Wilderness Fitness Podcast with Dr. Rob Minturn PT, CSCS · Dr. Rob Minturn PT, CSCS

Ep 69: Control the Controllable

·37 min·1 clip

Rob opens solo and points listeners back to last week’s episode if they want a good laugh on the way to work. He says that one still had real learning in it, even if it was mostly guys talking and messing around. From there he gets into the main point: stop spending energy on the parts of life you do not control. He uses ordinary examples to make it concrete, like fruit being available when it is ripe, not when you wish it would be. That same idea carries through the rest of the episode. He runs through a pile of daily annoyances like poor commutes, being cut off, unhappy customers, delayed flights, and other noise, and treats them as background static. The point is not to pretend those things do not exist. The point is to keep them from steering the whole day. He then shifts to performance and says carbs are the jet fuel for the body. If workouts are sucking, he wants listeners to check carbohydrate intake before they start inventing fancier explanations. He says having whole grains and the right carbs matters if you want real energy in the gym, on the mountain, or out hunting. He also notes that waking up tired and feeling like you are working harder than your heart rate suggests can be a carb problem. Once he moves into recovery and rehab, he starts using his construction analogy. Protein is the building material, and carbs are the crew that actually puts the project together. You can stack all the materials you want, but without enough crew the job still does not get done. He uses that picture to argue that recovery from injury or surgery needs both pieces working together. He also pushes back on the idea that protein needs to hit a full gram per pound of body weight. His take is that 0.7 to 0.9 grams per pound is already plenty for most people. He keeps the tone blunt and practical the whole way through, even when the talk gets a little long and circles back on itself. At the end he invites listeners to check out his school group, his website, and his social channels if they want more. It closes like a coach talking to a regular person who has to live in their own body and make the next decision count.

As heard by us

A blunt reminder to focus on fuel, recovery, and what can actually be controlled.

Rob Mintern's Control the Controllable is a practical reset for anyone spending too much time on problems that do not move the needle. It keeps coming back to what can actually be controlled: food, training, recovery, and how the body shows up for work.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If your workouts feel flat, this gives you a plainspoken reset about carbs, protein, and controlling the controllables.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Wilderness Fitness Podcast with Dr. Rob Minturn PT, CSCS