Do Less (sort of)

One of my favorite movie scenes is in Forgetting Sarah Marshall when Paul Rudd plays a stoned out surfing instructor. He’s teaching Jason Segel how to surf for the first time, and he doesn’t exactly know how to coach.

So he just keeps on shouting “do less”. And then “no, you didn’t do anything. You have to do something”. And he’s being totally unclear as to how to actually surf.

Anyway, it’s not funny in a blog (go see the movie! It’s worth it).

But the message is one I resonate with.

If you’re not someone who currently works out, but you wish you did, I’ll BET you think it’s some massive undertaking.

You’ve got to workout 5 days a week for like an hour and a half. You have to go on some boring diet and gut it out as long as possible. You’ve got to stretch, add running or other cardio.

Basically find tons of free time for something when you really can’t squeeze your schedule any more than you currently do.

When in fact, you can make a drastic change to your health with a fairly minimal effort if you know the right strings to pull.

I’m talking change that will lower what doctors call “all-cause mortality.” The stuff that kills most Americans- cancer, heart disease and strokes being the major ones.

You do NOT need to become a fitness nut, a strong-man, a crossfit competitor, a lover of whacky diets, or any other crazy changes to make a huge change to your health outcomes.

What you need is a few small, consistent changes. Notice the word I dropped there, though. The important one–> consistent.

Here are a few I would start with:

1- Strength train 2x/week (3 if you can)– we use kettlebells at 39 Minute Workout, and in another blog, I’m glad to make a case why I love these, and why they really make a lot of sense for adults. But suffice to say, lots of things can be good quality strength work as long as you lift heavy enough, and make the weights progressively heavier over time.

2- Walk or do another form of steady-state cardio– Walking 30-60 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week has a really low barrier to entry! Meaning it’s pretty easy to squeeze in. Take your dog (if they don’t stop at every tree). Take a walking lunch break. Take one the moment you’re home from work. Take one on weekends.

Other than weather, walking is the easiest form of cardio to add, and it’s got tons of health benefits. But if weather or other factors exist, you can also get an indoor bike, treadmill, elliptical, etc. Personally, my go-to is hiking or riding my Assault Bike inside.

3- Nutrition- up your protein and add 5 fruits or veggies per day. We can take nutrition many directions. If you’re trying to burn fat, I would make this plan a lot more specific. But if you at least just work on protein (.75-1 gram per lb bodyweight) and eat lots of fruits/veggies for good carbs and fiber, you will improve some very clear health markers.

The point being, these changes are not hard, and they don’t take much time. You can do all your strength work in 2-3×39 minute workouts per week (under 2 total hours per week). You can walk just 3×30 minutes any day of the week. And you can shop for and eat those protein and veggies without massively altering your entire life.

Do this for 90 days, and you will likely see changes to your physique, belt line and energy. Keep it up for months on end, and you will dramatically improve your quality of life and life expectancy.

People get cynical because healthy people sometimes die of heart attacks or cancer while some have terrible habits and life to 90.

You can buy into that and HOPE that you’re one of the lucky ones who smokes a pack a day and loves a few daily drinks…or you can do yourself a favor and follow the numbers.

These changes will change your all-cause mortality and improve your quality of life!

If you need help making this a reality, click on the trial offer on our Training page or Click to Schedule an appointment on our Acupuncture page!