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HYROX for Endurance Athletes: The Perfect Off-Season Training Tool?

Taylor Aglio — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 03:01:55 +0000

HYROX for Endurance Athletes: The Perfect Off-Season Training Tool

A conversation with Matt Wilpers during a recent Peloton ride got me thinking about HYROX from a different perspective.

As a physical therapist assistant and strength coach, I spend a lot of time working with athletes who are highly specialized. Runners run. Cyclists ride. Swimmers swim. Sport-specific training is essential for performance, but I also see tremendous value in developing physical qualities that aren’t always addressed within an athlete’s primary sport.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve become so interested in HYROX.

As a HYROX Level 1 Coach, I’m currently training for my first HYROX race in Denver, where I’ll be competing in the Mixed Doubles division with a coworker. The more I train, the more I realize that HYROX offers benefits far beyond preparing for race day. In fact, many of its training principles could make endurance athletes stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for their own sports.

Why HYROX Is Different

HYROX combines running with functional strength stations, including:

Sled pushes
Sled pulls
Farmer carries
Walking lunges
Rowing
SkiErg
Wall balls

The unique challenge isn’t just completing each movement—it’s performing them while already fatigued.

From a strength and conditioning perspective, that’s incredibly valuable.

What Runners Can Gain from HYROX

Many runners spend the majority of their training focused on accumulating mileage.

HYROX offers something different.

Instead of simply adding more running volume, it develops qualities that often improve running performance, including:

Lower-body strength
Force production
Muscular endurance
Work capacity
Fatigue resistance

These are physical qualities that can carry over when it’s time to return to focused race training.

Why Cyclists Can Benefit Too

Cyclists are incredibly strong in the movements required to produce power on the bike—but many spend very little time training outside that pattern.

HYROX introduces movement variability through:

Loaded carries
Sled pushes and pulls
Single-leg strength
Upper-body endurance
Rotational stability
Full-body conditioning

These movements challenge the body in ways traditional cycling simply doesn’t.

The Value of Off-Season Variety

From both a rehabilitation and performance standpoint, I believe the off-season is one of the best times to expose athletes to new movement patterns and loading strategies.

Rather than continuing to perform the exact same sport-specific movements year-round, athletes can use this period to:

Build strength
Improve durability
Address weaknesses
Increase movement capacity
Reduce repetitive loading

The result is often a more resilient athlete when training ramps back up.

What the Research Says

Research continues to show that combining strength training with endurance training can improve measures such as:

Running economy
Muscular strength
Endurance performance
Overall athletic capacity

HYROX itself is also incredibly demanding from both a cardiovascular and metabolic standpoint, making it an effective way to challenge multiple energy systems within a single training session.

HYROX Doesn’t Have to Be the Goal

I’m not suggesting every runner, cyclist, or endurance athlete needs to sign up for a HYROX race.

In fact, I think the bigger opportunity is incorporating HYROX-style training without making HYROX the primary goal.

Adding just one or two sessions per week during the off-season can provide a fresh training stimulus while building strength, endurance, and resilience.

As race season approaches, training can naturally shift back toward sport-specific preparation.

The Bottom Line

The goal isn’t to turn every endurance athlete into a HYROX athlete.

The goal is to help athletes become stronger, more adaptable, and more resilient when they return to the sports they love.

For many runners, cyclists, and other endurance athletes, HYROX-style training may be one of the most effective ways to accomplish exactly that.

Written by Coach Jack Butler, PTA, Strength Coach | Physio Room

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237. IGNITE Your Mental Game | Stacy Ingram

Andrew Fix — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:54 +0000

Mental performance coach Stacy Ingram reveals why teen athletes with the most talent still hit a wall when they haven’t trained the mental side.

Talent gets an athlete to the starting line, but mental toughness is what decides who’s still standing at the finish. Dr. Andrew Fix sits down with Stacy, founder of Catalyst Mental Performance, to explore why so many young athletes build their entire mindset around results and what happens when injury, a slump, or the end of a season pulls that identity out from under them.

