The Code: A Guide to Health and Human Performance

117. The Pulse Cure - Managing HRV to Optimize Your Stress | Dr. Torkil Færø

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) plays a role in nine out of the ten deadliest diseases in the United States. “They make it so much easier to become the CEO of your own health,” says Dr. Torkil Færø MD, of wearables such as WHOOP, Garmin and Apple Watch which measure this vital health metric . HRV is the variation in time between heartbeats, and its measure lets us know how much stress our system is under. Measuring our HRV so closely and consistently, wearables help us learn how best to keep ourselves in a rested state, therefore helping us to stave off so many chronic stress-related diseases. On today’s episode of The Code, Dr. Færø discusses what each wearable is best at measuring, their specific benefit to women, and the top three (surprising!) stressors according to WHOOP.
Quotes
• “In ancient times, all the threats came from the outside… these days, what makes us sick is too much stress, and now we need the sense of our own system…the heart and the heart rate will reveal the state of the system. So, that’s why it’s so important.” (11:08 | Dr. Torkil Færø) 
• “So you just push a button and see the stress level in the moment, from zero to 100 in the moment. And that is quite important because you can feel, ‘How do I feel right now?’ And you can check, OK, so this is how it feels to have the stress of 40, for example. And you get to know your body better when you can get the measurement of the stress in the moment.” (17:20 | Dr. Torkil Færø) 
• “Everyone should just find their own level, and then see how they can get their HRV as good as possible, within reason. So, not to compare it too much to other people, is important.” (13:20 | Dr. Torkil Færø)
• “It’s also kind of a license to rest. A lot of people feel guilty if they don’t do something…it’s another thing that tells you, ‘Relax, you deserve to relax,’ you should relax because there’s been so much strain on you.” (40:22 | Dr. Torkil Færø)
• “Google almost any disease or symptom with heart rate variability and you will find a connection. It’s said that heart rate variability is connected to nine out of the 10 deadliest diseases in the States. One out of those ten is road accidents, but all the other big killers are related to HRV.”  (53:55 |Dr. Torkil Færø) 
 
Links
Connect with Dr. Torkil Færø:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.torkil/
thepulsecure.com
 
SideKick Tool:
https://bit.ly/4a6CqJS
 
Movemate:
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://shorturl.at/egkA1
Promo Code: DRA15
15% off
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
10% off

https://flux.rfrl.co/dyq8r
 
LMNT:

drinklmnt.com/physioroom
 
RAD Roller:
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Athletic Brewing:
20% off: https://athleticbrewing.rfrl.co/vrmx8
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

116. Knowledge is NOT Power

“Knowledge is power”—or is it? It’s a phrase we hear often, but never really question. On today’s episode of The Code, host Dr. Andrew Fix suggests that knowledge is not power, at least not unto itself. Knowledge becomes powerful only when we put it into action. 
 
Dr. Fix cites his own experience using a tracking device to illustrate. He collected so much body data— heart rate variability, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation—all of which was useless because he did nothing with it. He will explain the danger in reading too many self-improvement books and listening to self-improvement podcasts and whether list-making or time blocking is better for time management and goal setting. 
 
Join today’s episode to learn Dr. Fix’s advice about turning your own knowledge into power. That’s where the magic really happens. 
 
Quotes
• “Knowledge really isn’t power. A lot of people who are in powerful positions or a lot of people who do great things have a lot of knowledge, but knowledge by itself is useless. It’s just information. It’s just information until you are able to, or you choose to, do something with it.” (1:41 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Just like that phrase “creativity without action is just imagination.” Or “goals without action are just dreams.” Unless you choose to do something with the information that you have, what good is that information?” (2:08 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Gather as much information as you want and as you can. But at the end of the day, please make sure you do something with that information because it’s going to improve your life, it’s going to improve somebody else’s life and everyone’s going to be better off for it because we’re going to put that knowledge into action and that’s where the magic can really happen.” (6:29 | Dr. Andrew Fix) 
 
Links
https://conversational-leadership.net/knowledge-and-power/

 
https://medium.com/mind-cafe/why-knowledge-isnt-power-9ed9cf6e172a

 
SideKick Tool:
https://bit.ly/4a6CqJS
 
Movemate:
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://shorturl.at/egkA1
Promo Code: DRA15
15% off
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
10% off

https://flux.rfrl.co/dyq8r
 
LMNT:

drinklmnt.com/physioroom
 
RAD Roller:
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Athletic Brewing:
20% off: https://athleticbrewing.rfrl.co/vrmx8
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

115. Breathing Easy - Navigating Environmental Allergies with Allermi | Dr. Shuba Iyengar

It all starts in the nose. Today’s guest, allergist Dr. Shuba Iyengar, explains that by the time we exhibit common allergy symptoms such as headache, itchy eyes and post-nasal drip, we’ve already been silently suffering. On today’s episode of The Code, Dr. Iyengar will explain the myriad reasons why over-the-counter allergy medications fail to work, and how her company Allermi, which concocts bespoke nasal sprays for allergy sufferers, is working to address the root causes of this increasingly common issue. 
 
