Brady’s and Michael’s Substacks are my favorites — and the only ones I pay for. And now you both posted the same content at the same time 😂 Love it! Thanks for the amazing work!
I love this post so much! The other day I told my 12-year old to put on his shoes, we were going to walk to the grocery store. He reluctantly agreed—even though watermelon was on my list.🤪. We took a bookbag and several reusable shopping bags. Of course they were out of personal watermelons so we bought a big one and my son rucked it home while I carried the rest of the groceries. It felt amazing to get a little exercise doing a mundane chore like grocery shopping and got him off his phone. Definitely looking for these opportunities more and more. Thanks for the nudge!
Wow! I’ve always been someone to say “exercise is medicine” but this reframe is HUGE! Inactivity really is poison ☠️ I love the different way of looking at it: thank you
Love this alternative view of exercise as an antidote to the poison of inactivity. It’s also nice to see someone that realizes the daily reality of livestock production for a way of life. Not a hobby farm. I wouldn’t want to do anything else and consider myself blessed that I get to move every day outside in nature, when it’s both bitter cold and a sauna outside, depending on the time of year. And because of my high NEAT numbers my VO2 max is in the elite category for my age, but I still also run and lift heavy weights. Again, love the insights of both of you as I also subscribe to you both.
I bet you get a ton of activity on the farm. I'm impressed by your dedication! I would imagine running and lifting add to your ability to do physical work—and vice versa. Keep it up!
Good content, still would prefer genuine audio but understand why. I’m not so sure about the conclusion that cardio has further to go re benefits than strength though. I mean diet is so important to heart health and mitochondria too, not just cardio and then grip strength and mobility which come from strength training are so important. Doing those moves you don’t get from just running. Cardio has given me nothing but injuries so far so if there was anything to focus on less it would be that. I walk my dog twice a day but it’s not even zone 2 let alone 5. I want to try build back up to something if injury recovery allows though. But I would say strength and diet trump cardio. You even get some cardio for certain strength workouts like supersets etc. just my thoughts
Catching up after a busy summer. Loved this. My dad is 73. He has never "exercised" a day in his life. Yet at 73 he's still one of the healthiest, strongest people I know. He stays busy most of the day, year round. He rucks without calling it rucking, because of his interests geology and exploring mines - he carries heavy rocks in a backpack for miles. He made a 2 mile trail on his property and walks it twice a day, every day, all year with his dog. We live in northern MN, so they are out walking in the snow when it's -20 and even colder. He does all of the work on his house, yard, and vehicle. He gardens. He travels and hikes miles in the mountains.
He has no diagnoses except hearing loss that he wears hearing aids for. He takes no medications. My grandma was the same, she was active her entire life, into her 80s. She had huge gardens she canned food from, she foraged, she hung her laundry outside on the clothesline, she stayed active in social groups. As she got into her 80s, she slipped on her stairs and her heel slammed into the cement floor and she broke her foot. That was the beginning of the end, she died a couple years later. The decrease in her health after that injury was swift. She couldn't garden the next summer, she developed osteoporosis that she didn't previously have, she lost muscle because she couldn't be active due to her injury. It was astonishing to watch how fast her health in every aspect declined when she couldn't be active anymore in her daily life.
Both her and my dad are my goalposts. I've seen what an active life can give someone, and while I love going to the gym, I've seen that it matters most what you spend the majority of your time doing. Our bodies truly take the shape of the lives we live. If you want a different shape, then the shape of your life needs to change. Not just 30 minutes or an hour of it.
I feel like the built environment is a huge factor here. In some parts of the world that aren't entirely built around cars/trucks for transportation, activity, instead of inactivity, is built in by default. My spouse calls it the gym of life. For example, we had the good fortune to spend extended time in the Netherlands where the infrastructure makes biking/walking the safe, easy, pleasant, and convenient default choice. Big cities, suburbs, business parks, small towns alike all shared this movement by design quality. It was nearly impossible for me, and seemingly many others, to not rack up massive amounts of movement simply by living life - the daily commute, getting coffee, buying groceries, taking my kid to a park. Not to mention the other benefits like more social interactions, freedom of movement for kids, and much quieter cities (still very vibrant just lacking car/truck noise). Even in the US, there are pockets (often very expensive but not always) where you can unlock more of this movement by default. It just takes awareness and planning when making big decisions on where to live, especially in relation to work and school. To me, that choice, to the extent people have the luxury, is more important than any supplement or specific workout plan. My health (and happiness) has certainly improved by designing a more "Dutch" life here in a midsize Midwest city.
