Hello and welcome to 4-Minute Friday where I share, in four minutes or less, the latest things I’m doing to enhance my health, save money, and make day-to-day life easier and more enjoyable.
All comments and follow-up questions can be posted directly below, on my Facebook page or emailed to me at zach.griffith1@gmail.com!
Congratulations to Cale Zook on winning the Barbell Apparel $50 gift card! Anyone in the Central Illinois area knows this dude could shoot a free throw with the best of them in his hay day and was a huge contributor to Fisher’s Regional Championship in 2017. (Still couldn’t guard me though)
Last week I opened up a completely anonymous Q & A link with the hope of doing a mailbag style post in the near future to answer any and all questions you may have. Topics including but not limited to health, fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle are on the table! Visit the link here to pose your questions! Enter 18455 as the code to get to my page!
Weekly Podcast Episode:
Tim Ferriss recently hosted NYT best-selling author and productivity expert Cal Newport on his podcast… and man was it full of gems.
Cal is the author of the book Deep Work, subtitled “Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”.
The subtitle itself should generate interest with the social media doom-scrolling world we live in today.
However, this podcast dissected ideologies from his soon-to-be released book, Slow Productivity.
One of the messages that stood out from their 2+ hour discourse were Cal’s beliefs on quality vs quantity of work. He says…
“You can’t be busy and frenetic and bouncing off the walls with 100 projects if you’re obsessed about doing something really well.”
In today’s hustle culture, the popular viewpoint is more = better. More hours worked, more projects accepted, more social media posts released, even more workouts completed.
However, Cal points out that quality suffers dramatically with this mindset.
Instead, he encourages us to focus on taking the time to do things properly.
Work slowly and allow yourself to gather your thoughts.
Prioritize time away from “work” so you can recover, decompress, and then get back to it with a clear mind.
Although his focus was on creative work, this approach is just as fitting for exercise and fitness.
For example, if you’re overly strict about your workouts and doing more than you should be, both injury and burnout are likely on the horizon. Rather, the focus should be on high-quality sessions, correct form, and consistency as a replacement for being excessive.
In the long haul, prioritizing quality over quantity positively impacts our bodies, minds, and makes what we do more significant.
Especially for those who love checking tasks off their planner, I recommend giving this podcast episode a listen with a notebook and pen in hand!
Simple Sleep Hack:
We’ve all heard the commonplace sleep strategies at this point.
Don’t eat right before bed. Decrease fluid intake in the evening. Limit screen time. Consider supplementation.
The list goes on.
A lesser-known tactic is another which you have complete control over and it’s very simple.
Wash your sheets – if possible, every week.
Reflect on the number of hours you spend per week in your bed versus wearing clothing… and now compare how often you wash each.
Over time, bedding accumulates oil, sweat, dust, and other stuff that can aggravate your respiratory systems and negatively influence your sleep. In addition, the feeling of lying down on fresh sheets after a long day can’t be beat!
Easy habit shift –> wash your sheets (and blankets) more often.
Bonus: Don’t let your dog (or Mongolian gerbil) sleep with you or lay on your bed for the exact same reason!
Phenomenon I’m Leveraging:
There’s a reason why studies on nutritional intake are so hard for researchers to administer.
When people know they’re being watched, they make different decisions.
Have you ever heard the advice, “act like coach is watching” or “act like your mom is here”?
This perfectly illustrates the fact that we make very different decisions based on who’s observing.
Imagine you’re enrolled in a study at a nearby college which requires you to journal everything you eat in a day with 100% transparency.
Would you think twice before taking down that King Size Reese’s following dinner? Likely so!
This is called the Hawthorne Effect and it’s the phenomenon that people modify aspects of their behavior when they know they’re being observed.
Although undesirable for research, the Hawthorne Effect can be leveraged to your advantage. And it’s likely you already are!
Think about your smart watch.
It tracks your steps, exercise, standing time, and more. Essentially, it’s a mini researcher sitting on your wrist and recording every move you make. Literally.
It motivates you to get up and achieve those 10,000 steps, close your daily activity rings, and beat yesterday’s personal best.
Having a tool directly attached to us is a great way to provide small incentives to make better decisions – use it to your advantage!
A couple of other ways to utilize the Hawthorne Effect:
Sleep trackers are a constant reminder to shut down your phone and get to bed earlier in the evening.
Apps (like MyFitnessPal) where you record protein intake encourage you to hit your daily goal of 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.
Fitness challenges with friends give them access to your activity statistics and provide a competitive environment!
I give these recommendations with slight hesitancy because it’s possible to “over track” and become obsessive about hitting all the metrics – find what works for you but no need to do it all!
What else?
March is upon us! There’s still plenty of time left before summer to achieve whatever fitness goals you have for yourself. Start today!
I’ll be releasing Part 2 of the electrolyte discussion this coming Monday. Stay tuned to discover product recommendations contingent on your activity level!
Doing good work doesn’t always mean doing a lot of work.
Buy some Barbell Apparel fitness clothing through my link here!
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DISCLAIMER
- This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program.