Pro Athlete Performance Doctor on Nicotine, Peptides, Wearables, and Expensive Youth Sports

Rich Roll

Jul 2, 2026

Episode description

Dr. Kelly Starrett is a physical therapist, New York Times bestselling author, and co-founder of The Ready State. We discuss the wellness culture that's become a kind of secularized religion, "session cost," why the brain chooses safety over performance, the power of play, and more. READ MORE👉🏼http://bit.ly/richroll998

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CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:32 Wellness Industry Is Making Us Fragile
00:19:29 Robustness Over Optimization
00:23:37 AD BREAK 1
00:27:36 Starting Again & Athletic Psychology
00:31:15 Play, Joy & Rebuilding Performance
00:44:24 AD BREAK 2
00:46:54 Enhanced Games & Human Performance
00:52:27 Parenting Kids in Performance Culture
01:08:08 Wrap Up

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Thanks To The Team: Jason Camiolo, Dan Drake, Morgan McRae, Blake Curtis, Desmond Loh

* * * * *

NEW TO RICH?
Hi I'm Rich Roll. I'm a vegan ultra-endurance athlete, author, podcaster, public speaker & wellness evangelist. But mainly I'm a dad of four. If you want to know more, visit my website or check out these two the NY Times articles:
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Mindsip insights from this episode:

Start fast to frame workouts for success

An Olympic swimmer starts every practice with fins to feel fast, which psychologically frames the entire workout for success.

#exercise

#success

Transform kids' nutrition with Groons gummy bears

A green powder gummy bear called Groons is considered a cutting-edge wellness product because its high palatability solves the problem of getting kids to consume micronutrients.

#children

#nutrition

Apply 'would your kid' test to evaluate wellness practices

A simple test for any wellness practice or supplement is to ask yourself if you would let your child do it, which quickly exposes potential dangers or absurdities.

#safety

#wellness

Evaluate wellness trends through elite athlete performance filter

To evaluate a wellness trend, ask if it would actually improve the performance of an elite athlete, which filters out most entertainment-based 'hacks'.

#efficiency

#wellness

Incorporate play into workouts for fun and sustainability

Incorporating play into the first 15 minutes of a workout is described as a 'miracle drug' for making fitness fun, communal, and sustainable.

#exercise

#routine

Embrace starting over as a natural part of growth

A key principle from professional sports is the ability to constantly 'start over' after breaks or setbacks, which is a natural part of training, not a failure.

#growth

#resilience

Build robustness in wellness routines for true health

If your wellness routine makes you so fragile that you're a 'liability' when you can't eat a specific food, it's not true health.

#resilience

#wellness

Eliminate alcohol for a month to boost recovery and heart rate variability

For an elite Delta Force squadron, the single biggest improvement in heart rate variability and recovery came from simply not drinking alcohol for a month.