And I don’t mean I’m against religion. I’m not.

But in the way that religious can mean “ scrupulously and conscientiously faithful” per Webster, I’m not really much of that toward anything.

How It Came Up

I was thinking about today when I received a newsletter from my old high school, Brophy College Prep, in Arizona. They have a massive alumni movement. And parents get super, super involved. They get so invested in the fundraisers (over the top fashion shows, golf tournaments, etc.) and events. I’ve seen so much glowing praise from parents for the school. They have this “Man for Others” concept that I see mentioned on social and other places.

Back when I was there, it was still a Jesuit run school. I don’t remember that concept though. And it certainly wasn’t a school whose identity was based in altruism. I was sent there because they were know for great academics (and I was raised Catholic). It was a good school. I’m happy I went there. But it didn’t become part of my identity. I didn’t continue to do things with the school after I left. I wasn’t rabid to send my son there.

Other Institutions

Similar thing with a lot of other areas.

Same with my religion. I was raised Catholic. Went to Catholic grade school, Jesuit high school, Jesuit college. I’m for it. I’m about the basic principles of Christianity and what it stands for. But it’s not a major focus of my time.

Most things aren’t.

I feel the same about my university, Georgetown University, too. Also a great school. Really enjoyed it. Loved the campus. Loved the city. Never been back.

I participated in some organisational things but never got too rabid about them. Spent a bunch of time & energy attending some Scottsdale Charro events but just couldn’t commit. Not my people (other than a couple).

Gangplank was probably the closest.

Interests

And then other things like healthspan, paddling, volleyball, etc. They’ve all taken up large parts of my life in phases but I’m not too religious about those.

After a year of going pretty crazy on healthspan, I’m much more moderate. Just trying to fashion my life to support it.

But I’m not religious about many facets of that. I did keto. I like low carb. But I don’t religiously adhere to any of the diet camps and/or participate in the diet wars.

I’m also not wed to any certain training modality – bodyweight, olympic lifting, yoga, biking, running. I try to take some from all of them.

Paddling too. I went crazy and moved to Hawaii to paddle outrigger canoe but once I left there, it was unavailable. We found stand up paddling and have done that over the years but not in any maniacal fashion.

Same with volleyball. When I was single and lived in California, every weekend was about beach volleyball. And prior to that in Arizona, I played indoor with friends maybe 4 nights a week?

Well after we had kids, we started playing with friends again & had a good go but I haven’t played in years.

No video games addiction. Nothing really like that.

Work Areas

Same with other areas of my work. I’m a WordPress fan all the way and that’s all we work with but I never got fully involved with the community like so many. So many fold their personal communities around it.

Same with Infusionsoft/Keap. Our main marketing automation platform but it didn’t become everything like it does for so many, whose communities are built around it.

Same with Digital Marketer. Really respect the methodology and apply it but didn’t become one of the crew.

Just Wondering…

I guess I was just noticing something missing in me that I see in many people – who seem to be religious about at least something??

Maybe it all relates to that quality Oliver Burkeman talks about in his book, Four Thousand Weeks, where we avoid committing to this because then our options are “open”????

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot and working on. I’ve bought in to the fact that we all just have too many tasks to ever get them all done. And that we just need to accept that and make sure we’re spending the time on the things we think are most important. And that we’ll consciously be not doing many of the things we could or are supposed to or even want to.

Maybe as that crystallises more, I’ll finally become religious about something?

The post Areligious appeared first on chris lee.

There is no point to having 100s of newsletters filling up your inbox if you never have time to get to them.

If you don’t have time today, you won’t in the future.

If it’s a good one, keep it. Read it. Take some notes if you need to. Archive if it’s awesome.

Otherwise delete it.

And if you find yourself letting a few pass by without making time to read, chances are that the content isn’t really a priority for you.

As Oliver Burkeman says in Four Thousand Weeks (one of my favourite books), “If you try to find time for your most valued activities by first dealing with all the other important demands on your time, in the hope that there’ll be some left over at the end, you’ll be disappointed.”

You’re never going to get to them.

And if you let them fill up your inbox, it’s just more stuff to wade through and a bigger effort to clean out when it gets unsustainable.

The post Prune Your Newsletter Subscriptions appeared first on chris lee.

I worked remote or by myself for many years when focused only on the PurpleCRM digital agency work.

Ending up morphing my role here at Penny Royal has enabled me to return to working a team and trying to grow a whole organisation. With that, it’s clarified some of my values when it comes to work & leadership.

