Heidi Campo: Sci-Fi Nerd, Strongman Athlete, PhD Student, Author

This episode is genuinely all over the place — in the best way. Heidi Campo joins Coaches' AAR for a conversation that somehow connects NASA spaceflight research, Icelandic strongman training, and the psychology of performing under acute stress.

Heidi is a PhD student in the Physically Demanding Professions Research Group at UNLV under Dr. Brian Schilling, studying tactical human performance. Before that, her master's work focused on flywheel exercise countermeasures for NASA's Artemis missions — the same device astronauts are using on the Orion capsule right now. And before that, she spent a winter in Iceland training strongman under Magnús ver Magnússon, went on to open the first commercial strongman gym in Salt Lake City, founded the NSCA's Strongman Special Interest Group, and co-authored the book Strongman Training for Strength and Performance.

We get into:

• Why NASA's biggest problems with long-duration spaceflight are more clinical than performance-related, and how that connects to longevity and neurodegenerative disease research
• What it's actually like to train strongman in Iceland, and why elite environments tend to have zero ego in them
• Why strongman removes the barrier to entry that traditional lifts create for tactical populations — and why "the badass factor" matters for buy-in
• The stress-performance curve, and why physical readiness matters even in situations that aren't about passing a fitness test
• Why intensity — not just aerobic base — is usually the missing piece when soldiers struggle with run times

Heidi's book, Strongman Training for Strength and Performance (Human Kinetics), is out now.

Find her on Instagram @ms.heidi.campo or LinkedIn.

https://www.heidicampo.com/