Most people say they train for health, but what if that isn't entirely true, and that admitting the truth is where real change begins.

Mike is the co-founder and Chief Content Officer of RP Strength, one of the world's leading evidence-based fitness platforms. He holds a PhD in Sport Physiology from East Tennessee State University, has served as a professor at multiple US universities, is a former sports nutrition consultant for the US Olympic Training Site, a competitive bodybuilder, and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.

His latest book, The Aesthetic Revolution, is a bold manifesto arguing that vanity isn't something to overcome, it's a biological reality to be harnessed, and the most direct path to building a body and a life you're proud of.

But this episode goes much further than the book.

On his personal YouTube channel, he explores futurism, the purpose of life, AI, morality, and what humanity is heading toward.

In this episode, Abi and Mike go into:
- Why vanity is honest and health is often just a more socially acceptable lie we tell ourselves.
- What the body reveals about identity that no amount of mindset work can manufacture.
- Where the body is going - GLP-1 drugs, gene therapy, full physical modification, and what it means for human identity when transformation becomes effortless

The question underneath everything: what are you actually building a life for?

Raw, unfiltered, truth.

Get the book The Aesthetic Revolution by Dr Mike Israetel - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aesthetic-Revolution-Embracing-Fitness-Healthiest/dp/1538779846

Follow Mike's journey RP Strength (training, science & bodybuilding)
- https://www.youtube.com/@renaissanceperiodization

Mike Israetel: Making Progress (futurism, philosophy & meaning) - https://www.youtube.com/@MikeIsraetelMakingProgress/videos

Mike on Instagram @drmikeisraetel - https://www.instagram.com/drmikeisraetel/

This week's guest is a friend, a rugby league S+C coach, and a man who has lived through anorexia and overcame the difficulties that are associated with the disease.

Josh Wiggins: https://www.instagram.com/_joshwiggins?igsh=NmwzZHRsNnd3NTNs

Eating disorders in men are still treated as a footnote, even now, even with everything we know about mental health. Josh has spent years working with families whose teenagers are going through the same thing he once did, bringing both lived experience and real practical insight to conversations most parents don't know how to start.

In this episode we talk about what his anorexia actually looked like as a young man, the turning point in his recovery, how he now helps other families recognise the signs early.

We also get into athlete development in rugby league, what the sport gets right when it comes to young men's growth throughout their formative years.

Josh's passion in helping men overcome their own challenges in their mental health. Everything from social anxiety, the fear of speaking up about their struggles, and how that can impact their home life.

A raw, honest conversation about a topic that doesn't get talked about enough. Let this episode be an important reminder that, you are not alone and that true strength is asking for help when you need it.

Enjoy and please share with someone who needs to hear this conversation.

What can a Roman emperor, a Japanese swordsman, a Mongol conqueror, and a Persian poet actually teach you about the decision you've been putting off?

In this episode, Abi walks into the lives of Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, & Rumi to unpack one uncomfortable idea: the things you don't do haunt you longer than the things you try and fail at. Real history, real psychology, and one honest question, what are you waiting for?

Citations:

1. A very public replication of the temporal pattern to people's regrets; large-scale museum-based replication of the Gilovich & Medvec finding that long-term regret is associated more strongly with inaction than action. Published in PMC, 2023. URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10282588/
2. Liao S, Xiao W, Wang Y, "Sex Differences in the Effects of Cognitive Reappraisal Training on Conditioned Fear Responses," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022; 19(23):15837. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192315837 | URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9739676/
3. Historical sources for Marcus Aurelius (Meditations), Socrates (Plato's Apology and Crito), Cato the Younger (Plutarch's Lives), Genghis Khan (The Secret History of the Mongols), Napoleon's campaign at Austerlitz, Rumi's relationship with Shams of Tabriz, and Sun Tzu's The Art of War are drawn from primary historical and classical texts rather than peer-reviewed psychology, these are presented as historical narrative, not scientific claims, and are not subject to the peer-review citation requirements above.

