Designed for busy professionals and those that are serious about their health, our year-long program is focused on optimizing your wellness routine, helping you look fit and feel vibrant by incorporating strength training, cardiorespiratory exercise, mobility movement, and nutritional guidance – using your time as efficiently as possible.

Book Your Free Consultation

If you’re wherever : Workout Wherever by Mazama Wellness is a location-independent fitness system that offers a dose of travel inspiration.

Turn any location into your own personal gym with our portable exercise equipment and on-demand training videos via Workout Wherever TV.

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‼️ To avoid an email that finishes prematurely, this post is best viewed on the website or in the Substack app!

Maximal Strength Training:

In the last Substack (linked above) I talked about the importance of muscle mass and why you should make sure your workouts include exercises that increase it. Here I’m going to talk about the importance of muscle strength.

It seems strange at first, but muscle size and maximal strength are not the same thing, even if they are often conflated. It’s true that bigger muscles tend to be stronger, but there is a lot more than just muscle size that dictates someone's strength. This is why powerlifters tend to be smaller than bodybuilders, but stronger when it comes to squatting, deadlifting, and benching. This difference in strength is likely due to neuromuscular drive (aka motor unit recruitment), connective tissue development, movement efficiency, and maybe some other factors. For our purposes, the important thing to keep in mind is that muscle strength and muscle mass are two different things and they are trained for in two different ways.

So why is muscle strength important? Most of us reading this don’t want to be powerlifters. Most of us don’t go around asking: “So, what do you bench?” Well, it turns out that being strong is helpful for more than just lifting weights in the gym. It improves physical capacity, quality of life, bone density, cognition, and resilience to injury - all things that help you live a long and fulfilling life. Let’s dig in.

Physical Capacity

If you’re strong, you’re more capable. You’re able to carry your groceries, put your luggage in the overhead bins, or pick up your 110 lbs English Mastiff and carry her to the car after she tore her Cranial Cruciate Ligament (speaking from experience). In all these situations you want to feel capable of handling what life throws at you.

Quality of Life

Doing the things you love as much as possible and for as many years as possible seems like an obvious thing to work towards. Being strong keeps you doing the activities you love and helps you perform better while doing these activities. You’re more able to enjoy your backpacking trip if you don’t feel like an exhausted wreck after carrying a 30 lbs backpack 10 miles, then setting up a tent and cooking dinner. Being able to enjoy these activities makes life that much more worth living and provides more of the experiences that make up a rich and fulfilling life.

Bone Density

As I mentioned before here, lifting heavy weights puts strain on bone and forces it to remineralize. This makes your bones stronger and less likely to break. This is very important because hip fractures are a big problem in older populations with some studies stating that 33% of sufferers die within a year of breaking their hips.1 Women are particularly susceptible to hip fractures because of the bone mineral loss due to menopause. The best way to prevent this is to start lifting heavy weights as early and often as possible. This will prevent bone loss and keep you from spending your last years in a hospital bed.

Cognition

We’ve talked about the connection between muscle mass and cognitive health before, but as we pointed out above, we’re talking about muscle strength here. It turns out that muscle strength is also correlated with positive cognitive health outcomes, in fact “cross-sectional studies have consistently demonstrated an association between muscle strength and cognitive function.”2 Those individuals who perform better on strength tests (hand grip dynamometer, isokinetic dynamometer, etc) also perform better on cognitive tests. Meaning if you’re stronger, you’ll perform better mentally and this has been tested not only in senior populations, but middle aged folks as well (40+). Again, another case for starting early and often to get the most out of life.

Resilience to Injury

Lower extremity strength has been associated with reduced risk of falls.3 This seems pretty obvious, but the stronger your legs are, the less likely you are to take a fall or if you do fall, the less likely you are to injure yourself. This might mean the difference between being laid up for 4 months due to injury and being able to go on a hike every weekend to decompress from a stressful work week. Injuries can have longterm effects and a broken ankle could mean never fully recovering and getting back out on the trails.

Takeaway

For most of us, it really boils down to being strong in order to get the most out of life. We want to do the activities we enjoy, help the people we care about, and feel capable and confident in how we move through life. In my mind, this is a noble pursuit and is the reason why focusing on developing maximal strength should be an integral part of any well rounded workout routine.

Recently I’ve been obsessed with cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands. I’ve ridden bikes since I was a kid and in adulthood have done some longer rides, the longest of which was a ride from San Francisco to San Diego. This is a standout memory for me, but I do remember some parts where we were dangerously close to car traffic - not super enjoyable. In the Netherlands, you wouldn't have to worry about this. The bike paths there are incredible and are maintained better than a lot of the car freeways in the US. I’m looking forward to visiting sometime in the future and cycling through the country. It’s also super flat, so it's pretty enjoyable to get around by bike - aside from the rain I guess.

📣 🌐 SPEAKING OF WHEREVER… 🌐 📣

This newsletter was created as an extension of the world building we are doing around a brand and product we developed to help you stay strong while on the road and around the globe.

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What is WORKOUT WHEREVER BY MAZAMA WELLNESS?

• portable exercise equipment that fits in your carry-on or on the shelf⁠ - we call it The Equipment Cube™

• on-demand workout videos - designed to pair with your equipment

• a (this) casual newsletter providing you with tips and inspiration re: travel, fitness, nutrition, quality of life, and relevant memes.

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San Francisco used to have the biggest swimming pool in the United States. It opened in 1925 and was 1,000 by 150 feet. It was so big that the lifeguards had to patrol the pool by rowboat. And if you’re wondering what person in their right mind would go swimming in an outdoor pool in the cold, foggy Sunset neighborhood of SF - it was heated. The intake of seawater was heated to between 65° and 75° Fahrenheit, which I’m sure is better than the ocean temperature, but is still pretty frigid, which was probably what led to its decline in popularity and closure in 1971.

Still, a pretty cool idea and it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t still exist because wetsuit swimming or rowing would be pretty fun activities to do in such a wide open space. If you read the last Substack, you’ll remember that the Sutro baths were just a bit north of the Fleishhacker Pool and were also very popular in the early part of the 20th Century. I guess maybe people were just built differently back then because they seemed to enjoy that frigid ocean water much more than folks these days.

Summer, Summer, SummerWine

Happy Summer! Tis the season for alfresco natural wine imbibing.

Here is a list of places I’d crowd a sidewalk with chatty strangers while sipping a chilled red the color of a smashed overripe raspberry.

Some locations, I’ve already done just that and some I endeavor to do so in the future.

We’re not sitting. We’re standing. Outside. On the sidewalk – maybe a pinch in the road. Convivial. Clinking. A few decibels shy of shouting. a la Action Bronson and crew in Paris–F*ck, That’s Delicious vibes. All these locations lend to this behavior. Enjoy.

You heard it through the grapevine…

- In no particular order -

1. ✅ Ordinaire - Oakland, CA

   (Instagram @ordinaire_oakland)

   

2. 🔜 Folderol - Paris, FR

   Natural wine + ice cream pairings!

3. ✅ Ruby Wine - San Francisco, CA

   Loud-but good-music, sidewalk dance floor, small bites from the shop next door, by the glass is available but really it’s bottle or bust.

   

4. ✅ Ardor Wines - Portland, OR

   It looks like a wine bar opened next door since our last visit - let’s add it to the list for funzies.

   1. 🔜 Nil. Wine Bar - Portland, OR

5. ✅ Holy Wine - Lisboa, PT

   This is essentially standing (or milk crate on the sidewalk) room only with the tram whizzing by near a corridor of streets that feel like a secret and a thoroughfare at the same time.

6. 🔜 Solovino - Roma, IT

7. ✅ Black Sheep - Lisboa, PT

   Never will you feel so welcomed into a wine bar when you have no idea what you are looking for than at Black Sheep. The owners are storytellers who really seem to enjoy putting you on to new producers. It used to be a small wine bar with about 4 seats and 50+ people crowding the door, or spilling over into the nearby Praça (garden/park) but they recently opened an expansion next door. I suspect the culture of wandering with your wine glass still exists.

   Vino Memento : Place’s we’ve been that cease to be

8. Circoletto - Roma, IT

   We’ve never been so seduced/charmed by a bar/restaurant and it’s employees (shout out to Matteo and team). Truly heartbroken to hear it closed, but check out Fratelli Trecca which seems to have opened in its place if you are in Rome.

   

9. Comida Independente - Lisboa, PT

   While living in Lisbon, we frequented this spot for wine, cheese, oysters, and jars of locally produced kraut. It looks like maybe they are just taking a pause rather than closing for good.

🥂 🇮🇹 Salute, 🇵🇹 Saúde, 🇫🇷 Tchin Tchin or Santé, 🇺🇸 Cheers !

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Designed for busy professionals and those that are serious about their health, our year-long program is focused on optimizing your wellness routine, helping you look fit and feel vibrant by incorporating strength training, cardiorespiratory exercise, mobility movement, and nutritional guidance – using your time as efficiently as possible.

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If you’re wherever : Workout Wherever by Mazama Wellness is a location-independent fitness system that offers a dose of travel inspiration.

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This post is best viewed on the website or Substack app!

If you read the last Substack (linked above), you know how important muscle mass is for health and longevity. Remember, muscle doesn’t just help you look fit, but it improves your quality of life, cognitive function, and metabolic health.

Let’s dive a little deeper:

Quality of Life

“The age-associated loss of skeletal muscle quantity and function are critical determinants of independent physical functioning in later life.”1

Having more muscle mass means you're more physically capable now and much more likely to remain mobile and active in later life. Not only is it important to be able to do the activities you love, like playing tennis or going camping, but also to remain independent as you age. A decline in mobility or fear of falling in later life can not only impair your ability to participate in hobbies, but will also affect your ability to take care of everyday tasks like grocery shopping, cooking for yourself, and putting your socks on.

Improving muscle mass means looking fit, but also feeling strong and ready to take life head-on. Nobody wants to feel weak and frail, no matter their age, and having some extra muscle will help you look and feel your best no matter what stage of life you’re in.

Cognitive Function

Muscle mass is neuroprotective, has a positive effect on cognition, and helps attenuate cognitive decline. One theory is that this is due to a variety of proteins and peptides (called myokines) that are produced during muscle contraction and elicit a multitude of effects, from reducing systemic inflammation to improving metabolism and mitochondrial function. This in turn has a positive effect on the health of brain cells. So more myokines means better brain health and cognition. It would therefore stand to reason that having more muscle tissue and contracting that muscle tissue would increase myokine production, thereby improving cognitive function.

Whatever the mechanism, it’s well documented that those individuals with more muscle mass suffer less cognitive decline, score higher on cognitive assessments, and deal with less neurodegenerative issues.

Metabolic Health

Metabolism is the cellular process of turning food into energy. Muscle cells are metabolically active and use a substantial amount of energy even in a resting state. The more muscle mass you have, the more efficient your body is at burning energy and the more calories are needed to maintain that muscle. This is why those with more muscle tend to have less instances of obesity, insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. The more muscle mass, the more of an energy burning machine your body becomes.

Metabolic syndrome is a global health problem, as it is closely associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and mortality. The loss of skeletal muscle and the accumulation of intramuscular fat, which induce contractile impairment and metabolic abnormalities, may be associated with metabolic syndrome via a complex set of factors including proinflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, insulin resistance, and lack of physical activity.2 Several studies have established links between sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome.

More muscle means less likelihood of dealing with metabolic syndrome and a higher chance of staying metabolically healthy.

Takeaways

If looking fit and performing well wasn’t enough of a reason to put on some extra muscle, then the reasons listed above should convince you. Whether it’s to improve your quality of life, perform better cognitively, or optimize your metabolic health - increasing muscle mass is an important outcome to strive for. This means that any good exercise program should include a fair amount of hypertrophy training in order to achieve this.

If you’ve been keeping up, you know that at Mazama Wellness, we like to enjoy food and don’t look at eating simply in terms of calories or grams of protein. Food should be exciting and there is definitely room for enjoyment in a health-centered nutrition plan.

We often like to get pastries on Sunday morning. This outing usually consists of a long walk to a bakery and enjoying some of the great products that San Francisco has to offer, much in the same way that we would when we were living in Lisbon, Portugal. I love a walkable city.

Here are some of the most notable pastries we’ve tried in the last few months:

Arsicault

This one had been on our list for a while. They just opened their third location in Mission Bay, which was very welcome since the location in the Richmond neighborhood always has an enormous line and I typically try to avoid Civic Center. The go-to here is some variation of a croissant - which is what they’re known for. We got the ham and cheese croissant, a kouign-amann, and a palmier. The ham and cheese croissant was amazing. It was probably the flakiest croissant I’ve ever had (quite the mess) and the cheese was a little stinky, which made it that much more unique. I always get either a kouign-amann or pain au chocolat at any bakery I go to as a barometer of quality and this kouign-amann was solid.

Tartine

The old standby - never disappointing. We buy bread from Tartine weekly and every few weeks get morning buns. Crunchy and sweet on the outside, soft and doughy in the middle. Not much else to say except you pretty much can’t go wrong here. Also, if you need a quick birthday celebration treat, grab some of their brownies and a pint of Straus vanilla ice cream, throw a candle in it, and call it good.

Neighbor Bakehouse

This spot has a ginger pull-apart that is an exceptional breakfast treat. Threads of real ginger and little pillows of dough that somehow get caramelized almost entirely throughout so you can pull them apart and it’s like you have a bunch of little sticky buns smooshed together into one regular sized pastry. I’m sure the process is a matter of lots of butter, some sugar, and the right amount of heat. Whatever it is, it’s something to try.

Jane the Bakery

Also a solid kouign-amann, but one of the treats that really stands out from here is the cardamom lattice bun. This thing looks like a baseball and is filled with cardamom cream, which was unexpected. I’m a huge fan of cardamom and this really hit the spot. Definitely not light fare and I personally would rather eat this as an after lunch dessert than as a breakfast food. Either way, it’s outta sight.

On a side note: If you really want to be nerdy about your consumption of sweets, get in an hour Zone 2 cardio workout before you indulge. I’m not a fan of trading exercise for food, but the Zone 2 cardio will blunt the insulin response and you might find that you’re less affected by the sugar rush and associated feelings.

Sutro Baths Ice Skating Rink?

This might not make sense upon first reading. Most of us have heard of Sutro Baths. Many of us have probably been there and seen the remnants of this once glorious house of swimming pools. If you’ve seen old pictures, you know how big and impressive it was. It was fed by the ocean and contained a multitude of pools along with slides and rope swings and was surrounded by stadium seating. I saw one picture that claimed to be taken on a day that over 1900 people were there swimming and lounging. Must’ve been a hot day because I'm sure on most days throughout the year, it wasn’t nearly so popular owing to the cool SF weather.

This is old news, though. But did you know that after closing the baths, they were turned into an ice skating rink? After the waning popularity of the baths they decided to try an ice rink, which makes more sense for San Francisco than a cold ocean water swimming pool. However, this only lasted a few years before it was shut down and shortly after the whole thing burned.

You can see the ice rink in all its glory in the movie The Line Up from 1958. A great movie to experience San Francisco in that time period, but the scene in the Sutro Baths ice rink is pretty amazing not only for the history, but also for the role it plays in the movie. Definitely worth a watch if you’re into history or film noir.

So next time you’re out at Lands End, you’ll see the Sutro Bath ruins with a new appreciation and you can impress your friends with a few fun facts.

Hihi from your resident Spring baby and her fervent floral fixation.

Today I’d like to corrupt and awe with a curious constellation of flowery discoveries.

And so it goes…

Flowers for your butt

When they say find your niche, this is what they mean. Name another custom toilet seat artist - I dare you.

Shop other (equally weird) styles here.

Flowers for your walls

I’m really having a hard time describing how this practice of collaging pressed flowers makes me feel. Such meticulousness. So mesmerizing – both the process and the final product. Imagine this as cu$tom wallpaper! I’m dazzled!

Flowers for your inner child

It will never cease to amaze me how versatile Legos are. AND NOW THEY DO BOUQUETS!? Your special person wants a bouquet they don’t have to clean up after, I promise. And you can build it together over a couple of fun beverages for some low-key quality time. NOW KISS!

Flowers for your soul’s tether to nature

Have you ever asked the internet “Where is the most floral town on earth?”? Well I did, and of the indecisive answers I received, I picked a place that definitely is made up and not a real place. I know this because each photo of said place (even the half-cocked blurry tourist shots paired with Google Reviews) feels like a hallucination. Ok ok. It IS real, and about an hour outside of Amsterdam.

Lisse, Netherlands

More specifically, Keukenhof Gardens - known as “The Garden of Europe”.

What the heck!? If heaven exists, it’s a Dutch garden. 🌷

I’m emotional.

Also, on their website, there is a “flower report” that seems to be updated almost daily with images to tell you what is in bloom.

And if you happen to be going to Japan instead of Netherlands, you’re in luck!

Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park in Hokkaido, Japan has a little slice of Holland. The below image stunned me. It made me feel like I could live the rest of my life inside of a world built by Studio Ghibli and have 0 regrets - as long as Dustin is there too. <3

Honorable Mention

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again.

Garden Chronicles on Max is the most soothing content you will consume. Screen time-worthy 10 minute episodes, immersing you into specific gardens around the world. Imagine Chef’s Table on Netflix, but the ingredients are soil, sun, water, and love.

