EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,003 words- 0:00 – 1:22
Intro
- YSYusef Smith
If you have a nose like me, you might think, "Surely, the size of those colossal nostrils doesn't need more assistant."
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) Cavernous. Opening them up requires you to put a land registry down so that you can walk through. (laughs)
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah. (laughs) Walk through.
- YSYusef Smith
You have to get planning permission.
- JWJonny Watson
Get planning permission.
- CWChris Williamson
Ah! (laughs)
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Did you have to get one for Arab-sized noses?
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah, you have to tick, tick your ethnicity as you, uh, as you select the order, like-
- JWJonny Watson
I can't tell if you're joking. Are you joking?
- YSYusef Smith
I, I mean, how racist would that be?
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JWJonny Watson
I mean, it's, it's... I didn't think on this episode of Life Hacks I would be the only one here without a pack of nasal strips to hand.
- YSYusef Smith
Good face, Chris. That's the-
- CWChris Williamson
Come on.
- YSYusef Smith
... that's the makeup face.
- CWChris Williamson
There it is. (wind blowing) If you're not familiar with this, Life Hacks, it's the longest series that we've done on Modern Wisdom: tools, techniques, and tactics for a productive and efficient life. We do a roundtable. Each of us proposes something that we've fallen in love with over the last few weeks about (inhales) how to create a perfect toasted sandwich, or get out of a parking fine, or a brand new seat that you can sunbathe in appropriately naked while your neighbors can't see. Whatever it is. And then, the other two will critique or go and buy it immediately on Amazon. Links to everything we talk about are in the show notes below. And as is tradition, even in 2023, uh, Jonathan, there is a (clears throat) hot potato for you there, my friend. What have you got life-hacks-wise?
- 1:22 – 7:03
Do An Annual Review
- CWChris Williamson
- JWJonny Watson
Those fake life hacks that you just reeled off sound, all sounded fantastic.
- CWChris Williamson
We should... Well, no, you did one about toasted sandwich. You did one about how to create the perfect-
- JWJonny Watson
Did I?
- CWChris Williamson
... toasted sandwich-
- JWJonny Watson
Oh, so they were real examples.
- CWChris Williamson
... maybe about two and a half years ago. Yeah.
- JWJonny Watson
My God. I can't even remember my own life. I should maybe go back and be like, "Wow, what a great idea."
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, exactly.
- JWJonny Watson
Um, so my first one... Well, (sighs) you might, you'll probably want to change what I say when I say this, based on an email I received from you very recently. I was gonna say, given the time of year, given what everybody will be doing, given it's the first one, it's the one everyone listens to, the, some sort of annual review process. So, we've all used the Chris Sparks annual review, but I believe, Chris, do you have your own now?
- CWChris Williamson
I-
- JWJonny Watson
Or 100%?
- CWChris Williamson
... have taken a, uh, m- ménage à trois from a bunch of different, uh, productivity things.
- JWJonny Watson
Phenomenal.
- CWChris Williamson
David Perell, Chris Sparks was heavily influential. Uh, some stuff from The Six-Minute Diary, some other shit that I picked up online. Uh, and yeah, if you wanna go and get that, you can go to chriswillx.com review. Uh, it is not too late to do an annual review, even though it's the start of January. Uh, you can go and do that. It'll help you to go back over your last year and set goals for the new one. But yes, 100%, doing an annual review-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... uh, super, super important. Why do you do yours?
- JWJonny Watson
Uh, I think the... Well, I think everybody tries to set a goal. People try to set, like, resolutions and goals and things like that. I think the review process, um, some of the questions that, that I, that I like going over the most are like, what are the... what things in the year made you most happy? What things in the year did you enjoy doing the most? Who did you like spending time with the most? And then, almost sticking those things in your calendar straight away. So like, trips away, places you went, um, hobbies you picked up, things you stopped doing. It's just such an easy way. Like, things you would maybe, if you don't have a time to sort of sit and formally look back on a period of time and think, you know, "What should I do more of, do less of? Add that back in again?" You can sometimes go years and think like, "Oh, yeah, remember when I used to... Like, remember when we did that? That was really good fun. We should do it again." So that, that sort of process, looking through your camera reel when you're doing it, looking through your calendar when you're doing it, um, looking through message history and stuff with people-
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JWJonny Watson
... all ways to bring up prompts that you would maybe just, they would just drift into your past and you'd forget. Um, and then doing that before you set any goals or targets or, um, resolutions for the year, really helpful. But I think following something that's guided specifically, that's the reason I mentioned it. So I think sitting with a blank document and reviewing your year, very difficult to do. Having kind of guided questions or prompts, very, very useful.
