Optimize Performance & Life

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Mushrooms + Chocolate = Longevity (and looking good)

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Four Sigmatic’s Cacao Mix with Reishi

I want to share the ultimate stack for health and longevity.

First, if we’re going to live longer, we can look better while doing it…

I’ve been digging into all of the science on increasing lifespan and found that we can consume specific foods that support healthy aging and even REVERSING age-related issues.

​This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (the gold-standard of clinical testing) uncovered that compounds in CHOCOLATE can reduce wrinkles and improve skin elasticity.

The loss of skin elasticity is one of the major factors that cause visual degradation of the skin.

Today we know that certain foods and nutrients are so rejuvenate to the skin that they’re truly in a league of their own.

The most efficacious form of chocolate that’s concentrated with antioxidants is organic cacao.

Combining the highest quality chocolate PLUS another powerful anti-aging food…

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Make Your High-Quality Coffee Supply Last 2X Longer

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I like to enjoy high-quality coffee in the morning.

Organic, mycotoxin/mold-free, specialty-grade, free-trade…all the hoity toity buzz words.

In other words, the top 1% of coffee beans.

But good quality coffee isn’t cheap. I look at it as an investment in my health so I feel it’s worth it.

One thing I do to stretch my coffee supply is what I call “coffee cutting”. I use half the amount of beans I would typically use plus I cut down on the amount of caffeine by adding a few caffeine-free “coffee alternatives” to maintain a similar taste while also enhancing the health benefits.

This allows me to:

  • Reduce the caffeine content
  • Add extra health benefits to my morning brew
  • Invest in higher quality coffee
  • Not have to sacrifice the health benefits of coffee while avoiding the negative effects (like mold)
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Build the Best Home Gym for Health, Longevity and Performance

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If you’re ready to burn fat, build muscle and get in the best shape your life…at home and maybe even save some money while you’re at it, read on.

But don’t jump right in and spend $3000 on a Peloton. You can build an incredible gym at your home for almost nothing.

For under $100, you can get a kettlebell and some online training and have the ability to train from home and home office, for the rest of your life. So there’s literally no excuse in the world why you wouldn’t be able to exercise.

Don’t even have $30 to spare? Get Onnit In 30 Bodyweight, 10 awesome, on-demand workouts for $10.

Here’s how I got back into a fitness routine after thoracic surgery.

My Approach

The easiest way to build your own home gym is to use a modular design by adding pieces of gym equipment over time so that you can start very small and end up with an amazing home gym over a period of time.

I’ve built mine over several year (you can view it below).

Where to start?

First we need to find what a good exercise program looks like for longevity.  According to Dr. Peter Attia (my go-to longevity expert), “A well-crafted exercise program [designed for longevity] should be geared towards strength, muscle mass and respiratory fitness” 

The way I prioritize home gym needs and recommendations are as follows:

  • Functional training
  • Strength training & muscle building 
  • Cardio (HIIT & endurance)
  • Balance & stability work
  • Recovery & mobility
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How to Enhance the Benefits of Cold Thermogenesis

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Baby, it’s cold outside…GOOD.

Before I get into the details, I recommend joining my Fire & Ice Contrast Therapy (Hot-Cold) facebook group.

There is an ancient Japanese practice called misogi that helps you reestablish a harmonious relationship with yourself and everything around you. The approach that is best known is through exposing the body to ice-cold water. A person typically immerses him or herself in a lake, waterfall or the sea. After performing misogi properly, you enter sumikiri – a state of pure clarity of body and mind. It is said that in this condition, your heart is as bright and clear as a cloudless sky, untainted by obstructive thoughts or worldly concerns.

Cold plunging is my misogi and I feel a sense of sumikiri every time I do it.

A Cold Thermogenesis Refresher

Cold water therapy — whether it’s a quick swim in an icy lake, a post-workout ice bath, or a brisk shower — can benefit your health in several ways.

Research has shown it can help you:

  • cut down on muscle soreness
  • cool down after a sweaty workout
  • get into a better mood (I know it does for me!)
  • aid your immune system
  • boost your metabolism and calorie burning
  • increase insulin sensitivity and help control blood glucose levels

It can even convert belly fat into metabolically active brown adipose tissue (BAT), which will increase your fat-burning capacity. More on this in a minute.

Some advocates say it can also decrease inflammation, improve your sleep and recovery, sharpen your mental focus and potentially fight certain types of disease as well as promote overall longevity. But more research needs to be done to determine if these benefits are supported by science.

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Nutritional Hacks to Deal with Stress: Adaptogens & Functional Mushrooms

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Feeling run-down and stressed-out? Does it seem you always catch whatever is going around? Stress is unavoidable, so I always try to do my best to be proactive in preparing my mind and body.

A little stress can actually help you. Using low-dose stressors can be a powerful way to improve your physical and mental health and resilience. Take Time Restricted Eating/Intermittent Fasting, HIIT and sauna as examples. These activities cause mild stress in the body, which, in turn can be beneficial. In animal studies, this hormetic stress has shown to increase resilience, delay most age-related physiological changes, help expand lifespan, and prevent or lessen the severity of cancer, stroke and other serious health problems.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to help the body adapt to stress is through the use of supplements and tonics such as magnesium, B-complex vitamins, L-theanine, melatonin, valerian, chamomile, and cannabidiol (CBD) and my favorite, adaptogens and functional mushrooms.

Adaptogens are herbal (plant or fungi based) tonics believed to increase resistance to all kinds of stress, confer balancing properties to energy, create a sense of well-being as well bolster your body’s natural defenses and potentially extend longevity.

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