Industry
Sports Media
Challenge
Although he had consistent exercise and nutrition habits, a senior executive at a global sports media company struggled with chronic work-related stress, sleep disruption from frequent travel, and difficulty gaining lean muscle mass. Traditional medical approaches offered only reference-range assessments without optimization strategies. RAPID’s comprehensive program, based on expert lab work analysis and interpretation, normalized his cortisol levels, improved his sleep quality, added lean muscle, and shifted his approach to recovery and stress management.
Client
Senior Executive - Global Sports Media Company
"RAPID thought about me as an entire person. It wasn't just the workout, the nutrition, or the sleep - it was how all these things fit together and worked within my life.
About the Client
The client is a 55-year-old senior executive at a global sports media company. With extensive experience in feature production and live event coverage, he maintains a demanding travel schedule, including frequent cross-country trips and high-stakes live broadcasts. He discovered RAPID through Dr. Andy Galpin’s appearances on Peter Attia’s podcast and a Huberman Lab podcast series, entering the program to extend his healthspan and address the compounding effects of job stress and age.
The Challenges
Despite his knowledge and consistency with daily exercise, the client faced interconnected obstacles that traditional approaches couldn’t adequately overcome:
Chronic Stress and Nervous System Dysregulation
As a high-performing executive managing live broadcasts and breaking news cycles, the client experienced chronic stress with elevated cortisol ratios. “My doctor told me, ‘You’re in the reference range, it’s fine,’” the client said. “But that didn’t make it optimal.”
Travel-Related Sleep Disruption
Frequent travel and circadian rhythm disruption created a cycle of poor sleep and compromised recovery. The client regularly sacrificed sleep for morning workouts before flights.
Difficulty Building Lean Muscle
As he didn’t support his consistent training with adequate protein intake, the client struggled to add lean muscle mass. “I was a really thin guy who had trouble putting on muscle mass,” he said.
Reference Range Limitations
Traditional medical assessments provided only population-based reference ranges rather than individualized optimization targets. Bloodwork consistently came back “acceptable” without actionable guidance.
Inadequate Recovery and Work-Life Boundaries
The client maintained a relentless work-and-exercise schedule with minimal downregulation. “If you’d told me my choice was to sleep a little longer or wake up early and get a workout in, I would’ve chosen waking up early every single day of the week,” he said. The client lacked clear boundaries between work and recovery, immediately checking devices upon waking to find overnight problems he needed to fix.
The Solution
The client chose RAPID after recognizing the need for personalized, evidence-based optimization rather than generic fitness advice.
Comprehensive Bloodwork Analysis
Dan Garner’s performance-based bloodwork analysis moved beyond reference ranges to identify optimal performance ranges specific to the client’s physiology and goals. “The level of detail in the RAPID report was awesome,” the client said. It provided a clear roadmap to overcome each performance anchor that was limiting his progress: “Here’s where it is, here’s where we want to get it to, here’s how we’re going to attack this.” A comprehensive video walkthrough transformed raw data into actionable intelligence.
Personalized Coaching Partnership
The client worked closely with his RAPID coach, who understood the unique demands facing high-performing executives. “What made the RAPID program work was having someone to help me,” the client said.
Strategic Nutrition and Training
The client discovered his macronutrient balance was significantly off target. His personalized nutrition plan focused on controlled, sustainable muscle gain rather than aggressive bulking. The RAPID team continuously monitored his progress and made weekly adjustments based on his wearables data.
RAPID designed a bespoke training program that evolved based on adaptations and progress. “There was an initial protocol that I followed for a couple of weeks, and then my RAPID coach worked with me to tweak and adjust it,” the client said.
Morning and Evening Routine Optimization
The client’s RAPID coach identified that immediately checking devices before bed and upon waking compromised his final sleep cycle and triggered unnecessary stress. Through incremental adjustments, they extended the buffer so that now, the client does his morning routine for an hour before checking work email on his phone.
RAPID also completely revamped the client’s evening routine to prioritize downregulation. He now falls asleep faster because he’s no longer scrolling social feeds or news right before bedtime.