Personal/Management Values

When it comes to organisations & leaders, I think these are the critical values to hold.

• Abundance
• Intentionality
• Excellence
• Extreme Ownership
• Radical Transparency
• Unreasonable Hospitality
• Servant Leadership

Some of My Management Beliefs

It all starts with abundance!

Having a great, high performing organisation starts with abundance.

I honestly believe that abundance versus scarcity mindsets shape the world. They determine whether collaboration or competition ensues.

If you are too scarcity minded, you cannot share ideas with others. You cannot share credit. You cannot share resources. That pie is only so large and every piece someone else gets is one you just won’t have.

It’s even divided my former country in half. If we were able to bring more people over to an abundance mindset, life would be better.

I prefer to think of a quote I heard many times in my years at Gangplank. “A rising tide floats all boats.”

Basically, when you think there is enough out there for everyone, not every person is a competitor who is looking to take something away from you.

And I have multiple examples of how that helped lead to success. So many great colleagues who did similar things were amazing partners: Greg Taylor from Trinity Web Media, Chuck Reynolds from VUURR, Susan Baier from Audience Audit, Pam Slim. Just too many to count.

I also think of the amazing dining and cocktail scenes in Phoenix and all the incredible collaboration that has gone on and continues to go on there.

It’s all emotional bank account too!

I try not to overreact to too much. Not any 1 single action or omission should be that big of a deal. It’s where the bank account balance is!

Everything we do, our staff does, anyone around us does. It’s either a deposit or a withdrawal. If people are heavy on deposits, don’t sweat the small stuff.

If you’re making more withdrawals than deposits, it’s going to catch up to you.

Pay way more attention to the trend of behaviour rather than any one single instance.

Empathy is critical.

It’s so important to everything. If you can’t put yourself in another person’s shoes, you are massively hamstrung.

You need it for good human relationships.

And in business, you absolutely need it.

You need it to market.

You need it to sell.

You need it to be able to provide hospitality.

Gangplank Values

Although it was just a phase of my life, I still bring a lot of what I learned at Gangplank (collaborative workspace in Arizona) with me. I still go back to the Gangplank values all the time. And it was there that I really think I was able to start trading in my scarcity mindset for abundance (still working on it after all these years)…

• collaboration over competition
• community over agendas
• participation over observation
• doing over saying
• friendship over formality
• boldness over assurance
• learning over expertise
• people over personalities

The post My Management Values & Beliefs appeared first on chris lee.

My family and extended family constantly were on me about this.

Finally Taking It Seriously

Once I started listening to Peter Attia, I was introduced to Matt Walker, basically the sleep expert that everyone refers to.

Matt wrote the book, Why We Sleep, and that has some really good tips in it. He’s also got his own podcast but you’ll see him on pretty much everybody’s podcast in the health & longevity space.

My Take

With my inclinations away from medicines/supplements and in an effort to try to do things affordably, these are a collection of tips that I’ve got from Attia, Walker and a variety of people in an order that makes sense to me.

Sleep Tips

1. Keep a regular sleep pattern

Your body’s circadian rhythm functions on a set loop.

Establish a regular bedtime and wake time routine. You can’t achieve a healthy sleep routine if you are always waking up at different times.

Pick a wake-up time and stick with it, even on weekends.

2. Start with and increase bright light exposure during the day

Sunlight helps your body manage your internal clack (your circadian rhythm).

Get sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning for at least 10 minutes if you can. This improves daytime energy and helps nighttime sleep quality and duration.

Get outside for at least 30 minutes per day.

3. Exercise regularly (but not before bed)

Regular exercise also helps with sleep.

In some studies, exercise reduced time to fall asleep by 55%, total night wakefulness by 30%, and anxiety by 15% while increasing total sleep time by 18%.

Don’t perform it too late in the day or too close to bedtime though. Exercise increases alertness and hormones like epinephrine and adrenaline.

4. Reduce irregular or long daytime naps

Long or irregular naps during the day can negatively affect your sleep.

Sleeping in the daytime can also confuse your internal clock.

5. Don’t consume caffeine late in the day

Caffeine has numerous benefits but when consumed late in the day, caffeine stimulates your nervous system and may stop your body from naturally relaxing at night.

Try to avoid caffeine up to 6 hours before bed.

6. Don’t drink alcohol

At this point, it’s been proven that no amount of alcohol has health benefits.

