Flex Diet Podcast

Dean Guedo is an Edmonton, Alberta-based online nutrition coach and strength/nutrition professional with roughly a decade in fitness, athletics and strength sports, and Jeb Stuart Johnston is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and the Charleston, SC-based founder of Food on the Mind, specializing in emotional eating and food obsession.
Dean and Jeb join Dr. Mike T Nelson for their yearly AI check-in, getting into whether creators should disclose AI use and why deepfaked video is a very different beast than AI-assisted writing. The conversation ranges into dead internet theory, why so much hard-won fitness expertise never made it onto the internet at all, and why demanding physical skills may become more valuable, not less, as AI accelerates.
Expect to learn whether creators should disclose their AI use and why deepfaked video is a fundamentally different risk category than AI-assisted writing, why LLM writing may have already "peaked" and regresses toward the average, why fitness's hard-won oral tradition (Charlie Francis, Louie Simmons, old forums) never made it onto the internet at all, why oral defense of your own thinking may be the most AI-proof skill you can build, and why demanding physical skills could become more valuable — not less — as AI accelerates, and much more.
Connect with Dean:
Instagram: @walk.more.king
Website: getfluxed.ca
Connect with Jeb:
Website: foodonthemind.com
Instagram: @jebstuartjohnston
Newsletter: Tangential, Inconsequential, Existential and Experiential (Substack)
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
Episode 136 — Flex Diet, Phys Flex, Metabolism and Nutrition Research for Compound Performance (Jeb and Dean interview Dr. Mike T Nelson): Listen here
S2 Ep 28 — High Flux Model and More for Fat Loss and Client Coaching, an interview with Dean Guedo and Jeb Johnston of StrongerU: Listen here
Episode Timestamps:
01:35 Welcome to the podcast & guest introductions
03:15 Should you disclose your AI use?
06:32 Deepfake video vs. AI-assisted writing: a different risk category
07:53 AI's exponential growth and the "singularity" question
11:11 What is "AI slop," and does it actually matter?
12:42 Why LLMs regress toward average (and the Reddit problem)
15:15 Falsely accused of "AI slop" for your own writing style
21:36 "Automate your business with AI" — the wrong things to automate
25:23 Dead internet theory: has AI writing already peaked?
26:34 Why AI can't reason about truly novel, hypothetical situations
28:37 Hemingway's unfinished-thought trick and "open-loop" thinking with AI
35:06 Why weird, opinionated writing might be AI-proof
44:49 Fitness's lost oral tradition: Charlie Francis, Louie Simmons, old forums
47:03 Stoner, the trivium, and teaching without teaching
48:06 Oral defense as the AI-proof assessment
56:08 Research vs. coaching: the application gap (Norwegian 4x4, tabata)
1:07:26 Will AI push us back toward hard physical skills?
1:15:00 Where to find Jeb & Dean

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter

Don Saladino is a New York-based coach and health entrepreneur who has trained A-list clients like Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Blake Lively since founding Drive495 in 2005.
Don Saladino has spent nearly three decades training A-list stars like Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman — and in this episode, he shares the single business lesson he wishes he’d learned sooner. He and Dr. Mike also dig into why Don closed his $2M-overhead NYC gym, how tracking respiratory rate reshaped his approach to Zone 2 training, and the sobering personal loss that changed how he views performance enhancers.
Expect to learn why Don stopped over-certifying and started looking at what’s leaking in his business, how he built 17 years of trust with a client like Ryan Reynolds, the real financial toll of running a NYC gym (think $1M rent and $2M overhead), what tracking respiratory rate taught him about Zone 2 training volume, his honest take on performance enhancers at 49 (natural), and the personal loss that reshaped how he views unsupervised PED use, and much more.
Connect with Don:
Website
Instagram
YouTube
Episodes you'll enjoy next:
#402 — VO2 Max, Zone 2 Training & the Psychology of Human Performance — Ben Skutnik: Listen here
#397 — How Elite Bodybuilders Think About Problem-Solving, Business and Nutrition with Coach Cliff Wilson: Listen here
Episode Timestamps:
2:26 — #1 Business Lesson: Stop Over-Certifying, Start Looking at What’s Leaking
5:43 — “Content Is King, Distribution Is the Kingdom”
8:35 — Take Risks Early: Betting on Yourself Before Responsibilities Pile Up
10:58 — Learning Business Over Breakfast: The NYC Advantage
12:01 — The Art of Adding Value Without an Agenda
13:32 — Working With Ryan Reynolds for 17 Years: Trust, Humility & Knowing You’re Replaceable
21:12 — What It Really Takes to Work With High-Profile Clients
26:26 — Actors vs. Athletes: Which Is Harder to Train?
28:39 — Performance Enhancers: Don’s Honest Take at 49, Natural
36:31 — Tracking Respiratory Rate & Rethinking Zone 2 Volume
38:37 — Closing the NYC Gym & Pivoting to Digital
43:35 — The Real Cost of Running a NYC Gym: $1M Rent, $2M Overhead
44:32 — Business Lessons You Can’t Learn at Harvard
46:09 — The “Integrated Wellness” Facility Trend: Is Anyone Actually Getting It Right?
1:05:26 — The Rise of Recovery Studios: New Happy Hour or Legit Wellness?
1:08:44 — A Personal Loss & a Stark Warning on Unsupervised PED Use
1:16:27 — Where to Find Don Saladino