—

Thanks for joining us - see you next time! If you feel inclined, leave us a comment!

Leave a comment

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Subscribe now

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Share workout wherever

Designed for busy professionals and those that are serious about their health, our year-long program is focused on optimizing your wellness routine, helping you look fit and feel vibrant by incorporating strength training, cardiorespiratory exercise, mobility movement, and nutritional guidance – using your time as efficiently as possible.

Book Your Free Consultation

If you’re anywhere : Workout Wherever by Mazama Wellness is a location-independent fitness system that offers a dose of travel inspiration.

Our goal is for you to feel more confident and consistent with your workouts and access unlimited workout destination possibilities with our portable exercise equipment and on-demand training videos via Workout Wherever TV.

Learn More at WorkoutWherever.com

This post is best viewed on the website or Substack app!

“Why do you workout?”

This is a question that I reflect on periodically. I think most people start working out because they have an aesthetic goal, like losing weight, or a performance goal, like running a marathon. For me I was a skinny teenager that wanted to put on some muscle, so I grabbed a pair of my dad's old dumbbells and started working out in my bedroom and that was the start of this 30 year journey.

On some level I'm still that kid trying to put on some muscle, but at some point I started focusing on other aspects of fitness. Things like improving strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and mobility, in order to improve my quality of life. These things helped me do the activities that I enjoyed. They made me feel healthy and vibrant and energetic and productive. In fact, working out became enjoyable in and of itself and helped me deal with anxiety and stress and improved my sleep and helped me think more clearly and feel ready to take on all the challenges that life threw at me. 

I find this to be the case with lots of the clients that I train. They start working with me because they want to lose some weight, put on some muscle, and maybe ease their lower back pain. However, they start to feel the confidence and empowerment that strength training and exercise brings and they start to love working out for different reasons altogether. When everyday tasks become easier and they can go for a run without knee pain or hike with friends without feeling like they're holding everyone back, that’s when the real wins occur. They feel the vibrancy that comes with being strong and capable. 

But how should you workout when you don’t want to be a bodybuilder or powerlifter or marathon runner? Well, certainly the type of training needed for all those pursuits have some benefit for people that simply want to optimize their health and live a long fruitful life. Putting on muscle mass, increasing maximal strength, and improving cardiorespiratory fitness are all things that are good for general health, but if your goals don’t involve powerlifting meets or marathons, then you only need these things in certain quantities. 

How should you workout to receive all the benefits that strength training and exercise has to offer? Great question! Here are the four pillars of a well-rounded workout plan: 

Hypertrophy Training

Muscle mass is healthy. This probably isn’t too much of a surprise, however increased muscle mass not only helps you look fit, but it also improves your quality of life [1], cognitive function [2] [3], and metabolic health [4] [5]. Being able to do the activities you enjoy, feeling productive in daily life, and enjoying eating out without it being detrimental to your health (metabolic flexibility) shows how beneficial having some extra muscle can be to overall health and wellbeing. With this in mind, any well-rounded exercise program should include elements that increase muscle mass. 

Maximal Strength Training

Being strong is beneficial for lots of reasons, including some that may surprise you. I’m sure everyone would like to lift heavy things more easily just from a functional standpoint, but lifting maximally also improves physical capability and quality of life [6] [7] [8], improves bone health [9] [10], enhances cognition [11] [12], and decreases the likelihood of injury [13]. These are benefits specific to lifting heavy weights, all of which add up to being more active, capable, and socially connected - helping you get the most out of life. 

Cardiorespiratory Exercise

Exercise that improves VO2 Max (the gold standard test of cardiorespiratory fitness) has been inversely correlated with all cause mortality [14]. Simply stated - improving your cardiorespiratory fitness means you're less likely to die. That’s powerful. Granted, it’s not going to stop you from getting hit by a bus, so don’t let it go to your head, but preventing cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and cancer will help you live a lot longer than having to deal with those things. Not only that, but cardiorespiratory fitness improves cognitive health [15] which might help with neurological conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia. Plus it promotes metabolic flexibility [16], which means you don’t have to be so strict with your eating and you can enjoy some meals out or celebrate with some alcohol from time to time. 

Power Training

Power is the ability to generate a large amount of force in a short amount of time (Power = Force x Velocity). The ability to do this has many benefits for everyone, not just athletes. In fact, the ability to generate power has been proposed as a biomarker for healthy aging [17] because it represents physical ability. With those that can generate more force being more active [18], less injury prone [19], and just generally more capable. I don’t think anyone is going to argue that being physically capable is not something worth striving for. 

How To Put All These Elements Together

So now that we know what to include, how do we put all these things together? Another great question. Well, we can’t do everything at once. If we try to focus on all these pillars at once we’re going to need really long workouts and eventually burn ourselves out. Therefore, you need a periodized training system that focuses on different pillars at different times - i.e., training cycles. Luckily when it comes to maximal strength or muscle hypertrophy you only need maintenance doses to keep them where they are, which allows you time to work on other pillars like cardiorespiratory fitness or power training during those cycles. Eventually you’ll build up to maintaining what you’ve worked on while progressing in other areas, cycle after cycle, year after year. Remember, this is a lifelong endeavor and starting as soon as you can will mean better results in the end. 

Exercise selection is another important factor in all this. Things like mobility, stability, balance, and motor control are all important features of a well-rounded exercise program and can be incorporated by selecting exercises that emphasize them. If I’m deciding between a barbell back squat and a rear foot elevated split squat, I’ll probably go split squat to work on some single leg stability while also getting hypertrophy work - two birds, one stone. For core work, it might be bear sit-throughs rather than a front plank in order to get some motor control training. Selecting exercises that accomplish these things, while not diluting the hypertrophic or strength benefits is the key. This selection will be highly individual and contingent on how long someone has been training and what exercises work best for them. Luckily each workout program can be customized based on individual needs and preferences. 

Why do you workout?

So let’s revisit the question: Why do you workout? For me, it started out as a means to put on some muscle, but now it’s largely because it makes me feel good - it quiets my anxiety, makes me more productive, increases my confidence, helps me think and communicate more clearly, and helps me move through life with ease. It gives me the energy to live life to the fullest, seize the day, and whatever other cliche expression you want to throw in there. However cheesy it sounds, the sentiment rings true. Anyways, these are my reasons. What are yours? 🫵

We moved back to the States last January and some of you might have noticed that the Substack has been on hiatus since then. The move back combined with getting settled in San Francisco and building a personal training clientele took precedence. I’m currently training clients at a great gym in town and it feels good to be training people in person again - I’ve always enjoyed it. 

Some of you might remember that I lived in San Francisco previously (2004-2008 and a stint in 2010). It’s strange being back and San Francisco is at once the same and different. Lots of the development that was starting when I left is complete and neighborhoods that were at one time industrial are now residential and commercial. It seems that the City is on an upswing and the AI boom that is happening is apparent, with more tech start-ups than you can shake a stick at, in addition to all the big tech companies with their immutable presence. 

There are plenty of good restaurants, coffee shops, music venues, and museums to frequent, so all in all, not a bad place to land. Plus, it’s a beautiful city and unlike any in the world with its Victorian architecture and oceanic salinity. We didn’t want to leave Lisbon, but between visa issues and needing to be closer to Workout Wherever, it became obvious that it was necessary. So here we are, ready to make the best of our situation. Plus now we get regular quality time with family and longtime friends, which is always important.

So moving forward we will be exploring the San Francisco/Bay Area through the lens of health and wellness. We might throw in some other destinations periodically (including Bolivia since my sister and family moved there over the summer), but for now the plan is to be pretty stationary and build Workout Wherever. We’ll move back to Europe at some point in the future and look forward to taking our Workout Wherever concept back on the road. 

For now we’re going to ride this wave. 🤙

In the conversation of longevity, there is always new information coming out and an array of sleek new products that you can buy with claims that they’ll make you healthier or live longer. However, most of this new information and these products are nominal in effect compared to the basic things we know that keep you alive and energetic. Simple things like exercise, nutrition, and sleep are much more impactful than infrared saunas and rapamycin. In fact, drugs like rapamycin still might negatively impact health in the long run as longevity “guru” Bryan Johnson admitted recently.

I’m not saying some of these things aren’t worthwhile and I love saunas and other things of that nature, but what I am saying is that the impact is negligible compared to exercise and nutrition. A great example of this is San Francisco’s own, Larry Lewis. A video of this guy jogging through Golden Gate Park at 99 years old went viral recently and it’s a great example of how far exercise and good food can carry you. Granted, some of this is genetics - but if you were paying attention to the section above, you’ll know that increased VO2 Max is correlated with increased life expectancy. Larry Lewis probably had great cardiorespiratory health and you can see the vigor that he exhibits in the video. 

Below is a clipping from The New York Times documenting the celebration of his 104th birthday by going for his usual 6.7 mile jog around the park. In the short article, it explains that he didn’t drink or smoke, ate “organic” food and exercised regularly, and drank 3 gallons of water a day (some of the details of this article sound a little suspect, but it is The New York Times). Regardless, the guy lived to 106 and it’s obvious from the video that he was doing some things right. He kept a rigorous exercise regimen and ate well. This would certainly keep anyone alive and active much longer than not doing so. 

The moral of the story is to focus on the low hanging fruit first. Solidify your exercise routine and nutrition habits before you worry about the other stuff. News headlines and flashy products make for eye-catching content, but it’s the basics that really make the difference - just ask Larry Lewis. 

Seeking & capturing inspiration + ideas

I have an almost (likely) clinical short-term memory loss issue (ADHD?) which for better or for worse has led to an outright refusal to rely solely on my brain to hold reminders or thoughts for future Natasha to revisit. In fact – it seems that 80% of my present is living for the ease of life of “future Natasha”. I don’t mean a retirement fund or that kind of future planning, I’m talking putting something away in an obvious location for the inevitable fear that I (future Natasha) lost something. (I HATE losing things.) Or brushing my teeth while I still have energy in the evening so future Natasha can enjoy her CBD bliss, uninterrupted.

That being said, in searching for inspiration for my little niceties today, what inspired me most is the way I accumulate and store resources – making me an utterly annoying “recommender” to friends and family. Rather than share what’s worth sharing from what I have captured, I will share the ways in which I capture to be able to share. ;-)

Save your heart out

Reel Good - As someone who can spend literally an hour bopping from Netflix to Hulu to Max to Kanopy to Mubi over to Peacock, back over to Max, remember Apple TV, check that out, open my laptop to watch a few (too many) trailers on Youtube and then finally just continue rewatching a series I’ve already completed thrice, Reel Good is a Real Good solution.

When you sign up, you select all your subscription platforms and then like magic, you can 💫 SEARCH ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS AT ONCE 💫. You can even filter by a longtime favorite theme of mine “New York” or my other fave, “Based on a true story”.

Also - the best feature of all - you can watch trailers in the app/site as you browse and either hop over to the streamer to watch or save it to your watch list for FUTURE YOU to earn years of your life back on browsing time.

Pocket - Pocket is a lil button that lives on my browser window (and as an app on my phone) that allows me to swiftly save anything from the internet to a depository I can revisit. You can add tags to remind yourself why you saved something as you save it. I am not always in the reading mood when an interesting article crosses my desk, so I like that I can build a curated reading list for future me to enjoy. Also - I can guarantee that Dustin used pocket (per my recommendation) to store his sources for this newsletter!

Aquanotes - I don’t own this yet, but since I came up with the idea for this entry in the shower and had to fight for my life to remember it upon exiting the shower, I’d say this is more than an honorable mention - it’s an add to cart.

Whatsapp / Voice memo or Voice-to-Text to myself - My hourlong morning walk/runs are usually where my day's to-do list is formulated, or a wacky business idea that I’ll never produce appears. Since it is best to not look down at your phone while walking through a city where no one stops at stop signs (this is not hyperbole - only the driverless cars stop at crosswalks) or picks up after their dogs, I find it effective to just quickly open the app and delegate to future me.

Dry Erase Board - We just got this sexy glass whiteboard and it makes jotting things down feel real nice.

Google Maps - If I even catch a whiff of a delicious or delightful destination (hotel, food, park, museum, pretty street, cat cafe, random town I’ve never heard of but seems worth checking out), it goes on the map. If I hear you are traveling, you get a map (sharing from my trove of resources is my love language!). Which is why I may have a project or two in the works to sate my need to impart my destination obsession. Stay tuned!

Pinterest - What sort of inspiration seeker and saver would I be if I didn’t mention Pinterest? Mine could use a bit of tidying up, but here is one of my boards for you to enjoy.

Branding + Packaging + Graphic Design

My people pleasing glitch is REALLY hopeful this helps you in some way. I don’t live passively and feel strongly that this curatorial/documentation kink helps me stay mindful about my consumption and my output. Now to figure out how to tackle the 5000 images + 2000 (useless) screenshots in my phone. Any advice?

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Happy New Year From Lisbon!!

lisboasecreta

A post shared by @lisboasecreta

Consistency

It’s a new year and some of you might have put together some resolutions. I usually like to think about some things that I’d like to focus on for the coming year. This year I’d like to get my meditation practice back on track. For a few years I was consistent with meditating for 20 minutes every morning. Then, last year, for whatever reason, I fell off. Little by little the habit deteriorated. This is funny because you’d think if I were consistent for a few years, that it would become a lifelong habit. However, this isn’t the way things work. I’m sure you can think back on your life and remember some healthy things that you were dedicated to in the past, but have since gone by the wayside. This reveals a fact of life - healthy habits take consistent effort. Forever. Until the end. 

With this in mind, it’s probably worthwhile to sit and think about what’s important to you in life, what habits support those things, and then how to be consistent with those habits. This way you’re living a life aligned with your values. But HOW do you stay consistent? This is the sixty four thousand dollar question and I’m sorry to say that I don’t have the answer - or rather, I don’t think there’s one answer that works for everyone. I think it really depends on individual circumstances and people’s personalities and there’s no one size fits all approach

There are plenty of theories out there regarding how to form habits or how to stay consistent with something like meditation or exercise. There are theories about forming an identity around habits or tips and tricks about how to pair habits or make them easier to fit into your schedule or focusing on the process rather than the outcomes. And I think there are some gems in all this. One that stands out to me in particular is the idea of being flexible. 

What do I mean by flexible? I mean don’t be too rigid with the structure of your habits. If you want to stay consistent, then you’re going to have to allow some wiggle room. This is because there are factors in life that are outside our control and there’s no way around that. So, saying you’re going to do something 100% of the time is setting yourself up to fail. Instead you should have contingency plans to account for those moments that something goes against the plan. Let’s take my example of meditation. I want to meditate for 20 min every morning, which is great until I have an early flight one morning that totally disrupts my typical morning routine. In this case a contingency plan could be to reduce the meditation time of that morning, but keep the habit of doing it in the morning - so I meditate for 10 minutes that morning. Or I could put off my meditation for that day until I’m on the plane and get the full 20 minutes of meditation then. Either way I’m making some changes to my planned routine, but still keeping up with the habit. Keeping that habit is probably the hardest part, so keeping that going is most important and then when conditions are optimal again, the prescribed practice can be the focus. 

For the last month a contingency plan has been in effect for all my workouts. There are some big life changes afoot that have been pretty overwhelming and stressful and therefore my energy for workouts hasn’t been at its peak. However, I’ve kept my workouts consistent by adjusting their intensity. I’ve put together workouts that are less exhausting and focus on things that I enjoy more. So my strength training has been full of exercises that make me feel good and don’t overburden my system. This has allowed me to keep consistent and also mitigate some of the effects of the stress through exercise. I know that once we get over this hump, I can go back to pushing myself harder and I’ll be much more ready to do so than if I had taken this time off. 

Now of course, I’m not saying you should never take time off. Sometimes it’s important or even necessary, as in the case of sickness or injury. But my opinion is that generally, doing something is better than nothing and keeping the consistency of a habit, even if it isn’t optimal, is going to set you up better in the long run. Remember, this is forever and ever and you can’t expect yourself to go all or nothing and remain consistent for the rest of your life. Therefore, give yourself some grace and adjust accordingly. And when you do a 20 min workout instead of an hour long one or meditate for 5 minutes rather than 20, pat yourself on the back for keeping consistent. After all, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

Consistency

If there’s one thing that a lot of us have learned over the last few years, it’s that exercise can be done anywhere. A gym is nice, but not necessary.

This is great news because it means that consistency with exercise isn’t dependent on going to a gym. This also means that when you travel for work or vacation or adventure or the holidays, you don’t have to miss your workouts. Unless of course you want to - which is appropriate (and dare I say even healthy) on occasion. Either way, now you have the choice. 

Over these last few years, with all the travel and moving around Natasha and I have done, we’ve been able to keep consistent with our workouts because we’ve figured out how to workout wherever we are. Indoors or outdoors, in a hotel or at home. We have our equipment that we travel with and a framework that makes it easy to put together workouts for any location or environment. This has been a huge step in helping us stay consistent, which is a big relief because it makes travel more practical. 

