The TELOS Podcast

Matt Burke spent 30 years numbing himself: drink, drugs, running a drug business out of the Liberties. In 2007 he threw his burner phone in a bin in Inchicore and started again. Today he's a breathwork coach, meditation teacher and end-of-life doula.We get into why you can't fix the mind with the mind, why your body can't tell real stress from imagined stress, and how five minutes of meditation can save you hours of your day.Think meditation, breathwork or the deeper work isn't for you? Think again.FIND MATTInstagram: @m8tt_breathworkWebsite: www.magicminds.ie

Any thoughts for feedback, pop me a message

Instagram: @rob_telos

Email: [email protected]

I'm 50 in January, and my feed is full of TRT ads. Low energy? Low drive? Come in, we'll sort you.

Instinctively I didn't like it. But I'd nothing to argue back with, because I'd never actually looked inside my own body.

So I got my bloods done with Conor Geraghty of Exodus Blood Work, who's run functional blood work on 230+ men. Optimal ranges, not the standard ranges your GP uses. This is the conversation that came out of it.

WHAT WE COVER

• Why low testosterone is a symptom, not a diagnosis
• What TRT does to your natural baseline, and why you become a customer for life
• My own bloods, my leaky gut, and the breakfast I thought was healthy
• Nutrient density over macros: organ meats, egg yolks, oysters, raw dairy
• The piece missing from every nutrition pyramid: actually digesting your food
• Cortisol and overtraining, and the client who quadrupled his free testosterone by training less
• Sauna: how much, how often, and why I'm the only man in there icing my balls
• Why your mindset shows up in your bloods

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Intro 03:30 — Conor's story: sick kid, migraines, and the injury that broke him 07:50 — The vegan experiment: 75kg down to 63kg 11:30 — My bloods, my leaky gut, and the breakfast I got wrong 19:20 — Who comes to Conor, and what they're all feeling 22:50 — The TRT ads and the normalising of gear 29:30 — Customer for life: what TRT does to your baseline 33:30 — The rare case where TRT makes sense 37:00 — Nutrition: nutrient density over macros 43:50 — Digestion: the missing piece 49:00 — Seed oils, tallow and cooking like your grandparents 57:00 — Cortisol, overtraining and doing too much 1:02:50 — Sauna guidelines 1:09:20 — Mindset and testosterone

CONNECT WITH ROB Instagram: @rob_telos Web: www.yourtelos.com Email: [email protected]

CONNECT WITH CONOR Instagram: @connorvitality Web: exodusbloodwork.com

Most men over 35 are walking around with suppressed testosterone and blaming age. Age is one factor. Lifestyle is the one you control. In this episode I break down what testosterone actually does, why the clinical range is misleading, and what chronic stress is quietly doing to your hormonal environment. He covers the lifestyle fundamentals, the honest science behind cold plunge, sauna, and breathwork, and why the TRT industry is selling a prescription before anyone asks you about your sleep. No shortcuts. No agenda. Just the information you need to start building the right foundations.

SHOW NOTES

What we cover:

• What testosterone actually does and why it matters beyond the gym
• Why "in range" is not the same as optimal
• The cortisol steal and why stress is a hormonal issue, not just a mental one
• Sport, competition, and the hunter: why your body needs real challenge
• Sleep, alcohol, training, and nutrition: the four levers that actually move the dial
• Cold plunge, breathwork, and the sauna problem (including the Bryan Johnson ice pack protocol)
• The TRT conversation: what the research actually says before you consider it
• The only supplement stack worth your money

Free PDF: The TELOS Testosterone Audit Key blood markers to get tested, the 5 lifestyle levers, and the honest supplement stack.

Get in touch to receive it:

📩 [email protected] 📱 Instagram: @rob_telos

Studies referenced: Leproult & Van Cauter (2011), JAMA — sleep and testosterone Pilz et al. (2011) — Vitamin D and testosterone Lopresti et al. (2019) — Ashwagandha KSM-66 and cortisol Samplaski & Nangia (2020) — TRT and azoospermia Liu et al. (2006) — recovery timelines after TRT cessation Fanara et al. (2013), Human Reproduction — sauna and spermatogenesis Fincham et al. (2023) — breathwork meta-analysis across 12 RCTs

About TELOS TELOS coaches driven men over 35 to build physical capability that compounds with age, not against it.

🌐 www.yourtelos.com 📱 @rob_telos 📩 [email protected]

*Note -we had an internet issue half way though.. but it resolves quickly.

Rob Gallagher sits down with TELOS Head of Programming Colman Corrigan, who joined as a client in 2021 dealing with back pain, ankle issues, and the frustration of training with the handbrake on. They dig into the physio loop that keeps people stuck, the gap between easy rehab exercises and real-world strength, and why most people are stretching their weaknesses instead of building them. If you're training consistently but your body keeps letting you down, this conversation will make a lot click.

