Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 78

Calming Philosophies for Chaotic Times — Krista Tippett

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“Anger is often what pain looks like when it shows itself in public.”

– Krista Tippett

Krista Tippett (@KristaTippett) is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast On Being and curates The Civil Conversations Project, an emergent approach to the differences of our age.

She received a National Humanities Medal in 2013 from President Barack Obama at the White House for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On the air and in print, Ms. Tippett avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of every background to join her conversation about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom.”

Krista was a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin and holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale University. Her books are Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, Einstein’s God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit, and Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters — and How to Talk About It.

In this conversation, we cover many things, including:

Krista’s morning routines
Zen versus striving — compatible, incompatible, or other?
Defining “spiritual” and “wise”
The role of prayer for her, and what she focuses on
Overcoming depression
The skills of good interviewing

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 with an influential podcaster? — Listen to my interview with Debbie Millman. In this episode, we discuss how to recover from rejection, how to overcome personal crises of faith, class exercises from her most impactful mentors, and much more (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.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Krista Tippett:

Twitter | On Being | The Civil Conversations Project

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett
Einstein’s God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit by Krista Tippett
Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters — and How to Talk About It by Krista Tippett
Brown Researchers Pitch Landing Sites for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission
The Stasi Files: Germany’s 600-Million-Piece Puzzle by Laura Goehler, CNN
Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” (Or, as I’ve heard it, incompetence.)
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations
Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson by Jennifer Michael Hecht
An On Being interview with Jennifer Michael Hecht: A History of Doubt
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
An On Being interview with poet Mary Oliver: Listening to the World
Mary Oliver reading Wild Geese
An On Being interview with poet Naomi Shihab Nye: Your Life Is a Poem
Naomi Shihab Nye reads Kindness
Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God by Rainer Maria Rilke
An On Being interview with Joanna Macy: A Wild Love for the World
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
An On Being interview with Eula Biss: Let’s Talk About Whiteness
The Random Show Threesome — Tim Ferriss, Kevin Rose, and Matt Mullenweg
Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Frank I. Luntz
American History X
The Little Monk and the Samurai: A Zen Parable
Compassion for Our Bodies — Matthew Sanford
An On Being interview with Sylvia Boorstein: Spirituality Is Enfolded into the Act of Living
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Sam Harris on Daily Routines, The Trolley Scenario, and 5 Books Everyone Should Read
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam M. Grant
With Eyes to See and Ears to Listen
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
Acumen Presents: Krista Tippett on the Art of Conversation via Udemy
The Night Manager
True Blood
Yorkshire Gold tea
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
An On Being interview with Brother David Steindl-Rast: Anatomy of Gratitude
Why Social Courage Should Be Taught in the Classroom by David Allyn, The Huffington Post

Show Notes

“Anger is often what pain looks like when it shows itself in public.” [05:19]
Were drama and debate in school good training for what Krista does now, or just a manifestation of what she was already good at? [10:19]
On moving to “Mars,” superpowers, and seeing one’s self through the lens of secret police. [11:37]
The principles of good learning. [15:12]
Working through a short temper and righteous indignation. [16:43]
Don’t negotiate on an empty stomach. [19:37]
Identifying and coping with depression. [21:05]
Therapy Krista finds most effective. [27:52]
Growing as an interviewer. [33:29]
Early interview mistakes. [35:37]
Lessons learned from the bad habits and practices of other interviewers. [38:31]
What did Krista read to her kids when they were younger? [42:15]
Poet and poetry recommendations for people who don’t think they like poetry. [44:15]
The most important word in any language. [51:55]
Once-meaningful words that have become conversation stoppers. [53:53]
How can you reconcile Zen and striving for success? [1:00:27]
How does Krista define spirituality, and what can someone do daily to grow in spiritual awareness? [1:07:16]
Does wisdom come with age? If so, how can we become wise beyond our years? [1:14:05]
How does Krista consistently see the best and most meaningful things in the world around her? [1:17:42]
“I can disagree with your opinion, it turns out, but I can’t disagree with your experience.” [1:22:32]
Drawing inspiration for civil discourse from Ecumenist Benedictine monks. [1:24:07]
Answering questions through the story of your life. [1:25:14]
Working through the instincts that don’t serve us well. [1:30:20]
A hopeful story about conversation across the political divide. [1:31:26]
Most gifted books. [1:33:04]
What college class would Krista teach, and what exercises would she assign? [1:34:57]
Krista talks about one of the best listeners she knows. [1:39:52]
Favorite moments of television storytelling. [1:41:25]
What would Krista’s billboard say? [1:43:47]
Morning rituals and prayer as “a mother tongue.” [1:44:26]
Krista shares her prayer. [1:48:07]
Closing requests and thoughts. [1:52:17]

People Mentioned

John Smith
Bill Clinton
Woody Allen
Jennifer Michael Hecht
Mary Oliver
Naomi Shihab Nye
Rainer Maria Rilke
Joanna Macy
Anita Barrows
M.D. Herter Norton
Ocean Vuong
Matt Mullenweg
Frank I. Luntz
Chris Matthews
Sylvia Boorstein
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Sam Harris
Adam Grant
Spock
Tara Brach
Tony Robbins
Thomas Merton
Pema Chödrön
Brother David Steindl-Rast

Tony Robbins: How to Suffer Less (and Invest Intelligently)

Whether you’d like to avoid unnecessary emotional suffering or unnecessary financial suffering, this post has something for you.

In my second podcast with Tony Robbins, he said that all fear comes from three triggers: loss, less, and never. He mentioned this in passing, and many of you asked for more details. This post will cover that and much more.

There are two parts:

1) Part 1 — Tony’s discussion of suffering and his framework of “loss, less, never.” This is a abridged excerpt from Tony’s newest book, Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook.  It’s exactly what thousands of you requested.

2) Part 2 — Many of you ask about how I take notes, and what I record when I read 1-2 books (or more) per week.  This is an example. Specifically, my highlights and notes on Tony’s book and investing.  If you’re interested in investing, the mindsets of billionaires, asset allocation, or avoiding losses, you’ll enjoy this.

PART 1 — HOW TO SUFFER LESS (IN TONY’S WORDS, BOLDING HIS)

The human brain isn’t designed to make us happy and fulfilled. It’s designed to make us survive.

This two-million-year-old organ is always looking for what’s wrong, for whatever can hurt us, so that we can either fight it or take flight from it. If you and I leave this ancient survival software to run the show, what chance do we have of enjoying life? An undirected mind operates naturally in survival mode, constantly identifying and magnifying these potential threats to our well-being. The result: a life filled with stress and anxiety.

Most people live this way since it’s the path of least resistance. They make unconscious decisions, based on habit and conditioning, and are at the mercy of their own minds. They assume that it’s just an inevitable part of life to get frustrated, stressed, sad, and angry—in other words, to live in a suffering state. But I’m happy to tell you there’s another path: one that involves directing your thoughts so that your mind does your bidding, not the other way around.

…

Now, before we go any further, let’s just clarify the difference between these two emotional and mental states:

A Beautiful State

When you feel love, joy, gratitude, awe, playfulness, ease, creativity, drive, caring, growth, curiosity, or appreciation, you’re in a beautiful state. In this state, you know exactly what to do, and you do the right thing. In this state, your spirit and your heart are alive, and the best of you comes out. Nothing feels like a problem, and everything flows. You feel no fear or frustration. You’re in harmony with your true essence.

A Suffering State

When you’re feeling stressed out, worried, frustrated, angry, depressed, irritable, overwhelmed, resentful, or fearful, you’re in a suffering state. We’ve all experienced these and countless other “negative” emotions, even if we’re not always keen to admit it! Most achievers much prefer to think they’re stressed than fearful. But “stress” is just the achiever word for fear. If I follow the trail of your stress, it’ll take me to your deepest fear.