- CWChris Williamson
So there's-
- JWJonny Watson
So, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... a section that I stole from David Perell that goes in the, the review that I talked about where he, he has a favorite memory, favorite new city, favorite new song, favorite live show, uh, favorite sex. Like, favorite interaction-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... with an animal. What, like da, da, da, da, da, da.
- JWJonny Watson
Hopefully not the same thing.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, perhaps. (laughs) You'd hope not. But having that down is just a- a- especially after you accumulate a few years of those, there's things that you'll definitely have forgotten that you've done.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
And you go back and you go-
- JWJonny Watson
100%.
- 7:03 – 13:22
Red Light Therapy Box
- CWChris Williamson
- YSYusef Smith
You are ... You might not be able to see it. There. See that little white box in the background?
- CWChris Williamson
Yes. What is it?
- YSYusef Smith
Leaning against the other white box-
- CWChris Williamson
Yes.
- YSYusef Smith
... which is also a life hack. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
What i- what's the first one?
- YSYusef Smith
First white box is a red light therapy box. So that's from a company called Bloc Blue Light. Um, we have a, we have a discount code as well, which i- is just PROPAIN. But it's a way to offset the something you, you just mentioned before we started, Chris, which was that it's 2:30 and it's starting to get dark in December in the North of England. So this is not quite a SAD lamp. It's the other spectrum of, of red light, uh, which you can't ... Y- you only get from sun exposure. It doesn't tan you. It has a completely different mechanism of action. Uh, these boxes do both red and infrared. And I recently did a review looking at how it affected my blood parameters, my inflammatory markers, my immune markers, and all that stuff. Um, and surprisingly, 'cause it seemed really gimmicky and really biohacky, this China red light box, but the data is actually really compelling. Uh, and there's just multi-system benefits across immune, endocrine, mood, muscle recovery, just so much stuff from red light therapy. Buying a box is way more cost-effective than going to a clinic that does red light therapy for 70 pounds a session or something. 'Cause that thing costs about 3, 400 pounds and it'll obviously last you forever. So by the time you've had five treatments, you've broken even. So I think in terms of easy win, red light box is the one.
- CWChris Williamson
What's your protocol for using it?
- YSYusef Smith
10 minutes front and back. So you ... There's different protocols depending on the strength of the, the light and how far away from you sitting and how deep the tissues are that you want to treat. So there's lots of variables to play around with. I've got a, a kind of a rough guideline, um, on the video as well, but there's a book by Ari Whitten who goes deep with it, like really-
- CWChris Williamson
What's the TL;DR? Just tell us what we need to know.
- YSYusef Smith
Obsessionally deep. The, the TL;DR is 10 minutes front and back, I think.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
Unless you've got a particular area that you're looking to treat and then, then you've gotta consider like distance and wavelength and power transfer and all that stuff.
- CWChris Williamson
Why use a red light lamp and not a SAD lamp?
- YSYusef Smith
SAD lamp, different mechanism. So, um-
- CWChris Williamson
Should you be using both? Can you get something ... Is there such a, a red light and SAD combina- ... For the people that don't know, that's seasonal affective disorder lamp. It's like a super bright lumen thing that's supposed to give you-
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
That's more circadian rhythm, melatonin, cortisol mechanism, right?
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah. So that, that's more to wake up in the morning. So if you, if you went ... I- like if you're living somewhere in like Finland or Iceland or something and you, you go out and there's just barely any sun, then you might, you might need a SAD lamp. But generally SAD is on the blue light spectrum, and I think we're already getting more than enough blue light from staring at screens all day. So personally, that's not something I would invest in. Um, and then red light therapy is less to do with circadian regulation and it's more the kind of other benefits that you get from, from ... Uh, i- it's cellular, hormesis, melatonin-mediated effects.
- CWChris Williamson
What did your blood markers say?