One of the worst things alcohol, especially too close to bedtime, does is impair sleep. It can cause sleep apnea, snoring, and disrupted sleep patterns as well as alter nighttime melatonin production.

Try to limit alcohol and not to drink within 3 hours of bed.

7. Don’t eat late in the evening

Eating too close to bedtime can also impair sleep.

Avoid late dinners and minimise fatty or spicy foods.

8. Don’t drink any liquids before bed

Try to get your hydration needs in early in the day.

Drinking too close to bedtime can cause nocturia (medical term for excessive urination during the night).

Try to not drink any fluids 1-2 hours before going to bed. Also, use the bathroom right before going to bed if you can to try to decrease your chances of waking in the night.

9. Reduce blue light exposure in the evening

Exposure to light during the day is beneficial, but nighttime light exposure has the opposite effect.

This is because of its effect on your circadian rhythm, tricking your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. This reduces hormones like melatonin which help you relax and get deep sleep.

Avoid blue light from electronic devices like smartphones and computers. You can do a bunch of stuff like wearing glasses that block blue light, use an app like f.lux to block blue light on your laptop or computer.

I think the best thing to do is avoid your phone and turn off any bright lights a couple hours before bed.

10. Disconnect Devices in the Hour Before Bed

In addition to the blue light issues, phones, computers, tablets keep your brain active, making it hard to wind down.

Best to develop a habit of disconnect for an hour or more before bed. Never hurts to read (book or Kindle with their alternate screen technology)

11. Optimize your bedroom environment

Make sure your bedroom is set up to facilitate sleep with regard to temperature, noise, lights.

External noise and light can cause poor sleep.

If you can get rid of light sources and keep your room really dark, that is great. Some folks have success with eye and ear masks. Attia likes the Alaska Bear Sleep Mask & has tons of them so finding one is never an issue. Tim Ferriss has been a big fan of the Sleep Master Sleep Mask as it covers both your eyes and ears (though I think he’s switched to WAOAW). He also wears ear plugs.

I use a mask at times but luckily we live out in the boonies with nobody around us.

12. Set a cool bedroom temperature

So I split this one off from environment because I think it’s so important.

Basically, you need to drop your core body temperature by two to three degrees Fahrenheit to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep. That’s why it’s easier to sleep in a cold room than a hot room.

Ideally, bedroom temp should be 65-68°F (18-20°C).

One of the things I do is always do a hot shower before bed to help with this process. Brings the blood to the surface. And when our body surface is warm, it dumps the heat from the core of our body.

Attia, Tim Ferris and pretty much everybody in the longevity space sleeps with a cooling mattress or mattress cooling pad. In the old days, people started with the ChiliPad by Ooler (now sleepme). At this point, most people have moved to a mattress or pad from a company called Eight Sleep. It’s expensive. These devices can vary the temperature of the bed by person and at different times (allowing you to dial in your ideal preferences). They also track sleep data like an Oura ring or a Whoop.

I haven’t pulled the trigger on one of these yet but something I’m thinking about.

13. Try a pre-sleep routine to relax to wind down

Listening to relaxing music, reading a book, taking a hot bath, meditating, deep breathing, and visualization are all things that can be effective.

14. Take a hot bath or shower

I mentioned this above but I think it’s a good separate strategy.

In addition to relaxing oneself, it helps cool the body’s core temperature. It warms up the extremities, getting more blood supply into them. This draws blood away from your core and allows your core temperature to drop

15. Reserve Your Bed for Sleep and Sex Only

Don’t linger in your bed. If you do, you’re training your brain that your bed is not only for sleep. You want your brain to have a strong mental association between your bed and sleep

This also means, get out of bed in the morning. And if you can’t fall asleep (for 20 minutes or more), get out of bed & do something relaxing in low light. Come back when you’re tired.

16. Keep a Sleep Diary

Some folks find keeping a daily sleep journal beneficial. It can help you to identify factors that might be helping or hurting your sleep. This is not really my bag but it can help.

17. Consider supplements

So I prefer to try to do things other than pharmacology first but I’ve listed some things other folks recommend. I do take magnesium and electrolytes daily.

• Glycine – Attia takes 2 grams. Some studies call for 3. It inhibits motor activity during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The hope is that it is calming the central nervous system.
• Ashwagandha – Attia takes 600 milligrams. It reduces activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal access and the cortisol release.
• Magnesium L-threonate – Attia takes roughly 2 grams. Matt Walker talks about a correlation with insomnia & magnesium deficiency.

