Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 76

Fear{less} is Here!

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I’m very excited to announce that my new TV show Fear{less} is now live! The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the show:

Fear(less) features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.

Now for the important details: if you want to watch (it’d mean the world to me), here are the different ways you can view the show.

If you have DIRECTV, tune in to channel 239 at 8 pm PT/ET on Tuesday, May 30th. The first episode features master illusionist and performance artist David Blaine (@davidblaine). We have 10 episodes, with a new episode coming out each Tuesday.  
If you have The Audience Network/AT&T U-Verse, tune to channel 1114.
The entire first episode with David Blaine is available for you to watch for free at http://att.net/fearless.
Please watch and use the hashtag #FearlessTV as much as possible. I want to hear from you and know what you think about the show.
If you don’t have DIRECTV, you can download the DIRECTV NOW app. (Click here to sign up.) The app includes a free 7-day trial. To sign up, follow the steps below.


Click to sign up.[image error]
Enter your email.[image error]
Make your selection. The “live a little” is the most basic package and includes the show and the free 7-day trial.[image error]
Complete the process and enjoy!

Thank you so much for all your support. Enjoy the show!

Phil Keoghan — The Magic of Bucket Lists and Amazing Races

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“We celebrate success, but I think we should also just celebrate giving it a go.”

– Phil Keoghan

Phil Keoghan (@PhilKeoghan) has worked in television for almost thirty years on more than a thousand program episodes in more than a hundred countries. His work has earned him numerous awards, including ten prime-time Emmys. He is perhaps best known as the co-executive producer and host of CBS series The Amazing Race, currently in its twenty-ninth season.

But there is much, much more to Phil’s story, including unbelievable bucket lists, near-death experiences, and more. As just one example…

In 2013, he decided to retrace the 1928 Tour de France riding an original vintage bicycle, with no gears, to tell the forgotten underdog story of the first English-speaking team to take on the toughest sporting event on earth.

This experience was captured and turned into the brand-new film Le Ride, a gorgeous documentary and the first to be shot on a Sony F55 camera in 4K, which is equivalent to Super 35mm film.

There are many takeaways from this conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode on positive mindset? In this episode, we explore meditation and mindfulness with Chase Jarvis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Harris, and Rainn Wilson (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by MeUndies. I’ve spent the last year wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. MeUndies are designed in LA and made from sustainably-sourced fabric that’s three times softer than cotton. Even better, it includes free shipping.

If you don’t love your first pair of MeUndies, they’ll hook you up with a new pair or a refund. If you love the product, they have a subscription offer where you can save up to 33% after your first pair. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous, like the camo). That’s MeUndies.com/Tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than four million users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Phil Keoghan:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Le Ride
The Amazing Race
3:45 LIVE!
Girl You Know It’s True by Milli Vanilli
Phil being bowled by Cyndi Lauper on Breakfast Time with Tom Bergeron in 1995.
The Last Cruise of Mikhail Lermontov by Derek Grzelewski, New Zealand Geographic
The Bottom of The Great Blue Hole in Belize
No Opportunity Wasted: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want by Phil Keoghan and Warren Berger
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (1-7) by J.K. Rowling
The Tail End by Tim Urban, Wait But Why
That’s Incredible! vs. That’s Fairly Interesting
Tall poppy syndrome
New Zealand All Blacks
The Greatest Haka EVER?
Beached Az: The Seagull. Ep 1, Series 1
From Denmark to Bhutan: The Policies of Happiness by Colin Todhunter, Countercurrents.org
About the Suzuki Method
Did the Idea for FedEx Earn That Company’s Founder a Failing Mark While He Was a College Student? by Barbara Mikkelson, Snopes
Adventure Crazy with Phil Keoghan
Survivor
Tim Ferriss Interviews Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
1928 Tour de France
The Ride (not to be confused with Le Ride)
Gallipoli
Zoom H6
Shure SM58 microphone
Shure MV88 iOS Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone
Moleskine Classic Notebook
Sony F55 4K Camera
Moleskine Smart Writing Set
Evernote
Penultimate

Show Notes

Phil shares his Milli Vanilli dreadlock-twirling story. [06:03]
Phil tells us about having a panic attack while diving a shipwreck at a hundred and twenty feet — and how this charted the course for a life of adventure. [11:50]
What was Phil’s self-talk when returning to the wreck (and in the moment of facing similar fears)? [24:05]
Applying the concept of deliberate practice to optimism and surrounding oneself with people who work to make anything possible. [26:01]
Cultivating optimism in others (especially one’s children) and the benefits of removing “I can’t” from the family vocabulary. [28:59]
How does Phil always say yes to spending time with his daughter — even when he’s got a deadline looming? [31:21]
A simple but effective way to start your own bucket list. [33:26]
What Tim Urban of “Wait But Why” taught me about the limited time we really have with our parents (and children). [34:43]
The importance of word choice on thought (and how we can positively modify our everyday vocabulary). [36:11]
On Aussie-Kiwi rivalry across the Tasman Sea (and a couple of good sheep jokes). [44:49]
Low expectations vs. high expectations. [50:00]
Favorite failures. [53:09]
The two kinds of bucket lists. [58:23]
How did Phil get involved in American television — and eventually The Amazing Race — in spite of concerns about his New Zealand accent? [1:00:50]
How long does it take to shoot a season of The Amazing Race? [1:03:33]
What are the most common mistakes that novice TV hosts make? [1:05:23]
Phil shares the story of his brilliant grandfather. [1:08:23]
Respect your elders. [1:12:01]
How did Phil’s latest documentary, Le Ride, come about? [1:13:19]
How long was the 1928 Tour de France course? [1:18:05]
Why Harry Watson should be in the Sporting Hall of Fame (and what Phil is doing to memorialize him in his hometown). [1:20:01]
What a standing desk did for Phil. [1:21:54]
We talk general gear, travel recording equipment, Phil’s experience shooting the first documentary ever on a Sony F55 4K camera, and how sometimes a smartphone does the job in a pinch. [1:22:14]
A purchase of less than a hundred dollars that had the most positive impact on Phil’s life. [1:26:27]
What are Phil’s journaling habits? [1:27:58]
Parting thoughts. [1:30:36]

People Mentioned

Fab Morvan
Rob Pilatus
Tom Bergeron
Elle Keoghan
Tim Urban
Matt Mullenweg
Peter Jackson
Naval Ravikant
Malcolm Gladwell
John Keoghan
Elizabeth Keoghan
Jack Sussman
Peter Faiman
Jeff Probst
Les Moonves
Jerry Bruckheimer
Bertram van Munster
Elise Doganieri

Jimmy Fallon
Stephen Colbert
Jon Stewart
David Letterman
Johnny Carson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Howard Stern
Ernest Hemingway
Jack Keoghan
Harry Watson
Hubert Opperman
Morgan Spurlock
Oprah Winfrey

Robert Rodriguez

The Relationship Episode: Sex, Love, Polyamory, Marriage, and More (with Esther Perel)

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“Nothing will give us more meaning in life than to know that we matter for others.”

– Esther Perel

I’ve wanted to speak with psychotherapist Esther Perel for years.

In a cover story, The New York Times called her the most important game changer in sexuality and relational health since Dr. Ruth.

