Mark Sisson's Blog, page 13

New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 203

Research of the Week

Baking soda prevents performance declination during tennis matches.

Older people who stop lifting weight see their muscles gain intramuscular fat. Resuming training helps the muscles shed it.

Kombucha improves gut health and mitigates the damage of a lab diet in rodents.

High intensity aerobic training increases circulating levels of neuroprotective compounds.

Bad sleep, bad training.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: Going Beyond “Feeling Fine” With Dr. Libby Wilson

Media, Schmedia

“Constant turmoil” at the FDA.

Interesting Blog Posts

Do kids compete too early in sports?

Revolution occurs when elites are discontent.

Social Notes

On heuristics.

Everything Else

AI creates horrific food.

I think this kind of thing is more common than we think in other countries too.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

More of this: Florida Surgeon General asks people to grow their own food.

Concerning: Even taking COVID out of the equation, all-cause mortality exceeds 2019 levels.

Powerful phrase: Exercise as “metabolic shield” against cancer.

Interesting question: Did an older hominid use fire?

Finally: What have I been saying for years?

Question I’m Asking

How much water do you drink a day?

Recipe CornerHealthy pineapple soda.Liver pancakes.Time Capsule

One year ago (Dec 3 – Dec 9)

The Definitive Guide to Sleep—Well, is it?Why You Should Be Practicing Balance Drills—Why to balance.Comment of the Week

“My self improvement journey started around 2009. I was 29 years old and discovered @Mark_Sisson and @TheMinimalists and started to change my life. When/where did your self improvement journey begin?“

-Love to hear it, Mark.

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How to Get Motivated to Work Out

When you look around at why so many people are out of shape and unhealthy these days, it’s not because they don’t know the importance of physical fitness. Of course they do, and of course they know that working out would fix many of their issues. The problem is they have no motivation to work out.

The most important part of working out isn’t the specific program you follow (or don’t). It’s not what leg exercises you do. It’s not whether you train with free weights, machines, or bodyweight. It’s not deciding between cardio, weight lifting, cycling, or running. It’s actually getting into the gym and doing the workout. The most important part of the workout question is being motivated to actually work out.

Because the best workout is the one you’ll do consistently. You can have all the knowledge in the world, access to all the best equipment, take all the supplements and protein powder, but if you can’t actually motivate yourself to work out, it will all be for nothing. If you have trouble getting yourself motivated to work out, keep reading for some tips and tricks for getting the motivation you need.

Make your workouts more playful and interesting.

The greatest type of motivation is intrinsic motivation: the kind that emerges from within. Dogs are intrinsically motivated to eat food because food tastes good and their desire for it is deep-seated. Children are motivated to explore the world around them because the world is new and endlessly interesting. The desire comes from within.

If extrinsic motivations like “lift this much weight” or “lose this many pounds” aren’t helping you find the motivation to actually workout, doing something fun and/or engaging as a workout will. Maybe you want to pick up a sport. Or surfing. Or martial arts. Or mountain biking. For me, my favorite “workout” is paddle boarding, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and riding my fat bike along the beach. All fun, all excellent ways to exercise. And the cool thing about this is that you quickly realize doing more formal workouts in the gym will help you get better at the fun workouts, too. These days I train in the gym to enhance my playing.

Get a workout buddy.

Humans are social animals. We aren’t meant to go through life alone. We aren’t meant to perform difficult physical tasks alone. Hunters work together. Physical laborers labor together. Soldiers go to war with their comrades. Everything physical in life, with few exceptions, works better and is more enjoyable with other people involved.

One of the biggest reasons CrossFit is so successful is that it gives you a community to train with. You show up to the workout of the day and you know there will be some friends suffering right along with you. This dilutes the suffering and enhances the positive effects, keeps you going when the going gets tough.

Pay for a trainer.

Putting money down on a trainer for a few months of sessions is a way to trick yourself into working out when you don’t want to. In fact, that’s probably at least 50% of why fitness trainers are so useful: The “sunk cost” of having paid for a trainer upfront will compel you to make good on your investment and actually go work out. People hate losing money. You’ve paid for it—you’ll use it.

Join a gym.

The gym isn’t just about the equipment, although that helps. It’s also a place expressly designed around working out. It’s full of people who are there to train. The collective energy is all directed toward the pursuit of physical excellence. Not everyone enjoys the gym, but those who need it, need it. I’m a big “nature guy,” preferring to spend as much time outdoors at the beach, in the forest, and in the mountains as I can. But I still go to the gym a couple times a week because the atmosphere is so conducive to working out.

Drink coffee 30 minutes before you want to workout.

Caffeine is potent stimulant of dopamine, the primary motivational neurotransmitter. When the body wants you to do something, it uses dopamine to motivate you. Caffeine can enhance that motivation.

Caffeine doesn’t just make you want to work out before you work out. It also makes the workout more enjoyable by reducing fatigue and perceived difficulty. Training becomes more rewarding, thus making you more likely to be motivated to do it the next time. As long as you aren’t training late at night, 50-100 mg of caffeine will help you get to the gym and have an effective training session once you’re there.

Supplement with L-tyrosine.

When your body produces dopamine, it does so with the amino acid tyrosine. Tyrosine converts to L-DOPA which converts to dopamine. Simply taking L-tyrosine won’t necessarily boost your general motivation, but tyrosine deficiency definitely lowers dopamine levels.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11291... If you have a tyrosine deficiency, taking supplemental tyrosine should improve your motivation.

Find your place.

Some people drop thousands on a home gym only to realize they can’t really train at home. Some people join a gym only to realize they prefer the solitude of working out at home. Some people realize they don’t like working out indoors at all but prefer the park, the hiking trail, the beach.

You need to find your perfect spot, that physical space that triggers something inside you and makes you want to move, lift, run, and train. If you haven’t found it yet, start looking.

Just get in the door.

The hardest part of motivating yourself to work out is getting into the gym, handling the logistics of gym clothes, driving, timing, all that. But once your’e there, you’re in. You’re not going to drive to the gym, walk into the weight room, and then turn around and go back home. That’s not how it works. Get in the door and the rest will take care of itself.

Don’t think about all the lifting you’ll have to do, all the warming up. Don’t think about the weights or the cardio. Just think about getting to the gym. That’s it. That’s your job. And then it all takes care of itself from there.

Compete.

A big issue with most people trying to find the motivation to work out is that they need motivation in the first place. They’re constantly thinking about the workout. They’re stressing over it. They’re looking for excuses, they’re searching for a reason not to do it. Nine times out of ten you won’t do the thing you’re thinking about all the time—you’ll just stay paralyzed.

