Ageless Athlete — Healthy Aging for a Strong, Capable Life

Brain puzzles may make you better at brain puzzles. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll keep you sharp as you age.

Dr. Kirk Erickson is a neuroscientist who has spent decades studying how exercise, fitness, and lifestyle shape the aging brain, including landmark work on hippocampal plasticity and cognitive aging.

If you’re in your 40s or 50s, he argues this may be the period when what you do now starts to matter most for your cognitive future. We talk about what actually seems to protect the aging brain, why exercise matters, where its benefits may start to level off, and why being fit doesn’t make you immune to decline. We also get into intellectually demanding activities, brisk walking versus more complex sports, and what the science still can’t tell us with confidence.

• Dr. Kirk Erickson — Advent Health Research Institute
• Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory — PNAS

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

I’ve spent thousands of dollars on supplements over the years. Some probably helped. Some may have done absolutely nothing.

At 48, I still take several, but I’m much more skeptical than I used to be.

In this solo episode, I break down what I currently take, including creatine, protein, vitamin D, magnesium, Urolithin A, BPC-157 and TB-500, along with why I use them, where the evidence feels strong, and where I’m still experimenting.

I also get into collagen, glucosamine, omega-3s, probiotics, and the bigger question behind all of it:

What problem are you actually trying to solve, and how good is the evidence that this solves it?

Because supplements can support the foundation. They can’t become the foundation.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Joe Friel is back.

At 82, Joe is still training, still lifting, and still paying close attention to what aging actually does to an athlete’s body. In our first conversation, we talked about the moment the old rules stop working. This time, we go deeper into what to do next.

Joe explains why sleep may be the first place to look, why consistency in the gym matters more than heroic workouts, why fast-twitch power fades, and why VO2 max is not just about racing — it is about staying capable for life. This is a practical conversation about training after 50, but it is also a warning: the mistakes you could get away with in your 20s and 30s start costing more as you age. Joe’s upated book, Fast After 50, is one of the essential reads for athletes who want to keep training and racing strong as they age.

Joe dispenses so much wisdom with candor and clarity. Don't miss this one!

For more conversations and essays on strength, recovery, longevity, and staying capable after 40, subscribe to the free Ageless Athlete newsletter.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

Twenty years ago, Kit DesLauriers skied from the summit of Everest, completing her goal of becoming the first person to ski the Seven Summits. Today, at 56, she’s still asking a compelling question: how do you stay strong and capable enough to keep doing the things you love as you get older?

A two-time World Freeskiing Champion, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Famer, Kit joins me to talk about strength, fear, big goals, parenting, non-attachment — and why she believes her best decades are still ahead.

Kit:
Website: https://kitdeslauriers.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitdski/

Read Kit's wonderful memoir: Higher Love: Skiing the Seven Summits

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

Dr. Belinda Beck has spent much of her career studying a part of the body most active people barely think about until something goes wrong: bone.

We train our muscles.

We train our cardiovascular systems.

But are we actually giving our bones the stimulus they need to remain strong across decades?

In this episode, Belinda explains why simply “being active” does not necessarily mean you are training your bones effectively.

Dr. Belinda Beck is a professor at Griffith University and Director of The Bone Clinic in Australia. Her research and clinical work focus on bone health, osteoporosis, bone stress injury, and the effects of exercise.

Explore The Bone Clinic, ONERO® Academy, The Bone Clinic on Facebook

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

Dean Potter once called Timmy O’Neill his “secret weapon.”

With Dean back in the spotlight through Dark Wizard, I went back to this conversation with Timmy — and realized how much of it deserves to be heard again.

Timmy shares stories from their extraordinary years climbing together in Yosemite, but this conversation goes somewhere deeper: how our relationship with risk changes as we age, why Timmy fears not living more than dying, and his idea of cultivating a “life wish” — even if you’re not a climber or adventure athlete.

We also talk about aging, play, family, loss, adaptive climbing, and finding the things that make you feel truly alive. One of my favorites. Enjoy!

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

At 82, Cherie Gruenfeld is still racing IRONMAN. She’s a 14-time world champion and is considered a GOAT of the sport. Wildly, she didn’t even start running until 42 or triathlon until 48.