Her TED talks on maintaining desire and rethinking infidelity have more than 17 million views, and she’s tested and been exposed to everything imaginable in thirty-four years of running her private therapy practice in New York City.

In this episode, Esther and I explore:

How to find (and convince) mentors who can change your life.
What she’s learned from Holocaust survivors.
Polyamory and close cousins.
Is there such a thing as too much honesty in relationships?
Can we want what we already have?
Why do happy people cheat?
And much more.

Esther is the author of the international bestseller Mating in Captivity, which has been translated into 26 languages. Fluent in nine of them (I’ve heard her in person), this Belgian native now brings her multicultural pulse to her new book The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity (October 2017, Harper Collins).

Her creative energy is right now focused on co-creating and hosting an Audible original audio series, Where Should We Begin.

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode about relationships? — Listen to my interview with Astro and Danielle Teller. In this conversation — my first podcast with a couple — we cover focus on something I haven’t personally figured out: relationships. It’s important to note that the Tellers are not “for” marriage but, rather, “for” the freedom to decide how to live most honestly and happily, whether as part of a couple or as a single person (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now — this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is visit Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Esther Perel:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium by Haim F. Ghiuzeli, Museum of the Jewish People
If This Is a Man and The Truce by Primo Levi
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum
We’ve Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers by Rachel Botsman, TEDSummit
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Chutzpah — The Yiddish Word That Means Audacity, My Jewish Learning
Esther Perel on the Difference Between Sexuality and Eroticism, Big Think
History of Monogamy: The Shift from Duty to Pleasure by Esther Perel
More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory by Franklin Veaux and Janet Hardy
Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships by Tristan Taormino
Understanding Polyamory: What’s Compersion? by Hannah Rimm, HelloFlo
I Think You’re Fat by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire
Rethinking Infidelity … A Talk for Anyone Who Has Ever Loved by Esther Perel, TED2015
From Theater to Therapy to Twitter, the Eerie History of Gaslighting by Katy Waldman, Slate
Monica Lewinsky on the Culture of Humiliation, Vanity Fair
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
The Erotic Mind: Unlocking the Inner Sources of Passion and Fulfillment by Jack Morin
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Show Notes

Esther gives us a little background about her life. [07:20]
Esther elaborates on the experience of growing up among Holocaust survivors in Antwerp. [08:58]
To what combination of “chance and choice” did Esther’s parents attribute their survival of the Holocaust? [17:35]
What comes first: trust or vulnerability? [27:12]
Thoughts on impermanence as motivation for living life fully. [29:03]
Esther considers herself counterphobic. Does she think this is a good thing? [31:25]
How did Esther come to study in Jerusalem? [33:53]
How should someone seek and approach a mentor? (Sometimes it just takes a healthy dose of chutzpah.) [40:06]
What is eroticism, and what does Esther mean when she calls the erotic “an antidote to death?” [49:32]
What are the ethical options for an otherwise happy couple experiencing sexual listlessness? [53:08]
In a relationship, is there such a thing as too much honesty? How do Americans and Europeans tend to differ on the subject? [1:01:04]
Does honesty — or one-hundred percent sharing — equal caring for the other person in a relationship? [1:07:19]
If one of her patients wants to disclose an infidelity to a partner, how does Esther walk them through the decision process? [1:08:39]
Is it possible for a partner in a non-exclusive relationship to overcome the fear of being left as a result of discussing infidelity? [1:14:09]
How would you score on a quarterly relationship report card? [1:22:08]
How does Esther feel about a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for a polyamorous relationship? [1:23:44]
The value of innovation and flexibility over rigid ideology in a relationship. [1:26:32]
Every relationship is a power dynamic. [1:29:00]
What was the research process like for Esther’s upcoming book about “historically condemned and universally practiced” adultery? [1:32:36]
Is there an argument for marriage these days? [1:39:22]
Why does Esther find divorce rates for second marriages particularly interesting? [1:45:16]
Why does marriage often lead to sub-par behavior between people in a relationship? [1:46:57]
Through the lens of infidelity, what human questions is Esther trying to answer in her upcoming book? [1:50:00]
What books has Esther gifted most and found worth rereading? [1:53:58]
What would Esther’s billboard say? [1:55:05]

People Mentioned

Primo Levi
David Blaine
Sala Ferlegier
Icek Perel
Jack Saul
Rachel Botsman
BJ Miller
Salvador Minuchin
Ed Zschau
Richard Feynman
A.J. Jacobs
Oscar Wilde
Bill Clinton
Monica Lewinsky

Accelerated Learning and Mentors – My Personal Story

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This episode is by request. You have asked me many times for an episode on education, accelerated learning, and my mentors. It will all be covered in the following conversation with Charles Best (@charlesbest), the founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit website that enables anyone to help a classroom in need. It is one of my favorite companies — profit or non-profit — in the world. (And I’m not just saying that because we used to be wrestling partners in high school.)

Charles founded DonorsChoose.org back in 2000 at a public high school in the Bronx where he taught history. Flash forward to 2017, and DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “ultimate favorite things” and made the cover of Fast Company as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World,” the first time a charity has received such recognition.

To date, teachers at more than seventy percent of all the public schools in America have created classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and more than two million people have given to those projects.

Charles joined me for a conversation at SXSWedu in front of an audience of educators and administrators to talk about learning things faster, good teaching versus bad teaching, the value of tough love, and much more. Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode about accelerated learning? — Listen to my interview with Luis Von Ahn, the co-founder of Duolingo. In this episode, we discuss what 2-3 books and resources he’d recommend to entrepreneurs, language learning tips, early mentors and key lessons learned, and how to recruit and vet technical talent (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Alibaba and Gateway17. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner in the US, the stars don’t always align — but this might get close. Alibaba (if you’re not familiar with it, imagine Amazon and Google having a baby in China) is hosting Gateway17, a conference designed to help US businesses tap into the five hundred million consumers of China’s growing middle class.

Gateway17 takes place June 20-21 in Detroit, Michigan, and it puts you in direct contact with experts who want to help you grow your business into the booming Chinese marketplace. Speakers include Alibaba founder Jack Ma (in his only speaking engagement of the year), UPS CEO David Abney, and master interviewer Charlie Rose. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, Alibaba is offering you a ticket for $125 (they’re usually $500) if you sign up at gateway17.com by May 25 and use the code “Tim” at checkout.

This podcast is also brought to you by Soothe.com, the world’s largest on-demand massage service. Because I’ve been broken so many times, I have body work done at least twice a week — so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either.

