Masters Athlete

We'd like to think we can do everything ourselves but sometimes we just need a coach to help us get through the madness of what it takes to be healthy. Whether it's fitness, nutrition, or health coaching, we all need a coach at some point and this episode is dedicated to guiding you to the right coach for the right job. 

Martial arts isn't something that's only performed in an octagon. It's also a lot more than learning how to do various forms to get the next belt. Martial arts is a means of survival and a way to protect yourself against danger. My guest this week is a martial art and exercise science guru and is the owner of Valhalla Academy in Frankfort, Kentucky and is a professor at a liberal arts college in Kentucky as well. He also runs the online community Old School Jujitsu and provides self-defense instruction to various tactical teams around the state. He has a fantastic way of bridging the gap between the science of exercise and the application of it on the street. For more information on Valhalla Academy and Old School Jujitsu, please click on the links below. 

This week I delve into some of the articles I'm reading again and talk at great length about how they tie into what the masters athlete has to deal with and ways they can help the masters athlete train. 

I thought I'd try something a little different today and review a few of the articles I've read over the past week that I've found interesting. Below are the links to these articles and I highly recommend you read them for yourself. 

There's a lot of controversy surrounding the topic of just how much a masters athlete, or any athlete for that matter, requires the use of Olympic and power lifts incorporated into their training program. Yes, there are definite benefits associated with all of the lifts, but not every athlete requires this type of training as the benefits of this type of weight training simply aren't there when you are wanting to run/swim/cycle as fast as possible. 

We all have stressors. As masters athletes we may deal with them a little more than those younger athletes. Today we talk about the stressors in our life and ways to deal with them.

As a masters athlete, we tend to fall into one of two groups: those that need to be a part of a community to help push us...hello CrossFit...and those that have decided we don't like the hustle and bustle of going to a commercial gym so we invest into a home gym. This episode talks about everything needed for a home gym, both fitness and prehab/rehab equipment, along with resources that are available to get you started in the right direction. 

This week I talk about the happenings at the USATF Masters National Track and Field Championships that were held in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State University. I review my events, how I did, and the injuries I overcame. I then talk about the people I met at the meet and my goals for next year at the World Championships. 

This week's episode is an interview with someone I see on a regular basis, especially when I'm trying to get to the starting line of any event I've signed up for. Dr. Kyle Bowling is the owner of Kentucky Sports Chiropractic in Louisville, KY and is also the creator of the CTM Band, which is a compression and trigger point therapy product. Dr. Kyle is an avid runner, has competed in multiple Boston Marathons, and competed at the college level at the University of Louisville in both track & field and cross country. Dr. Kyle has also performed treatment and care for the elite jockeys at Churchill Downs and was in integral part of the medical team that helped win the first Triple Crown in 37 years of horse racing. 

In this week's episode, I talk about the very basics of nutrition. I go over what macronutrients are and how to fuel yourself for short, intense activities versus long, slow, low-intensity activities. 

This week's episode of the Masters Athlete podcast details the movement-based approach to training. This includes incorporating all planes of motion into your fitness routine and provides examples of the types of exercises that are involved with that. It also gives a summary of the joint-by-joint approach to training, originated by Gray Cook and Mike Boyle. For more information on the joint-by-joint approach, visit the following websites: 

We all know we should have some kind of fitness assessment done when we start exercising. Today I want to discuss just a few that are available to us to help us start our training on the right foot and help prevent long term injuries. We discuss the ACSM, FMS, CrossFit, and others.