Ingram breaks down her IGNITE framework and explains why the difference between coaching and therapy matters more than most people realize. She and Fix dig into a question worth sitting with: what actually happens in your brain and body when the pressure is highest, and are you training for that moment or just hoping to survive it?

From free throw lines to final exams to high pressure moments at work, the conversation makes a compelling case that nervous system regulation and self-talk are skills, not personality traits. Ingram also gets honest about the gap between wanting to change and being ready to do the work, and what parents and coaches can do to spot the difference.

Whether you coach athletes, raise one, or just want to perform better under your own version of pressure, this episode offers a practical look at what separates those who thrive under pressure from those who crumble.

Quotes

“Without the sport or like a big job you might have had or a career, if you don’t know who you are as a person, you take that away and all of a sudden you have this huge gap of confidence because what made you you, at least in your mind, is gone.” (12:54 | Stacy Ingram)
“Therapy is really all about sort of how did you get here and looking a little bit more backwards, where coaching is all about how do like you’re here, no matter how you got here, how do we move you forward?” (20:01 | Stacy Ingram)
“We often aren’t playing our best game when we’re only focused on the score. And again, it doesn’t mean we don’t always want to win. Of course we want to win. But we want to do the things that give us the best chance.” (34:37 | Stacy Ingram)
“If you do nothing or implement nothing I teach you, nothing will change.” (49:36 | Stacy Ingram)
“Being intentional about our actions and our life instead of just letting things happen to us, kind of guiding that path and how we do that ourselves intentionally versus letting other people pick and choose it for us.” (54:23 | Stacy Ingram)

Connect with Stacy Ingram:

Follow the Catalyst Mental Performance on Facebook

Stacy Ingram is a dedicated Mental Toughness coach specializing in empowering young

athletes and performers to overcome the invisible barriers that often hinder their performance. With a focus on the mental side of the game, her programs are designed to equip athletes and performers with the cognitive tools and resilience needed for success both in sports/the arts and in everyday life.

Programs are also available for teams, coaches, and parents. In addition, she coaches

business leaders in Peak Performance, Team Dynamics, Change Management, Leadership,

Culture, and more.

In addition to Stacy’s 30-year business career, she has specialized training in Mindset

Coaching, Positive Psychology, the High Sensitivity Trait, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Positive Intelligence (PQ), Neurofeedback and Hypnotherapy.

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Is Yoga Enough to Build Strength? What the Science Says

Taylor Aglio — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 23:28:48 +0000

Is Yoga Enough to Build Strength? What the Science Says

Short answer: It depends on who is asking.

Longer answer: It depends on what you mean by strength and where you are in your fitness journey.

To answer that, we need to start with one important concept:

Your Body Only Changes When You Give It a Reason

Everything in training comes back to one principle: adaptation.

You ask your body to do something it isn’t quite ready for, and it adapts so it’s better prepared the next time. Push a little beyond what’s comfortable, recover, and return a little stronger, a little more capable.

Whether you’re flowing through a yoga class or standing under a barbell, that’s how progress happens.

So the real question isn’t whether yoga counts as exercise—it absolutely does.

The better question is: What kind of adaptation is yoga asking your body to make, and does that match your goals?

Your First Strength Gains Aren’t Mostly Muscle

Here’s something that surprises a lot of people.

When you begin any new type of training, the first several weeks of improvement come primarily from your nervous system, not from building new muscle tissue.

Your brain becomes better at sending the signal. More motor units fire, they fire more efficiently, and the muscles that should stay quiet learn to stay quiet. You simply become better at performing the movement.

That’s why a pose that felt impossible during your first class can feel comfortable six weeks later.

You probably haven’t built much new muscle during that time—you’ve simply become better at using what you already have.

That’s a real adaptation, and it deserves credit. It’s also why yoga can make people feel dramatically stronger in the beginning. For many people, that feeling is absolutely accurate.

