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Dr Mike T Nelson

Creator of the Flex Diet Cert & Phys Flex Cert, CSCS, CISSN, Assoc Professor, kiteboarder, lifter of odd objects, metal music lover. >>>>Sign up to my daily FREE Fitness Insider newsletter below

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Thank You and Shared Strength

Every November, I sit down, crack my knuckles, stare into the abyss of my laptop and think: What the heck am I supposed to say this year that I haven’t already ranted about with too much caffeine in my bloodstream? And when the screen stays blank longer than my Oura deep sleep score after a red-eye…I walk into the gym. The iron tells the truth....always. The dumbbells don’t care about your feelings.The Concept2 rower doesn’t care if your HRV looks like a falling stock graph.The trap bar...

Hola from windy South Padre — where I’m alternating between getting yanked across the water by a kite and hammering out writing sessions thanks to one of my secret weapons: Qualia Mind. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I’m not a “throw random brain pills at the wall and pray” kind of bro.Most nootropics are garbage, pixie-dusted, or overdosed with mythical unicorn farts and under dosed with actual science. But Qualia Mind?It’s the one formula I keep coming back to —...

In today’s Flex Diet Podcast episode, I sit down with my good buddy Dr. Tommy Wood to dig into his upcoming book The Stimulated Mind — a ridiculously practical guide to building a better brain. We dive into the fun stuff: how tech is reshaping fitness, why lactate is basically rocket fuel for your neurons, how cardio and resistance training boost cognition, which sports and drills actually improve neuroplasticity, and yes… even a little discussion about psychedelics and brain health. If you...

Wind.Salt.And your favorite nerd getting rag-dolled just enough to make the session spicy. South Padre went full send this week and somehow…your boy pulled off the double-double. Hit the Big Air Leaderboard and the Distance Leaderboard — two days in a row. 16 foot jump height (Big Air USA) + 67.5 km (Distance Global/North America).Two doubles. Two days. Two mildly terrified but very stoked quads. And yes — I even snuck into the global list, sand still in my teeth and my kite looking like it...

Hola from S Padre TX— where the wind is howling like a metal concert in a wind tunnel and your favorite nerd is about to get yanked into low-Earth orbit by a very caffeinated kite. Jodie and I are down here soaking up sun, salt, and enough wind power to run a small village.She’s been crushing her rides — I’m basically a proud kite husband at this point, nodding approvingly while the wind tries to remove my eyebrows. And as I’m rigging my gear for another round of “let’s see if Mike survives...

Hola from the sun-blasted, tequila-kissed sands of South Padre Island — where your favorite nerd is simultaneously crushing work, dodging jellyfish, and sending it on a kiteboarding kite that definitely thinks I’m 20 lbs lighter. haha. Yesterday?Pure Chaos - in a good way. Perfect wind.Zero tourists.Friends hooting like deranged seagulls. And the best part? Jodie — yes, the wonderful wifey — ripped off her first legit independent rides kiteboarding. She was so stoked she nearly levitated off...

In this episode of the Flex Diet Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Jeff Rouse from Shiftwave to talk about his mind-bending device that claims to reset your nervous system. I’ll be honest, when I first saw it, I was skeptical. But after trying it at the Parker University conference, I was blown away by what it did. We dig into how the tech works, why it’s so effective for both physical and mental health, and how it’s being used everywhere from mental health therapy to pro sports. Dr. Rouse brings...

Yo yo - your favorite nerd here, coming to you live from a caffeine storm and surrounded by enough physiology studies to rebuild the Library of Alexandria with protein powder dust. Today I want to break down why doing the Flex Diet Cert is one of the highest-leverage coaching upgrades you can make……and do it with a real example, real testimonials, and the real expert lineup (not the usual “fitness influencers with strong opinions and weak citations”). Let's dig in. The Benefit A few years...

Greetings from semi-windy South Padre Island, where today was a no-kiteboarding day due to low winds, and my MN Vikings lost in the last few seconds today to the Da Bears. Argh! Here is what went down this week: Newsletters: I, Veteran - guest post by Adam Glass: A powerful Veteran's Day piece from my friend and veteran, Adam Glass. CEU Panic Season: It’s CEU Panic Season, and your favorite meathead nerd is here with the only certification that’ll actually make you smarter instead of putting...

Let’s talk about the one equation that runs your entire coaching career (and you probably weren’t taught it in any cert you’ve ever taken): Coaching Leverage = Physiologic Effect ✕ Client Ability to Change That’s the secret sauce.It’s how I coach, how I build the Flex Diet Cert, and how you stop wasting hours on interventions your clients will never actually do. Because here’s the truth:If it works great on paper but your client can’t do it → it’s useless.If it’s easy to do but changes...