Podcast
The Peak Performance Podcast by Brad Young
Hosted by Brad Young · EN
Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast—your guide to unlocking your potential and thriving in every area of life. Hosted by Brad Young, Ph.D., bestselling author and trusted voice in health, fitness, and personal growth, this show delivers practical, evidence-based strategies to help you become your best self.
Ranked in the top 10% of podcasts globally—and previously in the top 10 health and fitness podcasts—this show continues to grow, evolve, and raise the bar.
Brad goes beyond theory, breaking down the training, mindset, and nutrition of elite athletes and high performers, then testing these strategies in real life. From running and fitness to mental resilience and modern health technology, he shares what actually works so you can apply it immediately.
Each episode is packed with actionable tools to improve your mental, physical, and emotional well-being—whether you're optimizing performance, building better habits, or overcoming challenges.
This isn’t just information—it’s transformation. Subscribe and start your journey to peak performance today.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical conditions.
37episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 110: The Rebel Who Redefined Greatness: The Serge Nubret Story
1w ago00:32:20Tap to summarizeSerge Nubret is not just a story about muscle. He is a story about defiance. About instinct. About trusting yourself when every authority around you says you are doing it wrong. And that, my friends, is a lesson that reaches far beyond the gym and into everything you are trying to build in your own life. So here is what I promise you today. We are going to walk through who this man was and where he came from. We are going to break down his training philosophy in detail, the high volume, the high frequency, the slow and controlled repetitions, the pumping methods that made his muscles look like they were carved from stone. We are going to dig into his diet, which was as unconventional as everything else about him, including the part that shocks most people when they first hear it. We are going to explore his rivalries and his mindset and the mind and muscle connection he treated almost like a religion. And then, because this is The Peak Performance Podcast and we always give you something you can actually use, I am going to hand you a complete example training program built on his methods that you can take into the gym and try for yourself. So settle in. This one is special. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Episode 109: Precision Athlete Part 2
3w ago00:32:59Tap to summarizeLet us bring this conversation closer to home. You may not be training for Olympic gymnastics or competitive archery. But the principles that precision athletes apply to develop body awareness, proprioception, and spatial sense are directly applicable to every person who wants to move better, perform better, and reduce their risk of injury in daily life and recreational sport. Most people go through life in a state of low body awareness. They sit in positions they are not aware of. They move through habitual patterns without noticing the tension, imbalance, or inefficiency in those patterns. They exercise without paying attention to how the movement feels, focusing instead on getting through the reps as fast as possible. This is the opposite of what precision athletes do, and it explains why most people plateau in their physical development long before they reach their potential. The simplest and most powerful thing you can do to begin developing precision athlete-level body awareness is to slow down. When you slow a movement down enough, you can feel things that disappear at full speed. You can feel where your weight is distributed. You can feel which muscles are working and which are not. You can feel the difference between a movement that is smooth and controlled and one that is compensating or compensating for a weakness somewhere. Slow practice is not beginner practice. It is expert practice. The gymnast at the highest level still drills elements slowly. The golf instructor still works on slow-motion swing mechanics with elite players. Slowness reveals truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Episode 108: Precision Athlete Part 1
3w ago00:38:11Tap to summarizeToday we are going into a world where one tenth of a point separates a gold medal from going home empty-handed. We are talking about precision athletes — the gymnasts, the divers, the figure skaters, the archers, the fencers, and every other competitor whose sport demands that the body and the brain operate at an almost impossibly high level of accuracy. These athletes are not just strong. They are not just fast. They are precise. And that precision, it turns out, is something you can train. This episode is for every person who wants to sharpen their edge — in sport, in work, in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Episode 107: The Evolution of a Peak Performer
4w ago00:40:16Tap to summarizeIn Episode 107 of the Peak Performance Podcast, Brad Young explores what it truly means to evolve as a modern peak performer. Today’s world demands more than discipline, grit, or ancient instinct alone — it requires the ability to merge our primal drive with the cutting‑edge tools shaping human potential. In this episode, Brad breaks down how technology, data, and human biology are converging to create a new kind of performer: one who is sharper, more aware, more capable, and more connected than ever before. From the mindset of our ancestors to the innovations redefining performance today, this episode reveals how to step into the next stage of your personal evolution and unlock the highest version of yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Episode 106: Return to the Hunt
Jun 1000:43:35Tap to summarizeStep back into the wild mindset of your ancestors. In this episode, Brad explores how ancient tracking instincts can sharpen modern focus, endurance, and awareness. You’ll learn how to channel primal energy — the same drive that once fueled survival — into your daily performance rituals. From reading subtle cues in your environment to mastering patience and precision, this is about reclaiming the hunter within to dominate your goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Episode 105: What It Really Means to Train Like an Athlete