Competition—friendly or otherwise—removes second-guessing. If you turn your training into a competition with a friend, if you’re competing to see who can get the most steps or run the most miles or do the most reps, it’s no longer about the workout and the effort it requires. It’s about beating the other person. If you’re wired like I am, competition is a great way to motivate you to get into the gym.

Consider the neurotransmitter theory of training styles.

A fitness coach I know personalizes his training programs to the client’s dominant neurotransmitters. He administers a simple test that purports to reveal the client’s dominant neurotransmitter and then puts together a training program that complements their inclinations. The test is called The Braverman Test.

Dopamine: strength training, high intensity movements, Olympic lifting, all-out training, dynamic movements, lots of variety, higher volume/frequency of trainingAcetylcholine: steady incremental progress, a routine that doesn’t change much, plenty of restSerotonin/GABA: play, sports, hiking, irregular weight lifting (rocks, instead of weights; logs instead of machines), anything that keeps it interesting

If you take the test and hew your workouts to your dominant neurotransmitter, you’ll likely be more motivated to do them.

Look in the mirror.

Most people who really want to workout but have trouble with motivation need to work out. Just being honest: it usually shows in their fitness levels and their body composition. So here’s what you should try doing:

Look at yourself naked in the mirror. Do this every morning and night. Don’t suck anything in, don’t flex, don’t try to look your best. In fact, look your worst. Let your gut hang out and just look at yourself. Take it all in until you feel like you really want to get into the gym and start working on yourself. Sometimes you just need to feel the pain and shame of having let yourself go before you do something about it.

How do you motivate yourself to work out? What tips and tricks would you add?

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2022 Primal Holiday Gift Guide

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to find the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones that will bring genuine smiles to their faces. No pressure, of course. 

In all seriousness, many of us are torn between wanting to get great gifts for the people in our lives (gift giving is one of the love languages, after all) and not wanting to buy stuff just for the sake of having something to wrap.

That’s why this year, the Primal team put our collective heads together and came up with a list of gift ideas to help you check off your holiday list lickety-split. The ideas below are aimed at helping everyone live their best Primal lives—get outside, eat great food, use your brain, take care of your body, reduce stress, and generally #LiveAwesome!

* Note, this post does not contain affiliate or sponsored links.

Gifts for the Great OutdoorsTo take to the mountains:

Embrace the cold! The right gear makes it easy and fun to stay active outdoors even in these chilly winter months:

Cleats (like these) that strap over shoes or boots make winter hiking and trail running saferRechargeable hand warmers replace single-use warmers and keep your fingers toastyYou can never have too many warm socks. Check out Pacas, Darn Tough, and Bombas (a certified B-corp that donates socks for every pair purchased). A small portable stove like a JetBoil can go in a hiking pack for trailside hot chocolate or a warm meal on a cold outing. It’s also a year-round essential for backpacking. Maybe include a few Primal– or keto-friendly prepared meals.For beach days:

Or pool days or lounging in your yard days…

Reef-safe mineral sunscreen (Learn more about safe sun exposure, then head to the EWG Sunscreen Guide to find a good brand.)Weatherproof padded blankets are great for kids and adultsTurkish towels replace bulky traditional beach towels (this brand is women-owned and affordably priced)A portable chair with cooler does double dutyEveryone can use a reusable stainless steel water bottle to stay hydrated (this one funds national park projects)For any environment:A light-up leash or collar will keep pooch safe on walks when the days are shortLocal, state, and national park passes support public lands and encourage your loved ones to get outdoorsPortable solar chargers are also great for travelersGifts for Foodies

Eco-friendly:

Replace single-use plastic with reusable shopping bags and produce bags (look on Etsy for fun options made from upcycled fabrics)Stasher bags for leftovers and lunchboxes

Shop local:

Gift memberships to local CSAs or co-opsLocal cheese or wine shops, coffee roasters

Quality ingredients:

Turn up the flavor with spice blends and marinadesEvery home cook needs Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Spray and sharp knivesBusy folks will love the Ninja Speedi for making quick and easy mealsYou can never go wrong with a Primal Kitchen Gift Card!Curl Up with a Good Book

Book recommendations from the Primal team:

The Mountain is You by Brianna WiestGood Vibes, Good Life by Vex KingThe Minimalists’ new book Love People, Use Things (check out The Minimalists on the Primal Kitchen Podcast!)Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors Vol. I by Randy Roach (“Cool book that traces the history of physical culture eventually giving rise to the modern fitness industry. I recommend this book to anyone interested in health/fitness.”)The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown audiobookThe Primal Blueprint, of course – the book that started it all!

And don’t forget these:

Heated coffee mug or mug warmerBlue light glasses or yellow-tinted book light for evening reading that won’t mess with your sleepAudiobook membership (Scribed, Audible) for people who like to do crafts or puzzles while they readGifts for Athletic TypesFor everyone who moves: massage/self-myofascial release tools (check out our recs for essential tools here)Support local businesses with a gift card to a running store in their hometownRechargeable headlamps are a must for anyone who hits the roads or trails in the darkCollagen for strong, healthy joints and connective tissue Experiences and ServicesRelieve stress with a subscription to a meditation app like Headspace, Calm, or InsightTimer, or for a premium gift, check out Erwan LeCorre’s BreathHoldWork course New skills: cooking classes, art classes, courses on Udemy or MasterclassTickets for concerts, symphony, theater, or a comedy clubGolf or ski passesTime savers: cleaning services, food delivery (you can offer up your own time and skills, too!)For KidsGet kids moving in Primal ways with equipment that encourages them to jump, hang, crawl, and balance like these apparatuses (these also look cool) Get kids exploring with a magnifying glass, compass, microscope, or learning kits or science kitsGet kids in the kitchen with kids’ cookbooks or kid-safe cooking toolsBasic wooden building blocks and Legos let kids’ imaginations run free

What else is on your gift list? Use the comments to call out your favorite brands and small businesses that are worth supporting! 

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2022 Primal Gift Guide

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to find the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones that will bring genuine smiles to their faces. No pressure, of course. 

In all seriousness, many of us are torn between wanting to get great gifts for the people in our lives (gift giving is one of the love languages, after all) and not wanting to buy stuff just for the sake of having something to wrap.

That’s why this year, the Primal team put our collective heads together and came up with a list of gift ideas to help you check off your holiday list lickety-split. The ideas below are aimed at helping everyone live their best Primal lives—get outside, eat great food, use your brain, take care of your body, reduce stress, and generally #LiveAwesome!

