The UNLOCKED Podcast

A short guided practice to downshift, recover, and ground the nervous system.

This episode is a guided nervous system reset designed to help you downshift from stress, stimulation, or mental overload.

You don’t need a yoga studio, special equipment, or prior experience. This practice can be done seated or lying down, at home, after work, after training, or before sleep.

The breathing and awareness used here are intended to support recovery by gently shifting the nervous system out of a high-alert state and toward a calmer, mo...

Episode 5 is a short, high-energy activation episode focused on momentum rather than discipline. Instead of relying on motivation as a prerequisite, this episode explains how movement itself acts as a biological signal that organizes focus, clarity, and drive. The emphasis is on reducing friction, using small actions to shift nervous system state, and creating traction without pressure. This episode is designed to be listened to in real time, especially before work, training, or any task that requires initiation.

Energy Adjustment Options

High-performance days:

Read at a slightly faster pace...

This episode is a guided downshift designed to help the system settle and recover.

Episode 6 is a calm, guided rest and grounding session designed to reset the nervous system and support recovery after stress, stimulation, or prolonged cognitive load.

This episode is intentionally slower and quieter than the main educational episodes. It focuses on breath, awareness, and bodily grounding to help the listener transition out of a high-output state and back into a state where recovery, clarity, and regulation can occur.

Rather than framing rest as inactivity, the episode presents it...

This is a short-form episode designed to reset momentum and reconnect effort with direction.

Episode 5 is a high-energy motivation episode focused on momentum, agency, and rebuilding forward motion when progress feels stalled or scattered.

Rather than pushing discipline or intensity for its own sake, this episode reframes motivation as a biological and psychological state that emerges when effort, meaning, and feedback are aligned. We explore why people often feel stuck not because they lack drive, but because their systems are overloaded, under-recovered, or poorly sequenced.

The episode speaks directly to listeners who feel...

Episode 4 explores ACTN3, a gene tied to fast-twitch muscle fiber structure, and how muscle architecture influences strength, speed, fatigue, and recovery. We move beyond genetic labels and focus on how structure, energy systems, and training signals interact to shape performance over time.

The episode traces the scientific history of ACTN3, beginning with the identification of the R577X variant and early athlete association studies, then moves into mechanistic research using Actn3 knockout models to explain why some bodies respond differently to power and endurance demands.

Rather than treating genetics as destiny...

Episode 3 uses COMT as a practical lens for understanding signal duration and clearance in focus and stress physiology. We trace COMT through the mid 20th century discovery era of neurotransmitter inactivation, then connect it to prefrontal cortex function and later human genetics work on functional variation such as Val158Met. The episode stays focused on real world patterns like wired but tired and fog, then gives repeatable experiments around caffeine timing, light timing, sleep stability, training structure, and downshift rituals. The aim is a cleaner signal, steadier attention, and more predictable recovery, especially for high demand lifestyles like students...

In Episode 2, we use BDNF, Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, as a real biological example of how training and environment shape adaptation. BDNF is part of the neurotrophin family, signals that support neurons and plasticity, which matters for learning, mood, and performance. We walk through the research history behind neurotrophins, including the NGF thread, and then bring it into modern exercise science. We cover what studies tend to show about acute exercise effects on peripheral BDNF, what longer training programs suggest about resting peripheral BDNF, and a measurement nuance that changes how results appear, serum versus plasma, and why platelets...

In Episode 1 of The Unlocked Podcast, we start with the foundation: what DNA is, what genes do, and why gene expression is the key to understanding human performance.

Most people grow up thinking DNA is a fixed script. In reality, DNA is an instruction manual, and gene expression determines which instructions are used at any given time.

In this episode, we explain DNA in plain language, break down how genes build proteins, and connect those proteins to outcomes people care about: training results, recovery, stress tolerance, mood, and cognition. We also...