- YSYusef Smith
To be honest, they went from normal to normal, which I'm quite pleased about. There are people who have ... In the data, there's dysfunctional thyroid that have, that has normalized and actually people coming off thyroxine entirely, which I think is insane, from using red light therapy on the thyroid from a ... in s- sort of targeted way. Uh, my inflammatory markers went down a little bit. I think my testosterone went up slightly, but not, not enough for me to say, "Ah, yeah. It was definitely that that caused that."
- CWChris Williamson
I also heard that certain types of red lamps don't actually produce the right type of red light.
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
I'm gonna guess that you've checked to make sure that the particular brand that you're using isn't just a red bulb.
- YSYusef Smith
The ... Yeah, that's a very good point. And so there are ... There's a lot of cheap red light boxes that just shine a red light and you think, "Oh yeah, that'll do." But there's only specific wavelengths and power levels that you need. And a lot of the Chinese manufacturers will just produce something that looks, looks like it's good and sell it for cheap. The manufacturer of this guy, I had a long, long chat with him and, and podcast where he goes into the process and the, the different kind of testing kits that he's got at home to ... when he goes to China and Taiwan and, and kind of discusses the specific specifications that he wants of the, the bulbs and makes sure that they are within the therapeutic range.
- CWChris Williamson
Very nice.
- JWJonny Watson
Just to add, it's something that ... So it sounds pretty woo-woo, doesn't it? Like it doesn't ... It sounds a bit strange sitting in front of a red light. I have been doing it, but I do 20 minutes all, all on my front 'cause I can't be bothered to turn around halfway. Um, it just feels nice. So I just do it while I meditate in the morning.... like, sort of, technical benefits aside, I think if something feels nice and is a pleasant thing to do, it makes you feel good afterwards, you'll probably keep doing it. Um, just like-
- YSYusef Smith
Y- you know when you sat in front of an open fire?
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, similar feeling.
- 13:22 – 16:51
Remember Your Server’s Name
- CWChris Williamson
All right. So my one, uh, this I used while I was in Vegas the other week, and it is remember the server's name. So-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... the server will always come over and introduce themselves or they'll usually have a, a name badge on and it just makes such a difference. Being able to shout your server's name across a crowded room means ... and using it consistently as well, "Thank you, Brittany," or, "Thank you," whatever it is, means that you're gonna get served first, you're going to probably get your drinks brought over. Uh, and, and make sure it's gonna be in the nicest glasses, make sure it's going to be using ... You know, everything is going to be done to a better standard if you remember their name. It means that you can get their attention when you need to check, when you need to do whatever, and it just actually feels quite polite. So I just, it, it shocked me how much I hadn't bothered to remember the server's name, and it also shocked me how much of a difference it made in a crowded Las Vegas strip Hard Rock Cafe at 8:00 PM at night on a Saturday. It surprised me how much of a difference it made, so remember the server's name.
- YSYusef Smith
Nice. How, how much has your attitude to tipping changed since you've gone state side?
- CWChris Williamson
You're strong armed into it, frankly.
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
It's a struggle session. And I mean, I, I once went to a venue where I tipped the serving girl, I want to say 15% on a pretty large bill. So, it was maybe 15% on a 50-buck round of drinks and she looked at the paper, printed a new receipt out, turned it back around, pushed it toward me and said, "Let's try that again, shall we?"
- JWJonny Watson
Wow.
- YSYusef Smith
Really?
- CWChris Williamson
Like, she was quite, she was quite sassy so it was, like, funny or whatever in any case. But, uh, yeah, that, that happened, so-
- YSYusef Smith
Even with a high sass, sassometer that is cheeky.
- CWChris Williamson
Sass through the roof-
- YSYusef Smith
Goodness me.
- CWChris Williamson
... man. Yeah. But it's, it is what it is. Like it's just-
- YSYusef Smith
No, it's not really a tip then, is it? If 15%, they're like, "Oh, no, that's not good enough, sorry," then why, how is it optional?
- CWChris Williamson
Well, they'll do-
- JWJonny Watson
I think that's-
- CWChris Williamson
... a lot of the time now, they have these iPads that pivot two ways. So the iPad is both the till for the server to use ... And this is the same in Starbucks, in a bunch of, you know, whatever restaurant or, or quick use cafe during which the serving staff have had zero input to do-
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... with the creation or service of your food. They put it into a bag. It's like, "Look, if you heat up a toastie, do I, is that 5%? Is that 10%?"
