Between all the plans and trips you might have in store this summer, it can be easy to let your healthy habits and routines fall by the wayside. So how can you optimize your wellness while you’re away? Join fitness managers Anna Topali and Tyler Kerr and their fitness team leads to find out. They provide tips and tricks to help you turn your weekend trip from a wellness challenge to a healthy cross-training opportunity, and come back to the city feeling as great as you did when you left. (Left to right: Medcan trainers Erol Ivanov, Stephanie Tzemis & Kurt Morrison.)

Fitness activity explodes in January as New Year’s resolutions motivate people to join gyms and begin physical activity regimens. So why do those numbers drop after March, and what can you do to ensure you stick with it? Here, fitness managers Anna Topali (pictured above) and Tyler Kerr lead a group of experienced personal trainers in a discussion about how to set yourself up for ongoing success when starting out.

Scientific researchers believe that cardiorespiratory fitness, in the form of VO2max, should be a vital sign that doctors consider alongside heart rate and blood pressure—and Medcan has just taken steps to incorporate a test designed to provide clients with an estimate of their VO2max level. So what is VO2max—and why should you care? This episode provides the ultimate cardiorespiratory fitness explainer. Cohosted by Dr. Peter Nord and Dr. Andrew Miners, we provide background about the value and illustrate the effect it has on your longevity and quality of life.

The relationship between diet, exercise and weight loss is more complicated than you think. The work of evolutionary anthropologist and globally recognized metabolism expert Herman Pontzer of Duke University (pictured above) suggests that your body will figure out a way to offset burned calories after exercise, possibly by decreasing calorie-burning inflammation in the body. In this encore presentation of Pontzer’s conversation with Medcan’s director of weight management, Dr. David Macklin, the Duke associate professor discusses his most recent book, Burn, and the truth about metabolism and weight loss.

More people than ever before are exercising to stay fit and active well into their senior years. The field of sports rehabilitation and therapy is flourishing as a result, with lots of therapies generating buzz. But which ones work for aging athletes, and which ones are a waste of money? Medcan Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter Nord and Director of Orthopaedic Surgery Dr. Sebastian Rodriguez-Elizalde explore platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and more.

You know that exercising is good for your muscles and bones. But exercise can also improve brain health. In her new book, Move The Body, Heal The Mind, Dr. Jennifer Heisz of McMaster University’s NeuroFit Lab shares the latest research about how to use physical activity to optimize mental and cognitive wellness. Here, she speaks with Dr. Andrew Miners, Medcan’s clinical and product director of sports medicine, therapy, rehabilitation and fitness.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices are being tested by elite athletes to determine whether better management of carbs and blood sugar can boost athletic performance. Dr. Michael Riddell (pictured above) is a professor at York University. As an athlete who lives with Type 1 Diabetes, Dr. Riddell has studied glucose for years and is on the scientific advisory board for Supersapiens, a glucose-tracking app. Here, Dr. Riddell explores the future of glucose monitoring and athletics with Medcan Fitness Manager Anna Topali.

Lots of studies have been done on the effects of exercise on men. But when it comes to exercise and women’s health, there’s still so much we don’t know. Here, exercise physiologist Dr. Michaela Devries-Aboud and Medcan’s Clinical and Product Director of Sports Medicine, Therapy, Rehabilitation and Fitness, Dr. Andrew Miners, explore what we do know about women and exercise, and how that knowledge could change the way you approach your workouts.

Many of us have goals we want to accomplish. Some of us will achieve them. Others won’t. University of Victoria exercise psychologist Dr. Ryan Rhodes has devoted his career to determining why people don’t do the things they want to do—and devised strategies to help. (Encore episode.)

Keijo Taivassalo is 82 years old, and at the 2021 Boston Marathon he demolished the competition, winning his age group by more than 30 minutes. We think Keijo is the embodiment of the Eat Move Think approach to living a long and healthy life. So what’s his secret? We had Medcan’s chief medical officer, Dr. Peter Nord, sit down with Keijo to explore the life of the master marathoner, and the lessons the rest of us can draw from it.

Should we break up our days with short bouts of exercise? Should we trade the single 45-minute workout with three 15-minute bouts, or even smaller units of physical activity? According to The One-Minute Workout author and McMaster kinesiology professor Martin Gibala, a series of short exercise bursts distributed throughout the day provides a wide variety of health and longevity benefits. In this episode, Prof. Gibala chats with host Shaun Francis about the benefits of exercise snacking, and how to do it right.