As in fitness, getting to the root cause is key. Join today’s discussion to hear Dr. Iyengar explain who is most likely to suffer from allergies, where they’re likely to live and what we can do about it. 
 
Quotes
• “To get that whole constellation of stuff better, you have to get that cute little nose better and you have to get that inflammation to go down. So, most treatments that are really effective will work on the nose.” (5:29 | Dr. Shuba Iyengar) 
• “With climate change, we’re having warmer years. We have pollen seasons that have increased over the past—every year, the pollen season gets longer and longer and longer—so you have a longer season of pollination. And then on top of that, the pollen counts are wacky: they go up really high and then all of a sudden it comes down really low. You were just talking about the weather in Denver being 65 and then all of a sudden it’s snowing two days later. That wacky temperature is not something that nature likes.”(10:41 | Dr. Shuba Iyengar) 
• “Because accumulation of all our inflammation is just higher, once that happens, once inflammation is at this baseline—you probably see this all the time—it’s not much to make it worse. It doesn’t take much to make inflammation worse. It takes a lot to create it, but once you get to that point where it’s already inflamed it doesn’t take much more to make it worse.” (12:12 | Dr. Shuba Iyengar)
 
Links
Connect with Dr. Shuba Iyengar: 
Website: www.allermi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getallermi/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shuba-iyengar-79a8694/
 
SideKick Tool:
https://bit.ly/4a6CqJS
 
Movemate:
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://shorturl.at/egkA1
Promo Code: DRA15
15% off
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
10% off

https://flux.rfrl.co/dyq8r
 
LMNT:

drinklmnt.com/physioroom
 
RAD Roller:
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Athletic Brewing:
20% off: https://athleticbrewing.rfrl.co/vrmx8
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

114. The Medical System is Failing You

“Our medical system, here in the United States, is failing you, and failing me and failing us.” says Dr. Andrew Fix. Doctors’ appointments last less than ten minutes and patients leave feeling neglected and unheard. If specialists are able to offer any solutions to patients’ problems, they are often impractical and do not address root causes. Insurance companies do everything they can to deny coverage, leaving patients to seek alternative and preventative solutions. 
 
On today’s episode of The Code, Dr. Fix shares stories of two women in his life who each sought treatment from traditional doctors. Learn the baffling advice his mother received from doctors about a persistent ringing in her ear, and the unlikely route she took to discover the source of the issue. Hear the story of a woman who was told by numerous doctors that they were unable—or unwilling—to help her with digestive issues and what Dr. Fix and his colleagues at the Physio Room did to help.
 
With so many obstacles built into the healthcare system, clients need to be strong self-advocates. Dr. Fix reveals what approach they need to take to get the help they need, and what providers can do to make their interactions with clients more positive and productive. 
 
Quotes
• “If you have a real life threatening concern, condition, injury, this is probably the place you want to be. If you need to get rushed into surgery, if you have cancer, or a heart condition and require open-heart surgery— this is probably the place where you want to be because we have the ability to treat things really, really well when they’re present.”  (3:57 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “When you go see an orthopedic or a physical therapist and say, ‘It hurts when I reach up; it hurts when I do this with my shoulder,’ and their solution to you is, ‘Well, don’t do that thing,’ which we all know is not a solution. That’s just avoiding the issue.” (6:22 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “Unfortunately, our traditional medical system is just not set up to do that, to be able to have the providers have the amount of time necessary to listen and not be interrupted and just literally, truly listen to the clients, and have the amount of time necessary to do so, and really hear what they’re saying and digest it and respond with some helpful recommendations.” (13:17 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “There are so many restrictions placed on providers and on the medical facilities by the third party payers — AKA the health insurance companies — who are just trying to deny, deny deny.” (15:43 | Dr. Andrew Fix) 
Links
SideKick Tool:
https://bit.ly/4a6CqJS
 
Movemate:
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://shorturl.at/egkA1
Promo Code: DRA15
15% off
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
10% off

https://flux.rfrl.co/dyq8r
 
LMNT:

drinklmnt.com/physioroom
 
RAD Roller:
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Athletic Brewing:
20% off: https://athleticbrewing.rfrl.co/vrmx8
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

113. Stay Salty | Robb Wolf (Episode 23 Rebroadcast)

Discover how a simple mineral transformed Robb Wolf's health, performance, and career.  Host Dr. Andrew Fix sits down with Robb, the co-founder of Drink LMNT. A former research biochemist and a leading expert in Paleolithic nutrition, Robb shares his personal health journey, highlighting his long-standing interest in health and human performance. Now, he dedicates his work to assisting people who have found standard medical interventions insufficient, helping them improve their lifestyle and overall health.
 
