The Ready State Podcast

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Juliet and I just got back from Vancouver and 27 straight days of back-to-back conferences. The shift at the YPO Health Summit from two years ago was striking. The conversation has moved from mitochondrial supplements to something more basic: are you doing the fundamentals? We call this third wave fitness, and it finally feels like we are cresting into it.

Romania's football federation just introduced a Black Card for youth soccer, and it is unlike anything we have seen before. Referees can now permanently end games because of how parents and spectators are behaving. No rematch, no restart, just over. There are also silent game days where adults cannot cheer or coach at all. The whole platform is built around joy, respect, and optimism in youth sports. With Outplay finished and heading to shelves next fall, we are paying close attention.

EC Synkowski's A Good Nutrition Book dropped October 1st. We wrote the foreword to the book because her work and thinking around nutrition have been genuinely transformational for us.
And finally, the University of Liverpool just published the longest randomized trial ever run on diet drinks. The results are going to surprise you, or at least give you permission to enjoy your crispy Diet Coke in peace. We have opinions, a bedazzled can, and an unhinged passion that we can't totally explain.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the YPO Health Summit felt fundamentally different this year and what the return to basics actually looks like in high-level wellness spaces
What first, second, and third wave fitness means and why the shift matters now
What's in EC Synkowski's A Good Nutrition Book and why the 800-gram challenge changed how Kelly and Juliet think about nutrition
How Romania's Black Card system works for youth soccer sidelines and whether something like it could take hold in the US
What the longest randomized trial on diet drinks found about weight loss and potential harm

Key Highlights(00:00) Intro
(00:24) Empty nesting and an overbooked fall
(01:43) YPO Health Summit Vancouver: the back-to-basics shift
(05:01) First, second, and third wave fitness
(06:32) Rope flow for 100 CEOs, forgotten anniversaries, and 16 years of Mobility WOD
(08:21) Outplay: manuscript submitted
(11:06) EC Synkowski's [A Good Nutrition Book](https://a.co/d/0519vMrI) and the [800-gram challenge](https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/ec-synkowski-sustainable-nutrition/)
(13:38) Romania's [Black Card](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7586821/2026/09/12/football-black-card-referee/) for youth sports sidelines
(19:15) The diet drink study and the Diet Coke debate
(25:21) Wrap

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What if the fitness metrics you’re obsessing over aren’t telling you what you think they are? HRV. VO2 max. Resting heart rate. Zone 2. Wearables have given us more data than ever… but do you know how to use it to inform your training?

In this episode of the Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet Starrett sit down with renowned strength and conditioning coach Joel Jamieson to cut through the noise around cardiovascular fitness, recovery, and resilience. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience coaching UFC champions, Olympic athletes, special operators, and professional sports teams, Joel explains why a higher HRV isn’t always “better,” what Zone 2 training is really trying to accomplish, and why your aerobic engine matters even if endurance sports aren’t your thing.

They also explore how to balance low, moderate, and high-intensity training, practical ways to measure whether your conditioning is actually improving, and why stress outside the gym has to factor into how you train. The takeaway? Better fitness isn’t about chasing a perfect score – but about understanding what your body can handle, how well it recovers, and how to train accordingly.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy a higher HRV doesn’t always mean you’re better recovered
What Zone 2 training is actually trying to accomplish
Why cardiovascular fitness is important for improving resilience
How to balance low, moderate, & high-intensity conditioning
Why stress outside the gym should influence how you train
Key Highlights: (00:00) Intro: Joel Jamieson on HRV & Conditioning
(03:33) The HRV Problem for Midlife Athletes
(05:13) What Is HRV?
(09:41) The Evolution of HRV Tracking
(13:32) What's a Good HRV?
(16:18) Morning vs Overnight HRV
(20:49) Why Higher HRV Isn't Always Better
(24:00) HRV, Resting Heart Rate, & Heart Rate Recovery
(26:50) Chest Strap vs Wrist-Based HRV
(29:33) How to Improve Your HRV
(34:10) How Fast Cardiovascular Fitness Declines
(37:53) Training Intensity Zones Explained
(43:30) Low, Moderate, & High Intensity Training
(45:59) Why Low-Intensity Training Builds VO2 Max
(48:33) Is VO2 Max Testing Worth It?
(51:04) The Cooper's Test
(55:09) How Fast Can Conditioning Improve?
(59:55) Team Athletes & Recovery
(1:01:46) Life Stress, HRV, & Training
(1:04:00) Lifestyle Sets Your Gym Limits
(1:05:21) Infinite Shelf

Huge thanks to our sponsors,Momentous, LMNT, and BEDGEAR.

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This one's a first: Juliet and I are recording from different states. I'm up in Evergreen, Colorado, fresh off the Farren Summit in Boulder, where Juliet and I ended up in the same room as Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf. Felt like CrossFit 2.0.

The American Society of Hematology just raised the diagnostic floor for ferritin from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and if you've ever been told your iron levels are fine while running on empty, this is a massive deal. Juliet shares her 30-year story here, including what finally worked.

Two landmark CTE studies dropped the same week: one out of Australia showing 61% of examined rugby league brains had CTE, and one from the US putting it at 1 in 4 NFL players. We get into what that means for families and youth athletes thinking about contact sports.

