TRAINED

Like many people who have pelvic floor issues, Ann Nwabuebo, DPT, unknowingly lived with hers for years. It wasn’t until a physical therapist called out her symptoms of pain and urinary frequency as atypical that she realized they were treatable. Within just a few sessions, Dr Ann got relief — and directed her career toward becoming a pelvic rehabilitation practitioner to help others achieve the same. On this episode, the founder and CEO of Body Connect Physical Therapy sets out to reduce the stigma around pelvic floor dysfunction, offers strategies to prevent problems, and explains when it’s time to seek professional care. By sharing exercises to strengthen those muscles, she enables people across all genders, fitness levels and stages of motherhood to make sure a weak pelvic floor doesn’t restrict their life.

Learn More

• Unsure whether you’re experiencing pelvic floor issues? Need help with a diagnosed problem? Find a professional in your area here.
• Get more tips from Dr Ann on her blog. 
• For more fitness and wellness for moms and moms-to-be, check out all things Nike maternity here.

In February of 2018, NBA star DeMar DeRozan shocked the world when he tweeted, “This depression got the best of me.” He posted it on impulse, but the effects it had on the stigma surrounding athletes and mental health were far-reaching. On this episode, DeMar tells us how owning his depression helped him find relief and influenced the industry to make mental health a higher priority. He also shares the hard-won lessons he learned during childhood and opens up about getting past losses on the court and the loss of his father. DeMar’s willingness to be vulnerable has given him a mental edge in basketball and in life. Now, he’s using his platform to encourage other athletes to speak their minds — and to instill self-love, self-awareness and self-confidence in the next generation.

Learn More

• See the tweet that started the mental health conversation and read the moving article about DeMar’s relationship with his late father.
• Get an inside look at DeMar’s life through his YouTube series, “COMP10 Summer.”
• For more on athletes and mental health, hear the WNBA’s Kayla McBride detail her own journey with depression and anxiety.

Sleep doesn’t usually come to mind when people think about fitness. But after Jeffrey Durmer, MD, PhD, noticed the lack of sleep support when he was an elite athlete, and again when his daughters were national-level swimmers, he decided to take the research into his own hands. Now, as a neurologist, systems neuroscientist and sleep-medicine physician, Dr. Durmer is that support for today’s top athletes. Through his work with the NFL and the USA Weightlifting team for the 2021 Tokyo games, he’s shown how simple tactics like sleep banking can make a serious impact on performance. But above all, he’s shown that sleep is recovery, and no training routine is complete without enough of it. On this episode, he gets specific about why sleep is essential to our physical and psychological health, tells us how to know whether we’re really getting as much as we need and sets us all up for a more alert tomorrow.

Learn More

• Read about Dr. Durmer’s work as Chief Medical Officer at Nox Health.
• Get the facts on how sleep affects basketball players.
• Not sure whether you’re nailing it with your current sleep routine? Our guide can help you get it right.

Since the day Joe Holder stepped on the scene, his innovative training strategies have attracted everyone from executives to supermodels. But this Nike Trainer didn’t become one of the most influential figures in the industry by having a star-studded book of clients. He did it by challenging the rules and continuously working to make fitness more approachable and inclusive. On this episode, Joe explains how his famous philosophy, the Ocho System, enables us take care of ourselves so that we’re better equipped to help others. He tells us why being part of the “Plant-Based Gang” is anything but restrictive, and why exercise snacks can help movement fit on anyone’s plate. He also gets candid about his qualms with the fitness world and lays out a simple mindset shift that can help us reach our goals. Joe’s concepts show that the barriers to health and fitness aren’t so hard to knock down, and that by choosing to better ourselves, we can inspire others to do so too.

• Get a taste of Joe’s Exercise Snacks on Instagram.
• Learn how to live like an athlete with Joe’s latest GQ column, plus get details on the Ocho System.
• Read more on mastering the exercise snack with our article from Nike Journal.

For Kayla McBride, basketball was never just a game.It was an escape from her childhood traumas and subsequent mental health struggles. But when sports came to a halt during the pandemic, she was forced to face the woman behind the athlete. On the final episode of our three-part mental health miniseries, the WNBA vet takes us on her journey toward healing, starting with the decision to put her story in the public eye. She speaks candidly about the challenges of vulnerability and its sweet wins: a closer bond with her family and a happier relationship with her sport. She also discusses how becoming part of the mental health conversation helped show others — and herself — that athletes are more than a number on a jersey or an end-of-season stat. Listen and learn why letting your guard down, and  giving others space to do the same, can lead to a world where mental health takes higher priority.

Learn More

• Read the Instagram post that started it all.
• Want more info about athlete’s susceptibility to mental health disorders? Get the full details from the study here.
• If you’re new to our mental health miniseries, hear Dr Jennifer Heisz tell us about movement and the mind and Dr Uma Naidoo school us on how food affects our mood.
   

