Ben Greenfield Quotes

In a nutshell: Stress is stress - no matter whether it's from exercise or from lifestyle - and the more stress you're placing on yourself from your lifestyle, the less stress you'll be able to place on yourself from exercise.

You have to leave behind the exhausting pursuit of exercise for the sake of exercise and discover the beautiful balance between health and performance.

Don’t drink coffee or caffeinated drinks before your nap.

(In many cases, increasing fat availability immediately before exercise can actually increase endurance performance as well as enhance recovery. See Figure 2-2.)

era, life was a constant physical challenge. We didn’t have refrigerators, preservatives, microwaves, fast food, or pizza delivery to help us put dinner on the table. Rather than rushing

So be the father and husband who makes wild love to your wife at night, wakes early in the morning to bake your family chocolate chip cookies for the evening family dinner, then rips your boys out of bed to go lift heavy kettlebells in the garage and drag sandbags up and down the driveway—followed by dirty, sweaty bear hugs afterward. But don't be the father and husband who stays absent and distracted with "noble" email and social media work all day, then gathers the family round Netflix in the basement in the evening so they can eat takeout while you have an excuse to dink on your phone some more as they're distracted by their own giant screen.

For years, exercise scientists have been convinced that the only way to increase mitochondrial density is with aerobic endurance training, but recent studies have proved otherwise. Not only is an increase in the size and number of mitochondria a proven adaptation to HIIT, but the mitochondrial benefit of HIIT goes way beyond size and number. For example, all your mitochondria contain oxidative enzymes, such as citrate synthase, malate dehydrogenase, and succinate dehydrogenase. These oxidative enzymes lead to improved metabolic function of your skeletal muscles—particularly by causing more effective fat and carbohydrate breakdown for fuel and also by accelerating energy formation from ATP. So more oxidative enzymes means that you have a higher capacity for going longer and harder. And it turns out that, according to an initial study on the effect of HIIT on oxidative enzymes, there were enormous increases in skeletal muscle oxidative enzymes in seven weeks in subjects who did four to ten thirty-second maximal cycling sprints followed by four minutes of recovery just three days a week. But what about HIIT as opposed to aerobic cardio? Another six-week training study compared the increase in oxidative enzymes that resulted from either: 1. Four to six thirty-second maximal-effort cycling sprints, each followed by four-and-a-half minutes of recovery, performed three days a week (classic HIIT training) or 2. Forty to sixty minutes of steady cycling at 65 percent VO2 max (an easy aerobic intensity) five days a week The levels of oxidative enzymes in the mitochondria in subjects who performed the HIIT program were significantly higher—even though they were training at a fraction of the volume of the aerobic group. How could this favorable endurance adaptation happen with such short periods of exercise? It turns out that the increased mitochondrial density and oxidative-enzyme activity from HIIT are caused by completely different message-signaling pathways than those created by traditional endurance training.

preoccupation with safety has stripped our kids of independence, risk taking, and discovery. Kids who don’t have a chance to solve their own problems, control their own decisions, and follow an internal moral compass grow up feeling less in control of their own lives and fate.

Potassium citrate, 400–500 milligrams. Earlier, I mentioned Morvan’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that destroys the brain’s potassium channels, which leads to severe insomnia and death(15). Don’t worry: If you need potassium citrate to get to sleep, it doesn’t mean that you have a fatal autoimmune disease. But it may mean that you have a mineral imbalance, and potassium citrate can help address that and relax you. Potassium is most effective when balanced with magnesium, so you should combine it with 400–500 milligrams Natural Calm magnesium, taken about a half-hour to an hour before bed. Back off the dosage if you get loose stool. If the magnesium citrate in Natural Calm upsets your stomach, try magnesium glycinate or magnesium taurate. And if you want sleep along with a glorious morning bowel movement, use oxygenated magnesium in the form of MagO2. I link to some good brands on the web page for this chapter.

In conclusion, if you use an alarm clock, you endanger your data.

If you really want to take isometrics to the next level, you can use a technique that Jay calls “extreme isometrics,” in which you move, but very, very s-l-o-w-l-y. We’re talking five to ten minutes per repetition. This technique takes intense focus. Go ahead and try to do a ten-minute push-up and see how your entire body responds.

Blood pressure: Take and compare two blood pressure readings—one while lying down and one while standing. Lie down for five minutes before taking the first reading. Then stand up and immediately take your blood pressure again. If your blood pressure is lower after standing, you probably have reduced adrenal gland function—more specifically inadequate aldosterone, which is an adrenal hormone that regulates your blood pressure. The degree to which blood pressure drops while standing is often proportionate to the degree of aldosterone-related adrenal issues. If your adrenal function is normal, your body will elevate your blood pressure when you stand up in order to push blood to your brain. If adrenal function is not normal, your blood pressure does not elevate, and this is why overtrained athletes tend to get dizzy more often.

My eating “system” is very simple: 99 percent of the time, I eat the same thing for breakfast (green smoothie), for lunch (sardine salad), and for an afternoon snack (coconut milk with protein powder)—which saves a lot of brain time pondering what to eat and saves a lot of prep time, because the more you do something, the faster you’re able to do it. For dinner, we eat out, or I try a new recipe and include my children so it’s a fun learning project, or Jessa cooks.

Finally, for heaven’s sake, please moderate your use of sunscreen, which Outside magazine has called the “new margarine” because, although it was once considered convenient and safe, it is now associated with a growing number of issues, such as vitamin D and nitric oxide deficiencies, increased risk of blood clots, and high blood pressure. Please also pay close attention to the discussion of lighting in chapter 20, which has plenty more about how light can help or hurt your health, depending on how you use it. 3.

Processed oils like canola or vegetable oil are polyunsaturated fats, which are molecularly unstable and prone to cell-destroying oxidation. Oxidants are reactive molecules that are used to transfer electrons from one atom to another. They are naturally produced both inside your body and the environment, but in excess they can react with other cellular molecules in your body, such as proteins, DNA, and lipids, often contributing to disease and inflammation in the process. (This is why antioxidants are so important—they help prevent oxidation-related damage.)

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change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Running LT Test: Exercise for thirty minutes at the max effort you can sustain, monitoring your heart rate throughout. Your average heart rate during the final twenty minutes should correspond to your LT.

Researchers have also observed that people who listened to music during exercise actually improved their mood, the speed of their decision-making, and even their verbal fluency. That means you’ll not only be able to exercise harder when you listen to music, but you may actually get smarter, too, or perhaps have better focus.

because salivary testing

I was flying high. And low. And high. And low...

Ascorbic acid is actually a synthetic form of vitamin C that is typically made from genetically modified corn, and it lacks the beneficial bioflavonoids present in whole-food forms of vitamin C. Also, keep in mind that approximately 80 percent of the world’s vitamin C supplements come from China, where the manufacturing and quality controls aren’t as stringent as in the United States. There is even some concern that the vitamin C we consume so much of in supplement form and that is often used as an additive in processed food is tainted with impurities such as heavy metals.