Her lesson after four decades of training: if you want to preserve strength, power, and muscle as you age, you can’t keep training the way you did when you were younger. We talk about what Cherie does differently now and, the mindset behind performing into your 80s

More about Cherie: https://cheriegruenfeld.com/. She also founded Exceeding Expectations, which uses triathlon, mentoring, and education to help at-risk kids build a different future. Consider supporting their excellent work: Exceeding Expectations

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

Allison Aubrey has spent more than two decades reporting on health and science for NPR. But when she put herself through a longevity assessment, some of the results caught even her off guard. In this episode, we talk about what she learned from that experience, why being active and lean doesn’t necessarily mean you’re as prepared for aging as you think, and the health markers that may actually be worth paying attention to. And later, Allison shares what she learned from spending time with 32 centenarians — including one pattern that kept showing up in people who had made it past 100.

About Allison: Allison Aubrey is an NPR health and science correspondent and the author of the Book:Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love. She also writes on Substack.

Brain Care Score — Mass General

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

📺 Watch on Youtube!

Paul Pritchard is one of the most significant figures in British climbing. He became one of Britain’s leading rock climbers and mountaineers, with major first ascents across the UK, Patagonia, Baffin Island, Yosemite, Kyrgyzstan and the Karakoram. His first ascent of the West Face of Mount Asgard in 1994 remains one of his defining achievements. He was also the first author to have won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature twice — for Deep Play, and later, The Totem Pole.

In 1998, everything changed. While climbing Tasmania’s Totem Pole, Paul was struck in the head by a falling rock, sustaining a near-fatal brain injury that left him with hemiplegia. He spent the next year in hospital and has described the decades since as his longest project: healing, adapting, and learning to live one moment at a time.

This is not simply a comeback story. It’s a conversation about mortality, fear, acceptance, freedom, identity, and what happens when the life you expected disappears.

REFERENCES

Paul's excellent books:: Deep Play | The Totem Pole | The Longest Climb | The Mountain Path on his website athttps://www.paulpritchard.com.au/books

Paul's Instagram: @paulpritchard

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

We spend a lot of time preparing our bodies for the next 30 or 40 years.

Strength. Mobility. Sleep. Recovery. Longevity.

But almost nobody prepares for how sex, desire, intimacy, and pleasure may change over that same stretch of time.

In this conversation, I speak with Joan Price, one of the best-known voices on sex and aging, about what changes, what can actually get better, and what we should understand long before we think we need to.

Joan is 82, but much of what she shares may be most useful in your thirties, forties, and fifties.

We talk about physical changes, why exercise matters, how desire evolves, why communication becomes more important, and how intimacy can adapt as we age.

This is a conversation about the next 40 years of your body — and a part of longevity we rarely prepare for.

Note: This episode includes frank discussion of sex, sexual function, grief, and intimacy.

Joan’s Books & Resources

Joan’s books include Naked at Our Age, Sex After Grief, The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50, Better Than I Ever Expected, and Ageless Erotica.

Learn more about Joan’s books, webinars, newsletter, and other resources at https://joanprice.com/. If you’d like to buy one of her books, consider purchasing through her website: https://joanprice.com/books

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

🚀 Love the show? Here’s how to support it

If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, please consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

You can train hard, stay fit, and still lose physical abilities you are no longer asking your body to use.

Dan Edwardes has spent more than two decades at the forefront of parkour as a practitioner, coach, and movement educator. His work has helped shape parkour into a global movement practice, with coach education programs delivered internationally through Parkour Generations and ADAPT.

In this episode, we use parkour to explore a bigger question: what physical capabilities are you still losing, even if you still exercise?

We talk about why fitness does not always equal capability, the movement patterns adults stop practicing, why jumping, climbing, balancing, and reacting still matter, and how parkour can be scaled for people well into their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.

We also get into fear: when it is useful, when it becomes reckless, and why it often appears right at the edge of something you may actually be capable of doing.

Dan is amazing. Don't miss this one.

REFERENCES / LEARN MORE

Dan on Instagram

Parkour Generations
https://parkourgenerations.com/

Parkour Generations London
https://parkourgenerationslondon.com/

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

What do the world’s best athletes over 50 do differently?

