The B.rad Podcast

I am so excited to welcome back to the B.rad Podcast, Cynthia Monteleone, my good friend and sprinting mentor coach to numerous Olympic and world champion masters track and field athletes, and a former world champion herself in the 400 meters for women aged 45 and over!
Our last show was dedicated to discussing the dangers of chronic endurance training and the wide-ranging physiological benefits of sprinting. This conversation is focused on another hugely important topic: recovery.
The workout is the signal. The recovery is where the adaptation occurs.
You’re going to learn how Cynthia became a world champion in sprinting while taking four days off per week to recover, why cortisol is not the enemy, and the difference between the productive stress of training and the chronic stress that can interfere with health, hormones, and performance.
We also get into sprinting for longevity, chasing youth versus chasing longevity, and the simple recovery habits that matter most: sleep, walking, sunlight, spending time with family, and creating space where your body and nervous system can rebuild.

TIMESTAMPS:
The body doesn't know whether the stress comes from sprinting, scrolling, financial pressure, or a difficult conversation. It simply responds to stress. [03:37]
Cynthia publishes a free newsletter with educational information on various topics such as the importance of recovery. [05:51]
There is a difference between chasing youth and chasing longevity. [08:44]
The problem of taking outside hormone replacements is common. [12:23]
There are natural ways to get around some symptoms like those that hit women in midlife. Men often aromatize testosterone into estrogen, thus the spare tire. [18:10]
Cynthia uses a metabolic pinch to analyze what is going on in a client's body. This is based in Chinese medicine. [21:04]
The workout is the signal and the recovery is where the adaptation occurs. [22:03]
There's a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation about what cortisol does in the body. Learn to use Eustress in a positive way. [24:07]
Beer creates this enzyme aromatase that changes the testosterone to estrogen. [33:27]
If anyone wants to track their longevity potential and their overall wellness and vitality, test your sex hormones frequently. The more calories burned, more classes attended, more miles run, still creates worse results, especially for the menopausal female [34:80]
Aging with a broken body is not the best quality of life. [39:04]
How can someone become a champion and win the medal but take tremendous amount of recovery time? Don't you have to train every day? [43:18]
Walking after meals is such a great habit to adopt. [47:27]
Walking in those barefoot shoes basically strengthens your foot. [50:17]
Getting the right amount of sleep is essential for all your endeavors. [56:86]
Find joy in what you are doing. Decompress, let go of stress. These are very important for recovery and longevity. [01:03:11]
Some people think if you have a good diet, you don't need supplements. Some are based in ancestral medicine. [01:03:47]

LINKS:
Brad Kearns.com
BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order!
B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery!
B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet!
Brad’s Shopping Page
BornToWalkBook.com
B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes - Save 10%
Instagram @FastOverForty
fastover40.com
Brad's Podcast Cynthia Monteleone
Eustress vs. Distress
Primal Endurance

We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you!
Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life:
B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order!
Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off!
Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $200 on your unit with code BRAD.
Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD.
Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience
Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD!
#bradpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The more hardcore and devoted you get to fitness, the more risk you bring that you might actually be doing things the wrong way and getting counterproductive results.
In this episode, I break down 5 ways you may be screwing up your fitness goals—even if you’re consistent, disciplined, and training hard.
We talk about why sleep, rest, recovery, and downtime are the foundation for everything else, why the body is a dynamic organism and not a machine you can program, and why you have to be careful about outsourcing your intuition to technology.
I also dive into why VO2 max is overhyped, why zone 1 deserves more attention, how chronic cardio and narrow fitness goals can compromise longevity, and why so many people are missing the most important pieces of lifelong fitness: strength, power, and sprinting.
In this episode, I reveal that the solution is simple: move frequently at a slow pace, lift regularly, and sprint occasionally.
Whether you’re an athlete or someone focused on staying fit, strong, and capable throughout life, this episode will challenge how you think about training for true full-body functional fitness and longevity.