After much personal testing, I can affirm that Soothe delivers a hand-selected, licensed, and experienced massage therapist to you in the comfort of your own home, hotel, or office in as little as an hour. I was amazed at the quality of service and convenience. Think of it as Uber for massages, available in fifty cities worldwide. Download the app at Soothe.com and use code TITAN20 to get $20 off your first massage.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Charles Best:

Twitter | DonorsChoose.org

The Art and Science of Learning Anything Faster
Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days and You Can Too
The Pareto principle (80/20 approach)
How to Learn Any Language in Record Time and Never Forget It
Tango World Record — Tim Ferriss and Alicia Monti
stickK
DietBet
Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier by Terry Laughlin and John Delves
Recommendations and Resolutions for 2016
Why Can’t You Draw The Face of a Penny? Understand the Reason and Learn Spanish Twice as Fast
Memory Palace (Method of loci)
Michael Gruneberg demonstrating how to learn a language with word association and visualization mnemonics.
When learning a new language, reading comic books for dialogue and watching familiar movies like Die Hard or Babe in that language work well for me.
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre
The Art of Learning Project
Searching for Bobby Fischer: book and movie
Marcelo Garcia In Action
Meta learning
Jocko Willink on Discipline, Leadership, and Overcoming Doubt
Maria Popova
Brain Pickings
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Duolingo
reCAPTCHA
The 7 Biggest Facebook Distractions and How to Avoid Them by Ravi Shukle at Post Planner
The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Serenity Prayer
How to Not Be Evil — Dr. Phil Zimbardo
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Stoicism for Modern Stresses: 5 Lessons from Cato
Marpac Dohm-DS All Natural Sound Machine
QuestBridge
Classical and Operant Conditioning by Christopher Real
Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor
The Princess Bride — battle of wits scene
Toastmasters International

Show Notes

Charles discloses our shared history and asks me to recall a teacher who made a really big difference in my life. [07:56]
We’re both very grateful to our wrestling coach Mr. Buxton. [09:34]
I talk about my framework for accelerated learning: DiSSS (deconstruction, selection, sequencing, and stakes). [10:46]
Which of my personal experiments could a teacher safely assign to a kid to “try at home?” [22:11]
During experimentation, do I ever go by intuition over data? [26:37]
Of all my podcast guests, who would I nominate to design the ideal school? [30:07]
What subject would I teach at such a school, and what might the first day of lessons look like? [33:26]
In this school, what other podcast guests would be a virtuoso teacher? [36:16]
How has technology enriched — and hindered — the pursuit of learning? [39:25]
My one-minute primer on Stoic philosophy and how Stoicism could inform our public school system. [43:22]
Why am I such an advocate for DonorsChoose.org? [48:55]
What is the number one skill I think our students need to learn today that isn’t taught enough? [51:27]
Is there any skill I wouldn’t recommend learning rapidly? [53:41]
What purchase of less than a hundred dollars has changed my life in the last six months? [54:07]
How tools and systems I’ve helped develop can be used to address inequity in public schools. [54:39]
When does the transition between memorizing and internalizing/learning happen in my framework? [57:06]
How do I recommend teachers address students who struggle with competition tasks due to anxiety or learning disabilities? [59:27]
What legacy do I hope to leave in the field of education and learning? [1:02:19]
Farewell from the benevolent army of learners. [1:03:17]

People Mentioned

Oprah Winfrey
Kathleen Vinski
John Buxton
Masatoshi Shimano
Josh Waitzkin
Bobby Fischer
Derek Sivers
Terry Laughlin
Kevin Rose
Cicero
Michael Gruneberg
Ben Goldacre
Marcelo Garcia
Mike Tyson
Wayne Gretzky
Mickey Mantle
Jamie Foxx
Jocko Willink
Maria Popova
BJ Miller
Luis Von Ahn
Adam Gazzaley
Seneca
Marcus Aurelius
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
William J. Clinton
Phil Zimbardo
Cato
Leo Tolstoy
B.J. Fogg
Molly

How to Reverse Aging with Art De Vany

[image error] “There is no such thing as successful aging because aging is damage.”

– Art De Vany

Dr. Arthur De Vany is nearly eighty years old and ripped. Better known as Art De Vany, he was signed as a professional baseball player in his youth and later earned his Ph.D. in Economics at UCLA. He is most famous for his “evolutionary fitness” approach to training and diet, and our conversation focuses on that.

During his time at UCLA, Art did many things, including creating mathematical and statistical models to precisely describe the motion picture market. Art is Professor Emeritus of Economics of the University of California, Irvine, and is a member of its acclaimed Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences.

A lifelong student of metabolism and fitness, Art has lived as a Paleo athlete for more than thirty years and is considered a “patriarch” of the Paleo movement.

He believes there is no such thing as “healthy” aging and that we can intervene to protect against the aging process. In this episode, we talk about his daily schedule, workout routines, why he never gets sick, ice ages, economics, philosophies of intermittent everything, and really dig into the details of a fascinating man.

Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode from a guest that defies aging? — Listen to this interview with Jerzy Gregorek. In this episode, we discuss flexibility, strength, muscle gain, and fat loss at any age (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now — this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Art De Vany:

Facebook I | Facebook II (like Art himself, more active)

The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging by Arthur De Vany, PhD
Understanding the Stretch Reflex (or Myotatic Reflex) by Brad Walker, StretchCoach
The Inland Waterways: Institutions, Economics, And Policy by Arthur S. De Vany and Andrew J. Rettenmaier
Computability and Algorithmic Compression, Wheat and Tares
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.
What are fractals?
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
When Bill Gates Walks into a Bar
Toba Catastrophe Theory
The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean
How Humans Learn: Lessons from the Sea Squirt by Sian Beilock Ph.D., Psychology Today
Myokine
Neurotrophic factors
Arthur De Vany — Renewing Cycles
Autophagy: Process and Function by Noboru Mizushima, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Glycolysis
The Legend of Tithonus
The Effect of Mitochondrial Density on Athletic Performance by Roger Schmitz, Moxy
How I Dropped to 5.6% Body Fat and Gained Muscle, Part 1, Art De Vany on Line via The Internet Archive
When the Sea Saved Humanity by Curtis W. Marean, Scientific American
Corm
Strength Training is Learning from Tail Events by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Medium
Hollywood Economics: How Extreme Uncertainty Shapes the Film Industry by Arthur De Vany
Pareto distribution
Arthur De Vany sample workout
How I Practice Evolutionary Fitness by Aaron McCloud
Is Endurance Exercise Really Beneficial?, Art De Vany
Eccentric training
Current Evidence That Exercise Can Increase the Number of Adult Stem Cells by Filippo Macaluso and Kathryn H. Myburgh, Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility
Proteasome
Peripheral vs. Ectopic Fat by Stephan Guyenet, Whole Health Source
My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island
Caenorhabditis elegans
Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)
FGF21 is an Akt-regulated myokine by Yasuhiro Izumiya, et al., FEBS Letters
A Look at Ribosomes, British Society for Cell Biology
What is a Turing Machine?, University of Cambridge
Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
FOXO1
Neural Darwinism: The Theory Of Neuronal Group Selection by Gerald Edelman
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences – NYU
Kurtosis
Lessons from the Left Coast: What Hollywood Can Teach Pharma about Marketing by Maureen Winigrad, HLG Health Communications
What is Leptokurtic?
Melatonin
How Testosterone Supplementation Shuts Down HPTA by Rick Vallejo, Evolutionary.org
The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat by Loren Cordain
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Skin In the Game: The Thrills and Logic of Risk Taking by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
General equilibrium theory

