Dan John: Wandering Weights, Issue # 47
I buy a lot of books and programs off the internet. This, of course, also puts me on a lot of mailing lists. Over time, I began to notice some of them really go down the old rabbit hole until I have to unsubscribe from them. When I see “Ancient Mind Tricks to Zap Fat” or “Nine Xs to Maximize This AND That,” it is usually time to press the button to unsubscribe.
A while back, I bought The Two Meal Solution by Mike O’Donnell. Now, as I explain pretty much weekly, fasting is nothing new, but this book is solid and to the point. And, I don’t get a weekly blast about “secrets” or “mind tricks.” So, when something appeared from Mike in my inbox, I clicked an item. About two hours later, I thought I would share some of his links.
The first link is a lot of fun. I know that “minimalism” and “simplicity” have become the new buzzwords in fitness, but it could be because they are true and they work. My new favorite quote:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
His series The Trainer Tells All is also fun: “There is nothing new in health and fitness…..just ideas that resurface that are long forgotten.”
“Fads are created to sell more specialized equipment/gear, lifting/throwing something heavy and running fast has been around for 100s of years and still works.”
“Want a strong ‘core’? Lift something heavy over your head and walk around trying to stabilize it…the motivation to not drop it on your head will work wonders.”
This article really attacks the concept of long and slow for health…even in the realm of cardiovascular health.
“Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobic exercise (and the person who coined the term) completely recanted his assertions regarding aerobic exercise. After observing a disproportionate number of his aerobic-enthusiast friends die of cancer and heart disease, he reversed his ideas on the benefits of excessive aerobic exercise. He now claims anything in excess of 20 minutes has greatly diminishing returns. In fact, he’s now an advocate of scientific weight training.”
There are dozens of intermittent fasting blogs now, but Mike pulls out and dusts off a classic here in the public domain, the No Breakfast Diet.
This should be enough. It was nice to see all the material he offers on his site PLUS the fact that I don’t get emails from him each and every hour.
James Clear is back! This column on creativity gets right to the point with Newton’s Apple, then James marches us through some excellent ideas on how to press the reset on the creativity button.
“Enjoy sunshine and nature. One study tested 56 backpackers with a variety of creative thinking questions before and after a 4-day backpacking trip. The researchers found that by the end of the trip the backpackers had increased their creativity by 50 percent. This research supports the findings of other studies, which show that spending time in nature and increasing your exposure to sunlight can lead to higher levels of creativity.”
Josh Hillis really makes the habit discussion simple here.
“Doing frequent practice and never going to failure is what makes for amazing, even unbelievable long term success. People totally overestimate what they can do in a month or three, but they totally underestimate what they could do in a year. You can get really lean, and really strong. You can be unrecognizably lean and athletic looking in a year. What’s even more amazing is that the habits will be ingrained, and it will actually be even easier to stay lean and athletic looking a year from now.”
MovNat is a workshop I want to go to. I signed up for it last year, but I was the only one to sign up! This is a great review of it, plus lots of simple ideas for just about every facet of health and fitness. The article has a lot of advice, some practical, on making yourself a bit tougher.
I like TED Talks quite a bit. This one gives a hint about how all of us can get to the core of a lot of ideas.
“Educator, industrial design fabricator and Myth Busters cohost Adam Savage is driven by curiosity. Science gets his wheels turning faster than the notched disc Hippolyte Fizeau used to measure the speed of light in 1849.”
Finally, not only should you have fun, but so should kids. I’m amazed how we push our kids harder and harder and then they get to high school and they are told they don’t need classes their senior year because they have enough credits. It’s crazy. Finland has a better idea.
“In fact, Finland requires its kindergarten teachers to offer playful learning opportunities—including both kinds of play—to every kindergartner on a regular basis, according to Arja-Sisko Holappa, a counselor for the Finnish National Board of Education. What’s more, Holappa, who also leads the development of the country’s pre-primary core curriculum, said that play is being emphasized more than ever in latest version of that curriculum, which goes into effect in kindergartens next fall.
“Play is a very efficient way of learning for children,” she told me. “And we can use it in a way that children will learn with joy.””
Until next time, go have some fun.
Dan
DanJohn.net
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