…

Everyone has his or her own flavor of suffering. So here’s my question for you: What’s your favorite flavor of suffering? Which energy-sapping emotion do you indulge in most? Is it sadness? Frustration? Anger? Despair? Self-pity? Jealousy? Worry? The specific details don’t really matter because they’re all states of suffering. And all this suffering is really just the result of an undirected mind that’s hell-bent on looking for problems.

Think for a moment about a recent situation that caused you pain or suffering—a time when you felt frustrated or angry or worried or overwhelmed. Whenever you feel emotions like these, your sense of suffering is caused by your undirected mind engaging in one or more of three particular patterns of perception.

Consciously or unconsciously, you’re focused on at least one of three triggers for suffering:

1. Suffering trigger is “Loss.”

When you focus on loss, you become convinced that a particular problem has caused or will cause you to lose something you value. For example, you have a conflict with your spouse, and it leaves you feeling that you’ve lost love or respect. But it doesn’t have to be something someone else did—or failed to do—that caused you to perceive the sense of loss. This sense of loss can also be triggered by something you did or failed to do. For example, you procrastinated, and now you’ve lost a business opportunity. Whenever we believe in the illusion of loss, we suffer.

2. Suffering Trigger is “Less.”

When you focus on the idea that you have less or will have less, you will suffer. For example, you might become convinced that because a situation has occurred or a person has acted a certain way, you will have less joy, less money, less success, or some other painful consequence. Once again, less can be triggered by what you, or others, do or fail to do.

3. Suffering trigger is “Never.”

When you focus on the idea or become consumed by a belief that you’ll never have something you value—such as love, joy, respect, wealth, opportunity—you’re doomed to suffer, you’ll never be happy, you’ll never become the person you want to be. This pattern of perception is a surefire route to pain. Remember: the mind is always trying to trick us into a survival mindset! So never say never! For example, because of an illness, an injury, or because of something your brother did or said, you might believe that you’ll never get over it.

These three patterns of focus account for most, if not all, of our suffering. And you know what’s crazy? It doesn’t even matter if the problem is real or not! Whatever we focus on, we feel—regardless of what actually happened. Have you ever had the experience of thinking that a friend did something horrible to you? You became tremendously angry and upset, only to discover that you were dead wrong and that the person didn’t deserve all that blame! In the midst of your suffering, when all those negative emotions were swirling inside your head, the reality didn’t matter. Your focus created your feelings, and your feelings created your experience. Notice too that most, if not all, of our suffering is caused by focusing or obsessing about ourselves and what we might lose, have less of, or never have.

But here’s the good news: once you’re aware of these patterns of focus, you can systematically change them, thereby freeing yourself from these habits of suffering. It all starts with the realization that this involves a conscious choice. Either you master your mind or it masters you. The secret of living an extraordinary life is to take control of the mind since this alone will determine whether you live in a suffering state or a beautiful state.

IN THE END, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE POWER OF DECISIONS

Our lives are shaped not by our conditions, but by our decisions. If you look back on the last 5 or 10 years I’d be willing to bet that you can recall a decision or two that has truly changed your life. Maybe it was a decision about where to go to school, what profession to pursue, or who you chose to love or marry. Looking back on it now, can you see how radically different your life would be today if you had made a different decision? These and so many other decisions determine the direction of your life and can change your destiny.

So what’s the biggest decision you can make in your life right now? In the past, I would have told you that what matters most is who you decide to spend your time with, who you decide to love. After all, the company you keep will powerfully shape who you become.

But over the last two years, my thinking has evolved. What I’ve come to realize is that the single most important decision in life is this: Are you committed to being happy, no matter what happens to you?

To put this another way, will you commit to enjoying life not only when everything goes your way but also when everything goes against you, when injustice happens, when someone screws you over, when you lose something or someone you love, or when nobody seems to understand or appreciate you? Unless we make this definitive decision to stop suffering and live in a beautiful state, our survival minds will create suffering whenever our desires, expectations, or preferences are not met. What a waste of so much of our lives!

This is a decision that can change everything in your life, starting today. But it’s not enough just to say that you’d like to make this change or that your preference is to be happy no matter what. You have to own this decision, do whatever it takes to make it happen, and cut off any possibility of turning back. If you want to take the island, you have to burn the boats. You have to decide that you’re 100% responsible for your state of mind and for your experience of this life.

What it really comes down to is drawing a line in the sand today and declaring, “I’m done with suffering. I’m going to live every day to the fullest and find juice in every moment, including the ones I don’t like, BECAUSE LIFE IS JUST TOO SHORT TO SUFFER.”

PART 2 — HOW TO INVEST MORE INTELLIGENTLY

[TIM: The below is a small sample of my notes from Tony’s newest book, Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook.  I originally captured these notes in Evernote.]

Paul Tudor Jones questions:

“Is this truly the hard trade (something others can’t easily replicate)? Does it really have asymmetric risk/reward? Is it a five-to-one or a three-to-one? What’s the entry point? Where are your stops?”

Pg. 36, -38% year — TF: How long to recover to baseline if you entered that year?

The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient—WARREN BUFFETT

****TF:  If corrections of 10% come once per year, couldn’t I hold cash and simply have that trigger purchases 1x per year?  Or wait for 20% “bear market” drop, then invest?

“Buffett did just that in late 2008, investing in fallen giants such as Goldman Sachs and General Electric, which were selling at once-in-a-lifetime valuations. Better still, he structured these investments in ways that reduced his risk even further. For example, he invested $5 billion in a special class of “preferred” shares of Goldman Sachs, which guaranteed him a dividend of 10% a year while he waited for the stock price to recover.”

And/Or: Go with index fund

Showmethefees.com for 401(k) plan fees, etc. http://getasecondopinion.com/ for Tony’s Creative Planning

pg. 78

In the interests of cutting through the confusion, I’m going to make this as simple and straightforward as possible. In reality, all financial advisors fall into just one of three categories. What you really need to know is whether your advisor is:

a broker,
an independent advisor (RIA)***, or
a dually registered advisor.

Now let’s break this down in more detail so you know exactly what you’re dealing with.

Question to ask: Do you act as a “fiduciary” [what you want] or a “broker” or both?

Wealth manager needs to understand taxes, insurance, etc.

7 QUESTIONS FOR WEALTH ADVISORS

1. Are You a Registered Investment Advisor? If the answer is no, this advisor is a broker. Smile sweetly and say good-bye. If the answer is yes, he or she is required by law to be a fiduciary. But you still need to figure out if this fiduciary is wearing one hat or two.

2. Are You (or Your Firm) Affiliated with a Broker-Dealer? If the answer is yes, you’re dealing with someone who can act as a broker and usually has an incentive to steer you to specific investments. One easy way to figure this out is to glance at the bottom of the advisor’s website or business card and see if there’s a sentence like this: “Securities offered through [advisor’s company name], member FINRA and SIPC.” This refers to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, respectively. If you see these words, it means he or she can act as a broker. If so, run! Run for your life!

3. Does Your Firm Offer Proprietary Mutual Funds or Separately Managed Accounts? You want the answer to be an emphatic no. If the answer is yes, then watch your wallet like a hawk! It probably means they’re looking to generate additional revenues by steering you into these products that are highly profitable for them (but probably not for you).

4. Do You or Your Firm Receive Any Third-Party Compensation for Recommending Particular Investments? This is the ultimate question you want answered. Why? Because you need to know that your advisor has no incentive to recommend products that will shower him or her with commissions, kickbacks, consulting fees, trips, or other goodies.

5. What’s Your Philosophy When It Comes to Investing? This will help you to understand whether or not the advisor believes that he or she can beat the market by picking individual stocks or actively managed funds. Over time, that’s a losing game unless the person is a total superstar like Ray Dalio or Warren Buffett. Between you and me, they’re probably not.