Some other stuff:

• Melatonin – A lot of people recommend this. Attia does not. It down regulates melatonin receptors in the brain so the brain gets sort of desensitized to it and can interfere with natural melatonin efficacy.
• Ginkgo biloba – A natural herb that may aid sleep, relaxation, and stress reduction. Evidence is limited.
• Valerian root – May help you fall asleep and improve sleep quality.
• Lavender – Can induce a calming and sedentary effect to improve sleep.
• Attia also takes a couple of drugs called Pregabalin & Trazodone.

The post Sleep appeared first on chris lee.

And one of my primary interests over the past few years has become healthspan (how well you live) and lifespan (how long you live).

Some of my other favourites in the healthspan space are Ben Patrick (of ATG/@kneesovertoesguy), Oliver Burkeman (his work on philosophy and psychology of time management and happiness), Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. (his work on Zone 2 training), Andy Galpin, Ph.D. (his work on exercise & training), Matthew Walker, Ph.D. (his work on sleep), Alan Couzens (his work on exercise/training), Kelly Starrett (his work on mobility), Keegan Smith (his work on strength and athletic performance training), Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. (his podcast on science and science-based tools for everyday life), Layne Norton, Ph.D. (diet/nutrition/training) and Michael Easter, MA (his work on rucking & discomfort).

Peter Attia Background

But the one who I have taken most from is Peter Attia, MD and his research and content.

Attia has a medical practice that works to lengthen patients’ lifespan and simultaneously improving their healthspan. He publishes much of his research and strategies on his podcast, The Drive and after a long time, published his book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.

He’s got a very interesting past where he combines experiences and strategies from a range of areas. Got his medical degree from Stanford, trained for five years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, spent two years at the National Institutes of Health as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute, left medicine to work analysing credit risk at McKinsey & Co. & then came back to it. He has bachelor’s degree in both mechanical engineering and applied mathematics.

I think all of those go together in an interesting way (medicine, interest in fitness, data/analysis orientation from mathematics & engineering, focus risk/reward from his consulting days) to support his current Body of Work.

He is in a unique position with all of that experience and skills that most doctors don’t have at all.

I really like that his recommendations are based on good science & data. And that he changes beliefs as new data comes out. One of his principles is “strong convictions, loosely held.”

His practice is quite boutique, focusing on healthspan/lifespan. More of a consultant. He’s the doc for Tim Ferris, Rogan, Hugh Jackman, a bunch of San Fransisco tech founders you know the names of, various famous Hollywood folk and Wall Street muckity mucks.

I’ve heard his retainer is anywhere from 90-150K/year. And he’s not even their primary care doctor.

Healthspan/Lifespan Approach

The high level basics of his belief start with the strategy to delay the onset of the major diseases as long as we can through a variety of interventions.

Much of today’s medicine is focused on treating people after they develop disease.

His focus is on doing as much as possible to prevent the onset of those diseases.

And then he is also super focused on building our mental and physical capabilties up to super high levels (with respect to things like muscle mass/strength, bone health, cardiorespiratory fitness, metabolic flexibility) so that as the inevitable declines that comes with age eventuate, we are still left with a good degree of health and fitness.

The Four Horsemen of Death

80% of the deaths of people over 50 who do not smoke are caused by 4 diseases/syndromes.

They are:

1. Atherosclerosis (comprised of  cardiovascular disease & cerebrovascular disease)
2. Cancer
3. Metabolic Disease (everything from hyperinsulinemia to insulin resistance to fatty liver disease (NAFLD & NASH) to type 2 diabetes)
4. Neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer’s disease being the most common)

Attia’s Five Interventions

His belief is that the best way to avoid/mitigate the Four Horsemen are through a series of interventions.

The categories he groups them into are:

1. Exercise – MOST CRITICAL intervention for many
   • Stability
   • Strength
   • Aerobic Fitness
   • Anaerobic Fitness
2. Sleep
   • Critical to get 8 hours or so of good sleep
3. Nutritional Biochemistry
   • Diet agnostic but needs to build metabolic health/flexibility
   • Very pro-keto for several years but has eschewed any specific diet religion
   • Some principles
     • Need to be on a caloric appropriate diet. For those needing calorie restriction
       • time – reduce your feeding window to achieve caloric restriction
       • dietary – eliminate certain foods/food groups from your diet to achieve caloric restriction (keto/low carb/vegan)
       • caloric – eat whatever but track your calories to ensure you’re in caloric restriction
     • Protein is critical to growing/maintaining muscle mass – necessary for metabolic health
     • Fiber is needed.
     • Micronutrients are needed.
4. Pharmacology – ALL of this would be individual to the person but some common mentions are…
   • Takes a series of regular supplements like creatine, magnesium, electrolytes, etc.
   • Aggressive in reducing ApoB for cardiovascular health which often results in statin use (or PSK9 inhibitors or other)
   • While he doesn’t recommend for all, takes rapamycin for longevity (doesn’t take metformin any longer)
5. Emotional Health – also completely individual