Your social media addiction isn't a lack of willpower, it's your brain working exactly as it was designed to.

Professor Guy Leschziner is one of the UK's leading neurologists, Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine at King's College London, and head of one of Europe's largest Sleep Disorders Centres at Guy's Hospital. His latest book, Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human, was named an FT Best Book of 2024 and argues that our deepest impulses, gluttony, envy, pride, wrath, lust, greed, and sloth, aren't moral failings. They're biological realities hardwired by millions of years of evolution.

In this episode, Abi takes that framework somewhere Guy hasn't been taken before: social media.

- GLUTTONY: The infinite scroll hijacks the same brain circuitry that evolved to survive scarcity, the reason you can't stop, even when you want to, has nothing to do with willpower and everything to do with dopamine

- ENVY: Your brain was designed to monitor a tribe of 150 people. Social media forces it to run a threat-assessment on the entire world simultaneously, driving anxiety, eroding self-worth, and keeping cortisol chronically elevated

- PRIDE: When self-worth is pegged to a number that refreshes every few minutes, the neurological pathway to genuine internal confidence starts to break down.

- WRATH: Anger is the fastest-spreading emotion online because platforms algorithmically reward it. What happens to a brain when an ancient survival circuit fires thirty times a day at strangers, with no resolution and no outlet?

- LUST: Social media is the most sophisticated novelty-delivery system ever built. The dopamine hits may be conditioning your brain to find real life chronically under-stimulating.

- GREED: Who is really doing the hoarding, the user chasing followers, or the platform extracting human attention as a commodity?

- SLOTH: The most dangerous sin of all. Is social media outsourcing human cognition to an algorithm, and what does a brain that stops being challenged actually lose?

A raw, unfiltered conversation about neuroscience, performance, and what it takes to protect your brain in the modern attention economy.

GUY'S BOOKS (Available on Amazon and Independant retailers)

• Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human (2024)
• The Man Who Tasted Words (2022)
• The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep (2019)

WANT TO GO DEEPER ON GUY'S WORK?

• Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gbhE80VKLz00uLAnYopkU
• Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee https://open.spotify.com/episode/4srfYQq3CNmQlX9bO97JwQ

Website: www.guyleschziner.com

A 2,500-year-old Chinese military text is outselling most self-help books in 2026, and it's not because people want to fight more. Sun Tzu's The Art of War has never really been about aggression. At its core, it's a manual for attention, strategy, and knowing when not to commit your forces.

In this episode, Abi explores how Sun Tzu's principles map onto the defining struggles of modern life: social media algorithms designed to keep us in a state of outrage, the cognitive overload of the information age, the psychology of knowing yourself under pressure, and the radical idea that winning without fighting is the highest form of strategy.

Backed by current research in cognitive science, psychology, and social behaviour, this is a different kind of conversation about an ancient text, not reverent, not reductive, just honest about what it actually says and why it still matters.

FULL CITATION LIST

1. Abubakar, A.M., et al., "Causes, consequences, and strategies to deal with information overload: A scoping review," Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 2024; 14:100403. DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100403 | URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667096824000508

2. Varshney, L.R., Barbey, A.K., "Beyond IQ: The Importance of Metacognition for the Promotion of Global Wellbeing," Journal of Intelligence, 2021; 9(4):54. DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence9040054 | URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8628945/

3. Brady, W.J., McLoughlin, K., Doan, T.N., Crockett, M.J., "How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks," Science Advances, 2021; 7(33):eabe5641. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe5641 | URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34389534/

4. Brady, W.J., Crockett, M.J., "Norm Psychology in the Digital Age: How Social Media Shapes the Cultural Evolution of Normativity," Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2024; 19(2):393–413. DOI: 10.1177/17456916231187395 | URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17456916231187395

5. Guamanga, M.H., Saiz, C., Rivas, S.F., Morales Bueno, P., "Critical Thinking and Metacognition: Pathways to Empathy and Psychological Well-Being," Journal of Intelligence, 2025; 13(3):34. DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence13030034 | URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11943267/

