Shawn can slam dunk and deadlift over 500lbs for repetitions at 50 years old.
Shawn Baker MD (@SBakerMD) is a board certified orthopedic surgeon, multi-sport world record holding Masters 50+ Athlete, and Zero-Carber (he just eats red meat, and a little seafood and cheese). Shawn’s background is fascinating. He played Semi-Professional Rugby in New Zealand, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Airforce operating as a Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch Officer (Nukes!), and went on to become a surgeon operating in war zones in the middle east. He now practices surgery in New Mexico, US.
Throughout Shawn’s varied career, he’s retained a passion for competing in strong man events. His titles include:
- Natural Association Of Strength Athletes Deadlift American Record 772lbs
- World Association of Bench Press and Deadlift Submasters World record (Deadlift 738lbs)
- USA powerlifting 40+ Master American record Deadlift 711lbs)
- NASS Texas Strongest Man 300lb class winner
- NASS- Strongman national championships 300lb class 5th
- Highland Games Masters US invitational championships 1st place
- Highland Games Masters World Champion
- Highland Games Masters World record “Sheaf” toss
- USA track and field all American standard-Discus, weight and super-weight throws
- 50+ world record concept 2 indoor rower for 500m, 1min, 100m row
Shawn celebrates turning 50 with a ribeye steak and bacon.
In this episode, we cover:
- Shawn’s experience working as a Nuclear Weapons Launch Officer.
- Shawn’s resistance training and skill training regimen and why he uses lots of plyometrics and other unorthodox approaches in his workouts.
- His thoughts on HIT.
- We talk about his Zero-Carb diet, what he eats, when, how much, etc.
- How his diet has affected his health and exercise recovery.
- The downsides to eating Zero-Carb.
- His thoughts on eating on the road and in social situations.
- And much more.
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This episode is sponsored by Hituni.com, the best online courses in high intensity strength training. I recently completed their personal trainer course to increase my knowledge and become certified in HIT. HITuni offer DIY courses to help you get better results from your training and personal training courses to help you start and grow your HIT Business. Visit HITuni.com and use the code “HIB10” to get 10% OFF.
Show Notes
- A day in the life of a Nuclear Weapons Launch Officer [06:25]
- Shawn’s approach to physical conditioning and skill training [11:20]
- Does Shawn plan to compete in sports at a high level when he’s 80? [18:03]
- Shawn’s current training regimen [21:21]
- How Shawn uses intuition and goals to structure his workouts [25:40]
- An introduction to Shawn’s zero-carb (ZC) diet [27:30]
- How Zero-Carb has affected Shawn’s workout recovery [30:52]
- What motivates Shawn to constantly chase down new goals? [34:13]
- How Shawn has fine tuned his Zero-Carb Diet [35:30]
- How Zero-Carb can organically foster a fasting habit [40:52]
- Do eggs play a part in Shawn’s diet? [45:10]
- How does Shawn season his red meat meals? [46:43]
- Is there any downside to the Zero-Carb diet? [48:40]
- When is the last time Shawn ate junk food? [52:45]
- Shawn’s upcoming book [54:50]
- Shawn’s final piece of advice [57:50]
Selected Links from the Episode
- Shawn Baker MD How to be a record breaker at 50+ – YouTube or see Episode #13 here (Shawn’s interview with Paul Burgess, highly recommend for more context)
- Interview on Razor Edge Performance (another great interview article for more context)
- WarGames
- High Intensity Training
- Body By Science by Dr Doug McGuff and John Little (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- How to Reverse Aging with Art De Vany (The Tim Ferriss Show)
- Indoor Rower
- Concept2 Rowing Machine (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- AmazonBasics Medicine Ball, 10-Pounds (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Heart Rate Variability
- Zero Carb Diet
- Paleo Diet
- Ketogenic Diet
- Vince Gironda’s Steak and Egg Diet
- Inuit
- Intermittent Fasting (IF)
People Mentioned
What do you think about Zero-Carb? Let me know in the comments below.
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Hi Lawrence you moved here to Ireland? where are you based? btw very interesting episode!
Thank you Edu :D. I’m living in Galway. You?
Cork bai! 🙂
Lawrence, why don’t you ask Shawn Baker why he lost his medical licence – and cross-examine him on his answers? There are also claims his blood markers are appalling – he’s pre-diabetic, Vitamin D-deficient, has low testosterone etc. Another obvious area to probe … but you dodged it. You come across as a giddy fanboi.
Thanks for your feedback Roger. I have watched Shawn talk about his career challenges in length on his YouTube channel in a 2 part series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA7OnnjLGcs. Furthermore, he addressed it on Rogan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj_Bc9hdHa0&t=576s), and it’s just another example of how the medical industry is often focused on profit over efficacy.
I don’t think you can say that his blood markers are appalling. I think it’s complex and there is a lot we don’t understand. Shawn had submitted and reviewed his blood test with Robb Wolf after he’d recorded the podcast with me so I didn’t that knowledge to probe, otherwise I definitely would have, and I’m sure it would have been a very fun conversation.