Lifestyle Integration
RAPID encouraged the client to regularly try three analog activities – which he decided would be acoustic guitar, vinyl record collecting, and archery – that provided screen-free recovery time and personal growth. “The goal was to create hobbies that had nothing to do with screens because I’m on a screen all day,” the client said.
Working with RAPID’s breathwork specialist, the client learned to approach activities with intention rather than constant digital interruption. RAPID emphasized unitasking – doing just one thing at a time – to increase focus, and the client feels more productive than when he was always multitasking.
Travel Management and Recovery Prioritization
Rather than maintaining normal training volume while traveling, RAPID implemented a subtraction approach, prioritizing rest during demanding work trips. Perhaps most significantly, the client learned to recognize when reducing his training intensity or volume would serve his long-term goals better than pushing through when he was exhausted. “Before RAPID, I would never have dialed back a workout,” the client said. “I talked to my coach after I started going easier in some sessions, and she said she was proud of me.”
Results
Body Composition Transformation
The client successfully added lean muscle mass through controlled gains. Starting at 133 pounds, he progressed toward his goal of 150 pounds, which he achieved through coordinated nutrition and consistent training rather than extreme measures.
Biomarker Optimization
RAPID’s comprehensive approach delivered measurable improvements:
- Cortisol ratios normalized from previously elevated levels
- Testosterone levels optimized within performance ranges
- Cholesterol panels improved to optimal levels
- Overall metabolic health enhanced
Illness Cycle Elimination
The client broke his previous pattern of frequent illness following demanding travel. “I used to regularly be on a cycle of go on a trip, become run down, get sick, feel better for a couple weeks, and do it all over again,” the client said. “RAPID helped balance my routine to the point where that doesn’t happen anymore.”
Sustainable Lifestyle Changes
The client built habits and systems that continued after he finished the initial RAPID program. The analog hobbies, morning and evening routines, and recovery prioritization became permanent lifestyle elements. “I definitely feel better when I play my guitar for half an hour every night,” the client said. “Deciding to put on a vinyl record and actually sit down and listen to it has made me a healthier human being.”
Mindset Transformation
The client fundamentally changed how he thought about health and recovery. “The numbers in the gym are not the end game for me,” the client said. “I’m going to win by being healthier longer.”
Program Philosophy
Comprehensive Integration
The client emphasized that RAPID’s value came from integrating multiple domains. “Even if you could go out and find one place that does nutrition, workouts, and sleep well, making it all work together would be impossible,” the client said. “RAPID makes it all work.”
Beyond Physical Optimization
What initially appeared to be a fitness program revealed itself as comprehensive lifestyle optimization. “If someone said to me, ‘Why choose RAPID?’ it would actually not be for everything we’ve talked about so far,” the client said. “What my coach dug in on was lifestyle, and this is where we ended up spending most of our time.”
Personalization at Scale
RAPID worked with the client while respecting his constraints. Instead of demanding wholesale life changes, the coaches met him where he was and progressed systematically. “I’m never going to allow myself to work less hard,” the client said. “What RAPID’s great about is understanding that and then figuring out what’s best for my needs.”
Healthspan Over Lifespan
The RAPID protocols emphasized optimizing quality of years lived rather than simply extending lifespan. “We have some control over healthspan,” the client said. “Lifespan’s the thing we have no real control over.”
Continuous Optimization
RAPID provided ongoing coaching that evolved with the client’s needs. “If RAPID had just done some testing, given me my initial lab results and said, ‘Go on your way,’ it wouldn’t have been nearly as valuable,” the client said. “The real value is that this wasn’t the endpoint – with RAPID, it was just the beginning.”
Final Thoughts
“RAPID thought about me as an entire person,” the client said. “It wasn’t just the workout, the nutrition, or the sleep – it was how all these things fit together and worked within my life.”
The client has recommended the program to colleagues, with at least one close friend currently working with RAPID. His endorsement stems from experiencing transformation that extended far beyond his initial expectations. “The idea of having all these specialists and making it all work together seems implausible, but RAPID made it work,” the client said. “I haven’t seen that anywhere else.”
RAPID delivered sustainable optimization serving his long-term health goals while respecting the realities of his demanding career. “RAPID had a really good sense of how to meet me where I was and pushed me to become the optimal version of myself,” the client said.