6. What Financial Planning Services Do You Offer Beyond Investment Strategy and Portfolio Management? Investment help may be all you need, depending on your stage of life. But as you grow older and/or you become more wealthy with various holdings to manage, things often become more complex financially: for example, you may need to deal with saving for a child’s college education, retirement planning, handling your vested stock options, or estate planning. Most advisors have limited capabilities once they venture beyond investing. As mentioned, most aren’t legally allowed to offer tax advice due to their broker status. Ideally, you want an advisor who can bring tools for tax efficiency in all aspects of your planning—from your investment planning to your business planning to your estate planning.

7. Where Will My Money Be Held? A fiduciary advisor should always use a third-party custodian to hold your funds. For example, Fidelity, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade all have custodial arms that will keep your money in a secure environment. You then sign a limited power of attorney that gives the advisor the right to manage the money but never to make withdrawals. The good news about this arrangement is that if you ever want to fire your advisor, you don’t have to move your accounts. You can simply hire a new advisor who can take over managing your accounts without missing a beat. This custodial system also protects you from the danger of getting fleeced by a con man like Bernie Madoff.

PAUL TUDOR JONES

“The most important thing for me is that defense is 10 times more important than offense. . . . You have to be very focused on protecting the downside at all times.”

Paul Tudor Jones, who uses a “five-to-one rule” to guide his investment decisions. “I’m risking one dollar in the expectation that I’ll make five,”

RAY DALIO

“What I realized is nobody knows and nobody ever will,” he says. “So I have to design an asset allocation that, even if I’m wrong, I’ll still be okay.”

TONY TO ADVISORS

“Don’t even bring me an investment idea unless you first tell me how we can protect against or minimize the downside.”

TAXES

Cap gains of 20% versus 50% for income. “Believe me, all the billionaires I’ve ever met have one attribute in common: they and their advisors are really smart about taxes! They know that it’s not what they earn that counts. It’s what they keep. That’s real money, which they can spend, reinvest, or give away to improve the lives of others.”

Tony: “Of course, I don’t start with taxes. That would be a severe mistake. I always start with a focus on not losing money and on getting asymmetric risk/reward. Then, before making any investment, I make a point of asking, “How tax efficient is this going to be? And is there any way we could make it more tax efficient?””  Focus on after-tax returns and consider MLPs (p. 108).

DIVERSIFICATION

Diversify Across Different Asset Classes. Avoid putting all your money in real estate, stocks, bonds, or any single investment class.
Diversify Within Asset Classes. Don’t put all your money in a favorite stock such as Apple, or a single MLP, or one piece of waterfront real estate that could be washed away in a storm.
***Diversify Across Markets, Countries, and Currencies Around the World. We live in a global economy, so don’t make the mistake of investing solely in your own country.
Diversify Across Time. You’re never going to know the right time to buy anything. But if you keep adding to your investments systematically over months and years (in other words, dollar-cost averaging), you’ll reduce your risk and increase your returns over time.

David Swensen:

Of course, there are many different ways of diversifying. I discuss this in detail in Money: Master the Game, laying out the exact asset allocations recommended by Ray and other financial gurus, such as Jack Bogle and David Swensen. For example, David told me how individual investors can diversify by owning low-cost index funds that invest in six “really important” asset classes: US stocks, international stocks, emerging-market stocks, real estate investment trusts (REITs), long-term US Treasuries, and Treasury Inflation-Protected securities (TIPS). He even shared the precise percentages that he would recommend allocating to each.

Ray Dalio:

Aim for 15 uncorrelated bets. “The holy grail of investing is to have 15 or more good—they don’t have to be great—uncorrelated bets.” In other words, everything comes down to owning an array of attractive assets that don’t move in tandem. That’s how you ensure survival and success. In his case, this includes investments in stocks, bonds, gold, commodities, real estate, and other alternatives. Ray emphasized that, by owning 15 uncorrelated investments, you can reduce your overall risk “by about 80%,” and “you’ll increase the return-to-risk ratio by a factor of five. So, your return is five times greater by reducing that risk.”

SURVIVING/THRIVING IN BEAR MARKETS

Sir John Templeton’s famous remark: “The four most expensive words in investing are ‘This time it’s different.’

Tony co-author, Peter Mallouk: “Throughout the crash, we continued to invest heavily in the stock market on behalf of our clients. We took profits from strong asset classes such as bonds and invested the proceeds in weak asset classes such as US small-cap and large-cap stocks, international stocks, and emerging-market stocks. Instead of betting on individual companies, we bought index funds, which gave us instant diversification (at a low cost) across these massively undervalued markets”

On average, the market is down about one in every four years. You need to recognize this reality so you won’t be shocked when stocks tumble—and so you’ll avoid excessive risks. At the same time, it’s useful to recognize that the market has made money three out of every four years.

One reason why the best investors are so successful is that they override the natural tendency to be fearful during periods of market turmoil. Take Howard Marks. In the last 15 weeks of 2008, when financial markets were imploding, he told me that his team at Oaktree Capital Management invested about $500 million a week in distressed debt. That’s right! They invested half a billion dollars a week for 15 straight weeks during a time when many thought the end times had arrived! “It was obvious that everybody was suicidal,” Howard told me. “In general, that’s a good time to buy.”

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS THAT CO-AUTHOR LIKES

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). I’m sure you know people who’ve done well by investing directly in residential property. But most of us can’t afford to diversify by owning a slew of houses or apartments. That’s one reason why I like to invest in publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Private Equity Funds

Master Limited Partnerships. I’m a big fan of MLPs, which are publicly traded partnerships that typically invest in energy infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines. What’s the appeal? As Tony mentioned in the last chapter, we sometimes recommend MLPs because they pay out a lot of income in a tax-efficient way. They don’t make sense for many investors (especially if you’re young or have your money in an IRA), but they can be great for an investor who is over 50 and has a large, taxable account.

p. 132 — Doesn’t like gold or hedgefunds

REBALANCING

Burton Malkiel: Unsuccessful investors tend to “buy the thing that’s gone up and sell the thing that’s gone down.” One benefit of rebalancing, says Malkiel, is that it “makes you do the opposite,” forcing you to buy assets when they’re out of favor and undervalued. You’ll profit richly when they recover.

[Read more on investing from Tony here.]

Jerrod Carmichael – Uber-Productivity and Dangerous Comedy

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“Everyone’s looking for rules to follow, and the sooner you realize there aren’t any, the better art can be.”

– Jerrod Carmichael

Jerrod Carmichael (@NotoriousROD) is pushing the boundaries of comedy with his groundbreaking work in stand-up, television, and film. Now just 29 years old, what this driven North Carolina native has accomplished is mind-boggling, and 2017 is going to be his biggest year yet.

Jerrod stars in the hit NBC series The Carmichael Show, which he also writes and executive produces. The third season of the show premieres in 2017. In March of 2017, Jerrod will star in his second stand-up comedy special on HBO, directed by Bo Burnham. He made his debut on HBO in 2014 with his critically acclaimed one-hour special, Love at the Store, directed by Spike Lee.

Love at the Store is the funniest standup special I’ve seen in many years, and it’s the reason I reached out to Jerrod. It left me in hysterics on a transatlantic flight and terrified everyone. I couldn’t stop laughing out loud. It’s that good.

On the big screen this June, Jerrod joins the cast of Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight, opposite Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, and Anthony Hopkins. He’ll also appear in James Franco’s The Masterpiece (originally titled The Disaster Artist), set to be released in 2017.

In the summer of 2016, Jerrod reprised his role as ‘Garf’ in the Universal comedy sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising opposite Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. He also starred as ‘Freddy’ opposite Rose Byrne, Susan Sarandon, and J.K. Simmons in Lorene Scafaria’s The Meddler, which was released in April of 2016.

Jerrod recently announced his upcoming authorial debut with an as-yet-untitled memoir. The novel will be published by Random House.

Please enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with Jerrod Carmichael!

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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 with a standup comedian? — Listen to Whitney Cummings on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss emotional intelligence, how to overcome workaholic tendencies, managing instant gratification and much, much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

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This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $5 billion under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.

