Welcome to the latest edition of our Featured Fitness Content series. Its been a hot minute since our last installment, so I wanted to start by acknowledging the passing of Louie Simmons.
I’ve trained at Westside about half a dozen times, during which I box squatted back to back with Louie, who was extraordinarily helpful in technique correction and motivation. Louie even gave me a squat suit only because I expressed an interest in training more in multi-ply lifting.
As Tom Barry from Westside has said, Louie wouldn’t want hours of online eulogizing, but I couldn’t simply ignore his passing. Westside is in great hands with Tom and they’ll undoubtedly continue to produce world-class athletes.
Onto some reads from the world of health and fitness…
Featured Content
The Best Treatment for Insomnia Usually Isn’t a Pill By Cyril Manning via UCSF Magazine
Gendered Scoring, No More Leg Tucks: Army Unveils New Fitness Test. Here’s What You Need to Know. By Steve Beynon and Thomas Novelly via Military.com
332: Influence & Ownership Over Your Physiological & Psychological Being w/ Andrew Huberman Hosted by Jocko Willink
Is Exercise Really Medicine? An Evolutionary Perspective By Daniel E. Lieberman via Harvard University
Louie’s Plan By Tom Barry via Westside Barbell
Mushrooms communicate with each other using up to 50 ‘words’, scientist claims By Linda Geddes via The Guardian
Peter Diamandis, MD, and Tony Robbins: Strategies that promote longevity now – and in the very near future Hosted By Rhonda Patrick via Found My Fitness
BONUS CONTENT
After listening to the above Jocko Podcast Episode #332, I took an interest in Dr. Huberman and his work in endocrinology. In this episode, Huberman references an episode of his own podcast where fellow Stanford professor, Dr. Robert Sapolsky was interviewed. As someone who holds Sapolsky’s work in high regard, I was quick to follow up with a listen.
You can find the audio version here: Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will | Episode 35
You can find the video version here. Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will | Huberman Lab Podcast #35
For the less clinically inclined of you, its not all boring dry science. Sapolsky explains some of his work with testosterone, which should have obvious implications for gym enthusiasts. Here’s the episode description…
In this episode, I interview Dr. Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Neurology & Neurosurgery at Stanford University. We discuss stress, what defines short-term versus long-term stress, and how stress can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the context. We also discuss stress mitigation and how our sense of control over stress mitigation techniques, including exercise, determine health outcomes. Dr. Sapolsky explains some of the key effects of the hormone testosterone — how it can amplify pre-existing tendencies for aggression or sexual behavior, but that it does not produce those behaviors per se. He also explains how testosterone impacts our social hierarchies, sense of confidence, and willingness to embrace challenges of different kinds. He also explains how our behaviors and perceptions shape testosterone levels. And we discuss estrogen and the powerful role it plays in brain development, health and longevity. Finally, we discuss free will, what it means to have free will, and if we have any free will, including how knowledge alone might allow us to make better decisions for ourselves and society.
Huberman Lab Podcast #35
New On RuthlessPerformance.com
I’ve inaugurated a new ‘Microblog Monday’ series as a way to get more information out without getting bogged down in heavily worded blog posts. The first one is a quick look at the dichotomy of rep ranges that we use on slam ball exercises.
Contact Us
Have any questions about the above material, or a recommendation? Want to train with us? Drop us a message below.