Episode Overview:Rob and Coleman break down the patterns they see in clients who train hard but keep breaking down, and why the typical rehab model leaves massive gaps.

Key Topics Covered:

The Physio Loop Exposed — Why cycling through practitioners, release work, and temporary fixes never produces lasting change. Rob's own experience spending thousands on manual therapy and learning absolutely nothing.

Training With the Handbrake On — That nagging voice in the back of your mind during every session. Coleman explains why so many people train timidly long after they should have progressed, and how that creates its own problems.

The Rehab Gap — The space between banded exercises at home and getting back under a barbell that nobody bridges properly. Why most people get stuck between "easy rehab" and "real training" with no roadmap in between.

Stretching vs. Strengthening — Why people stretch what's tight but never strengthen what's weak, and how training your strengths while ignoring weaknesses creates the exact disparity that causes injuries.

The Three-Legged Stool — Physical training, nutrition and lifestyle, sleep. Take one away and the whole thing falls over. Why a movement assessment alone can't fix someone whose protein is low, stress is high, and sleep is wrecked.

Physical Poverty to Physical Freedom — Rob's journey from being unfit at 35 to swimming 12k, doing close to 20 pull-ups, and planning surf trips at 49. Why the less fit you are when you start, the more progress is available to you.

Expanding Your Vision of What's Possible — Client stories including Patter (wouldn't lift more than 5kg, now squatting and deadlifting over bodyweight), Cathal (hadn't run in 10 years, now training for a triathlon), and Aine (labelled "injury prone," now training without fear).

Coaching vs. Programming — Why the Novak Djokovic model of coaching applies. Programming matters, but the collaborative relationship, the feedback loop, the different perspective, that's where the real change happens.

Mentioned: TELOS six-phase system, functional range conditioning, the "expand, control, execute" approach, pain science and fear-based movement patterns.

Connect: [email protected] | @rob_telos on Instagram

You train consistently. You eat well. You do the work. But your body is tight, always niggling, and recovery takes longer than it should. In this episode, Rob breaks down the real reason your training isn't working: unmanaged stress. Backed by research from Stanford, The Lancet, and the Mayo Clinic, this is the episode that explains what cortisol is actually doing to your muscles, your joints, your injuries, and your sleep. Plus the "false taps" you're reaching for that are making it worse, and the practical tools that actually fix it.

FREE WEBINAR — Thursday 19th February on Zoom "Why Fit People Keep Getting Hurt" Free to attend. Limited spots. Link below to register.

Episode Summary Why unmanaged stress is the hidden reason you're tight, stiff, injured, and not recovering, even when your training and nutrition are dialled in.

What's Covered

How the stress response works: adrenaline, cortisol, and why your body stays stuck in fight or flight.

What chronic cortisol does to muscle repair, recovery, injury healing, immune function, and sleep.

The research: high-stress individuals recovered significantly slower over 96 hours post-training (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research). Stressed individuals healed 24% slower from wounds, dental students 40% slower before exams (Kiecolt-Glaser, The Lancet).

The stress bucket framework: stressors, your umbrella, release valves, and false taps.

False taps: alcohol, doom scrolling, caffeine, stress eating, staying up late, over-training, and why they feel like relief but make things worse.

Why stress management is a skill that expands your capacity to train harder, recover faster, and sustain performance for decades.

Practical tools: breathing protocols, journaling, the mind dump, weekly planning, boundaries, non-negotiable routines, and sleep as the master lever.

Rob's personal story: from chronic stress, smoking, and drinking to peak fitness at 49.

Client stories: how addressing stress, sleep, and boundaries resolved recurring injuries that programme changes alone couldn't fix.

Experts Referenced Dr. Robert Sapolsky (Stanford University), Dr. Gabor Mate, Prof. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser (Ohio State / The Lancet), Mayo Clinic, Columbia University, Dr. Matthew Walker (UC Berkeley), Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, StatPearls, ScienceDirect, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Your Challenge

1. Identify one false tap. Name it. Write it down.
2. Replace it with one real release valve. Start this week.

Connect Instagram: @rob_telos

FREE WEBINAR — Thursday 19th February on Zoom "Why Fit People Keep Getting Hurt" Free to attend. Limited spots. Link below to register.

https://yourtelos.com/the-injury-loop

Questions? Want me to send you a free isometric routine to try this week? DM me on Instagram @rob_telos, email ⁠[email protected]⁠, or head to yourtelos.com.

Most people rush through reps, count to 12, tick the box, and wonder why their body keeps breaking down. Isometrics look like nothing is happening, but they build the foundation your body has been missing for years. In this episode, Rob breaks down how holding positions under tension can fix nagging injuries, break the physio loop, and build strength you actually keep. If you've been training hard but not training smart, this one's for you.

