Mano Minute (3/6): The thing I got wrong about stress for years 😤 Stress has a bad reputation. There are two very different kinds of stress. Acute stress is short term, intense, and purposeful. A hard workout. A cold shower. A difficult conversation you finally have. Your body responds, adapts, and comes out stronger. That is what acute stress does. It builds you. Chronic stress is the opposite. It is low grade, persistent, and unresolved. Social pressure. Financial pressure. A job that...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (3/5): Read this if you struggle with discipline 🤔 I have been working on discipline for a long time. I believe it is a skill. Not a trait you either have or you do not. Something you build, rep by rep, day by day. But here is something I realized that changed how I think about it. Discipline is easier in some environments than others. Simple example. If you keep ultra processed food in your house, you are making discipline harder than it needs to be. You are asking your brain to...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (3/4): My workout efficiency cheat code 💪 My weight training sessions take 45 to 60 minutes. On average, I get through 10+ exercises and about 30+ sets. For example, I did an upper body session on Friday: 57 minutes. 11 exercises. 36 total sets. There's three tricks I use to get that much done in under an hour: I track every session and use a rest timer. I know exactly how long I am resting between sets. No guessing, no drifting. When the timer goes off, I go. I do not touch my...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (3/3): The fasting debate. Here's my breakdown 🍽️ Intermittent fasting v. scheduled eating. It seems like people get this mixed up. True intermittent fasting means extended fasts. 24 hours or more. Some people go 48 to 72 hours without food. This is a serious metabolic intervention. It has its place, but it is not for most people. What most of us call intermittent fasting is actually scheduled eating. A 16:8 window. A 12:12 window. Eating in a defined period and fasting outside of...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (3/2): The only thing worth focusing on right now 🎯 "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." - Viktor Frankl There is a lot happening in the world right now. It feels heavy. Because it is not in our control. Whether you agree with what is happening or not, the reality is the same. We do not control the decisions being made. What we do control is how we react. Every day, we get to decide where we direct our energy. Toward...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (2/27): Could social media be worse than cigarettes? 🚬 This might annoy some people. But it needs to be said. Hear me out. The biggest negatives I see: Dopamine dysregulation (constant hits, never satisfied) Screen time replacing real connection Inability to be present with people in person Self confidence issues from comparison Focus on material things instead of what matters Destroyed attention span I say this and I use social media every day. Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook. But...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (2/26): Why your nap is making you more tired 😴 Have you ever taken a nap for 60+ minutes, but woke up more tired? This happens because there is a right and wrong way to nap. When you nap too long, your body hits a deep sleep stage. That stage is meant for overnight sleep, not naps. If you wake up during deep sleep, you feel groggy, sluggish, and worse than before you laid down. I do not nap often. But when I do, I follow a simple protocol to avoid this. Here is what works:⏱️ Keep...
12 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (2/24): The bulky myth that stops people from getting strong 💪 One of our clients asked me this last week. "Does this protein powder make you bulky?" My answer was a hard no. But I wanted to explain why. The biggest myth in health is this idea of getting bulky. Meaning gaining too much muscle and looking too big. I'll use myself as an example to show this in reality. I have gained 12 pounds since my Ironman in November. About 14 weeks. Most of it came from muscle (9 pounds of...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Mano Minute (2/23): My body used to hate this lifestyle 🥗 "The amazing thing about your body is that it will get used to whatever you give it. We can exercise and eat healthy food, or eat and drink too much and suffer the consequences. This is why it is so important to form good habits." - Peter Giersch I love this quote. It reminds me that change is hard in the beginning. But not forever. When I first started eating clean and training consistently, my body resisted. It wanted the foods I was...
15 days ago • 1 min read