The AFS Health & Care Podcast

Tendon pain has a way of messing with your head because it rarely feels dramatic at first, then one day your knee, Achilles, or elbow starts barking every morning and you’re wondering if you’re “too young” for this. We sit down with Karon, Exercise Physiologist, to get clear on what’s actually happening inside your connective tissue and why tendons can feel fine right up until they don’t. We unpac...

Knee pain can make you feel like your options are shrinking by the month. When Shawn walked into Applied Fitness Solutions, she wasn’t chasing a “summer body” or a quick fix, she was trying to stop the slide: worsening knee pain, weight gain, and an A1C that was getting too close for comfort. What she found surprised her: the right kind of strength training, individualized coaching, and a communit...

Retirement doesn’t just change your schedule. It changes your entire risk profile, your tax situation, and even your health. We sit down with Adam Spears, a former AFS team member turned financial advisor, to connect the dots between physical wellness and financial wellness and to explain why the “third life” years demand a different plan than most people expect. We talk about the hard pivot from...

The supplement aisle is loud for a reason: it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, and marketing often moves faster than science. We sit down with Camille, a registered dietitian, to bring calm and clarity to a topic that confuses almost everyone. Our guiding idea is simple: supplements are the extra push, not the foundation. Sleep, stress, physical activity, and nutrition come first, then we get st...

What if the fastest way to better health isn’t a stricter diet, but a smarter plate? We sit down with Camille, our new registered dietitian, to swap nutrition myths for real-world strategies that keep you energized, focused, and progressing without giving up your life. Camille’s journey from aspiring nurse to RDN started with frustration at band-aid fixes and turned into a mission to address root...

What if your best defense against falling isn’t more strength, but more speed? We sit down with Karon, an exercise physiologist at AFS, to unpack why muscular power drops faster than strength as we age and why that shift matters for balance, independence, and confidence on every step. We start by reframing falls as a preventable risk, not a random event. Karon explains the data—including the stagg...

Want proof that strength, mindset, and community can change your 60s and beyond? Claudia brings it—former collegiate gymnast, 47-year business owner, and the coach who still refuses “old people exercises.” We dive into how she built a thriving gym culture from a $7,000 start and mattresses-as-mats, why language drives performance, and the simple systems that make training stick when life is overwh...

What if the real reason your goals keep stalling isn’t your plan, but your why? We sit down with executive coach and former clinical pharmacist Lori Greenberg to unpack how genuine motivation, honest self-reflection, and simple design choices turn stuck energy into steady progress. Lori spent twenty years helping patients manage medications; now she helps leaders and everyday people manage the sto...

What if one small habit could flip a dark season into a lifelong mission? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Steve Sarns—community health leader, cancer survivor, and influencer of the NuStep cross-trainer—whose story winds from a basement where the heart-lung machine took shape to a clinic where a rare tumor tried to steal his sight and his future. We begin with a candid look at focus...

Charisma isn’t a party trick—it’s your birthright. Eleni, actor-turned-coach and author of Charismatic Presence: Five Principles for Magnetic Presentations, joins us to show how presence becomes practical: breath you can control, rituals you can repeat, and a vision that pulls you forward instead of fear that holds you back. We trace her journey from early stages in Israel and New York to a pivota...

A single diagnosis can upend a family’s world. Tammy Carr takes us inside the moment her son Chad was diagnosed with DIPG, the brutal brainstem tumor that steals too many young lives, and how that grief became a mission that now spans laboratories, hospitals, and living rooms across the country. You’ll hear how the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation grew from a memorial effort into a sustainable eng...

What if a community bank treated wellness like a core service instead of a side benefit? We sit down with Jim Miller of Bank of Ann Arbor to explore how a modest HR initiative became a living, breathing health culture—with points that motivate, spouse inclusion that sticks, and Dog Days that turn stress into smiles. We walk through the evolution from basic group classes to a system that meets peop...