I’ve always loved to travel, but I remember coming back from trips just absolutely wrecked because I couldn’t keep consistent with my healthy habits. I was always excited by travel, but also dreaded the fact that my workouts and nutrition would suffer so much as a result of not knowing how to workout or eat right while away from home. To have this part of things figured out really makes travel more desirable because I now have the confidence and know how to keep up with the things that make me feel good.

However, this took practice, in addition to a background in exercise and nutrition. It was an evolution that grew from circumstances and I’ve been fortunate enough to get plenty of experience figuring out how to eat and exercise when not at home. To keep with the theme of consistency, I highly recommend honing the ability to workout and eat right when you’re away from home. Especially if you travel often. This way no matter what, you can keep up with those practices that help you feel good and you don’t have to limit yourself by saying no to travel and adventures. 

I recently got interested in cross country skiing after reading that these folks exhibited some of the highest levels of Vo2 Max of any athlete. Remember, Vo2 Max is the body's ability to take in and utilize oxygen and is the best predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness. Higher Vo2 Max not only correlates with increased aerobic fitness, but also reduces the risk of all cause mortality. Meaning high Vo2 Max makes you less likely to die and “elite performance was associated with an 80% reduction in mortality risk.” A significant statistic and a great reason to focus on improving your Vo2 Max to help increase longevity. 

I took note of this fact, and with my already present interest in cross country skiing, decided to do a little research into how to go about it. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually go cross country skiing, but I enjoyed watching some clips of races and I thought about how fun it’d be to glide across a snow covered meadow on a crisp sunny day. While watching those videos, I came across this one from British Pathé. With winters getting less cold and snowy, I might want to take up roller skiing instead. 

Source : Mandsager K, Harb S, Cremer P, Phelan D, Nissen SE, Jaber W. Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(6):e183605. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3605

cats rule everything around me (c.r.e.a.m.)

kitty kitty boops, y’all

I’ve got kitty fever! TBH, I’m always dreaming of little pink noses and triangle ears but lately, I’ve got it bad. (see image below lol - my instagram algorithm is dialed in)

instamiyav_

A post shared by @instamiyav_

And since I vow to be a very present, engaged, and supportive person to my future 2-3 cats (when the time is right), I’ve decided to share some cat-centric designs/technologies that I have come across (read: been targeted with on instagram) lately that I cannot stop thinking about and might have saved in a very curated folder for future reference.

1. Travel carrier that locks securely into place for car trips

It has plenty of room for standing and sitting!

naya_n_luna

A post shared by @naya_n_luna

2. A handmade, ceiling-height scratchy/climbing pole for cats to launch themselves onto like a crazed squirrel

goyo_handmade

A post shared by @goyo_handmade

3. The equivelant of a treadmill for cats

simba.nala.zazu.zuri

A post shared by @simba.nala.zazu.zuri

4. As a former dollhouse/barbie dreamhouse owner, this struck a chord for me. I don’t really know how I feel about it, but the cat sure seems to enjoy having her own private condo in the walls.

apartmenttherapy

A post shared by @apartmenttherapy

5. I stand by the notion that cats are the 🫧cleanest🫧 of the domesticated house pets (except for a fish, maybe), but having an AI-powered, self-flushing litter box could only further contribute to that reputation. (requires a water hook up - WORTH IT)

catgenie

A post shared by @catgenie

6. This maximalist gem of a cat tree

leo.mainecoon

A post shared by @leo.mainecoon

7. Lastly, this cutie, monogrammed pet pillow <3

coloursofarley

A post shared by @coloursofarley

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Good bones.

I’m sure you’re well aware by now that resistance training increases muscle size and strength. This is important for a myriad of previously discussed reasons and research shows that increased muscle mass and strength improves health outcomes and longevity. Simply put, there is an inverse relationship between muscle mass and all cause mortality. That’s great. We should all resistance train for bigger stronger muscles. But that’s not all it’s good for. What about bones? After all, hip fractures in older adults significantly increases mortality. Well, resistance training is good for that, too. Let’s find out why.

Resistance training puts a shearing force on the bones used in a weight bearing exercise and this makes the bones adapt to this demand. A shearing force is one that applies force in opposing directions at different ends of the bone and thus the bone must resist this force and strengthen itself to handle the demand. This type of force is the result of using a heavy training stimulus, which is why activities like yoga or cycling aren’t as beneficial for bone health, although they’re important for other reasons. The heavier the training stimulus, the more the bone has to reinforce itself. 

For bone we can also apply the principle of progressive overload. Just like in strengthening muscles, we want to overload the bones little by little so that an adaptation occurs. This overloading communicates to the bones that they need to reinforce themselves. It’s important to remember that bones are living things that are constantly changing, just like other parts of the body, and they can get stronger and change as needed. However, as soon as you stop putting this demand on them, they start to weaken. Therefore, it’s paramount that resistance training occurs consistently. Afterall, most bone production happens in the early stages of life and in adulthood it’s a game of holding on to what we have. So it’s best to resistance train throughout life to hold on to as much bone density as possible. 

So the takeaway here is that bones need to be strengthened, too. The best way to do this is through resistance training because it places a shearing force on the bones that is unique to this type of exercise. Resistance training 2 or 3 times a week should be sufficient to reap these benefits. It’s best to put the work in sooner rather than later because in adulthood you’re not really improving your bone density, rather you’re holding on to what you have. But also, it’s never too late to start. Do it now and it’ll increase your likelihood of living an active and mobile life in your later years. 

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

I’ve never owned an ugly Christmas sweater…

…but, I do love the holiday season for a few reasons. I particularly love the lights everywhere. It really makes the darkest months of the year feel more bearable. I love the piney scent of a tree indoors and the thought of a fire in the fireplace, even though I don’t have any fireplaces in my life at the moment. I also love the idea of a feast, although I really don’t do much overindulging these days, but for some reason the idea of having a get together with way too much food and libations and festivities feels exciting.

Here are some holiday favorites around these parts.

Bacalhau

The most popular dish in Portuguese cuisine is bacalhau, which is salted cod. It’s fished up in northern waters and then salted and dried and brought back to Portugal - just like it has been for hundreds of years. It’s said that there are 365 different recipes of bacalhau, one for each day of the year. So, it’s no surprise that Christmas menus include this staple. Last Christmas I made a fisherman’s stew that included bacalhau and shrimp, among other things. It came out pretty good, but it could stand to be improved. I might try that again this year, or I might go for a more traditional dish like Bacalhau da Consoada, which is a simply prepared piece of cod with potatoes and cabbage. The Portuguese have a pretty utilitarian cuisine, but it includes a lot of seafood, which makes me a fan. Seafood really shouldn’t be overcomplicated. 

Panettone

A non-Portuguese holiday staple that I’m a huge fan of is panettone. It’s true that it’s an Italian thing, but there are plenty of Portuguese bakeries doing their own versions. Our favorite bakery in Lisbon (Marquise) is doing a version this year that is excellent. A little more hearty than a traditional one, but still just as labor intensive. Most Panettone proof for over 36 hours and this really lends a complexity to the flavors. Our local shop also hangs them upside down when they're done baking, which I’m assuming helps them not deflate in the middle as they cool. Whatever the reason, they are simultaneously hearty and delicate, with lots of chocolate chips for sweetness. Definitely my favorite holiday treat these days. 

Aguardente de Medronho

After eating a large meal, it’s nice to have a little nip of something to aid digestion. Aguardente de Medronho is a relatively recent discovery that fills this role. I first tried it the summer before last in the Algarve region, which is the southernmost of Portugal. It originates from this area and is an aguardente made from the fruit of a strawberry tree. This is a tree that you’ve no doubt seen before and has nothing to do with strawberries (see below). The fruit is used to make a distilled spirit that tends to have a significantly high alcohol percentage and therefore is quite strong. Sometimes called “agua de fogo” or fire water because of the burn. It’s said to have medicinal qualities, which is suspect, but either way, it burns going down and puts a fire in the belly. Something that feels pretty good when you’re full. It’s the cherry on top of a satisfying meal. 

Millionaire's Shortbread

Lastly, something that has nothing to do with Portugal, but everything to do with the excesses of the season - Millionaire’s Shortbread. Natasha recently sent me a recipe for these on Instagram and the name captures them perfectly. Think of a person with plenty of resources coming up with the most extravagant and over the top way to spruce up shortbread. Maybe add caramel and chocolate and make it all gooey and rich. That’s exactly what they are. The type of thing that you have a few bites of and then have to walk away from before you make yourself sick. I would make these for a cookie exchange or party, but having a whole batch around in the house seems like a recipe for disaster. I’ve been known to give myself a belly ache on something like this. Maybe next year I’ll set up a cookie exchange just as an excuse.  

Happy Holidays!!!

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gift your time

If you are feeling an existential urge to be of service in this world in some way, you are definitely not alone. I’ve often heard that one of the best ways to get out of your own head and into some gratitude is to help someone in need or to offer your time to something bigger than yourself. It can be anyone or anything in any way.

Some might snark and say that you shouldn’t help others just to feel better about yourself and I might say… “Why discourage someone from being of service?” and I might also say “listen to this podcast episode” :

→ The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - Help Others to Help Yourself

I’ve been feeling this pull, so I’ve decided to be of service to YOU by offering up a few resources to inspire you to volunteer your time – from the comfort of where you are while reading this.

There are so many issues that feel extremely urgent and important right now (as there always have been and always will be, sadly) but I will not try to sway you in any direction. If you have the time/energy/ability, just do what feels right for you.

Instant Wild by ZSL

This one is too fun! You can contribute to the conservation of wildlife by tagging animals in images!

“ZSL’s Instant Wild empowers you to take part in vital conservation work, bringing you LIVE images and videos from amazing locations all around the world. By identifying the animals in each image, you are contributing to conservation and making a positive impact on the future for wildlife.”

Transcribe for Smithsonian

Smithsonian needs help with transcription across many different subjects. Learn a thing or two while helping to make historical documents more accessible.

→ other virtual volunteer opportunities at Smithsonian Institute

Translate with Tarjimly

With just your phone or internet access, you can volunteer your English language skills as a translator for refugees and immigrants.

Offer your professional skills via Catchafire

Search through a database of full length projects or 1-hour calls where your past or current workplace/professional experience can be of use. (ie: marketing, finance, HR, design, project management…etc.)

Search remote volunteer opportunities on Idealist

There are a lot of options here, so just use the filters to narrow things down and find something that calls to you.

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Increase intensity without adding weight. 

A very obvious way to make an exercise harder, and thus force more adaptation, is to add more weight. This is a pretty well known strategy and usually the first one people think of, however it’s not the only one available. If you remember back to the progressive overload post, you can also increase reps, increase range of motion, and play with the tempo to increase the demand put on muscle fibers. Here I'd like to talk about how increasing the range of motion of an exercise puts more mechanical tension on the muscle fibers and thus increases demand, which in turn increases muscle growth.

First off, what is mechanical tension and why is it important? In this context, mechanical tension is the tensile force that is put on loaded muscle fibers. Tensile force is one that is pulling the muscle fiber in opposite directions. 

The muscle fiber has to resist this force and actively contract against it and this makes the fiber adapt and grow in order to handle the demand. So mechanical tension is important because it makes muscles bigger and stronger through the adaptation to this force. 

As mentioned above, one way to increase mechanical tension and thus muscle mass is by increasing the force applied to the muscle fiber by adding more weight. It is well known that lifting heavier weights or adding resistance increases muscle size. But this isn’t the only way to increase mechanical tension. Another way to do this is to increase the range of motion of an exercise, which puts more tensile force on the muscle fiber, thereby forcing adaptation and increasing its size. Stretching the muscle fiber more fully produces more force - when the muscle fiber works in these end ranges of motion, it increases demand. In practice this means that you need to get a full range of motion in exercises and go deeper in a squat or lower in a chest press. Exercise selection is very important here in order to select exercises where the range of motion can be increased. For example selecting a heel elevated SL squat will provide more ROM than a reverse lunge, thus putting more tensile force on the working muscles. 

The takeaway here is that it’s good to use a variety of strategies to increase mechanical tension. That could mean adding more weight or it could mean increasing the range of motion or both. Just make sure that you’re not sacrificing range of motion for increasing weight. I think it’s better to be able to work through the full range of motion even when increasing weight, so small weight increases are key here. I’ve yet to see any research stating whether increasing one over the other is better, but movement quality is always the goal so make sure you’re not sacrificing quality work for more weight. Get that full ROM and reap benefits that not only include bigger muscles, but better range of motion and more mobility. 

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

Perspective Is Everything

I’m currently in the process of re-certifying for my CSCS certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. This is something that I have to do every 3 years and consists of a lot of continuing education. As part of this process, earlier this year I went to the NSCA conference in Munich, Germany. Not only was this a great opportunity to check out Munich, which was amazing, but also hear some talks from very accomplished people in the industry. Folks that train Olympic athletes or are researchers doing a lot of the work that dictates the way trainers coach their athletes and clients. I always come away from these conferences inspired and ready to try some new things. 

Oftentimes, the things that I come away with aren’t completely new, but rather they are a new perspective or approach on previously known principles or modalities. Being a trainer is often juggling a bunch of different exercises or programs or strategies, but the specifics are often dictated by a client or athlete’s goals. Figuring out the goal is what allows me to create a clear plan to use all these different pieces of knowledge and perspectives. Asking about goals is the first thing I address with a new client because it allows me some clarity in figuring out what approach I’m going to take with them.

So often I see trainers just throwing different exercises at people, without a coherent plan. And while some novelty is good, novelty for the sake of novelty just exhibits a lack of strategy. Rather than just programming random exercises, it’s smart to use training blocks, which allow training to emphasize specific objectives that will help the athlete or client reach their goals. Training blocks can emphasize speed, strength, power, endurance, balance, stability, core strength, proper technique, or motor control. This could be towards a goal of being a better rugby player or picking up a grandchild. Whatever the goal, there has to be a plan to accomplish it.

This is why I like these conferences and the continuing education. Because without this stuff I tend (as do most people) to get stuck in a routine that changes very little. A small world inside my head that operates one way and forgets all the other perspectives and approaches that are out there. Not on purpose, but probably as a result of mental efficiency. That’s why it’s good to remind yourself every once in a while that it’s a big world out there. It’s similar to going to Munich and eating schnitzel and drinking hefeweizen in a 500 year old establishment. It wasn’t something new, but it’s a revelation in terms of the perspective it gives on breaded pork and a beer. You walk away with a different understanding of the things that already exist in your world, ready to put it to use in your own way.

The Workout High School Forgot

At my high school we had a whole adult jungle gym system. There were adult sized monkey bars and parallel bars that went up and down like roller coaster tracks. There were pull up bars and bars in a sandpit you could jump over or crawl under. It was a pretty complete set up, but I only saw it used on a handful of occasions. I imagine when it was constructed, they had something like this in mind:

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Pining for Panettone

Panettone I would order online within the United States if I didn’t have direct access to it locally and 2 recipes I might try to make myself.

I think it is obligatory that my first bite of panettone ever, I hated. I didn’t like how airy and soft it was, and I hated the orange essence and dried fruit. But look at how far we’ve come.

• panettone noun | pan·​et·​to·​ne ˌpä-nə-ˈtō-nē 

: a usually yeast-leavened bread containing raisins and candied fruit

• ⭐️ Rating these from Chef Roy Shvartzapel top because the pictures are really doing it for me

• I am obsessed with Goldbelly as a company and this panettone selection looks quite delectable. 

• Third, let’s do Eataly. Because why not.

→ As far as trying to make my own, I’m interested, but with so many already prepared for me, I’m almost thinking why bother…?

However, I promised 2 recipes, so here you go.

• This one says it’s Easy - I’ll let you be the judge of that.

• This one doesn’t even try to hide the fact that it is clearly a laborious undertaking. (But worth it!)

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My #1 Pick For A Wherever Exercise

Consistency is probably the biggest challenge that most people face when it comes to working out and the most common reason that people pay me as a personal trainer. And I get it. Life can be busy and chaotic and lots of times workouts get put by the wayside. This is why I think it’s important to have some exercises or workouts that can be done anywhere. If you’re traveling, or too busy to make it to the gym, or have a late night at the office, you can still get in a quick one with no equipment from wherever you are and keep consistent with the habit. Skater squats are one of my favorite exercises for these situations. It’s the ultimate lower body exercise for wherever workouts and one that I incorporate into my routine regularly.

Skater squats are a true unilateral exercise. Meaning an exercise that works one side independent of the other. Unilateral exercises are good for addressing or preventing imbalances in strength from side to side. I call skater squats a true unilateral exercise because unlike a bulgarian split squat or reverse lunge that uses the non-primary leg to some extent, skater squats only use the working leg with no assistance from the other leg. This means that the working leg receives a very concentrated effort and makes this exercise really hard. 

The reason that I like these for working out wherever is because you don’t need much, if any, weight to make them challenging. When doing the exercise in a slow and controlled fashion, the tensile force is high, and remember mechanical tension on the muscle fiber is one of the ways that it grows. So it really provides a significant stimulus and forces adaptation without much weight - making them a great option for when traveling or working out outside of a gym. 

When I do these I generally prefer to elevate the heel in order to put more work into the quads, but this is a personal preference based on my body proportions and mobility and other people might feel just fine not elevating the heel. I also like to use a little weight as a counterbalance because this allows me to get a more full range of motion, which is also another strategy to put more mechanical tension on the muscle fibers and get more growth out of the exercise. 

