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What if the fastest path to better performance isn’t more sets and reps, but becoming more human first? We close out the year by unpacking the ideas that changed our training and our lives: primitive reflexes that still shape adult movement, posture as a whole-body strategy, and the feet as powerful sensory hubs that influence pain, speed, and power. It’s a candid look at what worked, what didn’t, and how we’re refining everything for a stronger year ahead.

We dive into the difference between exercise and movement and why the brain grows through varied, playful practice. You’ll hear how parkour, roughhousing, and nature-based challenges brought joy back to training, why consistency in sleep and light hygiene drives nervous system health, and how local food and water quality affect performance more than most programs admit. We revisit standout conversations on transfer of training and motor learning, connecting high-level sport ideas to daily practice in clear, actionable ways.

Two frameworks anchor the recap. From Rafe Kelly, a culture of practice built on play, presence, nature, connection, and community. From Ido Portal, a simple method for any problem: isolate, integrate, improvise. Layer that onto our core lens—humans first, movers second, specialists third—and you get a roadmap that ends arguments and starts progress. Whether you’re a coach, clinician, or curious mover, you’ll leave with tools to assess what matters, fix constraints at the root, and build a body that learns fast and performs under stress.

If this resonated, share it with a friend, subscribe, and drop a review. Tell us which topic you want explored next or who you want to hear from, and we’ll chase it down together.

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If you’ve ever been told your squat is “wrong,” this conversation will change how you think about movement, pain, and coaching. We sit down with author and Feldenkrais practitioner Todd Hargrove to connect three big ideas: how humans evolved to move, how babies develop skill without coaching, and how pain reshapes the brain’s map of the body. The result is a refreshing framework for training that values awareness, variability, and play over rigid cues and one-size-fits-all fixes.

Todd breaks down Feldenkrais as “structured baby play”—slow, mindful lessons that compare different versions of the same movement so your nervous system can feel what works. We dig into why chronic pain often dulls proprioception, how left–right discrimination reveals smudged cortical maps, and how graded motor imagery and simple sensory drills can redraw those maps. Instead of chasing a single corrective, Todd shows how to create learning environments where solutions emerge from exploration, not command-and-control coaching.

We also zoom out to the evolutionary blueprint: millions of years of climbing shaped our shoulders, and every child’s instinct to crawl, hang, roll, and squat is nature’s curriculum. Todd explains transfer—why some fundamentals like squatting and hanging support many tasks, while hyper-specific drills don’t—and why playful, variable practice sticks better than repetitive “work.” Along the way, we compare top-down information-processing models with ecological dynamics, land on a practical middle ground, and draw a clear line between complicated problems you fix like a bike and complex ones you grow like a garden.

If you want to move with less pain and more skill, this is a roadmap: correct less, notice more, and make training feel like an adventure. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a fresh take on pain and performance, and leave a review with one playful drill you’ll try this week.

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What if our modern discomfort, anxiety, and health challenges stem from lack of connection and forgetting what it means to move like a human? In this fascinating conversation, movement pioneer Rafe Kelly reveals how our disconnection from natural movement has profound consequences on our development.

Rafe explains how our brains evolved primarily to control movement, not just abstract thought. Drawing from evolutionary biology, anthropology, philosophy, and neuroscience, he presents a compelling case for why movement isn't just exercise—it's a fundamental nutrient our bodies and minds require. Even our metaphorical language reveals this connection: we speak of being "grounded" in reality or "in touch" with our emotions, unconsciously acknowledging our sensory-motor roots.

The discussion explores fascinating topics like the difference between Type 1 athleticism (speed, power, jumping) versus Type 2 athleticism (coordination, precision, skill), explaining why some physically unimpressive athletes dominate their sports. Rafe shares eye-opening research on rough-and-tumble play, revealing how wrestling and physical play activate unique brain pathways that develop empathy, boundary-setting, and social regulation. Parents will appreciate his practical insights on how proper physical play helps children calibrate their emotional responses to conflict.

As technology eliminates discomfort from our lives, Rafe argues we're inadvertently removing the very challenges that help develop resilience and embodied wisdom. His vision for movement education prioritizes activities with high "donor potential"—parkour, gymnastics, dance, team sports, and martial arts—that transfer effectively to other movement domains.

Whether you're a coach, parent, or someone seeking deeper physical literacy, this conversation will transform how you understand human movement and its role in our development. Discover why reconnecting with our evolutionary heritage might be exactly what we need to thrive in the modern world.