Black Iron Radio

Everyone talks about your athletic prime like it is a cliff you fall off at 30. It is not. Amanda, Nic, and Jess Gordon get into how different athletic qualities age at completely different rates, why sprint and power sports peak young while endurance keeps rewarding you into your 40s and 50s, and why women often hold onto endurance performance exceptionally well. They break down when people actua...

If your pace fell off a cliff the second it got hot out, you're not losing fitness. You're adapting! Amanda, Chelsea, and Dr. Chris break down the summer slowdown, the very real reason your easy runs suddenly feel brutal and your heart rate spikes for no obvious reason. They get into what is actually happening in your body when you train in the heat, why it is diverting resources just to keep you...

We have more health information available to us than ever before, and somehow people are more confused than they have ever been. Amanda, Chris (PhD exercise science), and Jess Gordon get into why nutrition and fitness misinformation spreads so easily, what makes it so believable, and how to build a better filter without getting an advanced degree. They cover why "doing your own research" on PubMed...

Alcohol consumption in the US just hit its lowest point in nearly 90 years, and the conversation around drinking has gotten a lot more nuanced. Ryann, Sabrina, and Nic get into why people are drinking less, what is actually driving the change, and what the growing market of alcohol alternatives looks like for people who still want something in their hand at a social event. They cover the real impa...

Wanting to change your body composition as an athlete is common. Knowing how to do it without tanking your performance is a different story. Krissy, Kelly, and Kelsey get into what body recomposition means for performance, why being your leanest is almost never the same as performing your best, and why the slower and less dramatic the process is, the better. They cover how to periodize your nutrit...

You already know you should be sleeping more. This episode is about actually making it happen. Morgan, Ryann, and Nic get into both the fundamentals you need to have in place and the newer research most people have not heard yet. They cover why poor sleep does more damage to your nutrition progress than a bad diet day, what your circadian rhythm actually is and why wrecking it on weekends is basic...

Feeling uncomfortable when you try to change something is not a sign you are doing it wrong. It is a sign your brain is working exactly as designed. Amanda, Brooke, and Kelly get into the biology and psychology behind why behavior change is so hard, why your brain is literally wired to talk you out of new habits, and why friction is not the same thing as failure. They cover productive discomfort v...

The scale is capable of doing exactly one thing well: telling you your relationship to gravity. It cannot tell you how much muscle you have gained, how much fat you have lost, how your sleep has improved, or why you finally stopped stress eating at 10pm. And yet most people use it as the only measure of whether any of this is working. Ryann, Christin, and Joyce talk about what progress looks like...

Road trips and good nutrition do not have to be mutually exclusive. But they do require a little more thought than just hoping there is a Chipotle at the halfway point. Ryann, Kelsey, and Nic get into the real barriers that make eating well on the road so hard: the f*ck-it mentality when your kitchen is not with you, the boredom snacking through Kansas, the moment your cooler runs out and you are...

Every year around this time, without fail, the summer body messaging is in full-force. The "last chance to lose 10 pounds before beach season" ads, paired with the implication that you have to earn the right to be seen in a swimsuit. It is the same story in different packaging, and it has been going on since your grandmother was worried about her waist size. Amanda, Kelsey, and Sabrina talk about...

Dessert is not the problem. Guilt aorund it is. Morgan, Christin, and Jess S. get into why so many people have a complicated relationship with sweets, where that relationship actually comes from, and what the science says about what happens in your brain when you restrict something you actually want. They talk about the food rules we grew up with, almond moms, the restrict-overeat-reset cycle, and...

If you've ever wondered why you can be a disciplined, structured person in most other areas of your life and still feel completely out of control around food the second you try to lose weight, this episode is going to explain a lot. Amanda, Christin, and Joyce get into the psychology of dieting and what is actually happening in your brain during a calorie deficit. They cover the key hormones drivi...

Signing up is the easy part. Showing up prepared is a different story. Ryann, Christin, and Jess G. break down everything they wish someone had told them before their first atheltic competition. How to pick the right competition, meet, or race for where you actually are right now, how to build your prep without wrecking yourself in the process, what to do with the spiral that hits the week before,...

