The Ready State Podcast

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Could your social life be as important to your longevity as exercise, nutrition, & sleep?

Kelly & Juliet sit down with Psychologist & Professor, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a leading researcher on social connection & health, to explore why loneliness & isolation deserve a place in the longevity conversation.

Drawing on research involving millions of people, she explains why social isolation carries significant health risks, how modern conveniences & technology are changing our relationships, & what the latest data reveals about America's declining social connections.

They also discuss practical ways to build stronger relationships, create community, & make social connection a priority in everyday life.
What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy social isolation can be more harmful to longevity than loneliness
What the latest research reveals about America's social connection crisis
How remote work, technology, and modern conveniences contribute to isolation
How relationships influence physical health and chronic disease risk
Simple ways to strengthen friendships and build meaningful community

Key Highlights: (00:42) Introducing Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Why Social Connection Matters for Longevity
(02:53) Social Connection as a Vital Sign
(07:31) Loneliness vs. Social Isolation
(16:44) The Health Risks of Having Fewer Close Relationships
(24:23) How Modern Life Is Making Us More Isolated
(31:54) Social Media, AI, and Human Connection
(39:23) Why Younger Generations Are Struggling
(44:39) Alcohol, Socializing, and the Decline of Community
(51:45) How to Build and Maintain Stronger Friendships
(54:54) The Importance of Third Spaces and Community Design
(1:00:54) Small Changes That Foster Connection
(1:11:03) Building a More Connected Future

Huge thanks to our sponsors, Momentous, LMNT, and BEDGEAR.

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Juliet and I just wrapped our annual Halloween street party (Dune-themed, obviously), and we are heading to Eudemonia in West Palm Beach as this episode drops. In this episode, we get into all sorts of happenings, like Rich Roll running the New York Marathon at 60, post spinal fusion, and the upcoming launch of The Ready State Pro Network in December: a community for coaches and practitioners to crowdsource solutions, connect with experts, and stay plugged in to what’s happening in the field.

We are all in on a new challenge. Americans are spending half as much time at social gatherings as they were 20 years ago. A Stanford professor issued a challenge worth taking seriously: host two parties for 10 or more people over the next year.

We also got into the Team USA Act, which would cap international athletes at 20% of any college varsity roster. Good arguments on both sides, and we wanted to think through them out loud.

Last stop, a pill targeting sarcopenia and cartilage regeneration is on the horizon. Stanford researcher Helen Blau found an enzyme that accumulates in tissues with age. Blocking it restored muscle strength and regrew knee cartilage in mice. A San Diego company, Epirium Bio, is moving into human trials. They’re calling it the GLP-1 for muscles.
What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy the Golden State Valkyries may be the best live sports experience going right now
What went into building a Dune-themed Halloween street party for ~2,000 people
What’s happening at Eudemonia and why Rich Roll’s marathon at 60 after spinal fusion is worth celebrating
What the Ready State Pro Network is and who it’s built for
The data behind America’s social gathering collapse and a simple challenge to reverse it
The case for and against capping international athletes at 20% of college varsity rosters
How a Stanford-discovered enzyme could lead to a once-daily pill for sarcopenia and knee cartilage repair

Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro / Golden State Valkyries and live sports
(03:00) Dune-themed Halloween street party recap
(06:30) Eudemonia preview and Rich Roll's marathon at 60
(09:00) The Ready State Pro Network: launching December
(12:30) Why Americans stopped gathering and a Stanford challenge
(18:00) The Team USA Act: capping international college athletes
(23:30) The muscle pill: sarcopenia, cartilage, and what's coming

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How much of your life have you spent thinking about food, only to wonder whether you're actually getting nutrition right?

EC Synkowski is back for her third appearance on The Ready State Podcast, and this time she's celebrating the release of her new book, A Good Nutrition Book. Kelly and Juliet have followed EC's 800-Gram Challenge approach for nearly eight years, and they credit it with fundamentally changing their relationship with food.

Together, they revisit the science behind eating 800 grams of fruits and vegetables daily, unpack the current obsession with fiber and protein, and tackle some surprisingly persistent nutrition myths. Does fruit really have too much sugar? Is organic produce worth the premium? Could chasing higher protein targets actually work against your body-composition goals?

They also explore nutrition considerations for GLP-1 users, raising healthy eaters, and why the endless pursuit of dietary perfection can eventually become its own problem.

EC's larger mission is refreshingly practical: give people enough knowledge to make good decisions about food, enjoy what they're eating, and get on with living their lives.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy 800 grams? The research behind EC's daily fruit-and-vegetable target, how it supports fiber intake and satiety, & why potatoes, beans, & frozen produce all count.
Which nutrition rules deserve a second look: The truth about fruit sugar, organic versus conventional produce, food-ordering advice, & why nutritional quality matters more than many popular food rules suggest.
How much protein is enough: Why EC recommends approximately 0.7 grams per pound of body weight, how excessive protein targets can increase calorie intake, & where total calories fit into her Three Pillars Method.
How to apply good nutrition across different stages of life: Fueling adequately while using GLP-1 medications, helping picky kids develop healthy eating habits, & supporting performance & body composition.
When to stop optimizing: Why EC believes diminishing returns matter in nutrition, & how building sustainable habits can free up time & attention for the rest of life.

Key Highlights: (00:00) Introduction to EC Synkowski and A Good Nutrition Book
(02:33) Why Kelly and Juliet have followed the 800-Gram Challenge for eight years
(04:54) How the 800-Gram Challenge works
(06:14) Fibermaxxing, gut health, & satiety
(09:15) Why 800 grams can feel like so much food
(12:23) The research behind the 800-gram target
(15:52) Nutrition myths: food order, fruit sugar, and insulin
(19:53) Organic versus conventional produce and the case for frozen vegetables
(23:42) Making nutritious eating affordable and accessible
(26:57) Measuring 800 grams without obsessing over a food scale
(28:57) EC's Three Pillars: produce, protein, and calories
(31:29) Why more protein can mean unnecessary calories
(33:58) The inspiration behind A Good Nutrition Book
(36:05) Nutrition and GLP-1 medications
(39:31) Knowing when enough optimization is enough
(43:38) Helping picky kids develop healthy eating habits
(46:04) How parents' relationships with food influence their children
(50:09) EC's mission to make nutrition manageable
(51:57) Infinite Shelf: Food Intelligence by Kevin Hall

Huge thanks to our sponsors, LMNT, BEDGEAR, and Momentous.

#800GramChallenge #NutritionMyths #FiberMaxxing #ProteinIntake #CalorieBalance

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Juliet and I are back from a long stretch of travel with a lot to get into. I was inducted into the Best Hour of Their Day Hall of Fame at Affiliate Con in Dallas, but the bigger honor is being in a class that includes our late friend Rob Orlando, who brought strongman training into the modern gym.

Juliet wants everyone to run, not walk, to the theater for the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything. She's not wrong.

This week's actual science: we met Rob Leon at The Assembly, whose father is a neurobiologist at UC Irvine, and they're building a product around the connection between smell and brain health. The research on smell loss as a dementia predictor is genuinely surprising.

We also break down the first real study out of California's later school start time law. The results are clear, and the math on what it means for how much sleep kids get is worth knowing.

Plus Weird Longevity Shit, BFR recovery shorts, and some book sequels I've been waiting for.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy smell loss may be one of the most undervalued brain health indicators
What a new study found when they measured California's later school start time law
The math on how much extra sleep teenagers gained (and why it adds up fast)
The strongman training legacy of Rob Orlando
Bryan Johnson's "GLP Brian" and what our crew thinks of it
How BFR recovery shorts work as a travel-friendly recovery tool

Key Highlights:(00:00) Intro + Kelly's Hall of Fame induction
(00:58) RIP Rob Orlando + strongman legacy
(01:55) Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything
(04:23) Caroline at Cal Water Polo + Eszter Varró story
(06:30) Book recommendations: Elder Race sequel + Thricebound Fool
(07:23) Weird Longevity Shit: Bryan Johnson's GLP Brian
(09:09) BFR recovery shorts (HYTRO)
(09:51) The Assembly + Aescape robot massage
(12:28) Memory Air: smell, brain health, and dementia research
(18:43) California later school start times study
(25:30) Upcoming: Eudemonia, Antarctica, Boner Protocol

#BrainHealth #DementiaRisk #TeenSleep #Longevity #RECESS #TheReadyState #SmellLoss

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Women have always trained hard. The science surrounding how they fuel, recover, build bone, and respond to training has had a lot of catching up to do.

In this episode of The Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet sit down with Dr. Kate Ackerman, a triple-boarded physician, former elite lightweight rower, and co-founder and president of the Women’s Health, Sports & Performance Institute (WHSP), to explore what changes when female physiology becomes part of the research question from the beginning.

Kate traces her work back to her own experience making weight as an athlete, then unpacks the evolution from the Female Athlete Triad to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), including how underfueling can affect hormones, bone, cardiovascular health, injury risk, and performance. She explains why bone health begins much earlier than most people realize, how iron status should be evaluated in athletes, and why RED-S deserves attention in postmenopausal women, too.

They also dig into menopause research, strength training, GLP-1s, and WHSP’s mission to answer the questions women themselves say matter to their health and performance.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow low energy availability and RED-S can affect bone, hormones, cardiovascular health, injury risk, and athletic performance and why RED-S can occur in both men and women.
Why adolescence represents such an important window for building bone density, with roughly 90% of peak bone mass accrued by age 18.
What athletes, parents, and coaches should understand about iron and ferritin, including why one lab value rarely tells the whole story.
Why RED-S can matter after menopause, even when menstrual-cycle changes can no longer serve as a warning sign.
How WHSP is approaching unanswered questions around female athletes across the lifespan, from adolescent health and pregnancy to menopause, strength training, hormone therapy, and performance.
Key Highlights: (00:00) Intro: Dr. Kate Ackerman & the Future of Female Athlete Health
(04:35) Kate’s journey from collegiate rowing to lightweight competition
(06:04) Making weight, underfueling & Crystal Light cereal
(09:30) Extreme weight-cutting tactics in lightweight rowing
(12:05) When losing your menstrual cycle was a “badge of honor”
(12:44) The Female Athlete Triad & Kate’s experience with menstrual loss
(15:43) Kate’s unconventional path into sports medicine
(16:33) Becoming triple-boarded in internal medicine, sports medicine & endocrinology
(20:50) Understanding the Female Athlete Triad & RED-S
(21:10) Why Kate calls osteoporosis a “childhood disease”
(23:01) How low energy availability affects health & performance
(24:49) RED-S warning signs for parents, coaches & athletes
(29:16) Why WHSP was created & the research gap in female athletes
(30:26) Building a one-stop medical model around the female athlete
(33:33) Moving from reactive healthcare toward prevention & performance
(39:06) Iron deficiency, ferritin & what athletes should know about their labs
(41:26) Why ferritin alone doesn’t tell the whole story
(43:53) WHSP’s research across the female lifespan
(44:51) Menopause, hormone therapy & the questions we still need to answer
(47:16) Strength training, bone health & better markers for RED-S recovery
(48:47) What the Boston Marathon study revealed about underfueling & performance
(53:06) What female athletes say they actually want researchers to study
(55:10) RED-S in postmenopausal women
(56:43) What RED-S can look like without a menstrual cycle as a marker
(58:26) GLP-1s, underfueling & muscle loss
(1:01:02) Strength training research for postmenopausal women
(1:02:16) Kate’s vision for the future of female athlete health
(1:05:34) Infinite Shelf: Ted Lasso & The Nightingale

Huge thanks to our sponsors, BEDGEAR, Momentous, and LMNT.