ep. 12 | What I Learned in 100 Hours of Meditation

I share my thoughts on the practice of meditation, including my recent 10-day silent retreat experience, general benefits of meditation, and how its influenced my feelings about social media, athletic performance, and more.

Topics covered:

-my background in meditation and how I decided to embark on a 10-day silent retreat

-a primer on the technique of Vipassana meditation, a brief structure of the course, and key takeaways from the experience

-my thoughts on the general benefits of meditation and some of the research being done

-potential implications for athletic performance

-meditation’s connection to social media and distraction and why I deleted Instagram

Subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Thanks for listening!

-jackson

References/Show Notes:

Meditation research:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1559827614537789

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12883106

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12623

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23527522

Further learning about meditation:

The Science of Meditation | Making Sense Podcast

Vipassana Meditation

Waking Up meditation app

ep. 11 | The Science of Recovery Nutrition

It should come as no surprise that recovery is absolutely, without question, a critical factor in exercise performance. Recovering from and adapting to the training and stress we subject ourselves to through exercise is how we get stronger. Nutrition is part of this puzzle. In this episode of In The Flow, I discuss the science behind why food is so important in the recovery process, from the acute/short term to the chronic/long term considerations. I hit on things like:

• The three main factors to focus on in the acute phase of recovery

• The role of carbohydrate vs. protein in acute vs. chronic recovery

• How the immune system is affected by nutrition and how that impacts recovery

• My favorite post-workout recovery meal

• And more!

For further reading on the subject and the sources referenced in this episode, check out these links:

-http://www.mysportscience.com/single-post/2016/11/05/Bitter-sweet-application-of-Montmorency-cherries-in-recovery

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24921623

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27455316

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19883392

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16572599

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20967458

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16572599

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22575076

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23927572

-http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5771/

Post-workout recovery smoothie: https://blog.skratchlabs.com/blog/2018/8/21/plant-based-recovery-smoothie

ep. 10 | Training for the Uphill Athlete with Scott Johnston

A core theme of In The Flow is creating a space for conversation on outdoor athletic performance and fulfillment. Understanding how we can move our bodies more meaningfully in epic and beautiful places and how that can bring meaning and health to our lives. I've had the immense privilege of being exposed to the mountain athletic lifestyle from a very young age in things like cycling, cross country skiing, and trail running, and being in the mountains just means so much to me. My background in competing in these sports combined with studying physiology in college has provided a deep fascination in the science behind training for and performing in the mountains, and how to do it effectively and healthfully.

Today on In The Flow I speak with endurance coach, alpinist, author, and co-founder of http://uphillathlete.com , Scott Johnston about his new book, Training for the Uphill Athlete. Scott wrote this in collaboration with renowned alpinist, Steve House and legendary mountain athlete, Kilian Jornet. The focus is developing a training manual for mountain athletes, specifically mountain runners and ski mountaineers.

Scott and I discuss the path he took individually to arrive at this stage in his life, and then dive into the tangible knowledge from endurance metabolism, fat adaptation, training philosophy as it relates to mountain athletes, overtraining syndrome, and the utility of strength training for endurance athletes. It’s a wide ranging conversation that is applicable to a variety of athletes.

For more learning on the topics of nutrition for athletes, lifestyle medicine, meditation, flow, and living meaningfully, sign up for my newsletter at http://bit.ly/intheflowletter. You can also follow my own athletic adventures on Strava.

Thanks for listening!

-Jackson

ep. 9 | Lifestyle Medicine for Athletes feat. Aaron Stuber

On In The Flow this week, I sit down with my dear friend and previous Thought For Food podcast co-host, Aaron Stuber to talk about the principles of Lifestyle Medicine and how it can be applied to active people and athletes. Aaron is a Lifestyle Medicine board-certified registered nurse, health coach, plant-based mountain athlete, and dad. 

We discuss the 6 pillars of Lifestyle Medicine, meditation, social media, exercise addiction, and more. Learn more about what Aaron is up to at http://aaronstuber.com

Subscribe to In The Flow:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Subscribe to my weekly newsletter:

http://bit.ly/intheflowletter

ep. 8 | Are Carbohydrates Evil?

Carbohydrates, perhaps more than any other nutrient found in food, has drawn years of controversy, confusion, and even fear. They are too often taken out of context, misrepresented, and misunderstood. A mango is the same thing as mango candy. Carbs cause diabetes. Low-carb is the way.

Today on In The Flow, I break down the fundamentals of carbohydrates and look at this class of macronutrient through an evidence-based lens, and connect to some reason and sense to help you better understand the truth. In this conversation, we'll discuss:

• the basic definition and function of carbohydrates from a biochemical and physiological perspective.

• how we arrived at this fear surrounding carbs and the problem with demonization of one single nutrient and "nutritionism".

• the importance of carbohydrate for athletes and active humans.

• plant-based nutrition and carbohydrates.

Again, this topic is quite nuanced, and difficult to cover everything in perfect detail in an hour long podcast, so the topic of carbohydrates will come up again in future episodes. Please let me know if you feel that I didn’t cover something, and feel free to connect with me regarding any questions you still have. I appreciate you listening!

-Jackson

Subscribe to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/intheflowpod

Spotify: http://bit.ly/intheflowspotify

Further reading & references:

Jeukendrup A. Gleeson M.Sport Nutrition. 2018.

Muraki, I., Imamura, F., Manson, J. E., Hu, F. B., Willett, W. C., van Dam, R. M., & Sun, Q. (2013). Fruit consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from three prospective longitudinal cohort studies. Bmj, 347, f5001.

Burke, L. M., & Hawley, J. A. (2018). Swifter, higher, stronger: What’s on the menu?. Science, 362(6416), 781-787.

D. T. Thomas, K. A. Erdman, L. M. Burke,American College of Sports Medicine Joint Position Statement. Nutrition and athletic performance.Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.48,543–568(2016).

L. M. Burke, J. A. Hawley ,Effects of short-term fat adaptation on metabolism and performance of prolonged exercise.Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.34,1492–1498(2002).

L. M. Burke, J. A. Hawley, D. J. Angus, G. R. Cox, S. A. Clark, N. K. Cummings, B. Desbrow, M. Hargreaves, Adaptations to short-term high-fat diet persist during exercise despite high carbohydrate availability.Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.34,83–91(2002).

L. M. Burke, Re-examining high-fat diets for sports performance: Did we call the ‘nail in the coffin’ too soon?Sports Med.45(suppl. 1),33–49(2015).

L. M. Burke, M. L. Ross, L. A. Garvican-Lewis, M. Welvaert, I. A. Heikura, S. G. Forbes, J. G. Mirtschin, L. E.Cato, N. Strobel, A. P. Sharma, J. A. Hawley ,Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers.J. Physiol. (London)595,2785–2807(2017).

Holscher HD. Dietary fiber and prebiotics and the gastrointestinal microbiota. Gut Microbes. ;8(2):172–184. doi:10.1080/19490976.2017.1290756

Lim, S. S., Vos, T., Flaxman, A. D., Danaei, G., Shibuya, K., Adair-Rohani, H., ... & Aryee, M. (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The lancet, 380(9859), 2224-2260.