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 Jerrod Carmichael:

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

The Carmichael Show on NBC
Love at the Store HBO special
Transformers: The Last Knight
The Masterpiece
Neighbors
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
The Meddler
The Sellout: A Novel by Paul Beatty
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X, Alex Haley, and Attallah Shabazz
Bogart by Ann Sperber
Discover the Power Within You: A Guide to the Unexplored Depths Within by Eric Butterworth
Shay Carl — From Manual Laborer to 2.3 Billion YouTube Views
Jerrod Carmichael on How He Fought NBC to Do a Show About Bill Cosby & Why He Thinks Diversity Should Not Be a Hot Topic — Emmys by Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood
When jotting down ideas, old-fashioned notebooks and pens do the trick for Jerrod.

Show Notes

My introduction to Jerrod and his work. [07:08]
We swap Evan Goldberg stories. [10:23]
First memory of being funny. [12:35]
On childhood freedom, family, and growing up in North Carolina. [16:12]
What drove Jerrod to move to Los Angeles and pursue comedy as a career? [18:36]
If comedy doesn’t work out, Jerrod can always go back to his last profession: selling shoes. [23:15]
Jerrod’s daily habits — and why he calls his mom first thing every morning. [24:21]
Jerrod’s first time on stage as a comedian. [30:41]
Advice Jerrod would give to a novice comic whose set just bombed. [31:38]
Why Jerrod was so persistent about taping his first special at The Comedy Store. [33:12]
Bryan Callen and Dov Davidoff bought Jerrod his first car in L.A. [34:38]
The benefits of being a creature of habit. [36:42]
Work music. [37:48]
Best decisions of Jerrod’s early career and having supportive friends who understand the importance of work. [38:25]
Where did Jerrod’s deep work ethic originate? [41:57]
Jerrod’s first time at “a proper dance party.” [43:19]
Common mistakes Jerrod sees novice comedians make. [44:30]
Three comedians Jerrod would combine into one super-comedian. [45:19]
What separates a good comedian from a great comedian? [47:30]
How does Jerrod’s onstage persona differ from his real-life persona? [49:26]
On achieving a state of “zero fear” before performing. [51:05]
Has Jerrod gone through any periods of self-doubt? [52:10]
Overcoming writer’s block. [53:06]
Books Jerrod likes. [55:36]
Advice to anyone who’s still trying to discover who they are. [57:42]
Who comes to mind when Jerrod hears the word “successful?” [1:00:24]
On the joy of sharing and the wisdom of cliches. [1:01:16]
If Jerrod were to give a TED Talk about something for which he’s not known, what would the topic be? [1:05:23]
Bad advice Jerrod hears frequently. [1:08:05]
Favorite failures? [1:09:42]
Establishing a unique style without getting pigeonholed. [1:11:49]
Did Jerrod have a plan B in case comedy didn’t work out? [1:14:41]
What might Jerrod do if he ever decided to take a break from comedy? [1:16:11]
What would Jerrod’s billboard message say? [1:17:14]
Unusual practices in the creative process. [1:20:44]
Recent purchase of $100 or less that had a positive impact. [1:22:47]
On thoughts and goals worth writing down. [1:23:38]
Parting thoughts and Jon & Vinny’s bolognese. [1:26:10]

People Mentioned

Bo Burnham
Spike Lee
Michael Bay
Mark Wahlberg
Josh Duhamel
Anthony Hopkins
James Franco
Seth Rogen
Zac Efron
Rose Byrne
Susan Sarandon
J.K. Simmons
Lorene Scafaria
Evan Goldberg
Jamar Neighbors
Argus Hamilton
Kwame Nyerere
Malcolm X
Steve Jobs
Bryan Callen
Dov Davidoff
Bret Ernst
Al Madrigal
Bill Burr
Richard Pryor
Ari Katcher
Lisa Goldberg
Tupac Shakur
Lewis Black
Ellen DeGeneres
Bill Cosby
Chris Rock
Dave Chappelle
Marvin Gaye
Humphrey Bogart
Jay Z
Jerry Seinfeld
Oprah Winfrey
Shay Carl
Groucho Marx
Oscar Wilde
Dr. Seuss

Mr. Money Mustache — Living Beautifully on $25-27K Per Year

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Photo credit: Mrs. Money Mustache

“You’re not supposed to optimize for money; you’re supposed to optimize for happiness.”

– Mr. Money Mustache (aka Pete Adeney)

Mr. Money Mustache (@mrmoneymustache — Pete Adeney in real life) grew up in Canada in a family of mostly eccentric musicians. He graduated with a degree in computer engineering in the 1990s and worked in various tech companies before retiring at age 30. Pete, his wife, and their now eleven-year-old son live near Boulder, Colorado, and have not had real jobs since 2005.

This begs the question of “How?” In essence, they accomplished this early retirement by optimizing all aspects of their lifestyle for maximal fun at minimal expense, and by using basic index-fund investing. Their average annual expenses total a mere $25-27,000, and they do not feel in want of anything.

Since 2005, all three of them have explored a free-form life of interesting projects, side-businesses, and adventures.

In 2011, Pete started writing the Mr. Money Mustache blog about his philosophy, which has grown to reach about 23 million different people (and 300 million page views) since its founding. It has become a worldwide cult phenomenon, with a self-organizing community and incredible news coverage. This episode explores his story, philosophies, and routines.

Without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with the one and only Mr. Money Mustache, Pete Adeney.

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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 earning and saving wealth? — In this episode with Ramit Sethi, we dig into the nitty-gritty tools, software, and experiments he’s used to turn a college side project into a multi-million-dollar business with 30+ employees. (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Varidesk. You’ve probably heard of research concluding that sitting all day is terrible for you (“sitting is the new smoking” is a phrase I hear a lot). But standing all day isn’t an option for everyone, either.

My assistant and I have been enjoying the use of Varidesk, the middle ground that effortlessly converts your standard desk to a standing desk (and back again) in seconds. It comes fully assembled — just take it out of the box, put it on your desktop, and go. Models start at just $175; check out Varidesk.com to see which one might be the right fit for you. It even comes with a 30-day, hassle-free return policy if you decide it’s not your style. That’s Varidesk.com.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $5 billion under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it.  Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.

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 Mr. Money Mustache (aka Pete Adeney):

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Early Retirement Extreme
The Rideau Canal Skateway and BeaverTails in Ottawa
FinCon Expo
The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
What is a Vanguard index fund?
Great News — Early Retirement Doesn’t Mean You’ll Stop Working
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Top 10 Cars for Smart People
How to Carry Major Appliances on Your Bike
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
Dune by Frank Herbert
Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakes
Less Is More: An Anthology of Ancient & Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity by Goldian VandenBroeck
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
The Scold: Mr. Money Mustache’s Retirement (Sort of) Plan. by Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker
The Life-Style Guru of Frugality (Pete’s point-by-point rebuttal to the above New Yorker profile)
Better, Faster, Stronger: Silicon Valley’s Self-Help Guru by Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker (my own equally imperfect profile in the same magazine)
Will MacAskill on Effective Altruism, Y Combinator, and Artificial Intelligence
Kevin Kelly: AI, Virtual Reality, and The Inevitable
A DIY Case Study: Building a Fancypants Detached Studio
Getting Started in Carpentry — Tools of the Trade
Books by John C. Bogle
The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life by J.L. Collins
Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford
The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read: The Proven Way to Beat the “Pros” and Take Control of Your Financial Future by Daniel R. Solin
The Little Book That Still Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt
The Big Secret for the Small Investor: A New Route to Long-Term Investment Success by Joel Greenblatt
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt
Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises by Timothy F. Geithner
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian Mallaby
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Picking Warren Buffett’s Brain: Notes from a Novice (about my time at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting)
What is the S&P 500 Index?
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
When Energy Saving Becomes an Emergency
Mr. Money Mustache’s Big Mistake
7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat
Happiness is the Only Logical Pursuit
Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 18: On Festivals and Fasting

Show Notes

Pete describes a typical trip to the grocery store. [06:28]
What are the average annual expenses for Pete’s family of three? [07:52]
When was the moment Pete realized he had such a devoted fan base? [08:39]
Is Pete a cult leader? [11:17]
If so, what are the tenets of Mustachianism? [12:30]
Pete talks about retiring at age 30. [13:49]
The math behind why you only need twenty-five times your annual spending to retire forever. [14:51]
Why most people who retire early still work — by choice. [17:28]
What misconceptions about Pete’s message are most common among critics and the media? [18:42]
What did Pete have for breakfast? [21:08]
Optimizing happiness on a personal level vs. succumbing to what society says will make you happy. [22:04]
Why spend more on a car than you would for investing in your future? [24:33]
Influential and recommended books. [28:19]
Is there a difference between Pete Adeney and Mr. Money Mustache? [35:05]
As a native Canadian, why does Pete choose to live in the United States? [36:54]
Pete responds to the New Yorker profile about him. [39:15]
Some thoughts on the math behind saving time and deciding which resources are worth consuming. [40:50]
When his expenses remain stable, what happens to the surplus money Pete saves? [44:53]
On removing negatives vs. adding positives: what are the questions Pete asks himself when making a purchasing decision? [46:33]
A recent happiness-boosting expenditure. [49:01]
We agree with Kevin Kelly about the rewards of manual labor. [50:54]
How does deciding to become a parent influence the math behind personal consumption? [55:03]
Pete and his wife pay their son for each mile he rides his bike (with interest on what he decides not to spend). [57:24]
Recommended resources for investing and personal finance. [59:49]
Who comes to mind when Pete hears the word “successful?” [1:11:38]
What are some of the luxuries Pete’s family enjoys — and which had the most positive impact on their lives? [1:15:16]
Favorite documentaries and movies. [1:17:36]
If Pete gave a TED Talk on something for which he’s not known, what would the topic be? [1:18:43]
What does Pete’s exercise regimen look like? [1:20:01]
Bad frugal/financial advice heard most often. [1:23:01]
Favorite failure? [1:25:31]
Without donating or investing it, how would Pete selfishly spend $100,000? [1:32:35]
What would Pete’s billboard say? [1:34:45]
Pete’s biggest challenge at the moment. [1:36:12]
In the last few years, is there anything Pete has significantly changed his mind about? [1:40:43]
Parting thoughts and a request to try voluntary hardship. [1:42:03]

People Mentioned

Jacob Lund Fisker
Daniel Gilbert
David J. Schwartz
Stephen Key
Will MacAskill
Kevin Kelly
Pablo Picasso
Ferris Bueller
John C. Bogle
Jim Collins
Warren Buffett
Joel Greenblatt
Tiger Woods
Charlie Munger
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Seneca

Soman Chainani — The School for Good and Evil

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“I don’t like depending on my art for income, because then I start to think in a mercenary way.”

– Soman Chainani

Soman Chainani (@SomanChainani) is a detailed planner, filmmaker, and New York Times best selling author.

Soman’s debut fiction series, The School for Good and Evil, has sold more than a million copies, has been translated into more than twenty languages across six continents, and will soon be a film from Universal Pictures.

A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University’s MFA Film Program, Soman began his career as a screenwriter and director, with his films playing at over 150 film festivals around the world. He was recently named to the Out100 and has received the $100,000 Shasha Grant and the Sun Valley Writer’s Fellowship, both for debut writers. Special thanks to mutual friend Brian Koppelman for making the introduction!

Grab a notebook, pay attention, and please enjoy my conversation with Soman Chainani!

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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 a podcast with an award-winning movie maker? — Listen to my conversation with Brian Koppelman, co-writer/producer of Rounders, The Illusionist, and Ocean’s Thirteen. In this episode, we explore how he got started, how he handles rejection, his big breaks, creative process, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by TrunkClub. I hate shopping with a passion. And honestly, I’m not good at it, which means I end up looking like I’m colorblind or homeless. Enter TrunkClub, which provides you with your own personal stylist and makes it easier than ever to shop for clothes that look great on your body. Just go to trunkclub.com/tim and answer a few questions, and then you’ll be sent a trunk full of awesome clothes. They base this on your sizes, preferences, etc. To get started, check it out at trunkclub.com/tim.

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 Soman Chainani:

Twitter | Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

The School for Good and Evil Series Complete Box Set: Books 1, 2, and 3 by Soman Chainani
Universal Picks Up Rights to ‘School for Good and Evil’ by Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
The Little Mermaid by Disney vs. The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Hansel and Gretel Standard Edition: A TOON Graphic by Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti
The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco
Garden Cities of To-Morrow by Ebenezer Howard
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and Ralph Manheim
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (which also happens to be my favorite audio book.)
Considering its source material, The Golden Compass really should have been a better movie.
Soman doesn’t cook, so he uses services like Portable Chef and Heart & Belly.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
Trainer Dave at CrossFit NYC is “a non-bro, bro.”
The Eating Clubs of Princeton (I still donate to Terrace)
Some Practical Thoughts on Suicide by Tim Ferriss
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Cirque du Soleil: The Spark — Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives within Us All by John U. Bacon
Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within
Dior and I
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Lagerfeld Confidential
Ballet 422
The Making of South Park: 6 Days to Air
That Time South Park’s Trey Parker & Matt Stone Dropped Acid At The Oscars by Shannon Carlin, Refinery29
Theater of War
The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man’s World by Alan Downs
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
Mother Dirt AO+ Mist Live Probiotic Skin Spray
My No-Soap, No-Shampoo, Bacteria-Rich Hygiene Experiment by Julia Scott, The New York Times Magazine
InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
Majestic Pure Lavender Essential Oil, Therapeutic Grade
The One-Handed Concert Pianist, Nicholas McCarthy
Starbucks Mint Majesty Herbal Tea
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Ed Cooke, Grandmaster of Memory, on Mental Performance, Imagination, and Productive Mischief

Show Notes

How did Brian Koppelman help Soman get back on his feet after a failed filmmaking project? [06:33]
Soman gives us the current state of “The School for Good and Evil” series. [08:47]
Why did Soman continue tutoring well after getting lucrative book and movie deals that took care of his financial needs? [10:02]
Soman talks about the small island town where he grew up and the factors that contributed to habits of high performance. [12:10]
On coming out as openly gay: why he’s envious of the way it’s done now compared to when he did it, and how his parents reacted. [14:45]
What appealed to Soman most about the idea of filmmaking? [20:35]
What advice does Soman have for the tennis novice? [22:05]
What makes a good coach? [26:32]
What are some of Soman’s weaknesses in tennis that manifest elsewhere? [28:29]
“The School for Good and Evil” is a way to revisit the darker origins of fairy tales in which heroes sometimes died as a consequence of their decisions. [31:51]
We talk about the city-building aspirations of Walt Disney, and how it relates to a future project Soman has in mind. [35:12]
On the flaws of heroes. [37:45]
Favorite failures? [39:03]
How marketing books for kids is different from marketing books for adults. [43:24]
The disaster that occurred during one of my first book signing events. [45:04]
Soman fills me in on the nuances of categorizing fiction for children and young adults. [47:40]
How does Soman protect the integrity of his work — especially when translating it from book to screen? [51:27]
How does Soman minimize the likelihood of stupid studio notes getting forced into his script? [54:56]
With irons in so many fires, Soman shares time management tips. [57:01]
Favorite ways to wind down at the end of the day. [1:03:04]
Bedtime rituals. [1:03:30]
What’s Soman reading now? [1:04:01]
A contrast of training styles. [1:08:29]
How Soman chose his personal trainer and agent. [1:12:20]
As a young student filmmaker, how did Soman get into so much debt? [1:15:04]
Would Soman recommend film school? [1:17:08]
What’s the problem with Stanford? [1:20:32]
We consider ourselves the odds and ends who don’t fit in anywhere. [1:22:02]
Books and documentaries that will inspire artists. [1:25:35]
What books has Soman gifted the most? [1:33:31]
The best investment of energy, money, or time Soman has ever made. [1:35:13]
Health tips for frequent travelers. [1:42:47]
If Soman were to give a TED Talk about something for which he’s not known, what would it cover? [1:45:10]
The problem with “follow your passion” as advice. [1:47:50]
Soman’s billboard, and musings on life and death. [1:49:51]
Parting thoughts. [1:52:09]

People Mentioned

Seth Godin
Noah Kagan
Brian Koppelman
Adam Robinson
Steven Spielberg
J.K. Rowling
Mike Belkin
Jimmy Connors
Derek Sivers
Walt Disney
Maria Tatar
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Hans Christian Andersen
Neil Gaiman
Glenn Beck

Joe Roth
David Magee
David Stogsdill
Justin Peck
Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Amelia Boone
Nicholas McCarthy
BJ Miller
Ed Cooke

Rust and Iron, Episode 2: Powerlifter Mark Bell

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In this episode of Rust and Iron®, we visit one of the most intense training environments in the world, Super Training Gym.

Founded by Mark Bell, Super Training Gym is oftentimes referred to as “the strongest gym in the west.” Prior to opening his own gym, he spent years studying and training under the legendary Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell.

In this video, Mark shares some of his favorite tools, odd exercises, and more.

Mark’s best “geared” lifts in competition include a 1,025-pound (465 kg) squat, an 832-pound (377 kg) bench press, and a 738-pound (335 kg) deadlift.

Mark is also the inventor of the patented Slingshot, a device utilized to assist a lifter in maintaining proper bench press form, while also allowing the lifter to use more weight or perform more reps.

I traveled to Sacramento for a full tour of Super Training Gym, which has been named one of the “Best Gyms in America” by Men’s Health magazine and also was awarded “Powerlifting Gym of the Year” in 2009.

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Mark Bell

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Super Training Gym

Bars (numbers indicate exactly what is found at Super Training Gym)

4x Rogue Ohio Power Bars – general bars for any barbell exercise.

4x Rogue Westside Power Bars – general bars for any barbell exercise.

2x Rogue Ohio Deadlift Bars – For deadlift use only. This is a thinner bar with no knurling in the middle and it’s more flexible.

4x Texas Squat Bars – A thicker, longer squat bar designed to withstand 1,000lbs+.

Mastodon Squat Bar –  Another thicker, longer squat bar, also designed to withstand 1,000lbs+.

Safety Squat Bar –  This bar sits higher on your shoulders, which alleviates pressure off your shoulder and places more emphasis on your lower back.

Cambered Bar –  A curved bar that alleviates pressure off your shoulders and changes the typical path of movement.

2x Buffalo Bars – A slightly curved bar that alleviates pressure from your shoulders while providing a similar feel to a straight bar.

2x Duffalo Bar –  Chris Duffin’s version of a Buffalo Bar.

Axle Bar –  A thicker bar that challenges your grip to add more difficulty on pressing exercises.

Hex Deadlift Bar –  A hexagon shaped deadlift bar with neutral grip handles.  This changes deadlift position and places less strain on your lower back.

Eleiko Power Bar – A general bar for any barbell exercises.

2x Texas Deadlift Bar –  This is for deadlift use only.  It’s a thinner bar with no knurling in the middle and it’s more flexible.

Okie Deadlift Bar –  Also for Deadlift use only.  Similar to the Texas bar, it’s thinner with no knurling in the middle and it’s more flexible.

Elite FTS Football Bar – This bar offers a variety of grip angles for pressing exercises or accessory work.

Curl Bar –  Think arms–this is for biceps and triceps movements.

2x Neutral Grip Bars –  Designed for pressing exercises, as well as biceps and triceps movements.

Texas Bench Bar – This is specifically used for competition for the bench press.

Racks

2x Rogue Monster Racks – A multi-function rack that works for a variety of uses and lifts.

Rogue Mono Squat Stand – A slim, mono-lift like stand designed for squatting.

3x Elite FTS Mono Lifts –  This rack allows the squatter to use heavier weights without having to walk the weight back from the rack.

Elite FTS Power Rack – A multi-function rack that works for a variety of uses and lifts.

Benches

3x Competition Elite FTS Benches – This bench meets all powerlifting meet specifications and requirements.

Elite FTS Adjustable and Mobile Bench Platform –  For bench press and other upper body accessory work.

Accessories

Rogue Dip Apparatus –  Attaches to Rogue Monster Rack for dips.

Rogue GHR –  To work your lower back and abs.

Elite FTS 45 Degree Back Ext.–  Designed to target your lower back, spinal erectors, and glutes

2x Westside Reverse Hypers –  Used to target your glutes and lower back after your main accessory work.

Sorinex Back Attack – This piece of equipment works similar to good mornings, but it places your body in a fixed position.

Precor Cable Tower – This cable machine allows for multiple exercise options by adjusting to different heights and angles and provides many different pulley attachments.

Pit Shark Belt Squat – This mimics a squat but with no upper body strain.

2x Rack Supported Mobility WOD Rollers – These foam rollers will help you fix problem areas on your body that are tight or causing pain.

2x Mobility WOD Super Novas –  One of our favorite pieces of equipment for body work.

7x Rogue Barbell Stands – These hold up the barbells in the gym.

7x Rogue Weight Trees – Used to store all of the plates in Super Training Gym.

Rogue Rings – Used for muscle-ups, pullups, and rows.

Rogue Boards – Used for bench press board presses

Rogue Standing T-Bar Row – For targeted back work and pulling strength.

30x Rogue Bands – For accommodating resistance on any exercise.

30x 20lbs Chains – For accommodating resistance on any exercise.

Deadlift Platform – Where you can deadlift and use bands safely.

50x Sling Shots – Overloading and injury preventing bench press tool designed by Super Training founder Mark Bell.

4x Elite FTS Adjustable Boxes – For box squats.

4x Spud Inc. Ropes – Used for accessory and cable movements.

2x Spud Inc Belts – For belted squats.

Concept 2 Rower – For HIIT Training and cardio.

Big Ass Ceiling Fan

Big Ass Yellow Jacket Fan

Weights

Rogue Training Bumpers – Allows you to drop the weight from an elevated position without causing damage to the floor.

Rogue Competition Bumpers – High-quality weights that are calibrated to the exact weight.

Custom Super Training Dumbells–  From 5lbs to 150lbs

Havyk Triads

Eliko Competition Plates

Ivanko Plates

4x Rogue Kettle Bells

Lessons from Warren Buffett, Bobby Fischer, and Other Outliers

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“Geniuses have very limited toolsets — they have a hammer, and their genius is in looking for nails.”

– Adam Robinson

Adam Robinson (@IAmAdamRobinson) first appeared on this podcast in the “Becoming the Best Version of You” episode (#210) alongside Josh Waitzkin (chess, jiu-jitsu, investing) and Ramit Sethi (personal finance, entrepreneurship).

By popular demand, this is a dedicated episode of Adam’s stories and life lessons.

Adam Robinson has made a lifelong study of outflanking and outsmarting the competition. He is a rated chess master who was awarded a Life Title by the United States Chess Federation. As a teenager, he was personally mentored by Bobby Fischer in the 18 months leading up to his winning the world championship.

Then, in his first career, he developed a revolutionary approach to taking standardized tests as one of the two original co-founders of The Princeton Review. His paradigm-breaking — or “category killing,” as they say in publishing — test-prep book, The SAT: Cracking the System, is the only test-prep book ever to have become a New York Times bestseller. After selling his interest in The Princeton Review, Adam turned his attention in the early ’90s to the then-emerging field of artificial intelligence, developing a program that could analyze text and provide human-like commentary. He was later invited to join a well-known quant fund to develop statistical trading models, and since, he has established himself as an independent global macro advisor to the chief investment officers of a select group of the world’s most successful hedge funds and family offices.

In his spare time, he’s also become pen pals with Warren Buffett.

This is a wide-ranging conversation (aka conversational parkour) with lots of takeaways. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

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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 with Adam Robinson? — In this episode, we discuss a variety of topics on business, wealth, and happiness, and are joined by Ramit Sethi and Josh Waitzkin (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $4B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it.  Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.

This podcast is also 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.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service, which is non-spec. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run…

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 Adam:

Website | Twitter

Becoming the Best Version of You (Adam’s first appearance on this show)
What Smart Students Know: Maximum Grades. Optimum Learning. Minimum Time. by Adam Robinson
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt
Regulation Fair Disclosure
Blythedale Children’s Hospital
My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer
Abandoned NY: Inside Grossinger’s Crumbling Catskill Resort Hotel by Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Gothamist
Iocane powder is noted as being one of the deadliest poisons known to man.
The Karate Kid
Granny Smith apples
Laurence Olivier’s To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy from Hamlet
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
The 3Bs of Creativity: Bed, Bath, and Bus by Jim Briggs
Are Psychedelic Drugs the Next Medical Breakthrough?
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian Mallaby
What is a hedge fund?
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations
What is Hedonism?
The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master
What is Epicureanism?
The Essential Rumi, New Expanded Edition by Jalal al-Din Rumi
Beeman’s Gum
Laird Hamilton, The King of Big Wave Surfing (Plus: Gabrielle Reece and Brian MacKenzie)

Show Notes

An anecdote about Warren Buffett’s day planner and thoughts on what Warren Buffett actually does. [06:51]
Can you be a stock market gladiator? [08:36]
Planning on investing? What is your edge? [10:48]
Warren Buffett’s one-sentence secret to being a great investor. [12:52]
How Adam turned a chance encounter on the street with his hero — the reclusive chess champion Bobby Fischer — into a lasting friendship. [14:51]
On informed simplicity via Bobby Fischer, Picasso, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. [28:14]
The limited toolset of genius. [30:47]
The “read far and wide” genius of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. [32:24]
Looking for patterns and things that don’t make sense. [34:05]
Adam’s decision-making process for choosing opportunities. [38:15]
The last thing Adam’s father said to him before passing. [41:30]
Adam’s nutritional odyssey: Granny Smith apples for optimizing function (and avoiding English institutional food). [44:31]
The three rules for success. [53:03]
On coping with depression and learning to focus on needs of others over needs of the self. [56:14]
If you suffer from bouts of depression, become aware of the biochemical markers that forewarn of its onset. [1:01:12]
The three Bs of creativity. [1:02:57]
On hearing and paying attention to what the unconscious mind is trying to tell you. [1:06:00]
Does Adam view himself as a risk-taker? [1:15:20]
On hedge funds that don’t hedge. [1:17:22]
Stoicism vs. Hedonism [1:21:13]
Philosophers or thinkers Adam recommends. [1:27:03]
How is the next day different when deciding to break from the past? [1:30:39]
A gambler walks into a bar… [1:36:00]
An example of magic and being one-upped as the world’s best gift-giver. [1:42:10]
The fulcrum moment: “Now is the time to act.” [1:48:15]
Accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative. Create delight. [1:49:45]

People Mentioned

Josh Waitzkin
Ramit Sethi
Warren Buffett
Bobby Fischer
Molly
Joel Greenblatt
Charlie Munger
Eleanor Roosevelt
Forrest Gump
Ferris Bueller
Magnus Carlsen
Samuel Reshevsky
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Boris Spassky
Muhammad Ali
Dread Pirate Roberts
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Pablo Picasso
Rembrandt
Abraham Maslow
Sam Zell
Tony Robbins
Elizabeth Taylor
Martin Polanco
Dan Engle
James Fadiman
Woody Allen
Marcus Aurelius
Seneca
Charles Darwin
Lucilius Junior
Epicurus
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Plato
Gabrielle Reece

The Most Feared and Well-Liked Journalist in Silicon Valley – Kara Swisher

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“Smart people like to be challenged and they like smart people challenging them.”

– Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) has been called “Silicon Valley’s most feared and well-liked journalist” by New York Magazine. Here’s just one example: you can graph the impact on Yahoo’s stock price by various posts by Kara. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

She attended Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service prior to changing course to journalism. It turns out many of the skills that would make a good spy are those that make a good journalist: developing sources, asking good questions, scenario planning, and much more. She forged her reputation at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, and now she spends the majority of her time as Executive Editor of Recode and the host of the Recode Decode podcast.

Over the last 11 years and alongside Walt Mossberg, she has also co-produced D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many other leading players in the tech and media industries.

In this podcast episode, she and I cover a lot of subjects, enjoy quite a few laughs, and dig into details you can readily apply and test yourself. Topics include:

The art and craft of good questions
Lessons learned and favorite moments from interviewing Steve Jobs
What separates good from great journalists
War stories, missed opportunities, and “optimistic pessimism”

I hope that you enjoy this episode with Kara Swisher!

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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 a podcast with another influential journalist? — Listen to my conversation with Ezra Klein. In this episode, we discuss influencing the rules of the game by which this country is run (overall politics — not partisan), how Ezra lost 60 pounds, and his ascension into the ranks of the most respected media companies in the world (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably, Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so. Listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show get $100 worth of travel packs for free when placing an order — that’s twenty free additional travel pouches — at AthleticGreens.com/Tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by MeUndies. Does this year’s Valentine’s Day have you stumped? Skip the cliches and give a gift that looks great, feels amazing, and makes everybody happy: MeUndies. MeUndies knows that your special someone deserves a special fabric, which is why their underwear is made exclusively out of MicroModal, a fabric three times softer than cotton. 

I’ve spent the last six months wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. If you don’t love your first pair of MeUndies, they’ll hook you up with a new pair or a refund. They offer free shipping and, for a limited time, listeners get 20% off their first order. Just go to MeUndies.com/tim. That’s MeUndies.com/tim.

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 Kara Swisher:

Twitter | Recode | Recode Decode podcast | All podcasts under the Recode umbrella | Instagram

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)
Aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web by Kara Swisher
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
As Trumplethinskin lets down his hair for tech, shame on Silicon Valley for climbing the Tower in silence by Kara Swisher, Recode
Tip: don’t do downward-facing dog when you’re in the middle of a public conversation with Kara Swisher
Stanford Prison Experiment
Logan | Official Trailer
Kara Swisher Is Silicon Valley’s Most Feared and Well-Liked Journalist. How Does That Work? by Benjamin Wallace, New York Magazine
Stockholm syndrome
Yahoo has confirmed a data breach with 500 million accounts stolen, as questions about disclosure to Verizon and users grow by Kara Swisher and Kurt Wagner, Recode
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Peter Thiel defends Donald Trump, saying we should stop taking the GOP nominee so literally by Kara Swisher, Recode
Father-Son Struggle Splinters Dynasty by Kara Swisher, The Washington Post
King Lear by William Shakespeare
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The White Album by Joan Didion
Kara loves almost all Broadway shows — like Angels in America and Hamilton.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs at D8: The Full, Uncut Interview, All Things D
Writer Has Mini Stroke on Long-Haul Flight, ABC News
How to Get Away with Murder
Mark Zuckerberg Reverses His Position on “Fake News” by Maya Kosoff, Vanity Fair
The Problem of God at Georgetown University
Markings by Dag Hammarskjold and Leif Sjoberg
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Memento mori: “Remember that you must die.”
The Life and Death of Richard the Second by William Shakespeare
La La Land Official Trailer — ‘Dreamers’
A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
Sliding Doors
Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
The Gettysburg Address, Virtual Gettysburg
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
The Address — A Film by Ken Burns

