Now that we’re a month into the new year, it’s statistically likely that whatever health resolutions you set for 2020, have already lost their shine. Luckily for those who need simple workout tips and expert motivation to get back on track, there are plenty of coaches and nutritionists available in audio form. Other shows explore health through individual stories of survival, endurance and transformation, or through candid interviews in which guests reflect on their psychological struggles. Whatever version of wellness you’re looking for, here are seven podcasts to get you in better physical and emotional shape.
‘Obstacle’
Every fitness guru needs an origin story — often one of emotional transformation through exercise — and “Hurdle” host Emily Abbate is no exception. Now a writer and health coach, Abbate was “significantly overweight” when she was a student and reoriented her life after discovering running. In his addictive bi-weekly podcast, Abbate shares fitness tips from his own life and interviews people who have overcome obstacles through a healthy lifestyle. While many guests come from the fitness world, including trainer Jillian Michaels and soccer player Alex Morgan, others are simply successful people for whom fitness is an essential tool, and their stories offer many useful lessons for everyday life.
Starter episode: “How to start (and stay) running”
“Happy Hour on Mental Illness”
Although mental health is still too often overlooked in the cultural debate around “well-being,” the situation is slowly changing as the stigma around the topic recedes. Comedian Paul Gilmartin has been breaking the taboo for years with this “weekly hour of honesty about all the battles in our heads”, a show that makes you feel like you’re part of a very articulate support group. Gilmartin leads wide-ranging and intimate conversations with guests primarily from the creative arts world, who share raw confessions about their deepest fears, compulsive behaviors, and traumatic stories. Although the show can be difficult to listen to, it is also full of irreverent humor and hope.
Starter episode: “Best of: Rob Delaney (2011)”
“Quick and practical tips from the nutrition diva to eat well and feel good”
The Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network offers a variety of bite-sized service shows with tips on topics like grammar, parenting, and productivity. Nutritionist Monica Reinagel, known as the Nutrition Diva, takes a “healthy, science-based” approach to dietary advice that cuts through the flow of often conflicting information and delivers deceptively simple lessons, all in a short journey. Whether you’re trying to choose a non-dairy milk alternative or curious about intermittent fasting, Reinagel will likely have an episode on the topic, and her level-headed delivery will leave you feeling calmer and better informed.
Starter episode: “10 Nutritional Concerns You Can Stop Stressing About”
‘An arm and a leg’
“We may be screwed, but we are together” is the gleefully nihilistic slogan of this podcast about the cost of health care. No conversation about wellness would be complete without acknowledging the labyrinthine medical system that Americans are forced to navigate, and after listening to a few episodes of An Arm and a Leg, you’ll understand why the series was (semi-ironically) nominated for “Best True Crime Podcast” Last year. Telling stories of patients being sued by their hospitals, inexplicably abandoned by their insurance companies, or billed thousands of dollars a month for essential medications, host Dan Weissmann strikes a balance between dry humor and palpable anger, and always offers solutions or suggestions to compensate for the mind-boggling case studies.
Starter episode: “Can they really do that?!?”
“Food psychology”
Intuitive eating – a philosophy that rejects dieting in favor of listening to your body’s internal signals – has become more widespread in recent years with the paradigm of “health at all sizes”. Dietitian Christy Harrison’s inspiring show is one of the best resources if you’re intrigued by this size-inclusive movement; the show promotes a clean break from traditional food culture and features interviews with guests who explain how they unlearn years of restrictive and unhealthy behaviors. Harrison’s approach is unapologetically radical, dismantling the ways in which diet culture is a “stealer of life” and how wellness can provide a smokescreen for eating disorders. Listen and feel your perspective change.
Starter episode: “FAQs on Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size”
“Outdoor podcast”
While not primarily focused on fitness, “Outside Podcast” tells compelling human stories set in the great outdoors, and its most compelling episodes are positioned at the intersection of physical endurance and psychological upheaval. In one, host Peter Frick-Wright viscerally recounts his experience breaking a leg in the middle of a dangerous and isolated canyon hike; in another, a hapless hiker becomes a case study in the strange and devastating neurological effects caused by a lightning strike. Even in its less consequential moments — like the episode in which a longtime H2O skeptic starts drinking a gallon a day — this show will change the way you look at your body and its capabilities.
Starter episode: “Hit by lightning”
“The model health show”
Among hundreds of testosterone-fueled fitness podcasts promising to get you shredded and rewire your microbiome — but only if you follow a specific, restrictive diet to the letter — Shawn Stevenson’s unbiased offering stands out. “The Model Health Show” focuses on overall health, inspired by Stevenson’s experience overhauling his lifestyle to combat chronic pain from degenerative disc disease. In his conversations with experts, Stevenson offers a balanced, evidence-based analysis of fitness fads and trends, and devotes as much time to psychological well-being as he does to how to accelerate fat loss and to develop muscle mass.
Starter episode: “TMHS 383: How Your Thoughts Control Your Biology and How to Transform Your Thinking”
