by Ben House | Aug 23, 2025 | Nutrition, Recovery
This is the start of the Talk Nerdy To Me series. These talks will be about 20 minutes in duration. The goal is to simplify complex and/or tabooed subjects. We will release one a month by myself or one of our many esteemed colleagues throughout the country. Without further adieu… And below are the individual images and a video with the animations of the slides for this presentation. http://trainadaptevolve.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Male-Hormone-Synthesis.mp4... read more
by Aaron Davis | Aug 20, 2025 | Programming, Psychology, Recovery, Training Theory
When we first started Train Adapt Evolve we did everything for free. It was a stellar business model. We started by giving out Omegawave mobile monitors to friends or athletes curious about the technology for free. I will admit, this was also for selfish reasons. I wanted to collect data, watch, and learn. This has now evolved into us putting athletes on our mobile platform and consulting with coaches and/or athletes. Recently we had an opportunity to consult with a UFC fighter and his coach preparing for an upcoming fight. The daily Omegawave results were not uncommon from what we have seen in the past which include former UFC champions. Chaos. As both Ben and I learn more from coaches or nutritionists in the MMA scene, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It is chaos. The 1% of the 1% I often hear S&C coaches talking about making their fighters tougher. This blows my mind! If you are a MMA Fighter - you are tough. If you fight for the UFC you are the 1% of the 1% of the toughest dudes on the planet. Congrats. I hope that is nothing knew to you. So why in the hell do you think battle ropes and MB slams are going to make you tougher? Maybe I should ask the S&C coach that question. Why is making the athlete tougher the objective? If this was the case, we could go down to the local box gym, pick out a few guys who are burpee’n their faces off at the moment and throw them in the cage. That toughness won’t last long. An... read more
by Ben House | Aug 16, 2025 | Nutrition, Psychology, Recovery
Back to writing. As I was walking out of the first day of the Optimizing Athleticism Seminar, Dr. Culleton asked me, “That was phenomenal, what do you think the audience took from that?” I had been contemplating the same thought as the day progressed. The audience was primarily strength coaches and physical therapists and Dr. Rakowski who headlined the first day was not playing coy with big words and systems biology. I responded to Dr. Culleton,”Probably not that much right now, but they now know what they don’t know, and this group of people will run with that somewhere special.” This conversation has floated in and out of my mind over the past week and it becomes a question of scope of practice and ultimately responsibility to the client to do the right thing. Davis and I have posted on this topic many times. We both believe that a Strength Coach’s knowledge base must be vast, but not necessarily overly specific until they find their passion/niche. They have to be able move seamlessly and talk intelligently with many other professions. I will give two examples of how I feel the strength coach or personal trainer is either the gateway to health or the hammer of dysfunction. Many of us have seen and/or signed the waiver forms that say: You must see a health care professional before starting this or that exercise program. And how many clients actually do that? Thought so. But this is because the average Joe primary care physician isn’t going to tell anyone anything unless they have some set of obvious symptoms that fit into the... read more
by Ben House | Jul 24, 2025 | Nutrition
Supplements, groceries, gym memberships, programming, blue blocking sun glasses, comprehensive lab work, unfortunately it all costs money. This post is about breaking down the cost of attempting to be awesome. Health in our current climate takes effort and is expensive, but the alternative is likely much more expensive. I mean how much does a heart attack cost? ummm 10 grand at a minimum, throw in some kind of higher end surgery and it’s pushing 50k. Lifetime cost of a stroke $100,000 dollars and perhaps not being able to move one side of your face. Cancer somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 120k, depending on the type and where you live. Diabetes a cool $13,700 per year. Now you might say well I don’t have to pay all of those medical costs, to which I would answer, someone does. Like it or not the US of A is one big Team. If all the tubbie Marthas decide to go and get diabetes, have a heart attack, survive, and then get put on dialysis it will be a huge financial burden on the rest of us. So tubbie Marthas get your shit together and start front loading your costs so we can all relax. Now you might not care at all about Martha and only care about lifting weights more better and running more faster, this is fine, whatever drives you to do the right thing for the rest of us. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this and how I feel/look is what ultimately drives me more than anything. Figuring out your why is important, and for... read more
