The Inner Armor Podcast

We usually talk about "performing at our potential," but there is something more valuable than performance: thriving. In this episode, Doc and Greg talk about what it means to thrive as a human being. In fact, thriving might mean performing in all aspects of your life, not just in your sport or work. Can we "thrive at our potential?" What would that look like? How would we measure it? What stands in our way? And how do we begin rea...

Our culture idolizes collegiate athletes. We watch them on TV, fans wear branded gear, and booster's donate billions to the universities. They appear to be in the prime of life, physically and mentally gifted, with promising futures. How do we avoid turning them into idols, or performers, and preserve and develop their humanity during these few years they are on that stage?

In the second of two episodes from the campus of Liberty U...

Student athletes face unique developmental challenges. In many ways, they at the peak of their physical prowess, but they are still learning and maturing intellectually, emotionally, and relationally. Moreover, they have multiple roles or jobs as full-time students and (often) nearly full-time athletes. How can colleges and universities help these young people to reach their potential without being crushed by expectations or engagi...

In the second of two episodes on overcoming anxiety, Dr. Royer talks about the "alligators," or potential threats, that lurk around us. Often, they are right in front of us, blocking our path. But just as often, we exaggerate the threat level, allow them to dominate our thoughts and restrict our freedom.

Grounding ourselves in the tangible world, measuring our thoughts, and properly regulating our autonomic nervous system helps us ...

Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health issues of our time, especially for younger people. Your brain has an amazing capacity to analyze and conceptualize, which is how we accomplish so many fantastic things. But with that comes our ability to overthink, worry, and fear ideas that exist more in our minds than in reality.

In this episode, Doctor Royer shares a powerful antidote to anxious thoughts: come to your sens...

After winning ten collegiate titles and the NCAA national championship at San Jose State University, Tracy Hanson played on the LPGA Tour for 16 years, including 10 top-10 finishes and a career-low round of 63.

After retiring from the tour, she has dedicated her time to philanthropy and ministry, starting her own ministry mentoring young female athletes to achieve their potent...

After winning ten collegiate titles and the NCAA national championship at San Jose State University, Tracy Hanson played on the LPGA Tour for 16 years, including 10 top-10 finishes and a career-low round of 63.

After retiring from the tour, she has dedicated her time to philanthropy and ministry, starting her own ministry mentoring young female athletes to achieve their potent...

In our last episode we talked about what sleep is and why we need it. It turns out that those are very complex questions, because sleep is very complex. It’s not just shutting down the body and resting. In many ways, our bodies are as active during sleep as they are when we are awake, but the brain and body have an agenda, a structured set of tasks and processes that it must accomplish in sequence.

Sleep architecture refers to the ...

Before the 1950s, most people believed sleep was a passive activity during which the body and brain were dormant. Over recent decades, science has proven that the brain and body are remarkably active during sleep. Muscles and organs repair and regenerate tissues. Toxins are cleared, and the immune system fights disease, restoring homeostasis. The brain reorganizes memory storage and restores neural pathways. Our sleep may be the mo...

Throughout most of modern medical history, specific illness or symptoms were assumed to have specific causes. If your throat hurt, it was an infection or injury to the throat. But Hans Selye (1907 - 1982), who was nominated for the Nobel Prize 17 times, made important scientific research that gave new insights into the non-specific responses of an organism to stress (or “stressors”). Using experiments with laboratory rats, he disco...

Dr. Royer has helped some of the world’s best professional golfers, on the PGA and LPGA tours, to maximize performance under tournament conditions by aligning their brains and bodies.

In the first of two episodes on the neurophysiology of elite golf, Doc explains the unique challenges that tournament level golf places on the human system, and how technology and training can give a player a competitive edge.

Episode Website

Inner Ar...

Dr. Royer has helped some of the world’s best professional golfers, on the PGA and LPGA tours, to maximize performance under tournament conditions by aligning their brains and bodies.

In the first of two episodes on the neurophysiology of elite golf, Doc explains the unique challenges that tournament level golf places on the human system, and how technology and training can give a player a competitive edge.

Episode Website

Inner Ar...

To perform to our potential requires us to actually show up. In fact, Woody Allen once said, “Ninety percent of success is just showing up.” But too often, we fail to show up and really be present, focusing on where we are, what we’re doing, and who we’re with.

Often what keeps us from showing up and being present is that we are obsessing about the past and the future. We get caught up in the “What Abouts?” (the past) and the “What...

It's Super Bowl Week! To prepare for watching the big game, Dr. Royer shares his insights into what it took for these two teams to get here, what they need to be doing in the days and hours before the kickoff, and what it will take to win.

Having worked extensively with NFL and NBA teams, as well as champions from other sports, Doc knows just how hard it has been for these organizations to survive the season and come out on top. Ha...

In almost every area of life, we must work hard to perform at our potential. But too often, our performance falls short of our potential because performance requires command and control of our body, and that requires a strong mind-body connection.

Because you are a fusion of mind and body, your performance is determined by the efficiency and effectiveness of that connection.

Physical or psychological training can improve aspects of...

Our lives are not static, our bodies are not static, and so health and performance strategies cannot be static. And so, our goal is not to train or strengthen our organs or systems into an ideal state, but to dynamically adjust how our bodies work and perform relative to ever-shifting demands, circumstances, and stresses. This requires us to develop something called “dynamic resilience,” the ability to s...