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
But they'll flip it over, and on it there's preset levels, sometimes like 15, 20, 25 custom and, uh, they pre-set the numbers. So if it starts 20, 25, 30 and you go, "Well, if I go into custom," and then say nothing. And then usually there's a queue of people behind you that can all see over your shoulder at what you're-
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... about to press. Then you've got to sign your name.
- YSYusef Smith
How much of a stingy bastard you are.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, exactly. It, it-
- YSYusef Smith
I hate it.
- CWChris Williamson
... is very much a struggle-
- YSYusef Smith
Just tell me how much I want, I need to pay. Like don't give me options. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Look, it is what it is. Johnny, what you got?
- 16:51 – 18:42
Rotate Your Training Days
- JWJonny Watson
this one is something I've been doing with training recently, um, and it's something I've just found kind of take ... my training's been very, like, bodybuilding focused, like not power lifting anymore really. Um, and I find, like, doing three, four sessions a week, the same routine every week a little bit dull. Um, so I took a four session program... And this is not really, really a life hack, but it's, it's been really interesting for me. It's made training more fun. I take four sessions a week of a training split and do... but I only train three times a week, so every week is different. Like it rotates it every week. So every, I think it's like a month to do the full cycle. Um, that's helpful. And secondly, if you've been training a while, um, like more than a couple of years, you'll have... everybody's run into that problem where you can only do an exercise for like three or four times before you're just running up against, like hitting the same reps and the same load and it's very, very hard progress. So taking something and spreading it over like eight, nine, 10 days extends that cycle and makes it slightly easier to eke a little bit more out of a training program. So you can do it out obviously with anything, right? So five days into four, four days into three, three days into two, whatever you want to do.
- CWChris Williamson
Are you actually compressing the days down? Or of a four-day split, are you're only doing three which means that the following week it's back, legs, and chest and then-
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... the week after that is arms, back and legs?
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah. So week one is like A, B, C. Week two is-... D, A, B-
- CWChris Williamson
Yes, good.
- JWJonny Watson
... et cetera.
- CWChris Williamson
Good, good, good.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah. Um, and it just keeps it interesting because it fe- every week, even though it's... Because you, you know, you kind of build that association of, like, "Well, Monday is the day when I do, like, bench and then cable fly," and then that n- no longer exists. So, each, each week you're doing a different combination. Tiny change, um, but has quite a big effect, I've found. Like, recovery progression keeps it interesting.
- CWChris Williamson
Nice. I like that.
- JWJonny Watson
Totally free as well.
- CWChris Williamson
Seth?
- 18:42 – 20:48
Eat Your Most Boring Meal Post-Workout
- CWChris Williamson
- YSYusef Smith
This one is from Alice, Dr. Alice the volcanologist, which is to eat the most boring meal of the day post-workout. So, the day where you, you've got the most points to spend should... The, the meal where you've got the most points to spend should, should really be, like, the evening where you can enjoy it socially. Usually your post-workout meal is kind of a... it's just a utility meal. So, have the most boring meal of the day there where you, you check all of your nutritional boxes to save some, some of the fun calories for later.
- CWChris Williamson
Would there not be an argument that if you're eating you should try and avoid any of the meals being boring, that you don't need to necessarily have boring nutritional meals?
- YSYusef Smith
S- Sometimes it's unavoidable. If you s- if you see your, your total day as like-
- CWChris Williamson
Give me an example of a kind of meal that is unavoidably boring.
- JWJonny Watson
You're sort of having to defend a life hack that isn't yours.
- YSYusef Smith
No, it's not. It's not even mine.
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
You submitted it, you submitted it. You want to stand up for this lady.
- YSYusef Smith
True. Someone who... I- if, if you've got micronutrient targets or certain vegetable intake or something, the other way to, to think of it though, as you say, is to, if you're gonna play around with the goal posts, is to say, "Just train before you go out for a social meal." And then you can have an exciting social meal with the most calories in post-workout.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
What are you doing with your diet at the moment, Johnny?
- JWJonny Watson
What am I doing with it?