* Note, this post does not contain affiliate or sponsored links.

Gifts for the Great OutdoorsTo take to the mountains:

Embrace the cold! The right gear makes it easy and fun to stay active outdoors even in these chilly winter months:

Cleats (like these) that strap over shoes or boots make winter hiking and trail running saferRechargeable hand warmers replace single-use warmers and keep your fingers toastyYou can never have too many warm socks. Check out Pacas, Darn Tough, and Bombas (a certified B-corp that donates socks for every pair purchased). A small portable stove like a JetBoil can go in a hiking pack for trailside hot chocolate or a warm meal on a cold outing. It’s also a year-round essential for backpacking. Maybe include a few Primal– or keto-friendly prepared meals.For beach days:

Or pool days or lounging in your yard days…

Reef-safe mineral sunscreen (Learn more about safe sun exposure, then head to the EWG Sunscreen Guide to find a good brand.)Weatherproof padded blankets are great for kids and adultsTurkish towels replace bulky traditional beach towels (this brand is women-owned and affordably priced)A portable chair with cooler does double dutyEveryone can use a reusable stainless steel water bottle to stay hydrated (this one funds national park projects)For any environment:A light-up leash or collar will keep pooch safe on walks when the days are shortLocal, state, and national park passes support public lands and encourage your loved ones to get outdoorsPortable solar chargers are also great for travelersGifts for Foodies

Eco-friendly:

Replace single-use plastic with reusable shopping bags and produce bags (look on Etsy for fun options made from upcycled fabrics)Stasher bags for leftovers and lunchboxes

Shop local:

Gift memberships to local CSAs or co-opsLocal cheese or wine shops, coffee roasters

Quality ingredients:

Turn up the flavor with spice blends and marinadesEvery home cook needs Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Spray and sharp knivesBusy folks will love the Ninja Speedi for making quick and easy mealsYou can never go wrong with a Primal Kitchen Gift Card!Curl Up with a Good Book

Book recommendations from the Primal team:

The Mountain is You by Brianna WiestGood Vibes, Good Life by Vex KingThe Minimalists’ new book Love People, Use Things (check out The Minimalists on the Primal Kitchen Podcast!)Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors Vol. I by Randy Roach (“Cool book that traces the history of physical culture eventually giving rise to the modern fitness industry. I recommend this book to anyone interested in health/fitness.”)The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown audiobookThe Primal Blueprint, of course – the book that started it all!

And don’t forget these:

Heated coffee mug or mug warmerBlue light glasses or yellow-tinted book light for evening reading that won’t mess with your sleepAudiobook membership (Scribed, Audible) for people who like to do crafts or puzzles while they readGifts for Athletic TypesFor everyone who moves: massage/self-myofascial release tools (check out our recs for essential tools here)Support local businesses with a gift card to a running store in their hometownRechargeable headlamps are a must for anyone who hits the roads or trails in the darkCollagen for strong, healthy joints and connective tissue Experiences and ServicesRelieve stress with a subscription to a meditation app like Headspace, Calm, or InsightTimer, or for a premium gift, check out Erwan LeCorre’s BreathHoldWork course New skills: cooking classes, art classes, courses on Udemy or MasterclassTickets for concerts, symphony, theater, or a comedy clubGolf or ski passesTime savers: cleaning services, food delivery (you can offer up your own time and skills, too!)For KidsGet kids moving in Primal ways with equipment that encourages them to jump, hang, crawl, and balance like these apparatuses (these also look cool) Get kids exploring with a magnifying glass, compass, microscope, or learning kits or science kitsGet kids in the kitchen with kids’ cookbooks or kid-safe cooking toolsBasic wooden building blocks and Legos let kids’ imaginations run free

What else is on your gift list? Use the comments to call out your favorite brands and small businesses that are worth supporting! 

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New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 202

Research of the Week

Iodine deficiency is still a big problem in the developing world. Hard to develop with inadequate iodine levels.

Long COVID-type symptoms more common among COVID-negative patients than COVID-positive patients.

Fasting might be a better alternative to chronic calorie restriction.

Blood donation improves skin aging.

NSAIDs may worsen arthritis over time.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: Health Coaching in a Medical Practice with Dr. Judith Boyce

Media, Schmedia

Elon Musk may start putting Neuralink in brains 6 months from now.

More olive oil, less death.

Interesting Blog Posts

Does nicotinamide riboside fuel cancer?

Social Notes

Never stop learning.

Fat bike fun.

Everything Else

The horse is coming back.

Some brains just age more slowly.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

It’s not about carbs all the time: Time restricted eating sheds liver fat, regardless of baseline diet.

Interesting paper: The evolution of human skin color.

Powerful phrase: Exercise as “metabolic shield” against cancer.

Another interesting study: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy lengthens telomeres.

Amazing: Diagnosis made (correctly) by hallucination (or was it?).

Question I’m Asking

Will you install Neuralink?

Recipe CornerSheet pan chicken and sprouts.Pan roasted chicken and vegetables with chicken dijon jus.Time Capsule

One year ago (Nov 12 – Nov 18)

Is Honey a Safe(r) Sweetener?—Well, is it?Mark’s Big Ass Keto Salad—How to do salad right.Comment of the Week

“You really should open a Mayo-clinic.“

–I agree.

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11 Ways to Heal a Wound Fast

Wound healing is an impressive process when you stop to think about it. You’re creating new tissue from scratch. You’re laying down skin, repairing damaged blood vessels, recruiting dozens of immune system mediators to show up to the job site and remake the wounded area. And in most instances, you do a great job of it. The bleeding stops, the wound heals, no scar forms, and the damaged tissue looks and performs as good as new. Remarkable.

But you don’t have to leave it to chance. It turns out that there are many natural ways to heal a wound fast.

Note: these are recommendations for minor wounds you can treat at home. If your wound exhibits any of the following characteristics, consider medical attention:

Jagged or irregular cuts that may not heal without stitchesGaping openings that won’t stop bleedingExtreme painForeign objectsSigns of infection (foul odor, pain that doesn’t let up, wounds that don’t seem to be healing)Animal bites

The good news is that most wounds aren’t that serious and can be treated well at home. Here’s what to do:

1. Do the basics

The basics are basics for a reason: they work.

Clean the wound, using irrigation (spraying it with water) and an antiseptic solution like iodine.Cover the wound with a clean bandage. Contrary to what many people believe, a wound shouldn’t “dry out.” That just makes it more painful and slows the healing process. A wound should be covered and kept moist.Change the bandage when you need to.Wait for it to heal.

