This is Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin.
I'm Dr. Andy Galpin, a professor and director of the Human Performance Center at Parker University.
With this podcast, my goal is to help you better understand and maximize your own physical and mental performance, leveraging my two decades of experience with elite performers, including Olympians and world champions across numerous sports. The goal is to cover a range of tools, technologies, and strategies designed to help everyone—from beginners to record-breaks, and everyone in between.
I’ll use a format that I call the "3 I's.” For every topic, we'll explore how to 1) Investigate (measure it), 2) Interpret (determine what’s bad, ok, good, or even elite!), and 3) Intervene (implement changes). This framework will guide our discussions on both the science and actionable insights—the do’s and don’ts.
In the upcoming episodes of Season 2, we'll dive into topics such as how metabolism and metabolic rate truly work, how to maximize brain function and health, what sports nutrition looks like in the world’s best athletes, how to improve bone health and accelerate healing, the science of strength training for kids, and much more.
While not all of us are elite athletes—myself included—there are countless lessons and tools we can learn from those performing at the highest levels. And remember, as legendary coach Bill Bowerman stated, "If you have a body, you are an athlete." If you're not already, I hope you'll consider starting to train and recover like one.
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This is Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin.
I'm Dr. Andy Galpin, a professor and director of the Human Performance Center at Parker University.
With this podcast, my goal is to help you better understand and maximize your own physical and mental performance, leveraging my two decades of experience with elite performers, including Olympians and world champions across numerous sports. The goal is to cover a range of tools, technologies, and strategies designed to help everyone—from beginners to record-breaks, and everyone in between.
I’ll use a format that I call the "3 I's.” For every topic, we'll explore how to 1) Investigate (measure it), 2) Interpret (determine what’s bad, ok, good, or even elite!), and 3) Intervene (implement changes). This framework will guide our discussions on both the science and actionable insights—the do’s and don’ts.
In the upcoming episodes of Season 2, we'll dive into topics such as how metabolism and metabolic rate truly work, how to maximize brain function and health, what sports nutrition looks like in the world’s best athletes, how to improve bone health and accelerate healing, the science of strength training for kids, and much more.
While not all of us are elite athletes—myself included—there are countless lessons and tools we can learn from those performing at the highest levels. And remember, as legendary coach Bill Bowerman stated, "If you have a body, you are an athlete." If you're not already, I hope you'll consider starting to train and recover like one.
How & Why to Strengthen Your Heart & Cardiovascular Fitness
Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin
1 hour 58 minutes
11 months ago
How & Why to Strengthen Your Heart & Cardiovascular Fitness
In this episode, I discuss the critical importance of building a strong heart and how to do it. I explain why the human body needs to breathe, the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness for sleep and exercise recovery, and its long-term implications for physical health, disease risk, and mortality. I explain how the heart functions, what determines heart rate, why the heart never gets sore, and the unique advantages of cardiac muscle over other muscle types.
I explain how to use the ‘Three I’s’ (investigate, interpret, intervene) to assess and improve your cardiovascular fitness. I explain what VO2 max is (and other related metrics, e.g., heart rate variability), describe ranges based on age and elite performance, and discuss exercise regimens to improve VO2 max.
Listeners of this episode will understand why cardiovascular health is vital for performance and overall health and learn a series of actionable tools to improve their cardiovascular fitness.
Access the full show notes for this episode, including referenced articles and additional resources, at performpodcast.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://drinkag1.com/perform
Vitality Blueprint: https://vitalityblueprint.com/perform
Rhone: https://rhone.com/perform
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Heart
00:02:48 Sponsors: Vitality Blueprint & Rhone
00:06:20 Muscle Types
00:08:47 VO2 max, Health & Mortality
00:14:42 Overall Health, Cardiorespiratory Fitness & All-Cause Mortality
00:24:16 Sponsor: AG1
00:25:47 Disease, Health & Mortality
00:28:55 Cardiac Muscle & Heart
00:37:22 Cardiac Muscle vs. Skeletal Muscle, Cardiac Advantages
00:42:46 Pacemakers & Heart Rate, Vagus Nerve
00:49:28 Why Doesn’t the Heart Get Sore?
00:53:25 Heart & Exercise, Stroke Volume, Ejection Fraction, Cardiac Output
00:58:14 Heart Rate Variability
01:01:34 Sponsors: Momentous & LMNT
01:05:47 Why Do You Breathe?: Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide & Respiratory Rate
01:12:30 Respiratory Rate & Stress
01:14:01 Tool: The “Three I’s”, Investigate: Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, VO2 Max
01:18:46 Tool: Interpretation, Resting Heart Rate & Ranges
01:22:09 Tool: Interpretation: VO2 Max & Ranges
01:29:38 Athletes & Highest VO2 Max Scores
01:34:46 Elite Athletes & Context for VO2 Max Scores
01:40:35 Tool: Intervention, VO2 Max, Varying Exercise Intensities, SAID Principle
01:47:13 Tool: Varying Exercise Intensity; Intervals & Continuous Training; Frequency
01:57:41 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Subscribe & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Social Media
Disclaimer & Disclosures
Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin
This is Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin.
I'm Dr. Andy Galpin, a professor and director of the Human Performance Center at Parker University.
With this podcast, my goal is to help you better understand and maximize your own physical and mental performance, leveraging my two decades of experience with elite performers, including Olympians and world champions across numerous sports. The goal is to cover a range of tools, technologies, and strategies designed to help everyone—from beginners to record-breaks, and everyone in between.
I’ll use a format that I call the "3 I's.” For every topic, we'll explore how to 1) Investigate (measure it), 2) Interpret (determine what’s bad, ok, good, or even elite!), and 3) Intervene (implement changes). This framework will guide our discussions on both the science and actionable insights—the do’s and don’ts.
In the upcoming episodes of Season 2, we'll dive into topics such as how metabolism and metabolic rate truly work, how to maximize brain function and health, what sports nutrition looks like in the world’s best athletes, how to improve bone health and accelerate healing, the science of strength training for kids, and much more.
While not all of us are elite athletes—myself included—there are countless lessons and tools we can learn from those performing at the highest levels. And remember, as legendary coach Bill Bowerman stated, "If you have a body, you are an athlete." If you're not already, I hope you'll consider starting to train and recover like one.
