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, develop a better mindset, make day-to-day life easier, and other shenanigans.
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Sleep Strategy I’m Benefiting From:
I stumbled upon a social media post recently that gave me a new appreciation for the benefits that “warming up” before bed has on our sleep quality.
Via Brandon Luu, MD on X
And maybe what I love about it most is how incredibly simple it is.
As you can see above, a warm shower (or bath) somewhere in that 1–2-hour time zone prior to bed leads to body surface warming that then results in our core temperature falling.
Which, if you can remember, is necessary for sleep to ensue.
Although I’ve had great results with this trick, I added the “no socks” piece this week and found it to be exceptionally beneficial as more heat can be offloaded.
A couple other things to add…
This further illustrates that a heated mattress pad may not be the best idea. Instead, add layers on top if necessary.
It also hammers home the point that a cold room (ideally <70F) is the ideal sleeping environment — especially important as we enter those summer months when houses tend to warm.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Race I Followed This Week:
Nick Bare and the BPN team hosted a “last man standing” ultramarathon last weekend in Texas that I still can’t take my mind off.
Simply put, a last man standing race is one in which a group of contestants complete a ~4 mile loop every hour on the hour.
For reference, that’s 16 laps around a conventional track.
When they finish the loop – say it takes 45 minutes - they can do whatever they want for the remaining time (15 minutes in this case) such as eat, drink, sleep, wash up, etc.
But when the top of the hour comes, they must toe the line and complete it again.
And again, and again, and again.
Until everyone else quits.
In this race, there was a large cohort of well-known endurance athletes but two of them took the world by storm.
Kim Gottwald and Kendall Fallas.
Both 21 years old.
After the other 118 runners decided to hang up their shoes, these two went at it for hours upon hours — through the dark nights, thunderstorms, and facing severe sleep deprivation.
But after an incredibly dangerous storm surfaced, the race was called and the two fittingly shared the crown.
Final stats? 56 total hours. 235.2 miles.
Although this race is of course a direct physical test, it’s just as much a challenge of mental fortitude and perseverance.
Doing some research on these two studs, I uncovered a previous Instagram post released by Fallas that exemplified just that.
He writes…
But will I sleep well knowing I quit?
I usually don’t.
So the option, actually the only option is to empty the tank. Do one more. Until there’s nothing left in you.
If you lived by this, day by day, imagine how fulfilling life could be. It won’t be easy. But why should it be? Everyone else is already on that path — and we don’t want to be everyone, right?
Take that one in.
Documentary I Watched This Week:
In the last few years, an eccentric figure posing on social media as “The Liver King” took the health and wellness space by storm.
This said figure, Brian Johnson, made famous his idea that eating a boatload of organ meats (often raw) leads to an overwhelming number of benefits.
One of them being his incredible physique.
Although nearly everyone pressed him on it, he affirmed that he was completely natural – all of this was because of his diet and lifestyle, not anabolic steroids or other pharmaceuticals.
And this led to his supplement company popularized for selling various organ meat blends doing millions in sales.
However, an email chain got leaked in November 2022 of Mr. Liver King exposing his extensive anabolic steroid and growth hormone regimen.
In this Netflix documentary, a live look-in of Liver King’s daily lifestyle is revealed alongside his explanation of the lies he hid behind for years.
And for me, there was only one word to describe how I felt — sad.
He built his entire life around this false persona and continues to lean into these unusual and obsessive behaviors like eating raw cow reproductive organs directly after shooting it.
Insanity.
Worse, he has convinced his family to follow along, although you can tell they may be questioning his mental faculties just as much as the rest of us.
Watching this made me double down on the idea that we are meant to prioritize our health to experience life.
Not live our lives obsessed about our health.
What’s the fun in that?
Beware, if you decide to watch, you better have a strong stomach.
What else?
Somehow, June is on the doorstep already. Write down a couple daily habits you want to master this summer and post them on a sticky note somewhere you will see them EVERY single day! A lot of change can be made in 90 days.
Your mind is the ultimate governor, train it daily.
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DISCLAIMER
This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program.