Robb emphasizes the transformative impact of a paleo diet, underscored by proper hydration and electrolyte balance. He recounts his journey from initial skepticism to becoming an advocate of the essential roles that sodium and electrolytes play, particularly in ketogenic and low-carb diets. This experience inspired him to develop the electrolyte drink mix, LMNT, renowned for its pure ingredients and lack of unnecessary additives.
 
Challenging prevailing myths about sodium and blood pressure, Robb advocates for informed dietary choices over mere reductionist approaches. Listeners are encouraged to reevaluate their understanding of nutrition, electrolytes, and overall health optimization.
 
Quotes
• “My sweet spot is working with folks who have had really complex gut and autoimmune issues  and figuring out how to fix that.” (06:33 | Robb Wolf)
• “The person that is a perfect fit for me, they've kind of run the gauntlet of standard medical intervention, but they're still not where they want to be with health. And that is kind of the center of the bullseye for me, the folks that I seem to really bond with the best.” (06:57 | Robb Wolf)
• “It's fairly obvious at this point that the first signs of electrolyte imbalance are diminished fine motor skills, brain fog, and neurological fatigue.” (36:52 | Robb Wolf) 
• “You have the basic nutrient density, like how much vitamins, minerals, essential nutrients are in the food. But any given food, depending on how it's prepared and what things are in it, may be more or less accessible to our bodies.” (44:53 | Robb Wolf)
• “We must create space for people to push back against the dominant narrative. And sometimes, they're going to be wrong. But once we have decided we have it all figured out, we have died as a culture. That is the end of the development of exploring the truth.” (01:01:42 | Robb Wolf) 
 
Links
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/dyq8r
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

112. Defeat Your Cravings and Gain Control of Your Life | Dr. Glenn Livingston

If overeating were simply an emotional issue, Dr. Glenn Livingston, a veteran psychologist, would have been best prepared to access those emotions to overcome his own overeating. Yet, despite making great strides to address his own issues, he still found himself binging. As a consultant for “Big Food”, he also understood that food manufacturers create and advertise their products in ways that are intended to hijack our reptilian brains. Willpower, he explains, is just the ability to make decisions. And in a society that demands we make an increasing amount of decisions big and small, we inevitably reach fatigue before the day is even through. 
 
To circumvent these challenges, we must learn to recognize our trouble areas and put space between the stimulus and the response. Dr. Glenn unpacks a series of self-regulatory behaviors which can be valuable even to those who don’t suffer from binging but who find themselves making decisions beyond their better judgment.
 
Quotes
• “I was consulting for “Big Food” and also “Big Pharma”, but I feel guiltier about Big Food because they were engineering these hyper-palatable concentrations of starch and sugar and excitotoxins and salt, all engineered to hit the bliss point in the reptilian brain without giving you the nutrition to feel satisfied, which created more and more craving.” (7:50 | Dr. Glenn Livingston)
• “We live in a society where we’re overburdened with inputs and we’re overburdened with decision-making. This tears down your willpower.” (19:20 | Dr. Glenn Livingston)
• “If the emotions are the fire, then it’s easier to build the fireplace so the ashes don’t get out than it is to put out the fire. Most of the people in our culture think that you have to fix the emotional problems before you can stop overeating, and that’s a very long journey.” (23:51 | Dr. Glenn Livingston)
• “Overeating or the desire to break these rules, it really comes from the reptilian brain wanting to push your rational brain out of the way because it perceives an emergency stint.” (31:27 | Dr. Glenn Livingston)
• “If you have strong cravings, stronger than other people, it’s not because you have a diseased or a sick mind, it’s because your mind is healthier than other people.” (50:07 | Dr. Glenn Livingston)
 
Links
Connect with Dr. Glenn Livingston:
Website: https://www.defeatyourcravings.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingstonglenn/
 
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/2g988 
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

111. Change Your Priorities and Lead by Example

“No feeling compares to what it feels like to see your child being born.” 
 
