The Colosseum | Health & Performance

The Colosseum is a weekly show built on a simple idea: modern science has answered a lot of questions about how to train, eat, recover, and live well — and most people are still left guessing. Each episode, hosts Tyler and Jayden break down the latest news across health, wellness, and fitness. Exercise science. Endurance sports. Health tech. Performance nutrition. Recovery and longevity. It's the kind of honest, curious conversation you'd have with a friend who reads the research so you don't have to. Expect deep dives on science, research, and training for IRONMAN, HYROX, and ultra-endurance events. Conversations with or about athletes, coaches, founders, and researchers pushing the field forward. And honest conversations about the wellness trends shaping how people train, eat, and recover. New episodes weekly. Part of The Colosseum — a modern health movement.

The Colosseum | Health & Performance is a health podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 20 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Colosseum | Health & Performance, a health show with 20 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #20

  UTMB Record Falls, a 56:51 Half Marathon & Garmin’s fēnix 9 Pro

  Aug 31, 202648 min

  This week on The Colosseum, we cover the biggest stories in health, fitness, wellness, and human performance. UTMB week delivered one of the most dramatic collections of races of the year. Former Olympic 1,500-meter runner Lauren Gregory won the women's OCC after a three-second sprint finish against Naomi Lang, while Cristian Minoggio and Yngvild Kaspersen claimed the CCC titles. Then Ben Dhiman completed the 174-kilometer UTMB in a record-breaking 18:16:29 — more than an hour faster than the previous mark. We break down Dhiman’s historic performance, the arrival of a new generation of elite ultrarunners, and Courtney Dauwalter’s decision to attempt UTMB only 48 days after Hardrock before ultimately dropping around mile 40. The Leadville Trail 100 also returned on its wildfire-altered course, with Adrian Macdonald securing his third victory in 15:47:23 and McKendree Hickory winning the women’s race in her 100-mile debut. We discuss how results should be judged when fire, weather, or other conditions force organizers to change an iconic course. From there, we move to the track, where Alison dos Santos ran a 45.80 world record in the 400-meter hurdles before Yomif Kejelcha completed a half marathon in 56:51 — averaging approximately 4:20 per mile and closing his final kilometer in 2:32. Then we get into the growing trail-running footwear arms race. Adidas unveiled the $500 Agravic Speed Ultra Evo, bringing technology from its road-racing shoes into a lightweight trail platform, while Nike revealed the unusually named ACG Picklejus with dual-density ZoomX foam and its new GOATEK traction system. We discuss whether marginal performance improvements can justify a $500 trail shoe and why nearly every major footwear brand is using UTMB week to make its biggest announcements. Finally, Garmin launched the fēnix 9 and fēnix 9 Pro, featuring a thinner titanium design, an AMOLED display reaching 3,000 nits, optional inReach connectivity, and new stamina zones designed to estimate how long an athlete can sustain different efforts. We break down whether that information can help athletes push further or convince them to stop before reaching their actual limit. We close with Kyle from NELK announcing seven marathons on seven continents in seven days and the ultrarunning community rallying around Jeff Browning following the serious cardiac emergency he suffered during the TDS.

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  Episode #19

  UTMB’s Biggest Stars Withdraw, Leadville Adapts & Oura Bets on AI

  Aug 24, 202631 min

  This week on The Colosseum, we cover the biggest stories in health, fitness, wellness, and human performance. The Leadville Trail 100 is moving forward with an altered course after the Willow Fire affected thousands of acres surrounding the original route. Runners will still cross Hope Pass twice, but the revised course removes several familiar sections and contains approximately 2,000 fewer feet of climbing. We discuss whether record performances can still be compared across different versions of the race and how trail running continues to adapt to unpredictable conditions. Then we turn to UTMB, where the men’s race has been reshaped by the withdrawals of Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley, Mathieu Blanchard, and defending champion Tom Evans. On the women’s side, three-time winner Courtney Dauwalter returns to challenge defending champion Ruth Croft. We break down the new competitive landscape, UTMB’s impressive live coverage, and why following the sport’s biggest week can still be surprisingly confusing. From there, 91-year-old Dale “Greybeard” Sanders is attempting to reclaim the record as the oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail. John Kelly is also back on the trail chasing the overall supported fastest known time after a nerve problem ended his previous attempt around 1,900 miles. We discuss longevity, managing risk, learning from failure, and what remains possible when athletes adapt the challenge to the body they have today. We also cover Oura’s move toward AI-powered health interpretation, the Coros and Satisfy watch collaboration, rumors surrounding Garmin’s next Enduro and Fenix devices, and why Garmin may need separate performance and wellness modes. Finally, the Lasso Backyard Ultra ends after 94 loops and approximately 630 kilometers, while Matt Johnson completes Project Seven by covering 899.2 miles across seven days in support of ValorFit and military veterans.