Those are the basics, but there’s a lot more you can do to speed up the process.

2. Eat more protein

How the body responds to a severe burn is an extreme display of how the body responds to wounds in general. It goes into metabolic overdrive, and one of the most important nutrients supporting the metabolic rate during wound or burn healing is protein.https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/food... You need at least 1.5 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight, and I’d go further and say you should get 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

Load up on animal protein: meat, eggs, dairy, seafood. Adding 10-20 grams of whey isolate at every meal to top off your normal protein intake is a nice way to hit the numbers, especially since whey is a powerful, efficient source of protein.

3. Eat more collagen

Just “protein” isn’t enough. It’s important, but a particular type of protein is also crucial: collagen. It makes sense on an intuitive level why you’d need more collagen when healing, since our skin is made of collagen. And just like taking collagen before a weight training session can increase the amount of collagen deposited into the affected connective tissue, eating extra collagen when healing from a wound can increase collagen deposition and formation in the wounded region. Simply put, wounds increase collagen demands. Aim for 20 grams of collagen each day when healing.

4. Apply magnesium oil

Magnesium oil isn’t really oil. It’s magnesium chloride dissolved in water that takes on a slippery, oily feel. When applied to the skin, you absorb the magnesium—enough to boost levels by over 60%. Magnesium oil has been shown to speed up healing from diaper rash when added to calendula cream, and I’ve personally used it to speed up the healing of cuts and scrapes.[ref]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26894161/">1

You can make or purchase magnesium chloride oil. To make it, buy magnesium chloride flakes, fill a spray bottle about 3/4 of the way with the flakes, and cover with warm distilled, spring, or reverse osmosis water. Shake to dissolve, then apply it to your skin. It may sting a bit, especially on the wound, but it should assist in healing.

5. Swim in the cold ocean

Now, the warmer and more brackish the water, the more likely it is that flesh-degrading bacteria inhabit it. The bacteria in question, vibrio vulnificus, thrives in brackish (1-2% salinity) water warmer than 64°F. So use caution. Anything above 70 degree water I’d avoid with open wounds. But if your ocean is actually cold, like the Pacific on the California coast, and you’re actually in sea water (3-5% salinity) rather than brackish (1-2%) water, you’re probably safe and in my experience you’ll speed up wound healing. I remember doing this as a kid in Maine—just washing my scrapes with cold ocean water. Some of it is probably the magnesium content, as I described in the previous section. But a lot of it can’t be explained by magnesium. There’s something “else” about going into the ocean with scrapes.

As for the “sharks can smell blood from miles away” thing, that’s nothing to worry about. Sharks do have sensitive olfactory bulbs that can detect small concentrations of substances in the water, like blood. But they still obey the laws of physics. The diluted blood still needs to physically reach them, and they have to determine where it’s coming from and whether it’s worth the trouble.

6. Apply red and infrared light

Both infrared and red light (aka “low level laser therapy” or “phototherapy”) show promise in treating and accelerating the healing process for wounds by increasing blood flow, reducing inflammation, and improving collagen metabolism, but there isn’t any established clinical methodology for treating actual wounds with light devices.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27416... One thing you could try is getting both sunrise and sunset exposure because those are the times of the day most enriched with infrared and red light.

What I’ve done in the past with other types of injuries and general joint pain is use infrared saunas. I like this method a little better because rather than holding a concentrated infrared or red light device directly over the wound and trying to guess how long to apply it, you enjoy the sauna and let indirect rays do the work.

Red light/IR light devices are fairly safe things to try, but I don’t have any specific recommendations for their use for wounds. I am confident, however, that they will probably help. I have and like the Joovv.

7. Apply honey

Honey works well on wounds, acting as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent and as a general promoter of tissue healing thanks to its antioxidant compounds, acidity, natural hydrogen peroxide production, and osmotic effect. They haven’t figured out all the reasons why it works, but honey just seems to accelerate wound healing.

Manuka honey gets the lion’s share of the accolades for ist wound healing properties, but there’s pretty good evidence that there are even better honeys. Buckwheat honey, for example, was just identified in a recent study for having the highest levels of compounds with the most wound-healing potential.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18494...

If you’re not sure whether your honey will help you heal, one thing I’ve noticed about honey is that the darker the honey, the better. The darker, the more active, and potentially the more effective at healing wounds. So whether it’s Manuka honey, buckwheat honey, or the dark wildflower honey from your local farmer, pretty much any honey will assist in wound healing. Heck, there’s even evidence that basic sugar, white table sugar can increase wound healing when applied topically. After irrigating and cleaning the wound, apply honey.

8. Apply black seed oil

I wrote about black seed oil awhile back for oral use as a supplementary food, but it turns out that topical black seed oil is also an effective wound healing accelerator—especially combined with honey.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30020...

Apply a few drops to the wound or scrape. To blend with honey, mix the two together and then apply.

9. Try fasting (for chronic wounds)

To my knowledge, this specific intervention—fasting for chronic wound healing—hasn’t been tested. But Nrf2 is a pathway activated by fasting that has been shown to improve wound healing in diabetics suffering from long term chronic “slow to heal” wounds and ulcers.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Start with a 24 hour fast and go from there.

10. Take vitamin C

As you may know, most mammals produce their own vitamin C. Humans are one of the few mammals who don’t and have to get it from the diet or via supplementation.

To look at the effect of removing vitamin C from the wound-healing process, scientists genetically altered a group of lab mice so that they no longer produced vitamin C. Whereas a normal mouse produces all the vitamin C it needs, these genetically altered mice did not. So they took the vitamin C-null mice and wounded them. One group of wounded mice got vitamin C in their diets. One group did not. The vitamin C-null mice who got vitamin C in their water healed just as well as the normal mice with vitamin C production intact. The vitamin C-null mice who got no added vitamin C had poor healing.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

These weren’t humans, but humans are very similar to the vitamin C-null mice. Since most animals produce extra vitamin C after being wounded, humans should also eat a little extra vitamin C when they’re recovering from a wound.

11. Get enough zinc

Zinc is another necessary co-factor in the wound healing process. A study found that diabetics with ulcers had faster healing and smaller wounds after taking 50 mg of zinc sulfate versus a placebo for 12 weeks.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28395... Now, diabetics tend to be deficient in zinc, so this may not apply to everyone with a scratch or scrape. Most people following a Primal eating plan get plenty of zinc through red meat and shellfish—but it’s a good idea to make sure you’re eating enough.

I wouldn’t bother with extra zinc if you just have a small scrape, but if it’s more serious, like a bad burn, then there’s no harm in taking some extra zinc.