Dr. Andrew Fix joins us on this solo episode of The Code to talk about priorities, as his have just made a tectonic shift: he and his wife just welcomed their first child, a baby boy. Instantly, he and his wife recognized how all-consuming the love—and responsibility—of having a child is, to the exclusion of almost everything. Yet, it’s important to maintain your priorities, particularly the ones that maintain health and fitness. Doing so allows you to maintain the energy it takes to give your kids your all, but also because you need to set the best example for that child. 
 
There’s a lot contending for your focus, time and energy. The physical exhaustion, the demands of children, the lack of motivation and time. In America, in particular, there is already such an emphasis on work, and that alone leaves little room for much else. Still, both good and bad behavior are a matter of forming habits, and Dr. Fix unpacks what that looks like when you’re faced with a whole new reality. 
 
You and/or your partner will be your child’s first hero. Now is the time to lock in place the habits that will begin to set the best leadership example for them. 
 
Quotes
• “I’ve played sports my whole life. I’ve had significant, traumatic emotional things happen in my family, and none of these feelings compare to what it feels like to see your child, your son, being born and going through this transition of becoming a parent, taking care of this tiny little infant.” (01:49 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “You have a child, they become your main focus, they become the most important thing in your life immediately. Their comfort and their happiness is more important than yours.” (03:02 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “We’ll call it a habit. People make habits of exercising, of eating a certain way. Well, we also form habits the other way. We form habits of watching Netflix, of taking naps instead of going to the gym, of answering that last email instead of going for a walk when it’s beautiful outside because we’ve just got to get stuff done.” (07:02 | Dr. Andrew Fix) 
• “Who is the example, who is the person—or multiple people—that that kid is going to look up to? It’s me and her. It’s us.” (08:32 | Dr. Andrew Fix) 
• “As your circumstances in life change, your priorities shift.” (11:01 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
Links
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/2g988 
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

110. Asking for Help is Okay | Dr. June Ashley

Dr. June Ashley, Licensed Psychologist and the Clinical Director of the Ellie Mental Health Clinic in the Denver Tech Center and military veteran joins Dr. Andrew Fix to talk about the bio-psycho-social aspects of chronic pain and trauma-based injury, and approaching wellness from a more well-rounded holistic point of view. By expanding on the connection between emotions, mental health and physical symptoms, Dr. Ashley helps clients to understand not only their choice of treatments and approaches, but how they can gain perspective on the role their pain plays in their lives.
 
Clients can feel left out of their recovery process when they continue to experience “unseen” pain that is disproportionate to their physical injury or even continues beyond their physical healing. Dr. Fix and Dr. Ashley discuss the need to shift away from considering wellness as merely an absence of injury or illness. They discuss the emotional components of chronic pain, how the two inform each other in tandem, and the importance of a mental health practice to prevent emotions from being stored in the body as pain. 
 
Join The Code for a discussion that goes beyond body mechanics to uncover all the components to the pain we feel. Dr. Ashley provides some strategies for tuning into our own body cues and advice for those still hesitant about seeking mental health treatment to make a start.  Quotes
• “More personalized experience is what clients and patients may feel like they’re not experiencing. So, at the same time that they feel like they’re adjusting to changes because they didn’t have a choice in the situation, now they’re feeling like they’re not having enough choices or not getting to talk about choices.” (12:28 | Dr. June Ashley)
• “The more boxes I’ve checked and things I’ve tried on the medical side of things, the more I’ve become accepting and understanding that there is a huge psycho-social piece of this and it’s not just a mechanical, musculo-skeletal problem. There’s more to it than just that.” (20:15 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “I don’t know that many of us are taught very well to not be afraid of specific emotions and to really let that be something that we ride the wave of it, trying to figure out what piece of wisdom it’s trying to give us. So, we keep pushing it away and pushing it away to where even just those routine emotions that we have can become stuck in our nervous system in some way.” (25:08 | Dr. June Ashley)
• “There’s so much promise in self-compassion approaches.” (38:44 | Dr. June Ashley) 
 
Links
Connect with Dr. June Ashley, PhD:
Website: https://elliementalhealth.com/locations/denver-tech-center-co/
 
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/2g988 
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

109. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) | What Is It And How to Change It?

“Maybe you see a child run out into the road after a ball. You want your fight or flight response, your sympathetic nervous system to boost so you can quickly run out there, grab that child and get him out of the way of harm. You don’t want there to be a delay.”
 
In today’s solo episode of “The Code,” Dr. Andrew Fix talks to us about Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and how we can optimize it to perform better in all areas of our lives. HRV, essentially, measures the time intervals between your heartbeats. Why is this important? Because the higher your HRV the more resilient your body–particularly your cardiovascular system—and the more responsive your physiology is to changes in input. 
 
