This sings to me. "I don’t exercise to test my limits. I exercise to extend my ability to deal with everything else life throws at me." Exercise is so fundamentally important for getting a direct and tangible relationship to the workability of even the difficult things in life.
You’re 100% right here. You gotta listen to your inner voice and I do think you have already fully answered why you work out. Those three points are a great why to have. It’s good to use others as inspiration to explore what we might want to do. But the only comparison that counts is you vs you
Workout hard, protect your rest days is what I am doing. My son/personal trainer explained it to me this way: strength training will increase the odds of being healthy in your last 20 years , rather than having two decades of steady decline. I am seeing more and more actual medical advice about strength training as a health preservation practice in the middle years and beyond. I don't train for appearance, I train for strength and retaining my independence for as long as possible.
We’re on the same wavelength, Matt. I really enjoyed reading this essay -- it feels like it was written for me!
Over the past few years doctors and PhDs have taken over the exercise world. An emphasis on science in the mainstream has been a huge step up from YouTube bodybuilders spreading their “bro science.”
But in my experience speaking with many Huberman, Attia, Layne Norton, Rhonda Patrick, etc. fans, and experimenting myself, there is a danger in lay people trying to understand and implement scientific protocols in their own life (especially when it comes to nuanced and complex topics like lipid management).
There can be harm in having enough knowledge to be enlightened but not enough to fully understand what’s really going on. This causes a deer in the headlights effect where people are frozen in fear (is eating this piece of bread going to spike my blood sugar!?) but lacking sufficient knowledge to take action.
I think the solution is in the delivery of information which is why my goal is to make longevity simple, practical, and actionable. The problem is scientists have the knowledge but often deliver it in a hard to digest manner.
We need enough scientific knowledge to be proactive and engage in meaningful discourse with our healthcare professionals but not so much that we live in a state of reactive fear.
Hopefully these ramblings make sense. As you can tell, I get fired up about this kind of stuff!
This sings to me. "I don’t exercise to test my limits. I exercise to extend my ability to deal with everything else life throws at me." Exercise is so fundamentally important for getting a direct and tangible relationship to the workability of even the difficult things in life.
You’re 100% right here. You gotta listen to your inner voice and I do think you have already fully answered why you work out. Those three points are a great why to have. It’s good to use others as inspiration to explore what we might want to do. But the only comparison that counts is you vs you
Loved this Matt. You and Jack are both men I look up to (and hope to imitate) as I think about my own fitness journey.
Especially loved “I exercise to extend my ability to deal with everything else life throws at me.”
There’s so much value in proving to myself I can do hard things.
And thank you for sharing my work.
Workout hard, protect your rest days is what I am doing. My son/personal trainer explained it to me this way: strength training will increase the odds of being healthy in your last 20 years , rather than having two decades of steady decline. I am seeing more and more actual medical advice about strength training as a health preservation practice in the middle years and beyond. I don't train for appearance, I train for strength and retaining my independence for as long as possible.
Following my heart’s desire
https://twitter.com/christowcoffman/status/1722999237003104591?s=46&t=yCUNm81WCzlQ34shoqyP7g
We’re on the same wavelength, Matt. I really enjoyed reading this essay -- it feels like it was written for me!
Over the past few years doctors and PhDs have taken over the exercise world. An emphasis on science in the mainstream has been a huge step up from YouTube bodybuilders spreading their “bro science.”
But in my experience speaking with many Huberman, Attia, Layne Norton, Rhonda Patrick, etc. fans, and experimenting myself, there is a danger in lay people trying to understand and implement scientific protocols in their own life (especially when it comes to nuanced and complex topics like lipid management).
There can be harm in having enough knowledge to be enlightened but not enough to fully understand what’s really going on. This causes a deer in the headlights effect where people are frozen in fear (is eating this piece of bread going to spike my blood sugar!?) but lacking sufficient knowledge to take action.
I think the solution is in the delivery of information which is why my goal is to make longevity simple, practical, and actionable. The problem is scientists have the knowledge but often deliver it in a hard to digest manner.
We need enough scientific knowledge to be proactive and engage in meaningful discourse with our healthcare professionals but not so much that we live in a state of reactive fear.
Hopefully these ramblings make sense. As you can tell, I get fired up about this kind of stuff!