Show Notes

Introductions from an undisclosed mountain location. [07:12]
How did Art get into economics? [08:17]
You can’t reduce your life to an algorithm — the Zen of evolutionary fitness. [11:10]
Bill Gates walks into a bar… [14:25]
How would Art predict the chance for a movie’s success if he were in charge of a studio? [14:48]
How did fitness and diet enter the scene for Art? [20:02]
Where do cavemen fit into the equation? [20:51]
Lessons from the sea squirt. [23:22]
On myokines, proteostasis, neurotrophic factors, and muscle degeneration. [23:58]
Aging is not programmed — it is the result of the failure of a renewal program. [25:56]
The legend of Tithonus. [28:55]
Mitochondrial density is all the rage. [29:46]
Did seafood save humanity? [31:24]
Brain expansion as a survival response. [32:59]
Why Art eats two meals a day. [34:02]
How Art proactively encourages low mitochondrial density. [36:26]
Is Art responsible for getting Nassim Nicholas Taleb into deadlifting? [37:13]
“Non-steady state exercise is very difficult to quantify.” [40:46]
What does Art’s exercise regimen look like? [41:26]
Time-efficient exercise has kept Art almost entirely injury free for over sixty years of working out. [48:59]
Why does Art prefer shorter rest intervals over longer ones? [50:04]
What does Art have for breakfast? When does he go to sleep? [50:38]
On meal intervals and intermittent fasting to fight muscle degeneration. [52:07]
What does Art have for dinner? [53:39]
How excess fat prevents stem cells from doing their job. [54:41]
What are the most common things people in the Paleo movement get wrong? [56:10]
What does Art have against coconut oil? [57:40]
How does Art take his eggs? [58:38]
Art’s thoughts on minimizing mTOR activation and use of rapamycin and metformin. [1:00:07]
Exercise your muscles, heal your liver. [1:04:51]
How is the ribosome like a universal Turing machine? [1:07:13]
To what part of his regimen does Art owe for not being sick in decades? [1:13:06]
Advice for alleviating depression. [1:16:33]
On the benefits and practice of cold exposure. [1:19:22]
What has Nassim Taleb taught Art? [1:20:10]
What’s your advantage: informational, analytical, or behavioral? [1:24:42]
Art regularly takes melatonin — but not for sleep. [1:27:37]
Why wouldn’t regular consumption of melatonin cause some type of malfunction? [1:31:09]
On human knowledge: what we can know vs. what we can’t know. [1:32:58]
Books Art has gifted or recommended most to others.  [1:36:55]
Areas Art considers dead ends in the quest for longevity. [1:40:48]
What does Art do to minimize the likelihood of injury during exercise? [1:44:50]
What kind of class would Art lead if he were to return to teaching? [1:47:20]
What would Art’s billboard say? [1:49:51]
Parting thoughts. [1:52:37]

People Mentioned

Naval Ravikant
Kamal Ravikant
John Durant
Richard Nikoley
George Murphy
Friedrich Hayek
Enrico Barone
William O. Douglas
Benoit Mandelbrot
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Callie Curry
Val Kilmer
Tom Hanks
Tithonus
Aurora
Zeus
Curtis Marean
Andrew Dillin
Pope John Paul II
Robert Evans
Dustin Hoffman
Filippo Macaluso
Doug McGuff
Yasuhiro Izumiya
Alan Turing
Gerald Edelman
Charles Darwin
Warren Buffett
Charlie Munger
Fidel Castro
Dom D’Agostino
Molly
Loren Cordain
Cynthia Kenyon
Mike Mentzer

The Savant of Speed — Ryan Flaherty

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“Don’t buy complexity; the simpler you make your training, the better the results become.”

– Ryan Flaherty

Ryan Flaherty (@ryanflaherty1) is the Senior Director of Performance at Nike. Prior to holding that position, Ryan was the Founder and President of Prolific Athletes LLC, a sports performance facility in San Diego, California, where he trained some of the world’s best athletes. His clients include Serena Williams, Russell Wilson, the Arizona Cardinals, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, and hundreds of other professional athletes. He’s also working with runners on Nike’s “Breaking2” project to break the 2-hour marathon barrier.

While he is well known for dramatically improving his athletes’ speed, more and more athletes (and coaches) seek Ryan out for his training and guidance on injury prevention. Many of Ryan’s clients have made remarkable recoveries from injuries, and several NFL teams and European soccer clubs have sought his methodology to implement into their training programming.

Ryan developed an algorithm called “Force Number” that is based on the hex (or trap) bar deadlift and body weight to predict speed such as the forty-yard dash.

In this discussion, we talk about exercises for reducing injury potential, how Ryan uses the Force Number, what his workouts look like from warmup to finish, how he helped Meb Keflezighi train for his Boston Marathon victory, how to go from sprinting to long distance running, and lots more.

Whether you’re trying to become a better athlete or just less injured from your workouts in any type of training, you’ll want to check out this conversation with Ryan Flaherty, the Savant of Speed!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear an episode with Peter Attia (who introduced me to Ryan Flaherty)? — Listen to his first appearance on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss optimizing blood testing, training for ultra-endurance sports, consuming synthetic ketones, using metabolic chambers, extending longevity by avoiding certain types of exercise, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Soothe.com, the world’s largest on-demand massage service. Because I’ve been broken so many times, I have body work done at least twice a week — so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either.

After much personal testing, I can affirm that Soothe delivers a hand-selected, licensed, and experienced massage therapist to you in the comfort of your own home, hotel, or office in as little as an hour. I was amazed at the quality of service and convenience. Think of it as Uber for massages, available in fifty†cities worldwide. Download the app at Soothe.com and use code TITAN20 to get $20 off your first massage.

This podcast is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I have used Legalzoom for my businesses, and Matt Mullenweg (CEO of Automattic – now worth more than a billion dollars) first incorporated his company on LegalZoom. Legalzoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted to help with their businesses, including setting up a will, doing a proper trademark search, forming an LLC, setting up a non-profit, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.

LegalZoom is not a law firm, but they do have a network of independent attorneys available in most states. They can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business.  Check out LegalZoom.com today to see how they can make life better for you and your business. Enter promo code “TIM” at checkout to save 15 percent!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Ryan Flaherty:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
The Money Lift: How a Top-Flight Trainer Discovered the Most Important Exercise Every Athlete Should Do by Josh Condon, Men’s Fitness
USA Track & Field
How Your Deadlift Max Will Make You Faster by Andy Haley, Stack
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Back to the Basics: Hypertrophy by DeWayne Smith, NASM
Quarterback Guru Ryan Flaherty’s Workout Secrets by Andy Haley, Stack
Dynamic Warmups Make You Stronger, Faster by Kate Bongiovanni, competitor.com
Get Better Results With Activation Exercises at FitBodyHQ
Amortization phase and plyometrics explained at Athlepedia
Fitness Defined: Concentric and Eccentric Contractions (and Why It Matters) by Nicole Nichols, SparkPeople
My dog hates phosphocreatine.
How to do Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats, WeightTraining.com
Six Questions About Tempo Training by Mike Robertson, T Nation
Vastus Medialis Obliquus (VMO), the Key to the Knee by Vivian Grisogono
Single Leg Step-Downs by ProlificAthletes
Nike+ Training Club App
Seven-Way Hips by ProlificAthletes
Close Chain Clamshell with band by ProlificAthletes
Ankle Mobility Exercises to Improve Dorsiflexion by Mike Reinold
Improving Ankle Plantar Flexion by Movement Rx
Inversion and Eversion by manitobafitness
Seated Single Leg Box Jump by ProlificAthletes
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Symptoms and Causes by The Mayo Clinic
Russell Wilson Has a Sprained MCL, Not Expected to Miss Time by Jeanna Thomas, SB Nation
Wall Hamstring Stretch with Femur Rotations by Samantha Maxfield, Dear Samantha
DCT Proflex
Cris Carter Explains Why Ex-Browns QB Robert Griffin III Became an NFL Bust by Andrew Lynch, Fox Sports
Meb Keflezighi’s Boston Marathon Win Is a Victory for Us All by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine
Nike Connects Athletes Everywhere with the World’s Elite Trainers
Four Common Errors in the Overhead Squat by Spencer Arnold
A Simple Drill to Correct Overstriding by Jenny Hadfield, Runner’s World
Report: Three Oregon Football Players Hospitalized after ‘Grueling’ Workouts by Chantel Jennings, ESPN
Variety of Causes Can Be at Root of Rhabdomyolysis by Shawn Bishop, The Mayo Clinic
Speed Trap by Charlie Francis
Altis
Westside Barbell
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Bible
The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness by Jeff Olson
Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by John Wooden and Steve Jamison
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Inner Ring by C. S. Lewis

