Natalie Higby is a Co-Founder of The Durable Athlete, which is a company dedicated to spreading the word about how simple changes week after week can help you get stronger, feel better, and live longer. Natalie also serves as a Health and Wellness Coach at the Onnit Academy, which is a gym in Austin, Texas where the goal is the optimize both the mind and body. I came across Natalie’s work while looking into the durability course that Onnit offers. Specifically, I came across this post (below) of Natalie’s where she described overcoming arthritic knee pain through consistently doing the small things in the areas of Breath, Movement, Sleep and Nutrition that ultimately alleviated her pain.

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My Knees Used To Hurt When I Did These Exercises... ___ I’ve been active my whole life, participated in almost every sport, and even played college basketball for @utdcometsports, but I was always laughed at for not being able to touch my toes! I was never very flexible and I often neglected stretching and mobility because they hurt and I didn’t enjoy them. After years of sports and training, CrossFit and Strongman, I finally got myself to go to yoga a couple times a week, but even that didn’t really catch my attention. It wasn’t until I started learning more about durability and bodyweight training from people and places like @onnit, @animalflowofficial, @foundationtraining, @drmarkcheng, @coachjohnwolf, @shaneheins, @cristian_thedurableathlete, @functional_range_conditioning and many more that I truly bought into how impactful this practice can be. I was strong, but felt so weak and inefficient when moving through exercises like the ones above. It was hard and felt very uncomfortable. My wrists and knees used to hurt a lot and my hips felt locked up! I share this with you because it’s important to understand that the reason I post about mobility and other lifestyle tips with you all is because it has been these exact things that have changed my life. I bought into the process and it’s continuing to pay off! It didn’t happen overnight though. It didn’t happen after 1-2 months. I can’t tell you the exact day that things started to feel better, but it was my consistency that slowly helped me feel, function, and perform better. I see a lot of comments on my feed about certain exercises being difficult or uncomfortable for people and while I wish I could be there to coach each of you, I just wanted to remind everyone that I was once in your shoes. I was told by a doctor that I have arthritis in my knees, but rather than using that as an excuse to stop moving, I used it to motivate me to do something about it! I wanted to demonstrate 3 moves that used to hurt my knees and no longer cause any pain or discomfort. You have the power to choose your daily actions and habits that will impact your overall health for years to come. Choose wisely! Stay Durable ✌🏽❤️

A post shared by Natalie Higby (@natalie.higby) on Aug 24, 2020 at 8:09am PDT

“ I was told by a doctor that I have arthritis in my knees, but rather than using that as an excuse to stop moving, I used it to motivate me to do something about it!
…
You have the power to choose your daily actions and habits that will impact your overall health for years to come. Choose wisely”!

I believe I was always think of myself as an athlete. For those of you that have been longtime followers of the podcast, you know that I have struggled with a knee injury that always continues to linger. Natalie’s lines above really resonated with me, because when my daily habits include Breath, Movement, Sleep and Nutrition my knee almost always feels some much better and my performance improves dramatically. The moment I stray away from these habits, the pain quickly returns. I brought Natalie on the podcast to teach us about some of the daily habits she incorporates with her clients and into her own training regimen to remain pain free.

Natalie working with The Durable Athlete Co-Founder, Cristian Plascencia. Photo courtesy of Natalie Higby.

In this interview Natalie and I dive into the topics listed below and more!

Background on Natalie’s athletic career and injuries suffered.
Natalie’s transformation to life after college basketball.
Advice for athletes to help them transform in their lives after sports.
What led to the creation of The Durable Athlete?
What goes in to creating a durable athlete?
- Breath
- Movement
- Sleep
- Nutrition
How can The Durable athlete help athletes during their careers and post career.
The daily habits that led to Natalie’s pain free performance.
The services Natalie and Cristian offer through The Durable Athlete.
The Influence CrossFit has on her coaching today.
An explanation of the Onnit Academy and what it’s like to work there.