The Expedition: September Edition
The most useful stuff I’ve discovered exploring the world and the internet this month.
We’ll cover: Books I’m reading, what causes running injuries, is saturated fat good or bad?, a better way to make decisions, best cheap gear, an exercise to bulletproof your ankles, and more.
Notes:
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Also, an important question: Did you or did you not Burn the Ships today? The workout is adaptable to any ability level, and the goal is simple: finish better than you started.
Momentous just revamped their website—and it looks clean and impactful (kinda like their products).
Onto today’s post: The Expedition
This series is a journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc. Good ones, bad ones, insightful ones, dumb ones, and ones you can use to live better.
It’s a roundup of all the worthwhile stuff I’ve encountered in the last month. It’s a bit of an island of misfit toys. But, hey, the greatest journeys are winding. We’re covering:
- Books I’m reading
- Numbers on cancer, tainted supplements, running injuries, first-world problems, and the scarcity loop.
- How misinformation spreads (hint: People suck at reading history).
- An idea that’s improved my thinking.
- An exercise to bulletproof your ankles.
- Rucking for a good cause.
- Gear under $100.
- The power of music.
Enjoy …
A book I read: Scarcity Brain
No, but really.
I’m in press mode—doing lots of interviews. Which means I have to talk about the details of my book.
But this funny thing happened.
Writing the book required me to obsess over every word and detail in the book for years. Then I sent a final draft to my editor in February—and forgot many of the details.
I thought I was strange. Turns out I’m normal.
I went to a media lunch over the summer with a few other writers from my publisher. We all had the same problem—we commiserated that we needed to re-read our books to remember them.
So I sat down and read my forthcoming book on a couple of flights this month. It’s better than I remember it. Lol.
Other books I’ve been pecking through:
- About Behaviorism; BF Skinner
- The Fool’s Progress; Edward Abbey
"It opens with a guy shooting holes into his refrigerator. You’ll love it.” -My book editor, Matthew Benjamin, explaining to me why I should read this book.
By the numbers
31
That’s the reduction in cancer deaths experienced by people who strength trained at least twice a week. It’s from a study that followed 80,000 people from 1994 to 2008.
The research showed that doing both gym-based lifting and at-home bodyweight exercises conferred the most benefits.
3
Parts the “scarcity loop” has. It’s a habit loop I uncovered and write about in my new book, Scarcity Brain. This loop is the most powerful habit loop—the ultimate killer of moderation.
There is nothing better at pushing us into behaviors that hurt us in the long run.
26
Percent of all sports anti-doping rule violations were caused by the athlete using a contaminated supplement. Another study found that 12 percent of supplements tested included a substance banned by the FDA.
The takeaway: An alarming amount of supplements are tainted. Use products a third part tests for purity. Like Momentous.
