Our guest this week is Doctor Kirk Parsley. He is a sleep specialist and has been treating Navy Seals, Special Ops, First Responders, and yes - endurance athletes, with sleep related ailments or performance issues. If you don't get 8 hours of sleep as a non-athlete and as much as 10 for ultra-runners, you will want to know what you could be doing to your performance and health.
Thanks to last week's guest, ultra-runner and coach Don Reichelt. Don shared his preparation and training for Badwater 135. We also talked about how he helps other athletes train for that distance. We will be watching his race closely and look forward to seeing his result. My sense is, we are going to be impressed!
Discussion Teasers:
Interview Setup:
Kirk Parsley served as an Undersea Medical Officer at Naval Special Warfare Group One from June 2009 to January 2013. While there, he led the development and supervised the group’s first Sports Medicine Rehabilitation center. He is a former SEAL, and received his Medical Degree from Bethesda, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in 2004. He interned in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Balboa Naval Hospital San Diego in 2005 and subsequently completed a Navy residency in Hyperbarics and Diving Medicine in 2006.
Doctor Parsley has been a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine since 2006 and served as Naval Special Warfare’s expert on Sleep Medicine. In addition he is certified in hormonal modulation (Age-Management Medicine). After leaving the Navy he went into concierge medicine and consulting. He continues to consult for multiple corporations, and professional athletes/teams. Doctor Parsley lectures worldwide on sleep, wellness, and hormonal optimization and is currently completing a book on sleep and health optimization.
His philosophy for wellness is simple; in order to optimize our health and get the most out of our bodies and minds, we must live more closely to the way we evolved as a species. He believes that many diseases and disorders that we accept as “inevitable” in modern society are unnecessary complications of poor sleeping habits, living in a toxic environment, eating foods we were not designed to digest, and allowing stress to overwhelm us. His passion is to help his patients and clients achieve the highest quality of life possible, and realize their health, performance, and longevity goals.
Dr. Parsley spends as much of his spare time as possible with his three beautiful children (Hayden, Cole, and Harper). He has been a competitive athlete his entire life, and enjoys nearly all outdoor activities and sports.
Interview debrief:
inadequate sleep has an adverse effect on glucose metabolism. A study at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine showed that after a single week of sleep restriction in young healthy male athletes, glucose levels were altered and led to a rapid deterioration of bodily functions. The authors compared the body’s diminished ability to handle glucose to aging effects seen in the elderly.
We also need sleep to produce HGH, or human growth hormone, the substance critical to post-exercise tissue repair that’s manufactured by the pituitary gland. In short, sleep is required to speed our recovery from training sessions and and racing. When sleep deprived, athletes commonly complain that a race or workout felt harder than expected.
Lake Havasu and Tucson Trip:
Trashcan Lid run https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2564650099
dinner with Alain Lambert and Barry Siff, and the ride with Alain on Mt. Lemmon
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2566311987
Time Management Tip:
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Thanks again for listening to MHE. Train well this week. Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!