Why Progress Eventually Plateaus

Muscle contraction happens on a spectrum.

Your body recruits muscle fibers in a predictable order. Smaller, more fatigue-resistant fibers are called upon first because they’re efficient and handle most everyday activities. The larger, more powerful fibers stay in reserve until the demand becomes high enough that your body has no other choice.

Those reserve fibers are where much of your true strength development occurs.

Now imagine you’ve been practicing yoga consistently for several months.

Your body weight hasn’t changed much, but your capacity has.

Twenty chaturangas that once left your arms shaking are now just part of the flow. Holding Chair Pose for a minute is uncomfortable, but manageable.

The load hasn’t increased—but you’ve adapted.

As a result, the challenge that once pushed your limits now falls comfortably below them.

At that point, you’re still improving, but the adaptation has shifted. Instead of building maximal strength, you’re developing muscular endurance, movement efficiency, and refined motor control.

Those are valuable qualities.

They’re just different from becoming significantly stronger.

What External Load Changes

Adding external resistance solves a simple problem:

It allows the demand to keep increasing as your body adapts.

Heavy squats, deadlifts, carries, presses, and other resistance exercises recruit those larger reserve muscle fibers that bodyweight movement alone eventually stops challenging.

Unlike bodyweight, external load can continue increasing for years, allowing your body to keep adapting.

This becomes even more important as we age.

Bone density responds to load.

Muscle mass—which naturally declines over time—responds to load.

Getting off the floor with ease, catching yourself when you trip, carrying groceries upstairs, or lifting a child are all expressions of strength that require more than simply holding a position.

Yoga contributes to these abilities, but progressive resistance training develops them more effectively.

This Isn’t an Argument Against Yoga

Far from it.

Yoga develops qualities that a barbell often doesn’t.

It reveals movement asymmetries you might otherwise compensate around. It builds body awareness, balance, coordination, and control in deep ranges of motion. It improves mobility while teaching you how to own that mobility.

Those qualities often make people better lifters, better runners, and better movers overall.

The best part?

No one is asking you to choose between yoga and strength training.

If strength is your goal, yoga provides an excellent foundation—and an even better complement.

At some point, though, if you want to continue getting stronger, the load has to come from outside your body.

So, Is Yoga Enough?

If you’re new to exercise or returning after time away, yoga may absolutely be enough to make you stronger—for a while.

Keep going.

You’re adapting, your body is responding, and there’s nothing to fix.

But if you’ve been practicing consistently and your strength has stopped improving, that isn’t a motivation problem or a discipline problem.

It simply means your body has adapted to the current challenge.

The stimulus no longer matches the goal.

The good news?

That’s a very solvable problem.

Building the Bridge

At Physio Room, we help people bridge the gap between mindful movement and progressive strength training.

We meet you where you are, evaluate what your body currently tolerates, and help you safely introduce the right amount of resistance to continue making progress.

You don’t have to give up yoga to get stronger.

You just have to give your body a new reason to adapt.

Written by Austyn Brown, Certified Personal Trainer | Physio Room

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236. My First HYROX Sim Experience

Andrew Fix — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:55 +0000

Dr. Andrew Fix pushed his body through a full HYROX simulation in the Colorado heat and walked away with a hard lesson about pacing that every first-timer needs to hear before race day.

What happens when a plan built on paper meets an actual clock, real heat, and eight stations back-to-back? Andrew found out firsthand at a HYROX simulation held with the team from CrossFit Falcon View. He went out too fast on the ski erg, a decision that cost him on the run that followed, and the pattern repeated throughout the event. Running makes up the majority of HYROX, and it rarely happens on fresh legs, so Andrew breaks down why compromised running deserves a real spot in training plans rather than an afterthought.

Fueling gets its own moment too. A single gel packet, taken with intention rather than panic, made a measurable difference in how he handled the back half of the event. Preparing for something he’d never done before came down to one move. Run the simulation, feel the heart rate spike, and test the fueling strategy before it counts on race day.