Most people don't notice their identity has gotten too wrapped up in fitness until it is already somewhat of a problem. Krissy , Kelsey , and Kelly get into the signs it's gone too far, what it costs you when it does, and how to loosen the grip without losing the thing you love. They talk about rest day guilt, injury ang againg grief, relationships that took a back seat, body dysmorphia, anchoring...

Back pain has a way of making you terrified of the exact movements that would actually fix it. And at some point, a lot of people develop a complicated relationship with their back because of this. Morgan sits down with Whitney, doctor of physical therapy, and Jess G. to talk about why back pain is so pervasive, what is actually causing it in most cases, and why avoiding the movements you are scar...

Stress eating isn't a discipline thing. It is your nervous system looking for the fastest route to relief, and food is really good at providing that, at least temporarily. Ryann, Sabrina, and Chloe get into why we reach for food when we are stressed, what is happening in the body when we do, and how to start building a pause between the trigger and the pantry. They talk about stress movement as an...

Weight gain is not a moral failure. But we live in a culture that treats it like one. Ryann, Brooke, and Jess get into the identity shift that comes with a body that looks or feels different, why comparing yourself to a previous version of yourself is one of the least useful things you can do, and what it looks like to rebuild confidence when the scale is not moving in the direction diet culture t...

Hybrid training is trending right now, and so is the confusion about what it actually means. Spoiler: doing 20min of cardio at the end of your lift does not make you a hybrid athlete. Morgan, Sabrina, and Kelly break down what hybrid training actually is, why your body is being asked to adapt to two competing signals at the same time, and why that matters more than most people realize. They get in...

Starting over is exhausting, and at some point, it starts feeling like nothing works. Krissy, Sabrina, and Kelsey break it down in three parts: why you keep ending up back at square one, why that cycle is doing more damage than you realize, and how to knock it off. They get into all or nothing thinking, the f*ck-its, motivation that fades the second life gets busy, and why every time you break a p...

If your entire protein strategy is chicken breast and protein shake, we need to talk. Manders, Sam, and Ryann get into why protein variety matters. And no, it is not just about hitting a number. They talk about the protein ick (it is real, it will find you), how to stack protein sources so you are not white-knuckling your way to your daily goal, and the underrated sources most people are sleeping...

Most people know they should eat breakfast. Actually doing it (consistently, with enough of the right stuff) is a different story. Ryann, Kelsey, and Chelsea dig into why breakfast matters, what a balanced morning meal looks like, and how to make it work for your life (even if you're out the door at 4 AM). They tackle the most common reasons people skip breakfast (macro hoarding, morning nausea, t...

Diet trends are not going anywhere, and neither is our need to talk about them. Morgan, Krissy, and Jess break down the psychology behind why people keep falling for it, then get into the actual science behind keto, carnivore, paleo, intermittent fasting, and GLP-1 medications. Plus a cheat code for evaluating any diet, including the next trendy one that hasn't been invented yet. The truth is most...

Mobility work and stretching are not particularly exciting, which is probably why so many people wait so long to care about them. Christin, Jess S, and Chloe chat about mobility, stretching, and why so many of us know we should do more of it… but don't. They break down what mobility is, why it matters, and how tight hips, stiff shoulders, old injuries, stress, desk jobs, pregnancy, and aging can a...

Electrolytes don't start and end with tossing some sodium into your water and hoping for the best. Brooke, Sabrina, and Lauren talk about the sodium-potassium balance that helps hydration do its job. They break down why sodium gets all the attention, why potassium is usually the missing piece, and how this balance affects energy, recovery, cramping, performance, and how you feel day to day. They a...

For anyone triathlon-curious but convinced it's too complicated, too expensive, or only for people with fancy bikes and a suspicious amount of free time… this one's for you. Amanda, Nic, and Morgan to talk through what it actually looks like to train for your first triathlon, especially if you're starting with a sprint or Olympic distance. They get into what makes triathlon feel intimidating, why...