Lisa Mass walked into Applied Fitness Solutions in 2008 at age 45, declaring it was finally "her time" after raising four sons. Seventeen years later, that decision has shaped every aspect of her life in ways she never could have anticipated. When most grandmothers might be slowing down, Lisa is chasing toddler triplets, caring for her extended family of 13 grandchildren, and maintaining...

What happens when you challenge the conventional wisdom that aging means inevitable decline? Meet Jennie, a 67-year-old retired art teacher who completely reversed her osteopenia diagnosis through strategic strength training, achieving the bone density of someone decades younger. When Jennie noticed her muscles "randomly leaving her body" around age 60 and knee pain forced her to give up...

When was the last time a healthcare provider truly listened to you? In this revealing conversation with Dr. Zach Simkins, founder of Foundation Chiropractic, we pull back the curtain on a widely misunderstood field and discover what genuine patient-centered care looks like. Dr. Simkins isn't your typical chiropractor. While the national average for chiropractic appointments is a mere 114 seco...

Cheryl  shares her powerful journey of resilience through multiple life reinventions, from surviving a traumatic brain injury to building a fitness business and finding healing through movement. Her story reveals how exercise became her "mental health drug" during her darkest moments, including depression and homelessness. • Started a fitness business after experiencing a traumatic brain...

Quick fixes don't work. Yet the health and fitness industry continues selling us the fantasy that we can undo years of poor habits in just 21 or 30 days. The truth? Your body didn't become unhealthy overnight, and it won't transform overnight either. In this eye-opening conversation, Lead Exercise Physiologist Michael Edward breaks down why meaningful health transformation requires...

What if aging didn't mean inevitable decline? What if it could actually mean growing stronger? Heidi Weiss joins us to share her remarkable journey from debilitating back pain to newfound strength at age 57, challenging everything we think we know about getting older. Heidi's path has been anything but conventional. After 15 years as a data analyst, a series of life events—including a pa...

In this eye-opening conversation with Exercise Physiologist Adrian Powditch, we dive deep into the missing link that's holding back your fitness potential: movement mastery. Adrian reveals why the traditional approach to strength training—focused primarily on lifting heavier weights—creates a low ceiling for your development. Instead, he shows how mastering fundamental human movement patterns...

Dr. Daniel Bingham brings a fascinating dual perspective to this conversation—as both a clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience and as someone who's navigated his own mental health journey through the pandemic. The result is a refreshingly honest exploration of why so many people are struggling right now and what genuinely helps. "We're in an era of hyper-connectivity...

Have you ever found your path to wellness in the most unexpected place? For Maggie Fink, a nurse-midwife and mother of three young boys, that life-changing moment happened with her head tilted back in a hair salon sink, overhearing a conversation that would reconnect her with her sense of self. The journey back to health after childbirth often remains unspoken, even among healthcare professionals....

What happens when you can no longer keep up with the people you love most? Mary's powerful journey from waiting on the dock while her family enjoyed activities to climbing mountains in Switzerland will inspire anyone who's put their own health on the back burner. After years of putting everyone else first, Mary found herself at 215 pounds, struggling with mobility, and diagnosed with art...

From pharmacy student to passionate dietitian, Alex's journey into nutritional science perfectly illustrates how finding your true calling transforms work into something that doesn't feel like work at all. Having practiced for six years, she brings a unique dual perspective to nutrition counseling - understanding both food's nourishing potential and medications commonly prescribed f...

The decline in physical capacity begins at age 28-30, but proper exercise programming can dramatically slow biological aging and maintain functional ability throughout life. Research shows even people in their 80s, 90s and 100s can achieve significant improvements in strength and power when beginning a structured exercise program. • Chronological aging is inevitable, but biological aging can be si...

After breaking two bones in just six months, Maria received a shocking diagnosis: severe osteoporosis. This wake-up call launched her search for proper strength training and ultimately led her to a fitness community that transformed not just her physical health, but her entire approach to wellness. Maria, a life coach with decades of experience helping others transform their lives, shares how the...