Performance and Longevity with Naturopath Megan Roark
When Megan Roark learned to row at 12 years old, she couldn’t have known the sport would one day shape not only her athletic identity, but her approach to medicine. Years later, through her training and practice as a naturopathic doctor, Megan has come to appreciate rowing not just for its physical demands, but for its meditative qualities, too.
But rowers are famously stubborn: pushing through pain, skipping recovery work, showing up to early practices under-fueled and dehydrated. In this episode, Megan shares a holistic approach to caring for the athlete as a whole for long-term health and performance. We talk about habits for deeper sleep, nutrition and hydration, building a strong “therapeutic alliance” with your doctor, and yes — even why showering matters more than we realize.
GUEST:
Megan Roark, NK
IG: @naturally_meg_med
growyourclub.com
This episode was made possible in part by RowSource and our Supporters.
QUICK LOOK
00:00 - Introduction
03:34 - Welcome and Megan’s rowing week on a scale of 1-10: hitting the erg in CrossFit workouts and seeing stamina and muscle mass improvements
07:00 - The Huddle
09:06 - The Hot Seat
12:49 - Rowing origin story: at 12, followed her brother into rowing, which reconnected her to the water after her dad died
15:39 - Teenage body awareness, finding nuance of body mechanics, and how a back injury led to a college minor in exercise science
21:20 - From “stumbling upon” naturopathic medicine to working to create a two-sided “therapeutic alliance” with her patients
26:08 - Rachel falls in love with Megan’s approach and Tara talks about the reality of being a practicing naturopathic medicine patient
32:28 - The connections between stress, performance, sleep, hormones, recovery
33:57 - Performance optimization vs longevity: making adjustments post-injury and working within the mobility abilities of your crew
35:03 - The importance of deep sleep as a “reset button” for our brains and muscles
38:50 - Habits for better sleep
41:30 - Pre- and post-practice nutrition guidelines
46:03 - The surprising reason you should shower in the first hour after a workout
47:50 - Megan’s philosophy on health, wellness, and being active in community
49:37 - Steady State Network news and notes
Episode Mentions
🎧 = Listen to a Steady State Podcast episode
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Commencement Bay Rowing Club
Lake Washington Rowing Club
Northampton Community Rowing
Sammamish Rowing Association
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Steady State Podcast is hosted and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering, books show guests, and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel writes our scripts and e-newsletter, and manages the website and social media. Our theme music is Open Mind by Soundroll.
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