Dr. Mike T. Nelson is one of the most knowledgeable people in human performance, and he’s got the resume to prove it. Dr. Nelson joins us to talk about metabolic flexibility and how to determine whether your body is more tuned to utilize fat or carbohydrates for fuel. He also discusses the most ignored metabolic pathway for top athletes and tells us what many aspiring CrossFit Games competitors are still getting wrong.
In this episode of The BarBend Podcast, guest Dr. Mike T. Nelson and host David Thomas Tao discuss:
- Mike’s initial interest in performance — and how a lack of musculature motivated him toward fitness (2:30)
- Why it took Mike nearly 4 years to gain 30 pounds of muscle as a beginner (4:40)
- Early mistakes in Mike’s fitness journey (5:10)
- Transitioning away from biomedical engineering (8:30)
- Defining HRV and metabolic flexibility (14:50) (for more context, check out our podcast with WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed)
- How the body balances energy from fat vs. carbs, and how pros like Mike can measure which you’re using more efficiently (17:00)
- A quick at-home test to see if your body utilizes fat or carbohydrates more efficiently (18:10)
- Tips for optimizing diet for your body’s energy preferences (20:00)
- How stress impacts recovery across multiple systems (23:30)
- A high-performance athlete feels sluggish, brain fog, and plateauing progress: What’s wrong when everything should be going well? (25:00)
- Testing your personal aerobic capacity and estimating your VO2 max (26:10)
- Why aerobic capacity is so underrated (and often ignored) among elite athletes (27:00)
- Why adding more metcons isn’t always the answer for top CrossFit athletes (32:00)
- How ego gets in the way of client progress (35:00)
- Why top CrossFit athletes are winning both aerobic and anaerobic events (36:40)
- Advice for powerlifters taking performance to the next level (39:05)
Relevant links and further reading:
- Visit Dr. Mike T. Nelson’s website
- Follow Dr. Nelson on Twitter and Facebook
- Check out Dr. Nelson’s bio on our Expert Page