He also gets honest about the discomfort of pushing into unfamiliar territory and admits the experience left him humbled about what he thought he knew going in. HYROX rewards people who compete against their own benchmark rather than the person next to them. His finishing time now becomes a marker to measure against and learn from, not a number to chase blindly. For anyone eyeing a HYROX event this year, this episode offers a real look at what preparation actually demands.

Quotes

“Make sure you do a simulation. Get yourself prepared for what the actual race environment is going to feel like rather than showing up on race day.” (13:25 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“You need to practice fueling on some of these longer runs because you’re going to have to fuel on these race days.” (14:07 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“You’re comparing yourself against your own thing. It doesn’t have to be you competing with other people. It’s you competing with you.” (16:18 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“No matter how fit you are, this can still make you feel extremely exhausted.” (16:51 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“It’s all part of the learning curve and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and doing something that challenges you at the end of the day.” (17:10 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

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TMJ Disorders: Symptoms, Causes, and How Physical Therapy Can Help

Taylor Aglio — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 23:53:38 +0000

TMJ Disorders: Symptoms, Causes, and How Physical Therapy Can Help

If you’ve ever woken up with a sore jaw, noticed clicking or popping when you chew, or experienced headaches that seem to radiate from your temples, you may be dealing with a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, often referred to as TMD.

While it’s easy to brush these symptoms off at first, they can become a persistent source of pain that affects everyday activities like eating, talking, and even sleeping.

The good news? Physical therapy is often one of the most effective first-line treatments for TMJ disorders and can help many people avoid more invasive interventions.

What Is the TMJ?

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the hinge that connects your lower jaw (mandible) to your skull. You have one joint on each side of your face, located just in front of your ears.

Every time you:

Talk
Chew
Yawn
Swallow

your TMJ is working.

Because the joint is closely connected to the muscles of your jaw, neck, and face, problems in one area often create pain somewhere else.

Common Signs and Symptoms of TMJ Disorders

TMJ disorders can present in many different ways. Common symptoms include:

Jaw pain or tenderness, especially when chewing or talking
Clicking, popping, or grinding when opening or closing your mouth
Jaw locking or difficulty opening your mouth fully
Headaches around the temples or behind the eyes
Neck and shoulder tension without an obvious cause
Ear pain, pressure, or a feeling of fullness (without an infection)
Facial soreness or fatigue, especially in the morning (often from nighttime clenching or grinding)
Difficulty finding a comfortable bite

If you’ve experienced these symptoms for more than a couple of weeks, it’s worth getting evaluated. TMJ disorders are highly treatable, and earlier intervention often leads to faster recovery.

Why Your Neck Matters Just as Much as Your Jaw

TMJ pain is rarely just a “jaw problem.”

The muscles of your jaw, neck, and upper back all work together to support your head and control movement. They also share nerve pathways, meaning dysfunction in one area can create pain in another.

For example:

Poor posture from sitting at a desk
Looking down at a phone for long periods
Stiffness in the upper neck

can all increase stress on the jaw.

Likewise, jaw dysfunction can contribute to neck pain and headaches.

That’s why effective treatment focuses on the entire system—not just the jaw itself.

How Physical Therapy Can Help TMJ Pain

Every patient is different, so treatment always begins with a comprehensive evaluation.

From there, your plan may include several evidence-based treatment techniques.

Joint Mobilization

Gentle hands-on mobilizations help restore normal movement within the jaw joint, improving opening range while reducing pain, clicking, and stiffness.

Cervical (Neck) Manipulation

When neck stiffness is contributing to jaw pain—which is very common—improving mobility in the upper cervical spine can significantly reduce symptoms.

Research supports cervical treatment as part of a comprehensive TMJ program, particularly for:

Reducing headaches
Improving jaw opening
Restoring normal movement

It works best when combined with manual therapy and exercise.