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  Episode #18

  Google Health Guardian, Apple Loop & the Future of Fitness Wearables

  Aug 17, 202640 min

  This week on The Colosseum, we cover the biggest stories in health, fitness, wellness, and human performance. Google is taking direct aim at Garmin with the Pixel Watch 5. The company claims its new GPS system can provide twice the route accuracy of the Pixel Watch 4 in difficult environments and outperform devices like the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 3 in internal urban testing. But instead of relying entirely on a stronger GPS receiver, Google appears to be using its knowledge of roads, buildings, and maps to correct routes after a workout. We break down whether software-assisted GPS can genuinely compete with Garmin’s dedicated fitness hardware and what happens when your watch starts interpreting your run instead of simply recording it. From there, we look at Google’s new Health Guardian features, which aim to identify longer-term wellness trends involving blood pressure, insulin resistance, sleep breathing, and dangerous drops in blood oxygen — without crossing the line into clinical diagnosis. Then we get into Project Seven, Matt Johnson’s attempt to complete seven full Ironman-distance triathlons in seven consecutive days to raise money for ValorFit and support military veterans. We discuss the physical and logistical demands of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running a marathon every day for an entire week, why endurance challenges like this are often decided by recovery and nutrition, and what makes the mission behind the event more important than the finish times. We also cover Courtney Dauwalter’s surprise return to UTMB and whether one of ultrarunning’s greatest athletes can reclaim her title after a disappointing result — especially in a race where 108 miles, nearly 10,000 meters of climbing, weather, nutrition, and a single mistake can change everything. Next, a new avocado oil study raises serious questions about what consumers are actually buying. Researchers tested 54 processed foods marketed as containing avocado oil and found that 48 of them — roughly 89% — had oil profiles inconsistent with authentic avocado oil. We break down what the testing can and cannot prove, why products like chips, mayonnaise, and salad dressings are difficult for consumers to evaluate, and how premium health claims can become powerful marketing tools even when the underlying ingredients may not match expectations. That leads into a broader conversation about acquisitions in the health and wellness industry, what happens when trusted brands are bought by larger companies, and whether consumers can rely on a brand’s reputation after its ownership and priorities begin to change. Finally, Spotify is moving deeper into fitness with a new Running Mode designed to build personalized playlists around the type of run, desired tempo, and musical preferences of the user. We discuss whether Spotify can compete with guided running platforms by using the listening data it already has and why automatically matching music to the intensity of a workout could be more useful than another generic training plan. We close with reports that Apple is exploring a screenless fitness band that could compete with Whoop and other recovery-focused wearables. We break down why Apple may want a device designed for continuous health tracking rather than notifications, how artificial intelligence could turn years of Apple Health data into practical recommendations, and the privacy trade-offs that come with allowing technology to understand more about your body than ever before.

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  Episode #17

  Nike Enters HYROX, P&G Buys Thorne, and the Science of Getting Stronger

  Aug 10, 202636 min

  This week on The Colosseum, we cover the biggest stories in health, fitness, wellness, and human performance. The HYROX gold rush is officially underway. Nike entered the hybrid-racing arms race with an entire two-shoe system built specifically around the demands of running fast while still being stable enough for sleds, lunges, and wall balls. The Hybridfly brings ZoomX, a carbon Flyplate, and Zoom Air into a race-day model, while the Hybrid RN serves as the training counterpart. We break down whether Nike has actually solved the hybrid-shoe problem, why Puma's early investment in HYROX may have given it a massive head start, and how Adidas is entering the same fight as nearly every major footwear company tries to claim a piece of one of fitness's fastest-growing categories. From there, we look at UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan completing his first HYROX less than 24 hours after winning a grappling match, teaming up with former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin to finish in 1:06:39 — another example of just how transferable the conditioning of elite combat athletes can be. Then we get into a new eight-week bench press study asking a surprisingly practical question: how much should the bar actually slow down before you end a set? Researchers compared different training loads and velocity-loss thresholds in 158 trained men and found that heavier training with more moderate fatigue produced the largest average strength gains, while pushing sets deeper into fatigue produced more muscle growth — but required substantially more repetitions. We break down what bar-speed loss actually means, why grinding every set may be counterproductive if strength is the goal, and how lifters can apply the idea even without expensive velocity-tracking equipment. Finally, P&G agreed to acquire supplement company Thorne in a $3.8 billion cash deal, raising a bigger question than the price tag: what happens when a brand built largely on practitioner trust, testing standards, and credibility gets absorbed by one of the world's largest consumer-goods companies? We discuss why the acquisition makes sense for P&G, why longtime Thorne customers may be skeptical, and what could happen to that trust if the brand's priorities begin to change. We close by breaking down a viral post linking low-calorie sweeteners with faster cognitive decline, what the underlying observational research can and can't actually prove, and why the headline is much scarier than the conclusion deserves.

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  Episode #14

  Hardrock Records, 100 HYROXs, and PUMA’s Athlete Pipeline

  Jul 20, 202655 min

  This week on The Colosseum, we cover the biggest stories in health, fitness, wellness, and human performance. Experience is having a moment. At the Hardrock 100 — 102 brutal miles and 33,000 feet of climbing through Colorado's San Juan Mountains — 50-year-old Ludovic Pommeret won for the third straight year and smashed the overall course record (21:11:36), while Courtney Dauwalter took her fourth title and reset her own clockwise record. It sparks a bigger debate we dig into: in ultra-endurance, do experience and durability beat raw youth and VO2 max? Then there's a feat that sounds impossible — one athlete became the first ever to complete 100 HYROX Pro races in 100 consecutive days, running 800 km and grinding through 800 stations without a single day off, on a Puma-built course recognized by the German Record Institute. Speaking of Puma, we break down Project Podium, the biggest sub-elite program in HYROX history, which turns every solo podium finisher at the Stockholm World Championships into a sponsored Puma athlete. On the science side, a UK Biobank study of nearly 83,000 people found that heavy evening light exposure (over 1,000 lux between 8 and 11:30 PM) was linked to meaningfully higher rates of age-related eye disease — 31% for macular degeneration and 47% for glaucoma — which sends us down a rabbit hole on indoor LEDs, natural light, and circadian health. And we close on a simple, cheap tool blowing up online: why cooled potatoes — the single most filling food ever tested on the satiety index — turn into resistant starch that may help with fat loss and blood sugar.

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