Category Archives: Fitness

Episode #28: A Case Against Cardio Essay, Part 1

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Description: Mark Sisson tries something new with this podcast episode, as he reads an essay based on one of his most popular posts ever on MarksDailyApple.com: “A Case Against Cardio.” The original post, published in June 2007, helped shed light on the concept that extreme endurance training can actually compromise health and increase disease risk. Mark published several follow up posts over the years on the topic of chronic exercise and the ways to avoid the stress and damage caused when exercise patterns drift away from optimal stress/rest balance and into the extreme category.

Mark’s essay covers the original landmark post, along with assorted commentary from follow up posts. For devoted fitness enthusiasts with passions for Crossfit, marathons, triathlons, heavy gym class participation, or even high-energy weekend warriors who are balancing exercise goals with hectic daily life, this is a very important podcast to absorb and ponder carefully how your own exercise and stress management patterns are looking these days.

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Episode #26: Introducing Dr. Cate Shanahan and The Primal Advantage

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Description: Mark Sisson interviews Dr. Cate Shanahan to discuss the launch of the exciting new Primal Advantage metabolic consulting program. In this podcast, Dr. Cate discusses her work with elite athletes, such as Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers; how your dietary choices affect your metabolic function (especially how adding oft-ignored food categories like bone broth can help improve joint function); how mainstream medical care essentially ignores the role of diet in promoting health and preventing disease; how the Primal Advantage can help everyone, from athletes stuck in a performance rut, to people who have sustained significant metabolic damage from years or decades of poor food choices, or even people with serious medical issues taking Rx drugs.

To be clear, while Cate is a practicing family physician in California, the Primal Advantage is a metabolic consulting service that cannot be construed as a formal doctor’s appointment (due to the remote nature of the interaction). However, the Primal Advantage allows Dr. Cate to work 1:1 with clients interested in improving their health, increasing energy, and minimizing disease risk factors through personalized metabolic consulting—while honoring the Primal/paleo/evolutionary health principles. This is a unique opportunity to engage with a Primal-friendly doctor instead of feeling the disconnection that is common when visiting mainstream practitioners.

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Episode #24: Mark Sisson’s Tips for Removing Excess Body Fat

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Description: Mark Sisson talks about some of the stumbling blocks to losing that last 5, 10, or 20 pounds of excess body fat, and how to overcome them. Experiencing a plateau is common (especially when lots of weight has been dropped over a relatively short period of time), and continued progress requires attention to some of the finer details of healthy living. Beyond the Primal Blueprint eating strategy basics of ditching grains, sugars, and processed oils, and moderating carb intake overall by the Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve, Mark addresses other topics like moderating all forms of life stress, building more muscle mass, avoiding chronic cardio, increasing all forms of daily movement, engaging in intermittent fasting, and cultivating a healthy attitude and positive mindset.

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Episode #21: Chris Adams & Tina Leaman Talk PrimalCon & The Primal Blueprint Certification

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Description: Chris and Tina, the Primal power couple from Phoenix, AZ, have a lively discussion about their long history as PrimalCon group leaders. Chris and Tina have attended all seven PrimalCons held, and list some of their highlights and humorous memories. Included are the Oxnard ocean plunge/jacuzzi sprint, where the resort jacuzzi (a 2 minute sprint from the chilly ocean) overflows beyond capacity; an impromptu Oxnard beach house party where 100 people danced the night away; the beautiful hike to Angora Lakes above Lake Tahoe; the amazing connections formed where strangers traveling from across the world become close friends and vacation together beyond PrimalCon; and the great work of presenter Angelo Dela Cruz, another 7 for 7 PrimalCon attendee, who starts each day off with his VitaMoves session and does 1:1 bodywork with guests to promote natural healing.

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Episode #20: Listener Questions & Answers with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark gets back into the Q&A rhythm with some great commentary on an assortment of questions related to peak performance and Primal living. We begin by reviewing a unique training approach where you “stack” hard workouts on consecutive days, which allows for additional recovery time afterward, and also respects the idea that stress hormones flow for a sustained period of time after challenging workouts. Then, we discuss the importance of maintaining intensity during tapering to preserve blood volume for peak performance events. Mark also examines the dilemma of whether to refuel with carbs after tough workouts or to fast to optimize the flow of adaptive hormones into the bloodstream. This leads to the topic of how you can adopt an intuitive eating and exercise approach, which helps with disciplining for healthy habits. Mark then closes the show with a discussion on how endorphins can have pro and con effects on the body.

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Episode #18: Examining Performance Enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark extends the thread from the previous week’s show about human performance by discussing the role of doping in professional and Olympic sports today. Far from a black and white issue, Mark explains that inconsistencies in the testing procedures and random demarcation lines for what constitutes a performance enhancing substance (e.g., Gatorade enhances performance when you are thirsty!). Also discussed is how the public perception that certain athletes cheat to gain an advantage is actually a more complex cultural issue than a true morality weakness. For example, in pro cycling, recent controversies have affirmed that an athlete was virtually compelled to boost blood with doping products to have a chance at being competitive. Furthermore, the highly selective and competitive nature of elite sports compels athletes to search for every possible recovery advantage, including those that cross the line into doping offenses.

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Episode #13: Developing the Ideal Mindset and Disposition for Peak Performance with Brad Kearns

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Description: Brad’s message emphasizes three themes that counter the narrowly-focused rat race mentality that equates dogged hard work with success without considering the big picture. In the presentation, Brad gives examples from his nine-year career as a professional triathlete (coached by Mark Sisson!), where he learned the lessons of success and failure in an intense and dramatic manner. In the athletic arena, personal frailties and flawed perspectives are exposed for all to see with sub-par performances or difficulty functioning in real life despite material success. Brad explains that to truly experience peak performance, you must:

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Episode #7: Primal Blueprint Fitness with Mark Sisson

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Description: In this podcast, Mark Sisson addresses the common theme of devoted fitness enthusiasts who tend to exercise in a chronic pattern, and suffer from declines in health and fitness accordingly. Sisson discusses how to transition out of a chronic pattern and into a sweet spot where your fitness efforts are sufficient to support outstanding fitness, peak performance efforts, and safe, diverse, injury-free play efforts, but not too extreme or excessive where you might compromise your health.

Included in this discussion are the potential pitfalls of pursuing the endorphin high to excess, the importance of cultivating an intuitive approach to workout planning rather than a robotic approach, and the importance of each of the three Primal Blueprint fitness laws: Move frequently at a slow pace, Lift heavy things, and Sprint once in a while.

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Episode #4: The 10 Laws with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark Sisson presents the compelling premise that you can reprogram your genes in the direction of weight loss, health, and longevity by following 10 immutable “Primal” laws validated by two million years of human evolution.

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