Fitness

Movement. It’s about more than just exercise. Did you know you can be active *and* sedentary? Yep. In this class we’ll take a look at how to optimize your energy, genes, mind, mood, and body as a perpetual motion machine!

I absolutely love the idea of *paying* to run through (and over and under and up and across) obstacles. It’s the perfect metpahor for life–which is one of the reasons why training for Spartan Races is my new sport-hobby. In this class, I share some of my favorite Big Ideas on how to become immune to obstacles in your life and, if you’re feeling it, do your first Race. The biggest obstacle you’ll face? Well, that’s Big Idea #1. :)

Spartan Up!! Want a swift kick in the optimizing butt?! This is the book for you. It truly is "a take-no-prisoners guide to overcoming obstacles and achieving performance" delivered with enthusiasm by Joe De Sena--the renowned endurance/adventure racer who created Spartan Race. We'll look at what's impossible vs. just really hard, how to pass the cookie test as we develop grit and learn how to get to the next telephone pole in the race of life.

I’m a big fan of Kelly McGonigal and her ability to help us apply scientific wisdom to our lives. We’ve covered two of her earlier books: The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress. So... When I got this book, knew I’d enjoy it. But, I didn’t anticipate JUST how much I’d love it. We have some great Notes on Movement (Spark, Spartan Up and No Sweat among my favorites), but Kelly’s book will be our new go-to for the science of WHY exercise/movement is so essential to our well-being. It’s PHENOMENAL. Reading about the SCIENCE behind stories of transformation (and how, as per the sub-title of her book: “Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage”) also made me that much more clear on the power of what we’re doing with all of our work and the importance of focusing so much on Energy (especially with our Mastery and Coach programs). Big Ideas we explore include: Hope Molecules (and how to create them), persistence highs (and how to create them), collective effervescence (and why it's so awesome), how we endure (hint: TOGETHER!), and OMMS!!! (Obstacles (literally!) Make Me Stronger!).

I was first introduced to Phil Maffetone in Christopher McDougall’s great book Natural Born Heroes. Have you ever heard of Mark Allen? If you’re a triathlete you know he’s a legend. For those who might not know, Allen won the Ironman world championships an unprecedented six times. Triathlete magazine voted him the greatest triathlete of all time. You know his secret? Maffetone. In this book we get an overview of The Maffetone Method. Big Ideas we cover include the importance of remembering it's all about health AND fitness, making your workouts feel like a GIFT rather than a chore, how to build a super-strong aerobic base while burning fat for fuel and tracking it all via your #1 piece of equipment: that workout diary of yours with goals (what are yours?), strategies (yours?) and workouts (how're yours?). Ready to Optimize your energy and actualize your health AND fitness goals? Let's do this!

Exercise. At this stage—especially if you’ve read many of these Notes!—we KNOW it’s important. This book tells us WHY. John Ratey is a genius from the Harvard Medical School (well, technically he’s a Professor of Psychiatry there :) and his book is *packed* with goodness. If you’re looking to understand the “Revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain” then Spark is for you.

Dr. Michelle Segar is the world’s leading authority on what motivates people to choose and maintain healthy behaviors. As you’d imagine, Dr. Segar has some *really* powerful ideas on, as the sub-title suggests, “How the simple science of motivation can bring you a lifetime of fitness.” Big Ideas we explore include the importance of meaning, moving exercise from a chore to a gift and embracing a learning mindset.

Eat Move Sleep. The simple, powerful keys to optimal health and well-being. We talk about these fundamentals ALL the time and this is my new favorite book on health. Big Ideas we explore include 10,008 hours and 36 minutes (the magic # of elite performance), candy for cancer cells, the power of measuring whatever it is you want to improve, how to buy willpower at the store, and a vaccine for the common cold.

Katy Bowman is one of the world’s leading biomechanists—helping us integrate proper body movement to optimize our well-being. She has a great podcast + blog you might enjoy as well. This book is packed with a ton of exercises and plenty of info on the science of biomechanics to help us pay more attention to the loads we’re putting on our bodies throughout the day so we can get in harmony with how our bodies were designed to move. Big Ideas we explore include moving your TRILLIONS of cells, why movement > exercise, why walking is the secret sauce, and how to take a forest bath.

Joe De Sena is the founder of the Spartan Race. He’s also, as Angela Duckworth, author of Grit, tells us: “a paragon of grit” who “shows you how you’re capable of so much more than you think.” A paragon of grit. That’s the perfect description. After inspiring us with stories of real-life heroes and ancient Spartan lore, De Sena walks us through the seven pillars of Spartan training + a 30-day plan to get Spartan Fit. Big Ideas we explore include getting to the starting line, developing obstacle immunity, making thousands of small decisions and your gritty oath.

Christopher McDougall is an extraordinary writer and this is a fascinating book. We covered his more recent book Natural Born Heroes in which he profiles World War II Cretan resistance fighters and their amazing physical feats. In this one, Christopher takes us on an incredible journey to meet a hidden tribe that can run forever (well, almost!) and an eclectic group of iconoclastic superathletes who meet them in the Copper Canyons of Mexico to run the greatest race the world has never seen. Big Ideas we cover include the secret power of glee + determination, the two goddesses (wisdom + wealth) and which one to pursue, the beast and how to love it, proper running form, and how to do super-challenging things.