Dry Needling

Dry needling can reduce muscle tension and deactivate painful trigger points throughout the jaw, face, and neck.

Common treatment areas include:

Masseter
Temporalis
Suboccipital muscles
Upper trapezius

Many patients notice improved jaw movement and decreased tension within just one or two visits.

Exercises That Help TMJ Recovery

Hands-on treatment helps reduce pain, but exercise is what creates lasting results.

Depending on your evaluation, your therapist may prescribe exercises such as:

Chin Tucks

Improve head and neck posture while reducing strain on the jaw.

Jaw & Tongue Coordination Exercises

Retrain healthy jaw movement through controlled opening and proper tongue positioning.

Wall Angels

Strengthen the upper back, improve posture, and reduce tension throughout the neck and jaw.

The combination of manual therapy, dry needling, and progressive exercise helps reduce symptoms while preventing them from returning.

You Don’t Have to Live With TMJ Pain

Jaw pain shouldn’t become something you simply learn to live with.

Whether you’re experiencing headaches, clicking, jaw tightness, or neck pain, addressing the problem early can make recovery much easier.

At Physio Room, our team takes a whole-body approach to TMJ disorders by evaluating both the jaw and the surrounding structures that influence how it moves.

With personalized treatment focused on restoring movement, reducing pain, and improving function, our goal is to help you return to eating, talking, exercising, and living comfortably again.

If you’re experiencing TMJ symptoms, we’d love to help.

Schedule an evaluation at our Highlands Ranch or Colorado Springs clinic and let us help you get back to feeling your best.

Written by By Dr. Nate Henry, PT, DPT, DSc, Board Certified OCS & SCS, CSCS | Physio Room

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235. What is HYROX and Why Did I Sign Up For It?

Andrew Fix — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:07 +0000

Dr. Andrew Fix once called HYROX dumb, so why did he sign up for the hardest fitness competition of his life anyway?

Dr. Andrew Fix records this episode from the parking lot of REI’s Denver flagship, prepping for a Run Denver Day event, and uses the moment to talk through his decision to race HYROX this November. He breaks down what the competition actually involves: eight one-kilometer runs split by eight functional stations, sled pushes, wall balls, rowing, and more, all standardized across every city in the world. That global consistency is part of what has turned HYROX into one of the fastest-growing fitness competitions anywhere, but Andrew spends most of the episode on something bigger than the race itself.

What happens to your training when nothing is on the calendar? He argues that a real goal, with a real race date attached, changes the entire relationship between effort and motivation. He’s honest about the parts of HYROX that make him nervous, including how his legs will hold up during the final wall ball station, and he treats that uncertainty as useful rather than something to avoid. Stress and discomfort, he says, are the stimulus for growth.

So what’s your version of HYROX? Andrew makes the case that the specific challenge matters far less than the fact of having one. A half marathon, a 14er hike, a dance recital, a fitness show. The finish line matters less than the discipline required to get there and the person you become along the way.

Quotes

“We all benefit from having some sort of a goal, some sort of a thing on the calendar.” (04:17 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“It doesn’t matter what the thing is. What matters is that when we have something that’s on the calendar, it gives us something to work towards. It gives us a light at the end of the tunnel and it gives us a why.” (05:07 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“When we can train with purpose or train on purpose for something, it keeps us motivated.” (05:24 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Get out there and do the thing. Put yourself in a scenario that makes you a little bit uncomfortable because we know that stress and discomfort is the stimulus for growth.” (15:04 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“The real benefits can come from the journey of how you got there.” (15:36 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

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234. You Don’t Have to Be Fast to Belong | Don Harris

Andrew Fix — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Running won’t outrun your trauma, and therapist Don Harris explains why the fastest people at the finish line are often the ones still carrying the most weight.

Don Harris has built a practice and a run club around the same idea: movement helps, but connection does the deeper work. As a therapist who works with both teenagers and adults, he’s learned that the question “What’s wrong with you?” rarely gets anyone anywhere. “What happened to you?” does. That shift shows up everywhere in this conversation, from how he counsels students to how he built Embrace the Pace, the Denver run club he founded around self-love, wellness, community, and movement rather than pace times.

