🎙️ New Episode of the Medical Fitness Podcast

Guest: Dr. Michelle Segar, University of Michigan

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Michelle Segar, NIH-funded scientist, author of No Sweat and The Joy Choice, and internationally recognized expert on sustainable behavior change. With more than 30 years of research and coaching experience, Dr. Segar has advised organizations like the World Health Organization, Kaiser Permanente, and Walmart on how to create lasting lifestyle change.

What we cover:

• The “lightbulb” moment: Dr. Segar discovered early in her career that even cancer survivors who benefited from exercise stopped once a study ended. This sparked her life’s work—understanding why people quit and how to help them stick with movement for good.
• Why people don’t stay active: It’s rarely “lack of time” or “no motivation.” These are smokescreens. The real issues often include guilt about prioritizing self-care, choosing exercise they don’t enjoy, or linking exercise only to weight loss.
• A better approach: Her coaching model blends three pillars:

1. Pleasure & positivity – helping people actually enjoy movement.

2. Permission for self-care – reframing exercise as fuel for life, not a selfish act.

3. Flexible strategies – building a toolkit of options so people can adapt when life gets busy.

• The power of the “why”: Long-term motivation comes from immediate benefits like energy, stress relief, and feeling better now—not distant goals like weight loss.
• Changing mindsets, not just behaviors: Sustainable activity starts with shifting beliefs about what exercise means. Dr. Segar calls it liberating people from cultural “brainwashing” around exercise.

Key takeaway:
If we want people to sustain physical activity, we must help them discover ways to feel good while moving. Enjoyment, permission, and flexible strategies—not shame, rigid goals, or generic prescriptions—are what create lifelong habits.

📌 Dr. Segar will also present an MFA webinar on October 7th: Reframing Exercise: Why our approach to exercise counseling causes harm and what science shows is a better way. She will also be leading a pre-conference workshop at the ACLM annual conference in November.

Connect with Dr. Michelle Segar:

• Website & newsletter: michellesegar.com
• Email: available via her website contact page
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellelsegar/

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🚨 New Episode Alert: The Brain Health Opportunity 🚨

We just dropped a powerful episode of the Medical Fitness Podcast featuring Ryan Glatt, Senior Brain Health Coach and Director of the FitBrain Program at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute Foundation.

Ryan’s path into brain health is anything but ordinary—starting with childhood concussions, video games like Dance Dance Revolution, and eventually pioneering how exercise, cognition, and technology can come together to improve brain health.

🎙 In this episode, Ryan shares:

• Why dementia rates are projected to double by 2050, and how exercise is the most powerful “neuro-polypill” we have
• How dual-task training and clinical exergaming are changing the way we approach medical fitness
• Success stories from senior living communities and medical fitness centers implementing brain health programs
• The new MFA Brain Health Program Accreditation and how it will empower facilities to lead in cognitive wellness

👉 Whether you’re a clinician, fitness professional, or simply want to protect your own brain health, this episode highlights the massive opportunity to bridge neuroscience and fitness.

📲 Connect with Ryan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-glatt-ms-cpt-nbc-hwc-50ba3664/
• Instagram: @glatt.brainhealth

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🚨 New Episode of the Medical Fitness Podcast! 🚨

This week, we sit down with Simon Matthews, a psychologist and global leader in health behavior change coaching. Simon has nearly 30 years of experience helping people bridge the gap between mental health, physical health, and lifestyle medicine.

In this episode, we cover:
✅ Why clinicians often struggle when patients present with hopelessness and helplessness—and how to prevent burnout when faced with it.
✅ The Common Factors Theory and why the patient–clinician relationship and fostering hope often outweigh any single tool or method.
✅ Practical strategies clinicians and fitness professionals can use to strengthen trust, empathy, and coaching skills.
✅ How small affirmations and helping patients recognize their own resources can create powerful momentum for behavior change.
✅ What true interdisciplinary care could look like in the future—and why lifestyle medicine may be the key to breaking down silos in healthcare.

Simon also shares insights from research on empathy, his approach to coaching healthcare leaders, and a preview of his upcoming ACLM pre-conference workshop on supporting patients who feel “stuck.”