After more than 140 conversations with elite climbers, cyclists, surfers, runners, mountaineers, and coaches, I went back through the Ageless Athlete archive looking for the patterns.

The sports are different. The principles are surprisingly consistent.

In this episode:

• Why older athletes still need intensity and power
• Why recovery often has to expand with age
• How the best athletes reverse-engineer the exact demands of their goals
• Why strength training matters even if your sport already feels demanding
• When specialization beats variety
• Why community may be part of the training plan
• How great athletes protect continuity instead of chasing one heroic day

The goal is not to train like a 25-year-old forever. It is to keep training like an athlete—while adapting the methods.

Go deeper: hear the original conversations

Power, intensity & continuing to improve

• Judi Oyama, 65: From Teenage Rebel to World Champion at 65 — How She Keeps Winning
• Lee Sheftel, 77: Not Done Yet — Consistency, Curiosity, and Small Wins
• Ned Overend, 70: How To Train To Win In Your 70s From A World Champion

Hard training & recovery

• Bill Ramsey, 65: He Outperforms Climbers Half His Age — Still Improving at 65
• Matt Fitzgerald, 50s: Stop Living in the Gray Zone — The 80/20 Rule for Training and Life
• Joe Friel, 82: You Start Losing Muscle After 50 — Stop Making These Mistakes

Training for the actual demand

• Joe Barr, 67: Faster In His 60s: The Training That Took Him To A World Record
• Rob Matheson: When the Consequences Are Final — Climbing a Death Route at 74
• Mark “Doc” Renneker, 73: Charging In His 70s — Curiosity, Career, and a Life Built Around the Ocean
• Neil Gresham: Lexicon, Boldness, and the Long Game — Training Smarter and Peaking Later

Strength for the long game

• Steve Swenson, 73: Stay Strong Into Your 70s — Lessons From Five Decades on the World’s Highest Mountains
• Jamie Whitmore, 50: When a World Champion’s Body Betrayed Her — And What Came Next
• Juliet Starrett, 50s: Build the Base — Durability, Longevity, and a Body That Lasts
• Eric Horst, 62: Peaking In His 60s — Injury, Recovery, and Training for the Long Game

Focus & community

• Gary Linden, 74: He Built Big Wave Surfing — And Still Charges
• Jim Donini, 82: What It Costs to Live Boldly — Partnerships, Sacrifice, and Risk at 82
• Bob Babbitt, 73: Racing Strong at 73 — Daily Rituals For Recovery, Energy, and Clarity
• *Sarah Thomas: What One Impossible Swim Can Teach You About Identity, Grit, and Starting Over

(Sarah is less than 50 at the time of the recording but including her as her lessons apply universally)

Protecting the long game

• Harvey Lewis, 50: How Harvey Lewis Recovers After 5 Days of Nonstop Running — Injury, Sleep, and What Breaks First
• Ed Viesturs, 66: The Discipline of Not Dying — This Survival Code Kept Him Alive for 18 Years

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

If you’re over 40, one of the hardest truths to accept is that the body and training approach that got you here may not be the one that carries you forward.

In this episode, Rob Lea, 45, shares what it took to become the first person in history to complete the Double Seven — climbing the highest summit on every continent and swimming the Oceans Seven — while navigating injuries, recovery, changing body demands, and everyday life.

We talk about why looking fit is not the same as being capable, how Rob adapted across radically different sports, and why staying athletic for the long run may require becoming a different kind of athlete.

This is a conversation about resilience, longevity, ambitious goals, and learning to change before you get stuck.

If you want to stay strong, capable, and adventurous as you age, this episode is for you.

Follow Rob on Instagram: @rob.lea

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

At 66, Joe Barr rode 2,448 miles along Route 66 in just over ten days and set a new world record.

What makes that achievement even more remarkable is that Joe believes he became a better athlete in his sixties.

In this conversation, Joe explains how experience changed the way he trains, recovers, manages fatigue, and responds when his mind tells him to stop.

He also challenges the usual story about aging.

