BOOK A STRATEGY CALL

The High Performance Journal

4 Minute Fridays: Benefits Of Red Light Therapy, 6 Exercises For Desk Workers & An Underrated Way To Keep Your Body Young

4 minute fridays Mar 03, 2023

4 Minute Fridays

By Dan Go


Today’s issue is brought to you by . Innovators like yourself are leaders. Finding leadership tools you can use daily is crucial. Look no further than the #1 ranked leadership email newsletter on Substack. 4-Minute Friday readers can now for FREE.


This past week I've been busy moving my family to the west coast of British Colombia.

After COVID hit in 2020, we sold our home and decided to travel. We lived in many places over the past 2 years like Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States.

After traveling to many places we found a tiny spot on the west coast that we wanted to call home.

My wife and I were pretty done with Toronto as a city. The only things keeping us there were family and friends.

We envisioned how we wanted to live our lives for the next 10 years and decided that BC was the place to set roots.

So far it’s been great. I'm enjoying our home, our new town, and our community.

Was it the right decision? As the saying goes, "Sometimes you make the right decisions and sometimes you make the decisions right".

I'm committed to making this the right decision for my family and myself.

Here is your 4-Minute Friday:

 

How to Become a Better Human

1. Red Light Therapy

Red light therapy is a controversial therapy that uses red low-level light to treat skin issues, heal wounds, improve mental health, increase testosterone, improve recovery & increase exercise performance.

It's theorized to work through producing a biochemical effect in the cells that strengthens your mitochondria.

The science is still early on this as there are limited studies proving its efficacy. But there's a good number of anecdotal evidence out there. Some people swear by it.

What would I recommend? If you're not crushing the basics of getting enough sleep, working out, movement, and diet then I'd focus on those.

If you are crushing those, you've got the money and you're looking for an edge it's worth trying out.

To learn more about red light therapy you can go .

This is one that has been recommended to me that .

 

2. If you sit for more than 6 hours at a desk, read this:

Sitting is the new smoking.

Adults aged 20 to 75 spend an average of 9.5 hours sitting down every day. Compare this to our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors averaged 16,000 to 17,000 steps a day.

We were not meant to sit at desks. We were meant to move.

If you sit for long periods of time use this thread as a guide on what to do to reverse the effects of long periods of sitting.

 

 

Not mentioned in this thread is to get an adjustable standing desk. Go between periods of sitting and standing to get the best of both worlds.

3. Underrated way to keep your body young

One of the most overlooked aspects of fitness, as we age, is power.

Power differs from strength in that strength is about how much you can lift. Power is about how much force you can generate.

We lose power at almost twice the rate we lose strength. Every decade after 40, power declines by 17% and strength by 10%. In 30 years (at age 70), you'll have lost 30% of your strength and 51% of your power.

With that in mind, training power is paramount as we age. Here 2 two ways to train power:

Upper Body: Ball Slams



Instructions: Start standing with the ball on the floor just in front of you. Keeping your back straight, squat down, pick up the ball off the floor, and stand up with the ball over your head (use your legs and hips to “jump” the ball up over your head, like a barbell clean), then slam the ball back down to the ground as hard as you can. Pick it up and repeat.


Lower Body: Box Jumps

 


Instructions: Use a box equal to your level of power. Bend your knees slightly and drop down, bringing your arms out behind you. Use the momentum from your quarter squat to propel you upward as you jump onto the box, allowing your arms to swing out in front of you. Land softly on both feet with a slight bend in the knees. Step back and down and repeat.

Remember to do every exercise at your own level of intensity. If you're not sure how to perform these then get a qualified professional to help you.

Client of the week - Frank, Founder

Frank is a founder who wanted to lose the belly, improve his eating habits and boost his energy levels.

In 12 weeks he dropped 18.8 lbs of fat while gaining 3 lbs of lean mass. Our plan was to strength train 3x a week in the gym while setting up his meals to come to him automatically.

We used regular lunchtime walks to reset his days and improved his sleeping habits with blue light blockers and attuning his body to his circadian rhythms.

In his words, this was the most confident he's ever been in his body and loved how simple the process was.

Are you an entrepreneur who wants results like this? 

One Quote to Finish Your Week Strong


"It will always be up to you to find the lesson in every sh***y situation and use it to become stronger, wiser, and better. No matter what comes down on your head, you must find a glimmer of light, remain positive, and never treat yourself as a victim.
 
Especially if you intend to thrive in a harsh world where you have to work for everything that matters. I’m not talking about material things. I’m talking about self-respect, self-love, and self-mastery."
 
— David Goggins from  


No one ever accomplished great things by playing the victim.

Take ownership and start taking control of your life.

- Dan

PLUS whenever you’re ready, here is 1 way I can help you:

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, boost energy & get in your best shape in 2023?

Build your high performance body in a way that fits your busy lifestyle.

Join 340,000+ subscribers to The High Performance Journal. Every week you'll get actionable tips on getting lean, building muscle, and building a high performing body.

You're safe with me. I'll never spam you or sell your contact info.