You don’t have to try all of these together, but some of them work better in concert. I’d do magnesium oil right off the bat after cleaning and dressing it. Maybe rinse it off in the ocean if it was cold enough. I’d take vitamin C and zinc with meals. I’d take collagen before any red light/IR treatment. I’d add honey and black seed oil every time you change the dressing. If the wound was an old one, I’d fast for a day.

How do you heal a wound? What works for you?

(function($) { $("#df9eEEa").load("https://www.marksdailyapple.com/wp-ad..." ); })( jQuery ); References https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/food2/UID07E/UID07E1E.HTM[/Ref] You need at least 1.5 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight, and I’d go further and say you should get 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

Load up on animal protein: meat, eggs, dairy, seafood. Adding 10-20 grams of whey isolate at every meal to top off your normal protein intake is a nice way to hit the numbers, especially since whey is a powerful, efficient source of protein.

3. Eat more collagen

Just “protein” isn’t enough. It’s important, but a particular type of protein is also crucial: collagen. It makes sense on an intuitive level why you’d need more collagen when healing, since our skin is made of collagen. And just like taking collagen before a weight training session can increase the amount of collagen deposited into the affected connective tissue, eating extra collagen when healing from a wound can increase collagen deposition and formation in the wounded region. Simply put, wounds increase collagen demands. Aim for 20 grams of collagen each day when healing.

4. Apply magnesium oil

Magnesium oil isn’t really oil. It’s magnesium chloride dissolved in water that takes on a slippery, oily feel. When applied to the skin, you absorb the magnesium—enough to boost levels by over 60%. Magnesium oil has been shown to speed up healing from diaper rash when added to calendula cream, and I’ve personally used it to speed up the healing of cuts and scrapes.[ref]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26894161/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27416624/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18494436/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30020313/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6720615/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7949787/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28395131/

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What is Chrononutrition?

Chrononutrition is a relatively new specialty in the fields of nutrition and biology that tries to understand how the timing of food ingestion affects health. The central idea here is that metabolic health, cardiovascular health, and body composition come down not just to what and how much we eat but also when we eat. 

You are, of course, aware that our bodies operate on a roughly 24-hour rhythm governed by circadian clocks. The sleep-wake cycle is the most obvious example. Many other aspects of human biology are also governed by 24-hour clocks operating both in the central nervous system and the peripheral organs and tissues. Chrononutrition seeks to answer two broad and related questions:

How do the body’s natural clocks affect food choices and metabolism?How does food timing affect circadian rhythmicity and, consequently, various health markers?

The latter is particularly relevant to people who, probably like you, strive to make food, movement, and lifestyle decisions to maximize their health and longevity. Although the topic of chrononutrition has only gained traction within the past decade, evidence increasingly suggests that we may be able to manipulate food timing to improve well-being.

Today, I’ll briefly review the underlying premise of chrononutrition and return to a question that has come up many times in our community: Should I be eating or skipping breakfast if my goal is optimal health now and for decades to come?

Chrononutrition 101

Here’s what you need to know to understand chrononutrition:

First, many biological functions are guided by central and peripheral clocks. I already mentioned sleep-wake. Body temperature is another example. Body temperature peaks in the afternoon and decreases overnight, hitting its nadir in the early morning hours. More to the point of this post, many aspects of metabolism also operate on a circadian rhythm. These includehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22676... ">1

Saliva productionGastric emptying and gut motility (the movement of food through the digestive tract)The release of digestive enzymes Nutrient absorptionBeta cell function (insulin release from the pancreas)Glucose toleranceHunger

Second, that elusive and enigmatic target we call “health” depends on proper circadian rhythm alignment—everything happening when it should. Research shows, for example, that circadian misalignment, as happens with shift work and eating at the wrong times, leads to impaired immune function.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Third, we stay “on time” thanks in part to behaviors that tell the body’s clocks what time it is. These behaviors, like sleeping at night and getting early morning sun exposure, are called zeitgebers. Eating at the proper times is another zeitgeber that keeps our circadian rhythms aligned, contributing to physiologic homeostasis. Conversely, eating (or sleeping or getting light exposure) at the wrong times causes misalignment and dysfunction. 

The implication, then, is that we can use what we know about the body’s natural rhythms to figure out the best and worst times to eat, and the consequences of getting it wrong. That’s chrononutrition.

So What ARE the Right and Wrong Times to Eat?

There are few things that scientists agree on, but I bet you’d be hard-pressed to find a scientist who thinks that eating at night is healthy, or even health-neutral. All the evidence from shift workers, mice, and human research subjects says eat during the day, don’t eat at night (actually, the reverse for mice since they’re nocturnal, but the point still stands). 

That’s a pretty broad statement, though. We’d like to know more specifically, is it better to eat more of our calories in the morning, mid-day, or evening? Should we be loading carbs (or protein or fat) into our first meal of the day or closer to bedtime? These are exactly the types of questions chrononutrition researchers are investigating. 

Observational data from epidemiological and prospective studies suggest that eating earlier in the day (i.e., eating breakfast) is associated with better glycemic control and less type 2 diabetes,https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30418... ">3 better cardiovascular health,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... ">4 and less adiposity (lower body fat).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31918... ">5 Now, I know a lot of you practice time-restricted eating and frequently skip breakfast. Before you get too concerned, let me qualify this statement with some big caveats. 

First, let’s remember that observational studies can’t establish causality. These findings tell us nothing about whether eating or skipping breakfast leads to better or worse health outcomes, just that they may be correlated. Only randomized controlled trials can point to causation, and that’s where these observations start to break down. RCTs looking at weight loss and cardiometabolic risk, for example, have yielded conflicting results. And two recent meta-analyses of RCTs found no consistent relationship between eating versus skipping breakfast and body composition.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... ">6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... ">7

Also, the participants in these observational studies represent cross-sections of the population. By and large, they do not reflect the average health-conscious Primal individual who is fat-adapted and practicing intermittent fasting for the benefits. Quite the opposite. Take a new analysis of the large NHANES database that linked skipping breakfast with greater risk for cardiovascular disease-related mortality.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35964910 ">8 In this sample, people who skipped meals were also more likely to smoke, drink excessively, have poorer diet quality overall, and face food insecurity—all of which are independently associated with cardiovascular disease. The authors even state that “skipping meals, in particular skipping breakfast, might also be a behavioral marker for unhealthy dietary and lifestyle habits.” 

