How to Measure Stress with Justin Roethlingshoefer

I recently sat down with Justin Roethlingshoefer for an episode of the Peace on Purpose Podcast. I wanted to share our conversation here, as well, because it’s timely and a much-needed message in today’s stress-riddled culture. Before I share, I also wanted to give you a little information about Justin so you would know more before you dive in!

Justin Roethlingshoefer is the co-founder of OWN IT Coaching, a multiple seven-figure coaching company. As a former performance coach in the NCAA and NHL, through OWN IT he has made the same ecosystem that is usually only available to the best athletes in the world now available to you. Utilizing best-in-class testing, technology, and coaching he and his team have been able to transform the health and lives of hundreds of thousands of leaders throughout the country, while empowering them on their journey and making the complex topic of health simple, actionable, and personal. He is a speaker and the host of The OWN IT Show podcast. Justin is the author of three other bestselling books, including The Athletic Performance Blueprint and OWN IT.

LB: Would you be willing to share a little bit how you got started and maybe share why you’re qualified to have this conversation in the first place?

taking ownership

Justin: First off, I want to thank you. I’ve got an amazing conviction and passion for this and I think now, more than ever, we need a differentiating voice in the health and wellness industry. We’re just sitting behind a screen. we’re talking into a phone, or we’re speaking into a Zoom camera and I think that we forget that everyone wants influence, but nobody wants to build relationship and absolutely nobody wants to take responsibility. We have to actually turn this on its head. I want to build relationship first, whether it’s through the dms, this podcast, my website, or through my social media content, I’m going to take responsibility for every single thing I put out there. And so turning things on its head that way have always been a key and I have focused to how I show up.

Secondarily, my journey has been one that’s been very unconventional to be honest with you. I am a man of faith and at just 11 years old, God told me I that I’m going to redeem the health of the world. I had no idea how he was going to do that through me, but it sounded like something exciting. And for an 11 year old kid who had wanted to do nothing but play in the N H L and be a hockey player, I was all of a sudden just convicted on health and wellness information. However, I was a fat kid, right? So I was the fat 11, 12 year old that was made fun of and didn’t fit in, but I just happened to be gifted with a high level of athleticism. So I was playing sports, whether it was baseball, lacrosse, hockey and even at the AAA levels, but was 30-40 pounds heavier than everybody and had a round face and was pudgy. I was teased. I was the outsider–never fit in.

the path that led here

But I knew deep down that I was different and that I just had a uniqueness about me. I went through a deep, deep stage of anorexia between the ages of 14 and 18 and then anorexia led to a deep level of mental illness. I had depression and anxiety through my twenties. I had suicidal thoughts. Even though I looked great on the outside–even during stressful situations–I was broken and bankrupt on the inside. Everyone was like you’re the picture of health. I wanna look like you and all of these things. But. literally, I had no idea what was actually going on over the course of that time. I put on a great face. I had everything you could ever imagine. I had my bachelor’s degree–actually I got two of them. I went from there to my master’s degree. From there I went and did graduate research in heart rate variability, sleep and recovery science. Then I had the job in the N H L with high endurance athletes. Even after all of that success, I knew internally that I still wasn’t healthy and my mental health, especially, was suffering.

disintegrated health

I still didn’t wrap my arms around anything that I tried to get exposed to in a holistic and integrated way. Everything was disintegrated– mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health. The more we disintegrated, the more I saw the disintegration of my own health, and thus the disintegration of everybody else’s around me. That was just something that was so prevalent and I only became aware as I started to use data and information to really drive the health of my athletes and the clients that I was working with. I still couldn’t do it for myself, though, because I hadn’t healed mentally and emotionally from everything that had happened as a young boy. To be honest with you, Leslie, it wasn’t until I was 28 or 29 years old that I started to really understand what true health felt like when I was going to therapy. I was getting the work done that was needed.

My wife was the one that encouraged me to dive deeper into the root causes of my issues. I had stepped away from the N H L and was plagued by stomach issues and mental stress. I didn’t know why this was happening, I just knew I did not feel well at all and my stress levels were through the roof. I went to every doctor, every functional medicine therapist, every RD you could imagine, and they were like, you’re the picture of health. They would run every test possible and still not come up with any answers. And all of a sudden, I just said, “This is not ok.” I couldn’t take any more supplements, do any more elimination diets, I just didn’t feel well, I knew something was wrong and there were no answers. I ended up going to a specialist in New York City. They didn’t want to do the tests on me, but I insisted and paid out of pocket because I knew something was off. 

I still remember the doctor coming back out after I got an endoscopy and a colonoscopy and he approached me and said, “I am so sorry, I do not know why it took us this long, but if we hadn’t done this, you wouldn’t have seen your 35th birthday.” I had an ulcer the size of two quarters in my stomach and I had seven polyps the size of my thumb–all pre-cancerous and in my colon–and by the time they would have found it normally, I would have been a goner. 

turning point

It was that moment that I started changing my habits, my behaviors, and my lifestyle. I started integrating this in a much more holistic way. If you come back to like the definition of integrated holistic health, it means all, everything, all encompassing. It means to bring together, to make one. When you think of health, it’s mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional. This is how I started my new book–it’s about taking ownership of your health, what that means and the definition of holistic.

