• E35 How to Build Muscle & Get Stronger: What Everyone Needs to Know and Do
    Oct 22 2025
    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project Guest: Eric Cressey, MA, CSCS, President, Cressey Sports Performance - Palm Beach Gardens, FL and Hudson, MA Director, Player Health and Performance - New York Yankees Improving strength and gaining an appropriate muscle mass is critical for our overall health and function. And our strength and muscle mass are two of the greatest predictors of longevity. For those reasons, everyone is wondering, how do I get stronger and gain muscle in the most efficient and practical way? Whether you are brand new to strength training or are a muscle-bound weightlifting maniac, this episode is for you. We are going to cut through the hype and misinformation to give you practical tips and knowledge, so you can become your strongest self. Our session is titled: “How to Build Muscle & Get Stronger: What Everyone Needs to Know and Do.” Our expert guest is Eric Cressey, co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance and host of the “Elite Baseball Podcast”, and he is going to help us answer the following big questions: 1. What is meant by strength training and why is it so important? 2. Why do so many of us struggle to work out regular and gain muscle? 3. What are the core practices that everyone should incorporate to build muscle and get stronger? To help you turn this knowledge into action, consider starting/joining a pod-club… How to start a Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project “Pod-Club”: Step 1: Find 2-30 friends who want to get better Step 2: Choose your episodes (can be focused on specific themes or random) Step 3: Listen to/watch the episodes Step 4: Meet with your group to work through the provided discussion questions for each episode, and feel free to add your own! Step 5: Celebrate the fact that you are turning passive knowledge into action! Discussion Questions for this Episode: 1) What is your “why” or reason for wanting to get stronger? If you have more than one, rank them in order of priority. 2) In the past, what have been the biggest hurdles that prevented you from achieving your strength goals? Separate these out by factors that are directly in your control vs. those that are not. 3) We mention the 4 factors that contribute to strength are genetics, nutrition, sleep, and training program. How has your nutrition and sleep positively or negatively influenced your strength goals? 4) After listening to this episode, did you discover any new reasons as to why you haven’t seen the strength gains you seek? 5) Do you currently have any sort of accountability in your training program (writing down your workouts, working with a coach, having a training partner)? If so, how has that helped? If not, how could you practically implement some accountability? 6) Are you willing to consistently commit to a program that appropriately challenges you for 6 months? If so, what benefits do you expect to see (think about benefits along the way as well as the end result). If not, what would it take to improve your motivation to do so? 7) What is one change you are going to make this week to get the first win in your quest to improve your strength? Make this very clear and concrete. Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu
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    54 mins
  • E34 Self-Management: The Second Step in Improving Your Emotional Intelligence
    Oct 15 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Chrissy Holm Haider, Ed.D., MSc, MS, LPCC, CMPC, Athletic Counselor, Certified Mental Performance Consultant | Premier Sport Psychology

    We all need to improve our emotional intelligence, and one of the main pillars of that is learning to manage ourselves. We’ve said before that first step of Emotional Intelligence is “Understanding Ourselves.” After that, the next step is “Managing Ourselves.” This concept of self-management is critical to improving our emotional intelligence and interacting with the world. Our expert here to help us with this today is Dr. Chrissy Holm Haider.

    The three big questions we have for her are:

    1. What is “Self-Management” and how does it fit into “Emotional Intelligence?”

    2. What makes self-management so challenging in our modern lives?

    3. What are the actual steps I can take to finally master my ability to manage myself?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    55 mins
  • E33 Managing Conflict: Sorting Facts and Feelings to Turn Disputes into Progress
    Oct 8 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Erica Martin, PhD, SPHR, Development Programs Director – Department of Development – Mayo Clinic

    Conflict is a universal experience. Anywhere two people are present, conflict is likely to occur at some level. This conflict can be devastatingly harmful, but it can also foster growth and progress. Given how ubiquitous conflict is, it’s critical for us to learn how to identify it, work through it, and use it for good. To help us get started in this process, our expert guest is Dr. Erica Martin.

    The three big questions she is going to answer for us include:

    1. What is conflict and what is its impact?

    2. Why do we find ourselves in conflict so often, and why is it hard for us?

    3. What can we do to turn conflict into progress— at work and in our everyday relationships?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    52 mins
  • E32 How Your Physical Surroundings are Impacting Your Productivity
    Oct 1 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Dennis E. Dahlen, Chief Financial Officer – Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN

    We are all busy and have a lot of tasks that need to be accomplished. And those tasks need to be accomplished somewhere! Whether you are working at home, in an office, or on the road, your physical surroundings play a surprising large role in how you do your work, how much you get done, and the level of quality of that work. In this episode, we are going to talk about some of the science behind how your surroundings impact you, and what you can do to optimize them.

