Training: exercise for self-improvement

My lifting philosophy

has changed a lot throughout the years. I have narrowed it down to two goals: gaining muscle mass and increasing health-span (life-span = how long one lives; health-span = how long one lives well). Putting on lean muscle mass increases health-span in and of itself, but let's be honest, I'm a bit vain, and so are you, so getting jacked is a priority.To achieve my dual mandate, I have narrowed it down to three focus areas: quality, intensity, and consistency. I make sure that I do the best workouts, that I take them to failure, and that I hit every muscle group multiple times every week.I’ve spent a lot of time watching Jeff Nippard’s videos (https://www.youtube.com/@JeffNippard) as well as reading a little exercise science research myself. My approach stems from what I believe the research to point to, especially through Jeff, as well as what I like most and what works best for me. So it is not objective by any means. Just what I found to be superior, and I’ve seen some really good results this year.It was my first truly full year of lifting. Maybe a week or two off for vacation. Maybe a few lazy weeks. But 4-5 average days in the gym per week all of 2025. And the results speak for themselves.Here is my current split (in a perfect week). Optimized for quality, intensity, and consistency.Key:
HS = Hammer Strength
LF = Life Fitness
DB = Dumbbell
(max) = 1 set to failurePRE-WORKOUT
- Arm circles
- Hanging knee raise (to elbows)
- Bodyweight set (push-up, pull-up, squat)MONDAY | PUSH
- HS bench press
- LF Pec deck
- LF shoulder press:
- Cable lateral raise
- Cable tricep extensions
- Dips (max)TUESDAY | PULL
- Lat pulldown
- Chest supported row
- Cable rear delt fly
- Seated DB curl
- DB shrug
- Pull-ups (max)WEDNESDAY | LEGS
- Hack squat
- Romanian deadlift
- Leg extension
- Leg curl
- Calf raiseTHURSDAY | RECOVERY
- Cardio
- Cold therapy
- Red lightFRIDAY | UPPER
- LF seated incline press
- Seated cable fly
- LF pulldown
- Seated cable row
- Bicep/tricep superset
- Side/rear delt supersetSATURDAY | LOWER
- Hip thrust
- Single leg press
- Leg curl
- Calf raise
- Hip adductor/abductor supersetSUNDAY | RECOVERY
- Cardio
- Cold therapy
- Red lightPOST-WORKOUT
- Sauna
- StretchImportant to note, I only do about 2 sets per exercise unless specified differently (max). But these two sets include one that leaves 1-2 reps in the tank and one that is as close to failure as I can get, depending on the equipment. Each lift only takes me 30-45 minutes, but the pump is immaculate, and the growth is noticeable.Re: pre-workout, arm circles just lube up the shoulder joint for the hanging I’m about to do. I like the hanging knee raise because you get to enjoy the benefits of the dead hang and an ab pump all in one workout. You also get the blood flowing through your whole body and your grip and forearms really wake up.Re: equipment decisions, I really enjoy doing exercises that are easy and safe, while still being high-quality movements. This is why you see lots of cables and machines. Easy to load and very friendly on the joints.Re: recovery days, I’ve started doing 12 3 30’s (treadmill: 12º incline, 3mph, 30 minutes) because I read it was the optimum speed + angle combination for fat loss. That is a bit hard for me to believe but it is a good workout nonetheless. Very easy on your knees, importantly. I like to do red light therapy in the winter when I’m not getting much sun. My gym is getting some new cold therapy tech so I’m excited to try it. I really struggle with the cold stuff, sauna is easy.Re: post workout, I sauna basically every day. It is easy because I actually love doing it, and apparently it’s good for you. Bryan Johnson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiUM92VDI1Y) actually put the sauna to the test and crafted a scientific experiment with his own lab, body, and sauna. The results were astonishing, especially when it came to removing microplastics.This type of fairly rigorous exercise (could use more cardio) is incomplete if you aren’t giving your body the proper fuel. Check out this article on my eating philosophy

