But I also have an insight that came up this week…

I lowered a client’s usual weights by 1/3. She commented right away how light the weights felt. But soon she was working every bit as hard as usual. Afterward, she commented in amazement that it felt just as challenging as always…it just took a bit longer to get there.…

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Today’s winner spent over 2 hours laboring to cross the finish line…running 26 miles at a pace of under 5 minutes per mile. It’s an amazing feat.

Also, many not-close-to-world-class-athlete people made it a personal life challenge to complete the marathon. I love stories of people striving to achieve difficult goals…and achieving them.…

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An article in yesterday’s Sunday NYT features a study that dispels the common assumption that doing more activity helps us lose weight.

The common assumption is that people in modern societies are overweight largely because we move around less than people in generations past–and definitely less than in the hunter-gatherer societies from which we evolved.

Researchers tested this assumption by studying actual hunter-gatherers in Northern Tanzania.…

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Assuming you’re like me and want to live as long and healthily as possible, if this claim is true we must take action.

But first we must seriously consider whether it is true. How do we evaluate this claim?

It certainly sounds scary: it has prestige (Harvard), it has lots of data (over 120,000 people and over 23,000 deaths), it factored out a long list of other risks (like smoking, alcohol consumption, family history, physical activity levels), and it presents very specific and scary sounding risk percentages (like a 20% increased risk of mortality from one daily serving of processed meat).

I haven’t seen scientific literature that is promising with respect to real-world benefits. And despite common misconception that vitamins at “reasonable doses” are harmless, there is strong data to show that this assumption may be false.…

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Last time I discussed the obstacle of a too short time horizon. If you missed it, go here.

Today I want to examine a second life issue that often thwarts our fitness desires:

Obstacle #2: You are crazy busy.

Do you work too much, over-commit, and not get enough sleep?

If so, you probably feel exhausted, stressed, and hungry for comfort food.…

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You want the body in the mirror to be fit. You know your ideal pant size. And you can imagine how great you’d look in a bathing suit.

So why don’t you have that body?

If this is you, I’m guessing that you even know things you could be doing…but you just aren’t doing them.

We need to fix bigger problems than fitness knowledge; we need to look at some life issues that get in the way of your success.…

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I’m often asked what single exercise will deliver the most benefit the fastest.

Today, I’m going to answer that question.

What makes an exercise better?

Simply put, bigger is better. Let me explain…

The most productive exercise is the most intense exercise.

Two major criteria of what makes an exercise intense are:

1. It involves the greatest amount of muscle tissue possible (it’s the BIGGEST), and…

2.…

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What I learned isn’t some special “Mr. Miyagi” move. It’s a lot deeper, and a lot more important.

I learned a secret about HABITS, and I’ll explain my car story in just a second…

First, let me ask: what are YOUR habits?

Do you eat the same thing for lunch, go through the same exercise routine, and fall into bed at the same time each night?…

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You don’t have to deprive yourself of any good food–you’ll probably end up getting even more enjoyment than if you stuffed yourself.

Most people who believe it is impossible will never even try, and they won’t be among the few who emerge from the the holidays in equal or better shape than they are right now.…

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