One way to ease into this exercise is to use a TRX or the back of a chair to assist you while feeling it out and finding your balance. Once you feel comfortable, you can move on to no assistance. This is definitely one that I’d work on getting proficient with in order to be able to get some really good lower body work no matter where you are or what equipment you have. 

Skater squats - give them a try and let me know what you think in the comments below.

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

How To Stay Sane In The Biggest City In The World

When I lived in Tokyo, I was fortunate enough to live right near the Chuo train line, which was a straight shot out of town to Mt. Takao. This area was my refuge from the most populous city in the world and one that I would frequent weekly to keep my sanity. There were beautiful hikes through Japanese maple and Shinto shrines and a network of trails that could be used to hike to nearby mountains. Sometimes I’d show up and there’d be a bunch of snow on the mountain and I’d hike through it and find some sunshine and sit there and sip on some green tea and absorb it all. 

It’s necessary to have nature close by when living in a city like Tokyo and with how great the trains are, it was easy to access it. I went to other mountains and did other hikes, but Mt. Takao was my main mountain and one I became very familiar with.

When I couldn’t make it to nature, I immersed myself in nature and solitude via Alone in the Wilderness. The PBS series that tells the story of outdoorsman and style icon Dick Proenneke, who was “an American self-educated naturalist, conservationist, writer, and wildlife photographer who, from the age of about 51, lived alone for nearly thirty years in the mountains of Alaska in a log cabin that he constructed by hand near the shore of Twin Lakes. Proenneke hunted, fished, raised and gathered much of his own food, and also had supplies flown in occasionally.” (Wikipedia) 

This series is video shot and narrated by Dick himself and is the ultimate bedtime story. Watching and listening to it immediately slows my breathing and I feel a relaxation take hold. It’s therapeutic. Not only that, but the guy's skill is just a pleasure to watch. He built his own cabin by hand and seeing how he constructs a door latch purely out of carved wood is captivating. It far surpasses what you find today with all the ridiculous survival shows on TV. This guy was filming himself with a tripod and film camera. He was the real deal and for him it wasn’t a test of survival, but rather an exercise in solitude and a relationship with the natural world. It’s quite beautiful. 

If ever you need an escape for your sanity and nature is out of reach, check out Alone in the Wilderness. You’ll be instantly transported and for me, it doesn't get much better.

Stay Bouncy

I love plyometrics. It’s fun to bounce around and feel athletic. 

They use an elastic quality that muscles have to generate more power than doing a similar movement starting from a static position. You can really see this exemplified at the 50 second mark of the video below.

Here they’re doing depth jumps - starting from a high position, jumping down to the ground, and then springing off the ground to clear the object. These movements are characterized by minimal ground contact time. This replicates movements like sprinting, where minimizing ground contact helps you run faster. 

Plyometrics are a must for athletes, but even for the average person, they’re a good exercise to help prevent injuries or recover during a fall. They’re sure to put a spring in your step. Plus, you never know when you’re going to have to jump over a piece of office furniture. 

Stay bouncy, friends. 

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Feast your eyes on this

I’ll keep this short and sweet (and also savory) because the following needs little words.

Tis the season to possibly eat a bit more indulgently, decadently, and maybe adventurously.

I’ve been (happily) inundated with recipes and food content the last few weeks during my daily scrolls on the interweb and I must say, I’m fucking salivating. So - today I’m sharing things I would cook for you if we were planning to feast together!*

*use 12ft.io remove any paywalls. xoxo

ps. these dishes may or may not make sense together - I don’t care.

Bon appetit!

🤤🤤🤤

→ Bright and Crunchy Salmon

from the cookbook “Salad Freak” by Jess Damuck

→ Sweet Potato Mochi Balls with Gochujang Butter Sauce

I love this creator! I would make and eat everything ever posted on their instagram!

littlefatboyfrankie

A post shared by @littlefatboyfrankie

→ Garlicky Mashed Potato Cake

→ Abundant Chicken Potpie

→ Cheesy Chili Crunch Drop Biscuits (using momofuku hot honey!!)

→ Brown Butter Cake with Bourbon Butter Glaze

which comes from a cookbook gleefully titled “Butter: Comforting, Delicious, Versatile - Over 130 Recipes Celebrating Butter” by James Martin 😳🥹

Read: Last week’s Substack for my take on 🧈 Butter 🧈

Anyway - back to the cake..

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How We Got Here

The Equipment Cube

We currently live in Lisbon, Portugal and run an online business. This isn’t something I planned on happening and 5 years ago I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be here. Sometimes when I’m sipping my coffee in the morning, looking out the window at the city view, in a very David Byrne-esque way, I quietly ask myself, “Well, how did I get here?”

I won’t go into all the details of how we ended up at this point, but if you’ve been following the Mazama Wellness journey, you know that we just started selling our Workout Wherever Equipment Cube and I wanted to share some reflections on how we got here with that. Mazama Wellness was started in Portland, OR as a personal training business that operated in a gym. Fast forward 6 years and now we provide portable workout equipment and on-demand workout videos. The business evolved into this out of necessity, but also out of wanting to share with everyone what we’d created for ourselves. 

The pandemic changed things - obviously. It changed things for my personal training business because it no longer meant I had gyms as an option to train clients. When the pandemic started, we didn’t even own a car. I had to buy a car, buy workout equipment that fit into the trunk of the car, and then travel from park to park training clients. That was in the summertime. In the wintertime, some trainers and I rented a space from a plant nursery where we could train clients in the green house. There were chickens running around the place and it was cold, but we made it work.

During this time period, I really honed my skills as a trainer. I found that I could provide really good workouts with minimal equipment and my clients enjoyed them. I figured out a good template for hour-long circuit training workouts and I feel like the training I am now providing is better than when I was working in a gym. This really changed the way I approached training clients and also my own workouts. 

When we decided to move to Portugal, the pandemic was still happening and I knew that I still didn’t really want to go to a gym. Plus, there wasn’t a very convenient option. So, I put together a kit of equipment that was portable and I could use for home workouts or take with me when we traveled. The Equipment Cube. 

With the change in how people work and remote work becoming normal, it seemed that people would also be changing how they saw working out. If you’re working from home, maybe you don’t want to have to leave the house to go to the gym. If you’re bopping around the world, maybe you don’t want to have to try and find a new gym in every new place you go. Or maybe you just want to rent a house in some small town in the mountains. It seemed that freedom from an office was common, so why not freedom from a gym? 

We decided to act on this idea and provide not only the equipment, but also the training. Workout Wherever TV provides people with workouts they can do with The Equipment Cube. These workouts are structured in the same way I would structure a workout for a client or myself. We are literally just sharing exactly what we created for ourselves. We didn’t sit down and say, “we need to create a business idea.” Instead we were like “this is awesome, we need to share it!”

After many iterations of the exact components and colors and variants of the equipment - after all the learning how to film and edit video - after all the branding and sourcing and logistics and fulfillment - here we are. Ready to share this thing with you and everyone else we can get it in front of. It’s been a weird and wonderful process and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more to learn moving forward. Because after all, time is a circle, just like David Byrnes said, “same as it ever was.”

Apple Pie At 11,000 Feet

After the previous Substack post about Everest and a recent conversation about apple pie, I’ve been thinking a lot about the best apple pie I’ve ever had - or at least the most notable. It was at a Sherpa owned bakery called Hermann Helmers Backerei-Konditorei in the little Himalayan village of Namche Bazaar. This village gets a fair amount of traffic going up to Everest and some of the other mountains in the area and really is a great spot for a bakery offering weary trekkers a little slice of home. 

Like I said, it’s hard to know if it truly is the best apple pie I’ve had as far as taste, but it’s certainly the most memorable. This might be because I had been eating nothing but lentils, rice, and potatoes for weeks on end, as this is what is available in the area. Food is limited because the altitude doesn’t allow things to be grown, so everything has to be loaded on a yak and carried up the mountain. Speaking of yaks, I did on one occasion eat a yak milk cheese pizza, which led to me breaking out in hives and having an anaphylactic reaction that was pretty scary. Luckily I had some antihistamines and took those and was fine. So now when I dine out I always ask the server if any of the dishes contain yak milk. 😛

…But back to the apple pie. After weeks of eating the same thing and having come down from the higher elevations and saying goodbye to the friends I had made along the way as everyone went their separate ways, I found myself spending a few days in Namche in quiet reflection, getting some time to myself. It’s these parts of a trip that are actually the most enjoyable. The downtime after the big event, when you can think about the experience and how it relates to the bigger picture or life as a whole or whatever. It was at this time that I found the bakery and ate the apple pie and I'll tell you what, it was a revelation. We’ve (hopefully) all had that experience with food where it’s almost spiritual. Well this was that, but the apple pie version. It was that right place, right time, I would never go back and taste it again because it could never be the same, type of experience. One that lives in a moment in time, never to be duplicated. 

I suppose I’m slowly convincing myself that it was the best apple pie ever because even if I taste one that has more flavorful apples or a flakier crust or a better ratio of spices, it’ll never have all the other stuff going for it that the Namche pie did. It’ll never replicate the feelings I had inside me at the moment and therefore will necessarily fall short of this experience. So I suppose it’s less about the pie and more about all the events surrounding the pie that make it the immovable memory it is today. A lesson in nostalgia and not trying to recreate the past and letting things live in your memory and appreciating them there, but looking forward to new moments. You know, that type of thing. 

Or maybe those Sherpa just figured out the secret to making really good apple pie. 

Toys For Playing Outside

Before exercise was a thing that I checked off my list for the day, it was running around the neighborhood playing with some of the things below. 

Most of the Super Soaker commercials were all about causing mayhem. 

This commercial jingle is still alive and well in my memory. It turns out that Skip-It was just a rip off of an earlier toy, Lemon Twist.

Pogo sticks made a comeback when I was in elementary school, but before I ever had a pogo stick, I had a pogo ball. 

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Bread head

Bread and butter are very important to me. I have no artful story about my childhood or an experience with bread that changed my life. Nope. I just love it. I truly feel that every meal benefits from a gluten-based pairing. Nothing beats a slice of sourdough that has been toasted, cooled a bit down to room-temp, and then slathered with butter that is a bit still in its solid form – not entirely melted. I want to feel the texture of it.

The butter I go crazy on lately is this one from Grand Fermage. It has big chunks of salt that catch your taste buds and crunch a little between your teeth. It is so good.

So, for today’s niceties, I am going to share some aesthetically pleasing imagery of butter + some of my favorite bakeries that I’ve been to!

1. Munich, Germany - Julius Brantner

   1. Try the Bio Lichtkornroggenbrot with fermented organic apples (light grain rye flour with apple pieces) OR Bio Schwäbische Brezel (Pretzel)

2. Braga, Portugal - Padaria Nørre

3. Barcelona, Spain - Coush Armo (mentioned in our post #001)

4. San Francisco, CA, USA - Tartine Bakery

   1. Grab a sandwich and pastry from the Guerrero St. location and walk to Dolores Park and sit on the hill while you grub! The sandwiches (last I was there) are HUGE so you should probably share with someone you love.

5. Portland, OR, USA - Tabor Bread

   1. We used to go here ALL THE TIME when we lived in Portland! Such a delightful place. Try any of the pastries any time.

🧈🧈🧈

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Our goal is for you to feel more confident and consistent in your workouts and access unlimited workout destinations with our portable equipment.

learn more at workoutwherever.com

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How to Structure a Warm Up

Today, I’ll share how I structure a warm up. Every workout should start with a warm up and this is an example of what a typical warm up looks like for me and my clients. 

Warm ups are important because they prepare the body for the workout and reduce the likelihood of injury. They also get the mind in the right space and facilitate the mind/body connection that allows for a more effective workout.

Spinal Flexion/Extension

I start all my warm ups with a cat/cow. It’s a classic yoga movement that’s great for getting some healthy spinal movement and getting the back muscles working. Also, if you start every warm up with a cat/cow, it tells the brain that it’s workout time and helps the body fall in line. It’s like a mental trigger that signals what comes next - kind of a pavlovian response. That’s why I always start every workout with this movement.

Thoracic Rotation

After the cat/cow, we need some spinal rotation - something like a half kneeling rotation will do. This helps with thoracic rotation. This is the middle part of the spine and the ability to rotate here is important because it will keep you from getting stiff. If you have good thoracic rotation, then you move more naturally instead of like Frankenstein’s monster. 

Shoulder Flexion

Next we move to the shoulders and hamstrings. I like a tall plank to downward dog to get the hamstrings lengthened and improve shoulder flexion. Shoulder flexion is the ability to put the arms straight overhead and this is one area that I see a lot of limited range of motion in people, so improving or maintaining this is important. Also, hamstrings get stiff and shortened from extended periods of sitting, so lengthening those muscles is a good idea as well.

Lateral Loading

Then we move on to a wide stance elbow to knee. This helps with loading the hips and legs and also moving in the frontal plane, meaning in a side to side motion. In everyday life, most people aren’t moving side to side much, so using this movement pattern regularly in workouts or warm ups is a good idea. Plus, the trunk rotation is again reinforced here, just like with the half kneeling rotations. 

Balance/Stability

Lastly, I finish off with a tall elbow to knee. This is a good one for a little core and glute stimulus as well as some single leg stability and balance. This will help you maintain your balance during single leg exercises in your workout.

Takeaway

So the takeaway here is that you need a variety of movements like the ones mentioned in order to get the body ready for a workout. A warm up should only take about 10 or 15 minutes, but will be invaluable when it keeps you from getting injured and helps you get a better workout. This is just an example of a typical warm up that I use with my clients and you can always add some things that you want to work on specifically or tailor it to your needs. See below for a sample warm up template and leave any questions or comments below.

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

It doesn’t have to be a challenge. 

I’m a big fan of enjoying things. In fact, even if things are hard or maybe there are difficult parts, overall you should strive to like the things you do. Whether it’s your career or hobbies or trips you take - enjoyment should be a primary goal. I even think this about exercise. Too often I hear the mantra of pain and suffering as a primary attribute of exercise. You must suffer to be doing it right or getting the benefit from it. 

Personally, I don’t think this is the case. Even if they’re hard, you should enjoy your workouts and if you don’t, then you should probably find something you do enjoy because it won’t be sustainable otherwise. However, I think if you’re doing it right, most things can be enjoyable. In fact, I like cleaning the bathroom if I have the time and energy. There’s something calming and meditative about it. 

“Wax on, wax off” - Mr. Miyagi

I think a large part of enjoying something is taking a moment to appreciate it or just fully feel it. Taking it all in and marveling at it - big picture. The wonders of life and the vastness of the universe and all that. 

This is how I see the outdoor adventures that I’ve had. I don’t view things like climbing a mountain or cycling long distances as a challenge to complete, but rather as a time that you can look around and be like “wow” over and over. And when it’s done it isn't something to check off the list, but is satisfying in that you have the memories and the residual feelings from it.

Hiking to Everest base camp is an experience that is unrivaled in my life. I didn’t have to climb to the top of Everest in order to be impacted so completely by the experience. I got to hangout in the highest mountains in the world, where in the daytime the sky is a deep purple and at night you feel like you could reach up and scoop a handful of stars out of the sky. Where you're walking amongst Tibetan Buddhist monuments and being invited into peoples homes to taste the homemade moonshine that they distilled in their front yard. I could climb the crest of a hill and feel like I was on the edge of the world looking down on humanity. From up there it all somehow made sense - I don’t know how else to explain it. I felt removed from everything down below and the moments of clarity strung together into days and weeks.

These are feelings that I suspect most people that are there to conquer the mountain never feel. I saw this in the people that were there to summit Everest. These people had no chill. They seemed just as stressed on top of the world as I’m sure they were back in their law firms in New York City. Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia) summed it up best, 

“Climbing Everest is the ultimate and the opposite of that. Because you get these high-powered plastic surgeons and CEOs, and you know, they pay $80,000 and have Sherpas put the ladders in place and 8,000 feet of fixed ropes and you get to the camp and you don’t even have to lay out your sleeping bag. It’s already laid out with a chocolate mint on the top. The whole purpose of planning something like Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain and if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out and you’re an asshole when you get back.”

I guess the point that I’m getting at is that you should enjoy the process. If you view things as challenges to overcome and nothing more, then you’ve missed out on the enjoyment that the process affords. Maybe the victory isn’t in completing the task or making it to the top of the mountain, but rather in the changes that take place inside you. This might be a pretty mediocre observation, but taking it full circle back to enjoying your workouts, don’t compromise the process. If you commit to enjoying them and don’t make it all about the end goal, then you’ll relish the things you do daily. You’ll take pleasure in your workouts and cleaning the bathroom and life generally. And in the end, what else is there. 

Life is inherently pointless until we give it meaning, so maybe the purpose of life is to enjoy it, not in some hedonic way, but rather through a lens of appreciation of the minutia. I don’t know for sure and I suspect this is a pretty privileged position to take, but this is something that I’ve been trying to remind myself of amidst the stress of building a business and living in a new country. Sometimes I find myself too wrapped up in the end goal and not reveling in the process enough, so maybe this is more a reminder to myself than anything else. 

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey… 🤮🙄

But seriously, it is.

