A Week in Review
Breaking Down This Weeks Posts
This was the first week bringing in a new style of Instagram posts. This is a form I really enjoy, allowing me to write about what I’m learning, doing, or talking to you all about. Below is a breakdown from recent posts. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!
Look to Socrates:"The unexamined life is not worth living"
It is not an option, pursue excellence in our lives. to struggle and We can extrapolate this pursuit to multiple aspects of our lives. This includes our careers and physical fitness. It can only increase the likelihood of longer, happier life and a more capable body of pursuing career goals.
On Irrational Self-Confidence:
The bedrock upon which all success is founded, even by the
lowest IQ individuals. Paired with subtle narcissism, you are unstoppable It's not just bs mentality tactics like "believe in
yourself", but a change in behavior. Its literally subtle
narcissism and irrational self confidence that takes
constant trial and error until it is a fact and way of
life. Approach everything from the mentality that you
might not know how to do it BUT you will accomplish it
regardless of how long it takes.
So you got hurt:
Aches and pains are an inherent aspect of training. But
what is the alternative? Don't push hard and put ourselves
at an even greater risk of injury, heart disease, and an
early death?
We have a moral obligation to be fit as f**k if not for
ourselves then for our families and future generations.
Obviously if a serious injury occurs speak with a physician
or physical therapist. But often times, the issue lies in
lack of mobility or an imbalance in strength in the region.
The next time you feel aches or pains, follow these
guidelines:
a. Managing stress,
anxiety, and depression (much easier
said than done)
b. Education about back pain to reduce the fear that your
pain is reflective of constant "danger"
c. Getting adequate sleep
d. Avoiding use of opiate pain medications and "muscle
relaxants" (although acetaminophen/NSAIDs may be
helpful)
e. Exercising or, even better, training - to move through
previously "threatening" ranges of motion
f. Continuing to participate in normal activities (i.e,
avoiding immobility!)
You're not as young as you think:
The vast majority of my IG demographic are males 18-35
(72%, shoutout to my 4.1% female population!). So many of
my peers in their 20s blew it. Wasted away with obscene
alcohol use, skinny fat or just plain fat, and many didn't
even leave my hometown! But your late teens and 20s are the
time to lay the foundation for the rest of your life.
So few actually recognize this. Every year not spent
reducing fat and building muscle while you are young
making it exponentially harder to be a juicy stacked boi
into your 30s, 40s, and onwards. A pound of fat burns 2 cal/day at rest, whereas a pound of muscle burns 6 cal/day at rest. It will only become harder to build muscle as you age.
It is EXTREMELY critical to work as hard as you can to establish the foundation early. And even if you are a bit older, it is never really too late, but it will take significantly more effort. 5-10 ears of active effort, consistently training 4-5x per week including strength and steady state is all it takes. After that you could maintain your muscle mass with as little as 1-2 days of strength training a week, forever. AND with that built muscle, it is extremely easy to keep weight off as you age, whereas those that didn't build the foundation will struggle to maintain or drop weight. To my demographic, many of you are in incredible shape already. But if you are not, put in the work while you're young. The clock is ticking.
Training During the Holidays:
There are two approaches to training during the holidays. (1)
Assume you have no access to a gym and will be doing only
bodyweight exercises (this is also helpful for during travel
anytime) and (2) reduce time spent in the gym or buy a day
week (s) long pass at the gym near where you are staying.
(1): No gym access. Although this is less than ideal, you can
definitely maintain relative strength and improve your aerobic
capacity with a set of bands and a jumprope which are extremely
easy to travel with. Goal for training should be 3 days of
banded strength / calisthenics per week, 2-3 high intensity
sessions per week, and 2-3 steady state sessions per week.
Strength includes banded push-ups, shoulder press / lateral
raises, banded split squats, and the immense amount of
bodyweight movements you can do across different muscle groups.No gym high intensity sessions: can include sprints, burpees (like 100 burpees for time, could literally only do this for high intensity), jumping rope, and bodyweight METCONs. Aim for these sessions to be 15-30 min each. Steady state is more limited to just walking / jogging. Aim for these sessions to be 30-60 min. Yes, working out without gym access while traveling is literally this simple and applies to year-round travel requirements.
(2) Gym access during the holidays: If you are staying local but want to reduce your time in the gym, focus on getting 2-3 solid full body lifts in (< 60 min total), 2-3 high intensity sessions, and 2-3 steady state sessions. The aerobic work can be done in less than 30 min sessions. Total time commitment per week is 3.5-61 hrs per week or an average of 30min - 1hr per day. It is extremely easy to buy gym day pass or week pass depending on how long you're away from home for relatively low cost. BUT if you want to continue making progress
and not completely ruin your end to the year, make it happen. Fun fact the pumps from all the Christmas carbs are thicccc.
Efficacy of Zone 2 and Zone 5 Training on VO2 Max:
There is a common misconception that high intensity (Zone 5)
training alone can improve V02 max. But, pair that with
consistent zone 2 training for peak V02 max over the long term.
High intensity (Z5) is critical for improving your glycolytic
capacity, and Z2 is critical for improving mitochondrial
function (and longevity). We want to keep our bodies from producing too much lactate during the Z2 training. This is also our aerobic efficiency level, or the maximum amount we can output without going over 2 mMo1/L of lactate production during training, which reduces our improvement of mitochondrial function from 22 training.
Efficient week of training: The most efficient way to combine these types of training in a week looks like:
4-5x per week Zone 2 training for 1-1.5hrs At the end of 2-3 of these Z2 sessions, stimulate the glycolytic system with a high intensity interval. This can be as simple as 4 min
at the highest intensity, followed by 4 min of recovery, then ending the workout. A singular 25 workout would look like the 4/4 intensity/recovery interval repeated 4-6 times for a single session. This is the recommended routine from IÑIGO SAN-MILLÁN, PH.D, the current director of performance for the UAE cycling team and previous coach of Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar in 2020 and 2021.
That’s all!
Reminder, now through December 31st cohort applications are open! If you are looking to join a group focused on building muscle, losing fat, and improving aerobic capacity in 6 weeks join now!