functional medicine – ZacCupples.com

November 3, 2019 Zac Cupples

Bryan Walsh’s Functional Medicine and Family Tour Course Review

We pursue health by attempting to optimize many qualities—movement, power, endurance—but these are just a few of the qualities needed to be healthy. How often do we look at optimizing all of our physiological systems? That’s where functional medicine became an area of interest for me. I was dealing with some health issues over the last couple years, and I sought out Ben House with great success. I was curious to learn more about this discipline, so I attended his retreat and went through his mentorship; learning a great deal in the process. It was at Ben’s retreat that I got to listen to Bryan Walsh, and was blown away. For those who don’t know, Bryan is a naturopathic physician who is a an absolute Jedi with understanding and designing treatments from physiological mechanisms. Bryan took us through an intense physiological journey over those few days, and I absolutely needed more. Thank the maker that Bryan announced his two day seminar. And boy did he not disappoint. Over two days I drank from the firehose of all things blood chemistry and functional medicine. The amount of research we went through was astounding, both on lab values and interventions. I was amazed at how many simple treatments could have profound effects on many common conditions we see people developing. This course contained useful protocols involving supplements, optimal lab ranges based on reducing all cause mortality, and so much more, but to list the exact to-dos would be a disservice to both Bryan

August 25, 2019 Zac Cupples

Costa Rica Beginner’s Mind 2019 Retreat Review

Where can you combine learning, disengaging from life, connection, beach, sun, hiking, and so much more? That’s what Ben House has created with his Beginner’s Mind Retreat at Flō Retreat Center. A place where one can achieve all of the above and more. This trip marked the second time I’ve been here, and for good reason. It gives me the opportunity to personally recalibrate from the hectic work lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed too, while taking time out to better myself in more ways than one. This year’s retreat brought together several bright minds in the health and fitness realms, discussing topics ranging from training, mitochondria, stress, and more. The retreat is set up into two different weeks. The first week was functional medicine-oriented. After a three day break of chillin’ like Bob Dylan, the strength and conditioning week finished things off. The best part of this retreat is that learning is only one component. The lectures took up the morning, then the rest of the day was yours. You get time to train, go to the beach, hike, jump off of cliffs, eat good food, or just chill and play board games. The best part of this retreat is the people you encounter. It can be hard in our industry to find like-minded folks who live the lifestyle that fam like us live. But at Flo, healthy living is the norm. The people I’ve met at Ben’s place are people who I consider to be friends for a lifetime. That’s

December 24, 2018 Zac Cupples

Top 10 Posts of 2018

At the end of each year, I like to see what you beautiful…sexy…outstanding people liked. What the fam….recognized (fam). This year, it seems like errbody was loving all of the movement-based work that was discussed. You want practical application as a coach or clinician, you got it! I also loved how all the guest posts I had this year made the top 10. There were some rock solid contributions from my fellow colleagues. Guess I’m going to need more album features if you know what I’m sizzlin’. I want to thank you, the fam, for making 2018 an outstanding year. It has been all the comments, questions, stories, and praise that keeps me outputting content for you. I think we will keep doing this another year. Why not? 😉 But enough rambling. Let’s check out the top 10. First off… 10. The Reckoning: Part Deux Course Review This was an excellent seminar that was run by two of my favorite doctors in the game: Pat Davidson and Ben House. The topics covered were a great variety of areas I needed more exposure in. If you want to learn how our movement limitations are evolutionary, the ins and outs of hypertrophy or fat loss, blood sugar regulation, you’ll just scratch the surface of what this course covered. If you ever get a chance to hear Pat or Ben in person, do so. In fact, you can hear Pat, myself, and Seth Oberst in February. 9. Why You Need Sun Exposure My man Iordan

September 3, 2018 Zac Cupples

August 2018 Links and Review

Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets. Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in August. If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below. That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend. [yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ submit=”Hell yes I want weekend learning goodies every Friday!”]

June 18, 2018 Zac Cupples

The Reckoning: Part Deux Course Review

I recently had the opportunity to attend The Reckoning: Part Deux, a course taught by Dr. Pat Davidson and Dr. Ben House. The host was my boi, Mike Ranfone. This course focused on two concepts: understanding evolutionary history to influence programming (Pat’s talk), and discussing all things hypertrophy, fat loss, health, and nutrition (Ben’s talk). I’ve heard Pat speak in the past, and always appreciate his drawing from many aspects of science to influence programming. His evolution discussion led to many light bulbs going off. What had me really excited was to hear Ben speak. I have several colleagues who speak highly of his work, and given that nutrition/functional medicine is a weak point in my game, I wanted to hear his perspective. Let’s just say, neither of the doctors disappointed. There was an excellent mix of theoretical and practical application, and both fellas approached performance from such different angles that the Reckoning as a whole was beyond comprehensive. If you get a chance to hear either of these guys talk, sign up yesterday, you won’t regret it.

June 11, 2018 Zac Cupples

Paleofx 2018 Conference Review

I decided to get out of my comfort zone, and attended the health conference, PaleoFx. This conference covered a wide variety of topics and products, ranging from stem cells to pesticides, and everything in between. I appreciate the approach that most people in this domain take towards health and wellness, and being here made me realize both how important nutrition is, and how little I know about the topic. I look forward to diving more into this domain over the next several years. Check out the video review, then read my course notes below.