What happens when you stop treating exercise as an escape hatch and start treating it as one piece of a bigger picture? Don and Andrew dig into that question from a few angles, comparing the pull of running with others against the clarity that comes from running alone, and asking why the best ideas seem to show up mid-run. If you had to shop around for a therapist the way you’d shop for any other provider, would you settle for the first opening on the schedule, or would you hold out for someone you actually connect with?

The conversation closes on Embrace the Pace’s upcoming Run for Denver Day, a free community event on July 20th built to bring Denver’s run club scene and wider wellness community together in one place, no matter your club or your pace.

Quotes

“Life happened to you. And because life happened to you in a certain way, you’re navigating it in the way that you navigate it.” (18:41 | Don Harris)
“When are you going to stop running from it and start running towards it? Because it’s going to continue to chase you because our body stores everything, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we talk about it or not, our body is storing all the experiences that happens to us. And while we’re running from things, more experiences are happening to us. And so then it becomes the question of do you want to live a heavy life or a light life?” (21:24 | Don Harris)
“Don’t just go to a therapist just because they’re a therapist. It’s 80% connection, relationship rapport, 20% modality of whatever that therapist is using. It doesn’t matter how good the therapist is, whatever they specialize in, can you connect with them?” (23:47 | Don Harris)
“This version of yourself has value. It has meaning, it is worth something. And I say when you know your worth, then you add tax to that.” (53:31 | Don Harris)
“I always tell people we start and end at the same place, no matter how fast you get there… The pace doesn’t matter. You got up, you moved your body, you accomplished something. That is a win.” (54:20 | Don Harris)

Links

Connect with Don Harris:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdondreharris/

Embrace the Pace: https://www.instagram.com/embracethepace.runclub/

DonDre ‘Don’ Harris, MSW, SWC, is a trauma-informed therapist, school social worker, and community leader passionate about helping people reconnect with themselves and others. Drawing from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and strengths-based approaches, he creates spaces where authenticity, healing, and growth can thrive.

Outside of the therapy room, Don is an ultrarunner and founder of Embrace the Pace: Run Club, where he uses movement as a tool for building community, resilience, and belonging. He believes that every mile, like every step in healing, is an opportunity to embrace the journey rather than rush the destination. Through his work, Don is committed to making mental health and the outdoors more accessible, inclusive, and transformative for all.

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233. Are You Living in the Past, Present, or Future?

Andrew Fix — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:00:36 +0000

What happens to your identity the day you can no longer do the thing you built it on?

Dr. Andrew Fix reflects on a recent 5K to explore a question most people avoid. Are you measuring your worth against a version of yourself that no longer exists? He breaks down why running a race and comparing the result to an old personal record ignores everything that has changed along the way, from injuries and surgeries to the demands of raising a family. A little perspective changes the whole picture.

The conversation moves beyond running into something bigger. Why do so many people introduce themselves through a job title or a sport they used to play? Dr. Fix shares an analogy he loves, building your identity on a single role or activity is like standing on a football. It feels solid until the moment it isn’t.

He also calls out a pattern he sees constantly in his practice. People say they used to play softball or throw the ball with their kids, but their shoulder or knee stops them now. Is that really the injury talking, or is it easier to hide behind an old identity than to do the work required to reclaim it?

This episode is a challenge to stop living through who you were and start paying attention to who you’re becoming. What would change if you answered “What do you do?” with something other than your job?

