TRAINED

In 2017, Sloane Stephens didn’t just secure her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. She did it after an injury benched her for 11 months and sunk her world ranking, earning her the World Tennis Association’s Comeback Player of the Year award. On this episode, she tells us how she maintains a positive mindset in the face of obstacles and how she’s become a champion of change in the cyberbullying space. She also describes the unconventional training regimen that took her from surgery to victory and why having an identity outside of sports can make anyone a stronger athlete.

Learn More

• Read more about Sloane’s work to prevent cyberbullying.
• See how she’s inspiring others to pick up a racket through the Sloane Stephens Foundation.
• Serve up a fresh look for your next match with Nike Tennis, then see how Nike is elevating women athletes.

Becoming your most athletic self isn’t just about going harder, lifting heavier or running faster. According to Kelly Starrett, a doctor of physical therapy, improving your performance starts with nailing the basics. On this episode, the CrossFit trainer and co-founder of The Ready State tells us how to build a solid fitness foundation by maximizing our movement and mobility. He explains the basic skills that can help prevent injury and how they’re consistently utilized across all areas of sport and fitness. He also breaks down how anyone can stay fit — in or out of the gym.

Learn More

• Want to be coached by Kelly? Check out The Ready State.
• Go in-depth on Kelly’s philosophies with his bestselling book, Becoming a Supple Leopard.
• Get more CrossFit training tips from Chandler Smith’s Trained episode, then check out this article on the Nike Coaching Hub for more mobility guidance.

Like many of us, Jaelin Howell started playing sports before she could even read. Unlike most of us, she went on to rep jerseys for the U.S. National Women’s Team and Racing Louisville FC. On this episode, the up-and-coming soccer star details every step of that journey. She shares the benefits of coming from a family of athletes, gets real about the struggles of collegiate sports, and explains the training it takes to transition from club to NCAA to pro. She also tells us what she’s learned from the women who came before her, what it’s like to play with her childhood idols, and what kind of legacy she hopes to leave.

Learn More

• Watch the moment Jaelin scored her first international goal.
• Hear from U.S. soccer legend Alex Morgan about her own journey with the game.
• Get everything you need for your best performance on the pitch with Nike Soccer.

With continuously emerging fads like macrobiotics, vitamin IVs and cryotherapy, the wellness industry has been rapidly growing for decades. And the more its monetary value and list of buzzwords grows, the blurrier the line between scientific truth and pseudoscience hype gets. That’s why Timothy Caulfield, a Canadian professor of health law and science policy, has focused his career on clearing up the difference between fact and fiction. On this episode, the bestselling author tells us why the wellness industry is prone to misinformation, how we can spot it and what we can do about it. He then lays out some common misconceptions about the five facets of fitness — mindset, movement, nutrition, recovery and sleep — and shares simple tricks to help us recognize accurate research.

Learn More

• Get more clarity on how you can distinguish real science from pseudoscience in Timothy’s book The Cure for Everything.
• See the full study on teaching children critical thinking skills and read more about how taking a pause can help slow the spread of misinformation.
• Check out our hub of health, fitness and wellness articles for more research-backed guidance.

Yoga teacher and human-performance coach Branden Collinsworth knows what it means to push your potential. Through his journey with movement, he unlocked the perseverance to escape poverty, the tenacity to achieve an Ivy League master’s degree in psychology, and the capacity to connect to the self. Now the Nike trainer is showing us how the skills learned through yoga can help us transcend our own limits. On this episode, he tells us why yoga is a missing link in sport performance and how it bridges the gap between the internal and the external. He also gives us simple steps for turning a flow into a daily habit.

Learn More

• Interested in a Warrior Retreats experience? Get all the info you need from their website.
• For more focus on your mental fitness, get connected with Branden and other wellness experts on the app Mine’d.
• If Branden got you fired up to flow, keep the momentum going with this episode from Nike trainer and yoga instructor Jonah Kest, then get moving with the NTC app.

Most of us equate feeling tired with needing more sleep. But according to Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, that only scratches the surface of what it really means to be rested. Through her research, the internal-medicine physician and founder of Restorasis identified seven types of rest that cut across all socioeconomic, cultural and racial barriers. On this episode, she gives us a thorough break-down of what these are and how to know when we’re getting enough of each. Whether you’re a worn-down athlete, a worn-out parent or an overworked employee, Dr Dalton-Smith assures us that her restorative practices aren’t additions to our to-do lists, they’re daily habits that can help us all become our optimal selves.

Learn More

• Learn everything you need to know about the seven types of rest in Dr Dalton-Smith’s book, Sacred Rest.
• Take Dr Dalton-Smith’s quiz to find out what kind of rest you might need more of.
• When you need to focus on your mental or physical rest, try easy yoga flows and guided meditations in the Nike Training Club app or a guided recovery run in the Nike Run Club app.