The Primal Kitchen Podcast

Brad Kearns visits with Mark Sisson to discuss the delicate balance between striving for ambitious peak performance goals and pursuing longevity. Sometimes it’s a delicate balance that even the most experienced athletes might screw up by getting a little too ambitious with their performance goals and compromising health in the process. Mark mentions his lifelong athletic, competitive mindset that essentially leaves him with a 62-year-old body and a 21-year-old’s competitive intensity.  Aging gracefully is an important concept to embrace, which will enable you to set appropriate goals and accept an inevitable gradual decline in fitness that comes with chronology. Brad and Mark offer suggestions to recalibrate one’s competitive goals based on age and lifestyle circumstances while covering other interesting topics in this landmark broadcast that will change the way you think about fitness and longevity.

A little discussed phenomenon is disturbingly common among health-conscious eaters, especially those diligent about eating plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains. Granted, not very primal, but even super-primal-aligned folks suffer from digestive difficulties related to eating their abundant servings of veggies and fruit. The condition is called Fruit Belly—a bloated cranky, gurgly, and visceral-fat-hoarding abdomen that grows (or refuses to budge) despite your best efforts to eat healthy, and even despite your success at sculpting the rest of your body. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Brock Armstrong)

Today’s the day for another primal giveaway! Over the last year I’ve teamed up with Thrive Market to give Mark’s Daily Apple readers (you!) free jars of coconut oil, free jars of Primal Kitchen™ Mayo, exclusive eBooks, and even a $500 primal shopping spree. Not to mention dozens of free memberships. But now we’re taking things to the next level. Today, Thrive Market is offering Mark’s Daily Apple readers a chance to win a $1000 shopping spree. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

While it’s important to think positive and focus on all the things you should be doing to achieve your goals, it’s equally important that we focus on those things that interfere with our goals and remind ourselves to avoid doing them. Some call it the “not to do list,” which I like. Many of the behaviors on not-to-do lists are deal breakers, so it’s arguably more crucial that we identify and curtail those that apply to our lives. But that’s hard; these are behaviors we might already be doing. Heck, they might be bad habits we’ve developed, or biases we’ve internalized. And so before adopting good behaviors, we should clear out the bad ones. Otherwise, we’re just pissing in the wind. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Brock Armstrong)

Host Brad Kearns catches up with CrossFit legend Bill Grundler, a 46-year-old retired firefighter and proprietor of CrossFit Inferno in San Luis Obispo, CA. Bill has defied the normal notions and realities of aging by competing in the Open division of the CrossFit Games—challenging the best athletes in the world despite having a couple decades of seniority on the pack. Bill subscribes to what he calls a firefighter mentality, where “you just get the job done. The fire doesn’t care how old you are.” After suffering an ACL tear during a qualifier for the 2014 Open CrossFit Games, Bill endured an arduous recovery and, with minimal expectations for 2015, agreed to enter the Masters division to compete alongside his brother James. The Grundler brothers became the first brothers ever to compete together at the Games. The 2015 Masters contest featured an especially tortuous series of events (detailed by Bill in the podcast), and Bill finished a close second to an Australian when it was all over. Bill is a lifelong athlete in swimming and wrestling. He was a high school state champ in wrestling and All-American wrestler for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he attained a top-10 national ranking his senior year. Interestingly, Bill explains that his wrestling career ended unfortunately, as he cut his hand right before nationals and had to watch from the sideline. Bill believes that this gave him a profound sense of “unfinished business” that provided a source of deep motivation for his lengthy competitive career. You can detect an incredibly resolute positive attitude from Bill during this show. His devastating college injury became a source of great motivation; his ACL tear was a “blessing in disguise,” and his heartbreaking narrow defeat at the 2015 Games didn’t dampen the joy of competing alongside his brother. Bill also explains the wonderful benefits of taking the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification, and his plans to set up members of CrossFit Inferno with easy access to the certification program. Even as he basks in the adulation of being a true CrossFit legend, Bill offers a healthy perspective quote about CrossFit: “The essence of CrossFit is to become more functional for a lifetime. People can miss this when them become too focused on the competitive aspects of CrossFit.” Enjoy a truly inspiring show from this CrossFit legend!

The idea here isn’t to spread fear or panic – those saboteurs of a good life and, in this instance, a good meal. It’s about how to minimize risk with a measured, reasonable amount of time, effort and thought. I think there’s a sweet spot to be found here, too, as in most areas of Primal living in the modern age.(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

A few months ago, I wrote a guide to napping that included how, why, and when to flop down for a spell. That wasn’t a random throwaway post. It was the first salvo in a new war. I’m on a mission to legitimize the nap, to destigmatize the siesta for the average working human. And it’s not a selfish thing, because I can already pretty much take a nap whenever I want. I’m concerned about you. In a chronically sleep-deprived population such as ours, a 45 minute foray into the land of dreams can rejuvenate the mind, make up for sleep debt, and make us healthier and happier. Yet those who nap —or simply want to nap — often feel guilty about it, even if they have an hour or two to spare and are falling asleep at their desks. Perhaps it’ll make you feel better to know that some of the world’s greatest thinkers considered naps to be an integral part of their day — and their success. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Brock Armstrong)

A couple months back, I gave you a list of Primal Laws that didn’t quite make the cut, either because they weren’t “big” enough or didn’t apply to enough people. Turns out I was probably wrong: the response was huge and many of you were on the same wavelength. You even offered up some of your own ideas for honorable mentions. So today, I’m giving you 7 more honorable mentions that almost deserved a spot on the final list of Primal Laws. Read the post, take what resonates with you and discard what doesn’t. But give the article a fair shake and really consider how adopting these laws could improve your life. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Brock Armstrong)

Host Brad Kearns welcomes the red-hot author David Epstein to the show, on the heels of his whirlwind global tour to promote his bestselling book, The Sports Gene: Inside the science of extraordinary athletic performance. This is widely regarded as the seminal book on the topic of genetics in sports, and in it Dave dispels many widely held misconceptions and prejudices that people harbor relating to how genetics affects athletic performance. In this conversation, Epstein discusses the pop culture of the “10,000 Hour Rule” (first presented by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, Ph.D, and popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in the book Outliers.) Epstein dispels the accuracy of science behind the concept and the practical application of the concept. Basically, it’s BS! Genetic factors are relevant, as illustrated by the amazing “Tale of Two High Jumpers” featured in Chapter 2 in the book. Besides great physical attributes, there are genetic elements to the all-important athletic success factor of “desire to train.” People (like phenomenal ultra-athlete Pam Reed) have different dopamine response systems. When it comes to stereotyping, for example, “Jamaicans are fast sprinters,” one must not overlook cultural factors. In Jamaica, youth track and field is king—there is no falling through the cracks or diverting to other sports. Epstein also writes for the progressive journalism nonprofit called ProPublica.org, which preserves the tradition of long-form investigative journalism. He had a huge impact with his recent article on the doping suspicions surrounding top track field coach Alberto Salazar. Enjoy the show and grab the book on amazon.com!

It’s a regular headline: “# of People Sickened by Contaminated Food.” Most recently, it was a case of imported cucumbers with salmonella (one of the most common and serious foodborne pathogens) that resulted in at least 341 people ill and two dead across 30 states. It’s difficult when public service information shifts us toward viewing our food with a nervous eye. The CDC estimates approximately 48 million people get sick from foodborne illness each year. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and about 3000 die. So, what do we do with this information? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Brock Armstrong)