You already know that I’m a big fan of cheesy 80s and 90s Euro pop, like Modern Talking, as well as Rocky IV. But there’s a lot of other health/fitness/general stuff I like that I don’t give enough credit to.
In this article, I’ll list some of the things I like, and why I like them, and explain how I use them. Hopefully, it’ll help you too. And if you’re wondering, no, I don’t have any financial affiliation with any of these companies or products.
In no particular order, here we go.
This is a roll-on stick (like a deodorant) that is amazing for injuries. They have a few different products.
Basically, if you have an injury, or some minor “boo-boo”, you rub this on the affected area, and it goes to work.
Original source: here.
What are the ingredients of this? The main ones are menthol, camphor and peppermint oil. These are all counter-irritants, and vasodilators (they open up the blood vessels). There are some other ingredients, like MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin, folic acid, and others.
As a competitive powerlifter, and someone who likes to do funky stuff for exercise, I occasionally get minor injuries. That’s why I have a Medistik in my cabinet.
The first week after a minor injury, I apply the Medistik with high frequency. We’re talking 4-6 times per day. Then, I back down the frequency, to 2-4 times per day, until it’s gone.
I believe part of my rapid recovery from injuries comes from this.
This is one of my favorite supplements. Not because it tastes good (it actually tastes awful), but my favorite because of what’s in it.
It has high-dose vitamin C (3000 mg), as well as lysine and proline (it has other ingredients as well, but those are the main ones). The label says it’s for heart health. But I use it for both colds, and joint health.
Original source: here.
Before using TLC 3.0, when I would get colds, my nose would run all days long. I used to wipe so much, the skin got irritated, and of course, I’d get a fever. Now, when I use TLC 3.0, the runny nose doesn’t run nearly as much. Maybe about 70-80% less. And now, I haven’t had a fever in probably 2 or 3 years.
When I do have a cold, I take it 3 times per day. Yeah, that’s high dose.
Whenever I have an injury, I also use it, just once per day. Why? Because vitamin C is needed to make collagen, and so is proline (but you also need glycine and arginine). And what is made of collagen? Tendons and ligaments.
As I outlined in my article, A Behind-The-Scenes, All-Access Look at My Professional Development, I read a ton. 70-80 books per year.
Original source: here.
Where do I get my books? A decent number of them come from abebooks.com, which is an online used book store.
Given the amount that I read, if I was to buy all my books at full price, I’d be bankrupt. Besides, I’m paying for information… not a shiny cover, so I don’t mind if it’s a bit beat up (though the condition is usually quite good). That, and I’m just cheap 😉
You know those protein and meal replacement bars that you can buy at gas stations and grocery stores? Most of them are basically thinly-disguised junk food. Lots of bad ingredients in there.
Original source: here.
But the PaleoBars from Designs for health are actually healthy, and tasty. Usually, these bars that are tasty are pretty unhealthy. And the ones that are healthy taste like cardboard. Not the case with these bars. They are both healthy and tasty.
As far as I know, they come in 3 flavours: chocolate, coconut, and chocolate/peanut butter. Yummy!
This is my favourite B complex. Why? For two reasons: dosages and forms. They have high dosages of the B vitamins, and they’re in the most absorbable forms. I elaborate on what makes a good supplement in my article, Nutritional Supplements: How Do You Determine Quality?
Original source: here.
How do I use it? Here’s how: There are two workouts in my week that are especially difficult, and I need a bit more mental fortitude to complete them, compared to my other workouts. So about 30-60 minutes before those 2 particular workouts, I have a coffee. I find that it gives me a bit more mental fortitude, and decreases the perceived difficulty of a workout. I like that. What I don’t like is not being able to fall asleep after having coffee. I’m one of those people who can have a coffee at 1 in the afternoon, and I won’t be able to fall asleep.
So how do I get the benefits of coffee (increased strength and decreased perceived exertion), without the drawbacks (inability to fall asleep)? Advanced B complex to the rescue!
Like I said, 30-60 minutes before the 2 difficult workouts in my week, I have a coffee, and then, immediately after the workouts, I have a B complex. It gets the caffeine out of my system faster (in about 20-30 minutes), and I can fall asleep just fine.
The reason that some people have the same reaction to coffee as me is because in our livers, caffeine is processed slower. Without getting too deeply into the physiology, that’s because the first phase of liver detoxification is slower for caffeine. It can be sped up with B vitamins.
I owe a big chunk of my methodology to Charles Poliquin. He’s a brilliant Canadian strength coach, and he’s the inventor of biosignature, which me and my trainers use extensively with our clients.
Original source: here.
Many of my company’s supplement protocols are rooted in Charles’ methodology.
In his seminars, he’s rude, politically incorrect, short-tempered, and often makes racist and sexist jokes. I like him.
Often, at the end of his seminars, he does “parking lot sessions.” He doesn’t like people asking him questions after the seminar, at the parking lot, so instead, he makes it so that the last half an hour of a long seminar is questions that you would otherwise ask in the parking lot. The information gathered during this Q&A is often more valuable than the rest of the seminar.
Another big chunk of my methodology comes from Pavel Tsatsouline. Although I’ve never been to one of his live seminars, I’ve read every one of his books. Some of them, two or three times.
Original source: here.
His whole shtick is low-tech, high-concept. So he teaches people small, but game-changing tricks, techniques and strategies to increase strength and flexibility relatively quickly and safely.
Besides that, the man has freaky strength and flexibility. At a bodyweight of 165 pounds, I’ve seen him Zercher squat 315 pounds in a Stuart McGill video. I’ve heard that he’s deadlifted over 600 pounds. Cyborg.
I like to read. As I mentioned, for the last 12-13 years, I’ve been reading about 70-80 books per year. But, I figured, what if I could do it faster? Although I’ve read books about how to improve reading speed in the past, and have even taken a course in it, it got boring very quickly. Yes, my reading speed did improve with all those approaches, but I never stuck with it long enough. Like I said: boring. I would do the drills for 4 days, to 2 weeks, and then get bored.
Original source: here.
So I decided to invest in speed reading software. 7 Speed Reading to the rescue. This software is actually fun to use. But more than anything, it’s effective.
After using it daily for one month, it took my reading speed from about 230 words per minute, to now, around 470-480 words per minute, with no loss in comprehension.
Although on their website, they advertise that reading speed will improve by 3.471 times (not percent) after using it for 7 minutes per day, for 2 weeks. I certainly didn’t practice for 7 minutes per day (more like 15-40 minutes), and I’ve been doing it for about 4-5 weeks, and my reading speed has “only” doubled. Nonetheless, I’m very happy with the results and the software.
But fair warning: the very first time that I read for an hour straight at my new speed, I basically “fried” my brain. The following day, I had a massive headache, I couldn’t look at a computer screen or my phone, and I had a feeling of fatigue like I’ve never felt before. Took me about 2 weeks to get over it.
Reading at my new speed for 20-30 minutes wasn’t a problem, but when I read for an hour straight at that new speed, that’s when I got that reaction. You’ve been warned.