    Our expert guest here to teach us more is Dennis Dahlen, and the three big questions we are going to work through are:

    1. How do our physical and mental surroundings influence productivity?

    2. What common obstacles keep people from creating productive environments and what is secretly sabotaging our productivity?

    3. Which practical strategies can anyone apply to optimize their physical and mental spaces for sustained high performance?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    49 mins
  • E31 The Art & Science of Positive Influence: Practical Steps for Inspiring Yourself and Others
    Sep 24 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Roshanak (Roshy) Didehban, FACHE, Chief Administrative Officer | Mayo Clinic – Arizona,

    Interim Chief Information Officer – Mayo Clinic

    If you interact with others, then you influence others. Whether you like it or not, we all influence the people around us. Hopefully this is mostly in a positive way, but if you aren’t thoughtful and intentional, that may not always be the case. Knowing that you are going to have an impact on the people around you, you might as well invest the time to figure out how to influence them positively. This is obviously true for leaders, but it really applies to all of us in all relationships, no matter our position.

    Our expert here to discuss this topic with us is Roshy Didehban, and the three big questions we are going to tackle are:

    1. What exactly is positive influence and why does it matter?

    2. Why is it often hard for us to positively inspire ourselves and others?

    3. What practical steps can we take to positively influence others so they can be their best selves?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    52 mins
  • E30 How to Manage Your Stress: Name It, Control It, and Use It for Good
    Sep 17 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Peter Rhee, DO, MSc, Orthopedic Hand Surgeon, Assistant Dean for Trainee Well-Being, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education | Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN

    In a world of increasing pressure and growing demands, our stress levels continue to climb. When it seems like everyone is spinning out of control, having the ability to appropriately manage our stress can be a real superpower. To continue to be high performers, we must develop appropriate ways for viewing, understanding, managing, and overcoming stress. Our expert guest today is Dr. Peter Rhee.

    The three big questions we have for Peter are:

    1. What exactly is stress and how does it show up in our lives?
    2. Why do so many of us feel overwhelmed and what are the consequences?
    3. What are the practical steps we can take to reduce and control our stress levels?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    50 mins
  • E29 Self-Awareness: The First Step in Improving Your Emotional Intelligence
    Sep 10 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Kimberly D. Collins M.A., ACC, Owner/Founder, Executive Coach, Enneagram Consultant | Enneagram Reflections

    If you don’t first understand yourself, you’ll never be able to understand and interact with the world around you. We’ve talked about the concept of emotional intelligence a lot on the Human Optimization Project, with the four main components being 1) Self-Awareness; 2) Self-Management; 3) Social-Awareness, and 4) Social-Management. Today, we are going to focus on all things related to “Self-Awareness.” Our expert to help us with this is executive coach, Kimberly Collins.

    The three big questions we have for her are:

    1. What is Self-Awareness, and how does it fit into the bigger picture of “Emotional Intelligence”?

    2. Why is true Self-Awareness rare, and what modern traps keep us from understanding ourselves?

    3. What steps can one take to start improving their Self-Awareness in a meaningful way?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    47 mins
  • E28 Servant Leadership: How Serving Creates Winning Teams in Work and Life
    Sep 3 2025

    Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

    Guest: Heidi L. Dieter, M.B.A., Chief Research Administrator | Mayo Clinic

    If you lead a group, team, family, or set of friends in any way, I’m sure you’d like to be able to boost morale, increase engagement, decrease turn over, and improve creativity. Well, one scientifically backed way to do that is to become a “servant leader.” Multiple studies show substantial improvements for groups who are directed by servant leaders; and data also suggests that it improves the joy of the leaders themselves. Our expert guest for this topic is Heidi Dieter, Chair of the Department of Research Administration at Mayo Clinic.

    The three big questions we are going to work through are:

    1. What is servant leadership and what are the benefits?

    2. Why do we struggle to put servant principles into practice and what common traps derail us?

    3. What practices can we adopt to lead through service and unlock peak performance?

    Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize X: @MayoHumanOpProj Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube Email: optimize@mayo.edu

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    51 mins