

Overtraining or undertraining? [00:38:49] 

Shouldn't we expect muscle soreness after workouts? [00:41:13] 

What is a jump test? [00:42:58] 

How can we build strength without getting weak muscles? [00:47:00] 

We can train the brain to learn to contract more muscle fibers within the muscle. [00:51:57] 

If you are not eating enough protein, it will be difficult to get stronger. [01:01:56] 

Not all vitamins you buy in a jar are healthy. Do we get enough Vitamin D? [01:03:53] 

LINKS:

Eliud Kipchoge

Phil Maffetone

BradKearns.com

Pocket Hercules

QUOTES:

• You cannot run away from a bad diet! (Tim Noakes)
• We have a serious epidemic of weakness throughout the world. (Phil Maffetone)
• Why would you want to sacrifice your health and fitness just to look better? (Maffetone)
• People who put on a lot of bulk are not necessarily stronger. (Maffetone)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Phil Maffetone returns to the show and we take a few steps back to cover some big picture items. First, the tremendous amount manipulation and hype we are exposed to each day with mainstream media is destructive and unhealthy. Phil disengages from this stuff! Realize how we make impulse decisions based on primitive brain function, or alternatively can get over-analytical. Better to cultivate our intuition where we can leverage both powerful gut instincts with our rational mind skills. Phil describes the global “overfat” epidemic, and how you can strive to keep waistline less than half your height in inches. This will help you avoid the prevailing disease triad of chronic inflammation, carbohydrate intolerance, and insulin resistance. First step to health: Ditch refined carbohydrates (sugars, flour/bread products, sweetened beverages) for two weeks per Maffetone’s “2-week test.” Then you can reintroduce natural carbohydrates back in (fruit, sweet potatoes, etc.) and see what you can tolerate without adverse symptoms. For many people with insulin resistance and decades of junk food consumption, keto might be warranted. Check out Dr. Phil’s great articles and products at PhilMaffetone.com

TIME STAMPS:

 

We want to personalize our journey of life in a way that we continually build our health and fitness.  [00:02:50]

There are two ways that our brains work.  1. Instant gratification. 2. We think in an analytical way.  [00:07:35] 

Many writings are: "Here's how to do it." Sometimes it makes things worse. [00:12:11] 

Companies are allowed to convince us to be unhealthy. Pubic health education needs to help. [00:14:24] 

Sometimes a person has to experience pain for them to start to listen to advice.  [00:16:11] 

There needs to be a consensus about refined vegetable oils and their impact on public health. It's about the money. [00:20:07] 

What should a well intentioned person do about making decisions about eggs, for example? Or training styles? [00:24:04] 

People are often willing to latch on to tradition and emotion when making their decisions. [00:28:22] 

The problem is it is difficult for us to see if the advise we are getting is effective. Doctors tend to treat the diagnosis and forget there is a person there. [00:30:33] 

There is so much information out there, that people are overwhelmed and confused. The stress factor plays a huge role. [00:36:49] 

What are the causes of chronic illnesses?  [00:42:44] 

Chronic inflammation, carbohydrate intolerance, and insulin resistance causing people to be overfat. (85% of Indian adults are overfat.) [00:46:00] 

Measure your waist and hope that is is less half the height of your body. If it is not, then you are overfat.  [00:49:00] 

If we want to turn things around, what can we do to attack this problem? Get rid of refined sugar and carbohydrates. [00:55:17] 

One thing you may notice is that our brains work better, therefore our instincts and tuition are working better. [01:03:31] 

LINKS:

 

PhilMaffetone.com

QUOTES:

 

Is your waist less than half of your height?

 

We buy the sizzle, not the steak.

 

You can be normal weight and not obese and still have excess body fat.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad welcomes Logan Schwartz of AustinVitalityCoach.com to discuss evolved concepts of athletic training within the context of healthy living. It's time to reject the flawed and narrow focus of the traditional athletic training approach, where the focus is on work output connected specifically to your athletic goals. Logan, like other thought leaders, places the emphasis on overall daily movement and functionality over a devoted workout regimen. Of particular interest is the concept presented about conducting brief bursts of exercise output over the course of the day. Cranking about 20 deep squats in your cubicle, doing a few vertical jumps onto a park bench, or doing a few pullups every time you enter a certain doorway in your house. This kinda stuff adds up! Furthermore, you enjoy fitness adaptation benefits without the risk of overstress and overtraining that happens with prolonged, exhausting workouts.   Logan explains that any effort that even slightly exceeds your "basic adaptation threshold will improve your fitness. If you do 5 pullups at a time 10 times per day, that's 50 pullups a day. "There is a time to survive (such as a maximum effort competition) and a time to thrive (by training in a sensible manner and leading a varied and active lifestyle.) Many more important insights are offered throughout the show, and you will pick up some recurring themes revealing the progression of thought in the fitness world from other leaders like Katy Bowman, Dr. Kelly Starrett, and Craig Marker (who advocates for HIRT--High Intensity Repeat Training, over the more popular HIIT--High Intensity Interval Training.)  Logan comes to the table with extensive experience, having been a strength and conditioning coach for the University of Texas mens and womens basketball teams for over a decade. If you have an open mind and want to get better in any sport, listen carefully to this show and broaden your perspective about what training and fitness really mean!  

We are losing the ability to have delayed gratification. What one sees on social media often is distorted truth.  [00:00:40] 

Are the current methods of training adequate or even appropriate? [00:04:59] 

What has Logan seen to help people stay healthy, use their potential, and avoid the pitfalls of injury? [00:11:27] 

We are seeing a lack of fundamentals. [00:00:15:00]

High intensity interval training is tiring. The idea is not how much you can endure over the length of the workout, it's the performance of each interval that matters. [00:20:25] 

We should get back to self-limiting exercise. [00:23:41] 

Train all day.  The body was not designed for what most of us do during the day. [00:25:43] 

The fitness business is a business convincing that you need them. [00:28:01] 

The sensible message is to sleep and eat well. The societal message has been, "if you want to get better, you have to work hard and suffer." Some people use exercise as a punishment. [00:35:54] 

I love my body, why would I have a “cheat” day? [00:38:30] 

Why does a person want to lose weight? [00:39:12] 

Much exercise is like processed food:  Planned and structured isn't necessary. Just move.  [00:41:20]

How might a person get redirected from a structured exercise program? [00:44:20] 

Gradually build from your personal threshold. Worry about just getting better each time. [00:48:45] 

LINKS:

Austin Vitality Coach

Katy Bowman

QUOTES:

• How hard can you work without working hard?
• We should get back to self-limiting exercise.
• You don’t exercise to get fit. You exercise because you are fit.
• I love my body, why would I have a “cheat” day?
• Some people use exercise as a punishment.
• Man is the only animal smart enough to make it’s own food but is the only animal stupid enough to eat it!
• I think there are people out there trying to kill themselves in the name of health and performance.

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