6. Ren, L., et al., "A New Method for Inducing Mental Fatigue: A High Mental Workload Task Paradigm Based on Complex Cognitive Abilities and Time Pressure," Brain Sciences, 2025; 15(6):541. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15060541 | URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12190366/

7. Marsh, E., Perez Vallejos, E., Spence, A., "Overloaded by Information or Worried About Missing Out on It: A Quantitative Study of Stress, Burnout, and Mental Health Implications in the Digital Workplace," Sage Open, 2024; 14(3). DOI: 10.1177/21582440241268830 | URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440241268830

The global economy is in chaos. Tariffs. Market swings. Recession fears.

You're managing your business through it, but nobody is telling you what it's doing to your body.

In this episode, Abi Khan breaks down the physiology of economic stress: what chronic cortisol actually does to your hormones, your decision-making, and your long-term health. You'll hear about the Cambridge University study that found market volatility raised traders' cortisol by 68%, and dropped their risk appetite by 44%.

You'll understand why your HRV score right now is the most important business metric you're not tracking. And you'll leave with a concrete protocol for protecting your performance system when the world is designed to break it.

This isn't a wellness episode. It's a performance survival guide.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has the best athletes on earth deploying cutting-edge science to protect sleep, manage jet lag, optimise nutrition, and perform under the highest pressure in world sport.

In this episode, Abi Khan breaks down exactly what those protocols are, and why every single one of them applies to you. If you travel for work, operate under daily pressure, and haven't slept properly in years, this episode gives you the elite performance playbook, translated for your life.

Studies Referenced:

[1] Taylor L et al., "The 2026 Men's FIFA Football World Cup: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Protect Player Health and Performance from Environmental Challenges," Sports Medicine, 2026. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-026-02398-4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-026-02398-4

[2] Chrismas B & Taylor L et al., "One Step Further: Integrating Evidence-Based Guidelines into Practice to Address Environmental Challenges at the Men's 2026 FIFA World Cup," Sports Medicine, 2026. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-026-02415-6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-026-02415-6

[3] Doherty R et al., "A Narrative Review of the Impact of Sleep on Athletes: Sleep Restriction Causes and Consequences, Monitoring, and Interventions," Cureus/PMC, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11779686/

[4] Rui et al., "Influence of Carbohydrate Intake on Different Parameters of Soccer Players' Performance: Systematic Review," Nutrients, 2024; 16(21):3731. DOI: 10.3390/nu16213731. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/21/3731

[5] Mitchell BL et al., "Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Body Mass Index and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," British Journal of Sports Medicine/PMC, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11874340/

[6] Laukkanen JA et al., "Midlife Cardiorespiratory Fitness and the Long-Term Risk of Mortality: 46 Years of Follow-Up," Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.06.045. https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.06.045

[7] Shi L et al., "Exploring the Association of Mindfulness, Confidence, Competitive State Anxiety, and Attention Control in Soccer Penalty Shootouts," Frontiers in Psychology, 2024. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1439654. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1439654/full

[8] Périard JD et al., "Exercise Under Heat Stress: Thermoregulation, Hydration, Performance Implications, and Mitigation Strategies," Physiological Reviews, 2021. DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00038.2020. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/physrev.00038.2020

Want to go deeper? All studies are linked above.

Why do people fail, not physically, but psychologically?

In this sharp solo episode, Abi breaks down the three hidden reasons smart, driven people can't make their health changes stick: a refusal to raise their standards, an unconscious preference for comfort right now over results later, and a self-concept that's quietly sabotaging every new habit they try to build. No fluff. No filler. Just the uncomfortable psychology, and exactly how to break out of it.

