The Hidden System Behind Performance: Functional Vision Training with Dr. Bryce Appelbaum

The Ready State Podcast

Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett

Health & Fitness, Fitness

4.9 • 623 Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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Behind every great movement is a trained visual system. Your eyes aren’t just for seeing — they’re tools for balance, reaction, and control. When they’re not working in sync with your brain and body, everything from focus to performance suffers.

In this episode of The Ready State Podcast, Dr. Bryce Appelbaum — a neuro-optometrist specializing in functional vision — joins Juliet and Kelly Starrett to break down how your visual system drives everything from reaction time to recovery. He explains how training the eyes and brain together can improve coordination, balance, and focus under pressure. Whether you’re coming back from a concussion or looking to level up your athletic edge, this episode will open your eyes to the hidden system behind performance.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

What functional vision training is (and how it differs from standard eye exams)
Why vision is a skill — not just a sense
How concussions and screen time can disrupt your visual system
The surprising ways vision affects posture, balance, and coordination
Practical tools to improve visual endurance and reaction time
How athletes can train their eyes like any other muscle
Why vision issues are often misdiagnosed as ADHD

Key Highlights:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:48) - Vision Misunderstandings

(05:14) - Training Eyesight Without Glasses

(10:27) - Identifying Children's Vision Problems

(15:44) - Causes of Reading Fatigue

(18:54) - Increasing Vision Changes Trends

(23:33) - Healthy Vision Training Routine

(27:35) - Sponsor: Momentous

(30:29) - Sponsor: LMNT

(32:45) - Duration for Effective Vision Training

(38:02) - Secrets to Regular Bowel Movements

(44:06) - Understanding Concussions

(50:30) - Getting Help for Concussions

(53:20) - Functional Vision as a Competitive Advantage

(56:20) - Finding Dr. Bryce

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is functional vision trade?
0:02.0	You can train vision to optimize performance and potential.
0:05.0	How we could actually train vision as a competitive advantage.
0:09.0	There's vision mobility just like motor systems and with balance.
0:13.0	Exercise works.
0:14.0	We squat for mobility.
0:16.0	Eye movements are mobility as well.
0:18.0	Dr. Bryce Applebaum, a neurooptometrist,
0:21.6	board-certified in vision therapy.
0:23.6	Graduated from ICO in 2009.
0:25.6	Dr. Applebaum has been featured on the front page of USA Today,
0:28.6	CBS, New York Times, many other magazines and features.
0:32.6	He also hosts intensive vision performance training boot camps
0:35.6	for which people are flying in from all around the
0:38.7	world anybody with the right work right motivation you can become less dependent on the glasses you have
0:45.5	you can prolong the need for an increase do you think this eyesight vision thing is so misunderstood
0:51.7	people are interacting with their vision and eye doctors often for their
0:56.0	whole life. Why do you think there's such a lack of understanding here on this?
1:00.0	Rice, welcome to the Ready State podcast. So psych to be here. Thanks for having me.
1:04.8	So, you know, we, just to cue this up a little bit, we met a few months ago at a conference,
1:10.3	and Kelly and I were lucky enough to
1:12.5	be able to go to your talk on functional vision. And I think we got five minutes into the talk and
	...

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