Show Notes

What separates a good journalist from a great journalist? [05:46]
The skills someone should have if they’re striving to be a great journalist. [06:16]
Why didn’t Kara pursue her original ambition of being a spy? [07:37]
Kara is both offended and fascinated by propaganda. [08:44]
How does Kara discern fact from fiction and cultivate her sources? [10:10]
No matter who you are, Kara has no problem calling you out on what everyone else is afraid to tell you. [14:38]
How has Kara avoided the trap of worrying about what people think of her? [16:46]
On false dichotomies and not just accepting whatever’s being offered. [18:12]
Kara talks about epiphanies that led her to leave comfortable jobs in pursuit of something more. [19:55]
Can someone be taught not to care too much about what others think? [21:06]
Resist conformity — lessons from Cato to Philip Zimbardo to Kara Swisher to Wolverine. [23:26]
“Smart people like to be challenged, and they like smart people challenging them.” [27:10]
Who does Kara rely on to tell her when she’s wrong? [30:45]
A time when Kara regrets not challenging someone’s statement. [32:52]
Kara’s take on reality distortion fields and Steve Jobs’s “aggressive” charisma [34:27]
Has Kara ever regretted hitting someone too hard in print? [41:04]
When did Kara first believe she could make it as a journalist? [43:03]
Kara says she’s a terrible teacher, so she recommends these books to aspiring writers and journalists. [45:00]
What makes a great event? Kara relates it to her love of theater. [49:23]
An unsatisfying habit. [53:02]
How does Kara choose which projects to take on and which projects to reject? [54:57]
Kara says a lot of her high-functioning behavior probably stems from one tragedy in her early life. [57:45]
Kara talks about her stroke five years ago. [1:00:17]
How does Kara want to be remembered? [1:03:55]
The keys to good parenting. [1:07:14]
If Kara had to give a TED Talk about something for which she’s not well known, what would the topic be? [1:15:54]
Who comes to mind when Kara hears the word “successful?” [1:16:39]
What would Kara’s billboard say? [1:19:57]
Favorite failure? [1:24:05]
What advice would Kara give to a younger version of herself? [1:30:00]
In a world of chaos with cynicism seemingly on the upswing, Kara considers herself an optimistic pessimist. [1:35:12]
Kara talks about her patriotism and the famous speech she carries with her everywhere. [1:37:02]
These days, Kara enjoys baiting “sore winners.” [1:40:48]

People Mentioned

Walt Mossberg
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Carrie Mathison
Donald Trump
Steve Case
Chris Sacca
Matt Mullenweg
Philip Zimbardo
Cato the Younger
Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
Marc Andreessen
Marissa Mayer
Sheryl Sandberg
Peter Thiel
Nick Denton
Megan Smith
Larry Ellison
Ben Bradlee
John Hendricks
John C. Malone
Gregg Pascal Zachary
Jerry Yang
Joe Kraus
Oprah Winfrey
Heather Locklear
Michelangelo
Viola Davis
Laurence Olivier
Pierre Omidyar
Mark Zuckerberg
Owen Van Natta
Jean-Paul Sartre
Albert Camus
Franz Kafka
Paul Cioffi
William Shakespeare
Thomas Edison
Nikola Tesla
Abraham Lincoln
Cheryl Strayed
Ray Bradbury
Gwyneth Paltrow
W. H. Auden
Ken Burns
James Corden

Tools of Titans — Full, Comprehensive Index!

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You asked for it, so here it is…

A comprehensive index for the #1 New York Times bestseller, Tools of Titans!

We didn’t have room when it was first published, but I went back to the publisher and they burned the midnight oil to get it done (thanks, HMH!).

Give it a quick glance. I found it oddly fun to read by itself, and it can help you find nearly any type of advice imaginable, all by theme, category, and name. This index will be added to the ebook and print editions soon.

In the meantime, anyone who would like a PDF (and printable) version of the index can view it below or download it by clicking the Scribd link.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Tools of Titans Index — Tim Ferriss by tferriss on Scribd

The One-Minute Workout Designed by Scientists — Dr. Martin Gibala

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“Life is an interval workout.” – Dr. Martin Gibala

Martin Gibala, Ph.D. (@gibalam) is a professor and chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His research on the physiological and health benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has attracted immense scientific attention and worldwide media coverage.

Martin has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed articles, is frequently invited to speak at international scientific meetings, and has received multiple awards for teaching excellence. He is also the co-author of the brand-new book The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter.

Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Martin Gibala!

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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 with one of the world’s top fitness experts? — Listen to this episode with strength coach 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 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.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service, which is non-spec. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run…

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 Dr. Martin Gibala:

Twitter | McMaster University

The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter by Martin Gibala and Christopher Shulgan
McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology
Martin’s course: Integrative Physiology of Human Performance
What is VO2 max?
Metabolic equivalent (MET)
Importance of Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign by Robert Ross, et al., Circulation
One example of an online VO2 max calculator
Physiological Adaptations to Low-Volume, High-Intensity Interval Training in Health and Disease by Martin J. Gibala, Jonathan P. Little, Maureen J. MacDonald, and John A. Hawley, The Journal of Physiology
Are Saunas the Next Big Performance-Enhancing “Drug?”
Mitochondria and citrate synthase
Life Fitness 95c, Lode Excalibur Sport, RacerMate, and Kettler are some of the bikes Martin uses for research and personal fitness.
What is peak power output (PPO)?
What is phosphocreatine?
What’s the Single Best Exercise? by Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times
The Craft of Scientific Writing by Michael Alley
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer by Gretchen Reynolds
Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise by Alex Hutchinson

Show Notes

Setting the scene and learning how to pronounce “Gibala.” [05:11]
What falls under the purview of physiology? [06:19]
Martin talks about teaching integrative physiology at a college level and what his students find most fascinating (and confounding) about the curriculum. [06:48]
What is VO2 max? [08:46]
Is the link between high VO2 max and greater longevity a matter of causation or correlation? [11:48]
Should cardiorespiratory fitness be considered a clinical vital sign? [13:47]
Can VO2 max accurately be calculated online? [14:23]
When did Martin begin researching interval training, and what was the catalyst? [17:28]
Where Tabata training fits into the history behind the one-minute workout. [19:13]
What is the Tabata protocol? Is it especially efficacious, or has the data been overinterpreted? [21:25]
Why is most scientific interval training testing done on bikes? [25:12]
What was the first interval training study that surprised Martin? [27:44]
How is fatigue defined in lab tests on humans? [32:56]
What are mitochondria and why are they important? [36:08]
What minimal regimen would Martin recommend for a former competitive athlete with a history of minor injuries? [44:09]
Warmup and cooldown recommendations. [47:15]
How would Martin determine ideal starting wattage for testing? [52:09]
Comparing the 10×1 protocol with other protocols, and determining which is right for you. [54:27]
Does recovery time between intervals consist of pure rest or just less strenuous activity? [57:10]
Why are some people prone to fainting after a vigorous bout of exercise? [58:08]
Comparing the wattage of a warmup to the wattage of active recovery. [59:22]
How is optimal rest period determined? [1:00:30]
How many times per week would Martin recommend the 3×5 effort workout? [1:03:39]
How do other interval protocols differ from Martin’s one-minute workout namesake? [1:04:31]
What type of rest intervals does Martin recommend between twenty-second efforts? [1:06:07]
What improvements would Martin expect to see with people who don’t regularly work out? [1:07:35]
How would Martin recommend someone begin a program like this? [1:11:29]
Does Martin believe there’s still a place for traditional steady state exercise? [1:14:36]
What does Martin consider the single best exercise — and why? [1:16:13]
What’s the best way to instill long-term adherence to interval training? [1:20:36]
On stealth interval workouts and “exercise snacking.” [1:23:22]
Most gifted books and writing he admires. [1:24:20]
What would Martin’s billboard say? [1:27:26]
Parting thoughts. [1:31:25]

People Mentioned

Peter Diamandis
Ray Kurzweil
Roger Bannister
Izumi Tabata
Richard Metcalfe
Mark Hargreaves
Homer Simpson
Joshua Spodek
Christopher Shulgan
Atul Gawande
Gretchen Reynolds
Alex Hutchinson