

Optimal Performance
Sean McCormick
Optimal Performance is the podcast all about taking your mental and physical performance to the next level. Whether it's through nootropics, cutting-edge biohacking techniques, or adjusting your approach to nutrition and fitness, we'll have the best minds in the industry on to talk about how you can achieve optimal performance in all areas of your life.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 6, 2017 • 1h 2min
119: Peace and Profit Manifesto: Meditation and Abundance with Todd White of Dry Farm Wines
At the risk being accused of hyperbole, this is one of the most powerful episodes of the OPP yet. The ever passionate Todd White (Dry Farm Wines) reveals his Profit and Peace Manifesto: how focusing on gratitude and abundance rather than financial results has helped Dry Farm Wines build the fastest growing club in the world - one that features 6 hour work days, daily team meditations and affirmations, and 100X growth last year. (We don't even mention wine until the 37 min mark.) I visited the Dry Farm Wines team in Napa Valley to participate in their daily pre-work ritual of meditation, affirmation and gratitude. What I experienced was beyond my expectations. The transformative power of their energy, light, and love revealed much about their success as individuals and as a team. Todd shares how we can build these habits into our lives along with the deeper impact of living in a world filled with love and support. As Todd reminds us, "Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Likewise, our doubts and fears cannot exist in a world of love, gratitude and abundance." We explore practical ways to implement these concepts, along with minimalism, creating rockstars, setting boundaries between work and personal life, and leaning into - or striving for - a particular goal is the last thing you want to do. Replace expectation with appreciation and you'll find peace. Tune in - and share this episode with your friends, family, and co-workers (I dare you!) to create this fail-proof family environment in your community.

Jul 3, 2017 • 1h 3min
118: The 6 Most Cost Effective Biohacks with Todd Shipman
Endurance runner, biohacker, father and husband Todd Shipman will be featured in September's Men's Health magazine for a day in the life of a biohacker. We've got him on the OPP first, sharing his 6 most cost effective biohacks and an epic conversation about promoting health, wellness, nutrition and movement. We discuss: Why Men's Health chose Todd for their "A Day In The Life of Biohacker" feature Is The AHA a terrorist organization? How do we spread our message of health and optimization without turning people off like we're door-to-door evangelists. The phenomenon of Horizontal Hatred: Stopping the in-fighting within our health niches (keto, primal, Crossfit, Vegan, etc) to focus on promoting better living to people currently outside the health community The importance of celebrating every small victory along the journey Todd's best FREE biohacks: breathing, cold exposure, and going barefoot Todd's Top 3 "best bang for your buck" biohacks: Red Light, HRV, and neurofeedback MoveNat - Natural movement How Todd Shipman spans the niches of primal, quantum, bulletproof, and much more...

Jun 29, 2017 • 45min
117: Dr Michael Breus on the 4 Chronotypes (Sleep Animals), Hacking Sex & Sleep, Hormones, Productivity, and Light
Dr. Michael Breus, also known as The Sleep Doctor is the author of The Power of When - the book that explains the best time for you to do everything, based on your individual biological clock. Dr. Breus has identified 4 chronotypes or "sleep animals": bears, lions, dolphins, and wolves. Understanding our natural tendencies allows us to find the optimal time to do anything and everything - from sex and sleep, to workouts, highly productive work and everything in between. Understand why most studies and health recommendations are wrong for 40-50% of the population Discover why 90% of people are having sex at the wrong time of day Learn how the PER3 gene is one of 80 genes that determine your sleep drive and your unique biological clock How cancer cells multiply faster when we're sleep deprived Why "The Power of When" can improve your relationships at home and at work How light changes metabolism, sleep, and sexual arousal And much more... Tune in to learn your chronotype and what it says about you.

Jun 26, 2017 • 49min
116: How to Buy the Right Oils, Spotting Fake Olive Oils, Business and Paleo with Tony Kasandrinos
Kasandrinos Olive Oil is the fastest growing olive oil company in the world. Founder Tony Kasadrinos has built this family business while serving as an active duty US Marine. We talk about family, how the Kasandrinos clan has built such a thriving business, the Paleo world, and of course Olive Oil. Tony reveals the secret behind the "fake olive oil" scandal, why you shouldn't worry about these reports and why he says ALL oils will eventually fail this test. He also explains how to find the best oils - looking for lot numbers, pressed on dates and more - way beyond the normal label claims like Organic and Extra Virgin.

Jun 22, 2017 • 36min
115: 5 Research-Backed Methods To Instantly Increase Happiness
This episode is by request. You guys asked for ways to "hack" your mood, happiness, and mindset...here are 5 research-backed methods to instantly improve your mood, increase happiness and skyrocket your productivity. Find out: How social media is linked to depression and how the average person spend 2 hours a day on social media. Why we produce less serotonin on cloudy days and when we're sedentary. Why 10,000 steps a day doesn't mean you're "healthy". Why city dwellers have a 20 percent higher risk of anxiety disorders and a 40 percent higher risk of mood disorders as compared to people in rural areas. How walking in nature - even looking a pictures of nature can decrease activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression, reduce mental fatigue, and boost productivity. Plus, we'll cover the 1 simple trick that makes you 12X more likely to be happy, how real social interaction impacts our physiology more than cigarette smoking, and what you can learn from prison shows like Orange Is The New Black and Oz (hint: it has to do with solitary confinement) Tune in and let us know your favorite sound bite. Post a screen grab or photo of you listening, tag @naturalstacks + @ryanmunsey_ + 1 FRIEND who needs to hear this & you'll both be entered to win FREE CILTEP! And use the code CILTEPOPP to save 50% on your first month of CILTEP subscription.

Jun 19, 2017 • 51min
114: Hacking Time and Cell Phone Palmistry with Mindful Cyborg Chris Dancy
Chris Dancy is the World's Most Connected Man, lecturing all over the world on how we can better utilize technology to monitor our health, hack time, and be more mindful cyborgs. I met Chris at the Biohacker Summit Sweden last month where he presented a keynote on time-traveling using our phones, calendars, and wearable devices. In this episode of the OPP, Chris explains how we "lack the ability to track what we value, so we end up valuing what we track." We explore time travel, time-hacking, and optimizing our tracking devices to enhance our lives. Chris has a new TV show coming soon where he "reads" phones like a psychic reads palms - called "phone palmistry". We have Chris analyze the phones of some of our listeners (with startling accuracy) and we have their reactions to prove it! Discover what your phone says about you and learn how to customize your phone to slow down time, optimize your health and relationships, and enhance your overall wellbeing.

Jun 15, 2017 • 1h 8min
113: Play Away Your Anxiety with Charlie Hoehn
"The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression." - Charlie Hoehn Charlie Hoehn is the Head of Author Marketing for Book In A Box and has written several best-selling books of his own: Play It Away and Recession-Proof Graduate, that offer simple solutions that help people get on with their lives. Previously, Charlie interned with Seth Godin, Ramit Sethi and was Tim Ferriss' Director of Special Projects, whom he helped edit and launch The 4-Hour Body. The book debuted as a bestseller — #1 New York Times, #1 Amazon, #1 Barnes & Noble. When he graduated college in the midst of the recession, Charlie Hoehn found a way to provide value, allowing him to thrive when many others suffered. His unique approach - explained in this interview - has enabled him to rub shoulders with and learn from some of the most powerful minds of our time. Charlie's own "workaholic" nature drove him to depression and serious bouts of anxiety which led him to discover the power of play and how it can help us increase happiness and reduce anxiety. This podcast is loaded with lessons from Charlie's mentors (Seth Godin, Ramit Sethi, and Tim Ferris) as well as actionable strategies for you to end the guilt you feel when you're not working, reduce stress and anxiety, and how to build more play (read: joy & happiness) into your life.

Jun 12, 2017 • 55min
112: Making $h!t Happen with Paleo Chef & Phat Fudge Creator Mary Shenouda
Paleo Chef & Phat Fudge creator Mary Shenouda is a true unicorn. Mary, aka the Paleo Chef, is a private chef to professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities, and the flavor formulator of many of your favorite #Paleo products. She's also on a mission to help millions eat better, play more, and live a fulfilling life. #EatPlayCrush We sat down with Mary a few weeks ago in Venice, California to decode her secrets of high performance. The result is one-of-a-kind episode of the OPP, where we talk with the creator of Unicorn Fuel to learn how to embrace your uniqueness, eat like you give a damn about yourself, crush life, being a female entrepreneur, individualizing the Paleo diet to fit your own needs, and using mortality to fuel your mission.

Jun 8, 2017 • 36min
111: Sitting is The New Smoking: Physiology of Posture, Breathe, CNS & Vagal Tone with Aaron Alexander
The average person SITS 7.7 hours a day, with some people sitting up to 15 hours! By comparison, the average person only gets 6.5 hours of sleep each night. No wonder we're seeing a shift away from health in the average person. After all, 71% of the US is overweight. These statistics tell us a LOT. We sit too much. We sleep and move too little. And you already know we eat more than we ever have in the history of our species - most of that coming from low quality, processed foods. But not you - right?! ;) Back to this sitting thing... The CDC has called sitting the new smoking. Since most of us work from a seated position, commute to work sitting in cars, buses, trains, and planes, and then spend much of our down time sitting in front of TV's, hunched over phones... This podcast is something you need to hear. I'm joined by Aaron Alexander of Align Therapy to discuss how our posture impacts - no, it DICTATES - our physiology. Tune in to find out how you can optimize your sitting time and overcome the muscular, skeletal, and emotional crippling that comes from sitting in submissive, depressive, "douchey" positions for 1/3 of your life (8/24 hours a day). Hack your posture while sitting to optimize your physiology, feelings, mood, decisions and hormonal health. #LiveOptimal

Jun 5, 2017 • 32min
110: Is the Ketogenic Diet Wrong for Power Athletes?
Few things are one size fits all. Especially diets. New research has linked the ketogenic diet to decreases in peak performance for some athletes. In the first ever OPP solo-cast, I'll discuss this research, what it means for us, and for power athletes, the best applications of the ketogenic diet, and how my 8-month experiment with being keto caused a 20-25% drop in strength. We'll look at the benefits of ketosis and how we can hack the ketogenic diet to reap the benefits while avoiding some of the common drawbacks. Study Results on Performance - VO2 Max DECREASED 2.4% - Peak Power DECREASED 4.1% - Grip Strength INCREASED 2.5% Study Results on Biomarkers - 3% reduction in blood glucose - 20% reduction in insulin - 22% reduction in IGF-1