Studies & Sources Referenced:

[1] Höpfner J & Keith N, "Goal Missed, Self Hit: Goal-Setting, Goal-Failure, and Their Affective, Motivational, and Behavioral Consequences," Frontiers in Psychology, 2021. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704790. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8490751/

[2] Adriaanse MA & Ten Broeke P, "Beyond Prevention: Regulating Responses to Self-Regulation Failure to Avoid a Set-Back Effect," Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 2021. DOI: 10.1111/aphw.12302. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9291624/

[3] Patel MS et al., "Association Between Time Preference, Present-Bias and Physical Activity: Implications for Designing Behaviour Change Interventions," PLOS ONE, 2018. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6300013/

[4] Adriaanse MA & Verhoeven AAC, "Behavioural Disinhibition Can Foster Intentions to Healthy Lifestyle Change by Overcoming Commitment to Past Behaviour," PLOS ONE, 2015. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4641622/

[5] Domhardt M et al., "The Role of Self-Efficacy in Internet-Based Interventions for Mental Health," ScienceDirect, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2025.100770. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782925000223

[6] Clear J, Atomic Habits, Penguin Publishing Group, 2018. https://jamesclear.com/identity-based-habits

Want to go deeper? All studies are linked above.

The supplement industry is banking on your confusion — and your clients are paying for it. In this episode, RNT coach Abi breaks down the science behind some of the most overhyped products in fitness: BCAAs, fancy electrolytes, and premium creatine alternatives. Plus: is the so-called testosterone crisis actually real, or is it a data problem dressed up as a health emergency? The answers will save your clients money, and give you sharper coaching conversations starting this week.

Join high performance coach Abi Khan as he sits down with world-class minds, philosophers, creators, athletes, creatives, business titans, and academics to uncover how they think, live, and lead at the highest level.

Each conversation is a deep dive into the stories, lessons, strategies, mindsets, and moments that shaped their success offering you the tools and perspectives to unlock your own greatness.

This isn't just another self-help podcast. It's a blueprint for mastery, from those who are living it.

If you're obsessed with growth, purpose, high performance or just wanting more from your life you’re in the right place.

Subscribe and learn how to think, live, and lead like the 1%.

Your doctor sees you once a year for twelve minutes. AI is about to change everything.

The healthcare system was built to treat disease, not to build high performers. But that model is collapsing. In this episode, Abi Khan breaks down how artificial intelligence is reshaping health and wellness from the ground up, shifting from reactive to predictive, from generic to hyper-personalised, and from clinic-dependent to always-on.

If you're a high-achieving professional who's been deferring your health to a system that wasn't built for you, this is the episode that changes that.

We cover:
- Why your wearable is now tracking your pace of ageing, not just your steps.
- The biomarker your GP never tests that predicts your executive performance.
- The $55 billion AI mental health boom, and the hidden trap inside it.
- Why healthcare is the least AI-ready industry on the planet, and what that means for you.
- How personalised, AI-driven nutrition is making generic macro plans obsolete.

If you're obsessed with growth, performance, and getting more from your life, you're in the right place. Subscribe and learn how to think, live, and lead like the 1%.

Studies & Research Referenced:

Dial et al. (2025) — Validation of nocturnal resting heart rate and HRV in consumer wearables https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.14814/phy2.70527

Baigutanova et al. (2025) — Wearable-based HRV alongside sleep diaries, Scientific Data https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-05801-3

Multi-study HRV & executive function review (2025) — Sensors, MDPI https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/23/7147

Aziz et al. (2025) — Wearable AI for Sleep Disorders: Scoping Review, Journal of Medical Internet Research https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e65272

Global Wellness Institute — AI Initiative Trends 2025 https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/global-wellness-institute-blog/2025/04/02/ai-initiative-trends-for-2025/

World Economic Forum — The Future of AI-Enabled Health (2025) https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/08/ai-transforming-global-health/

Menlo Ventures — State of AI in Healthcare 2025 https://menlovc.com/perspective/2025-the-state-of-ai-in-healthcare/

AI Wellness Tech Market Analysis (2025) — ainvest.com https://www.ainvest.com/news/2025-wellness-tech-revolution-ai-driven-personal-health-solutions-2601/