Show Notes

Is speed innate or teachable? [08:37]
Experiments at USA Track that helped Ryan coach speed. [11:19]
How much attention does Ryan pay to the foot’s impact point when trying to increase the efficiency of a runner’s stride? [14:22]
Ryan focuses his research on exercises that produce maximum results within a limited timeframe. [17:14]
Ryan explains the purpose of a Force Number and how he happened upon it as a metric for improvement. [18:08]
What protocol would Ryan recommend for a former competitive athlete trying to improve strength output? [20:40]
How much of his or her own body weight should a healthy adult expect to pull? [23:23]
What’s a reasonable lifting goal for someone to achieve over the course of a year? [24:38]
After building a hypertrophic base, how many times a week would Ryan have someone do a hex (trap) bar deadlift workout? [25:27]
From warmup to end, what would such a workout look like for an elite level athlete? [26:59]
In addition to seven-way hips, what glute med exercises are good to mix into a weekly routine? [37:25]
Neglecting these areas will likely lead an athlete to injury. [39:46]
Improving internal rotation to the femur and ankle flexion. [44:11]
How did Ryan suspect that Robert Griffin III (AKA RG3) wouldn’t last long in the NFL? [45:57]
How many inches off the floor should the grips of a hex (trap) bar be, and where should hands be in relation to the feet? [48:43]
Dropping bar weight vs. lowering quickly. [53:45]
After sustaining a knee injury on a recent hike, what rehab work might I do for Ryan to clear me for an upcoming ski trip? [55:47]
The injury-producing machine Ryan would remove from gyms and exercises he would recommend against. [1:00:38]
Aside from the hex (trap) bar deadlift, the one exercise or stretch Ryan thinks everyone should do. [1:04:29]
How Ryan used his sprinting to help Meb Keflezighi win the Boston Marathon. [1:05:50]
How does training a sprinter differ from training a marathon runner? [1:06:53]
Ryan’s current project at Nike. [1:09:21]
What does Ryan hate to see at the gym? [1:10:58]
Simplicity is good. Rhabdomyolysis is bad. [1:14:44]
Why Ryan hopes The Force Method “is obsolete in two years.” [1:18:24]
Trainers and performance coaches who had an influence on Ryan. [1:19:38]
What has Ryan borrowed or adapted from Louie Simmons, in particular? [1:22:25]
Incorporating weight loss — or gain — into training. [1:24:56]
What books has Ryan gifted most to others? [1:28:56]
What advice would Ryan give his younger self? [1:32:25]

People Mentioned

Peter Attia
Pavel Tsatsouline
Charles Poliquin
Dominic D’Agostino
Serena Williams
Russell Wilson
Marcus Mariota
Jameis Winston
Meb Keflezighi
Peter G. Weyand
Usain Bolt
Molly Pup
Amelia Boone
Robert Griffin III
Charlie Francis
Ben Johnson
Tonie Campbell
Dan Pfaff
Louie Simmons
Buddy Morris
John Wooden
C. S. Lewis
Jay Z
Tom Brady

Exploring Smart Drugs, Fasting, and Fat Loss — Dr. Rhonda Patrick

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“Avoiding all stress isn’t the answer to fighting aging; it’s about building resiliency to environmental stress.” 

– Rhonda Patrick

Rhonda Patrick, PhD, (@foundmyfitness) is an American biochemist and scientist. She first appeared on this podcast back in episode twelve, and whether you want to extend life, inexpensively buy a stem cell “insurance policy,” or guard against cancer, Rhonda has valuable insights and recommendations.

In this episode, Rhonda tackles some of your most requested topics, including:

Best practices for fasting (and who struggles most with time-restricted feedings)
What blood tests are most important to analyze for overall health
The “minimum effective dose” for the benefits of sauna
Heat vs. cold exposure, and how they should be used effectively
Most effective smart drugs
The latest fat loss research
And much, much more

Rhonda is known for her studies of the mechanistic link between vitamin D and serotonin production, research that may have important implications for the understanding of autism and other disorders, and for her popular podcast, Found My Fitness.

Dr. Patrick also conducts clinical trials, performed aging research at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and did graduate research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she focused on cancer, mitochondrial metabolism, and apoptosis.

Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want even more from Rhonda Patrick? Listen to her first appearance on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss life extension, optimal performance, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is sponsored by Alibaba and Gateway17. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner in the US, the stars don’t always align — but this might get close. Alibaba (if you’re not familiar with it, imagine Amazon and Google having a baby in China) is hosting Gateway17, a conference designed to help US businesses tap into the five hundred million consumers of China’s growing middle class.

Gateway17 takes place June 20-21 in Detroit, Michigan, and it puts you in direct contact with experts who want to help you grow your business into the booming Chinese marketplace. Speakers include Alibaba founder Jack Ma (in his only speaking engagement of the year), UPS CEO David Abney, and master interviewer Charlie Rose. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, Alibaba is offering you a ticket for $125 (they’re usually $500) if you sign up at gateway17.com by May 25 and use the code Tim at checkout.

This podcast is also brought to you by WordPress, my go-to platform for 24/7-supported, zero downtime blogging, writing online, creating websites, and basically everything online. I love it to bits, and the lead developer, Matt Mullenweg, has appeared on this podcast many times.

Whether for personal use or business, you’re in good company with WordPress being used by The New Yorker, Jay Z, FiveThirtyEight, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Time, just to name a few. A source at Google told me that WordPress offers “the best out-of-the-box SEO imaginable,” which is probably why it runs nearly 30 percent of the Internet. Go to WordPress.com/Tim to get 15% off your website today!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Rhonda Patrick:

Website | Podcast |Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

The Tim Ferriss Show, Episode 12: Dr. Rhonda Patrick on Life Extension, Performance, and Much More
Rhonda Patrick: Nutrigenomics, Epigenetics, and Stress Tolerance via The IHMC Evening Lecture Series
Sulforaphane and isothiocyanates
Sulforaphane and Its Effects on Cancer, Mortality, Aging, Brain and Behavior, Heart Disease & More by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
What is Xenohormesis? by Joseph A. Baur and David A. Sinclair, American Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology
What Valter Longo, Satchin Panda, and Ruth Patterson have to say about time-restricted eating.
MH Trials: Hugh Jackman’s 16:8 Diet by David Morton, Men’s Health
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: The Brain’s Circadian Clock by Martha U. Gillette and Shelley A. Tischkau, Recent Progress in Hormone Research
Understand your body’s rhythms and contribute to research with Dr. Satchin Panda’s myCircadianClock app.
Introducing “Zero,” a New App to Help You Fast by Kevin Rose, Medium
Fasting vs. Slow-Carb Diet, Top $150 Purchases, Balancing Productivity and Relaxation, and More
Dom D’Agostino — The Power of the Ketogenic Diet
Some terms used: Autophagy, mitophagy, apoptosis, mitochondrial biogenesis, cellular senescence, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)
Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System by Suzanne Wu, USC News
Blood Sugar Levels in Response to Foods Are Highly Individual, The Weizmann Institute of Science
More terms used: FTO, PPAR Alpha, PPAR Gamma, APOE4
23andMe
Abbott Precision Xtra Glucose Monitor
Thyroid Function Tests
Are Saunas the Next Big Performance-Enhancing Drug?
Association Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Events by Tanjaniina Laukkanen, et al., JAMA Internal Medicine
How Sauna Use May Boost Longevity by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
The Heat-Shock Response by Stephanie Liou, Huntington’s Outreach Project for Education at Stanford
FOXO3: A Major Gene for Human Longevity — A Mini-Review by Brian J. Morris, et al., Gerontology
What Is an Infrared Sauna? Does It Have Health Benefits? by Brent A. Bauer, M.D., Mayo Clinic
Rick Rubin on Cultivating World-Class Artists (Jay Z, Johnny Cash, etc.), Losing 100+ Pounds, and Breaking Down The Complex
The Surprising Truth About IGF-1 and How to Increase and Inhibit It by SelfHacked
Post-Exercise Cold Water Immersion Attenuates Acute Anabolic Signalling and Long-Term Adaptations in Muscle to Strength Training by Llion A. Roberts, et al., The Journal of Physiology
Effects of Whole-Body Cryotherapy on Recovery After Hamstring Damaging Exercise: A Crossover Study by B. Fonda and N. Sarabon, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Effects of Whole-Body Cryotherapy vs. Far-Infrared vs. Passive Modalities on Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Highly Trained Runners by Christophe Hausswirth, et al., PLoS ONE
In discussing nootropics, Rhonda mentions choline, phosphatidylcholine, Alpha GPC, CDP Choline, and Yamabushitake (lion’s mane mushroom) extract.
Alpha GPC — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
CDP Choline — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Yamabushitake (Lion’s Mane Mushroom) Extract — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Rhonda’s research identified the relation between vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and serotonin production.
Sulforaphane — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
FDA Strengthens Warning That NSAIDs Increase Heart Attack and Stroke Risk by Gregory Curfman, MD, Harvard Health Blog
What’s Behind the Heartbreaking Risk of Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: UC Davis Scientists Learn Why NSAIDs May Increase the Risk of Heart Disease by Kat Kerlin, UC Davis
Curcumin — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Rhonda recommends meriva (curcumin phytosome) as an ibuprofin alternative.
Type II (Hydrolyzed) Collagen — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Great Lakes Gelatin Collagen Hydrolysate
Search for NSF Certified Dietary Supplements or see if your supplement is verified by the USP.
Rhonda’s Ultimate Micronutrient Smoothie
Smoothie #2: Prebiotics, Phytochemicals, “Anti-Nutrients” & Hydrolyzed Collagen
Lutein and Zeaxanthin — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Pterostilbene — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Punicalagins (from Pomegranites) — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Benzene and Cancer Risk, American Cancer Society
Acrolein | CH2=CHCHO, PubChem
Pure Encapsulations O.N.E. Multivitamin
Thorne Research Magnesium Citrate Health Supplement
Swanson High Potency Natural Vitamin K-2
Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Phospholipids
Nordic Naturals ProOmega 2000
Fish Oil — Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects, Examine.com
Thorne Research NiaCel Nicotinamide Riboside Supplement with ChromaDex Niagen
How Exercise Makes You Smarter — Dr. Rhonda Patrick via Paleo f(x)
Glycolysis: An Overview by NDSU Virtual Cell Animations Project
George Brooks, Ph.D. on Lactate Shuttle Theory, Relevance for Traumatic Brain Injury & More
The Twin Study: What’s the Real Value of Exercise? by Dave Smith, Make Your Body Work
Refined Sugar and Its Effects on Mortality, the Brain, Cancer, Hormones & More by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
Vitamix 5200 Blender
The “Triage Theory:” Micronutrient Deficiencies Cause Insidious Damage That Accelerates Age-Associated Chronic Disease by Bruce Ames
The “Vitamin D Sweet Spot” and its Relationship To Aging by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
Does Meat Consumption Cause Cancer? by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
The IGF-1 Trade-Off: Performance vs. Longevity by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
How The Gut Microbiota Affects Our Health with Dr. Erica & Dr. Justin Sonnenburg by Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness
What Rhonda eats when she’s craving iron (with advice for vegetarians)
The Extinction Inside Our Guts by Erica Sonnenburg and Justin Sonnenburg, Los Angeles Times
Rhonda’s shipments of VSL #3 arrive packed in ice.
My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island

Show Notes

What new areas, experiments, discoveries, or hypotheses is Rhonda most excited about these days? [08:02]
Your mom was right about broccoli and brussels sprouts. [10:12]
How stressing out our cells may help slow the aging process. [10:52]
Rhonda’s best practices for time-restricted eating — and who might not benefit from this practice. [13:00]
How do the effects of fasting differ from those of a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, and what key metrics would indicate benefit (or lack thereof)? [16:16]
Rhonda’s thoughts on minimum effective dose for sauna benefits in session time, temperature, and frequency — and what those benefits might be. [23:33]
Is there any benefit to combining heat stress and cold stress in rapid succession — or do they cancel each other out? [45:30]
Thoughts on how regular hyperthermic conditioning and hypothermic stress relate to muscle hypertrophy in strength training. [51:16]
Why does Rhonda prefer the sauna after, rather than before, a workout? [55:22]
How does Rhonda feel about nootropic cognitive-enhancing supplements? Does she take any herself? [1:01:38]
Rhonda elaborates on the importance of vitamin D and omega 3. [1:08:51]
Is sulforaphane a nootropic? [1:11:12]
On cold-press juicing broccoli sprouts for sulforaphane and why Rhonda prefers blending. [1:17:50]
What is the most effective non-pharmaceutical pain reliever for arthritis sport injury sufferers? [1:18:34]
Because the FDA doesn’t require dietary supplements to be tested before going to market, how can we find trustworthy supplement brands? [1:26:35]
What are Rhonda’s core supplements and foods for health and brain function? [1:29:00]
What does Rhonda’s exercise routine look like? [1:53:17]
What is the 80/20 of lifestyle changes — that is, what twenty percent of lifestyle inputs lead to eighty percent of positive effects? [1:57:16]
Has Rhonda considered taking meat completely out of her diet?[2:11:21]
Of paleo, ketogenic, and vegetarian diets, which seems best poised to combat inflammation, and what are the general pros and cons of each? [2:17:12]
Do probiotics need to be taken forever, or do the introduced strains of bacteria gain a foothold at some point? [2:28:25]
Are artificial sweeteners bad for gut (or overall) health? Should they be avoided altogether? [2:34:15]
Is metformin really damaging to mitochondria, or is it more of a hormetic stressor? [2:36:28]
For superior health, does Rhonda recommend staying away from all alcohol, or are a couple glasses of red wine on the weekend okay? [2:39:24]

People Mentioned

Valter Longo
Satchin Panda
Ruth Patterson
Kevin Rose
Rick Rubin
George Brooks
Bruce Ames
Justin Sonnenburg
Daniel Patrick

The Alien of Extraordinary Ability

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“Just because you use your eyes, doesn’t mean you see what’s actually there.”

– Murray Carter

Murray Carter (@CarterCutlery) is a Canadian craftsman like no other. At eighteen, he fell into an apprenticeship with a sixteenth generation Yoshimoto bladesmith that lasted six years — and was asked to take the position of number seventeen in the Sakemoto family tradition (perhaps the only Caucasian ever to have the honor and privilege of this position).

Murray continued forging blades in Japan for twelve more years, and in June 2001, he was awarded the rating of Mastersmith by the American Bladesmith Society, thus proving the highest degree of competency by Western standards. In 2005, he moved to the United States (as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability, no less) to start Carter Cutlery; he has continued forging blades in Oregon.

This is a fascinating episode on many levels, so please enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast about a unique art? — Listen to this episode with Marie Kondo. In it, we discuss how her practice of organization can improve your state of mind, Shintoism, specific details of her method, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than four million users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now — this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Murray Carter:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Portrait of a Bladesmith – Murray Carter
Jeremiah Johnson
The history of Chito-ryu karate.
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese by Giles Murray
Japanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar by Rita Lampkin
Carter Cutlery and the History of the Yoshimoto Bladesmiths
Mugicha (Barley Tea) Is the Flavor of Summer in Japan by Maki, Just Hungry
Die Hard
Everything You Need to Know About Japanese Honorifics by Maile Proctor, TakeLessons
The Karate Kid
Forge Welding POV with Murray Carter
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
Kill Bill
Blacksmith Basics Episode 2 – How to Start a Coke Forge
Murray’s bladesmithing courses
Hire by Auditions, Not Resumes by Matt Mullenweg, Harvard Business Review
What Is a Granton Edge on a Knife? by Mariette Mifflin, The Spruce
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Bladesmithing with Murray Carter: Modern Application of Traditional Techniques by Murray Carter
101 Knife Designs: Practical Knives for Daily Use by Murray Carter

Show Notes

A fantasy realized. [08:56]
How did Murray go from class clown to Yoshimoto bladesmith in Japan? [10:01]
Our shared fascination with Japan. [12:55]
An around-the-world indulgence in wanderlust interrupted by karate injuries and an introduction to the Japanese language. [14:54]
The life-changing opportunities and appreciation for culture discovered by acquiring a new language. [23:59]
A happenstance introduction to bladesmithing and Japanese hospitality. [31:47]
On knocking out four years of academic course load in twelve months. [41:01]
Apprenticing for Sakemoto Yasuyuki, traveling the country to learn everything about bladesmithing, and being asked to take over the family business. [51:55]
What makes Japanese bladesmithing unique? How does it differ from western bladesmithing? [56:09]
Murray explains the benefits of a laminate blade and the process of forge welding one from scratch. [59:38]
What can Murray teach you in a week that he’s learned over eighteen years? [1:11:04]
What attributes make a good bladesmith potentially great? [1:15:20]
How does Murray test for aptitude in aspiring bladesmiths? [1:16:48]
What is the function of the “dimples” found on the side of some Japanese style knives (and what does Murray have against them)? [1:19:34]
Favorite Japanese proverbs. [1:23:42]
Most gifted books. [1:28:57]
What is Murray’s go-to gift knife? [1:30:08]
What would Murray’s billboard say? [1:32:05]
Parting thoughts and advice for people who get a new piece of cutlery. [1:34:26]

People Mentioned

Jeremiah Johnson
Rolf Potts
Chitose Tsuyoshi
Sakemoto Yasuyuki
Matsuo Soga
Matt Mullenweg

Dorian Yates on High Intensity Training, Injury Prevention, and Building Maximum Muscle

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“Freedom is not giving a f*ck.”

– Dorian Yates

Dorian Yates (@dorian_yates) is a six-time Mr. Olympia who took the extreme sport of bodybuilding to a new level. He’s one of my adolescent heroes whose innovations in training influenced what I later put into The 4-Hour Body (e.g., Occam’s protocol).

In this particular conversation, we dig into all sorts of topics that I’ve been dying to ask Dorian since I was a teenager. We discuss specific workouts, how he warms up, the realities of PEDs, common mistakes, his relationship to pain, self-talk when setting records (or bouncing back), his favorite books, and much more.  We don’t dodge controversy and get into plenty of details.

Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode about building muscle and strength? — Listen to this interview with Charles Poliquin. In this episode, we discuss, muscle-building techniques, how to become stronger, warmup routines, why people struggle to lose fat, and more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Soothe.com, the world’s largest on-demand massage service. Because I’ve been broken so many times, I have body work done at least once a week — so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either.

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Whether for personal use or business, you’re in good company with WordPress — used by The New Yorker, Jay Z, FiveThirtyEight, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Time, just to name a few. A source at Google told me that WordPress offers “the best out-of-the-box SEO imaginable,” which is probably why it runs nearly 30 percent of the Internet. Go to WordPress.com/Tim to get 15% off your website today!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Dorian Yates:

DY Nutrition | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

A former inmate describes what life was like at Whatton Detention Centre in the ’70s, where Dorian wound up after a youthful indiscretion.
Dorian Yates: Inside the Shadow documentary at London Real
Portrait of Dorian Yates: A Warrior’s Story by Dorian Yates and Peter McGough
The old “Dungeon” Temple Gym in Birmingham vs. the new Temple Gym.
Dorian Yates Workout Routine, Diet Plan and Training Philosophy by James Gold, Born to Workout
Dorian Yates — The Most Insane Train via BodybuildersforLife
Dorian Yates Legs Day in the Temple Gym via World Bodybuilder Workout
DY HIT (Dorian Yates High Intensity Training) Bodybuilding Certification
Dorian Yates demonstrating a bent-over barbell row.
This is what Dorian Yates’s Christmas tree looks like.
1990 IFBB Night Of The Champions results
Lee Haney vs. Dorian Yates — The Greatest Olympia Rivalry That Never Was by Peter McGough, Muscular Development
The Nautilus Bulletins by Alan Stuart Radley and Arthur Jones
If You Like Exercise…Chances Are You’re Doing It Wrong: Proper Strength Training for Maximum Results by Gary Bannister
Lee Haney vs Dorian Yates Posing, Mr. Olympia 1991 via Fitness Trainer
Dorian Yates Talks Yoga via London Real
Dorian Yates Mr. Olympia 1993
Gentlemen Prefer Body-builders! Pictures Reveal How Marilyn Monroe Kept Her Iconic Figure in Shape with Weights and a Bizarre Diet by Ashley Collman, The Daily Mail
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
Dorian Yates — Effects of Steroids & Health via London Real
Testosterone & Ageing — Dorian Yates on Steroids via London Real
Chris Bell’s Bigger, Stronger, Faster documentary
The Handbook of the Navigator: What is God, the Psychic Connection to Spiritual Awakening, and the Conscious Universe by Eric J. Pepin
Meditation within Eternity: The Modern Mystics Guide to Gaining Unlimited Spiritual Energy, Accessing Higher Consciousness and Meditation Techniques for Spiritual Growth by Eric J. Pepin
Freedom Is Not Giving a F*ck — Inside the Shadow Teaser 
The Truman Show
Help Tim Ferriss Fund Research for the Treatment of Major Depression at Johns Hopkins

Show Notes

My first encounter with Dorian. [08:35]
Dorian takes us on his journey from farm boy to urban juvenile delinquent — and how he discovered a passion for weightlifting. [10:02]
Why is it hard to find pictures of Dorian smiling prior to 1997? [14:03]
How did Dorian get the nickname “The Shadow?” [15:32]
Dorian describes the gym (aka “The Dungeon”) in Birmingham where he built his physique. [17:02]
What did Dorian’s workout look like during his peak? [19:02]
Dorian describes a leg day workout. [21:01]
What it takes to get results. [25:53]
How much rest does Dorian take between sets? [27:52]
What is the right way to do a bent row, and what compelled Dorian to focus on this technique? [29:50]
On the role of tempo in lifting and the difference between weightlifting and bodybuilding. [33:53]
How did Dorian connect with high intensity training pioneer Mike Mentzer? [36:32]
Thoughts on Nautilus inventor and eccentric Arthur Jones. [37:15]
What are the most common misconceptions and mistakes Dorian observes in newcomers to high intensity training? [40:56]
Dorian explains what his life was like in 1990 when he placed second in his professional debut at IFBB Night of the Champions. [42:46]
What was Dorian’s self-talk like when he didn’t place first? [46:01]
On competing with personal hero Lee Haney, and what it takes to change from a mindset of reverence to rivalry. [48:53]
What was Dorian’s relationship with pain while competing from ’92 to ’97? [50:56]
How much water weight would Dorian lose in twenty-four to forty-eight hours prior to a competition? [53:01]
Did dehydration ever play a role in Dorian’s injuries? [53:58]
On setting goals: “Instead of saying something, get a pen, get a piece of paper, and write it down. It just makes it a hundred times more powerful.” [54:47]
For Dorian, what occurs between having a plan and putting that plan into action? [57:54]
What has Dorian changed his mind about since his competition days? [1:00:31]
Dorian talks about including yoga and how he feels better at 55 than he did at 35. [1:03:19]
What does Dorian wish he could change about his competition-era training program? [1:09:23]
What was Dorian’s Plan B if bodybuilding hadn’t panned out? [1:12:43]
What is the best way for women to build beautiful, lean muscle: higher reps with light weights, or lower reps with heavy weights? [1:13:56]
Differences in training and nutrition for steroid-enhanced vs. natural lifters. [1:19:55]
On dealing with clinical depression when injuries forced him into retirement. [1:29:25]
What helped Dorian emerge from this dark period? [1:32:08]
What is Dorian reading these days? [1:33:47]
What would Dorian’s billboard say? [1:39:44]

People Mentioned

Dan Gable
Brian Rose
Peter McGough
Mohammed Benaziza
Lee Haney
Mike Mentzer
Arthur Jones
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Casey Viator
Robby Robinson
Marilyn Monroe
Gal Ferreira Yates
Chris Bell
Mark Bell
Eric Pepin
Bruce Lee

Marie Kondo — The Japanese Tidying Master

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“You could say that tidying orders the mind while cleaning purifies it.”

– Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo (@MarieKondo, also known as “KonMari”) is a Japanese organizing consultant, author, and entrepreneur.

She developed a revolutionary method of organizing known as the KonMari Method, which consists of gathering together everything you own, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that “spark joy” — as well as choosing a dedicated place to store them. Going far beyond a typical tidying how-to, her method is a way of life and a state of mind.

Marie captured the findings in her mega-best-selling books, including The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and its follow-up, Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up. Her books have sold more than seven million copies and have been published in more than forty countries.

Kondo’s methods have become so famous that her last name has become a verb, ‘Kondo-ing,’ and people who share her specific values are referred to as ‘Konverts.’ She has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.

Marie is also the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of KonMari Media Inc. (“KMI”), a US-based startup with a mission to “Organize the World” by combining the power of technology and a network of Konverts and partner organizations. KMI also recently launched a KonMari Consultant Training Program and certification process.

We dig into Shintoism, Marie’s upbringing, specific details of her method, and much more.

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast about changing your state of mind and increasing happiness? — Listen to this episode with Pete Adeney, AKA “Mr. Money Mustache.” Learn how Pete accomplished early retirement by optimizing all aspects of his lifestyle for maximal fun at minimal expense, and how he used basic index-fund investing to live off a mere $25-27,000 per year, and not feel in want of anything. (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Marie Kondo:

KonMari Media Inc. | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering by Marie Kondo
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
What is Shinto?
The Origin Story of Marie Kondo’s Decluttering Empire by Barry Yourgrau, The New Yorker
Is It Possible to Declutter When You Have Kids? See Why Minimalism Expert Marie Kondo Says Yes by Lauren Levy, Popsugar
Marie Kondo: Basic Folding Method
Nyanko Aruaru
Hira Shimizu Yaki

Show Notes

Marie shares her background story: where and how she grew up. [08:02]
Marie has always had a fascination with organizing — even arranging books in the classroom during recess when her classmates went outside to play. Where did this fascination originate? [10:01]
We discuss Marie’s time as an attendant maiden at a Shinto shrine. [11:53]
How did Marie switch from “a discarding machine” to saving only things that give joy? [15:02]
When did tidying turn from hobby to livelihood? [19:47]
What is so important about “thanking” objects that are being discarded, and when did this start for Marie? [20:44]
What part of the KonMari Method do American fans tend to neglect? [24:03]
What are the most difficult possessions Marie has given up. [25:31]
Has anything in Marie’s thinking or process changed since becoming a mother? [26:12]
Organizing is not just for making your house clean or your room tidy; the end goal is to clarify your values. [29:50]
How would Marie recommend dealing with a family member who is a hoarder or clutter magnet? [30:20]
Are there any routines or practices Marie would use to instill kids with the habit of tidiness? [35:14]
How is the KonMari Method different from Minimalism? How does it tie in with Stoicism? [37:45]
How do we get rid of things we inherit from loved ones who have passed away? [39:31]
The order of categories Marie recommends when decluttering. [40:39]
How observing gratitude helps reduce guilt when sorting — and discarding — sentimental items. [41:16]
What are the most commonly misunderstood parts of the KonMari Method? [43:47]
What does Marie’s morning routine look like? [45:36]
What does Marie typically eat for breakfast? [49:26]
How Marie wraps up her day. [50:48]
What books have Marie gifted most? [52:47]
What would Marie’s billboard say? [53:57]
To prove Marie’s not as perfect as you might think she is, here’s a memorable failure that still haunts her. [54:28]
A purchase of less than $100 that has brought Marie a lot of joy? [59:52]
What comes to mind when Marie hears the word “successful?” [1:02:10]
A fitting epitaph? [1:03:14]
An ask of the audience. [1:05:04]
What are the most common novice mistakes that bring chaos back into people’s lives? [1:06:47]

People Mentioned

Seneca
Neale Donald Walsch