TIMESTAMPS:
The more hardcore and the more serious and devoted to fitness you get, the more risk you bring in that you might be doing things the wrong way. [01:27]
Everything flows downstream from getting a good night's sleep, rest and recover. The hyperconnectivity that we now experience interferes with that. [01:58]
We have chronic low level stress hormone production from consuming variable digital content like text messages or scrolling through social media. [05:26]
Some of us are so devoted to exercise, that we don't know that we are overdoing it. What are some of the biggest signs that we are overdoing it? [07:21]
When you try to apply too much regimentation to a fitness program, you can very easily get yourself into trouble. [15:24]
There is technology measureing your HRV telling you what your body is doing but don't obsess about it. Listen to you body. [25:50]
Zone one exercise is all than most people need. [30:48]
Let's look at endurance training in general. It is a very narrow sliver of total body functional fitnes. [34:55]
There is a cutoff point where doing too much can put you into elevated risk for metabolic problems, including adding excess body fat and not being able to remove it. [37:47]
By exercise physiology definition, anything lasting over a few minutes is strongly emphasizing the aerobic system with minimal stimulation to the anaerobic system. [41:50]
The anaerobic muscle fibers are in that "use it or lose it" category. [50:52]
The void of strength training and sprint training in one's program is a great way to screw up everything. [52:11]
The general guideline for a great sprint workout template is four to eight reps of 10 to 20 seconds duration with a six to one recovery to work interval. [58:05]

LINKS:
Brad Kearns.com
BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order!
B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery!
B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet!
Brad’s Shopping Page
BornToWalkBook.com
B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes - Save 10%
The Stimulated Mind
Podcast with Dr. Tommy Wood
Primal Health Coach Institute.
Is VO@ Max Overated Podcast
BradBeat HRV

We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you!
Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life:
B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order!
Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off!
Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $200 on your unit with code BRAD.
Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD.
Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience
Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD!
#bradpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Q&A episode, I answer questions about how to train for varied competitive distances without getting pulled in too many directions, explain my compelling stance on avoiding coffee (and NSAIDs), and give a plug for Dr. Doug McGuff’s “Big 5” total-body workout—a simple, highly effective way to stay strong with just one workout per week.
I also share thoughts on how corporations like Whole Foods Market and PF Chang’s continue to sell plenty of crap despite their healthy reputations, discuss the magic of Zone 1 walking for building awesome aerobic fitness, and explain one of the best ways to tell if you’re doing too much strength training. Hint: you shouldn’t be getting sore.
These are practical, everyday insights you can use right away to simplify your training, improve your health, and avoid some common mistakes.

TIMESTAMPS:
Jack, age 60, asks about his running goals. He says he is confused about what Brad says the parameters should be. [01:11]
Jack has another question about coffee. Is having that stimulant in the morning helpful for your overall well-being as an athlete? [07:38]
Another listener asks: Should I take my high intensity interval training, my strength training like Dr. Doug McGruff's Big Five and a basically walking approach to races? [15:45]
Some comments from YouTube include this with Brad's comment: How long should you sprint to achieve all the health benefits? Brad's answer: All your entire life. [17:56]
Monica initiates a discussion on the industrial seed oils being used rather than butter in restaurants and even Whole Foods and P.F. Changs. [18:50]
Anthony asks about building up aerobic fitness by walking. Brad's response is that
the aerobic base is built at the lower exercise intensities where your body has sufficient oxygen to develop and fine tune your mitochondrial function [27:00]
Chad experiences soreness after trying to complete body weight exercises every other day to failure. Brad answers: If you have recurring soreness from your strength training regimen, you are most certainly overdoing it. [30:48]
Dr. Doug McGruff's book, Body by Science, has a great regimen of five big workouts to do once a week. [32:22]
Chad is also asking about his schedule for training. You want to have ebbs and flows in your schedule such that you have built in downtime and you always respect the importance of intuition and adjusting on the fly. [37:37]

LINKS:
Brad Kearns.com
BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order!
B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery!
B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet!
Brad’s Shopping Page
BornToWalkBook.com
B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes - Save 10%
Body by Science

We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you!
Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life:
B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order!
Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off!
Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $200 on your unit with code BRAD.
Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD.
Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience
Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD!
#bradpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s episode is a special rebroadcast of one of my all-time favorite conversations on the B.rad Podcast!
Every so often, I like to revisit episodes that made a profound impact on me personally and delivered tremendous value to listeners, and this conversation with Thais Gibson is absolutely one of those episodes.
I am so pleased to introduce a fantastically awesome show with Thais Gibson, creator of the Personal Development School!
When Thais first sent me an overview of what she wanted to discuss, I thought, "Sure, let's talk about it." But I have to tell you, I was completely blown away. This became one of my favorite shows I have ever recorded.
Listeners, I truly believe this episode has the potential to be life-changing. I know it was for me. It probably helped that I unknowingly became the guinea pig for much of the conversation. What you'll hear is essentially a live coaching session where Thais demonstrates her expertise and methods using real-life examples from my own experiences—particularly the disconnect between my stated goals and some of my behavior patterns.
We focused on the pursuit of wealth and financial security, an area where I occasionally feel frustrated or deficient, perhaps because of subconscious patterns operating beneath the surface. Thais explains the causes of self-sabotage and how to reprogram limiting thought patterns. One of the most fascinating parts of the discussion is when she explains that we're operating from our conscious mind only about three to five percent of the time.
If you're someone who listens to podcasts, reads books, and continually educates yourself, your conscious mind may be doing a great job acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to succeed. But your subconscious needs and programming can still interfere and pull you off course. So in this episode, it's time for Brad to get processed, dig deep, and explore what's really happening when self-sabotage kicks in.
Thais Gibson is a counselor, bestselling author of Learning Love, and co-founder of the Personal Development School. She holds a Ph.D. and more than 13 certifications in modalities including CBT, NLP, somatic experiencing, Internal Family Systems, shadow work, and hypnosis. After nearly a decade running a successful private practice, she founded The Personal Development School—an online learning platform designed to provide a more accessible and authentic way for people to transform their lives.
In fact, after we finished this recording, I enrolled immediately. I encourage you to visit her website and explore what she offers. She offers a test run where you can see what it’s all about—check it out at personaldevelopmentschool.com.
Enjoy this special rebroadcast with Thais Gibson!

TIMESTAMPS:
People may not always be aware that they are self-sabotaging because it usually occurs at a subconscious level. [00:53]
Your conscious mind is responsible for roughly 3 to 5 percent of all of your beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and actions or decisions. Your subconscious is responsible for 95 to 97 percent. [04:48]
We all have subconscious personality needs. [07:54]
Thais uses Brad as an example to unpack what needs it relates to. She asks first, what does he do in his spare time? [09:34]
Where does he spend his money? What does he like to learn about? [12:10]
Our subconscious mind is also the host of all of our limiting beliefs. [19:46]
There is a tool for how to pull up what your limiting beliefs are. [21:42]
We're scared of something that's hidden in the periphery at a subconscious level of mind [24:29]
Reconditioning is a tool for reprogramming. [26:25]
Thais identifies characteristics of people who have been in a relationship with a narcissist. [30:41]
Look for the things that trigger you. Plan your limiting belief and use its opposite. [33:02]
Step one: What is your core belief and its opposite? Step two: what are 10 memories to support? They can be recent memories, really old memories, doesn't matter. 10 memories to support this new idea about yourself. I am, in fact, good enough. Step three: listen back for 21 days. [34:17]
When thinking about financial security, many people struggle with their subconscious as in feeling they don’t deserve it or some parts of society that have a distaste for the inequitable distribution of wealth. [43:10]
There are seven areas of life that need attention. Career, financial, mental, emotional, spiritual, physical and relationship. To ignore one area, we will pay for it later. [52:45]
What specific things or set of things are you going to do on a daily basis to reprogram? [59:13]
So much futile energy and effort toward change without addressing these core issues is going to be tough. [01:06:13]

LINKS:
Brad Kearns.com
BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order!
B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery!
B.rad Whey Protein Isolate + Creatine SUPERFUEL - The Best Protein on The Planet!
Brad’s Shopping Page
BornToWalkBook.com
B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes - Save 10%
Learning Love
Personal Development School
Atomic Habits

We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you!
Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life:
B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order!
Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off!
Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $200 on your unit with code BRAD.
Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD.
Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience
Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD!
#bradpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Running a marathon is a bad idea—and in this episode, I explain why. I react to a shocking new study suggesting that during a marathon, the brain may actually consume myelin (the fatty insulation around nerve fibers) for fuel once glycogen stores run low.
The researchers reassure us that the brain “bounces back naturally over time.” I’m not so reassured. I talk about the acute damage caused by marathon running—not just to the brain, but also to the heart, kidneys, hormones, immune system, and inflammatory response.
I also go deeper into the long-term concerns around extreme endurance training: the diminishing returns of chronic cardio, why endurance training often fails as a fat-loss strategy, the “struggle and suffer” ethos of the endurance scene, and the opportunity cost of spending all your fitness energy shuffling down the road instead of building strength, power, explosiveness, and resilience. I explain why “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is often misunderstood through the lens of hormesis and cumulative stress load, and finish with my preferred approach to lifelong fitness and longevity: walk more, lift weights regularly, and sprint once in a while.

TIMESTAMPS:
Running a marathon is a bad idea. Running those 26 miles can transform your brain. [01:05]
Myelin is the fatty insulation around nerve fibers used as fuel when we run out of glycogen during a marathon. The brain fog one gets is caused by the loss of myelin. [02:24]
Brad is looking at the stress on the brain as a result of metabolic myelin plasticity. [04:35]
Long distance running places significant demands on the body and brain. [07:10]
Numerous critical health immune inflammatory and cardiac biomarkers get temporarily blown off the charts even in the best prepared athletes, but more so in the recreational athletes. [09:45]
If you were to go directly from crossing a marathon finish line to the nearest emergency room and have blood drawn, you would have the same lab results as someone suffering from a myocardial infarction, a heart attack. [10:47]
There's also prominent research revealing how the immune system is suppressed for a significant period after the marathon. [14:15]
The essence of peak performance and achieving bucket list goals is to do them correctly rather than drag a tired, unprepared body to the finish line. [17:58]
One study suggests that conducting around two and half hours a week of endurance exercise comfortably paced is sufficient. [20:07]
There's extensive and mounting research that endurance training simply does not work for fat loss. [22:14]
An overuse injury is an obvious sign that the body is being overwhelmed and the training is not appropriate. [27:38]
The obligate runner is one who has taken to the extremes similar to the anorexic needing control. [29:10]
Effort and struggle are deeply satisfying when you're pursuing peak performance goals with honor and maintaining constant vigilance over your mental and physical health. [31:52]
Putting all that energy to a narrow fitness goal like endurance training, precludes other far more valuable fitness endeavors. [33:53]
Broad-based, full body fitness is the key to general health, vitality and longevity. Endurance competency is a small sliver of the big picture. [35:10]
Shoes enable poorly adapted people to do an activity that they really shouldn't be doing. [37:16]
Running a marathon is such an extreme challenge and it is very difficult to train in an appropriate sensible manner. A low-key casual approach can even lead to excellence in endurance training provided we don't succumb to these crazy influences that turn you into an obligate runner. [39:24]
Is the old saying; What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." really accurate? [43:47]
You do not have to have sore muscles to grow stronger. Stress and breakdown are a byproduct of something you're doing to try and improve your health [46:27]
You can get a detox effect from fasting but you can also improve your digestive system by just changing your diet. Or you can try a cold plunge. [47:24]
Benefits come from the mechanical load or the cardiovascular load not the damage to the brain you get when you are overdoing it. [50:46]
When thinking of a marathon, think about the pounding of the cement for 26 miles rather than a century bike ride or long distance hiking with low or no impact on your feet. [51:42]
We want to create a fitness program where you spend a lot of energy on resistance training for your muscles and dedicate a portion to explosive efforts. [55:39]

LINKS:
Brad Kearns.com
BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order!
B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery!
B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet!
Brad’s Shopping Page
BornToWalkBook.com
B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes - Save 10%
TED Tallk by James O'Keefe, M.D.
Brad's Podcast with Dr. Joan Ifland
Brad's Podcast with Cynthia Monteleone
Jay Feldman Wellness.com
WHAT RUNNING A MARATHON DOES TO YOUR BRAIN
Does Marathon Running Harm the Brain? New Study Reveals Surprising Answer!
Cognitive Benefits of Open-Skill Sports in Childhood: Evidence from the ABCD Study

We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you!
Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life:
B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order!
Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off!
Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $200 on your unit with code BRAD.
Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD.
Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience
Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD!
#bradpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.