Training for the "Life Olympics"

What if you’re already training for the most important competition of your life—and it isn’t the Olympics? In this episode of The Talking Rehab Podcast, Dr. Fred Bagares reveals why your daily movements are the real foundation of pain-free living, functional training, and long-term independence.

Drawing inspiration from Usain Bolt’s meticulous preparation for a 10-second sprint, Dr. Bagares reframes the question: What are you really training for? Whether it’s lifting your grandchildren, traveling in retirement, or maintaining mobility through your 60s and 70s, these life events demand the same deliberate practice as any athletic performance.

You’ll discover:

• Why rehabilitation and recovery are less about quick fixes and more about consistent training.
• How to transform everyday routines—sitting, lifting, reaching—into longevity fitness practices.
• Three principles to help you structure your day for strength, resilience, and confidence.

If you’ve ever wondered how to bridge the gap between physical therapy, fitness, and real-world performance, this episode gives you a clear roadmap. Your body is already keeping score—make sure you’re training for success.

For more resources on rehabilitation, functional training, and staying active without pain, visit FredBagares.com.

Dandapani on the BigDeal Podcast

Transcript

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What if I told you that you're already an athlete in training, not for the Olympics, but it's for something more important. You're training for the ability to sit through your daughter's graduation without pain, to lift your grandchildren, to travel in your retirement, to get up from the floor after playing with your kids. The question isn't whether you're athletic enough. The question is, what are you training for? I was listening to the Cody Sanchez podcast this past week. Her guest was Don de Pani, a Hindu priest and former Monk turned entrepreneur, and he shared an insight about Usain Bolt that got me thinking about what are we preparing for on a day-to-day basis. Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest sprinter of all time. He trains 24 hours a day for a race that lasts less than 10 seconds. Every meal is timed. Every recovery session is planned. Every training rep is deliberate all for a race that's over Before you finish reading this sentence, he is an elite athlete training for a race that happens every couple years and he's dedicated his entire life to this craft. So it got me thinking, what events am I training for? My events come every couple years as an adult and they last decades, not seconds. Which one deserves more preparation? I'm Dr. Fred Biris, and this is The Talking Rehab Podcast. Quick favor, before we dive in. If this podcast has changed how you think about your body or your recovery, hit that subscribe button. It's free. It takes two seconds, and it's how we keep bringing you these conversations every week. No fluff. Just real talk about what actually works. Thanks for being here. Now let's get into it. Here's what I see in my clinic Constantly, people have unknowingly competing in life's most important events. Without proper training, doc, I threw my back out, picking up my kid. I can't sit through meetings without paying anymore. I had to stop playing with my grandchildren. These aren't random injuries. These are preventable failures in the events that actually matter. While we spend time training for gym exercises that look impressive, we have neglected to prepare for the movements of our lives that actually require preparation. We hope that bench pressing, squatting, and running translate into these life events, but they often fall short. Think about it. When's the last time you practiced getting up from the floor or carrying awkward loads? Or maintaining good posture for eight hour stretches. These are the skills you use daily, yet most people never train them intentionally is our daily training, preparing us for other life events between five Ks, marathons, weightlifting competitions. This is where Bolt's example becomes powerful. He structures everything around his race, but for the average Joe, our competition occurs every day sitting at desks for 30 year careers carrying and lifting children as they grow from infants to toddlers, maintaining independence through our sixties and seventies. Recovering from illnesses or surgeries while keeping our strength. These aren't fitness goals. They're the actual physical demands your body faces. And just like any elite performance, they require specific preparation. I had a patient preparing for her first grandchild. She was terrified. Her chronic back pain would prevent her from holding her baby. That being said, we didn't work on just some generic exercises. We trained for her actual needs, getting up from low nursery chairs, standing and sway for long periods of time to suit the crying infant. When she called me six months later, she was exhausted but ecstatic. She said, I can do everything on the grandmother I wanted to be. She had trained for her event the way ball trains for his, with everything structured around performance when it mattered. Here's where people get stuck. They want interventions to do the