In our world, we have a type of healthcare provider called a functional medicine doctor. We have functional, integrated, holistic practitioners. We have holistically integrated strength coaches, rds…you name it. Everybody throws holistic and integrated into their name because that’s what they say they do, but yet they don’t talk about the mental, physical, spiritual, emotional components of health and how it’s all connected. If your therapist isn’t asking you about your habits, they’re not holistic or integrated. If your RD is not understanding what your life is like at home–mentally and spiritually–they’re not holistic and integrated. If your strength coach is not aware of what you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, how your work stress is, they’re not holistically integrated. It is treating things as a silo and we wonder why we’re running with a flat tire.  All of a sudden, when I went one step further and I looked up the definition of heal, I realized it’s the exact same definition of integrated–to make one; to bring together; to bring everything back to a solid self.

heart rate variability

And that’s really where we ended up and how we began studying heart rate variability. It is the key metric for health. We began to look at that and then discuss a person’s health resilience score. Basically, this is how your body is handling stress and strain–mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. The stress response is evaluated thoroughly.

Our body doesn’t know the difference between real and perceived stress or threats, It also doesn’t know the difference between positive or negative. You could be going on a vacation with your family. You could be seeing your family more often. You could be building a new home. You could be renovating your home. You could be graduating from school. Your kids could be graduating from school. All these things are good. Yes, they’re all blessings, but your body doesn’t know the difference between positive and negative, good and bad, real and perceived stress. It’s all the same to your body,

why are we just doing what everyone else is doing?

Mental, physical, spiritual, emotional–many of us have never thought about health in the concept of a holistically integrated way. It’s always been “what do you do from a diet standpoint?”  “What do you do from an exercise standpoint?” ” How am I sleeping?” “What supplements should I be taking?” “Should I be hot tubbing?”  “Should I be cold tubbing?” “Should I be steam room or sauna-ing?” There are all of these routines that everybody has just said we need to do, but yet we haven’t built something that works for us and because we haven’t looked at what we need, it’s always just been let’s do what everybody else is doing. It has created more and more confusion. It has created the laundry list of things, the checklist that really hasn’t gotten us any further along. It’s actually just caused a greater degradation and a greater separation from the true health that we should be experiencing. And that’s really what I am looking to do in creating a voice and a place for people to land to really realize that there’s something else. I’m launching a YouTube series called Championship Mornings where we highlight successful people and their morning routines. It’s to show you that everybody’s different. And they’re all different sorts of morning routines that lead to success. I’ve got guys that wake up at 4:00 AM to go do their morning routines. I’ve got guys that wake up at nine and do their morning routines. I’ve got people that wake up and get a cup of coffee and go meditate for 10 minutes and then get into their deep work. I’ve got people that wake up, get outside immediately and then go work out. Everyone’s so different, but yet we feel like there’s one way to do things that’s going to be really successful. And we feel guilty, we feel shameful. We feel like we’re not perfect. Then we see a degradation of our mental and emotional health, and all of a sudden it continues this spiral effect that we can’t get out of. The world tells us to take what I call a bottom up approach; your body–your physiological response– first, and then your heart, and then your mind, and then your spirit. The thoughts stream in, “I’m not good enough.” “I’m not strong enough.” “I’m not farther enough along.” “I’m gonna continue to be behind.” “I’m never gonna be as good as that person.” This only further separates us from what our true calling is and what our true purposes are.

it’s all about purpose

We need to be able to say, “No, this is why I was put on this earth. Justin was made unique. Justin was made different. Justin has a calling that is different than anybody else’s.” And for me, I can now say, of course I’m worth it. Of course, I’m gonna put the time and effort and energy in. Of course, I’m exactly where I need to be. And that’s gonna eliminate the anxiety, eliminate the fear, eliminate the depression, and put me into a space of power, excitement, authenticity, and feeling truly inspired. I can now realize what is hurting me about my habits, my behaviors, the things that I choose to engage in, the things that I yield to. And we can even get even further down the rabbit hole once we get into body and we can flip it on it’s head again because the world tells us, even when we attach to the body, that we need to do all of these tools first. You need the sauna, you need the red light. You need the cold plunges, you need the IVs, you need the testosterone therapy, you need the hormone therapy.

evaluating habits and behaviors

Well, no, we need to flip that on its head too. And we’re gonna start with your habits and behaviors. This is a powerful tool and gives us a good picture. We’re going to start with the things that are free. Are you stopping eating three hours before you go to bed? Are you stopping work two hours before you go to bed? Are you creating some space for you an hour before you go to bed to start winding down? Do you have a good night routine? Are you waking up and getting outside? Are you getting some fresh light? Are you getting fresh air? Are you getting the appropriate amount of water in a day? Are you getting enough physical activity throughout the day? Let’s start with these foundational behaviors and habits before we go up the chain.

Once we’ve mastered these, once we’ve figured out what works for us, and we have now a vetting system through heart rate variability, then let’s get some testing done. Let’s maybe then do your blood testing. Let’s evaluate your risk factors for things like cardiovascular disease and physical fitness. Let’s decide whether or not you’re experiencing psychological stress. Let’s now maybe do your D N A testing. Let’s now look at a gut biome panel so we can start to curate certain nutritional factors, certain supplement factors, certain exercise routines that are going to be more purposeful.

And then lastly, let’s choose a tool that’s going to help exponentially grow where you’re trying to go, or the result you’re trying to achieve, not the other way around. And when we can literally put everything that we’re seeing on its head. That’s when we can start to live a life that is different.

am I creating health and vibrancy?

LB: I’m over here just like amening all the things. So one of the reasons that I even started the Peace on Purpose podcast was kind of a similar faith experience to you. People need to break up with worry and chronic stress. That’s like step one. You need take your thoughts captive and really question is what I’m saying to myself actually creating health and vibrancy, or is it keeping me in a perpetual state of stress?

And I love what you’re saying about how we have to start there first. Like from a mental perspective, we need to learn to question what are we thinking, what are we meditating on, and how is it impacting our stress. And I’ll tell you, as somebody who recently got on the HRV tracking train of what you’re saying, I have been able to see for myself and track important data. Turns out that some of the times that I thought must be the most stressful are actually the most peaceful. For example, when my kids are around–you would think that would be draining and stressful, but it is actually a time that I am generally at feel at rest–it is really beautiful despite the stress and strain. Things that seemed like they would be acute stressors (a big work project or conference call) were the places in which I actually experienced a relaxation response!

Like you were saying, your body doesn’t differentiate good and bad necessarily. It is worth investigating the way our body responds to certain stressors or certain activities in our lives.

For people who may be listening to this and they’re shaking their heads and saying, “I am overwhelmed in the health and wellness space, I am overwhelmed of what to do first, and I have tried getting up at four. I have tried sleeping until nine. I have tried doing these things that everybody else is doing, and I can’t seem to find what will work for me”, what do you want to encourage them to do? I love that you’re saying and want to reiterate it. You’re saying hey, this is individualized, this is unique and there are things that are going to work for you that are not going to work for other people. How do we find that launching place and how do we run a diagnostic to improve overall health, so to speak? You know, when people are having symptoms or they’re having thoughts, the first thing you need to do is run some tests, but you also need to do some tracking. You know, instead of running for the thyroid panel, how about we do some tracking and find out some more information. Like how much am I sleeping?

give us the data

Justin: And just for all your listeners, as you leave here, everything around us causes stress to the human body. The air, we’re breathing it and our body has to filter it. Our body has to filter everything and we don’t consider the taxation. Maybe you’re fighting off a virus or a bacteria. There are so many different stressors that could be impacting our health in our daily life. And we need a way to have a systematic review of these things.

LB: And that’s exactly what you’re talking about. The thing that has been difficult, especially in my community, is how to know when our cup is overflowing? When our bodies are stressed with health issues, chronic pain, and anxiety disorders under the surface? Like there’s nothing to give us some hard data. We need a valuable tool to fill this need. 

here’s the tool

Justin: And that’s why tracking heart rate variability is a beautiful thing.

LB: Yes and that’s exactly why I wanted to have you on here because, again, I just see that over the next couple years people are going to be open and ripe to having a conversation about root causes and what’s going on beneath the surface. We’re tired of signing up for just the random tests here and there–we’re looking for the gold standard of care– and we’re tired of having to pull so hard to advocate for ourselves. And what you’re bringing to the table now is a cold cup of water to a dumpster fire community.

The next natural question is where can we learn about HRV and what’s the best way for us to get the tools that we need to start tracking and getting in tune with our body?  

find out more

Justin: That’s awesome. So what we’ve actually built is healthabundancescore.com and you can take a little assessment tool there that we’ve put together. You’ll get an email sequence that we’ll teach you about HRV, tracking and wearable devices. 

LB: I hope you guys go to Justin’s website. Go get that assessment, get the emails, and take advantage all Justin has to offer about HRV and tracking tools. Justin, to close out, I want to ask you one more questions: what would you love to see shift and take place?  

Justin: I’d love to see everybody feeling empowered and taking a true personalized approach to health and wellness. With all of the tools at your fingertips, it’s the best time to start. 

LB: I know my audience is gonna go gobble up all your things. Thank you so much for investing your day and I can’t wait to see where the Lord takes you over the next couple of years. I’m here for it. 

Justin: Thank you so much Leslie.