Joe was told he was too old. Instead of accepting that judgment, he kept adapting, kept learning, and built a performance lifestyle around consistency, discipline, and intelligent recovery.

We explore:

• How Joe got faster in his sixties
• Why experience can offset physical decline
• The inner dialogue that keeps him moving
• Why endurance is management, not macho toughness
• How his training changed with age
• What it means to protect the athlete
• Why recovery becomes more important over time

This is a conversation about adaptation, focus, self-determination, and how much may still be possible when we stop allowing age to define the boundaries of our lives.

Connect with Joe

Joe Barr on Instagram
BarrUltra website
Joe’s Route 66 record
Route 66 film project

Joe thanks his sponsor Hypershell X

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

The fittest people do not always reach the summit.

Luis Benitez has climbed Everest six times and spent years guiding on the world’s highest mountains. What he learned is that success depends on more than strength. Patience, judgment, adaptability, and the ability to stay steady when the plan falls apart often matter more.

But this conversation goes well beyond Everest.

Luis speaks with rare clarity about aging, identity, leadership, and the role the outdoors plays in our lives. We also explore his work at the intersection of conservation, public policy, access, and the outdoor economy—and why protecting these places is ultimately about protecting hope.

We discuss:

• Why the strongest climbers sometimes fail
• Training differently as we age
• Stress, patience, and decision-making
• Knowing when to turn around
• The economic and cultural power of the outdoors
• What we owe the places that shape us

References

Read Higher Ground(Luis Benitez and Frederick Reimers). Highly recommended!

Luis on Instagram

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

Most athletes know how to train hard. Far fewer know how to go truly easy.

Matt Fitzgerald is one of the most influential writers and coaches in endurance sports.

After developing severe long COVID, Matt lost the ability to run for nearly three years. Then, despite the risks, he committed to running a 100-kilometer ultramarathon through the Arizona desert.

For Matt, it was about much more than reaching a finish line. It was about identity, agency, unfinished business, and refusing to put his life on hold while waiting to recover.

We also explore why so many athletes become trapped in a “moderate-intensity rut”—training hard enough to remain tired, but not strategically enough to perform at their best.

This is a deep and vulnerable conversation about ambition, illness, risk, recovery, and learning when to push—and when to hold back. Enjoy!

In this episode:

• What severe long COVID took from Matt
• Why he attempted a 100K despite the risks
• What happened when his body began failing
• Why easy training must be genuinely easy
• What 80/20 training can teach us about everyday life

Matt’s latest book, Dying to Run: An Athlete’s Quest for One More Finish, is available for preorder and will be published September 8, 2026:

Explore Matt’s other books, including 80/20 Running, How Bad Do You Want It?, Racing Weight, On Pace, and Running the Dream:

https://mattfitzgerald.org/books/

Learn more about Matt:

https://mattfitzgerald.org/

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

Sleep is not just about feeling tired tomorrow.

In this episode, Stanford sleep researcher Dr. Martin Kawalski explains why sleep often gets harder after 50, why older adults do not simply “need less sleep,” and why getting the basics wrong for long enough may affect how well we age.

One of the biggest ideas from this conversation: sleep regularity may matter more than total hours. Martin explains why consistent sleep timing is linked to all-cause mortality, and why your body craves rhythm across sleep, meals, caffeine, training, travel, and daily life.

We also talk about chronotypes, deep sleep, REM sleep, wearables, melatonin, alcohol, late meals, cannabis sleep gummies, naps, jet lag, and sleeping with a partner.

This is a practical conversation about building a sleep rhythm that works in real life — without turning sleep into one more thing to obsess over.

In this episode:

• Why sleep gets harder after 50
• Why older adults do not necessarily need less sleep
• The sleep habit linked to all-cause mortality
• Why regularity may matter more than chasing 8 hours
• What wearables can and cannot tell you
• Caffeine, alcohol, late meals, and 3 a.m. wakeups
• Melatonin, cannabis gummies, naps, and jet lag
• Sleeping with a partner, intimacy, and “sleep divorce”
• How to improve sleep without becoming obsessive

Subscribe and share this episode with someone who keeps waking up tired.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

Most people don't notice they're declining until it's too late.

Bob Becker offers a very different model.