Exercise Efficacy

So although Attia caveats that all of the interventions are particular to a given person, assuming everything is in a degree of order, exercise is the most effective intervention to increase lifespan and healthspan.

“Exercise is by far the most potent longevity ‘drug,'” says Attia in his book Outlive. “The data are unambiguous: Exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline better than any other intervention. It is the single most potent tool we have in the health-span-enhancing toolkit—and that includes nutrition, sleep, and meds.”

As an example, it’s accepted that smoking or diabetes will double or triple a person’s risk of death.

Exercise can have double the positive impact that those do.

• High cardio respiratory fitness (having an elite VO2 max – in the top 2.5% of their age bracket) has a 5-fold reduction in all cause mortality.  That is the most highly correlated metric to a long life.
• And the second most highly correlated metric to length of life is composite metric of strength & muscle mass. High strength and muscle mass has a 3-fold reduction in all cause mortality.

There are no drugs that have anywhere near these levels of reduction in mortality.

Statistically speaking, smoking,  hypertension, type 2 diabetes, even the presence of cancer has less of impact on the shortness of a person’s life than excellent levels of VO2 max and strength.

Four Pillars of Exercise

1. Stability
   • Attia pursues a series of boutique exercises for stability that are a combination of Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilisation (DNS) techniques and ones his personal trainer, Beth Lewis, has developed.
   • I personally am a big fan of Ben Patrick (of ATG/@kneesovertoesguy) for exercises that address stability, neuromuscular range and joint health.
2. Strength – Attia focuses on movements that develop
   • Grip strength
   • Concentric & eccentric loading
   • Pulling motions
   • Hip hinging
3. Aerobic efficiency
   • Zone 2 to widen VO2 max base – basically stead state training right a level where a person is still able to clear lactate (around 2 mmol/L)
   • Absent monitoring of lactate, RPE (rating of perceived exertion) can be useful to stay in this range. That rate of lactate clearance is about the level of activity where you can maintain a conversation but it’s not comfortable – basically if you were on the phone, the person would definitely know you were exercising.
   • This training helps develop mitochondrial function which improves energy production and the efficiency of fat-burning.
   • Prescription of a minimum of 3 hours per week (4x 45 min sessions or 3x 30 min sessions).
4. Anaerobic performance
   • Zone 5 to train VO2 max peak
   • Prescription of 1 set weekly of 5 sets of 4 minutes at the highest output you can sustain followed by 4 minutes of recovery.
   • Airbike, rower, stair master, treadmill are all good for this.

Sleep

Sleep is another area I’ve really focused on trying to improve. I make it a priority and try to get 8 hours every night.

I’ve also moderated some other behaviours so as not to impair sleep. Getting good sleep is really the primary reason I’ve minimised drinking alcohol.

Some of the Tips I Think Are Most Helpful

Have a bit more at https://chris.ly/sleep/.