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter

Dr. Ben Skutnik, PhD, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D, is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Human Performance Lab Director at Butler University and Head of Nutrition Coaching at Power Athlete.

Dr. Ben Skutnik joins the show to separate fact from fad in aerobic training, debunking zone 2 hype and explaining why VO2 max matters but isn't everything.

Expect to learn why reading scientific literature is its own skill, how uncontrolled variables quietly derail hypertrophy and menstrual-cycle training research, why treating people as fragile backfires, why anecdote in human performance often outruns the research, how "closing the loop" with clients beats chasing mechanisms, what the Norwegian 4x4 method gets right (and what most zone 2 research gets wrong about training zones), and how to actually build VO2 max with the critical power model, and much more.

Connect with Ben:

Power Athlete Coach Bio

LinkedIn

Google Scholar

Episodes you'll enjoy next:

#400 — Build Aerobic Fitness Before Mitochondrial Peptides: AMPK, VO2 Max & Recovery — Dr. Dwayne Jackson: Listen here

#374 — Zone 2 Cardio: What the Science Really Says (Pros, Cons & Better Options) with Kristi Storoschuk: Listen here

Episode Timestamps:

1:46 — Why Ben was recommended for this conversation on cardiovascular and aerobic programming

7:31 — Reading scientific literature is a skill set of its own

14:05 — Hypertrophy training to failure and uncontrolled variables in research

16:27 — Debunking myths about training around the menstrual cycle

18:20 — Human resilience and the danger of treating people as fragile

22:09 — Why consistency beats trying to "hack" optimization

22:40 — Nutrition fear-mongering and overly restrictive diets

27:25 — Changing one variable at a time vs. the "kitchen sink" approach

29:55 — Why anecdotal evidence in human performance is often ahead of the research

34:48 — The ethics of placebo and "closing the loop" with clients

37:34 — The psychology of performance: the NFL kicker example

43:13 — The Norwegian 4x4 method and zone 2 training myths

46:40 — Why most zone 2 research relies on the wrong zone model

52:53 — HYROX, CrossFit, and Goodhart's Law in training

1:05:18 — Is VO2 max overrated? Performance vs. health tradeoffs

1:15:25 — Building VO2 max: interval protocols and the critical power model

1:26:02 — Life-changing results: taking deconditioned clients from VO2 max 18 to 35

1:30:09 — Where to find Ben Skutnik and his work at Butler University and Power Athlete

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter

Rick Alexander is a depth-psychological counselor, psychedelic practitioner, and interfaith spiritual care provider currently completing his Ph.D. in Mythology/Depth Psychology and a former Naval Special Operations combat medic.

Rick was a Special Operations combat medic until a single psychedelic experience shattered his worldview and sent him back to school to study psychedelic spiritual care. He and Dr. Mike dig into neuroplasticity windows, why “good trip/bad trip” is the wrong question, and what may really be happening in DMT space.

Expect to learn how a rough teenage salvia trip and a later psilocybin experience redirected Rick's entire career, what life is really like as a Special Operations Combat Medic supporting SEALs and Green Berets, why military training narrows emotional range and makes civilian re-entry so hard, how integration (not the trip itself) determines whether a psychedelic experience heals or destabilizes you, what the "third wave" of psychedelic science gets right that the DSM's "hallucinogen" label gets wrong, whether neuroplastic windows could help athletes learn skills faster, and what a brutal 5-MeO-DMT experience taught Rick about his own running form and breathing.

