From Undeclared to Unstoppable: Heat Physiology, Fitness Culture & The Truth About Sweat ft. Ayla Gabel

She went from undeclared to unstoppable — and she's already changing how we think about heat and health.This week on Bulls Rise, we sat down with Ayla, a second-year PhD student at UB studying heat physiology under Dr. Hayden Hess — and she came ready. Her dissertation is tackling something most of the research world has quietly ignored: how adults with obesity actually thermoregulate in extreme heat, and why decades of flawed methodology have left us with public health guidelines that may be failing the people who need them most.But this conversation goes far beyond the lab. Ayla walks us through the deadlift that left her with two bulging discs, the moment she stopped caring what her body looked like and started caring what it could do, and the mindset shift that turned a career-ending injury into the foundation of everything she's built since.She calls out the fitness industry hard in this one. She makes the case that motivation is overrated, that discipline is a schedule-not a feeling, and that the simplest tool most people ignore — reducing friction — is the actual key to showing up. She breaks down what sweat really does (and doesn't do) for cooling, why electrolyte culture may be oversold, and what every person should be doing right now to prepare for summer heat.And when asked what it means to rise, she didn't hesitate:Just keep showing up.🎧 Full episode available now on all platforms.