This is the mindset shift I’ve been trying to get people to understand. Thinking about exercise is medicine makes you think you need to build a habit, which is hard to do. Thinking of inactivity as poison drives you naturally into movement.
Michael, I love listening to your show! I usually listen while working out or cleaning. The change to Substack only has made this a challenge! Are all audio posts going to remain in Substack? If so, is there a way to add a speed feature to the audio? I prefer listening to your recorded audio, not the AI version, but I’m a 1.5-2.0x listener. Real-time speed sounds like slow motion conversation! This feature was available with Apple Podcasts. The audio also turns off when navigating and doesn’t continue to the next episode on Substack. I may be unaware of some features, though! Thanks for all you do to educate and inform!
let me be honest the conversation was great, but I do not like the audio AI version. It’s really annoying. I would almost rather hear the raw conversation over the phone, even if it’s crackly and not very sound quality. So I went from the audio back to reading, which is my preference anyway
Two of my favorite writers/thinkers, together again. Love it. Question: how are you defining hunter-gatherer, and why is the contemporary version of these tribes the standard for comparison? Is it because they’re the closest population or cohort we have to a pre-industrial control group? I ask because I have a hard time relating to H&Gs, and they are constantly referenced. Not that I could relate any better to ancient Greeks or Mayans, or societies with intense martial cultures that created the basis of training and exercise (though not as we know it today). Just curious!
Michael might have a better answer here, but my response is that for a fair comparison, we need a "control" group from a similar time period (modern H&G).
I tried to take up Trail Running using the run-walk method, beginning with just 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking, but still wound up injured. Do you think there's a different method to start off Trail Running or just simply start of with 10 or 15 seconds or running (or less)?
Hi Ben - trail running is unique in that the terrain is uneven and presents a unique biomechanical stress. My suggestion would be to make your run portions shorter and do them on a flat, even surface (or uphill!), and your walk portions on uneven surfaces or downhills. That'll reduce the stress on your body and make sure you aren't making biomechanical adjustments that could contribute to injury.
Brady’s and Michael’s Substacks are my favorites — and the only ones I pay for. And now you both posted the same content at the same time 😂 Love it! Thanks for the amazing work!
Fantastic convo between two of the best sources of common sense fitness knowledge out there.
I love this post so much! The other day I told my 12-year old to put on his shoes, we were going to walk to the grocery store. He reluctantly agreed—even though watermelon was on my list.🤪. We took a bookbag and several reusable shopping bags. Of course they were out of personal watermelons so we bought a big one and my son rucked it home while I carried the rest of the groceries. It felt amazing to get a little exercise doing a mundane chore like grocery shopping and got him off his phone. Definitely looking for these opportunities more and more. Thanks for the nudge!
I love that! Bigger watermelons for the win! He’ll keep getting stronger each week.
Yessss.💪🏻
Good stuff - I’m 68 started running at 40 - the run / walk method is king when it comes to preventing injury.
Wow! I’ve always been someone to say “exercise is medicine” but this reframe is HUGE! Inactivity really is poison ☠️ I love the different way of looking at it: thank you
Love this alternative view of exercise as an antidote to the poison of inactivity. It’s also nice to see someone that realizes the daily reality of livestock production for a way of life. Not a hobby farm. I wouldn’t want to do anything else and consider myself blessed that I get to move every day outside in nature, when it’s both bitter cold and a sauna outside, depending on the time of year. And because of my high NEAT numbers my VO2 max is in the elite category for my age, but I still also run and lift heavy weights. Again, love the insights of both of you as I also subscribe to you both.
I bet you get a ton of activity on the farm. I'm impressed by your dedication! I would imagine running and lifting add to your ability to do physical work—and vice versa. Keep it up!
Good content, still would prefer genuine audio but understand why. I’m not so sure about the conclusion that cardio has further to go re benefits than strength though. I mean diet is so important to heart health and mitochondria too, not just cardio and then grip strength and mobility which come from strength training are so important. Doing those moves you don’t get from just running. Cardio has given me nothing but injuries so far so if there was anything to focus on less it would be that. I walk my dog twice a day but it’s not even zone 2 let alone 5. I want to try build back up to something if injury recovery allows though. But I would say strength and diet trump cardio. You even get some cardio for certain strength workouts like supersets etc. just my thoughts
This was really insightful, thanks for posting the conversation.
