What's more important for longevity, cardiovascular fitness or diet quality?

Recently I rewatched an episode of the Coach Em Up podcast featuring Zack Telander and Alec Blenis, where they got into a really interesting discussion about longevity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and ultra-processed foods.

Some pretty wild statistics were thrown around, and naturally, being the nerd that I am, I wanted to dig into the actual research and see what the literature had to say.

So in this video, we're diving into several large observational studies and meta-analyses examining the relationship between cardiovascular fitness, ultra-processed food consumption, and all-cause mortality.

And of course, we'll talk about why it's so important to challenge our own biases, especially when we come across research that seems to confirm something we already believe.

There's a lot to unpack here, and some of these studies are pretty fascinating.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments! How much cardio do you do? Do you track your VO2 max? And how much attention do you pay to ultra-processed foods in your diet?

Thanks for watching, and as always, stay adaptive!

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

September marks 12 years of coaching people, and to “celebrate,” I wanted to do what I do best: be a nerd.

So I’m sharing five lessons I’ve learned over those 12 years. We’re talking about what I do when someone feels a tweak during a workout, why I think some people could benefit from more intensity, and why I’ve changed my mind about chasing perfect movement.

I also get into knee valgus during running and why a bench press cue like “break the bar” might help one person but make the lift uncomfortable for someone else.

Some of this is research, some of it is experience, and some of it is me looking back at things I used to teach and thinking, “Yeah, I’d handle that differently now.”

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

I’ve had ulcerative colitis for around 25 years, and if you’ve followed this channel for a while, you know I’ve experimented with just about everything trying to get this disease under control.

Well, I’m finally in remission.

And strangely enough, the two things that seem to have made the biggest difference for me weren’t biologics or another prescription drug. They were two supplements: Boswellia Serrata and Indigo Naturalis, also known as Qing Dai.

Over the years I’ve experimented with different ulcerative colitis treatments, changes to my diet, medications, supplements, exercise and just about anything else I thought might help control my UC.

Within days of using these supplements I went from dealing with ulcerative colitis symptoms like blood, cramps, urgency and constantly worrying about what I ate to having none of it. I can eat foods again that I haven’t been able to touch in years. I’m gaining weight, gaining muscle, getting stronger, sleeping better and generally feeling like I have my life back.

But you guys know me. My experience is N=1, and my anecdotal experience of feeling better isn’t enough for me to tell you that something works.

So in this video we’re going down the rabbit hole.

I break down the research on Boswellia and Qing Dai for ulcerative colitis and IBD, how they may work, the randomized controlled trials, and the safety concerns, particularly the reports of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with Indigo Naturalis.

I also take a closer look at the research that caused me the most concern, how the potential risk was actually established, and some of the conflicts of interest I found while researching the investigators.

I also talk about my history with the disease, conventional ulcerative colitis treatment, my experience developing pancreatitis after being prescribed 6 MP, Purinethol, and why my own experience has changed the way I think about risk when deciding what I’m willing to try.

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, along with Crohn’s disease, and anyone who has experienced a serious ulcerative colitis flare knows how completely this disease can take over your life.

I’m not telling anyone with ulcerative colitis or crohns disease what they should take and I’m definitely not claiming I found a cure. I’m sharing what worked for me, what the research actually says, and the good AND the bad so you can make your own decisions.

If you’re dealing with ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, or IBD and feel like you’ve tried everything, I hope there’s something in here that helps.

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

Are barefoot shoes really good for running like many people say they are?

This is definitely something I changed my mind on. I used to be a staunch supporter of living your entire life in barefoot shoes. Sleep and dream in barefoot shoes. I was totally bought in, but it wasn’t based on science.

It was based on other people telling me to and I wasn’t equipped at the time to think critically about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely think they’re extremely valuable for some people and they have their utility.

I’m just no longer breathing barefoot shoes like I used to.

In this video I steelman the barefoot shoe topic and examine the evidence point by point to inform you on whether or not barefoot shoes live up to all the hype.

I go through foot strength and structure, balance and performance, and injury prevalence.

I think there’s a ton of value here, whether you’re someone just looking to strengthen your feet or if you’re someone who’s curious about trying to run in barefoot shoes, I’m confident you’ll walk away from this episode with your answers.

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

Are Jefferson curls dangerous? Are they a safe way to train spinal flexion, or does loaded spinal flexion increase the risk of things like a herniated disc?

Jefferson curls have been exploding in popularity over the past couple of years on social media. Some people use their shock factor just to spike engagement, some see genuine uses for the Jefferson curl in strengthening the lower back, and others think it's one of the most dangerous exercises out there.

I had a commenter ask for my thoughts on them, and since I'm new to the exercise, I figured I'd bring in someone with more experience and have a back-and-forth on the matter.

In this discussion, we get into loaded Jefferson curls, spinal flexion more broadly, and the concern around disc herniation and lower-back injury. We also talk about where the fear surrounding loaded spinal flexion comes from and how Alex approaches actually training these movements.

Alex is the cofounder Electrum Performance a gym based out of San Diego, CA that specializes in combat athletes. He himself is a black belt in BJJ and a very decorated strength coach.

I loved hearing Alex's take, and I'm looking forward to having more discussions with him in the future on other topics.

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

I wanted to try something different for this episode. I've selected 3 different health and fitness related clips to review. I'm going to walk through each one using the same evidence-based thought process I always do, separating what's supported by the evidence from what isn't.

The first clip is going over whether or not you should keep your arms straight during a kettlebell swing.

The second clip is Dr. Milo Wolf responding to Dr. Andrew Huberman in regard to whether late day exercise can lead to worse sleep outcomes.

And lastly, we're going over whether a 405lb deadlift is still impressive. In other words, has gymflation ruined our ideas of what normal is.

This was a lot of fun to make so if it does well, I'll likely be doing more of these. If you come across any interesting health and fitness related clips you would like me to respond to, feel free to email them to me. randall@alwaysadaptive.com

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

Dr. Mike reacted to Erling Haaland's hot hypoxic chamber training and made a compelling case for why harder training isn't always better. He's mostly right, but there's an entire field of research that seems to contradict one of his core arguments.

Mike thinks that because hypoxic training is more difficult, we're basically unable to train hard enough to get a proper stimulus therefore you're better off training in a really comfortable environment.

Check out the video to get the full story!

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

3 Supplement Scandals You NEED to Know About in 20 Minutes

The supplement industry runs on one assumption… That you won’t check under the hood.

In this video I’m breaking down 3 of the biggest supplement scandals in recent years that have been documented by independent lab testing and peer reviewed research. We’re going to hit creatine, protein powdrs and other products, and the holy grail in fish oil or omega 3’s.

I'm not telling you to stop taking supplements. I take them every day. But I am telling you to be more careful about which ones you're choosing, because the difference between a good choice and a bad one could be costing you hundreds of dollars a year on products that aren't doing what you think they are.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
00:55 - Creatine Gummies
05:50 - Protein Powder
10:05 - Fish Oil
18:16 - What To Look For Instead

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com