Jun 601:02:34Tap to summarizeHere's what we're going to cover today. We're going to talk about what it actually means to be athletic — agility, power, speed, and performance. We're going to break down the different types of power and what they mean for your body. We'll show you how to figure out your body type, measure your metabolic rate, and track your recovery. And then we're going to hand you real training programs — built specifically around your age, your current shape, and your ability level — so you can start training like the athlete you were born to be. No sport required. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Episode 104: The Secret to Staying Fast, Mobile, and Injury-Free
Jun 200:53:19Tap to summarizeLet's start at the very beginning, because too many people skip this part. When most people hear the word "performance," they immediately think about strength, speed, power, or endurance. They think about how much weight they can move, how fast they can run, how high they can jump. And while all of those things matter, none of them are sustainable — none of them are even fully achievable — without a foundation of mobility underneath them.Think of your body as a machine. A beautifully engineered, incredibly complex machine. Now imagine that machine has joints that don't move through their full range of motion, muscles that are perpetually tight and shortened, connective tissue that hasn't been properly maintained. That machine is going to break down. Maybe not today, maybe not this month, but eventually, and often at the worst possible time. The breakdown could come as a nagging shoulder injury, a lower back that gives out, knees that ache on every stair, or hips so tight they limit every single athletic movement you try to make.Mobility work — and I'm using that as an umbrella term for calisthenics, stretching, yoga, foam rolling, dynamic movement, and all related practices — is the maintenance protocol for that machine. It is the oil in the engine, the lubrication in the joints, the spaciousness in the connective tissue that allows everything else to function at its highest level. When you train your mobility consistently, you don't just feel better. You move better, you recover faster, you perform at higher levels, and you stay in the game far, far longer than your peers who neglect this piece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Episode 103: Westside Barbell
May 2500:56:15Tap to summarizeBackgroundTo understand Westside Barbell, you have to understand where it came from. The original Westside Barbell Club was actually based in Culver City, California, in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a legitimate powerhouse in the world of competitive powerlifting, producing champions and setting standards. But the Westside Barbell that the entire strength world knows and argues about today is the one in Columbus, Ohio, the one built by Louie Simmons. And Louie did not simply copy the California club's name as an act of flattery — he inherited its spirit and then took it somewhere nobody else had the vision or the audacity to go.Louie Simmons came up as a lifter in an era when powerlifting was raw, rough, and not particularly scientific. The sport in the 1970s and early 1980s was built mostly on doing the competition lifts over and over again, adding weight when you could, and hoping your body held together. Periodization was a concept that most American coaches and lifters had barely encountered in any formal way. Soviet and Eastern European strength science was beginning to leak into Western consciousness through translated texts, but it was still largely inaccessible to the average powerlifter grinding it out in a garage or a small gym somewhere in Middle America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Episode 102: Becoming A Hybrid Athlete
May 1500:47:51Tap to summarizeWhat Exactly Is a Hybrid Athlete?Let us start at the very beginning because if you are new to this term, it deserves a proper introduction. A hybrid athlete is someone who trains simultaneously for strength, power, cardiovascular endurance, and mobility — and does not sacrifice one quality for the sake of another. The hybrid athlete is not the person who can squat six hundred pounds but gets winded walking up a flight of stairs. They are also not the ultra-marathoner who can run a hundred miles but cannot carry their own groceries without injury. The hybrid athlete lives in the middle, and that middle is a remarkable place to be.Think about the demands of real life, real sport, and real adventure. Whether you are chasing your kids around a park, competing in a weekend obstacle race, hiking a mountain, playing recreational sports with friends, or simply wanting to feel powerful and capable in your body well into your sixties and beyond, the hybrid approach prepares you for all of it. You become what fitness professionals sometimes call a generalist of the highest order — exceptionally good at everything rather than world-class at one narrow thing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Episode 101: You Are Not Everyone Else — And That's the Point
May 700:41:15Tap to summarizeOne of the most liberating and simultaneously frustrating truths about becoming a peak performer is this: what works brilliantly for your training partner may do almost nothing for you. The fitness world is drowning in one-size-fits-all programs, universal diet plans, and generic recovery advice. And the reason so many people quit, plateau, or get hurt is that they never stop to ask the most important question of all — what does my body actually need?Before we get into the specifics of training, nutrition, and recovery, we need to establish a foundation. That foundation is self-awareness. Not the soft, vague kind you hear about in motivational speeches, but the precise, practical kind that tells you how your body responds to stress, food, sleep, and effort. Peak performance isn't about pushing harder than everyone else. It's about pushing smarter, in the right direction, with the right fuel, at the right time. That's the game we're playing today.The concept of body types has been around for decades, and while modern science has added significant nuance to the conversation, the core idea holds up remarkably well. Understanding whether you tend toward a lean, wiry build, a naturally muscular and athletic frame, or a softer, more endurance-prone physique gives you an extraordinary starting point for designing a lifestyle that actually fits. These aren't rigid boxes. Most people fall somewhere between two types, and your body can shift over time. But knowing your tendencies changes everything about how you approach the work ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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