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For those of you only on my original list who are confused about why I haven’t sent a monthly newsletter in a while, this is what I’ve been doing every day. I’m sharing with you this week because I have a bunch of big announcements, and I am thinking of merging these lists. More and more often in these daily emails, I’m sharing news, telling my personal stories and taking questions every single week, with workouts and recipes and health and fitness advice. I think you’ll love it -- but if you want out, no hard feelings, just hit unsubscribe.
Today’s Health Upgrade
FUBAR
Bad Sleeper? Try this.
How to deal with stress
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FUBAR!
I told you guys it’s a big week! Netflix let me reveal the full FUBAR trailer for the first time to all of you. I am SO PUMPED for you to see more of this. I have been talking to reporters who have been allowed to see it as part of the marketing campaign, and I’ve been so happy when they tell me that it reminds them of my work in True Lies. When Nick Santora wrote this, we were going for that blend of hardcore action and hilarious comedy, so it is music to my ears.
You can add it to your Netflix list so you don’t miss it when it comes out on May 25th by clicking here: www.netflix.com/FUBAR
That’s enough talk because this is all about action, so here is the trailer:
Bad Sleeper? Just Add Iron
A good night of sleep can go a long way to making you leaner, limiting hunger, improving brain health, and helping you live longer. But, if you’re struggling to get enough rest, there’s something you can do to keep yourself healthy while you solve your sleep issues.
New research suggests exercise can offset the mortality risks that are associated with a lack of sleep.
We’re not saying you should stop sleeping less, but the study suggests that exercise is even more powerful than previously believed. The study examined more than 90,000 adults between the ages of 40 and 72. In general, people who were sleep deprived (anything less than 6 hours per night) and didn’t get enough exercise were linked to a 69 percent elevated risk of cardiovascular death.
The cardiovascular risk completely disappeared in people who still didn’t get enough sleep but consistently performed intense exercise.
If you’re looking to unlock the maximum benefits of exercise, you’ll need to train at a moderate-to-high intensity (translation: getting your heart rate elevated) for more than 150 minutes per week. Don’t worry if that feels like a lot. You can break this up however it works for you, whether it’s five 30-minute workouts per week, or just a few longer workouts. To hit the number, start slow and build up with a combination of bodyweight exercises, walking on an incline, running, sports, or rucking. The type of activity doesn’t matter. Work on making time for exercise, and the benefits could result in a longer life.
How I Deal with Stress: Daniel
When I realized we were launching a book campaign, a TV series trailer, and an app this week, along with doing these regular daily newsletters, media interviews, and photo shoots, and preparing for two big policy events on solar power and terminating hate, I started to get what Arnold calls “frantic.” And I won’t lie, since I’ve been with him for 17 years this July, we are close enough that sometimes I hate saying, “You’re right,” but the first thing I did was write all of this stuff down. I lined it all up and put it in order, and I committed, like he always does, to only taking down one thing at a time.
Besides his focus principle, I have a few other things I do that help me face stress. Some of these might not feel like a good fit for you. That’s fine, you have to find your own thing.
First, I stick with my routine. I jump in some cold water (more in a minute), wake up our daughter, hit my workout, and get going. At the end of the day, I stop to have dinner with my wife and daughter, and I put our daughter down. If I can’t control anything else, I can control that.
Second, I try to do something really hard every day. I find that if I go through something that makes me really uncomfortable, it makes everything else easier all day. For me, this means I haven’t taken a hot shower in months, and I ruck with a pretty heavy load every single day.
I either take a cold shower or a cold bath in the morning. I don’t buy into a lot of the big claims Silicon Valley guys make about this. But a few months ago, when we were in Austria, I used the freezing pool one afternoon to get over jet lag, and I realized a little later that things I would have normally complained about felt pretty easy by comparison. It toughens me up. So does rucking. After I’ve done my normal training, I throw on a pack with 60 pounds most days (that’s a little more than a third of my body weight, please don’t do that much if you’re starting. When I started this, 30 pounds felt uncomfortable. For you, that might be 10.) and do my first calls of the day while walking my dog and thinking “Why am I doing this?” After I’ve done those two things, not much feels hard the rest of the day. This definitely won’t be for everybody. But putting myself through some discomfort that pushes me but is not going to kill me makes me ready for almost anything.
Third, I focus really hard on eating well. The spinach/avocado/tomato/cucumber/chicken/olive oil and vinegar salad I shared with you guys is my lunchtime staple on tough days because it takes 5 minutes to make, and for me, at least, as soon as I eat carbs, I start to crash. So a bunch of veggies, healthy protein, and fats is my move when I have to write and work hard. If I’m not careful, I will skip eating, and I know that means I go bananas at dinner, so no matter what, I force myself to stop at lunchtime and eat.
Finally, I go to bed INSANELY early ever since we had our daughter. We put her down at 7, and we basically put me down at 8. I normally read or watch something with my wife and shoot for sleep by 9pm, but a lot of times, I’m out even earlier. That means most days I can wake up at 5am with 8 hours of sleep. And that gives me a few hours before most people (including our daughter) wake up to get ahead of work, which makes finding time for things like my training easier.
But sometimes, when I have a ton going on, like this week, I wake up at 3 or 4 with my mind racing, and that’s where going to bed really early saves me (for those of you who are new parents, it also saves you when your baby wakes up in the middle of the night, which is what started this old man behavior for me). Yesterday morning I quietly answered app customer service questions from 4-6:45 when our daughter woke up. Today I woke up at 3 thinking we accidentally sent this trailer email at the normal time, but luckily, I still had six hours of sleep, and I used my time to check in with the app team in Europe. I’ll get back to 8 hours by the weekend. I used to have FOMO if I went to bed before 10, but now I realize that I’ve got the same amount of time as everyone else - the hours I lose at night, I gain in the morning.
So that’s it for me. Stick to my routine, do stuff that makes me feel uncomfortable, eat well, and go to bed early. If I do those things, I can make it through pretty much anything. And as of today, I’ve made it through all three of our big launches, one at a time.
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