Connect with Rick:

Website

Instagram

Episodes you'll enjoy next:

#47 — Tools to Down-Regulate in Response to Stress (an earlier conversation with Rick Alexander): Listen here

#194 — The Pros and Cons of Psychedelic Compounds with Psychedelic Researcher Rebekah Senanayake: Listen here

Episode Timestamps:

2:49 – Rick's PhD progress and the psychedelic experience that redirected his career

3:38 – A rough first psychedelic experience with salvia at 18

4:46 – The psilocybin experience that "peeled back" his worldview

7:00 – Life as a Special Operations Combat Medic supporting SEALs and Green Berets

8:23 – How military training narrows emotional range and worldview

10:01 – Why veterans struggle to re-enter civilian life after specialized training

13:34 – The double-edged sword: psychedelics can destabilize as easily as they heal

14:32 – The "third wave" of psychedelic science and the flawed DSM "hallucinogen" label

23:49 – Integration: do you have time to process what comes up?

24:43 – "Psychedelic myth-making" and building a new personal mythology

31:05 – Could neuroplastic windows help athletes learn skills faster?

37:01 – Yogic energy channels (nadis) and psychedelics amplifying subtle perception

39:17 – How a brutal 5-MeO-DMT trip changed Rick's running form and breathing

56:16 – What's really happening in DMT space: Strassman, Gallimore, and "reality switch technologies"

59:43 – Henri Corbin's "psycho-cosmology": consciousness and reality as mirrored levels

1:06:45 – "Functional consequentialism": why you shouldn't dismiss someone else's experience

1:10:46 – Where to find Rick and his counseling and breathwork work

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter

Dr. Dwayne Jackson is a health specialist, medical educator, scientist, and entrepreneur with a PhD in neurovascular physiology.

Mitochondrial peptides may be promising, but they cannot replace the aerobic base that makes their effects measurable. Dr. Dwayne Jackson explains AMPK and mitochondrial signaling, what MOTS-c and SS-31 can and cannot tell us, and why fitness data, training, and recovery come before any experimental compound.

Expect to learn how aerobic fitness supports strength and Strongman training, why lactate clearance and conditioning can become the rate limiter, what AMPK and mTOR signal, how kidney disease changed Dwayne’s perspective on aerobic capacity, where the evidence for MOTS-c and SS-31 is limited, how to design a more useful N-of-1 experiment, and why training, nutrition, recovery, COAs, and third-party testing come before experimental compounds.

Connect with Dwayne:

Website: drdwaynejackson.com

Google Scholar

Episodes you’ll enjoy next:

#396 — Are Your Peptides Illegal? — Rick Collins: A practical look at peptide science, regulation, and the gray market.

#393 — From Powerlifter to Trail Runner — Paul Oneid & Cody Miller: VO2 max, cardiac adaptations, and the transition from strength sports to endurance.

Episode Timestamps:

01:53 — Mitochondrial peptides and the aerobic-training foundation

03:19 — Peptides as training amplifiers, not replacements

04:22 — AMPK, mTOR and mitochondrial signaling

05:50 — Why aerobic fitness supports strength and Strongman training

08:12 — Conditioning, lactate clearance and the rate limiter for strength athletes

10:58 — Wingate tests and overlapping energy systems

15:12 — Kidney disease, mitochondrial dysfunction and aerobic collapse

21:22 — Hypertensive crisis, dialysis and recognizing a major fitness decline

24:48 — Kidney transplant recovery and rebuilding aerobic capacity

28:27 — The evidence and limitations behind mitochondrial peptides

34:55 — MOTS-c, AMPK activation and anecdotal HIIT performance

39:59 — SS-31, cardiolipin and mitochondrial efficiency

48:32 — Why training, nutrition and recovery come before peptides

58:40 — Using performance data to make an N-of-1 experiment more useful

1:01:22 — SS-31 before training, AMPK timing and recovery trade-offs

1:06:07 — SLU-PP-332, exercise mimetics and the gap in human data

1:09:17 — Peptide sourcing, COAs and third-party testing

1:12:02 — Genetics, response variability and sustainable performance

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter