The B.rad Podcast

In this episode, I talk about why only about 21% of Americans are regularly active despite today’s booming fitness culture—and I share 4 simple ideas to help make fitness more accessible, affordable, and doable for more people. Inspired by Derek Thompson’s “The Great American Fitness Boom” and data from the American Time Use Survey and Sports & Fitness Industry Association, I break down how fitness participation is highly stratified, why exercise is arguably the #1 longevity intervention (impacting inflammation, visceral fat, and neurodegenerative disease), and how modern habits and complexity have kept so many people on the sidelines. Then I get into four practical, low-cost approaches—walking more, micro-workouts, brief high-intensity efforts, and simplifying your overall fitness habits—that can help cut through the hype, make it easier to stay consistent, and keep fitness simple and doable.   TIMESTAMPS: Only 21% of Americans are involved in this fitness boom. The suggestions Brad makes here for getting more fit are not time consuming, not expensive, and should be within reach of everyone. [00:43] Seniors are 50% more likely to be inactive than 18 to 24 years olds.  [02:25] Exercise may be the single most broadly beneficial health intervention in the world. No other medication or behavioral remedy is so effective at simultaneously combating system-wide inflammation. [05:31] Inflammation can be caused by poor sleep habits, too much stress, poor stress management, and chronic overproduction of stress hormones. [08:35] What is the difference between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat? Visceral fat is very health destructive. [11:13] The disturbing rate of cognitive decline are now being strongly associated with one's activity pattern. [15:31] Motor learning builds brain plasticity during exercise. Going barefoot in daily life to give our brain more neural feedback so we can move with great precision and great awareness. [20:03] The number one tip is to walk more. It is free and accessible. Even taking a few minute break from your work desk is helpful. [22:12] Micro workouts are brief bursts of explosive efforts sprinkled throughout the day. [30:01] Conduct brief high intensity training sessions. [36:33] Make fitness simple, doable, and enjoyable. Make your equipment where you see it all the time to remind yourself to do a mini break. [42:03] Be sure to educate yourself on what you are putting into your body in the way of supplements or nutrition smoothies.  There are many products available, but some are not that healthy. [51:32]   LINKS: Brad Kearns.com BradNutrition.com - 20% OFF Your First Order! B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery NEW: B.rad Real Rad Gummies - Creatine + Nootropics for Focus, Motivation, Performance, and Recovery! B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet! Brad’s Shopping Page BornToWalkBook.com B.rad Podcast – All Episodes Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes Atomic Habits Burn The Stimulated Mind Brad's Micro Workouts Video Why The Fitness Boom Involves Only A Small Percentage Of (Affluent) Americans   We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to [email protected]. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you! Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, I won’t promote anything that I don't absolutely love and use in daily life: B.rad Nutrition: Premium quality, all-natural supplements for peak performance, recovery, and longevity; including the world's highest quality whey protein! Get 20% OFF your first order! Peluva: Comfortable, functional, stylish five-toe minimalist shoe to reawaken optimal foot function. Use code BRADPODCAST for 15% off! Jaspr Air Scrubber: Ultra high-performance air purifier - blows other air filters away! Save $400 on your unit with code BRAD. Get Stride: Advanced DNA, methylation profile, microbiome & blood at-home testing. Hit your stride the right way, with cutting-edge technology and customized programming. Save 10% with the code BRAD. Online educational courses: Numerous great offerings for an immersive home-study educational experience Primal Fitness Expert Certification: The most comprehensive online course on all aspects of traditional fitness programming and a total immersion fitness lifestyle. Save 25% on tuition with code BRAD! #bradpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode describes why your time in the 400-meter run could be the single best indicator of your longevity potential and your overall fitness competency. The 400 is known in track & field as the “race of truth” because it sequentially exhausts the various high-intensity systems of the body—testing all of your attributes: speed, strength, power, metabolic fitness, and your ability to hold it together when your body is under maximum stress. No hiding, no faking it. While your aerobic competency is also a great longevity indicator—things like your mile run time (per Cooper Institute and UT Southwestern Medical School research) and your daily step count are great ways to track longevity potential, the 400 reveals your competency with the anaerobic energy systems and muscle fibers that are often ignored—even by devoted fitness enthusiasts. In this show, I break down the fascinating physiology behind this brutal event—how it uniquely blends anaerobic power with aerobic support—and why it reveals far more about real-world fitness than jogging miles or grinding through long workouts. Here’s the problem: modern fitness culture is heavily biased toward endurance—steady-state cardio, group classes, even so-called broad based or hybrid fitness formats like CrossFit and Hyrox that, in the big picture, are still dominated by the aerobic energy systems. Meanwhile, the qualities that decline fastest with age—and matter most for longevity—are strength, power, explosiveness, and the ability to produce force quickly. Those are the attributes that protect you from the number one cause of injury and death after age 65: falling. And they’re exactly what the 400-meter run demands. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand why the 400 might be the ultimate longevity benchmark, why most fitness programming has it backwards, and how to start tracking your own performance—whether it’s a full lap or a scaled effort—to keep score as you age. Time to hit the track, fire up the stopwatch, and find out where you really stand!   TIMESTAMPS: The 400 meters is called the race of truth because it exposes everything about your fitness. [01:13] When we overemphasize endurance with our fitness pursuits, it comes at the expense of the qualities that are probably the most critical for aging gracefully. [01:42] Much of the fitness information out there is not based on real science or exercise physiology. [03:32] People who are fast, explosive and powerful, and have good competency in the 400 meters have, by necessity, tremendous aerobic endurance. [05:49] Walking forms the foundation of tremendous aerobic endurance for all other fitness attributes that you pursue. [07:22] What Masters Track and Field has observed across many events is a round a 6 percent decline per decade in the peak performance standard. [09:54] You can factor in a 6% decline per decade to compare yourself to the other challengers in your event. The records, the milestones need to be adjusted for age. [11:00] What is the single best exercise to promote longevity? The answer is....the thing that you enjoy doing the most. [15:19] Doing what you love to do is the number one best longevity exercise, but we need to integrate challenges that include functional muscle strength, cardiovascular enduraance, and mobility flexibility.   [18:47] You have to load the skeleton with resistance exercise on a regular basis to prevent sarcopenia and dynapenia. [24:12] The 400 meter competency might be more valuable and more illustrative of your fitness and longevity potential, than simply your ability to throw around heavy weight. [27:33] Your body is not capable of delivering pure maximum effort for longer than seven seconds. [31:46] The 400 meters is only one lap around the track and in most cases, for fit people, it is about 66% contribution of the anaerobic system and 33% of the aerobic system. [35:56] If you are training for a race that lasts for one hour, you are depending on fat as your fuel source.  Depending on your sport, your body composition needs differ. [37:07] One's time in the mile run at age 50 is strongly predictive of the potential to live to age 80 in good health. [39:56] It is extremely important that you learn to rest during your workouts. Even if you are at the low fitness level, hit it hard for 10 seconds and rest for one minute. [44:06] Why is anaerobic exercise so important for everyone? [51:27] The true sprint from exercise physiology is only up to seven seconds. [55:44] Preserving your anaerobic function, muscle power, and explosiveness is what's going to keep you safe from what the Centers for Disease Control calls the number one cause of demise and death in seniors over age 65, and that is falling and adverse related health consequences. [58:28] A 400 meter runner has a balanced metabolic engine of high glycolytic capacity, strong acid buffering ca