
Free Daily Podcast Summary
by Zach Bitter
Welcome to the Human Performance Outliers Podcast. Your host Zach Bitter will take you through a series of interesting topics around health, fitness, endurance, running, hybrid athlete training, ultramarathon, and nutrition. Join in for interviews with folks exploring their outer limits and research in a wide variety of sports, fitness, and nutrition.
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Kilian Korth joined the show to have a discussion around ultrarunning's growing professionalization without sophisticated regulated drug testing, the limits and trade-offs of WADA/USADA-style regimes, and why "doping" as a blanket term obscures intent and severity. We unpack gray areas such as THC thresholds, TUE complexity for common medications, transparency vs backlash, influencer incentives, and the future pressure regenerative medicine and technology (e.g., super shoes) may place on sport rules. Kilian: IG: @runtoughmindset | Substack: https://substack.com/@runtoughmindset Sponsors: LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: https://deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) True Nutrition: https://truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off) Episode Summary & Notes: Zach Bitter & Kilian Korth on PEDs, incentives, and doping in ultrarunning Context & framing Conversation is the third appearance by Kilian on Zach's podcast; shifts from traditional training/racing episodes toward current events in running. Sparked by recent doping-related controversies (Cam Hanes / Sage Canaday online conflict, Mike McKnight's discussion of BPC-157 use on Hanes' podcast). Both emphasize moving beyond narrow focus on specific peptides/cases to broader structural issues. Activism, incentives & tribalism Skepticism of modern activism: good causes often get distorted by perverse incentives (attention, platform growth, organizational self-preservation/mission creep). Online environments (especially short-form social media) reward polarization over curiosity or truth-seeking. Parallel drawn to low-carb diet advocacy: movement shifted from exploration of pros/cons toward dietary supremacy and identity attachment. Both hosts value changing one's mind with new evidence and prefer evolving conversations over tribal "debates" aimed at winning. Core problem in ultrarunning Rapid professionalization and financial incentives exist, but sophisticated testing (especially out-of-competition) is essentially absent. Honor-code system + high rewards creates conditions in which some athletes near the top are likely to use PEDs. Contrast with Olympic sports (e.g., swimming) where positives occur even with lower financial stakes. "Doping" is an unhelpful blanket term that equates intentional, high-impact cheating (e.g., EPO) with gray-area or accidental cases. BPC-157 and gray areas BPC-157 is an experimental peptide with very limited human data (one small study of 12 people among 36 total studies reviewed). Anecdotally has been used for tendon/muscle healing; on the WADA banned list at all times (no TUE pathway currently). Gray areas exist in WADA criteria themselves (performance enhancement potential, health risk, "spirit of the sport"). THC example: banned in-competition with a relatively high threshold; removed alcohol from the list is an example of changes over time. Distinction between letter of the rules vs. moral/cosmic fairness; between intentional advantage-seeking and medical/recovery use. Testing realities & practical challenges Full USADA/WADA-style regimes require whereabouts reporting, out-o
Josh Kerr shattered the mile World Record, running 3:42.66. Everett Smulders has run 3:58 in the mile, and follows the sport closely, so he joined me to discuss everything surrounding this historic day. We dive into what made this such a mainstream attention grabber, what made it stand out from similar accomplishments, and a variety of other topics. Everett: wesflytrained.club/apply? I IG: @coachsmulders Episode Sponsors: True Nutrition: truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off) ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
There was recently some controversy at the Biotropica Backyard Ultra where both the men's and women's world bests were broken. After the event concluded, it was revealed that some violations occurred, causing all results from the event to be disqualified, including the top performances. Mark Dowdle joined me to discuss what happened, along with other related topics around rules in the sport of ultra marathon. Mark Dowdle: IG @mark.dowdle | YT @mark.dowdle Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
Lotti Brinks is a rising star in the sport of trail ultramarathon. She has improved year over year, which recently resulted in finishing 5th at the 2026 WSER 100. She joins the show to discuss history with the sport of running, introduction to the sport of ultramarathon, becoming a professional athlete with Hoka, the growing trend of race day optimization with team training camps, and how she has shaped her mindset to stay balanced in life outside of being a professional runner. Lotti Brinks: @lotti_brinks | https://www.strava.com/pros/25210246 Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) True Nutrition: truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
The Comrades Marathon is one of the most competitive ultramarathons on the planet. The 99th running of the historic point to point course recently saw both the men's and women's course records go down. George Kusche was the men's and overall winner with a time of 5 hours 15 minutes 56 seconds over the 85.77 km net uphill course. George Kusche: @kuschegeorge Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
WSER 100 2026 was defined by large improvements in finishing times across both the men's and women's top finishers. What does the historically cooler temps help tell us about the next big performance boosting strategy for ultramarathon races? Nick Coury joins me to discuss the pacing variable that may still yield big improvements at races like WSER 100. Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) True Nutrition: truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
Some eye catching training techniques have recently been highlighted in the running world. These included what appears to be an excessive degree weighted downhill treadmill work, and heat train maxxing. I give some thoughts on both, and what they mean for the average runner. Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
I was recently diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a blood clot. I was traveling for a race when symptoms presented. This is a timeline of the events that led to me getting checked and confirmed. DVT is a situation where if you don't act soon, it can get very bad. Getting checked when symptoms present is very important, and I hope to highlight that with my story. Episode Sponsors: ProBio: probionutrition.com/endurance Code: Endurance (20% Off) LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase) deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off) True Nutrition: truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off) Podcast Details: Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter
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Welcome to the Human Performance Outliers Podcast. Your host Zach Bitter will take you through a series of interesting topics around health, fitness, endurance, running, hybrid athlete training, ultramarathon, and nutrition. Join in for interviews with folks exploring their outer limits and research in a wide variety of sports, fitness, and nutrition.
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