Harley Pasternak, MSc nutritionist, is a five-time New York Times best-selling author and celebrity personal trainer with more than 30 years in health and fitness.

Does getting in shape really require longer workouts and more fitness data? Celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak joins Dr. Mike T Nelson to discuss short strength sessions, practical nutrition, daily steps, sleep, and the simple habits he prioritizes over fitness trends.

Expect to learn how to coach unusual diet preferences without losing trust, why Harley favors short strength sessions, what goes into a useful hotel gym, how he builds steps and meals gradually, where fitness data can become a distraction, and his perspective on protein, fiber and supplement decisions, and much more.

Connect with Harley:

Website
Instagram

Episodes you'll enjoy next:

Building a Fitness Empire: Business Lessons, Zone 2 & Recovery Trends with Don Saladino — #403

Episode 383: Body Composition, Strength Training, and Sustainable Habits with Martin Silva

Episode Timestamps:

02:13 Beyond Fad Diets
04:34 Coaching Food Preferences
06:48 From Canada To Hollywood
09:47 Designing Hotel Gyms
11:59 The Mobile Film-Set Gym
14:45 Portable Cable Training
19:18 Favorite Strength Machines
21:59 Short Workouts On Set
23:45 Film-Role Transformations
28:22 Motivation And Logistics
33:20 Building Simple Habits
37:28 Sleep Tracking Basics
40:09 Zone 2 And Data Overload
43:06 Fitness Versus Attention
49:16 Supplements And Peptides
51:06 GLP-1 Nutrition Concerns
53:25 Fish And Food Choices
55:06 Connect With Harley

Content note: Film-role weight-loss examples involved medical monitoring and are not a general weight-loss plan. Views about training metrics and supplements are discussed as the guest's perspective, not individualized medical advice.

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Jonah Rosner is a sport scientist, performance coach, and founder of Marathon Science, translating endurance research for runners and hybrid athletes.

Does everyone really need two to three hours of Zone 2 each week? Sport scientist Jonah Rosner joins Dr. Mike T Nelson to explore when higher-intensity work makes sense, how to separate cardiovascular stress from tissue stress, and what heat training and blood flow restriction may add to an endurance plan.

Expect to learn why time-crunched lifters may benefit from carefully selected intervals, how to separate cardiovascular load from tissue load, why sprinting needs a gradual runway, what heat acclimation may change beyond plasma volume, where oxygen strategies and blood flow restriction fit, and how to interpret heart rate alongside performance, and much more.

Connect with Jonah:

Marathon Science newsletter
Instagram: @rosnerperformance

Episodes you’ll enjoy next:

VO2 Max, Zone 2 Training & the Psychology of Human Performance — Ben Skutnik — #402

From Powerlifter to Trail Runner — Paul Oneid & Cody Miller — #393

Episode Timestamps:

03:00 Zone 2 Versus HIIT
05:00 Choosing Safer HIIT Modes
08:56 Building Toward Faster Sprints
13:30 Quality Density Running Repeats
15:48 Polarizing Your Running Training
19:36 Heat Training For Endurance
26:40 Exercising In The Heat
29:48 Cooling And Heat Perception
32:27 Cold Water Between Intervals
35:10 Altitude And Oxygen Strategies
40:35 Exercise With Oxygen Therapy
42:16 Blood Flow Restriction Training
45:10 Measuring Muscle Oxygen Extraction
52:04 Heart Rate Versus Output
57:26 Triphasic Training For Runners
61:25 Thinking Beyond Training Dogma

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James de Lacey is a strength and conditioning coach with an MSc in Sport & Exercise Science and more than a decade of experience in professional sport spanning professional and international rugby/rugby league. He now focuses on combat sports to prepare fighters under Sweet Science of Fighting.

Do fighters really need zone 2 cardio? Strength and conditioning coach James de Lacey of Sweet Science of Fighting joins Dr. Mike T Nelson to challenge the "big aerobic base first" playbook for combat sports, from heart rate recovery and short-rest sprint intervals to muscle oxygen (NIRS) data. They also dig into VO2 max, wearables and why AI-written programs often miss the mark.

Expect to learn why James questions the “huge aerobic base” approach for fighters, how heart rate recovery and heart rate kinetics can reveal more than time in zones, how short-rest sprint intervals and a simple air bike baseline test can guide programming, what muscle oxygen (NIRS) data can and can’t tell you, why trends beat single data points from wearables, and why generic AI-written programs often miss the mark—and much more.

Connect with James:

• sweetscienceoffighting.com
• jamesdelacey.com
• Sweet Science of Fighting on Instagram
• Sweet Science of Fighting on YouTube

Episodes you'll enjoy next:

• Episode 326: Row Hard, Breathe Easy: Boosting Aerobic Capacity with Dr. Kenneth Jay: Dr. Kenneth Jay on rowing and boosting aerobic capacity (Mike credits Dr. Jay for the bioenergetic testing he mentions in this conversation).
• Episode 221: Training performance, nitric oxide, blood flow, and more via the NNOXX device with Evan Peikon: Evan Peikon on training performance, nitric oxide and blood flow via the NNOXX device (Mike mentions Evan in this conversation).

Episode Timestamps:

• 03:35 The biggest conditioning mistake in MMA
• 05:50 Why sprints are more aerobic than you think
• 07:46 Do fighters need a huge aerobic base?
• 09:44 VO2 max, muscle limits and oxygen testing
• 11:57 Conditioning trends and training volume
• 15:36 Zone 2, time costs and the 80/20 debate
• 22:10 Heart rate response and recovery between rounds
• 25:43 Mike’s rower test and heart rate recovery
• 28:25 Air bike sprints with short rests
• 31:44 Muscle oxygen and power between repeats
• 34:19 Testing and training each athlete’s limiter
• 41:47 Flexible Meathead Cardio and technical training
• 46:05 Elite athletes, VO2 max and training context
• 50:22 NIRS, oxygen drops and peak power
• 57:18 Why trends beat single test results
• 1:02:56 Wearables, coaching judgment and session design
• 1:06:57 AI programs and generic training blocks
• 1:13:02 Training around life and where to find James

Get the Daily Fitness Insider newsletter (free): https://www.miketnelson.com/newsletter