• 1. Keep a regular sleep pattern
  • Your body’s circadian rhythm functions on a set loop. Establish a regular bedtime and wake time routine, even on weekends.
• 2. Start with and increase bright light exposure during the day
  • Sunlight helps your body manage your internal clack (your circadian rhythm). Get sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning for at least 10 minutes if you can as it helps nighttime sleep quality and duration.
• 3. Exercise regularly (but not before bed)
  • Regular exercise also helps with sleep but don’t perform it too late in the day or too close to bedtime. Exercise increases alertness and hormones like epinephrine and adrenaline.
• 4. Reduce naps
  • Long or irregular naps during the day can negatively affect your sleep. Sleeping in the daytime can also confuse your internal clock.
• 5. Don’t consume caffeine late in the day
  • When consumed late in the day, caffeine stimulates your nervous system and may stop your body from naturally relaxing at night. Try to avoid caffeine up to 6 hours before bed.
• 6. Don’t drink alcohol
  • At this point, it’s been proven that no amount of alcohol has health benefits. And it absolutely does is impair sleep. Try to limit alcohol and not to drink within 3 hours of bed.
• 7. Don’t eat late in the evening
  • Eating too close to bedtime can also impair sleep. Avoid late dinners and minimise fatty or spicy foods.
• 8. Don’t drink liquids before bed
  • Try to get your hydration needs in early in the day. Drinking too close to bedtime can cause nocturia (medical term for excessive urination during the night). Try to not drink any fluids 1-2 hours before going to bed.
• 9. Reduce blue light exposure in the evening
  • Nighttime light affects your circadian rhythm, tricking your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. Avoid blue light from electronic devices like smartphones and computers. You can do a bunch of stuff like wearing glasses that block blue light, use an app like f.lux to block blue light on your laptop or computer but I think the best thing to do is avoid your phone and turn off any bright lights a couple hours before bed.
• 11. Optimize your bedroom environment
  • Make sure your bedroom is set up to facilitate sleep with regard to temperature, noise, lights. Get rid of light sources and keep your room really dark. Some folks have success with eye and ear masks/plugs.
• 12. Set a cool bedroom temperature
  • Ideal bedroom temp should be 65-68°F (18-20°C). Many people who are into longevity/healthspan use a cooling mattress or mattress cooling pad. At this point, most people in the space have moved to a mattress or pad from a company called Eight Sleep.
• 14. Take a hot bath or shower
  • In addition to relaxing oneself, it helps cool the body’s core temperature. It warms up the extremities, getting more blood supply into them. This draws blood away from your core and allows your core temperature to drop
• 15. Reserve Your Bed for Sleep and Sex Only
  • Don’t linger in your bed. If you do, you’re training your brain that your bed is not only for sleep. You want your brain to have a strong mental association between your bed and sleep.

Other stuff…

I’ll write more on his other stuff soon but those are the things of my current primary focus.

I’ve also improved and prioritised my sleep tremendously after abusing it terribly for years (working WAY too many late nights).

The post Peter Attia TLDR appeared first on chris lee.

Life is tough enough right now. Do the little things that make others’ days a little easier or more enjoyable.

Surprise people with the little things…

The post Microactions appeared first on chris lee.

Wanted to Climb

So this whole journey (one I’ve taken before several times) really started when I started rock climbing at Penny Royal Adventures (my client where I’m onsite). I really started enjoying the climbing and incrementally bumped up the volume & difficulty.

The problem arose because my muscles and tendons weren’t fit to do the climbing I wanted to. Particularly, a problem started with my right knee.

With the old man activity that I had been doing over the previous year or two, the main thing my leg muscles and knee tendons were prepped for was going up & down stairs. With rock climbing, as the difficulty increases, one of the things you need to do is take bigger steps. Really try to get your foot up high and then load it from an incredibly flexed position and stand into it. Basically kind of like a pistol squat or such. Will lacking the strength in the more flexed range in my muscles & tendons, everything rebelled & pretty much seized up.

I had a bunch of trigger points/muscle spasms that didn’t want to release.

I tried a bunch of stuff…gave Bikram yoga another extended try…but nothing worked.

Then I decided to give the @kneesovertoesguy programming I’d seen online a shot.

Knees Over Toes Guy

I’m actually now a huge fan of Ben Patrick and ATG (Athletic Truth Group). Now everything is moving more under the ATG brand rather than just Ben’s personal.

The basic principle that I learned from him is that many of our common physical issues (of course there are many exceptions) have come from not moving our joints and muscles through their full range of. motion.

My right knee is something that I’ve struggled with for the last 20+ years. Had it scoped to do some meniscus clean up. And then did a bunch of rehab after that.

I hit one point in that rehab where I think I was jumping higher than I had ever done in my life. Was bombing balls. The big difference is that in my rehab, the therapy included massive grinding on the knots in my quad just above my knee. They went away for a while and my leg function was better than ever.

Of course, the rehab (& accompanying massage) ended and the knee never felt that good again.

I also struggled with knots (which I now view as spasms) in my upper quad, lower, mid and upper back throughout the years.

Saw many a chiropractor, spent many an hour doing self massage with foam rollers, lacrosse balls and all manner of related equipment. Some relief here & there but never a final fix.

Enter Knees Over Toes Guy

I can’t remember where I first saw Ben. I think it was on fitness Instagram but then I know I did see his site had a clip of him on Rogan. Watched that & looked that up. This was way before he was on Rogan. Rogan was just mentioning the MonkeyFeet that he’d seen from Ben and how he was really enjoying them in his training.