training for them. Doc. The injection didn't last. Physical therapy worked, but the pain came back. Well, of course it did. While your pain was better, you didn't continue to prepare for your events. It's like expecting a Usain Bolt to run a world record after getting a massage, but without months of structured training. The massage helps recovery, but it can't replace the preparation. Your injection or PT session is like the massage helpful, but not a substitute for the daily work. An injection does have a role, but it isn't a cure. It's like perfect weather conditions for race day. If you haven't trained consistently, perfect conditions don't matter. The injection gives you a pain-free window to build the movement patterns and strength that you actually need. But most people use that window to return to the same habits that cause the problem. They go back to slumping at desks, lifting, carelessly, moving without intention. They treat the intervention as the solution instead of the opportunity to start real preparation. So here's the reframe that changes everything. Your daily life isn't separate from your training. It is your training. Every time you sit down and stand up, you should practice activating your core. Every time you reach over head, you're working on shoulder mobility. Every bend, twist and lift is either reinforcing good movement patterns or practicing dysfunction or practicing bad ones. Bolt doesn't have training days and off days. His entire life supports his overall goal. His sleep, nutrition, recovery, and movement are all coordinated around peak performance. The question for you is in whether you're getting enough reps, you're getting hundreds of opportunities a day. The question is, are you taking advantage of these opportunities to get better? In my own movement, whether it's juujitsu or carrying groceries, I've learned that my body keeps score constantly. Every careless movement gets tallied, but so does every intentional rep. Everything is mindful. It's about recognizing that you're already training. Whether you realize it or not, you might as well train for success. So how do you structure your 24 hours like an elite athlete? You can try these three principles. Number one, train for your actual events. Bolt doesn't waste time on exercises that don't support his sprint. Stop doing movements that look good in mirrors and start rehearsing what you actually need if you sit at a computer. Practice position changes and good posture if you have little ones. Practice getting up and down from the ground. Train for your reality. Number two, turn routine into rehearsal. Getting in and out of cars, climbing stairs, reaching for things. These can be training opportunities or missed chances. The choice is yours. With every movement. Make your daily activities deliberate for the challenges ahead. Number three, recovery supports performance. Sleep, nutrition and stress management are as planned as his track workouts for you. These aren't separate from movement health. They're part of your preparation for life's physical demands. You can't train your way out of chronic exhaustion or poor recovery. So let me ask you directly, what physical challenges coming in your life? Maybe it's surviving a pregnancy. Maybe it's picking up grandchildren. Maybe it's maintaining independence as you age. Maybe it's just getting through tomorrow without pain. Whatever it is, that challenge is coming, whether you're prepared or not. The meeting will happen. The grandkids will wanna be picked up. Your body will age. The only question is whether you'll be ready. Remember you see him bolt trains 24 hours a day for 9.56 seconds. You're training for 30, 40, 50 years of active living. His event gets worldwide attention and million dollar sponsorships. Your events picking up grandkids, traveling, pain-free, staying independent. They get no fanfare, but matter infinitely more. Which performance deserves better preparation. The truth is, you don't need to become a different person or overhaul your entire life. You just need to recognize that you're already training every day, every movement is practiced for something. What would change if you structured your day around the decades you want to live? Well. Your next meeting, your next decade, the life that you want at 80. Again, every moment matters. make sure you're preparing for what actually matters. Thanks again for listening to the Talking Rehab podcast. If you want to hear Don Pan's original insight about Usain Bolt's preparation on the Cody Sanchez podcast, I'll link it in the show notes. If you're ready to start structuring your day like the elite athletes, you already are training for the events that actually matter to you, visit fred biris.com. That's where you'll find resources and guidance for preparing your body for the challenges ahead, because the truth is you're already training. The question is what are you training for? Thanks again. Thank you for listening to The Talking Rehab podcast. I hope that this podcast stimulates you to question your own practice and how you approach rehabilitation. I truly appreciate your time and attention. If you enjoyed listening, make sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. I wish you a movement filled day. Take care.