In other words, breakfast skippers—meaning people who simply don’t eat breakfast, not people who intentionally practice time-restricted eating—have more risk factors overall compared to their breakfast-eating counterparts. How much, then, can we say that skipping breakfast is to blame for their poor health outcomes? 

What Does This Mean for Skipping Breakfast?

Should you or shouldn’t you skip breakfast? At this point, it’s hard to say for sure. It’s still the early days of chrononutrition, much too soon to crown breakfast the most important meal of the day. 

That said, the evidence is already pretty solid that humans are more insulin sensitive in the morning. Folks with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes might therefore have an easier time controlling blood sugar if they load more of their carbs, and perhaps more of their total calories, earlier in the day. Alternatively, if you’re going to ingest more carbs in the afternoon, try to time them around exercise to take advantage of insulin-independent glucose uptake.  

For everyone else, I’d say continue to do what feels right to you, but be open to experimenting. It doesn’t hurt to try switching up your eating window if you’re currently skipping breakfast and still dealing with high fasting blood sugar, poor energy during the day, or other stubborn health issues. 

I’m open to the possibility that as more human studies roll in, we may find that there are some advantages to an earlier eating window for just about everyone. Or we may find that it doesn’t really matter whether you eat breakfast as long as you aren’t eating too late. If skipping breakfast means your eating window gets pushed back, so you’re eating large meals close to bedtime, that may be the bigger problem. 

Ultimately, the answer probably won’t be simple. The best and worst times for any given individual to eat are almost certainly a function of genetic predisposition, lifestyle factors (what is most feasible and least stressful), personal preference, and extant health. And, I expect, meal and macronutrient timing will always be farther down the list of things to worry about than what we eat and how much. 

Self-experimentation is Still the Best Answer

If the epidemiological data have you feeling a little unsure about your breakfast skipping ways, by all means, go ahead and see what happens if you start eating breakfast. Maybe you’ll notice a big difference. Or you won’t, and you can go back to skipping breakfast if you so desire. 

The one caveat here is that research also suggests that consistent meal times are important for circadian rhythm health. I wouldn’t recommend skipping breakfast one day, skipping dinner the next day, and then eating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on day three. Pick a schedule and stick with it for, say, a month (a length of time I picked somewhat arbitrarily). Then try the other eating window for the same amount of time, and compare.

See if you notice any differences and how you feel, look, or perform in your workouts. Which one is easier for you given your work and family obligations? Importantly, is your sleep quality improved on one versus the other? Maybe you’ll even want to check blood markers and see how lipids or insulin (HbA1c) are affected. 

If you feel and perform best skipping or eat breakfast, that’s your answer.

What’s your n=1 data? Have any readers had good results from going back to eating breakfast after a period of skipping? How about the opposite? 

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References https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22676899/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6585517/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30418612/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8532518/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31918985/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352874/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924556/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35964910

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What to Eat Before a Workout

Pre-workout nutrition is one of those areas where people love to lose themselves in the minutiae. They obsess over what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it to eat. Instead of just getting into the gym or out into the world and getting active and lifting something heavy, they read blogs and watch videos for weeks, searching for the one pre-workout meal to rule them all. They end up avoiding the gym altogether because they can’t figure out the “perfect” pre-workout meal, or whether they should eat something at all.

Even when you figure out what to eat before a workout, you can go too far. You know the type of guy. This is the guy who travels with a suitcase full of powders, pills, and packaged foods. He’s so wedded to the pre-workout ritual that he can’t skip a day—even on vacation. If he doesn’t get his 40.5 grams of waxy maize, 30.2 grams of whey isolate, and preworkout blend of superfoods he can’t operate in the gym. He crumbles without the perfect, most optimal pre-workout nutrition.

Don’t be like this. Let me tell you what to do so you can stop stressing about what to eat before a workout. Let’s simplify things.

General Rules for Pre Workout Meals

What you eat will depend on what kind of workout you’re doing, what your goals are, and what kind of diet you’re already following, but there are general rules that apply to everyone.

Keep things light. No heavy meals. If you eat too large a meal, you may have trouble digesting it, or some of the energy that’d otherwise go to your muscles will be diverted to your gut.Eat foods you know you can easily digest. No surprises.Salt your meals. Sodium is an enormous boon to exercise performance, particularly if you’r on the lower-carb side of things.Powders are fine. While whole foods are usually ideal, for quick pre-workout nutrition, protein and carbohydrate powders can be very helpful and beneficial.Include 15-20 g collagen and 50-100 mg vitamin C. This a great way to improve connective tissue health when taken pre-workout.Protein and carbs are more important, dietary fat less important pre-workout. If all goes well you’ll be eating the fat on your body.Oh, and you don’t have to eat anything. You can fast (it’s what I typically do). It’s just that this article is intended to help people who are interested in pre workout nutrition..What to Eat Before High Intensity Interval Workouts

Since running, cycling, and rowing sprints and intervals burn through a ton of glycogen, most conventional sources recommend ample carbohydrates before the workout—around 4 grams per kilo of bodyweight in the hours leading up to the session. These aren’t “wrong.” If you’re a serious high intensity athlete training to compete or perform at very high levels, you should eat a good amount of carbs before your training sessions. That will maximize force output and optimize subsequent training adaptations. And besides, you’re burning through your muscle glycogen, boosting insulin sensitivity and opening up a ton of space for dietary carbohydrate to be partitioned.

If you train hard and intensely enough, you can even eat a big carb-rich pre workout meal and still reach ketosis after a session.

Unless you’re going for a specific goal and absolutely must avoid all carbohydrates, I’d recommend that everyone who wants to eat a meal before a HIIT session have 15-30 grams of fast-digesting carbs along with 30 grams of protein, half of which is collagen, 45 minutes before a workout. If you want to go a bit higher carb, get 40-60 grams two hours before in addition to the 15-30 45 minutes before.

Again: you don’t have to eat before sprints or HIIT. But if you do eat, this is what I recommend.

What to Eat Before Low Level Aerobic Workouts

The kind of low level aerobic training I recommend in Primal Endurance—where your heart rate never exceeds 180 minus your age, where you can breathe through your nose and hold an easy conversation, where it feels easy enough to maintain for well over an hour if you had to—doesn’t require much pre-workout nutrition.

If you’re metabolically-flexible or fat-adapted, I recommend fasting before these workouts to really boost fat burning and mitochondrial biogenesis. No need for food at all.

If you’re more carbohydrate-dependent, you can still probably get away with fasting, but you can also eat 15-20 grams of easily digested carbohydrates and 20 grams of protein. That could be a scoop of whey isolate protein powder, some collagen peptides, and a small potato or an apple. It could be a few eggs with a banana.

