Phil Maffetone: Doctor, Coach, Author, Teacher
Oct. 30, 2015
For more than 35 years, Phil Maffetone has brought the latest advances in fitness and nutrition to health-care professionals around the world. Dr. Maffetone has a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a doctorate in chiropractic, with certifications in physiotherapy, Chinese medicine, and kinesiology.
Dr. Maffetone has worked with world-class athletes and celebrity personalities, as well as people from all walks of life. His extensive list of clients include professional football and baseball players, race-car drivers, Olympic medalists, and, of course, six-time Hawaii Ironman Champion Mark Allen.
A clever way to convince people of their carbohydrate intolerance.
In the early 1980s Dr. Maffetone had a lot of experience with low-carb, high-fat diets but came against the popular notion of the day that protein and fat was unhealthy. He found it increasingly difficult to convince people that his ideas were right, so he came up with the Two-week Test as an attempt to show people the difference. His thought was that since he couldn’t convince people intellectually, he’d have to show them how good they could feel in just two weeks by adopting his recommendations.
For two weeks he’d have the client eliminate all junk food, remove all moderate and high glycemic index foods, and then keep track of their symptoms and weight. If dealing with specific health issues the client would keep track of those as well (blood pressure, for example). In just two weeks many of those clients would feel so much better the wouldn’t require any more convincing on the part of Dr. Maffetone.
A different time with different issues.
As the winds of change have continued to blow over the health and fitness culture we’ve seen things come to a point today where many top athletes, trainers, and coaches have come around to Dr. Phil’s way of thinking about dietary issues. Still, there are problems that come even on that side of the spectrum. One of the more recent is athletes on a high-fat diet who are under eating. Dr. Phil says, “Not being hungry is a wonderful thing… if you’re healthy.” He insists that these athletes need to focus on nutrient density if they’re eating so much less.
This is a wide ranging conversation covering many aspects of Dr. Phil’s experience and career as a health practitioner and coach, as well as his insights on the training practices athletes can use to increase aerobic strength as well as performance. You’ll enjoy this one!
Here’s the outline of this interview with Phil Maffetone:
- [0:03] Introduction of Phil Maffetone, doctor, author, and pioneer of heart rate monitoring.
- [2:02] Phil’s description of what’s in his latest book, “The Endurance Handbook.”
- [3:22] What Phil recommends to improve muscular strength without sacrificing health.
- [8:48] The app that Dr. Phil is working on and why he’s creating it.
- [11:04] The work that goes into research studies and the thing that’s missing in healthcare today (Dr. / Patient relationship).
- [12:58] The kind of work Phil does with his clients, including testing and coaching.
- [24:10] What Dr. Phil has changed in his testing over the years.
- [30:28] Dr. Phil’s Two-week Test.
- [33:48] Is the Two-week Test as needed today?
- [37:00] What Dr. Phil believes causes insulin resistance?
- [42:28] How common is it for athletes on a high fat diet to undereat?
- [50:35] Christopher’s experience with doing workouts according to what he “feels” he needs, including interval training, and Dr. Phil’s response.
- [58:31] Does working the aerobic system mean that an athlete needs to do 25 hours of training a week?
- [1:01:00] Where would Dr. Phil start if he had no degrees but wanted to start again?
- [1:04:50] Dr. Phil’s certification program that’s being created.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Phil’s conversation with Robb Wolf
The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing
Digital Fitness is a Digital Misfit (article)
Podcast episode on Iron Overload
PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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