Parkour!

I’m sure by now we're all familiar with the sport of parkour. It’s the one where people jump from rooftop to rooftop and down stairways and over walls. Sponsored by Red Bull and everyday getting more and more extreme. Leaving observers to wonder what self preservation part of the brain is not firing properly in these folks.

Musings aside, this sport has humble and more utilitarian beginnings. It was derived from the obstacle courses that were designed and implemented by French physical educator Georges Hébert and his exercise system known as "la méthode naturelle" (Natural Method). The story goes that he was in the French navy and on the island of Martinique, when a volcano erupted and he helped with the evacuation of the area. This experience led him to devise a system of exercise that he felt was most effective from a survival standpoint. It focused on running and jumping and climbing among other things and was designed to help people “be strong, to be helpful.”

This system was eventually adopted by the French military and the associated obstacle courses (le parcours) are now the standard for military training all over the world. Even children's playgrounds are a product of Hebert’s work.

I personally like the idea of being strong to be helpful and also the associated philosophy of altruism and collectivism that was a part of la méthod naturelle.

Hebert was also an advocate for women exercising at a time when it was more or less unheard of.

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Nice Ice, Baby.

I have an extreme longing for skate-based athletics. I spent a lot of my earlier years gliding about in one way or another. It was my earliest form of meditation I guess you could say. Plus, I wheely like it. 😉

But it is all quite hilarious because now I live in Lisbon which has

1. slick cobblestones for roads & sidewalks

2. a comical amount of steep hills

3. about 95% warm and/or sunny weather (no snow)

4. not a single ice skating rink in the country - that I’ve found…

Alas, my longing persists. So, what I do is google beautiful places in the world that I would love to ice skate this winter if I could just make a world tour of it. Here are my findings…

Kayseri Ice Rink ~ Kayseri, Turkey

wooowwwwww 🌈

Maggie Daley Park ~ Chicago, USA

🐍🐍🐍

The Grand Palais ~ Paris, France

Arrête de te la péter! (Stop bragging)

But seriously, this place… J’ai un coup de cœur pour toi 🥹!

Wollman Rink ~ New York City, USA

I’m ready for my romcom moment here.. ehem ehem.

- PS. They open in 5 days with a Free Skate!!

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How to Create a Simple and Effective Workout Plan. 

Let’s look at how to structure an efficient and effective strength training plan. For almost all my client workouts, as well as my own, I use a circuit training structure, which I’ve found to be the best for most people. It offers the widest variety of benefits - things like improved strength and hypertrophy, better cardiorespiratory and metabolic fitness, and increased anaerobic capacity. I’ve also found in my years of training clients that most people find it enjoyable because of the nice variety of exercises that you move through. So let’s talk about what this looks like.

Workout Template:

A typical circuit training workout will be 3 circuits of 3 exercises. Each circuit will have 3 rounds - so this means a total of 9 different exercises for the workout. Each exercise in a circuit will work different muscle groups which allows the exercises to be performed consecutively without overworking a given muscle group.

If we look at the Workout 1 template, you’ll see that the first circuit is comprised of a squat, lunge, or step up - so working primarily quads and glutes, a horizontal push - so working chest, shoulders, and triceps, and a horizontal pull - so working the lats, biceps, and other back muscles. The second circuit is comprised of a hinge or knee flexion movement - so working the hamstrings and glutes, a vertical push or pull - so working the shoulders and triceps or lats and biceps depending on whether its a push or pull, and the last exercise is supine core work - so maybe a hollow hold or dead bug working the abs. The last circuit consists of a lateral movement like a lateral lunge or a dynamic movement like a ball slam. Lateral movements are important to work frontal plane movement patterns and dynamic movements are good for athleticism. You also have some prone and lateral core work to finish off the circuit, which work the other abdominal muscle groups. Also, you’ll notice if you look at Workout 2 for that week, the push and pull exercises switch to vertical so you’re getting some of each for the week. This workout template gives a well rounded strength workout in a succinct amount of time. A workout like this will usually take around 1 hour with 1 minute rests between rounds and circuits. These workouts can always be shortened by taking out a circuit and maybe redistributing an exercise or two to another circuit. So that’s the general workout template. 

Weekly Schedule:

As far as a weekly schedule, I recommend strength training 2 or 3 days a week. Since my programs are always full body, working out on Monday and Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, will give enough time between workouts for muscle protein synthesis to complete. Here is an example of a two and three day a week schedule. 

2 Days/Week

3 Days/Week

You’ll notice there’s not much difference between the two except that some of the vertical and horizontal forms of exercise are distributed on alternating workouts. Now of course this schedule doesn’t need to be super rigid and sometimes for exercise C1 I’ll just do some front squats or for C3 I’ll do some face pulls. So this should be seen as a general structure to use in order to make sure you’re getting a well rounded program throughout the week, but feel free to add in specific things you want to work on. You can definitely individualize these templates. 

Monthly Cycle:

So if we zoom out to what the month looks like, it’ll just be four of the weekly cycles that we’ll go through and then those will change when a new monthly cycle starts. Each week we’ll try to add some weight, reps, range of motion, or slow down the tempo or add pauses. Something to add a challenge. Remember, progressive overload is necessary to improve the benefits of strength training. (Read the progressive overload section of Substack #003 if you haven’t already.) So every week try to add something. It doesn’t have to be every exercise for every workout because that’s probably too much, but at least for 1 or 2 of the exercises of a workout, in order to increase the challenge. 

Takeaway:

Circuit training is efficient and effective and in my opinion the best strength training structure for most people for whom fitness and longevity are the goal. If you’re a bodybuilder or powerlifter, you’ll structure your workouts differently, but if you’re someone looking to get stronger, move well, and feel good, then circuit training is the best way to do it. Use the templates above to structure a workout that helps you get the most out of the time you have for training.

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

The Moroccan Riad

It’s been announced that the 2030 World Cup will take place in 6 different countries to celebrate the tournament's 100 year anniversary. The first World Cup took place in Montevideo, Uruguay and therefore the first game of the 2030 Cup will kick off there. In addition to having some early games in Paraguay and Argentina. Then the bulk of the games will be played between Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. This is an unprecedented move and ups the ante from the 2026 games, which will be shared by Canada, USA, and Mexico. It’s exciting to see the World Cup come to this part of the world and I hope we’re still living in Portugal or at least nearby when the Cup rolls through. This is a great way for smaller countries like Portugal to host a World Cup without putting so much burden on them. Sharing the financial responsibility seems like a smart way to go. 

This announcement got me thinking about Morocco and if you were paying attention to the 2022 World Cup, you know that they did quite well. They will no doubt be a great addition to the host list and I’m sure will provide a festive environment. But soccer aside, Morocco has been high on my list for a visit for quite some time now as we’re only a few hours away by plane. I’ve been to Morocco once, Tangier to be exact, but it wasn’t the most pleasant trip as I arrived from Spain with a stomach bug that laid me out pretty good. I didn’t get to do much exploring and I didn’t get a chance to relax in the coolness of a riad, sipping mint tea and eating the sweets made of honey that you see in mounds in markets.

The riad is an intriguing idea and is a traditional courtyard in the center of a building usually with a water feature and a lot of plants. Generally it is covered or shaded and provides a cool outdoor escape from the hot weather. As we’re all about vibe here at Mazama Wellness and think leisure is as important as working out, riads seem like the type of place that would be a great environment for a workout followed by a soak in the pool. I can’t think of a more enjoyable morning activity. These courtyards are usually tiled in beautiful colors and patterns, which adds to the striking design. Just add a comfy chair and a book and you’ve got yourself a lazy space or maybe a desk and you’ve got a nice place to work from. 

It seems that most hotels in morocco have this feature and some are quite large and even have full sized pools and plenty of room to lounge. Whether a hotel or residence, I can imagine the cool dampness of the plants and water as an amazing oasis in that arid environment. I can also imagine the playlist I’d put together to enhance the experience - maybe some Washed Out or John Talabot? Either way, I’m looking forward to experiencing it sometime soon and hopefully before the 2030 World Cup.

Keep Fit Craze!

We’re heading back in time to 1966, Kensington, London to check out the “Keep Fit Craze.” This video from British Pathé really captures the gym scene of the era, but also shows how little has changed. 

The thing that stood out to me most is at 00:14 the guy is doing some squats (in flip flops?!) and he’s using a white pad to elevate his heels. Great idea here! Elevating the heels, especially on a back squat, can really help keep the torso upright and put the emphasis on the quads. Squat wedges have come back in vogue recently and personally I use them often in my workouts. Everything old is new again. I’m sure at some point the whole massager, jiggle your body thing will come back too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Other highlights include the roller massager at 00:47, my grandparents had one of these in their bedroom and I was always fascinated by it as a kid, also another thing that’s making a comeback. They have new high tech ones and it’s now called lymphatic drainage. Also, the ab rollouts at 01:09 are pretty impressive although I wouldn’t want my face getting that close to the carpet that everyone’s been sweating all over. At the end of the video they talk about eating low carb and vegetarian - definitely some apropos topics. Anyways, just a fun peek into the past and a little insight into how things cycle through history. I mean, I’m writing on Substack, which is basically a blog, which is basically an online diary or magazine article. We listen to podcasts that are basically just a different form of listening to the radio, and lots of people use heel wedges for squats, just like they did in 1966.

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Food is life!

The way I take pleasure in watching others enjoy their first, exploratory bite of a dish that was made with love and artistry, you’d think I prepared it myself. It makes me giddy. What an absolute fucking privilege it is to not only have access to food each day, but to be able to bask in the beauty of flavor. Eating delicious food is an act of gratitude for life, in my opinion. Praise be the foodies and chefs around the world!

I say all this to preface my share today. I love to explore food and restaurant recommendations through the medium of food blogs (Instas) and food shows! It never gets old. Like I said, I love watching people’s eyes nearly well up in tears because of a sensuous bite and I love when folks love a dish enough to speak on it. TELL ME!

(Ps. This love fully excludes the world of Mukbang, or other types of binge eating contests or displays. Gluttony is gonna be a no for me.)

Please enjoy my list of IGs to follow and shows to watch. I’m feeling inspired to start documenting my plates too. I miss that era of Instagram. I like seeing what you had for lunch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  However, I’m a bit intimidated because it takes a special skill to be able to nearly capture the way a plate tastes through an image, but these food-lovers below NAIL it!

1. Eric Wareheim - @ericwareheim

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2. David Lebovitz - @davidlebovitz

   1. (He’s also here on Substack!!)

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3. Natalya Syanova - @natashas_baking

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4. Watch F*ck, That’s Delicious (On Hulu or newest season on Youtube)

   fckthatsdelicious

   

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   1. For Starters, I recommend 2 of 2 episodes in Paris - then go back and watch the rest!

      1. Paris #1

      2. Paris #2

Honorable mentions, The Bear on Hulu (obviously) and Chef’s Table on Netflix.

Yes CHEF!

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Recovery:

A very underappreciated and often forgotten aspect of training is recovery. Most of the benefits from exercise come from the recovery process and therefore it might be the most important aspect of training. Remember, strength training forces adaptation and that’s where the benefit lies. Recovery allows this adaptation to occur and as such must be a priority. So let’s talk about some aspects of recovery and how to optimize them. 

Rest and active recovery:

The most obvious part of recovery is taking days off from training and making sure some of those days are restful. Remember that muscle protein synthesis takes 24 to 72 hours, so you need to give a muscle group this amount of time off to complete this process. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do any activity, though. Things like a mobility routine or some walking or light running can actually help with recovery by increasing blood flow to muscle cells, which helps deliver nutrients to the cells and clear away metabolites. Just make sure to keep it light.

Nutrition:

Another obvious, but underappreciated aspect of recovery is nutrition. By now I’m sure most of you are well aware that protein is important for recovering from strength training and we’ll talk more about protein in the future, but protein isn’t the only nutrient to focus on for recovery. Making sure to get enough carbohydrates is important to refill glycogen stores that are depleted by training. Remember, glycogen is the preferred source of energy for your muscle cells during exercise and despite all the talk about low carb and keto diets, I think carbohydrates are the best energy source for a majority of people. This doesn’t mean that you need to go overboard, but having around 50 grams of carbs with each meal is a good place to start and then increase that amount if you feel like you need more energy. This can be highly individual and so it’s good to see what works best for you, but try to get whole grain or whole food sources that include fiber. Also, make sure to eat nutrient dense foods that include lots of vitamins and minerals. These micronutrients are crucial to many processes in the body and will help your muscle cells function optimally. Foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sardines, and oysters are all packed with vitamins and minerals. Nutrients like magnesium, iron, zinc, and vitamin D are lacking in a lot of peoples diets and these are some of the easiest deficiencies to correct and in a lot of cases are the low hanging fruit in optimizing recovery. It’s deceptively simple, but if you get enough protein (1.4 to 1.6 grams per kg body weight), the right amount of carbs and fiber, and the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, you’re getting 95% of what you need nutritionally. The rest is just some fine tuning and it can be really quite simple once you tune out all the noise. 

*A note on fat - I didn’t mention fat because it’s a subject that needs more depth than what I want to go into here, but fat has a place in a healthy diet and certain fats are good and others maybe less good, depending on your genetics, but again this is a topic for another day. 

Sleep:

Another topic that you’ve probably heard a lot about is sleep. By now I’m sure you’re well aware of the importance of sleep for overall health and it’s no different for recovery from strength training. Lots of hormonal processes and muscle repair happens while you’re sleeping, so you should make sleep a priority. Making sure you get 7 to 9 hours is ideal and even if you miss a night here and there, you should be good from a muscle protein synthesis perspective. If you have trouble sleeping try taking some magnesium bisglycinate (250 mg) and l-theanine (200 mg) 30 minutes before bed and that should help. Also, make sure to try and have a consistent bedtime and wake up at around the same time every morning, too.

Stress:

Stress affects recovery from exercise negatively and I would say is one of the worst things for overall health. Stress puts the body in a sympathetic state (fight or flight) and contributes to all sorts of chronic health conditions. This being said, most people are under some sort of stress daily, whether acute states or chronic. So, for our purposes here, let’s think about some strategies for helping the body recover while under stress. One thing to be aware of is that exercise is a stress, however the benefit is in the dose. If you’re in a stressful time in your life, then cut back on the intensity of your workouts. Kicking your own butt and then trying to recover during a stressful time won’t be beneficial. Evaluate how you’re feeling from workout to workout and adjust accordingly. Also, after working out, it’s a good idea to do some deep breathing in order to calm down your system and get it into a parasympathetic state (rest and digest) for optimal recovery. I recommend laying on the back and breathing for 2 or 3 minutes, really focusing on long exhalations for some nice vagal nerve stimulation. This can be really beneficial for promoting relaxation. 

HRV:

One last thing to mention while discussing recovery is heart rate variability. This refers to the variation in the timing between heart beats, with more variation being beneficial. It seems kind of counterintuitive, but having some variation between beats instead of a consistent timing between beats is actually a good thing. This variation can show how recovered you are and is an indication of readiness for another workout or how intense a workout should be. This idea has been studied and implemented by reputable institutions like Harvard and has some pretty good research behind it. Personally, I’ve gone through many months of measuring my HRV using a chest strap heart rate monitor and a mobile app and had mixed results. Lots of times the app told me to take it easy, when it was pretty obvious that I should take it easy. Other times it told me to take it easy when I felt pretty good and just ignored that advice and did a hard workout and felt great afterwards. In the end, I just decided to check in with myself before each workout instead of listening to the HRV and that seemed to serve me just fine. So, my advice, check in with yourself, really take a minute and try to objectively measure how you feel and then decide how hard to go. If you do this, it’ll probably serve you just as good as measuring your HRV and you’ll be less likely to overreach.

Takeaway:

Strength training and exercise in general isn’t beneficial if you don’t also allow yourself to recover. Focusing on rest, nutrition, sleep, and stress will optimize your recovery and not only make working out more beneficial, but also more enjoyable. Nobody likes grinding themselves into the ground and luckily this isn’t beneficial. You’ll see plenty of people online telling you to work yourself to death, but killing yourself isn’t exactly the best thing for your health. It’s good to push yourself sometimes, but it’s also just as important to take it easy and recovery should be as high a priority as your workouts for optimal results.

A Visual Supplement

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Panathenaic Stadium - Athens, Greece

High on my list of next places to get a workout in is the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece. It looks like another spectacular location for a track workout and of the same caliber as the Stadio Dei Marmi in Rome, which I wrote about previously. I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Greek as I studied Greek philosophy pretty extensively and even wrote my master’s thesis on Plato. I’ve also always loved the mythology and the beauty of the Ionian and Aegean Seas. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit a few times, but I never knew about the Panathenaic Stadium and look forward to visiting again and taking advantage of the ability for public use.

This stadium was the location of the first modern Olympic games back in 1896 and held 80,000 spectators for that event. The opening and closing ceremonies as well as 6 out of 9 of the events were held in the stadium. It was also the location for the ancient Panathenaic Games, which were held from 566 BC to 3rd century AD, after which they were banned by the Roman emperor along with other Hellenistic festivals and bloody spectacles. In the 1960’s it was also the home of the AEK Athens basketball club, who won the 1968 European Championship in front of a crowd of 120,000 onlookers - which holds the record for most spectators of a basketball game. 