What to Eat Before Strength Training Workouts

As lifting can be a very glycogen-intensive activity, you can treat this similarly to HIIT or sprints only with a stronger focus on protein. If you’re going to eat before a lifting session, aim for 30-40 grams of protein (half from collagen), either from whey isolate or actual food plus collagen. Eat 15-30 grams of easily digestible carbohydrates, like bananas, rice, potatoes, dates, or other fruits. You could even sip on some coconut water.

Specific Foods That May Be Helpful Before a Workout

There are specific foods with uniquely ergogenic effects. that you should consider including in your pre-workout meals.

Beetroot: Improves endothelial function, increases the “pump,” boosts blood flow. Higher carb.Pomegranates: A pomegranate extract has been shown to improve blood flow and increase blood vessel diameter when taken 30 minutes prior to a workout.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27644... Higher carb, particularly if you eat the seeds or sip on the juice.Coffee: Provides caffeine, which has been shown to improve exercise performance. Zero calorie (unless you add milk and sugar).Coconut water with extra salt and blackstrap molasses: This is my go-to “electrolyte energy drink,” providing potassium, carbohydrates, sodium, and magnesium. It’s a good way to add some digestible carbs to your pre workout meal along with excellent hydration.What I Eat Before Workouts

I usually fast before workouts. It just works for me.

In fact, except for very rare occasions, either I go into the workout fasted or take 20 grams of collagen beforehand. Since collagen doesn’t directly contribute to muscle protein synthesis or affect mTOR or autophagy or fat-burning, I consider these to be fairly equivalent. The only thing that changes between fasted training and pre-training collagen is the collagen plus 50-100 mg vitamin C helps me fortify my connective tissue.

Anything resembling lower level “cardio,” like walking, hiking, standup paddling, and bike rides are all done totally fasted.

Before heavy lifting or sprints sessions, I’ll drink 20 grams of collagen peptides with some vitamin C. This isn’t to “fuel” me. The collagen provides the raw material my connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, cartilage) needs to adapt to the training stress and the vitamin C helps that collagen go where it’s supposed to—the connective tissue. This drink doesn’t contain many calories, nor does it provoke a huge insulin response that derails the fasting benefits. I’m technically breaking the fast because I’m consuming calories, but I’m retaining most of the benefits.

I favor collagen on heavier or more intense days because at my age, I’m most interested in maintaining the integrity of my joints. Having intact and durable ligaments, tendons, and cartilage is what allows me to play and stay active as I age. It’s not the big muscles, which are easy to maintain once you’ve got them. It’s the connective tissue.

If you’re trying to decide whether you should eat or not before a workout, I’ve explained the potential benefits of fasted workouts before. To summarize, fasted workouts can:

Enhance insulin sensitivityIncrease a biomarker known to correlate with muscle hypertrophyImprove lean mass retention in endurance athletesImprove capacity to perform without caloriesHelp you burn more fat and potentially lose more inches off your waisthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Keep in mind that fasted training isn’t optimal if your primary concern is gaining mass. It’s great for lean mass maintenance, fat burning, and even gaining strength and muscle provided you eat enough calories when you do eat, but for pure muscle hypertrophy and weight gain and absolute performance you’re better off eating.

It’s probably smart to try both pre-workout meals and pre-workout fasting to see what works best for you.

However there’s nothing wrong with eating actual meals or taking in protein/carb supplements before a workout, nor is there anything wrong with fasting. All that matters is what works for you—what helps you stay consistent with training, what gets you the best results, what makes training the most enjoyable.

Use this article as a guide, but don’t let it decide for you. What do you eat before your workouts?

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New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 201

Research of the Week

Time-restricted eating combined with low-carb dieting is more potent than either alone for reducing visceral fat and metabolic syndrome.

Creatine monohydrate is still the best form of creatine.

Worse air pollution, worse COVID.

How stress increases junk food consumption in the brain.

Athletes may sleep (and perform) better with nighttime protein and carbs.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: The Ever Evolving Coach with Bryce Henson

Media, Schmedia

30-year waitlist for Japanese Kobe beef croquettes.

Octopuses grow their brains in much the same way as vertebrates do.

Interesting Blog Posts

There is growing commercial demand for unvaccinated blood banks.

Social Notes

On protein poisoning.

Does this break my fast?

Everything Else

The link between murder rate and state history.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting concept: The “anti-Promethean backlash.”

Interesting study: Muscle endurance training combined with walking appears to be the best training for older people looking to improve their sleep.

Important nuance: You can gain strength while dieting, but probably not lean mass.

Another interesting study: Listening speaks to our intuition while reading promotes analysis.

Relevant for trained lifters: To make more progress, you might want to lift to failure.

Question I’m Asking

How do you exert mastery over the physical world?

Recipe CornerRoundup of paleo Thanksgiving recipes.Gelatinous pumpkin pudding.Time Capsule

One year ago (Nov 12 – Nov 18)

How to Tell Friends About the Primal Lifestyle—How to do it.Maintaining Bone Density as You Age—It’s not just about the muscles.Comment of the Week

“The best training regimen is the one you will actually follow consistently.

A single, weekly game of beer-league hockey or ultimate frisbee or golf is nowhere near as effective as a Starting Strength NLP (or any other scientifically-grounded program) combined with a weekly game … but the perfect truly is the enemy of the good.

‘Fun’ is a great motivator, but it’s just a subset of ‘passion.’ Passions vary, but every successful exerciser has the passion to do whatever disparate training they choose with adequate depth and consistency.”

–Absolutely.

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My Early Morning Routine

Morning is a sacred time for me. When our kids were still living with us, morning was the only time I had totally to myself. It allowed me to get the day started on my terms, set the tempo for the rest of the day. The kids are out on their own now, it’s just me and my wife, but the morning remains crucial to the rest of the day. Every morning is a blank slate. Every morning you get to start over, the promise and potential of the near future filled to bursting.

And so my early morning routine is the foundation of my day. Without it, the day just doesn’t “take.”

If you want to be “agile” and “intuitive” in your life, a morning routine helps. You need the foundation from which to leverage your talents and express your intuition and dynamic capacity. If your mornings are slapdash and all over the place, you’ll have trouble venturing out into the world and conquering your goals. A child needs security to grow. You need a morning routine to excel.

Here’s my early morning routine.

Go to bed between 10 and 11.

A morning routine starts with your nighttime routine. As I’ve said many times before, getting to bed at a good time—around 10, but no later than 11—while maintaining proper sleep hygiene practices so that you get enough sleep and wake up with energy and vitality is essential for a good morning. So your morning routine begins the night before. You have to get a good night’s sleep if your early morning routine is going to help you.

Wake up at around 7.

I wake up around the same time every day—mostly because I’m so religious about getting to bed at a good time. Seven o’clock is my typical wake up time. This allows me to get to bed between 10 and 11 and still get all the sleep I need. I’m in bed by 10, and usually earlier, but I’ll read in bed. Sometimes I go out fast, other times I stay up and keep reading. A 7 AM wakeup gives me breathing room at night.

Waking up at the same time every day is essential. For one, you don’t need an alarm. You just wake up because your body knows, and it’s much easier this way. Two, waking up is the start of your routine. Everything hinges on wakeup occurring at the same time. If you wake up at 5 one day and 8:30 another, it’s difficult to plan any kind of consistent morning routine.

Get sun in my eyes.

Sun exposure early in the morning—sunrise, ideally—helps your circadian rhythm hew to the rhythm of the day. It “tells” your internal clocks that it’s morning, that it’s time to get moving, that it’s time to build and go.

I’ve always made it a point in my adult life to live in places that get ample sunlight year round. Earlier in my health journey, this wasn’t a conscious decision. I didn’t know about the intricacies of circadian rhythm and natural light exposure, but I knew I liked sunlight, liked being warm, and liked spending time outside. So before I even knew what it was doing for my health, I was getting sunlight every single morning.

This doesn’t mean stare into the sun. Don’t do that. It means be outside with your face directed toward the sun, indirect light piercing your eyes and acting as a circadian zeitgeber that sets your clock. Also, you don’t have to have visible sunlight. The clouds can be out. It can be raining or even snowing, and the sunlight will still get through to your circadian clock. The point is getting outside to get full natural light.

Have coffee, heavy cream, and a spoonful of sugar.

Then I brew my coffee. Always in a stainless steel French press using fresh ground beans, always with heavy cream and a spoonful of sugar. Yes, plain white sugar, to cut the bitterness. Often I’ll take my coffee outside in the sunlight.

Do Sudoku, the NY Times crossword, and read the paper.

Although the science on “training the brain” with crossword puzzles and math games like sudoku is inconclusive, I don’t care. I notice a big difference when I do the games and when I don’t. There’s something missing when I don’t do it. A fluidity, a sharpness of thought. My writing and creativity are all worse on days I don’t get to the puzzles.

I also read the paper. Yes, the physical newspaper made of paper. Everything about the newspaper experience—the crinkle, the way you have to *pop* it to straighten it out—is soothing and it’s still my favorite medium to read the news. “Don’t believe everything you read” goes without saying, of course. I consider this an essential part of my morning routine.

Engage in a little friendly competition.

The latest addition to my morning routine is a friend and I started a competition about six months ago. We do it every day. Every morning, we play the word games World, Quordle, and Sedecordle.

We do all three each day and score them to see who gets the lowest score. The base score is arrived at by adding up the numbers in Quordle. Then, you get to subtract or add points based on your scores in Sedecordle and Wordle. In Wordle, you subtract however many guesses you have left. So, one point for every guess remaining. With Sedecordle you get to subtract three points for every guess remaining, or you add one point back for every word left on the board. You have to understand the games, but it is pretty challenging.

At this point in my life, it is counterproductive to compete on a physical level with anything significant at stake. This is the new challenge. This is the new competition. It’s a great way to begin the day.

Eat breakfast, or not.

Most days, I fast til 1 PM (after my late morning workout). On days I don’t fast, I’ll have something light. Lately it’s been soft boiled eggs or scrambled eggs with kale in butter. I eat breakfast if I’m hungry and feel like eating, usually while doing the mental games. I fast if I’m going deep into work mode and really trying to hit flow state.

Get “easy” work wins.

I’ll do the nuts and bolts stuff for a half hour to an hour: answering emails, taking or making calls, checking social media to see if I need to respond to anything. These are things that don’t take much active brainpower. You simply have to “do them.”  I’ll often do a quick scan of Twitter or Instagram to get a “bird’s eye view” of what might be transpiring in the world, what people are worried about, what fitness or nutrition developments are coming to a head.

Getting these easy wins out of the way sets a good tone for the rest of the day.

Take a 15 minute movement break.

After emails and calls, I step outside for a quick movement break. This is to get the blood flowing to the brain, warm up my body, lubricate my joints, and prepare for the real work to come.

Sometimes it’s a quick jog down to the beach for a plunge and swim.Sometimes it’s a quick jog down to the beach for a few short sprints.Sometimes it’s 15 minutes on the slack line.Sometimes it’s just a few sets of trap bar deadlifts, push-ups, and pull-ups.

The point is to get some light physical movement, preferably outside, before the real mental work commences.

Deep creative work.

When I write articles, I’ve already done the research the day before or days previous. I have a mental skeleton of the post erected in my mind, with tabs and links open to all the supporting evidence, so all I have to do is write. Flesh it out. Thus, it becomes an exercise in creativity that I can flow through, rather than having to stop every five minutes to check my work and read studies. Of course, if the situation calls for it I’ll stop and read research, but I do my best to avoid that so I can focus on the writing itself.

If I don’t have to write any finished pieces, I may go for a walk with my phone and bang out a rough draft using voice to text. Voice to text is invaluable for me—great way to jot down thoughts and ideas, which walking often stimulates. I’ve “written” entire posts and Sundays with Sisson newsletters on walks. I’ve come up with business ideas that turned into business realities. I keep working as long as it keeps flowing. It might be two hours. Might be one. Might be four. But it usually lasts at least two hours.

Movement, training, and play.

Usually I’ll go to the gym, both for training and socializing. Get a quick, hard, efficient 30-45 minute strength training session, hang out with the regulars, banter a bit, catch up. It’s a good atmosphere to push yourself while keeping things light and fun. I’m not doing any PRs (personal records) at this point. I’m just getting in to hit my muscles, strengthen my bones, and gird my connective tissue so I can keep playing and staying active doing the things I truly enjoy. Anti-aging.

The social aspect is just as important as the physical aspect. I spend so much time on devices that I need that face time (not FaceTime).

If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll go for a paddling session or hit the fat tire bike on the beach. I’ll often do this with my wife or a buddy, again getting that social time. Whatever I do, the block of time after my deep work time is for staying active—both physically and socially.

After that, I break the (usual) fast with lunch and get on with the rest of my day, which often looks very different day to day. But that AM morning routine leading up to lunch is non-negotiable and rarely changes.

What does your early morning routine look like?

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