Plus a real update on Outplay, our book on youth sports performance for parents, which we are nearly ready to turn in.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the American Society of Hematology raised the ferritin diagnostic floor from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and what the thresholds are for different populations
How to tell if iron deficiency may be affecting you, low ferritin symptoms, and which tests to ask your doctor about (ferritin, TIBC, CBC)
Why standard iron treatments so often fail, and what finally worked for Juliet after three decades of trying
How CTE differs from a concussion, and what two new studies on rugby league and NFL brains actually found
How families and coaches should think about youth contact sports in light of the new CTE research
What the Outplay book covers and where it stands in the writing process

Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro: first time recording apart, Kelly in Colorado
(00:40) Farren Summit recap and the Boulder trip
(01:13) Kelly's CU Boulder days and the shared senior thesis story
(04:48) CrossFit reunion: Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf
(06:59) Fall travel: YPO Vancouver and the Brett Bartholomew conference
(07:57) Eudemonia with Momentous and the Antarctica trip
(10:24) New ASH ferritin thresholds explained: from 15 to 30 ng/mL
(11:38) Low ferritin symptoms and why standard treatments kept failing: Juliet's 30-year story
(14:35) What finally worked: iron infusions and menopause
(17:26) Which tests to ask your doctor for
(18:24) Kelly's concussion history and CTE intro
(19:24) New CTE research: 61% of rugby brains and 1 in 4 NFL players
(20:02) CTE vs. concussion: what's the difference
(21:37) Youth contact sports and how families should think about risk
(24:27) Guardian caps and other interventions; Eric Freitag episode on concussions, (https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/eric-freitag-concussions/)
(26:27) Outplay book update and the Outplay Way card deck
(30:50) Skateboarding as free play, shoutout to Lisa's son Fox:(https://www.instagram.com/p/DdiCvqzp1HL/)

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What does it take to keep someone performing when their job leaves almost no room for downtime? In this episode of the Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet Starrett sit down with longtime friend Dr. Drew Contreras, a retired Army physical therapist who went from supporting soldiers in combat to becoming the first full-time physical therapist embedded in the White House Medical Unit.

Drew shares what he learned caring for everyone from White House staff to Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden – and why the fundamentals of human performance matter even more when time is your most valuable resource. From encouraging naps during relentless work schedules to introducing walking meetings at the White House, Drew explains how small changes can help people stay functional under extraordinary pressure.

The conversation also explores the changing role of physical therapy, why PTs should be doing more than treating injuries one patient at a time, and how technology such as digital health and AI could reshape the profession.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhat working with two sitting U.S. presidents taught Drew about keeping people functional under extreme pressure
Why naps, walking meetings, and other simple interventions can make a major difference during sustained periods of high-stress work
How physical therapists became a “force multiplier” for keeping soldiers healthy and operational during deployment
Why Drew believes physical therapists should play a bigger role in performance and musculoskeletal primary care
Why embracing new technology such as digital health and AI will be essential for the future of physical therapy
Key Highlights: (00:00) Intro to Dr. Drew Contreras
(02:55) How a Combat PT Got Handpicked for the White House
(07:00) The Birthday Basketball Game That Started It All
(12:05) Building a Wellness Culture in the White House
(19:15) What Actually Moved the Needle on Health
(22:05) Naps, Walking Meetings, & Reframing Work
(26:30) Deploying as One of the First Combat PTs
(31:00) PT as Human Performance, Not Just Rehab
(33:20) Treating Obama vs. Biden – Different Ages, Different Needs
(38:50) Leading the APTA & Scaling Physical Therapy
(43:45) The Money Problem in Physical Therapy
(53:30) PT as Musculoskeletal Primary Care
(1:00:30) AI, Digital Health, & the Future of PT
(1:04:21) What the Presidency Really Does to a Person
(1:11:30) Infinite Shelf: Legacy by James Kerr

Huge thanks to our sponsors, LMNT, BEDGEAR, and Momentous.

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Juliet and I have been saying yes to everything this fall. We're calling it the Fall Travel Junket, and it's stacked with events from Phoenix to Vail to Antarctica. Follow our Instagram or subscribe to The Ambush for details. And spoiler: you can join us in ANTARCTICA! For real!

We've been watching the new season of Ted Lasso, which is putting women's sports on mainstream television in a way that's hard to ignore. We get into what that means culturally, including who we'd want to see make a cameo.

Private equity is moving into youth sports with the "stay-to-play" model and it's terrible for players and parents. We dig into that, the "pay-to-play" model, what's happening at the policy level, and what parents can actually do.

We close with two Instagram trends that gave us pause: men in the longevity space calling facelifts "aesthetic wellness," and a dating site for people who didn't get the COVID vaccine.

New episodes of The Ready State Podcast drop every Thursday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss a thing!

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy Ted Lasso's new season is putting women's sports inequities on mainstream display
What the WNBA surge and Copa 71 reveal about the growing appetite for women's sports
How private equity operates in youth sports through the stay-to-play model
What New York Magazine and the Denver Post found when they investigated the pay-to-play childhood
What parents can actually do right now, from supporting Senator Murphy's bill to keeping rec leagues alive
Why calling facelifts "aesthetic wellness" is a branding problem worth naming
What "Unjected" is, and what it says about the stranger corners of wellness culture

Key Highlights:
(0:00) Welcome back + Goings on in Starrett Land: our empty nest and the Fall Travel Junket
(02:10) PT Biz Mastermind and Brett Bartholomew's Non-Superficial Conference
(02:46) The Assembly in Vail, Eudaimonia, and the Antarctica expedition
(04:46) Ted Lasso's new season and the women's sports moment
(06:15) WNBA, Copa 71, and cultural momentum toward the 2027 Women's World Cup
(09:54) Ted Lasso cameo wishlist: Emma Hayes and Megan Rapinoe
(12:45) Private equity in youth sports: NYMag and Denver Post investigations
(13:56) The stay-to-play model and Senator Murphy's bill
(17:24) Free play, skate culture, and why it matters
(20:15) What parents can do: rec leagues, Positive Coaching Alliance, taking action
(22:30) "Aesthetic wellness": men calling cosmetic procedures a health practice
(27:48) Unjected: the dating site for the unvaccinated
(29:52) Outro