History aside, it’s a very visitable site and has special hours that you can go and get a run in. From 7:30 to 9 AM the track is open for runners. Yes, this is early, but with the heat that Athens is known for and all the marble stone absorbing it, it’s probably the best time of day to go for a run if you’re there in the summertime. I’m not sure what direction the opening of the stadium is oriented towards, but I’m sure it’s a spectacular place to watch the sun rise, so getting there for that might be worth it. The unique shape of the track would be an experience, with the turns being quite sharp, much sharper than modern tracks, which I’d imagine would be a bit hard on the knees, so maybe sprinting the straights and running stairs would be the way to go here. Either way, it will be a memorable workout and one that would no doubt be followed with a Greek breakfast and Greek coffee (which is amazing BTW). I’ll definitely post an update once we make it there.

As a kid in the 80’s, I was always running around my neighborhood. The rule was that I couldn’t go past the end of the street in either direction, which gave me a lot of room to roam. I’d go a few doors down and hangout with the older kids skateboarding in front of their house, absorbing what pearls of wisdom they had to offer. I’d go across the street and hangout with Ryan where I could watch movies that my parents wouldn’t let me watch (Ghostbusters!!) and eat things we didn’t have in my house (pork rinds are a clear memory). I’d also seek out the kids in the neighborhood that had a Nintendo, those were good people to know. No matter where I was going or whoever’s front yard I was treating as my own, I was always wearing my KangaROOS sneakers.

For me, at that time, they were the coolest. They were sneakers with a pocket (hence the name) and as a kid, any place you could hide a quarter or house key was pretty neat. I definitely had multiple pairs, but the navy blue one’s stand out in my mind. ROOS actually have a pretty cool story. The founder was an avid runner and thought them up when on a run one day after needing a place to put his house key. Pretty simple. That was in 1979 and then in 1980, Bill Rodgers, the winner of the Boston Marathon won in a pair of ROOS. After this ROOS really took off for the better part of the 1980’s. Professional athletes like Clyde Drexler and Walter Payton wore them. They were serious shoes, but eventually the novelty wore off or maybe they just couldn’t keep up with the market. Whatever it was, they were done by the 90’s, but of course have since made a bit of a comeback. I found that they were licensed in Germany and there is even a “Made in Germany” series that look pretty nice. 

I don’t feel like I need a pair of ROOS these days, especially since the need to carry around coins has been supplanted by my cell phone, but maybe they’ll come out with a version that I can slide my phone into? HAHAHA. That would be crazy. Either way, lots of wonderful memories of running around the neighborhood in the coolest sneakers the 80’s had to offer. 

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Dumb phones I’d use if I were being smart

I recently learned that some iPhones were being banned/blocked in France due to not passing the regulatory requirements for radiation emissions (YIKES), and it gave me a bit of the ick. Add this uncomfy info to the heart-racy feeling that merely picking up my phone gives me most of the time and the existential (mostly unwarranted) embarrassment I feel anytime I post anything online (this newsletter included), you’d think I'd already be using a “minimalist phone”. However, like most modern humans, I find comfort in having my smartphone near me most of the time. BUT, if I didn’t - Maybe I’d purchase something from dumbwireless.com or see what Nokia has been up to or maybe not go entirely dumb, but less smart with this one.

I wish all furniture pieces did things

I spend a lot of time on “multifunctional furniture” Instagram. Here are a few things worth sharing.

•Where do you think they’re going to put that chair???

expandfurniture

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•It’s like a playhouse, but for adults. (click to see more images)

thestackedstore

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Also, check out Vitsoe - if you dream of the perfect custom shelving as often as I do. (OFTEN)

vitsoe

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Yay - Summer is over! (commence the cozy coronation)

Well, here in Lisbon, it still may as well be Summer through November. That doesn’t mean I can’t start preparing luminously, sensuously, and texturally.

Aside from this scarf, a few things I can’t stop thinking about:

Creating the perfect lighting setup :

minimal_interior_space

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mrcigar

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finding the perfect candles

mrcigar

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…which I always do on P. F. Candle Co. annnddd I just learned that they ship here to Europe!

My fave scent is : Sandlewood Rose

and very cheesy autumnal jazz cafe scenery music youtube videos for background while working…

here’s one with rain sounds

and one without.. :)

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Muscle Protein Synthesis

Now that we’ve discussed muscle hypertrophy, we’ll move on to muscle protein synthesis, which is exactly what it sounds like. It is the process of building muscle from protein. Muscle fibers are made up of long strands of proteins along with some other cellular components and these fibers are stimulated to grow after a strength training session. They are even further stimulated if protein is consumed post training. This protein consumption ideally occurs 30 to 60 minutes after training as this is when cells are most receptive to nutrients that help build muscle. This elevated state usually lasts for 24 to 72 hours and it’s in this window of time that regular protein consumption and rest is necessary. 

This timeframe is also what we would designate as our recovery window. During this time muscles are growing and they need to be given the rest and nutrients necessary to recover. Walking or running or other low to moderate intensity cardio style activities can be beneficial during this time because these activities promote blood flow, which helps take nutrients to the cells as well as clears metabolites from the cells, but no strength training in the muscle hypertrophy rep ranges should be done. However, folks that are training low rep ranges (1 to 5) can train consecutive days in a row as muscle cells are less impacted by this type of training, but these training sessions should be short and to the point. 

The goal during this period of muscle protein synthesis is to maximize recovery so that the body feels ready for the next training session. This window of recovery is highly individual and some people might feel ready to go after a 24 hour period, while others might want to wait 48 or 72 hours between training sessions. You really have to feel it out for yourself and pay attention to whether you feel recovered when you start a training session. Personally, I give myself 48 hours between sessions, since in my experience I feel ready to go again in that timeframe. As people age, this recovery window might get a little wider as recovery from strength training bouts usually slows with the aging process. This might be related to less than optimal digestion and nutrient absorption, lower hormone levels, as well as less metabolic efficiency. Whatever the reason and whatever your age, listening to your body and really feeling out whether you feel recovered for your next training session is important. Experience will help you determine this, so if you’re new to strength training, start slow with 2 full body sessions per week, spaced apart by 72 hours (i.e. - Monday and Thursday) and build up from there. Also, consuming adequate protein regularly will help your muscles grow, so this needs to be a priority. The literature generally agrees that 1.4 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight spaced out in 3 to 4 meals a day is optimal. Ideally this would be high quality protein, meaning types that have all the essential amino acids and are easy to digest and absorb. 

Take Away:

The takeaway here is that you should pay close attention to the timeframe that you feel recovered enough for a workout. If your muscles still feel weak and drained, then they need more recovery. There’s no one size fits all recommendation here, so keep in mind to pay attention to how you feel and also account for stress and sleep and other factors that could contribute to less than adequate recovery. Figuring out how frequently you should train will help you get the most out of your workouts. Also, dialing in your nutrition and specifically protein consumption will contribute to optimal recovery. Down the line I’ll talk about my recommendations for protein consumption, but for now focus on getting regular meals that include high quality protein foods for optimal muscle protein synthesis.

A Visual Supplement

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Lisbon {Lisboa} Portugal

We’ve been living in Lisbon for close to 2 years now and we thought we’d take this opportunity to share some of our favorite places around the city. Coming here from Portland and San Francisco before that, we have a special place in our hearts for good coffee, rustic bread, and quality food and Lisbon has not disappointed. All these things are available here and lots include local flair that make them feel authentic to the location. This will be the first of many lists for Lisbon as we’ll continue to discover hidden gems and also as new establishments pop up. This city is developing rapidly and there are always new places to try. Let’s explore some scenarios that you might encounter. 

Scenario #1

You just got into Lisbon and your checked luggage didn’t arrive with you. You need some clothing and a bite to eat while you figure out the next steps. After confirming with the airline that your luggage will be delivered in a few days, you head to La Paz to pick up some nautically inspired duds to get you through till then. This is a great choice as their clothes are made in Portugal and the quality is first rate. You can grab some swim trunks for the beach and an outfit that easily works for daytime trekking around the city and evening dinner at a restaurant. Their fabrics are either cotton or merino wool and are inspired by the rich fishing and seafaring history of Portugal. Highly recommended! However, trying on clothes really works up an appetite, so on to lunch…

Just a block away is Dallas Burger. Obviously not traditional Portuguese fare, but they make a mean burger. Their beef is grass-fed, which is something that is pretty easy to find in Portugal, and they also have quite a few veggie options if that’s the move. The walls are decked out in movie and show posters and the music selection is always fun. Grab yourself a burger and a Fever Tree ginger beer and satiate yourself, but save room for dessert because we’re headed up the block for a slice of chocolate cake. Landeau does one thing - chocolate cake. Aside from some drink options, they have one thing on the menu - that’s right, chocolate cake. I will not say it “takes the cake” because that’s silly, but I suppose on some level I just did. Anyways, I’m a chocolate cake aficionado and this cake is top notch. It’s a bit more mousse-y than a straightforward cake and is an experience worth having if you like chocolate. If you don’t like chocolate, then I wouldn’t go here. :-P 

At this point, you’re feeling better about the whole luggage fiasco, but after all that cake, you need an espresso to cut the sweetness and perk you up. Just head up the block and pop into Fabrica for an espresso and maybe some coffee beans for the morning. We always have a hand grinder and aeropress with us while traveling because coffee is serious business. Trying new coffee shops is part of the travel experience. Fabrica has locations all around the city and they have some pretty good beans, the more expensive the better tasting. Ok, the espresso is kicking it, now you’re feeling more human and ready to get to your stay and relax before the evening festivities begin. 

Scenario #2

Waking up after a night of festivities, you’re looking forward to a lazy day to recuperate. Something that lets you experience Lisbon a little more like a local. The tourist sites will be there tomorrow, but today is for relaxing. Let’s head down to Praça das Flores. It’s a warm day, and the coolness of the tree canopy really protects you from the blinding reflection of the sun off the cobblestone (calçada) sidewalks and stone buildings. Before you find yourself a seat near the fountain, stop by Marquise and grab yourself a cardamom bun. In our opinion, the best bakery in Lisbon. Best consumed under the tree canopy while shooing away pigeons. You can watch people walk through the plaza with their dogs and soak up the vibe. It’s always very serene. 

From there, why not walk down the block to Nannarella for some gelato. This is the most popular spot for gelato in the city and you’ll most likely have to wait in a line, but it moves quickly and it’s worth it. I won’t enter the debate as to whether it is actually the best gelato in the city, but it’s certainly up there and they use incredibly quality ingredients. A must for any ice cream/gelato fans. Afterwards, head back up the hill and grab some wine at Black Sheep. This natural wine bar just recently expanded their space and the people who run the place are super friendly and obviously very into their craft. Get recommendations on what to drink and then hang out there and drink your wine with some good music or take a bottle back to the praça and enjoy it in the coolness of an evening breeze. Either way, it’ll be memorable. Afterwards, head up the hill to Principe Real and find a nice spot for dinner from the many to choose from, which I’ll detail in a future post.

This photo of Jack and Elaine LaLanne gets a lot right - let’s unpack it a little. 

First of all, the shoes. Ballet flats I’m guessing. Whatever they are, I’m a fan. A shoe that has minimal cushion is exactly what you want for most working out, unless we’re talking about running or walking, in which case some cushion might be a good thing. For strength training, pilates, yoga, etc. you want to be connected to the ground and not wobbling around on over cushioned soles. I’m a big fan of doing these activities barefoot as it helps strengthen the muscles in the feet, but if you’re more comfortable in shoes, do like Jack and Elaine and pick something without much cushion. 

Second, core strength. This jackknife pose takes some serious ab muscles and I’m all for developing that type of strength. Having strong abs will help with core stability, which will relieve lower back pain and help prevent injuries. Your workouts should consist of plenty of core work and you don’t have to start out doing jackknifes like the LaLannes. Start with planks and dead bugs and work your way up from there. You’ll be glad you did when you realize that the ache in your lower back that follows everywhere has all of a sudden disappeared and you can put your socks on without sitting down. 

Third, couples working out together. It’s a good time working out with a partner or friend. Accomplishing something together really strengthens the bond and encouragement from someone you're close to helps push you through those sticking points. Plus, when you’re done you have someone to go get tacos with. 

And lastly, monochrome jumpsuits. This is a Jack LaLanne signature look and although I don’t want to workout in (cotton?) coveralls, I respect the look. Instead of working on your car, you're working on your body. I think gyms should have been called “body shops” and car repair places “gyms,” but I digress. This is a classic look and I think it pairs nicely with the ballet shoes. 

One last thing here, Jack lived to 96 years old and Elaine is still at it at 97. Their lifestyle seemed to certainly help them live a long time. Take some lessons from Jack and Elaine, they definitely had some things figured out.

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☺️ Lisboa, gosto muito.

Since we’re talking Lisbon :

I want to share with you a couple of my favorite Instagram accounts for staying on top of Lisbon’s cultural scene – in this case, specifically food & beverage, and events.

lisbon__insiders

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@lisbon__insiders - What you’ll find : Updates on new openings, great photography, some curated “best of —— type of cuisine” collections, and recommendation takeovers by local chefs and other hospitality folk.

lisabout_

A post shared by @lisabout_

@lisabout_ - What you’ll find : Nightlife, Music, Day-party and other cultural event listings.

Os gatos também gostam de Lisboa.

I love kitties. I love their triangle-shaped heads and tiny noses. I love that albeit there are cat colonies that live around the city, they always seem to be fed and given water in some capacity by some other kitty-loving locals. The city even provides these stray cat shelters (Abrigos Refugio para Gatos de Rua) around town. How cool is that?

When we moved here, we noticed a colony of about 6 adult cats – all visible throughout the day from our window and subsequently affectionately named by us, mostly from a culmination of adjectives used to describe their physical characteristics. Tom cat, Blockhead, Scarface, Shaggy, Hinky legs, and my favorite Gelato (because her markings look like my favorite flavors of Gelato) are among the crew. However, lately, we noticed a sprinkling of (illegally cute) kittens, followed by another notice of a few freshly shaved cat bodies and clipped ears, the sign of a neuter/spay situation. Phew, thank goodness.

I would love to offer an opportunity to any of you Lisbon/animal lovers to donate or become “godparents” as they say on their site, to some of the colonies around the city. I found this organization already on the mission to keep these little babies safe and healthy, but not continuously reproducing. You can also report any colonies you’ve discovered that may be in need of sterilization or other health care.

🔗 https://animaisderua.org/

animaisderua

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And finally, as a treat :

I found this delightful pictorial collection of some of our beloved Lisbon Street Cats. Enjoy.

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Mechanisms of Hypertrophy

So far we’ve discussed the benefits of strength training, what rep ranges you should use for your goals, and different types of progressive overload. In all these posts/videos, I’ve mentioned muscle hypertrophy regularly, which simply refers to increasing the size of muscle fibers, which in turn, increases the size of muscles. Bigger muscles mean more strength.

Yes, there is a difference between myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, but we’re not going to go into all that. For now, let’s say that muscle hypertrophy is a good thing for strength, athleticism, and longevity. Although it’s not the only reason to strength train and I would argue, maybe not even the most important reason, it is an important one and so we’ll take it as a given that muscle hypertrophy is good. So let’s talk about the ways to increase it.

Mechanical Tension:

The first way is through mechanical tension. Lifting something heavy produces mechanical tension in muscle fibers and this tensile force makes them adapt. This stress doesn’t necessarily have to result in muscle damage - which will be discussed below - in order to stimulate growth and it might just be that this tension signals to the body that these fibers need to be bigger in order to handle this stimulus. As discussed in the progressive overload video, this stimulus should be increased in small increments in order to get the most out of the subsequent hormone response and muscle protein synthesis. A lot of the specifics here are not well understood, but there is certainly a correlation between lifting heavy and muscle growth - so making this a priority in your training is important.

Metabolic Stress:

The second way is through metabolic stress. Lifting something moderately heavy, but more times and with shorter rest periods puts metabolic stress on the muscle cells. Metabolic stress occurs from the production of metabolites like lactic acid, the lack of oxygen in muscle fibers, an increase in reactive oxygen species, and cell swelling. All these things increase hormonal signaling for important substances like testosterone and growth hormone, which in turn increases muscle protein synthesis and thus the size of muscle cells. In some research this increase in size is consistent with the increase achieved by lifting heavier weights through mechanical tension. So here, lower weight and higher reps are your friend. 

Muscle Damage:

Muscle damage gets a mention because it's talked about a lot in this hypertrophy conversation, but it seems like that might not actually cause muscle growth. Lifting something heavy and prolonging the eccentric phase, otherwise known as the muscle lengthening phase of a movement (think going down in a squat or lowering down in a push up), can produce a lot of muscle damage. Meaning small tears to the muscle fibers. This has been proposed as a driver of hypertrophy, but it seems that hypertrophy occurs independent of muscle damage and therefore has been called into question as a driver of hypertrophy. I think it suffices to say, that even if there were a benefit to damaging muscle fibers, you’d want to use this sparingly as this is also the most likely reason for muscle soreness. Luckily, plenty of strength and hypertrophy can be achieved without muscle damage and therefore it should not be a goal of strength training. Being sore is not fun and it seems it also provides no real benefit, which is definitely a relief. 😅

Take Away:

The takeaway here is that increasing muscle hypertrophy is good for strength and longevity. In order to increase muscle size, your strength training workouts should combine mechanical tension and metabolic stress. You should take advantage of both these drivers of hypertrophy to work different mechanisms that lead to our desired outcome. Loading some exercises up heavy and doing sets of 8 to 12 reps will produce mechanical tension and reducing load and increasing reps to 12 to 15 will produce metabolic stress. This should all be done in a progressive fashion so that optimal adaptation occurs and muscle growth is stimulated through protein synthesis, which I’ll discuss in my next post. 