🎧 Tune in now to learn how to apply these lessons in your own practice and better support patients and clients in making meaningful, lasting change.

👉 Follow Simon Matthews:

· LinkedIn: Search Simon Matthews (the one connected to Jeff Young & Thomas Hammett)

· Website: www.simonmatthewsconsulting.com

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🚨 New Medical Fitness Podcast Episode!

We’re joined by Dr. M. Lucius Pomerantz—orthopedic surgeon, lifestyle medicine physician, and founding member of the MFA Physician Advisory Committee.

Dr. Pomerantz shares how he combines surgical expertise with lifestyle medicine to help patients not only recover but also thrive. From small, sustainable lifestyle changes to the role of exercise as “the best medicine,” his insights show how healthcare and fitness can truly work together to improve lives.

💡 Highlights include:
✔️ Bridging orthopedics and lifestyle medicine
✔️ Helping patients connect health goals to purpose
✔️ Building collaborative care teams (PT, nutrition, fitness)
✔️ His vision for the future of medical fitness

🎙️ Listen now and get inspired by Dr. Pomerantz’s approach to redefining patient care.

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🚨 NEW PODCAST EPISODE ALERT! 🚨
🎧 Medical Fitness Podcast | Powered by the Medical Fitness Association + MRFi

🔥 This one’s a must-listen for anyone serious about bridging the gap between healthcare and fitness.

We sat down with Carly Headd, Director of Programming at Pinnacle Lifestyle Medicine, to unpack what real medical fitness looks like in action—from behavior change coaching and chronic disease programming to building powerful referral pathways from PTs and RDs into long-term fitness care.

🏥 Carly shares:

· How she moved from exercise physiologist to leadership

· Why behavior change is often more important than the exercise prescription itself

· How to build confidence and credibility as an EP in clinical settings

· What she looks for when hiring fitness professionals in a medical model

· How Pinnacle’s Lifestyle 365 program leverages standardized assessments, education, and collaboration with PTs and RDs to drive outcomes

· How they track referral effectiveness by provider, not just clinic

⚠️ Key message: You can design the best program in the world—but if the patient isn’t behaviorally ready, it won’t matter. Carly reminds us that health coaching skills are not optional anymore—they’re essential.

And yes—we talk data too. You’ll hear how Pinnacle tracks referral patterns, uses CGMs in pilot programs, and avoids overwhelming patients with metrics they don’t understand.

💥 Whether you're a clinician, exercise physiologist, or just someone working to build a bridge between medicine and fitness—this episode delivers.

🎙️ LISTEN NOW — Available on all platforms.

📬 Connect with Carly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-headd-4a3589a6/

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🎙️ New Episode: Redefining Cardiac Rehab—How One Team Is Disrupting the Status Quo

📍 Season 3, Episode 14 | Guests: Ashan Korala & Alex Cannon
🎧 Listen now on all major podcast platforms

For decades, cardiac rehab has followed the same outdated script: light aerobic work, RPE-based guesswork, minimal resistance training, and low adherence. The result? Underwhelming outcomes and missed opportunities.

In this episode, we spotlight a cardiac rehab model that challenges all of that.

Ashan Korala, Director of Wellness Services at Pinnacle Lifestyle Medicine, and Alex Cannon, Lead Exercise Physiologist at Valley Medical Center, join us to break down how they’ve rebuilt cardiac rehab from the inside out—shifting from subjective, nurse-led monitoring to a progressive, data-driven, exercise science-based program that delivers real outcomes.

