Every week, my newsletter subscribers get links to some of the goodies that I’ve come across on the internets.
Here were the goodies that my peeps got their learn on in March and April.
If you want to get a copy of my weekend learning goodies every Friday, fill out the form below. That way you can brag to all your friends about the cool things you’ve learned over the weekend.
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Table of Contents
Protect the Asset – Biggest Lesson of the Month
I didn’t blog much in March because I was in Costa Rica for 3 weeks one, and I needed a break two. I was having some health issues, stressed a bit more than I’m normally accustomed to, had some personal stuff going on, and just hadn’t had a chance to recharge.
I used that time to refocus on what was important to me, to get my health back in order, and to get mega gainzzz.
While I’ll write a bit more about this trip eventually, it worked! I’ve been feeling the best I’ve felt in a hot minute, am actually putting on muscle, and feel like I’m in a real good place personally.
What I wasn’t doing before this trip, was investing in myself, creating healthy boundaries, and taking care of myself.
I wasn’t protecting the asset.
You are your most important asset, and you can’t forget that. Dropping off and not taking care of yourself will not just impact yourself, but those close to you. You won’t relate to others as well, your health will decline, and you won’t produce meaningful work. There’s a reason you are supposed to put the oxygen mask on yourself first in case of a plane crash.
I challenge you this month to take inventory on what behaviors you are doing well and not so well, and make some type of meaningful change for yourself…No vacation required 🙂
What are the big things you are focusing on to take care of yourself? Comment below and let the fam know!
Health & Wellness
Less devices, more protein before bed
Yan Le Meur dropped two infographics (here and here) that illustrate just how disastrous electronic devices are before bed, and why you should probably have a bit of protein before you go to sleep. If you want to recover and get some gainzzz, these two are for you.
What happens when you find out just how good your healthcare provider is?
I found this article to be quite fascinating, where they tell the story of two different presitgious hospital systems, and what makes one THAT much better than the other.
Hint: it’s not being #evidencebased 😉
Time to debunk some sleep myths
Even though sleeping is starting to be en vogue, there are still some non believers. That’s where this post comes in, slaying some sacred cows and helping everyone sleep mo’ betta.
My two favorites were why you shouldn’t snooze (which I’m terrible for) and why snoring shouldn’t be ignored.
Personal Development
I’m sorry you say sorry so much
I’ve read some previous stuff on why telling people you’re sorry when you don’t have to is totally overrated, but what’s the alternative? That’s where this post comes in, in which you get some ideas on when it’s appropriate and not to apologize. and some alternative things to say.
All the financial guru advice you need in one post
Should I use the debt snowball? Should I save for my emergency fund? Everyone who offers financial advice says something different, who do you believe?
The answer: find the commonalities, and that’s exactly what this post sought to do. If you follow these guidelines, you ought to be in bidness.
To hell with a purposeful life
It can be hard to figure out what your purpose, your key to happiness in life is, which is why I like how Mark Manson says screw it in this post. Instead, ask yourself these seven questions to figure out what’s important to you in your life. And go do it!
Men and women: explained
A friend passed along this podcast which looks at evolution to illustrate the differences between men and women. Why do women tell you every single detail about their day, when men look at the outcome? This wonderful podcast gives you the why.
What does it take to be a good listener?
Do you think that listening simply involves staying quieting and repeating back what the other person says?
Think again, as this amazing article lists out what the research shows demonstrates expert level listening skills. Be ready to connect with people like never before.
If you’d like to read a post I did on listening, you can check that out here.
Climate change might lay the smackdown sooner than you think
Are we too far gone with climate change? This article seems to think so. Here, a paper is discussed that predicts societal collapse in 10 years secondary to climate change. 10 years!!!! That’s insanity.
Regardless of the accuracy of predication, we likely need to take steps yesterday to mitigate the damage as best we can. What steps those are? An area I want to learn more about.
You need to speak up more often. Here is the why and how
It can be anxiety-inducing and damn-near impossible to speak up when you disagree with someone, especially if this is someone higher up than you. What’s a fam to do?
The answer: do it, but tactfully. If you want the keys, this article illustrates exactly how to have this crucial conversation – bringing up a disagreement.
Money and social media don’t buy you happiness
After spending a bit of time in the league, I totally get this shocking admission on the status of the NBA player’s health. It seems as though anxiety and isolation is running rampant, despite spending so much time in close quarters with a bunch of ya bro’s.
The supposed cause? Social media. Seeing players glued to their phones at almost all times, including after the games, this thought does not surprise me. Even for myself, the more time I’ve had to spend on social media, the more I’ve most certainly felt these ill effects as well. That’s why I hope to spend as little time on social in my month on the jungle. Wish my luck 🙂
Performance
How to teach breathing to beginners
Most people who i work with that attempt to teach beginners breathing exercises fail because of skipping over the basics. My homegirl Lucy Hendricks has an hour worth of video showing what teaching the basics to a noob ought to look like, and she does so savagely well.
Some great deadlift cues
When Lance Blogs, I listen, and I really liked his post on why you shouldn’t have to breathe all wild and crazy every time you pick something up off the floor. He is also putting out one of the few videos I’ve seen entailing breathing mechanics during high rep deadlifts. It’s awful, I don’t know why’d you want to deadlift more than 5, but if you do, this post is a must.
Is your goal gainzzz? Check out some amazing tips to make your muscles hyooge
I’ve been really trying to focus on hypertrophy so I’m not skinny AF, and this post emphasizes a lot of the tweaks that I’ve made to my programming to support that.
If you haven’t done hypertrophy training before and you are all about “functional movement,” prepare to have some sacred cows killed, and machines be moves 😉
One of my new favorite ab moves…is an old ab move
One of the things I’ve been big on lately is ensuring the ENTIRE spine has the capacity to flex. Driving flexion addresses a common movement limitation that is present in the spine, and essentially for increasing degrees of freedom in the entire spine. Extension is the closed packed position of the spine, after all.
Sadly, what i’ve been finding is that most people struggling creating any type of flexion through the lumbosacral region. What’s a fam to do? My answer has been the below activity, which focuses on driving lower spinal flexion, and I’ve seen some pretty amazing results with it.
I typically perform this move once I’ve seen my peeps have a solid squat, and demonstrate anteroposterior expansion in the upper thorax i.e. pump handle and posterior expansion.
Building stacks…of your ribcage and pelvis???
I’ve been really emphasizing stacking the ribcage and pelvis when teaching my peeps, but what exactly does that mean?
Look to none other than the OG himself, Mike Robertson, putting out an awesome video on what “stacking” the ribcage and pelvis means, why it’s important from both a health and performance standpoint, and how to do it.
Rehabilitation
Lorimer Moseley is coming to Boston!!!!
I went and listened to Lorimer a few years ago in Boston, and it was one of the best pain talks I have encountered in a long time. He is an absolute steward of the science.
Well guess what folks? This September, Lorimer is back in Boston, updated, innovating, and doing all types of wild stuff. I’m going to do my darndest to attend.
Music
A great mix of soul, hip hop, R&B, and so much more
One of my favs of all time is Anderson .Paak, and he came out with an incredible album just a bit ago, and I’m absolutely loving it. The features on this, holy cow. Does a song with Andre 3000, and it’s unreal. Definitely give the whole album a listen.
Chill out with Ice Cube
I never really got into Ice Cube growing up, but his new album is a great mix of old school rhymes with grimey AF beats. It’s a great list to train to.
My favorites are Arrest the President and Ain’t Got No Haters.