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Sun and Steel

We’re once again back in Japan to explore the intersection of exercise and art. Introducing Yukio Mishima, the Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, and workout enthusiast. In fact, Sun and Steel is the title of a book about his reflections on strength training and martial arts. Mishima is considered one of the most important writers of the 20th century and his work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death", according to author Andrew Rankin. He is also a controversial figure that in the later years of his short life considered himself a nationalist that rejected modern Japanese ideals and exhibited particular sentimentality towards Imperial Japan. In fact, he died by committing seppuku (ritualistic suicide) after failing to inspire a military coup to restore the emperor to the throne. This action is thought by many to simply have been a pretense to kill himself, as he’d been planning his own death for well over a year and his literary works are drenched in an infatuation with death. Now that I’ve piqued your morbid curiosity, let’s change the subject. 

Yukio Mishima liked to workout. It’s said that in the last 15 years of his life, he strength trained 3 times a week and never missed a session. In addition to weight training, he also practiced kendo (Japanese fencing) and karate. This obsession with working out and martial arts might stem from his upbringing where he wasn’t able to be very active, was physically weak, and was kept inside next to his ailing grandmother. This is partly documented in Confessions of a Mask, which is generally seen as the story of his own youth. Whatever the reason, he made up for it in his later years and encapsulated the confluence of beautiful prose and physical pursuits. Cultivating art and physical being is something that I identify with and I think there is a power in feeling your own strength that lets you express yourself fully. Whatever the origin of his obsession with physical fitness, he used it as a subject for his artistic expression and I can relate. I studied philosophy and enjoyed the Greek philosophers that celebrated the cultivation of the mind and the body in a way that myopic modern times don’t. These days it’s all about specialization and oftentimes that means people are pushed down a narrow path without a healthy balance of intellectual, artistic, and physical pursuits. This is one reason Yukio Mishima appeals to me - he struck that balance and cultivated himself in a well rounded way. However, he then went off the deep end I guess, but he’s certainly not the first artist to do so. Regardless, his is an interesting story and these old photos of him are entertaining.

I’ve read two of his books, Spring Snow and Patriotism. The former was so full of detail and description that it reminded me of Proust (if he had pumped some iron, lol), which is honestly not my favorite type of writing. The latter was short and beautifully written, balancing heavy topics with the mundanity of everyday life - I recommend it.

You’ve most likely come across images or news clips about the recent release of the “Real Cheeseburger” in Thailand. If you google it you’ll find no shortage of images or YouTube videos of poor saps taking bites out of a stack of 20 slices of American cheese sandwiched between a sesame seed bun, sans condiments. What would prompt someone to do this is beyond me, but they’ve most likely been swept up in the viral nature that was at the heart of this creation and they’re taking their turn choking it down.

I don’t even need to comment on this as a nutritionist, but as someone who takes food seriously from a culinary perspective, the first question I had was, “why American cheese?” I couldn't think of a worse cheese to get lodged in my windpipe and choke to death on. As has been confirmed by those that have tried it, the salt alone makes it tough to eat more than a few bites. The plastic nature of American cheese also must lend itself to turning into what feels like a ball of wax, much like those wax lip candies that I remember getting on occasion around Halloween. Those, I’m sure, like the “Real Cheeseburger”, seemed like a novel idea for a second and then once you put it in your mouth, turned out to be a mistake. A tasteless, waxy mistake. 

This type of thing is the epitome of viral culture. People and companies doing anything to get a few seconds of attention before they have to come up with their next marketing ploy. But that’s not to say I wouldn’t buy one. Visually, they are kind of neat looking and I might have one sitting on my bookshelf along with some other knick-knacks that I’ve collected from travel. Not like I have to worry about it getting moldy at all since there’s no real food ingredients in it.

Eternally egged on

Now that your appetite is surely whetted thanks to Dustin’s blurb on probably the worst food to ever come out of Thailand (otherwise, my #1 favorite culinary origin – of all time), I too would like to visit Japan in this post.

I have recently discovered that watching omelette preparation is how I’d like to spend the majority of my free time. Really, any omelette (including the one Dustin makes us every morning) but, specifically this one from KichiKichi in Kyoto, an 8-seat, reservation only restaurant for dinner and a show. The dish is called Omurice, defined by Google as “a Japanese dish consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and thin, fried scrambled eggs, usually topped with ketchup”. Hey - I grew up with ketchup on my eggs, DO NOT KNOCK IT! Yum!

And as much as I enjoy to watch the slippery, soft scramble slide out of a skillet, Motokichi loves to perform it for you! What a legend!

author

Yen Kim Phan · Food & Luxury Travel on Instagram: “He’s an Avenger 😂 I loveeeeee kichi kichi omurice! Im sure this place needs no introduction. It’s just as fun, as entertaining, and as good as it seems. It gets a lot of hate for being “touristy” but those people are just no fun. ———- 📍 Kichi Kichi Omurice キチ・キチ
185-4 Zaimokucho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8017, Japan
@kichikichi_omurice 💰: 2,700 YEN ($19) #foodiswhyimbroke #foodiswhyimbrokekyoto #foodiswhyimbrokejapan”

August 27, 2023

It does not matter how many times I watch him slice open that little egg pouch, my jaw drops each time.

Honorable omelette mentions:

Tornado Omelette ( 회오리 오므라이스 )

📍South Korea

Omelette of Mother Poulard ( L'omelette de la Mère Poulard )

📍 Mont-Saint-Michel, France

And of course, Julia Child’s French Omelette

Tears of Awe

awe [ aw ] : noun

an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like

If you’re anything like me and have been brought to tears many times in the middle of the sidewalk in Portland, Oregon during mid-spring bloom because of the beautiful fucking flowers everywhere, you’ll probably enjoy this discovery I made on HBO when it became MAX and imported all of these PBS meets HGTV type shows. wow. so many acronyms.

It’s called The Garden Chronicles. The videos are no longer than about 10 minutes each and they are the perfect decompression tool. I promise you, you will FEEL it.

I swear, when I start my own garden, I will make it my whole personality.

—

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Laying the Groundwork(outs)

Types of Progressive Overload

Bear with me here, we’re laying the foundations for some future topics and it’ll be worthwhile to have this groundwork covered when we talk about those more tangible strength training subjects. As discussed in our Substack #002, you need progressive overload to increase demand and progress in strength, hypertrophy, or muscular endurance. Let’s discuss some different types of progressive overload.

Weight:

The most obvious way to increase demand is by adding weight. It’s smart to do this in small increments - remember PROGRESSIVE overload - to let the body adapt gradually. I suggest adding 2 to 5 lbs every time you feel like you could use more of a challenge. A good rule of thumb is if you can comfortably complete 2 extra reps on the last set, then you should consider increasing the weight. Remember to do this while also maintaining good form and feeling the target muscles work. Sometimes adding too much weight shifts the work into non-target muscle groups and this isn’t ideal. A good example of this is with Bulgarian Split Squats (BSS). In my experience loading these up too heavy will shift the work from the quads to the glutes and I just end up with really sore glutes - not ideal if I’m trying to target the quads. It’s all a balancing act and making sure your form isn’t sacrificed is priority number one. Quality over quantity!!!

Reps:

Increasing reps is another way to increase demand and this is a great strategy if you aren’t able to make small changes to weight. For example, if you are doing BSS and only have a pair of 20 lbs dumbbells and a pair of 30 lbs dumbbells and the 20’s are too light for sets of 10 and the 30’s are too heavy for 10, then you can increase the reps using the 20’s until you can get 12 or 14 per set and then go to the 30’s and get 8 per set and start increasing reps from there. This is a great approach and as seen here increasing reps has a similar effect on hypertrophy to increasing weight. 

I like to use a wave strategy with reps. This is where you increase reps week by week using the same weight throughout a cycle and then when you start a new cycle you drop the reps and increase the weight and then increase reps again week by week. Let’s take BSS as an example again: let’s say I can complete 10 reps with 30 lbs dumbbells at the beginning of a training cycle, then I’ll bump up the reps by 1 for each week of that four week cycle. Week 1 will be 3 sets of 10 reps, week 2 will be 3 sets of 11 reps, week 3 will be 3 sets of 12 reps, and week 4 will be 3 sets of 13 reps. Then for the next cycle I’ll bump the weight up to 35 lbs dumbbells and start back at 3 sets of 10 reps and go through that pattern again with the heavier weight. This again is a very incremental strategy and is great for people that don’t have a variety of weights at their disposal. 

ROM:

Range of motion is another way to increase demand and doesn’t require extra weight or reps. Increasing the ROM used in an exercise will increase the tensile force on the working muscle fibers and this increase in tension makes the muscle fibers adapt and grow. Putting this into practice means going deeper in a squat, eg - elevating the front foot in a BSS, or going deeper in a push up, eg - elevating the hands on yoga blocks. These small changes can push the end ROM and really increase the intensity of an exercise, thus increasing muscle growth. 

Rest Period:

Reducing rest periods between sets or circuits is another way to increase demand on the body and this is effective by increasing metabolic stress in the muscle cells. As mentioned in Substack #002, this is one of the mechanisms of hypertrophy. Pushing the cells in this way forces them to adapt metabolically and makes them grow. This is as simple as reducing rest times between rounds. It’s recommended to do this for circuit workouts or supersets - meaning you’re doing a combo of exercises that work different body parts. For example, you could superset BSS and push ups because they are working different muscle groups and that way each muscle group gets a rest while the other is being used, but the overall intensity of the workout is increased by reducing the resting time. Not only will you get more metabolic demand, but you’ll also get some cardiovascular work, too. It’s best not to use maximal weights here because mechanical tension is not the goal and also it’ll just be too hard to complete and probably too dangerous as well.

Tempo:

One last way to increase demand is by playing with the tempo of an exercise. You can slow down or add pauses to a movement and this increases mechanical tension. If you’re pausing for an extended period of time, i.e. - isometric holds, then you’re probably getting some metabolic stress, too. As shown here, it seems that the lack of oxygen in contracted muscles puts a particular demand on the cells and produces a hypertrophic effect. If we take our BSS as an example, we could do a 4 second lowering (eccentric) phase, followed by a normal up (concentric) phase. This slow lowering will increase mechanical tension on the muscle fibers. Or we could do a 30 second pause at the bottom, an isometric BSS, and this would increase metabolic stress also. Using this strategically means you’re using both those factors that increase hypertrophy. 

Take Away:

There are many approaches to progressive overload and I think most people could benefit from a combination of them. It doesn’t always have to be about increasing weight and in fact in my own training I focus more on getting quality reps that work the target muscle group and pushing those muscles close to failure. Of course the weight matters to an extent and more weight means more mechanical tension, but adding more weight to the exercise is secondary to the quality of work. Given your situation and the amount of equipment at your disposal, you might try progressive overload strategies that don’t rely so much on adding weight, especially if you workout at home or travel regularly and don’t have the huge variety of equipment available like you would at a gym.

A Visual Supplement

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4-hour work week 15 hour workday!

Japanese Keirin

No doubt you’ve heard of horse racing and dog racing, popular as betting sports in many countries, but did you know in Japan you can bet on bicycle races? If you ever get the chance to see it, take it - even if, like me, you have no interest in gambling. The action is incredible and in the final sprint these riders are reaching speeds above 40 miles per hour. The riders basically train their entire young life in special schools to be able to race in these events and their dedication to it is very apparent. From the opening line up and ceremonial bows to the leave it all on the track way they push themselves - it’s beautiful. The bicycles they race are all steel frames and components - very retro chic, and the rainbow color uniforms and leather cycling shoes might have you thinking you traveled back in time. In fact, I’d guess not much has changed in the 70 something years that Keirin has been around. 

When I lived in Tokyo I was able to experience the smoke drenched anticipation and the regret and disappointment that littered the ground in the form of betting tickets. Again, the action is incredible and when they really get flying in the final laps, quads pumping like pistons, pulled tight to the frame, the whir of spokes and pooled lactate - it’s something else. Sometimes, there’s a crash and when this happens the rider tightens up into a ball, still holding their bicycle, as they spin and skid on their side, sparks flying. LITERALLY, sparks flying as they pinball off other riders and embankments. Remember, these people have trained 15 hours a day since they were children to be here and they give it their everything and you get to stand a few feet away from it. It’s really impressive to see someone putting that much of their physical being into something in person. Don’t miss it. Afterwards, you can find yourself a nice cherry blossom tree to sit under and think about the last time you gave it your all. 

On a side note, the bikes that they race are eventually retired and sold, so there’s a healthy secondary market where you can buy these fixed gear bike frames. I bought myself one and rode it around Tokyo for a few years before selling it and getting something with brakes. 

Bad news everyone, SnackWell’s brand fat free treats have been retired. It’s a sad day for those folks that enjoyed a flavorless, overly sweet, unsatisfying mouthful of flour and sugar, held together by what exactly?? I don’t know, but if you were around in the 90’s you probably encountered these unfortunate little discs of disappointment. I know I got my hopes up on more than one occasion upon discovering them when opening the cupboard for a treat. We didn’t have many sweets in my house growing up, but on occasion my mom would buy these for herself and I would sneak in and grab a few when I could. I’d eat them begrudgingly, but would have much rather found some Chips Ahoy - which never once happened, by the way. What is it about fat that makes something taste so much better? It just gives it dimension and makes it more satisfying. 

My professional advice to people is eat the real thing and just eat less of it if you’re worried about its caloric density. Feel satisfied with a food, really stop and enjoy it, and then move on. Fat free foods like SnackWell’s cookies just left you feeling empty and made you want more, i.e. - the SnackWell effect. “The SnackWell effect is a phenomenon whereby dieters will eat more low-calorie cookies, such as SnackWells, than they otherwise would for normal cookies. Also known as moral license, it is also described as a term for the way people go overboard once they are given a free pass or the tendency of people to over consume when eating more of a low-fat food due to the belief that it is not fattening.” (Wikipedia) Having a more holistic view of food is ideal. Whether it’s carbs or fat or salt or sugar, none of these things are bad in and of themselves, and in my opinion it is excessive consumption of one or all of them that can cause problems. Exercise moderation and you’re good. I know this may be hard to do at times and we all have our moments of weakness, but do it generally and enjoy the treats. (This is Natasha chiming in - Butter is my favorite food and cookies are not cookies without it. That’s all. )

RIP SnackWell’s.

A brief message from our sponsor : YOURS TRULY!

At long last, it’s almost here. 

The Equipment Cube, the essential tool to turn any destination into your personal gym, is coming very soon! 

It contains a curated collection of portable exercise equipment that we use ourselves. When we started to travel more often, the items we accumulated to workout wherever we went, turned into what you see today in our offerings. It fits into a typical carry-on suitcase and weighs in at 8lbs. We felt it was too good not to share. We hope you'll agree.

In addition to the equipment, we are offering full-length workouts (including the warm-up) for you to follow along with from wherever you are. Our first batch was filmed in Barcelona!

See it in action over on Instagram! We’ll be sharing free workouts there from time to time! Here’s Dustin in Lisbon!

author

workout wherever by mazama wellness on Instagram: “workout wherever 2.1⁠
⁠
Circuit 1⁠
—3 rounds, 1 min rest between rounds— ⁠
1A. Waterbag Alternating Reverse Lunge - 20 Reps Total⁠
1B. Push Up - 12 Reps⁠
1C. Staggered Stance Banded Row - 12 Reps Per Side⁠
⁠
Circuit 2⁠
—3 rounds, 1 min rest between rounds— ⁠
2A. Waterbag RDL - 12 Reps⁠
2B. Bear Crawls - 30 Sec⁠
2C. Banded Dead Bug - 12 Reps Total⁠
⁠
Circuit 3⁠
—3 rounds, 1 min rest between rounds— ⁠
3A. Waterbag Lateral Slider Lunge - 12 Reps Per Side⁠
3B. Shoulder Taps - 12 Reps Total⁠
3C. Side Plank - 30 Sec Per Side⁠
⁠
📳 shop our equipment to follow along with this workout. sign up for the newsletter at✨www.workoutwherever.club✨ to be notified when we launch! 📳 ⁠
#workoutwherever #workoutwhereverbymazamawellness #mazamawellness”

August 14, 2023

You snooze, you lose 🔘“I Accept”?

Recently, the funniest, stupidest, best idea came across my desk (so to speak - I mostly work from atop a made bed) and I have GOT to share it with someone!

LEGAL LULLABIES - Lull yourself to sleep with the soothing white noise of your favorite tech giant’s terms of service. Normally, I’d tuck the link behind some text for you to click, but y’all - look at their domain name….