We drink pressed juices and load up on whole grains to better our bodies, but what we eat and drink can nourish our brains too. That’s according to the rapidly growing field of nutritional psychiatry, which explores the benefits of food on cognitive well-being. On episode two of our three-part mental health miniseries, Uma Naidoo, MD, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Michelin-star chef, tells us how meals can impact our mood. She also offers guidance on building out our grocery lists with nuts, fish, turmeric and other foods that can help fight anxiety and depression, and she breaks down the surprising connection between the brain and the gut. By following Dr Naidoo’s six pillars of nutritional psychiatry, everyone can fill their plate with mood-boosting food.

Learn More

• Get Dr Uma Naidoo’s research and recipes in her book, This Is Your Brain on Food.
• Want to hear more about the power of fermented foods? Read this Stanford University study.
• If you missed episode one of our miniseries, hear Dr Jennifer Heisz tell us about the important link between movement and mental health.

When Jennifer Heisz, PhD, decided to complete an Ironman, she wasn’t looking to earn bragging rights. After years of researching how exercise can fight anxiety and depression, she wanted to feel the effects for herself. Then the pandemic closed her lab, shut down gyms and cancelled races. In the face of piled-on stress and uncertainty, she not only organized her own Ironman, she finished it solo. Along the way, she uncovered the pandemic paradox: Mental health is both a motivator and a barrier to exercise. On this episode, Dr Heisz kicks off our mental health miniseries by telling us what to do when anxiety stifles our urge to get moving. She also gives us a crash course on what goes on in the brain and body when we experience anxiety, stress or depression, and the ways that movement can ward off their symptoms. By detailing her scientific findings and her athletic journey, she shows us why it doesn’t take training for an Ironman to boost your brain, it just takes a little bit of movement every day.

Learn More

• Preorder Dr Heisz’s book, Move the Body, Heal the Mind, for the full scoop on her research and her solo Ironman.
• On days when you’re feeling off, find the motivation to move with her mental health tool kit.
• Get inspired with workout ideas for all levels on our NTC app.

Bath bombs and face masks may feel great in the moment, but they only scratch the surface of self-care. People have body, mind and soul needs they aren’t even aware of, says Theresa Melito-Conners, PhD, and it’s time we showed up for them. She discovered self-care after nearly burning out at a job, went on to get her doctorate in it, then launched the website “Dr. MC’s Self-Care Cabaret.” Now Dr MC is giving us a peek behind the curtain at 10 things that are essential to boosting our own wellness and happiness. She also lays down real talk on creating boundaries between our work and our personal lives and how to set up the next generation for self-care success. Bonus: Dr MC leads us on one of her famous guided meditations, so you can feel for yourself how even the simplest changes can make a big impact.

Learn More

• Get more self-care tips and tricks from Dr. MC’s Self-Care Cabaret.
• Read what Dr MC’s reading — check out The Art of Extreme Self-Care.
• Feeling zenned out from that guided meditation? Find more from our trainers on the Nike Training Club app.

Growing up on the West Side of Chicago, Arshay Cooper’s fate could have been sealed by his proximity to gang violence. But when he signed up for the country’s first all-Black high school rowing team, he changed his trajectory and led his crew as they navigated a sport that has historically lacked diversity. Now a successful chef, author and activist, he brings rowing to other low-income communities so kids can have opportunities for a better future. On this episode, Arshay shares how rowing gave his team the tools to cope with childhood trauma. Through detailed stories about his experiences as an athlete and mentor, he shows us that there’s no such thing as a lack of talent, only a lack of opportunity. He also explains how we can all leave communities better than we found them. 

Learn More
- Don’t miss out on any details — check out Arshay’s book, A Most Beautiful Thing.
- Get involved or donate to the A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund.
- See how else you can make an impact on sport and community through Nike Give Partners.

When Shalane Flanagan found out that all six World Marathon Majors would take place in less than seven weeks, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make history. After two reconstructive knee surgeries and a year off from running, the long-distance legend came back to show herself — and the next generation of women athletes — what’s possible when you put your mind to it. On this episode, she breaks down everything that inspired her to take on the marathon of marathons and gives us a look at the training and recovery plan that’s helped her rise to the challenge (and have fun along the way). She also opens up about her journey as an athlete and new mom, what it’s like to be one of the only women in the world of elite coaching, and how anyone can achieve their personal best. 
 

Learn More

• Dig deeper into the Shalane Effect and see how it’s encouraged young athletes.
• Find out how to increase girls’ participation in sports.
• Want to train with Shalane? Download the Nike Run Club app for her audio-guided runs.