The heart gets a great deal of its input from the sympathetic nervous system—which is responsible for our “fight or flight” response— and the parasympathetic nervous system—responsible for our “rest and digest” response. A high HRV means we more quickly and sharply perform in both of these modes, and more quickly and easily switch between the two. 
 
There are several fitness and lifestyle changes we can make to increase our HRV. Dr. Fix describes what to do and what not to do in terms of training, hydration and nutrition. He reveals the three most important factors in getting quality sleep, how an ideal day should begin and end, and the importance of finding value in our work. 
 
Quotes:
• “Why do we monitor this; why is it even important? Well, HRV can be used as a measure of resilience in your body, particularly your cardiovascular system. Resilience and your physiological flexibility. How responsive your body is to changes in input.” (3:40 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
• “The higher your HRV is, the more responsive your body is to each of these inputs, the quicker your body can make that change and flip the switch from ‘on’ to ‘off’ and vice versa, which is good. You want to be responsive to both.”  (6:36 | Dr. Andrew Fix) 
• “Really as it relates to the HRV, it’s the circadian rhythm. In an ideal world, if you could watch the sunrise and watch the sunset go above and below the horizon every day, that would be amazing. I know that doesn’t work with many of our busy schedules. However, if you could design your day from a light exposure standpoint the way that would be most optimal, that would be very beneficial to do.”  (18:34 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
 
Links
https://www.rupahealth.com/post/what-is-heart-rate-variability
https://www.whoop.com/us/en/thelocker/heart-rate-variability-hrv/
 
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/2g988 
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

108. Acknowledge It and Move On | Don Reichelt

“I’m not a physically talented athlete but I’ve worked my ass off to become a mentally talented athlete.” says Don Reichelt, who despite starting at age 29 with very little running experience in his background, quickly established himself as a champion ultrarunner. One’s mindset, and willingness to outwork your competition, can be more important than physical ability, he explains, and ultrarunning rewards working smarter rather than harder. 
 
Ultimately, though, the only person you are in competition with is yourself. Don discusses how he gauges his metrics, the importance of regular movement and various methods of passive conditioning. Most people overcomplicate nutrition, he and Dr. Fix agree, and explain what is most important to keep in mind (hint: it’s not counting macros). Tracking your progress goes beyond just hard data, of course, and Don discusses the journaling practice he commits to both before and after each run, and the questions he asks himself. 
 
Ultrarunning rewards mental toughness, part of which is learning to draw on internal motivation versus external motivation and to control the controllables. Don and Dr. Fix offer some moving meditation tips to take the focus from external to internal. They also discuss the difference between the kind of pain you can train through and the kind of pain you shouldn’t ignore.
 
Quotes
• “I never set out to be good at this thing, I just wanted to go do cool things that I like doing and do something that I know is going to challenge me versus sticking to that thing that I know I can do really well.”(4:16 | Don Reichelt) SM Quote
• “My whole athletic career has been, ‘I will work harder than the next guy.’ I’m not physically gifted, I’m just willing to be in the gym until midnight and then wake up and do it again tomorrow.” (5:35 | Don Reichelt)
• “I don’t want to look back and say, ‘Damn, I wish I would have pushed just a little harder on one of those reps.’ Because the day will come when I can’t run anymore. It could be today, I could walk out and get hit by a car and never run again. I don’t want to look back and regret not giving my all on one rep. That motivates me every day.” (11:49 | Don Reichelt)
• “When you’re meditating, if stray thoughts come to your brain, you acknowledge them and then you move on. So, these long races where it’s just you and your thoughts, you think, ‘Yeah, you know what? It does suck that the sun is hot right now, and it’s 80 degrees and humid. Cool. What am I going to do about it? Nothing. Great. Now we move on.” (40:59 | Don Reichelt)
• “I tell people: if you want to run faster, run. If you want to run more and stay healthier, lift and run.” (50:17 | Don Reichelt)
Links
Connect with Don Reichelt:
Instagram: instagram.com/runwithdon
 
Movemate
Award-Winning Active Standing Board
https://www.letsmovemate.com/drandrewfix
Exclusive Promo Code: DRA15      
15% off the price!
 
Flux Footwear
Coupon Code: drandrewfix
https://flux.rfrl.co/2g988 
10% off
 
HYDRAGUN

https://bit.ly/43rAtnX
 
Xero Shoes
https://xeroshoes.com/go/drandrewfix
10% off
 
Drink LMNT
drinklmnt.com/physioroom
Free variety pack with purchase
 
RAD Roller
http://radroller.refr.cc/drandrewfix
$5 off
 
Revogreen
https://revogreen.co/drandrewfix
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Website | https://physioroomco.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco
Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/drandrewfix/
Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm