The data are clear: for brain & body health we should all get ~150-180min of zone 2 (mellow-ish) cardio, & 5-10 sets of resistance exercise per muscle group, per week. Intensity level of sets adjusts that +/- 4 sets. Sleep, nutrition & hormone status impact recovery. #basics
Details of how to build each of the 4 types of endurance are here (time stamped), with references, etc.
The ability for your brain to modify itself is its most spectacular feature. Some circuits can change a lot. Others very little. The most striking neuroplasticity finding ever IMO is pairing of nucleus basalis (cholinergic) stimulation + experience = massive & rapid plasticity.
It’s clear that greater neuroplasticity is possible with brain-machine interface than pharmacology alone. Eg the work of Edward Chang MD @NeurosurgUCSF @neuralink etc but for available & legal OTC pharmacological approaches cholinergic stimulation is very promising.
@NeurosurgUCSF @neuralink And it’s no surprise to me that nicotine (which binds nicotinic ACh receptors) and huperzine and Rx drugs that stimulate dopamine and nicotine (apomorphine bromocriptine etc) are starting to enter center stage for serious application towards cognitive enhancement.
After reading on habits of the greatest creators of the last 150 years it’s clear: getting up early, working for 3 solid hours before lunch, walks, cold baths (!) & amphetamines (do not recommend!) fueled much of the most important art, music & literature. Alcohol far less so.
There were a few that relied on alcohol to sleep, but only because they had to and notably, they died early.
Fun book. Thank you @tferriss for reminding me about this one.
Although habits differ, it’s clear that people stuck to their schedule.
The most effective health & longevity protocol= the levers that make 90% of the difference: sleep, cardio & weight training, light in am/day, dim/dark at night, stress control, eating unprocessed quality foods & real connection should be done 90%* of your remaining days.
* of course sometimes we catch a cold or a crisis emerges and we can’t do all these things. That’s just normal. Also: 1-2 off days from exercise per week can be very beneficial if you training intensely.
And of course, real connection is subjective, but y’all know what it is for you.
After 30+ years of resistance training to failure (training each body part directly 1X per week; 3-8 work sets per muscle), I took Pavel Tsatsouline’s advice & now stop 1 rep shy of (strict form) failure most sets. 3-7rep range = PRs galore, lean mass up 3lbs, BF down 2%. Age 49.
I mention this in case your progress has stalled and you want to try something new. All the above said, my focus on each repetition is 100% (making the target muscles do the work). This is key IMO.
I’ll occasionally take a set to failure or do a quick drop set but it’s rare. Pavel is onto something.
1st 90 min of day: hydrate, sunlight (or other bright light if no sun), 1-3min cold*, caffeine, exercise.
Last 90min: dim/darken lights, 1-5min physiological sighs (deep nasal inhale, 1 quick addl. inhale, then to-lungs-empty exhale).
The physiological sigh effects on HR and sleep etc were published in @CellRepMed study I ran with colleague David Spiegel MD. Details cell.com/cell-reports-m…
The reason I confidently say best here is because this combination will have the greatest outsize effect on daytime, mood, focus and alertness and nighttime sleep, and overall levels of stress, and as a consequence, long-term benefits have done consistently. Of course can be combined with family, reading, movies etc.
It’s wild how well “Grease the Groove” works to get you strong. You do a set (not to failure) every 10min or so. You do some other movement in between & do half or LESS than the most reps you can & across the session do many more overall. Details in link below.
Pavel’s father is in his 80s, no HRT and does 100 strict full range pull ups or
more a week with this approach. Remember, you don’t go to failure. Many of the adaptations are neural and the consequence of getting more efficient at the movement, but you get much stronger.