And now I’m going out for a walk. :-)
Catching up after a busy summer. Loved this. My dad is 73. He has never "exercised" a day in his life. Yet at 73 he's still one of the healthiest, strongest people I know. He stays busy most of the day, year round. He rucks without calling it rucking, because of his interests geology and exploring mines - he carries heavy rocks in a backpack for miles. He made a 2 mile trail on his property and walks it twice a day, every day, all year with his dog. We live in northern MN, so they are out walking in the snow when it's -20 and even colder. He does all of the work on his house, yard, and vehicle. He gardens. He travels and hikes miles in the mountains.
He has no diagnoses except hearing loss that he wears hearing aids for. He takes no medications. My grandma was the same, she was active her entire life, into her 80s. She had huge gardens she canned food from, she foraged, she hung her laundry outside on the clothesline, she stayed active in social groups. As she got into her 80s, she slipped on her stairs and her heel slammed into the cement floor and she broke her foot. That was the beginning of the end, she died a couple years later. The decrease in her health after that injury was swift. She couldn't garden the next summer, she developed osteoporosis that she didn't previously have, she lost muscle because she couldn't be active due to her injury. It was astonishing to watch how fast her health in every aspect declined when she couldn't be active anymore in her daily life.
Both her and my dad are my goalposts. I've seen what an active life can give someone, and while I love going to the gym, I've seen that it matters most what you spend the majority of your time doing. Our bodies truly take the shape of the lives we live. If you want a different shape, then the shape of your life needs to change. Not just 30 minutes or an hour of it.
I feel like the built environment is a huge factor here. In some parts of the world that aren't entirely built around cars/trucks for transportation, activity, instead of inactivity, is built in by default. My spouse calls it the gym of life. For example, we had the good fortune to spend extended time in the Netherlands where the infrastructure makes biking/walking the safe, easy, pleasant, and convenient default choice. Big cities, suburbs, business parks, small towns alike all shared this movement by design quality. It was nearly impossible for me, and seemingly many others, to not rack up massive amounts of movement simply by living life - the daily commute, getting coffee, buying groceries, taking my kid to a park. Not to mention the other benefits like more social interactions, freedom of movement for kids, and much quieter cities (still very vibrant just lacking car/truck noise). Even in the US, there are pockets (often very expensive but not always) where you can unlock more of this movement by default. It just takes awareness and planning when making big decisions on where to live, especially in relation to work and school. To me, that choice, to the extent people have the luxury, is more important than any supplement or specific workout plan. My health (and happiness) has certainly improved by designing a more "Dutch" life here in a midsize Midwest city.
This is the mindset shift I’ve been trying to get people to understand. Thinking about exercise is medicine makes you think you need to build a habit, which is hard to do. Thinking of inactivity as poison drives you naturally into movement.
Am I imagining things or is Brady's part an AI voice-over reading the words? Or was that addressed and I just missed it?
Michael, I love listening to your show! I usually listen while working out or cleaning. The change to Substack only has made this a challenge! Are all audio posts going to remain in Substack? If so, is there a way to add a speed feature to the audio? I prefer listening to your recorded audio, not the AI version, but I’m a 1.5-2.0x listener. Real-time speed sounds like slow motion conversation! This feature was available with Apple Podcasts. The audio also turns off when navigating and doesn’t continue to the next episode on Substack. I may be unaware of some features, though! Thanks for all you do to educate and inform!
let me be honest the conversation was great, but I do not like the audio AI version. It’s really annoying. I would almost rather hear the raw conversation over the phone, even if it’s crackly and not very sound quality. So I went from the audio back to reading, which is my preference anyway
Two of my favorite writers/thinkers, together again. Love it. Question: how are you defining hunter-gatherer, and why is the contemporary version of these tribes the standard for comparison? Is it because they’re the closest population or cohort we have to a pre-industrial control group? I ask because I have a hard time relating to H&Gs, and they are constantly referenced. Not that I could relate any better to ancient Greeks or Mayans, or societies with intense martial cultures that created the basis of training and exercise (though not as we know it today). Just curious!
Michael might have a better answer here, but my response is that for a fair comparison, we need a "control" group from a similar time period (modern H&G).
I tried to take up Trail Running using the run-walk method, beginning with just 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking, but still wound up injured. Do you think there's a different method to start off Trail Running or just simply start of with 10 or 15 seconds or running (or less)?
Hi Ben - trail running is unique in that the terrain is uneven and presents a unique biomechanical stress. My suggestion would be to make your run portions shorter and do them on a flat, even surface (or uphill!), and your walk portions on uneven surfaces or downhills. That'll reduce the stress on your body and make sure you aren't making biomechanical adjustments that could contribute to injury.
Thank you so much