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- JWJonny Watson
What do you mean?
- CWChris Williamson
Are you tra- are you tracking anything? Are you-
- JWJonny Watson
Oh. Uh, yeah, so I'm, I'm trying to, to get down to 89 kilos from 94. So, I've kind of done my, my weight loss in two phases. Wi- phase one was when I was like 105, took it down to 95, and I was like, "Right, I'm done with dieting for a while." So, from, like, July of this year just past, or last year if you listen to this, up to now, and then I'm gonna try and get down to sub-90.
- CWChris Williamson
Jesus.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Jesus.
- JWJonny Watson
Should be quite lean at, at sub-90. But, uh, that involves tracking, which actually links to one of my, one of my hacks as well.
- CWChris Williamson
Well, you can high five because I've got a-
- JWJonny Watson
I'll let you go.
- 20:48 – 25:11
Have Multiple Gym Memberships
- CWChris Williamson
I've got one that I've been playing around with since I've been in Austin, and it's have multiple gym memberships. So I'm spoiled for choice in Austin with, like, Onnit Training Center, Atomic Athlete, um, Lift ATX, tons of Gold Gyms all over the place. There's this place called Los Campeones, which is like a, a dreamland for lifting in. And most of them in big cities, at least that I've seen in America, that are quite competitive like this are about 40 bucks. So, it's maybe 40 or 50 bucks to get a good membership at one of these Spit and Sawdust style bodybuilding type gyms. And my current armory setup of gyms is, uh, one with very broad open and close times. So, that's the commercial gym usually for me, that's a Gold's. Uh, it's also the one that's got the quietest atmosphere. It means that I can go in and do listen to stuff, prep for work, usually episodes while I'm in there training. Then I've got one that I can go and train with my boys, which is Lift ATX, that's Spit and Sawdust, Gangsta Rap and Slipknot, and that's like a really cool, very social open gym. That's good. And then the final one is a gym that has group classes if I need to externalize motivation, and that's Onnit at the moment or Atomic Athlete would be another one. You don't need to have this entire, like, armory portfolio of gyms, but it is good to have at least two, I think. Dean has had this problem since he's been back in Newcastle. He's between Newcastle and Middlesbrough and he's training at Reebok CrossFit Tyneside which a year ago he loved and now he's bored of. And he wants to go somewhere new, but a year ago he really loved Reebok CrossFit Tyneside. And a lot of people, I think, have fallen out of love with their training when what they've done is fallen out of love with their gym. You just need to be in a new environment with new music, different machines, d- different people to talk to, different routes to get there, and you would be surprised how much extra energy you can inject into your training if you just train in a new location.
- YSYusef Smith
I like the different moods of workout as well, where you've got the set type of session where you just need to get it done, you've got other stuff on your mind, and then you've got, like, the social session. And so being able to choose that, it's a lot to coordinate, but I can see the utility in it.
- JWJonny Watson
What does, what does your training look like if you've got, like... It sounds almost like diff- different training modalities as well.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, it is, but I... It's just moving as much as I can, getting as much sunlight as I can. Not trying to stick to any one program too rigidly and just enjoying training and stuff. So, mostly bodybuilding style things, some high intensity stuff, and then two sessions of pickleball a week for kind of outright cardio, and then sitting on the exercise desk when I can, when I remember it.
- JWJonny Watson
Is the goal just enjoy it?
- CWChris Williamson
Be healthy.
- JWJonny Watson
Like, yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Be healthy, enjoy it.
- JWJonny Watson
Cool.
- CWChris Williamson
Put on a good bit of size with Zach throughout the backend of this year doing bro splits in Lift, but, uh, we both started to just get a bit lethargic and training got a little bit boring. So, we've now added in these group classes at Onnit a little bit.
- YSYusef Smith
This is post-menopausal symptoms.
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, again? Yeah, well, I vacillate back and forward, you know. I become pre-menopausal again, and then I s-
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... go back through it all over again.
- JWJonny Watson
I saw you doing some incline bench with Ollie from Bring Me the Horizon.
- CWChris Williamson
Did do some incline bench with Ollie from Bring Me the Horizon.
- JWJonny Watson
I was very impressed. I think you were doing like 100, 100 kilos or so.
- CWChris Williamson
100 pounds.