🚨 Highlights from the conversation:
✅ Objective Testing Over Guesswork
Patients now undergo baseline submax VO₂ testing and 1RM assessments. VO₂ estimates are used to guide aerobic prescriptions, while strength training is periodized using real metrics, not assumptions.
✅ Resistance Training Is No Longer Optional
Forget light bands and 5-pound dumbbells. Their program integrates structured, progressive resistance training using Technogym’s BioCircuit system—allowing for safe eccentric overload, objective progress tracking, and meaningful improvements in lean mass and strength.
✅ Quantifiable Outcomes
•35.5% increase in VO₂ (vs. national average of ~10%)
•12% increase in grip strength
•27 average visits per patient (vs. 15 national average)
•Seamless transition into a structured, self-pay phase 3 program with high continuity rates
✅ Built-In Safety, Structure, and Oversight
This model isn't just scalable, it's smart. Safety features in the equipment, team-based staffing models, and consistent reassessments allow for aggressive progression when appropriate, and conservative dosing when necessary.
✅ Patient Retention Through Smart Handoffs
The “Vitality Visit” and integrated phase 3 transition model ensure patients don’t fall through the cracks post-rehab. Instead of handing them a generic home exercise program and hoping for the best, they’re walked directly into their next step—with purpose, planning, and accountability.

💬 “This isn’t just cardiac rehab. It’s a clinic-wide systems shift—fusing medical oversight with the best of exercise science. And it’s working.”

Whether you're a clinician referring to rehab, an exercise specialist working in a hospital, or a fitness pro hoping to collaborate across disciplines—this episode is a blueprint for what cardiac rehab should look like.

🧠 Data-driven.
💪 Strength-integrated.
🔁 Patient-centered.
📈 Outcome-focused.

This is how we bridge the gap.

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🏥💪 A Certified First in Medical Fitness: How One YMCA is Reshaping Community Health

🎙️ In the latest episode of the Medical Fitness Podcast, we sat down with Veronica Lopez, RN, Vice President of Health Strategies at the YMCA of Greater Brandywine—the first YMCA in the country to become Medical Fitness Association certified.

Hosted by David Flench, President and CEO of the MFA, this episode is a playbook for any organization looking to elevate their impact, credibility, and partnerships in the health continuum.

What you'll learn:

🔹 How a vision became reality: Veronica explains how her team took a bold idea—positioning the Y as a legitimate healthcare ally—and executed it across nine branches.

🔹 Behind the scenes of MFA certification: From culture shifts and weekly task-force meetings to scoring a 97+ on the audit, this is the blueprint for making medical fitness real in a community setting.

🔹 Why now?: With healthcare access gaps, transportation deserts, and chronic disease on the rise, the Y leaned in—not away—and created solutions like the Fit Truk, a mobile fitness and screening center.

🔹 What’s next? “Prescribe the Y” is launching soon, powered by encrypted EHR and real clinical referrals. Their team of certified professionals (mostly NASM) is trained, connected, and ready.

🔹 Key takeaways for leaders:

Don’t wait for the perfect time—start with your “why.”

Create cross-functional teams and track progress visually (think: red-yellow-green dashboards).

Certification isn’t about checking a box—it’s about credibility, partnerships, and long-term sustainability.

A certified facility gets a real seat at the healthcare table.

Whether you’re in healthcare, fitness, public health, or community leadership, this episode shows what’s possible when standards meet passion—and when strategy meets service.

👇 Tag a clinician, YMCA leader, or fitness professional who needs to hear this.

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🎙️ NEW EPISODE ALERT: “From Policy to Pavement: Building a Physically Active Nation” 💪🗽

In this powerful new episode of the Medical Fitness Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Young (MRF Institute) and David Flench (Medical Fitness Association) sit down with Greg Mihailovich, National Advocacy Consultant for the American Heart Association, to break down what it really takes to make physical activity a national priority.

🔥 We’re not just talking about guidelines — we’re talking about action:
✅ How the AHA pushes for policy, system, and environmental change
✅ The origin and evolution of the Physical Activity Alliance
✅ The inside story behind the launch of the New York Moves Coalition
✅ The challenges and equity issues in state-level planning
✅ Lessons from success stories in NYC, Michigan, and West Virginia

🎯 Whether you're a healthcare provider, policymaker, fitness professional, or someone fighting for a healthier future in your community — this episode shows how advocacy and collaboration can drive measurable change.

📣 “You can’t just tell people to move more. You have to create the conditions that make movement possible — and sustainable.”

👂 Tune in to learn how we’re scaling the blueprint for a movement-friendly nation. From state coalitions to national campaigns like “It’s Time to Move,” this conversation lays out what’s working, what’s scalable, and why your voice matters.

🎧 Available now on all podcast platforms.

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