Dieting: eating for self-improvement

My eating philosophy

is extremely simple. There are two rules: 1) No processed carbs, and 2) no fried foods. Do I follow these rules perfectly? No, but I do a pretty good job. If you were to follow these rules 5 days out of the week, you’d lose ten pounds in a month. Don’t believe me? Try it. It’s harder than it seems, however. There is so much tasty crap out there, and most of it has lots of fat, sugar, and salt. It’s designed to be addicting, and it tastes delicious. So the trick is to make the healthy stuff taste delicious too. Unfortunately, that takes a bit of work, and that’s the biggest downside to my eating philosophy.How do you make it delicious? You have to learn to cook. At least a little. Use lots of onion and garlic. Don’t be shy with the seasonings, especially the salt. And don’t be scared of butter. Unless you have high cholesterol and are at risk of a heart attack, you should not be afraid of egg yolks and butter; you should embrace them. Another thing I’ve gotten good at recently is actually cooking my meat to perfection rather than overcooking it. I used to be scared of undercooking it, but I solved that problem with a meat thermometer. Stick that thing in there and cook until it’s 5-10 degrees below the FDA recommendation. It will get up to the right temp when you cut the heat, and even if it’s short by a few degrees, you will be fine. The FDA numbers are designed to guarantee safety, not deliciousness. Truly good tastes live 5 degrees below the FDA recommendations.Here is what I ate this week to illustrate an example. I go to Costco on Sunday morning and meal prep it all Sunday afternoon. If you want to be skinny-sexy, this is what it takes. I’m sorry. Sisyphus got jacked by pushing the boulder up the hill every day, and you can only get jacked by meal prepping whole foods and pushing iron every day.Breakfast:
- Spinach, egg white, Parmesan omelette
- Bacon
- Frozen berries
- A good, easier alternative is a smoothie. Throw frozen fruit, frozen spinach, chia seeds, and whey protein in a blender, and you’ll be on your way.Lunch:
- Wild-caught sockeye salmon filet
- Kiwi
- AvocadoDinner:
- Ground turkey
- Roasted Brussels sprouts
- Roasted red potatoesI usually eat dinner as my second lunch and cook something from the freezer (or order DoorDash) for actual dinner, but unless you are really trying to pack on muscle, three meals should suit you well.
I didn’t go into detail about how I prepared each dish. Just remember my butter, garlic, and salt recommendations. Look up different ways to make each item. Then, trial and error your way into deliciousness. It’s the only way.Some important notes:
1. There are a ton of superfoods out there. Superfoods are things that are rich in the stuff that you want: protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals. The best superfoods are packed with multiple good things. Kiwis, avocados, blueberries, and chia seeds are some that I’ve already mentioned, but you can find more with a little research. Find superfoods that are delicious and eat the crap out of them. You have to make it as tasty, fun, and easy as possible, or you won’t do it. Figure out where what you like and what’s good for you overlap and hammer it home.
2. On that note, buy frozen. If fruits and vegetables are frozen soon after they’re harvested, they retain most of their nutrients. Frozen food from Costco makes my life so much easier. I especially love frozen fruits and veggies because they don’t lose as much flavor and texture as frozen meat (but I am not above frozen bags of chicken breast by any means).
3. Buy a freaking air fryer. Use it all the time. If you’re going to meal prep and eat healthy, you have to take shortcuts. And an air fryer is the best kind of shortcut because you’re not even sacrificing quality.
4. Buy a deep freezer, seek out a local farmer, and buy half a cow. But that is a bit advanced for this blog.That’s it. Like everything good in life, it’s simple, but it’s not easy. Buy it frozen, use an air fryer, and salt and butter the sh*t out of it, and you might be able to eat well consistently.

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Today's Best Travel TV

Is television dead?