by Ben House | Jul 19, 2025 | Nutrition, Psychology, Recovery
I have read a lot of posts lately that give broad recommendations based on circadian rhythms or the idea that certain hormones or biological systems are high or low at different times of the day. Don’t drink coffee at this time, but drink coffee at this time, work out at this time, eat carbs at this time, and on down the line. This may be a great way to get clicks, but these generalizations are likely ineffective for any one individual, and perhaps even dangerous. Many people know about cortisol which peaks in the morning to wake us and then dwindles as the day progresses. Melatonin on the other hand wanes in the morning and creeps back up to its peak in the evening allowing us to go to sleep. Both ideally and theoretically. Melatonin and cortisol are not the only peaks and valleys in the system but without getting them back in step you won’t be able to correct other hormonal imbalances. Every hormone in the body is pulsatile and the brain is constantly collecting data and adapting to whatever situation we give it. Dr. Gottfried puts cortisol dysregulation at 92% of the population. We don’t live in a primal world. Some people never see the sun, let alone feel it on their skin. We can do anything we want whenever we want. We aren’t active throughout the day, but instead exercise in spurts. 90 cents of every dollar we spend on food is thrown away on processed garbage which dismantles our internal clocks through blood sugar spikes, insulin surges, and food sensitives/allergies. Most of our lives... read more
by Ben House | Jul 15, 2025 | Nutrition, Psychology
I don’t like the brain. It’s egotistical and bumpy and effing complicated with words like gyrus, mesensephalon, and pontomedullary reticular formation that make you want to curl up in the fetal position with a Snuggy. I have tried as hard as I can to stay away from this amazing structure even though my lab group performs functional brain scans on a weekly basis. Also, my colleague Grace Shearrer is an absolute brain genius and can rattle off neuroanatomy and how these different areas of the brain influence physiology and vice versa. It’s awesome and I love listening to her lectures, but a good portion of my time at UT with her being so amazing allowed me to say, “Grace will handle it.” Yet, over the last year I have had to come to terms with the fact that ultimately the brain controls everything and although we cannot fix the brain without fixing physiology, many times we cannot fix physiology without respecting and understanding brain chemistry, anatomy, and physiology. “You are your brain – the health of the brain dictates everything about you. The brain is one of the most susceptible and fragile organs to the imbalances caused by poor diets and chronic stress. ” Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, MNeuroSci, FAACP, DACBN, DABCN, DIBAK, CNS And we are not doing well at respecting or supporting our brain health One in eight senior citizens develop Alzheimer’s. One in three seniors die with Alzheimer’s Disease or some other type of dementia. One in eight children are diagnosed with brain development disorders (autism, ADD, ADHD) The brain... read more
by Aaron Davis | Jul 15, 2025 | Endurance, Programming, Training Theory
I once was asked “Can you really build a Healthy CrossFit Athlete?” I mention this not because it’s difficult question to answer, but how disheartening it was to hear — the question is an acknowledgement of a problem. Now this is not a shot at CrossFit, these days you can interchange the word CrossFit with any other name in sports. It’s all the same problem stemming from a lack of education and awareness from the coaches - Regardless of the sport. I can see the frustration from the enlightened few coaches who are really trying to dig deep — searching for the truth. These coaches spend a lot of time and a butt load of money on their education — certs, seminars, and conferences — always looking for answers. Maybe I have my nose in too many books but what certification is really talking about biological systems and the combination of morphological and physiological adaptation? As far as I can tell it’s all the same — a little bit of…. and we can’t forget about this… Some dress it up by showing off their genetic freaks while others try to build in a perfect assessment protocol. All trying to add value to the same information being sold. This is why writing about fitness and health on the internet is redundant. The same stories being told by different voices — some witty, some matter of fact, some copy and paste. “If you can’t say something interesting don’t say anything at all.” — These are words I am trying to live by. As a mentor of mine once warned me “I don’t want you... read more
