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Off-Topic Healthy Lifestyle Recommended Resources

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CMat

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Hello Everyone

I am currently following the S+S program and am looking for community recommendations to improve my understanding on other aspects of a healthy life. My main goal is to find additional content on nutrition, sleep, injury prevention/maintenance that align line with the principles taught by Strongfirst.

Thank you.
 
Hello Everyone

I am currently following the S+S program and am looking for community recommendations to improve my understanding on other aspects of a healthy life. My main goal is to find additional content on nutrition, sleep, injury prevention/maintenance that align line with the principles taught by Strongfirst.

Thank you.

Starting to lift weights is often a keystone habit that starts to build other healthy habits. It is good to ask such a question.

However, I would caution against overthinking/researching it, which I have and most have done as they get more interested in fitness and health as they see results. If you want elite performance it can get complicated, but you probably already know what you need to do for general health goals.

I agree that a good source of "common sense" general health advice can be found by Dan John. He is like hearing from a favorite wise uncle.
Best quote, "Eat like an adult."
He talks about the importance of flossing on more than just dental health.

Turning off digital devices well before you sleep also seems to be important. Reading books especially fiction before bed helps transition to sleep. An evening stretching/mobility routine as well. Geoff Neupert's P3 program is an option.

One good tip that may not be obvious that I have picked up lately is get sunshine in the morning and treat sunshine more like a vital supplement. Huberman podcast Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast

The other one to try is cold showers.

There are many others but a good general book and mobility routine is ST approved Flexible Steel by Jon Engum. Amazon product ASIN B00IH661J8
If we want to think in terms of StrongFirst terms, a really helpful idea is to pay more attention to "rest period talk test" or in this case post-workout recovery.

What you can do in a particular training session may not really be that important. When I read about people worried about missing one workout or bringing their equipment on vacation, it is kind of funny now. It is just one workout in a lifetime of workouts to come. What you can recover from and do consistently is the key. Pavel has said take care of your responsibilities and family and then train. Geoff Neupert (Kettlebell Strong and many other threads on this site) is really good on this point too, especially for the over 40 crowd.

One thing I have learned (age 53) and many others is consistency and recovery will likely beat all other variables every time. This applies to both exercise and good general health habits such as dealing with stress/diet etc. Sure you can do a particularly tough program or cutting edge diet once, but how important is that over a lifetime of health really?

I am of course speaking of gpp and general health for a general population and not elite or competitive performance, where details of exercise programming etc. are important.
 
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What you can do in a particular training session may not really be that important. What you can recover from and do consistently is the key.

consistency and recovery will likely beat all other variables every time. This applies to both exercise and good general health habits such as dealing with stress/diet etc.
+1 to both of those.

You're asking for advice in line with SF thinking, and here's my two cents:

There's a LOT of noise out there regarding "optimizing" lifestyle. Just keep it simple.

Eat real foods. Eat till you're full, not still hungry, not stuffed. Focus on protein first, then vegetables and starches. If you need to gain/lose weight either add or subtract a little. Do it until something changes.

Sleep enough, around 8 hours a night. If you need more, so be it. If you can feel great on a little less, so be it. Go to bed and wake up at the same times as often as your life will allow.

Manage stress by: focusing on what is important to you. Spending time figuring out what that is, and why. Cut out stuff that pulls you too far away from what is important to you.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you need to optimize every little thing. Being neurotic about a healthy lifestyle isn't "healthy" in my opinion. Let yourself relax, but don't go overboard (or try to minimize how often you do).

Find the things that make you feel better, stronger, more energetic, excited, etc. Do the same in training and gradully increase your capacity to do more. I am not always successful, but that's part of life, it's okay. It's like meditation. Follow your breath. When you find your thoughts have strayed from your breath, just bring them back to it.

Most of all, I would say to be nice to yourself.
 
Attempts by Dan John is a great resource for this.

Starts out with wear your seatbelt, floss every day, and get good sleep.
+1 to flossing

1. Sleep 7-8 hours with a consistent sleep/wake time and good sleep hygiene. Avoid night shift work.
2. Don't drink calories. Try not to eat snacks. Limit sugar, especially fructose
3. Fast occasionally
4. Avoid drugs and inebriation, especially in public. Assume everyone is armed and be nice.
5. Limit social media and screen time in favor of family, friends, a good book
6. Get a primary care physician and see him/her regularly. Always try lifestyle modifications 1st or in conjunction with medication prescribed, where appropriate.
7. If not, consider getting religious
8. Get involved in community
 
I have no issues with seatbelt or sleep but I struggle with flossing. Maybe I should read that book. Thanks for the reference.
 
A few podcasts or people I listen to about health/longevity which isn’t limited to lifting:
  • Andrew Huberman
  • Peter Attia
  • David Sinclair
  • Rangan Chaterjee
I like listening to what they have to say, and what the guests on their podcasts say especially if a guest goes on a few of the podcasts, and then see where the crossover lies between advice. I’ll rarely take it serious unless I’ve heard it from more than one person.
  • Breathwork or meditation (Read Breath by James Nestor, Waking up by Sam Harris)
  • Good sleep hygiene (Read Dr Matthew Walkers sleep book)
  • A healthy diet (you know what this is, don’t overthink, lots of veggies, whole foods, quality protein, plenty of water).
  • Zone 2 cardio (Read the Maffetone Method)
  • Strength work (pick whatever you enjoy and progressively overload)
  • Mobility, if needed (look into Yoga, Original Strength, FMS, KneesOverToesGuy)
You can go down Rabbit holes forever into each of these topics to attempt to optimise each one. I prefer to let these podcast hosts or highly recommended books do that for me now that I don’t have as much free time.
 
Maybe „the Forge“ by @Pavel Macek is something for you. Training, lifestyle, meditation, mobility, rituals, … all covered for one year.

I can bring Joe Dispenza into the discussion. I do at least one meditation by him and it feels good to me.
 
I have no issues with seatbelt or sleep but I struggle with flossing. Maybe I should read that book. Thanks for the reference.

Flossing.

In a nutshell, first it seems that there could be a link between gum disease and heart disease, but the research is not conclusive because people who floss are more likely to be health conscious in general (confounding factor).

Second, as Dan John reasons, if someone has tooth pain and poor oral health, then crunching on healthy vegetables and dense foods is more difficult. The more tooth pain you have the more likely you are to eat processed, soft food of decreased nutritional value. Think of older people with dentures. The link is indirect but totally makes sense. Unless you are on a diet of mashed potatoes, which incidentally, you could survive on as the potato is a complete protein!

What food would you choose if you had tooth pain? Likely not raw or crunchy vegetables.
 
What I found works for me... if i find something that supposedly brings benefit and I am interested enough, I try it for awhile. If its worth doing I will keep the habit, if not I move on. I have tried this with many things over the past couple years. Everyone is different, but do what make YOU feel good. Thats the goal.


Some things that worked for me:
Original Strength (literally life changing)
Breathing (OS/Nestor/Wim Hof)
Fasting
Kettlebells ;)
Cold showers

Things that didnt:
Stretching
Running
Strict diets
Yoga

You only have so many hours a day. Find what works for you and prioritize it. A healthy lifestyle is actually easy once you commit to feeling good. Build yourself a portfolio suited to you. I stopped worrying about missing out on morning donuts or social media. Once you build your new good habits your old "bad" ones seem silly. Stay balanced IMO, dont go so far in you sweat eating cake or pizza at a birthday party. Enjoy life too.

Good luck on the journey!
 
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