Well, I continued to devour everything about KOT on IG and YouTube and eventually signed up for the program in August of 2021 I think. I’ve been on it ever since.

ATG Methodology

As I mentioned, in doing the program, the commonality was that we shouldn’t avoid moving our injured parts. We just needed to do it in a way that was regressed enough to avoid pain and strive for full range of motion.

I started on the most basic program, Zero, SUPER regressed with my knee and stayed that way for quite a while.

Bonus Back!

While doing this, I had a lower back flare up (common) which affected my training. My ATG trainer suggested I get a back extension bench and work on regressed back extensions.

This proved to be the cure to my decade long episodes with lower back spasms (my lower back going out).

I’d been very inactive over the past couple decades. Couple this with long days sitting behind a computer screen in non-optimal positions.

So basically again, just move the problem joint through a full range of motion as regressed as needed to get movement and strength into the muscles supporting it. Wow!

I mean I’d heard that Supermans helped the lower back but just isometric strengthening hadn’t prevented the spasms from recurring.

Extending the Principle

And then I started to cascade this to the rest of my training.

I also had upper back issues (trap/neck spasms) from time to time. Another of the Zero program moves was ring rows. Doing these regularly extending my head as far back at the bottom of the rep through full range keeps my neck & traps spasm free & healthy.

I also had some forearm overuse issues with climbing. Started doing as full range triceps extensions in different positions, forearm flexions/supination with a sledgehammer & that made those go away.

Whatever the ache/pain or issue, make sure the muscle around the joint was moving through a full range as easily as needed.

ATG still makes up the large part of my strength & mobility training.

Diet

And of course, as you start working out, your body craves healthier food. I had no intention to change my diet when I first started ATG.

But I just went back to something that had worked in the past, basically dirty keto plus vegetables. Didn’t get too crazy. Still kept on the cheese, cream in my coffee, etc.

And ended up losing 30 points and being the fittest I’ve been in many decades.

Peter Attia MD

All during this, I also got redirected toward Peter Attia.

His practice deals with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

I’d known about him for a several years. Saw him on a Rogan clip again & thought he seemed interesting & very smart. Followed his stuff peripherally over the years but never really dug in.

When COVID came on, I was definitely more on the side of the science avoidant side.

I know Attia is a bit of a Rogan type bro (the one thing that disappoints me) but I felt like he honours the science enough that I should listen to a point of view that might be different than the one I held. So I searched out the Rogan Attia COVID podcast & listened to that. Wasn’t something I subscribed to. I actively went searching for it on Spotify.

Once I hit that, Spotify suggested a couple of Attia’s own podcasts. I listened to them and identified with his principles immediately.

Consumed more….

And then just jumped in full bore.

Joined as a subscriber and then went about consuming all of his podcasts. I’m about 80% through at this point.

I’ve gotten a ton from him.