Quotes

“Are you still living in the past, holding on to the things that you used to do and the person that you used to be? Or are you focused on who you are today and the person that you’re becoming?” (00:34 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“We should lead with who we are and what we’re becoming now. And we should also not try to have our identity wrapped up necessarily in the things that we do.” (04:07 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If you try to build your life foundation on top of a football, like on a football, that is a very wobbly foundation to try and stand on.” (04:27 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If your identity is wrapped up in I am this thing that I do, I am a football player, then that’s going to be a very difficult thing when that is stripped away from you, however that happens.” (05:32 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“That’s also one of these same things where you’re holding on to an identity of something that you’re not, in a way, potentially because you’re afraid of the truth.” (07:28 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

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Marathon Injury Recovery: 3 Strategies That Helped Me Keep Training

Taylor Aglio — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:57:03 +0000

Marathon Injury Recovery: 3 Strategies That Helped Me Keep Training

Training for my first marathon was going better than I could have imagined—until it suddenly wasn’t.

The injury happened during a strength session while performing front-racked box squats. I had jumped ahead in my training cycle, progressed the weight too quickly, and was experimenting with a small mechanical change in my squat.

On the last rep of my final set, I stood up and immediately felt pain shoot down the front of my leg.

I was able to rack the bar and walk around, convincing myself it was probably nothing serious.

The next day, I headed out for my scheduled long run at Waterton Canyon. My final five miles were downhill, and with every step I could feel my quad and hip flexor becoming increasingly sore. Over the next few days, the pain continued to worsen. Simple movements—like stepping out of the driver’s seat of my car—became difficult.

Mentally, I felt defeated.

My immediate thought was that I wouldn’t be able to run the marathon I had spent months preparing for.

This training cycle had been different from any before. In previous marathon builds, I consistently struggled around mile 14 because I didn’t have a solid fueling strategy. But this time, working with my coach, Phil Buckley, everything had started to click. I had developed a much better nutrition plan, felt stronger during long runs, and even finished a recent 16-mile run feeling surprisingly fresh.

So when the injury happened, it was devastating.

It took me several weeks to reset mentally and develop a consistent recovery plan. Looking back, I wish I had stopped experimenting sooner and focused on the strategies that ultimately helped me recover.

Here are the three things that made the biggest difference.

1. Fuel and Hydrate for Recovery

One of the most important things I focused on was supporting my recovery through proper nutrition and hydration.

After hard workouts—especially strength training and long runs—your muscles are primed to absorb nutrients that help repair tissue and restore energy stores. If those resources aren’t replaced, recovery slows down and irritated tissues can remain sensitive for longer.

During my recovery, I made it a priority to:

Eat carbohydrates after training to replenish glycogen stores.
Consume enough protein to support muscle repair (around 1 gram per pound of body weight).
Fuel within 20–30 minutes after workouts.
Increase my daily water intake and supplement with electrolytes.

Hydration also plays a major role in tissue health. Muscles and connective tissues rely on adequate fluid for circulation, nutrient delivery, and elasticity. When you’re properly fueled and hydrated, your body is simply better equipped to recover.

2. Use Tools That Improve Circulation and Reduce Sensitivity

One of the most effective recovery tools I used was Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training, recommended by Dr. Katie Sasser at Physio Room’s Highlands Ranch clinic.

BFR uses a specialized cuff placed high on the limb to partially restrict venous blood flow while still allowing arterial blood into the muscle. This creates a metabolic response similar to heavy strength training while using very light loads, allowing you to build strength and improve circulation without placing excessive stress on injured tissue.

My BFR program consisted entirely of bodyweight exercises, including:

Straight leg raises
Marching
Step-ups
Reverse lunges
Copenhagen planks
Side planks
Side-lying leg raises

Despite using minimal resistance, these exercises were incredibly challenging and surprisingly effective.

I also used kinesiology tape and a compression sleeve when I returned to running.

While these tools don’t “hold muscles together,” they can improve circulation and reduce pressure on pain-sensitive receptors within the tissue. For me, they noticeably decreased the sensitivity around my hip flexor and allowed me to run more comfortably.

3. Keep Strength Training (and Cross-Training)

One of the best decisions I made during recovery was continuing to train instead of stopping altogether.