by Ben House | Jul 10, 2025 | Nutrition, Psychology
Once or twice a week a client will text me some link to some bullshit site about some supplement or high level tweak that they want to add. It also comes from here-say recommendations. My buddy has been drinking yack urine and is f$cking jacked, can I do that? WHAT?! NO These types of texts make me noticeably angry, not because I am mad at the people (ok a little) but because the black hole of the internet and personal recommendations from unqualified friends are the lowest forms of information. A lot of people say I shouldn’t give clients my phone number, but I like to be accessible and at night I have the ability to flick the iPhone off. Let’s face it if someone is blowing me up with power clean questions at Midnight, we have much bigger problems and there is no way I am answering. The other virtue I have to instill in my clients is where they get their information, how to sift through the nonsense, and better yet how to just flat out avoid it. In our culture, information is stressful and unrelenting. I have to give them the security so their beliefs are unwavering. They have to know they are doing the right thing and therefore they aren’t flipping around in the wind, swayed by every Tom, Dick, and Marge that comes by the house and talks about their new Splenda and Collard Green diet or the most bestest fluorescent bottle of RED 40 on the shelves of GNC. These texts usually come from new clients who haven’t mastered the fundamentals. This is... read more
by Ben House | Jul 9, 2025 | Psychology
A few weeks ago I was at an APEX - Functional Medicine Seminar in Dallas and my Truck got ripped up with screwdrivers and bashed in with a tire iron. This is what I wrote right after it happened as I walked back into the seminar with no belongings and little concentration. “My truck got robbed. Locks ripped off, shattered glass everywhere, and an 18,000 dollar device gone out of the back seat. All my clothes, my cooler full of broccoli, and my lifting shoes. Poof. Insurance will likely cover $200 bucks. I walked through the door back into the functional med seminar and I couldn’t pay attention. All I could think in my head was F$CK. They took my compression tights. Those were f$cking expensive! Then the lecturer Dr. Brock started telling a story about diagnosing a man who had muscle belly growths all over his body. He said this gentleman didn’t know yet, but he had ALS and less than two years to live. It could be worse, I just have to buy some new underwear. Time to learn.” This is the first time I have been robbed since High School. It leaves an eerie feeling in the pit of your stomach, but this feeling didn’t even come close to when our house got robbed multiple times during the recession, they even ripped off the copper gutters up to the second story while we were asleep. I am not an innocent angel by any means and likely have built up plenty of bad ju ju from my adolescence, so shit happens… We can only hope there... read more
by Ben House | Jul 4, 2025 | Psychology
I started reading Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty by Patrick Lencioni yesterday in the mid-afternoon and finished it right after dinner. That is how I spend my Friday nights. I know tantalizing. The book is about how to do small business really well. I first read the book a few years ago at the suggestion of one of my mentors and forgot how simple and powerful it was. The book will immediately make you think of small businesses or people in your life that just seem to be naturally successful without a giant marketing budget or fancy business training. Below are some quotes, some discussion points, and the Three Fears. “And then it dawned on me. I was a salesman. Dick was just a consultant. He didn’t do any selling at all. Instead, he just went in there and started helping them.” “Almost all of the time and energy at Lighthouse Partners was being directed toward consulting to paying clients. Those clients in turn became the sales engine for the firm, and even when they did an occasional cold call, it was the references from clients that shortened the sales cycle considerably.” This is a good reminder for me to stop thinking about price points and marketing strategies and just pony up and do everything I can for my people as well as the community. The rest has always taken care of itself. “We’ve learned over the years that having a bad client is worse than having none.” This is a big one in the... read more
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