🔗 https://www.zzzuckerberg.com/

I cackled. Why does everything about big tech feel like a (dystopian) joke buildup? These are the punchlines I’m living for.

Amster-damnnnn

In today’s episode of real estate escapism… I’m actually quite annoyed that I am not buying these 2 connected canal homes in Amsterdam. They/It are/is perfect. 

Acting brand new..

Something that I find exciting as someone new to world travel is the amount of super-niche museums that I can find myself visiting. I’ve not yet been to London, but when I do, I will gladly geek out at the Museum of Brands. They describe themselves as A nostalgic journey through 200 years of consumer culture. Consider my interest piqued! 

author

Museum Of Brands on Instagram: “Curious about what drinks look like from your childhood, your children’s and your grandchildren’s childhood? Come and visit our museum and see how the brands have changed through the different generations. Kids go Free on Fridays from 🎁 21 July - 01 September 🎁
Link in bio to book tickets! #bonding #grandparents #granny #summer #holiday #visitus #sharing #nostalgia #museum #timetunnel #kidsgofree #fridays #treat #drinks #thingstodo #fun #learn #dayout #museumofbrands #london”

August 13, 2023

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Goal Based Strength Training – Choose your own adventure!

Strength vs. Hypertrophy vs. Muscle Endurance

Even within strength training there are different ways you can train depending on your goals.

If you’re trying to improve your 1 rep max, i.e. - the most weight you can lift a single time (think powerlifting), then you will train with strength as the primary goal. This means training in rep ranges of 1 to 5 per set.

If you’re trying to grow your muscles as big as you can (think bodybuilding) then you’ll focus on rep ranges that are between 6 and 15 or so.

And if you’re trying to increase your muscular endurance (think crossfit, rowing, mid distance running, etc.) then your rep ranges will be somewhere between 15 and 30.

These aren’t steadfast rep ranges and a bit of each category trickles over into the next. For the general population, hypertrophy rep ranges give you the most bang for your buck. You get healthy proportions of strength, hypertrophy, and muscle endurance while also being able to focus on range of motion, balance, healthy movement patterns, and all the benefits of strength training discussed in our last substack, #001 (preview below).

Let’s dive a little deeper into each category:

Strength - As stated above, the focus of strength work is lifting as much as possible a few times. This means that training focuses on motor unit recruitment, passive tissue development, movement efficiency, and lots and lots of practice doing the same few lifts over and over. Lifting heavy puts a lot of demand on the body and this type of training can be pretty demanding on the central nervous system, but tends to create less peripheral fatigue than the types of strength training discussed below. If CNS fatigue is properly managed, then this style of training can be done pretty frequently. 

Hypertrophy - Hypertrophy training focuses on muscle fiber development. This is done with a nice balance of mechanical tension and cellular stress - two concepts that we’ll explore further, later on. For now, it suffices to say it’s a little bit lifting heavy and a little bit feeling the burn. Reps are typically taken to near failure, maybe leaving 1 or 2 reps in the tank for each set. This type of training produces less CNS fatigue, but can produce a substantial amount of peripheral fatigue. For this reason and to allow the process of muscle protein synthesis (i.e. - muscle growth) to fully complete, you should give muscle groups 48 to 72 hours rest between training sessions. So if you did a full lower body workout on Monday, wait until Wednesday or Thursday to get another lower body session in. 

Muscle Endurance - Work capacity and sustained effort is the primary goal in this type of strength training. You’re lifting lighter weights, but going for higher reps to the point that the muscles are really burning. This is putting significant demand on your muscle cells and working on metabolic efficiency, i.e. - creating anaerobic energy and clearing metabolites (lactic acid). This type of training produces low CNS fatigue and also less peripheral fatigue. Recovery seems to be little faster than hypertrophy training most likely because there’s less muscle fiber damage and it’s likely that metabolic byproducts drive growth here. 

To Recap: Reps, Sets, Weight

Strength: 1 to 5 Reps, Many, Heavy - 85 to 95% 1 RM (Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting)

Hypertrophy: 6 to 15 Reps, 3-5, Mod to Heavy - 60 to 80% 1 RM (Bodybuilding)

Muscle Endurance: 15 to 30 Reps, Light, 50 to 70% 1 RM (Crossfit, Bodybuilding)

Progressive Overload

Regardless of your training goals, progressive overload should be used to get stronger or bigger or increase work capacity. Progressive overload is a pretty straightforward principle and we’ll talk about it more in depth later on, but simply put, you have to incrementally increase weight, or reps, or ROM, or reduce rest time to keep exercises challenging. Basically, you need to add something to make it harder once you adapt to the demand and this will keep you progressing. 

Takeaway:

The main takeaway here is to strength train in a way that is in alignment with your goals. If you’re a linebacker you probably want to train for strength, if you’re a mid distance runner you’ll probably want to train for muscular endurance. If your goal is general health and longevity, I’d say you’re best off with hypertrophy work, but you can throw in a little of the others from time to time, too. Pick a style that appeals to you and have a plan and you’ll get the most out of your strength training sessions.

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When in Rome, workout as the Romans do. 

Just outside the center of Rome is Stadio dei Marmi. A beautiful and well managed stadium with a track that can be used by the public year round. It is encircled by 60 four meter tall marble statues of athletes and is a magical place to get in a strength training session or track workout. The feeling is very Olympic and the spirit of athletics really resonates throughout the place. Truly inspiring. 

Originally designed by the fascists in the 1920’s, it was dedicated to sports programs that they thought were going to turn athletes into warriors. Fast forward 100 years and we still have a cool vibe for a workout, without the dumb fascism. It was used a little in the 1960 Olympic games and is still used for various competitions (and red carpet events?) from time to time. 

To get there is pretty easy by taxi as it’s about a 20 min drive from the center of Rome. There’s not a whole lot else out there, so make sure to take some snacks and plenty of fluids. I taught a few virtual sessions there and my clients loved it. Definitely an inspiring background for a workout or content. I actually discovered it in an advertising campaign by Giuliva Heritage - see pics below. One thing to note: during the summer there are sports camps during the day. In this case you can still use the track in the evenings, but it’s closed to the public during the day. 

We always try to find fun places for a workout wherever we go, and this one is a highlight. 10/10!

If you were around in the 90’s you probably knew of the workout video Ab’s of Steel (yes, they put an apostrophe in abs - don’t ask me why). An offshoot of the popular Buns of Steel franchise, this one focused on core work. My mom owned a copy on VHS and eventually it made it into my workout routine. I remember it kicking my butt (or abs as it were) and my stomach being so sore that it hurt to laugh. I kept with it though and eventually I was able to complete 2 out of the 3 workouts it offered. I don’t think I ever made it all the way through the 3rd one - Tamilee Webb was a beast and I couldn’t compete. The video starts with a pretty great warm up session and then goes into 15 minutes of straight core work. Nasty. I don’t remember doing the warm up, which is very 80’s aerobics inspired, but the main ab workouts were a staple for me for at least a year or two. 

I do have to hand it to Tamilee, she has some pretty good advice at the beginning of the video. She mentions how to breathe, which I’m a huge fan of - I’m always cueing clients to breathe, and also talks about keeping the lower back pressed into the ground as you go through the workout. She ends by saying that “if it hurts, don’t do it.” All of this is sage advice and I say these things often. 

I put together a little 2 minute highlight reel from the VHS video courtesy of the Internet Archive. So, go grab yourself a fat free Yoplait yogurt and some SnackWell’s cookies (jkjkjk), and enjoy the show!

bad bad digital nomad

Dustin and I don’t identify as digital nomads, per se, but we do follow the conversations. It can be a really polarizing topic - ESPECIALLY if you dare to tiptoe into a reddit tornado thread on the subject. I’m just going to say this - at the bare minimum of self, we are all just trying to improve or maintain our quality of life with the resources we have.

We recently listened to this episode of Unpacked by AFAR podcast and found that we agreed with a lot of the sentiments. Through this podcast, we learned a bit about Brent and Michael, who have been digital nomad-ing since long before the days of the internet being over saturated with the heated “debates” and nuance-less clickbait articles.

Brent and Michael Are Going Places

The adventures, insights, and travel tips of a gay digital nomad couple exploring the world. A "Substack Featured" Newsletter! Also seen on CBS Sunday Morning and CNN.

By Michael Jensen

#i could (workout) here…

Not a morning goes by where I don’t drink my coffee while escaping through real estate listings. Recently, I fell in love with a chateau in Toulouse, France if not just for the exterior paint job.

more escapism please

mmmm… a quick childhood nostalgic digression via Ovaltine before what I was actually going to share…

Window Swap is one of the coolest little things on the internet (if you, like me, are always longing to drop into a somewhat distant, mundane existence elsewhere, as a treat). Window swap lets you look out of a variety of contributors’ windows, into their garden, onto their balcony, into their cat’s favorite window-based nook, out onto the hills of their village. Just hit refresh and you’ve traveled to another destination. POOF. When we travel, I'm always sniffing out the vibe that one might settle into after living somewhere a while - the very ordinary day-to-day from whence the novelty wears away. I think window swap gives me a bit of that. mini rant: I really do not like frenetic, over-planned travel/life and I’m so glad my husband is more-or-less the same. Reminds me of when my mom and I used to pass the time, hanging out, watching live webcam feeds from cameras set up in public spaces like Times Square or (broadly) Alaska. Good times. :-)

—

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This post is best viewed on the website or Substack app!

Strength Training 101

It’s pretty cool that your body can adapt. If you overload it with a stimulus, it will make physiological changes to better handle that stimulus. I think that’s neat. What’s also neat is that if this stimulus is mechanical tension, it increases muscle mass, bone density, joint stability, improves heart health, cognition, mood, quality of life, longevity, and makes you less fragile. Mechanical tension, aka resistance training, aka strength training, can include weight lifting, calisthenics, resistance bands, weight machines, or a bunch of other types of equipment that resist your body’s movement. These movements are usually of short duration (1 to 30 repetitions per bout) and force very specific adaptations in muscle fibers, joint tissues, bones, and even in the connection between the brain and body. I’ll let you sit with that for a sec. 

Who could benefit from this adaptation? Well, everyone. In fact, I’ll say it - everyone should do some sort of resistance training. It makes athletes perform better, it makes teachers teach better, it makes business people business better, it makes artists art better, and it makes anyone more capable in a bunch of areas in their life. Reference above ⬆️. All you need is 2 or 3 resistance training sessions a week and you’re good. Mix it in with some walking, running, yoga or whatever other activities you already do and level that shit up. The adaptation will be noticeable in a few weeks (especially if you haven’t done much resistance training) and you won’t look back. 

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

Barcelona

We recently returned to Lisbon from a month-long stay in Barcelona. We were there to film some strength training workouts for workoutwherever.tv, but of course managed to explore the city and have some fun, too. We definitely found some favorite spots:

Coffee

• Nomad Coffee Lab - An exceptional coffee experience. The type of place where you sit down and the barista brings you the coffee and explains it to you and then you take little sips out of what looks like a tea cup so that you can fully experience the flavors. They also do a great shakerato - perfect on a hot day. I’ve started ordering their beans for delivery here in Lisbon since they have great coffee, are reasonably priced, and offer free shipping on the Iberian peninsula. They’re also located in an extremely picturesque little passageway - a very photogenic location.

• Onis Coffee - A cute little shop that was right around the corner from our apartment and has great espresso. The owner is super friendly and the decor of the shop is simple and elegant. They also do a great cold brew for those hot days. 

• Three Marks Coffee - Another Barcelona major figure with lots of options. Their beans are great and run the gamut flavor-wise from simple to complex and price wise from lesser to more expensive. Lots of outdoor seating for those lovely days when a cold brew and a place to relax is a must. They were also one of the few shops with an espresso tonic as an option - another hot day favorite of mine.

  • Natasha’s addition : European Coffee Trip, an essential coffee lover’s youtube channel, dropped a video profiling Three Marks while we were still in town! 

Bread/Pastries

• Coush Armo - Organic sourdough bread and some unique spins on familiar pastries. The one that stood out the most being an Argentinean version of a croissant that uses lard and is then glazed in a sesame syrup - a little sweet and a slight hint of sesame. We bought bread from them regularly and tried most of the varieties they offered. All really great. 

• Baluard - With many shops around town, you’re never far from good bread, and with an almost overwhelming selection, you’re never pressed to try and find something new. Lots of good sourdough options, including baguettes, if you’re into that sort of thing. Their pan loaf is great for making turkey sandwiches and they have plenty of sweet treats, for when the moment calls. They also have some really good already prepared sandwiches in case you need a quick bite. 

Grocery Stores

• Ametller Origen - There are a lot of these around town (some even open on Sunday!) and they are a great place to grab fresh fruits and veggies, along with kitchen staples. I would get sliced turkey and cheese from them and then make sandwiches for lunch using bread from one of the above bakeries. A great go to and very reasonably priced. They also have a nice selection of meat and lots of veggie protein options, too. 

• Veritas - Another great option for healthy staples. A good selection of fruits and veggies, plus all the other stuff you need like quinoa, dark chocolate, olive oil mayonnaise, and dishwasher detergent that doesn’t smell like a chemical cocktail. Their prices seemed to be a little higher than Ametller Origen, but they also had some things that we couldn’t find elsewhere, so we split our shopping between the two. 

Eateries

• Apluma - I could eat rotisserie chicken everyday and be perfectly happy. It’s something I never get sick of and I always seek it out when traveling. Apluma has some of the best I’ve had and I got a whole chicken with roasted potatoes probably about twice a week for the entire month we were in Barcelona. Make a salad at home and you have a simple and reasonably priced dinner. We were lucky to be a 5 min walk from one of their locations - a happy coincidence. 

• Cresta Colorada - Mexican food is something we miss living in Lisbon. There are a few decent spots, but nothing like where Natasha (Texas) and I (California) grew up. This place really satisfied our craving for authentic Mexican food. They specialize in rotisserie chicken, served with tortillas, black beans, and a variety of salsas, but they also had really good cochinita pibil tacos and a really tasty kale salad. They also had a great list of mezcal and tequila - always a plus. Fortaleza Blanco was the highlight of the tequilas. 

• Xurreria Trebol - Don’t leave Barcelona without getting some churros (xurro in Catalan). Fried dough, sprinkled with sugar and served with hot chocolate to dip it in. This is basically a melted chocolate bar and this spot gives you like an 8 ounce serving of it - plenty of chocolate to dip and maybe a little extra to sip on. Definitely a must. Enjoy them in a little plaça while you watch kids kick soccer balls nerve-rackingly close to outdoor diners.

Our Stay

We stayed in a Ukio apartment for our entire month in Barcelona. We had been really interested in trying their offerings and although it wasn’t as nice as we had hoped it would be, it was a solid stay. It’s basically one step up from AirBnb, but with a support staff that was easily accessible and very friendly. Their customer service was good, which was fortunate because we had to use it often. We had a few different leaks happen in a few different locations in the apartment and had to have a repairman visit on two separate occasions. Also, beyond regular cleanings, it looked like maintenance hadn’t been kept up as much as it should have been and a lot of the beautiful plants in the pictures online were dead when we arrived. 

However, the location of the place in the Dreta de l'Eixample was stellar, it had an amazing kitchen with great appliances, it had decent Ikea furniture, and the terrace was tops - we spent as much time there as possible. All in all, it was a good stay and I think we’ll try another of their spots (maybe Madrid?) in the future. 

The Firmflex by Body By Jake was the first piece of workout equipment I ever actively sought out. I think I asked for it for Christmas - the infomercials must’ve got me. In hindsight, it’s a pretty silly piece of equipment and really most of the exercises you can do on it can be achieved with a pair of dumbbells. But hey, I used it for a few years and then it became a clothing rack. I think it’s all-in-one nature appealed to me and even early on I understood the need for a “full body” workout. In any event, it was a stepping stone and looking back, these infomercials are pretty entertaining - I regret nothing. Get fit, don’t quit!!

I’ve distilled some old infomercials into clips for your viewing pleasure.

free business idea

cat cafes are so done - I don’t like gyms (duh) - but, maybe I would if the right scenario existed. I just want to get-it-in next to my kitty friends. Also, a reminder to self when I feel like skipping my workout - WATCH THIS GIF ⬇️!

💫Stay inspired by your community!💫 haha but seriously…

#i could (workout) here…

Wow. This project in Palma de Mallorca, Spain just set the bar extremely high when it comes to building with the environment in mind. Not only is it sans paint in any capacity, but it heats and cools itself – all while being a pleasing balance of urban and natural materials. I don’t normally enjoy the sight of anything gray in interior design, much less actual concrete, but paired with all of the green and warm and cozy wood elements my aesthetic apprehension is soothed.

Natasha 💚 Matcha 🍵

I like matcha! Do you like matcha? Allegedly it is super good for you and I really enjoy the way the mixture of l-theanine & caffeine washes over me like a weighted blanket for my productivity-induced work day anxieties – like a calming yet encouraging pat on the back. I say all this to say, if you are in Europe and interested in ordering a quality daily drinker, you might make an order to Barcelona-based The Matcha House. I ordered the Select Matcha and I make some for Dustin and I every afternoon post-breakfast. Not a fun fact, but a regular fact : I studied Japanese tea ceremony briefly and my whisk game is strong.

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Thanks for joining us - see you next time!

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