Rather than pushing through pain, I modified my strength program by focusing on:

Isometric exercises (long holds against resistance)
Strengthening the muscles surrounding my hip
Working only within pain-free or minimally painful ranges of motion (no more than 3/10 pain)
Gradually increasing my range of motion over time

Some of the exercises that helped me the most included:

Split-stance overcoming isometrics
Split squats using catch bars to control hip flexion
Barbell hip thrusts
Bulgarian split squats
Barbell Romanian deadlifts
Landmine single-leg Romanian deadlifts
Stagger-stance box squats

These movements kept my glutes, hamstrings, and core strong, reducing the workload placed on my injured hip flexor.

I also incorporated stationary bike workouts to maintain my aerobic fitness while temporarily reducing my running volume.

Working closely with my coach to manage training allowed me to stay fit, continue making progress, and maintain confidence throughout the recovery process.

The Biggest Lesson

This injury reminded me that recovery isn’t just about waiting for pain to disappear.

It’s about actively creating an environment that allows your body to heal.

Fueling well, staying hydrated, improving circulation, and maintaining strength helped me continue moving forward—even when my training didn’t go according to plan.

In the end, recovery wasn’t about doing less.

It was about doing the right things consistently.

Written by By Cassie Santana, PTA, CSCS, NASM | Physio Room

The post Marathon Injury Recovery: 3 Strategies That Helped Me Keep Training appeared first on Physio Room.

232. The Ripple Effect of Fitness | Ben Braverman

Andrew Fix — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:00:42 +0000

Ben Braverman dropped from 240 pounds and a couple of prescriptions to a sub-3:40 marathon, and he says the real transformation happened somewhere between his ears.

Ben joins Dr. Andrew Fix to talk about what actually changes when someone moves from the far end of the wellness spectrum toward something closer to optimization. His story starts with running for beginners in its truest form: a guy on a treadmill who couldn’t run a mile, slowly building toward a marathon a few years later. The physical numbers are real: weight loss, a faster marathon, and blood pressure readings that finally started moving in the right direction. But Ben keeps circling back to something harder to quantify. He calls it mental clarity, the sense that decisions got easier, stress got more manageable, and his work and relationships improved almost as a side effect of taking care of his body.

What does it actually feel like to operate without a constant mental fog? And how much of that fog do most people simply accept as normal because they’ve never known anything else?

The two also dig into why personal growth rarely moves in a straight line. Ben’s second year of running was slower than his first, and a coach’s advice to celebrate small wins kept him moving forward when the personal records stopped coming. Andrew frames health less as a finish line and more as seasons of pushing and pulling back, a pattern borrowed from how elite athletes train and recover. Underneath all of it sits one quiet but stubborn idea: consistency, not intensity, is what actually moves people from the left side of the spectrum to the right. The conversation touches on nutrition, sleep, and the discomfort that seems to accompany any real change, landing on a simple idea: the gap between feeling okay and feeling genuinely well might be smaller than most people think.

Quotes

“For someone that’s never really felt fit, you’re always a little tired because you’re eating poorly. You’re always a little fatigued.” (16:07 | Ben Braverman)
“You don’t need to be running forty, fifty, sixty miles a week, lifting four to five times a week, cold plunging five times a week, hot yoga three times a week…If you get out there and you run for 30 minutes four times a week, and getting some resistance training two times a week, you probably will see changes if you’re on that left side of the spectrum.” (23:41 | Ben Braverman)
“If you don’t have a coach, you should. I would give it a shot. If you’re trying to get faster or just trying to accomplish something, it’s helpful to have that expert.” (50:42 | Ben Braverman)
“I feel like I process stress better. And I think that’s a byproduct of mental clarity. Being able to process the down days.” (43:41 | Ben Braverman)
“If you know somebody that’s struggling with fitness, like I was on the left side of the spectrum, send them this pod, because you can transform even much later in life.” (53:55 | Ben Braverman)

Connect with Ben Braverman:

The In Good Order Podcast with Ben Braverman

(5% off)