He didn't discover running until he was 57. Twenty-five years later, at age 80, he returned to Badwater 135 — a brutal 135-mile ultramarathon across Death Valley in temperatures above 120°F — and became the oldest official finisher in the race's history.

This is Bob's second appearance on Ageless Athlete. In our first conversation, we talked about how he found endurance sports later in life, and the unforgettable story of missing the Badwater cutoff by just 17 minutes after nearly 48 hours on the course.

This time, we pick up where that story left off.

We talk about how Bob came back after heartbreak, how his training changed from his 60s into his 80s, how he knows when to push through discomfort versus when to stop, and why consistency over decades matters more than any single heroic workout.

Whether you're a runner, climber, cyclist, skier, surfer, or simply someone who wants to stay healthy, strong, and capable as you age, Bob's wisdom goes far beyond ultrarunning.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Becoming the oldest official finisher in Badwater history
• Why most people underestimate what consistency can do over 20 years
• How Bob trains differently in his 80s than he did in his 60s
• The difference between productive pain and dangerous pain
• How to adapt without surrendering to decline
• Recovery, strength training, and staying resilient with age
• Why starting late may not be the disadvantage people think it is
• What directing ultramarathons has taught him about human potential
• Why one setback doesn't get to write the ending

If you haven't heard Bob's first appearance on Ageless Athlete, I highly recommend listening to Episode #73 first. Search for "Bob Becker" in the Ageless Athlete feed.

References:

Badwater 135 Ultramarathon
https://www.badwater.com/

Please share this conversaton with a friend who may benefit from hearing it!

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

Ethan Pringle has climbed some of the hardest routes in the world. But this episode is about the kind of strength climbing does not train you for.

After his father suffered a devastating stroke, Ethan found himself living two lives: pro climber on the road, and son/caregiver back home.

We talk about grief, fear, failure, aging parents, turning 40, becoming a father, and what strength means when life breaks you open.

Watch Strength to Weight

Strength to Weightis a climbing film on the surface, but its real story is about family, grief, and love. You do not need to be a climber to feel it. You only need to know what it means to watch someone you love change.

A sincere thank you to Ethan for his generosity, honesty, and willingness to share the vulnerable parts of this story so openly. Enjoy!

Ethan Pringle on Instagram: @ethan_pringle

Ethan's sponsors: Touchstone climbing gym, Mountain Hardwear, Madrock, DMM, Send Climbing, Gnarly Nutrition, Friction Labs

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Ageless Athlete Newsletter. Weekly longevity insights + behind-the-scenes. No spam ever. 🚨

Most of us think aging happens slowly in the background. Dr. Bill Andrews thinks we may be aging faster than we need to.

Bill is a molecular biologist, founder of Sierra Sciences, and a longtime researcher in telomere and telomerase biology. He has spent most of his life asking whether aging itself can be slowed, reversed, or even cured.

He is also an ultra runner. At 74, Bill still runs every day, has completed 100-mile races, and continues to test what the body may be capable of as the decades pass.

This episode is a little different from a typical Ageless Athlete conversation. We talk about running and staying capable, but we also go deep into telomeres, inflammation, mitochondria, gene therapy, supplements, and the future of longevity.

Some of Bill’s ideas are bold, controversial, and still early. I’m grateful to him for being open with his time, his story, and his perspective. Whether you agree with all of his conclusions or not, this is a wide-ranging conversation about aging, performance, possibility, and what it means to keep reaching for a bigger life.

Important disclaimer: Ageless Athlete does not endorse any supplement, product, company, test, protocol, or therapy mentioned in this episode. This conversation is for education only and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified medical professional before making decisions about supplements, testing, medications, gene therapy, or any longevity-related intervention.

Resources Mentioned:

Sierra Sciences (Dr Bill Andrews' company)

Telovital / Touchstone Essentials, Life Length, the ALCAT Test, SaltStick, GU Energy, Dr. Sandra Kaufmann’s The Kaufmann Protocol, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Floyd Chilton’s Inflammation Nation, Dr. Amy Doneen, BioViva, SynapBio, and Hemostemix.

Resources are listed for transparency only and are not endorsements.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.