Today I’m talking to Dr. Dena Garner, professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, the Director of Undergraduate Research and the Assistant Provost for Research and Policy at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Garner is best known in some fitness circles for her work with performance mouthpieces, including helping to develop the technology behind the AIRWAAV mouthpiece. In today’s episode, Dr. Garner joins us to talk about the complex — and in my opinion, truly fascinating — mechanisms through which something as seemingly simple as a mouthpiece can improve athletic recovery and performance. And it’s far from what I expected.
I should take a second to mention this podcast is sponsored by, you guessed it, AIRWAAV, performance mouthpiece engineered for serious athletes who demand serious results. Backed by 15 years of research conducted with athletes at cadets at The Citadel – the AIRWAAV Performance Mouthpiece offers a more efficient way for high-intensity and endurance athletes — including lifters — to open their airways and optimize their performance. Learn more at airwaav.com.
In this episode of the BarBend Podcast, host David Thomas Tao talks to Dr. Dena Garner about:
- Dr. Dena Garner’s background and educational journey (2:30)
- Changing educational pathways, and what that can mean for you (5:40)
- The early phases of performance mouthpiece research (10:10)
- “There was an approximately 50% reduction in cortisol when they wore the mouthpiece…” (13:30)
- How long do you need to resistance train to see a pronounced impact? (18:30)
- Areas of research Dr. Garner is excited to dive into more (22:10)
- Balancing research, service, and teaching (26:00)
Relevant links and further reading:
