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The High Performance Journal

4 Minute Fridays: How To Build Healthy Lungs, A Mental Trick To Do Hard Things, Stop Drinking Gatorade (and drink this instead)

4 minute fridays May 26, 2023

4 Minute Fridays

By Dan Go


Today's issue is brought to you by the . This is the exact workout and nutrition system we use to help our clients create lean and energetic bodies in under 90 minutes a week.


Hello friend,

Yesterday, I went out for a simple walk that ended up turning into a min-rucking session.

Rucking is walking or hiking while carrying a weighted rucksack or backpack. It's a staple of international military training, as soldiers must be able to carry weapons, food, and other supplies across long distances.

I just finished my lunch and was walking out the door for a walk. As I was about 20 feet away, my wife comes out with our new baby to say bye and my 3-year-old pops her head out.

She asks, "Daddy, where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk my love.", I reply back.

"Can I come too?"

After a bit of hesitation, I said, "Sure. Put on your shoes and let's go."

She puts on her shoes and we walk towards the trail that's near our home. Naturally, before we head off she has to play in a little sand pit and watch butterflies.

We get to the hiking trail and right as we begin she starts to tell me that she's tired. Lol. I can already see where this is going.

"Can you carry me?" she asks as she looks at me with those puppy dog eyes.

"Let's walk a bit longer. Just over the hill.", I say.

We walk 5 more feet and she stops and she asks me to carry her again. Knowing we have a ways to go on this trail I still bite the bullet and take it as an opportunity to ruck the rest of the way.

I picked her up and start to head down the path. All the while making sure we were away from the cliff to the right of us. When my arm got tired I shifted her to the next. This regular walk was turning out to be more than I bargained for.

Once we got home I was quite proud of myself. We walked around 2km up and down hills and managed to have fun while doing it.

It reminds me that you'll never regret opting for a harder workout especially if it's with someone you love.

Here is your 4-Minute Friday:

1. How to improve your lung health

One of the keys to living longer is to create a healthy set of lungs.

Between the ages of 30-50, we lose up to 15% of our lung function. By age 80, we can lose up to 30%. The older we get the weaker our lungs become & when lung function decreases your risk of heart failure increases.

Use these 5 exercises to make your lungs healthier:

  1. Zone 2 cardio
  2. High-intensity interval training
  3. Breath holds
  4. Nasal breathing
  5. Sitting/standing with good posture

I go in-depth on each of these in this thread you can check it out here:

 

2. The 5-second rule to doing hard things

Here's the scenario:

You know you have to workout but can't find the motivation to do it. So you procrastinate and by the end of the day, you got zero exercise and are feeling a bit guilty.

Next time try counting down from 5 and then taking action.

Literally, count down and say it out loud to yourself:

5, 4, 3, 2, and once you hit 1 get your ass out of the door and into your car or wherever you need to be to do your workout. Don't think. Just do it.

When you choose to count backwards you re-engage your prefrontal cortex. You let your brain know that you are in control and this calms it down.

Here's Mel Robbins talking about the idea of making 5-second decisions:

 

The key is that you have to act when you get the impulse to do that task. Your brain will squash the idea to reduce the stress if you don’t.

So, here are the steps to doing hard things:

  1. Have an impulse, but don’t want to do anything about it.
  2. Count backwards from 5 to 1.
  3. Take an action in the direction of your impulse.

I did this right before my lunchtime ruck. It actually works. Try it.

3. Stop drinking Gatorade. Drink this instead.

Gatorade is one of the worst sports drinks on the planet.

The reason why is because each bottle contains 34 grams of refined sugar and 99% of people would never need this much to replenish themselves during exercise.

It also doesn't contain enough electrolytes like sodium, potassium & magnesium, which is what you would need to re-hydrate yourself.

Sodium is the biggest predictor of how hydrated you are so I'd much rather go for an electrolyte drink like or because they contain a good amount of the electrolytes mentioned above without any sugar.

My wife and I use LMNT (no we're not sponsored by them) every day as part of our morning water intake. We find it helps us increase energy from our water and because of the increased sodium it also helps us sleep deeper at night.

Client of the week - Sandy, Entrepreneur


Sandy is an entrepreneur who struggled with a busy travel schedule, inconsistent workouts and poor nutrition.

In 12 weeks we dropped 21 lbs while navigating her travel schedule. Due to the changes we made to her eating habits she was experiencing 2x more energy levels than before.

We focused on eating meals on a schedule regardless of where she was in the world, creating a routine for the times she was traveling to always stay consistent with her workouts, and changing her mindset from always being on a diet to creating a lifestyle.

Are you an entrepreneur who wants results like this? â€‹

One Quote to Finish Your Week Strong


"Doing physically hard things is an enormous life hack. Do hard things and the rest of life gets easier and you appreciate it all the more.”
 
- Michael Easter from



I was talking with a friend the other day and we came across the idea of voluntary hardship. Things like working out, eating a diet, and choosing a goal that stretches us are needed in a world that becomes more comfortable as time passes.

What's a form of voluntary hardship you can do that will make your life better?

Countdown from 5 and make it happen.

- Dan

Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, boost energy, and get in your best shape in 2023? â€‹
Apply for private one-on-one coaching here.​​​

2. If you’re still looking to get lean, I’d recommend starting with an affordable course:

→ â€‹The Lean Body 90 System:​ Transform your body with the Lean Body 90 system. This comprehensive course will teach you the system I use to get my clients lean & energetic in 90 days in only 90 minutes a week. â€‹Join 1000+ students here.​ 

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