Advice like doing fasted cardio while listening to an audiobook on 2x normal speed before 6:00 is common advice in the productivity/get fit industry. The idea behind this perspective comes from a noble place. If you get up early and get right at it, you get a head start—and over time this will have a compounding effect. We wrote about this topic a couple of articles back and we still believe that being consistent is the best way going forward, but as with all things in life—you should try to avoid extremes. Excessive or restrictive behaviour should, as a general rule, be avoided and be replaced with a more sustainable and enjoyable daily routine.

In the last couple of articles, we have been exploring the notion of getting started and the importance of getting stronger. There are a lot of excellent training programs and training strategies out there, but we want to focus on the one that we use (for different purposes—more on that later) and one that we think gets neglected in mainstream media.

“An addiction is manifested in any behavior that a person finds temporary pleasure or relief in,  and therefore craves, but suffers negative consequences from in the long term and is still unable to give it up.” 

By broadening the definition, we all end up in the same boat—users of illegal drugs, pharmaceutical drugs,  nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, sex, gambling, shopping, eating, work, exercise, gaming, pornography, poitical power, the acquisition of wealth, the hoarding of objects, Facebook, Netflix.

“You can eat all the right foods—be it Paleo or Keto, you can be in really great shape—but if you are not breathing properly, you will never be healthy.”

We as individuals are the sum of our routines and habits—we go through the motions of our days, barely aware of what we’re doing. This is why the present time is so valuable, from a behavioral perspective. Our old routines have been set on pause and this gives us the time and mental clarity to evaluate our daily habits, general values and exactly what is meaningful to us.

“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.”

This quote from Strength Coach Mark Rippetoe never fails to give us a chuckle, but, I mean—Where’s the lie? Let’s get stronger!

You don’t keep walking around on a broken ankle, thinking, “Fuck it! It will heal,” right? The world is in very real turmoil—but this is not an article to scare you—it’s one to offer hope. It’s our practical guide of 10 things you can do when you just can’t take it anymore. 

There’s a bit extra to love on many of us since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit.  The new COVID 19—pounds that is. Self- or government-imposed quarantine, combined with the closures of many gyms,  has led to a more sedentary lifestyle for many—and the weight just seemed to kind of jump onto us. If you’re ready to start the road back to your pre-COVID weight, make sure biochemistry is on your side.  Here are our favorite bio-hacks for weight loss—different strategies will appeal to different people, so choose one and give it a go!

When it comes to exercise, leading scientists in the field of longevity are studying what the healthiest “dose” of exercise might be, and there seems to be a dividing line between training for performance or training for health and longevity.  

A “Capable Human?” What are they on about now? Well, during our one-on-one coffee talks with each other, we have been talking more and more about further defining our generalist perspective on fitness, health, and wellness—and even expanding it to include philosophy and some quasi-spiritual ideas. These are qualities that we want to have as individuals—perhaps you will be inspired by some—take what you like, and leave the rest. If you can’t do some of these yet, that’s ok.  There are always things that need more work on the road to becoming a more capable human. 

We preach daily movement and quality of movement. You should move often, with purpose and intention. But in order to do so, you need to lower your training intensity. The beauty of this approach is, that it applies to couch potatoes and elite athletes.

I’ve been a vegan or vegetarian for 14 years. I have a nutrition and health degree, and continue to stay up-to-date on the latest nutrition research. I say all this not to make myself out as some kind of expert, but to say—that despite all that—I need to track my food once in a while and see what the hell’s going on. I usually am surprised at the reality of things. I had a nutrition client start recently, and we decided to track her food and see what was going on—so I decided to do the same for myself.  Surprise, surprise! My carb intake was through the roof, and my protein intake was abysmally low. This lack of a realistic view of what you’re eating is very normal. Research shows that people underestimate their food intake by 30-50%!

Social media has done a lot to hurt us, but we think there is a positive angle to this—seen from a personal development perspective. A lot of people don’t like to read, or can’t find the time, and people who read a lot are often a bit pretentious about it.

We all have our daily routines that are our habitual behaviors that give structure to our days.  For me, it becomes a ritual when it is based on an ancient idea or behavior—it deepens the meaning, and deepens the reward of performing it daily

We wrote a blog a while back called “Taking our power back from Coronavirus.” In it, we talked about making empowering self-care decisions during lockdown periods, and we introduced a novel strategy: Prepare to get the virus.

Well, since then, one of us (Scott) actually got Coronavirus, and despite being in a vulnerable group (having chronic heart disease) he survived the ordeal quite well. So, although we are not doctors, and you should not view any of this as medical advice—we thought we’d do a practical review of our philosophy, and how it worked.

"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

-Admiral James Stockdale

Aristotle wrote about a lot of different topics during his life—and founded many of the disciplines we know today—including rhetoric and physics. The one we are going to talk about today is his perspective on ethics and how he viewed the virtuous life. 

In the last few months, our Coffee Talks have often fallen on the topic of sleep. Matthew Walker’s book has had a life-changing effect on us. In fact, it’s had an effect on our Coffee Talks themselves—if we want to have a coffee talk, it has to be before 12:00 because that is our caffeine cut-off time, to ensure coffee doesn’t affect our sleep. After that, it has to be a “Tea Talk,” and that just doesn’t sound as cool—plus we would have to build a whole other website. 

We’ve been talking about New Year's Resolutions—there doesn’t seem to be any way around it this time of year in fitness, wellness, and health circles. So, in the name of New Year’s Resolutions—let’s see if we can figure out some good goals for 2021 that add fulfilment and meaning to our lives—and don’t take our lives over.

Tragic optimism is finding meaning even amidst very real pain and suffering. If we can find meaning, even after a heart attack, a COVID diagnosis, a loss of job, or loss of loved one, or even a loss of who we thought we were—then we have a chance to not only carry on--but to flourish. The kind of flourishing that is not dependent on outside circumstances—a flourishing of the spirit.