• What isometric contractions actually are and why most people overlook them
• Yielding vs. overcoming isometrics and when to use each
• The Arrow Paradox: why good movement is made up of moments of stillness
• How isometrics reduce pain by lowering the brain's threat response
• Why tendons love isometrics and how to use them for rehab
• Real client examples: from 20-second holds to 90 seconds, from decade-long back pain to training within days
• Isometrics and flexibility: why tightness isn't about short muscles
• PAILs and RAILs for expanding range of motion
• Common mistakes: treating isometrics as filler, waiting without intent, quitting too early
• Practical applications you can try this week: split squat holds, calf raise holds, push-up pauses, pull-up locks

January didn't start great. I was sick, overfed from Christmas, and sluggish. But I didn't panic. This episode takes you inside TELOS and shows you exactly what we do: the Wednesday live calls, the Monday podcasts, the one-to-one coaching, the individualized programming. I recap the four trainings we delivered this month, share wins from members, and explain why we train for the next 40 years, not the next 4 weeks. If you've been wondering what TELOS is actually like, this is your look inside.

SHOW NOTES

What actually happens inside TELOS? This episode breaks it down.

I recap January: the slow start, the sharpening the axe theme, and getting dialed in for my surf trip in March.

What's covered:

How TELOS works: Wednesday live calls, Monday podcast, one-to-one clarity calls, individualized programming, community, quarterly workshops

Training 1: Year by Design. Mapping out your year with intention.

Training 2: Why We Train This Way. Dr Spina's 3 questions. Hardware vs software. Training for the next 40 years.

Training 3: Harness the Power of Your Breath. Coleman's session on breathing for power, mobility, and relaxation.

Training 4: How to Achieve Your Nutritional Results. Habit-based nutrition. Why meal plans fail. The power of tracking.

Get in touch via the below.

Website: https://yourtelos.com/

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @rob_telos

In this episode, I share what I've learned approaching 50: we don't think big enough. We settle into maintenance mode, tick along, and leave our potential on the table.

From swimming at 6am for a Mentawai surf trip, to a 12k open water swim that changed my mindset, to the 18 years I wasted between 17 and 35, this is a challenge to stop coasting and start building towards something bigger.

If you're fitter than average but know there's another level, this one's for you.

To learn more about what we so - hit the link below.

https://yourtelos.com/platinum

If you train 4-6 days a week and your body still keeps failing you - tight hips, recurring back pain, that thing in your shoulder that never quite goes away - this episode explains why.

It's not effort. It's not age. It's a missing foundation that nobody's taught you. Rob breaks down the evolutionary mismatch between how we live and how we were built to move, why "functional exercises" aren't actually making you function better, and exactly what to do about it.

Whether you're stuck in the physio loop or just tired of feeling tight despite doing all the "right" things, this one's for you.

What we cover:

• The three questions that changed how I approach training (and why most people have no answer to the third one)
• Why fit, active people who show up consistently still keep getting injured
• The difference between "functional training" and actually training your body to function better
• Joint independence before joint interdependence—why your squat won't improve just by squatting
• Flexibility versus mobility: why passive stretching gives temporary relief but never lasts
• The hardware versus software concept—why foam rolling and massage are just hacks
• End range strength training: what Bruce Lee understood that most gym-goers don't
• Why I feel fitter, stronger, and more mobile at 49 than I did at 35

Key takeaways:

• Movement comes first. Everything else comes second.
• Sport is chaos—it breaks bodies, it doesn't build them. Your training should prepare you for the forces you're putting your body through.
• The "physio loop" isn't bad luck. It's usually missing prerequisites.
• Expand your ranges of motion. Build control in those ranges. Then execute.
• Train for the next 40 years, not the next 4 weeks.

Connect with Rob:

• Instagram: @rob_telos
• Email: [email protected]
• Book a discovery call here: https://yourtelos.com/platinum-application

Why do fit, active people keep breaking down?

Rob from TELOS breaks the cycle. If you're over 35, training consistently, and still dealing with recurring injuries, stiffness, and the endless physio loop, this podcast explains why it happens and what to actually do about it. No fluff. No gimmicks. Just the truth about building a body that lasts.

Episode Notes

Why fit and active people keep breaking down, and the training philosophy shift that changes everything.

In this episode:

• The loop that keeps you stuck (train, injury, rehab, repeat)
• Why rehabilitation only gets you back to baseline, and why that's not enough
• Load bearing capacity: the real reason injuries happen
• The prerequisites problem most trainers ignore
• Joint independence before joint interdependence
• Flexibility vs functional mobility (the Bruce Lee test)
• End range strength: owning your movement, not just reaching it
• The expand, control, execute framework

This isn't about training harder. It's about training smarter.

Contact: Instagram: @rob_telos Email: [email protected]