Does anyone even have cable anymore? I mean, I use DirecTV, but it’s a streaming app on my smart TV. And I only use it to watch sports, which are certainly alive and well. Professional sports, especially the NFL, are the only thing keeping many networks alive while Amazon and Netflix eat their lunch (or what’s left of it).Maybe you use YouTubeTV. Easy to navigate with access to all the right channels. Maybe you’re a fan of the travel channel, the Discovery Channel, and the Food Network—or you were before cable was taken out back and put out of its misery. If that’s you, then you’re in the right place.What if I told you that all the good travel TV is hiding outside of the traditional cable airwaves in a more contemporary form? I mentioned YouTubeTV, because if you have it, you’re nearly in the right place. Can you guess where I’m going? Just lose the “TV” and you’re there. That’s right, I find my favorite travel, cooking, and adventure content on YouTube nowadays.“Video content” as a giant category has become democratized in the last few years. You no longer have to have the backing of a major network to make a movie, or a show, or a TikTok. You just need some combination of money and know-how, and you can produce a TV show and post it on YouTube.That doesn’t mean it will be any good, however. The main issue with democracy is that everyone gets a vote, even the incompetent. There is an unlimited stream of complete garbage on YouTube and every other digital platform. But don’t worry. I’ve sifted through the trash so you don’t have to.What’s next are my absolute favorite YouTube channels. Shows that would have ruled the travel channel or Discovery network back in the day. The first one is raw, unfiltered travel. The second is survival with a story. And the third is one of my favorite shows of all time — what I believe to be the best food and travel show ever made.First and foremost, Mike Okay. [image]
Mike is just looking for an adventure, and he will go to corners of the world that you’ve never even thought about—much less heard of—to find it. He is a beaming magnet for hospitality. Everywhere he goes, he finds incredibly kind people who help him in his endeavors (whether he asks for it or not).Every episode is a wholesome reminder that humanity can be found anywhere. If you are just willing to go out and experience the world and the people in it, you might come away with a better outlook on things than if you stay at home and scroll social media all day.From Afghanistan to Syria to rural China, I’ve seen Mike showcase parts of the globe that I can only imagine. He brings you on his adventure in an almost Survivorman-like filming style. Raw, cut just enough to not be boring, and intimate in a way that few travel shows are able to achieve.Don’t expect to see London or Paris. No, those places are easy to get in and out of and receive millions of tourists every year. Mike is too curious for California and he’s more than willing to take on all the risk. Just him and his GoPro and an endless stream of intrigued locals. And you, the fortunate viewer.All you need is balls of steel and a DJI drone to be Survivorman nowadays. A few of my favorites include Nick Fry and Xander Budnick. My favorite, however, is Strick from Back 2 Basics Adventures.He makes a ton of awesome catch and cook videos in Australia and the surrounding oceans. The only thing that could improve his channel is expanding his geography a bit.In his best series, he goes to locations of famous shipwrecks and tells the story of the people who crashed there and how (if) they survived. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the local flora and fauna and an immense respect for the land and the aboriginals. But what really sets him apart is the clear and compelling way he tells stories.With a smile on his face and an appetite for adventure, Strick interrupts his mountain scaling and spearfishing with occasional dialogue about the land and the local survival stories. He will have you on the edge of your seat, dying to know if he catches the big one and what happened to the survivors.His videos include everything you want in a survival video. He catches and cooks all kinds of wild plants and animals. He explores breathtaking caves and coves. He captures magnificent footage. I can’t recommend Back 2 Basics enough, especially if you grew up on Hatchet, My Side of the Mountain, and Bear Grylls.Last and certainly not least is Dirt by Huckberry, which is quickly becoming my favorite travel show of all time. [image]If you’re into food, travel, adventure, or general debauchery, you’re probably familiar with Anthony Bourdain. I’ve seen his shows and read his books. His creations made me a fan of this stuff, of culture.The beauty of Bourdain was that he had a camera crew and a network behind him, but his creations still felt raw. He was always able to find the raw experiences that brought out the local culture, and he and his team successfully put it on film.Bourdain may never be passed as the greatest travel show host of all time, but travel shows have gotten really good. Production technology has exploded, and budgets have gone up. No Reservations has been passed up.The culmination of travel TV history, big technology, and big production budgets leads to one place: Dirt. In which, Josh Rosen and his team travel to the most beautiful and culturally rich corners of the world to show you how the sausage gets made.Not only do you get to see good food and gorgeous landscapes. You also get to witness Josh perform whatever ridiculous stunts the locale has to offer. From surfing to snowboarding to cliff diving. And that’s just part of the show’s charm.Where Dirt really shines is where it gets its name. Josh and his crew track down the freshest ingredients from the source. He interviews the farmers and the factory workers, he tours the land where the food is grown and the shops where it’s processed. Then he brings all those delicious ingredients to one of the best chefs in the area who prepares a feast. If only we could taste the flavors with them. At least we get to watch.

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