Good Conversations, Getting Stronger, and Staying Consistent
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Make time for the people in your life that you have good positive conversations with.
Increasing your muscle strength may be the single best thing you can do for your health now and for the future.
Decide what you are going to do and do not skip days. Consistency is king. If you miss a day, make sure you don’t miss two in a row.
Starter Mindset Tip: Prioritize Good Conversations
Who in your life do you have the best conversations with? Prioritize spending time and talking to those people. This could be a family member, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbour, a store owner, or anyone else. A good conversation can leave you feeling energized, motivated, ready to tackle a challenge, or a change in mindset from negative to positive. That last one is essential. You do not want to surround yourself with negative people because negativity spreads like wildfire. Positivity leaves you with energy, with motivation, and with good feelings that can power you through the rest of your day. Gravitate to people who make you think differently, who create questions in your mind, who allow you to be more open-minded. Good conversations breed new ideas, new ways of living, new mindsets. You find different people are better for you in different areas of your life. There could be a person who aligns with your parenting views, another person who challenges you professionally, someone else who you learn from, another who provides you with new ways to look at life, and maybe just someone who always makes you laugh. Face-to-face is the best, but if that’s not possible, make time for phone calls, video chats, messages, meals together, trips together. Make time for the people who make you better.
Health Recipe: How to Get Stronger
Timing: Minimum 2 strength training workouts per week
Level of Difficulty: This will take some hard work, but rewarding!
Serving Size: 10 - 90 minutes per session depending on the time you have
Spiciness: Spicy during the workout, energizing once you’re all done
INGREDIENTS
Yourself and your favourite strength training equipment, or just your own body weight
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Building strength is one of the best things you can do for your health, full stop. We can’t get into all the benefits here, but let’s name a few: getting stronger muscles, joints and bones, improving heart health, improving brain health, improving sleep, improving mental health, reducing injuries, increasing energy, and so many others. If you choose to follow one health recipe after reading our recipes, we ask that you try this one. Peter Attia, the author of the book “Outlive,” regards strength training as perhaps the single best thing we can do to improve our health, and goes on to state: “I think of strength as a kind of retirement saving. Just as we want to retire with enough money saved up to sustain us for the rest of our lives, we want to reach an older age with enough of a reserve of muscle (and bone density) to protect us from injury and allow us to continue to pursue the activities that we enjoy.” (Attia, p. 255) Create a program, mark your workouts down on your calendar, stick to it for 6-8 weeks, then adjust your program, and repeat. It is never too late to start.
INSTRUCTIONS
Consistency is KING. This is THE most important variable of your workout routine for muscle growth. Before picking your routine, sit down with your calendar and figure out when you are going to go to the gym.
Two whole body workouts per week is a great place to start when creating a routine to build muscle. If you have time in your life for more, go for it.
Sit down and write out a routine with exercises that interest you. Going to the gym and completing exercises that you don’t like is not a recipe for success.
If you are a beginner, there will be huge benefits working with a personal trainer to develop a program, and to make sure you are performing your lifts properly.
Stick with the routine for at least 6-8 weeks before creating a new routine. This will allow your muscles to grow as they get stronger with each particular lift.
Aim for 10-20 sets per week per muscle group. This is the sweet spot for muscle growth. 15-20 sets will have the biggest benefit, so try and work up to this. This may sound like a lot, but pick big compound movements that will target multiple muscles to unlock these benefits.
Building Strength: 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, with 3-5 minute breaks between sets per exercise.
Muscle Growth: 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps, with 2 minute breaks in between sets per exercise.
Now that you are lifting, focus on progressive overload. Track your set and rep counts as well as the weights you lift. Try to lift a little more each workout by either adding more weight or by performing more reps.
PRO TIP: It can be tempting to change up your workouts, but make sure to really stick to your program for the 6-8 weeks before moving onto a different workout routine.
* Put a massive emphasis on your lifting form. The best way to stick to your program is by not getting injured.
** While performing an exercise, focus your mental energy on the contraction of the muscle being exercised and make sure to maintain slow and controlled motions.
*** Work out with a friend or trainer to hold you accountable. If you don’t have a workout partner, pick a friend who you update with your workouts so someone else can share in the excitement when you are sticking to your routine. Celebrate your wins.
Dessert Quote:
"It's not that hard on any given day, but the trick is you can't skip days. Your workouts can be reasonable and still deliver results—if you don't skip days. Your writing sessions can be short and the work will still accumulate—if you don't skip days. As long as you're working, you'll get there.” — James Clear
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about the power of strength training:
Attia, P., & Gifford, B. (2023). Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. Random House.
Podcast: The Huberman Lab. (2023) Guest Series: Dr. Andy Galpin: Optimal Protocols To Build Strength and Grow Muscles (Part 2)