• I love the concept of the centenarian olympics.
  • Basically what activities do you want to be able to do in your marginal (final) decade. And then with the concepts of inevitable decline over the years, program your training to be able to hit the needed levels now.
• I believe exercise is our most potent intervention. And I believe that his break up of functional areas makes great sense:
  • stability (the foundation) – I count a lot of my ATG work towards this though Peter goes much farther & more nuanced (taking a lot of principles from Dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS) of which we don’t even have a practitioner in Tasmania)
  • strength – required with strength and muscle mass highly correlating to reduced mortality and the inevitable loss of muscle over the years
  • aerobic / zone 2 training – increasing mitochondrial function and improving metabolic health
  • anaerobic / zone 5 training – with a high VO2 max being our most highly correlated metric with longevity
• I finally started prioritising sleep after my extended family had been exhorting me to for decades.
• I agree with his beliefs around nutrition, basically that it all hangs on energy balance and that caloric restriction (some form) is needed in my case.
• I believe he has it spot on with the different types of restriction:
  • Caloric restriction – controlling how much you eat
  • Dietary restriction – controlling what you eat (this is my preferred lever where I eliminate most sugar & carbs and it prevents me from having to track calories or eat within a small window)
  • Time restriction – controlling when you eat
• I’ve taken more on around emotional health than I expected as I’m not really a therapy guy. I’m not specifically meditating or doing any therapy but I’m more conscious about this area than I used to be and acknowledge that I need to do more work here.
• And on pharmacology, I haven’t really done anything here as I still need to get much of the testing (blood testing, DEXA, etc.) that he recommends done.
• And I’ve also taken on some of the other tangential beliefs that that he has covered in his podcast and really connected to some of his guests.
  • I really prioritise protein to try to build & maintain muscle mass (and have gotten my family to do the same).
  • I’m was a fan of minimal/barefoot shoes from many years before but was happy to see him echo this stance (though he isn’t as hard core on this as he used to be).
  • I’ve adopted many of his hydration recommendations, including shipping LMNT from the US. I find that adding electrolytes to my magnesium supplementation & staying hydrated is a key move in preventing the back spasms that I used to get.
  • I’ve adopted his recommendations on bone health and try to incorporate things like heavy farmer walks, etc. and such into my training.
  • I’m also a fan of rucking (since 2015 thx to Chuck Reynolds) but was happy to see him apply so much priority to this.
  • His recommendation of Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman has been massive in shifting my priorities and everyday activities. Huge, huge fan of this book to help the prioritisation of what’s most important and the exclusion of what’s not.
  • I also really enjoyed From Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks as well. On the shifting priorities & roles as we age.
  • Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. – HUGE fan of Dr. Iñigo and his work on Zone 2 training.
  • Andy Galpin, Ph.D. – HUGE fan of Dr. Galpin and his work on exercise & training.
  • Matthew Walker, Ph.D. – HUGE fan of Matt Walker & all his work on sleep.
  • Layne Norton, Ph.D. – big fan of Layne & his keeping it real with regard to diet/nutrition/training & his walking the talk (having won natural powerlifting & bodybuilding competitions)
  • Michael Easter, MA – big fan of Michael Easter & his work on rucking & discomfort.

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So we’ve been doing a dietary program of nutritional ketosis. Been on it for 31 days now.

Lazy Man’s Challenge

We are participating in Christopher Becker‘s Lazy Man’s 100 Day Challenge. That’s soon to be Ketology.co. I happened to see a friend, Marcus Murphy, post some amazing results of his challenge & it just seemed like a good fit.

As part of this challenge, we’ve been given some instruction on the dietary program, access to a private Facebook group that is super supportive (with content/suggestions as well as emotional support), and there are daily emails that come.

Cheat Meals

So today’s email was about cheat meals. And while this program only has 3 over the 100 days. Initially, when I looked at that, I was skeptical. I’d done Tim Ferriss’s slow carb diet in the past with success so I wasn’t digging that.

Anyway, I wrote coach Becker back my thoughts on cheat days after 31 days on the program.

Here they are:

I’ve basically put cheat meals out of my mind. I love that we don’t have them.

As mentioned in his email, I’d done Tim Ferriss’s slow carb before too & loved the cheat meals.

The best thing about no cheat meals for me is that with the cheat meals, I was still elevating things like bread, rice, pasta, sweets as a “reward” or a “prize”. So they were still the desirable thing. My brain never got really switched around. I was in denial of my wants for 6 days just to make it.

I didn’t expect the no cheat meal thing to be positive for me but it’s been one of the best things….allowing me to put those items in the rear view mirror.

Instead, my “cheats’ are Whisps in between meals, Zevia cream soda with heavy cream, Starbucks passion tea with heavy cream & SF vanilla, etc….

It’s actually been huge for me. There is enough great, decadent stuff out there that is on plan that I’m not feeling like I’m in denial at all.

#cheateveryday

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So I’m disheartened…

With this election, the options we have available and everything we read on Facebook, I’m sad for our country.

I’m sad for our world.

• I’m sad we don’t have more phenomenal people of integrity running.
• I’m sad that what seems to have been social progress seems to be going the other way.
• I’m sad there are so many folks out there that are so scared that they latch on to hate and fear.
• I’m sad that people who preach hate and exclusion feel bolstered enough to come out of the woodwork and recruit others to their way of thinking.
• I’m sad for so many things….

I long for a day when we have a slate full of candidates brimming with integrity where their stances on policy really matters. Right now, I just want good people with good intentions.

So What To Do?

The thing I think we can do though is try to make this a better world through our everyday actions. Be nice to others. Sow some friendliness and acceptance. Perform microactions like waiving, saying hi, opening doors.

So that’s what I’m going to concentrate on.

(Tagged in Awesome. As this is Not Awesome and we need to figure out how to get it back to Awesome.)

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https://www.snapchat.com/add/azchrislee

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