- JWJonny Watson
Oh, was it?
- CWChris Williamson
It'll be pounds.
- JWJonny Watson
Was it?
- CWChris Williamson
Definitely not 100 kilo-
- JWJonny Watson
All right.
- CWChris Williamson
100 kilos per arm?
- JWJonny Watson
No, on, on an incline barbell bench press.
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- JWJonny Watson
So, you were doing 100 kilos?
- CWChris Williamson
I was, yeah.
- JWJonny Watson
I think that's pretty good, Chris.
- CWChris Williamson
Thank you, thank you.
- 25:11 – 30:56
Cronometer, MacroFactor & Athletic Greens
- CWChris Williamson
- JWJonny Watson
Uh, so it's a, it's a triple, triple pronged hack...
- CWChris Williamson
I love it.
- JWJonny Watson
... uh, which is three things in unison. I think I've ment- ... Well, two of them have definitely been mentioned before. Uh, so the first one is something that I actually heard on Modern Wisdom, a recommendation from Derek at More Plates More Dates, which is to take, like, a standard day of eating, so a, a, a s- the setup you would normally have on a, like, a regular day, plug it into something called Cronometer, which is, uh, an app that's, that's iOS, Mac app, um, um, I'm sure it exists for Android as well. Um, and it just scores you based on your micronutrient profile, so, uh, just as a, as an RDA percentage, where are you short on, like, vitamin C, A, D, K, et cetera. It is extremely difficult to get anywhere close. I don't know whether anyone's ever tried this before. It's something Yousef and I have spoken about. Way harder than you'd think-
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- JWJonny Watson
... to do that. Um, the thing, however, it's so cool to see it, so you put in your normal food intake for the day and then it's got, like, pre-saved, it's got, um, quite a few popular supplement brands. So, you plug in an Athletic Greens serving and everything goes from being, like, 5%, 10%, 20% to, like, 300%, 300%, 300%. So, first one i- first hack is that, is, like, if you are trying to improve your diet in the new year, which so many people do, um, I do think it's important to look at the macronutrient and the micronutrient profile. Stick your diet, stick an average day into Cronometer and see where you fall. Second thing is Athletic Greens, still using it, which is a hell of a testament.
- CWChris Williamson
Yep.
- JWJonny Watson
And then the third thing, which is another tip that, um, I gave a while ago, which is something else I'm still using over a year later, is MacroFactor for tracking macros. Um, that app is getting better every s- ... I mean, they've just done another update. Um, the guys behind that really know what they're doing. And with MyFitnessPal, just adding some, making some features premium. Um, if you're finding that annoying, like, the barcode scanner being, now being a premium feature and you want something else-
- YSYusef Smith
Perfect storm.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- YSYusef Smith
Like, MyFitnessPal managed to, to trip over their own feet at the same time-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- YSYusef Smith
... as a major competitor stepped into the ring.
- CWChris Williamson
Why not use Cronometer for everything? Why have Cronometer to do micros and MacroFactor for macros?
- JWJonny Watson
It's just not got the best, um, like, s- database of, of popular brand items, Cronometer. Um, and MacroFactor's not ... It ... Macro, MacroFactor has micronutrient profiles, but it's not quite as good as Cronometer. Um, so Cronometer's good for, like, inserting the single ingredients once and, like, doing that process once. But if I'm gonna have, like, a, a dinner at a restaurant, the, the chances of being in Cronometer are very slim. I tested it 'cause I ... Ideally, that would be what you would do, right? But, yeah, the, the database and also the tracking, the functionality on MacroFactor's way beyond that. I- it'll even adjust your macros for you if you want it to. So-
- CWChris Williamson
Is that the thing when we went for a avocado salad in Heaton a few months ago, Yousef, that you just spoke it into your phone?
- JWJonny Watson
Oh, yeah.
- YSYusef Smith
He says- Yeah. There's, there's a lot-
- CWChris Williamson
... "Record one avocado salad with an egg," and then it just came up and put it in.
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah. So that, I mean, that, that's a great feature, and I feel like we've not even mentioned it, which is-
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, I haven't even mentioned it.
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah. So, it's got, like, an AI recognition thing, so you could say, um, you know, roa- roast chicken dinner with potatoes and whatever, and it'll, it'll generate it and it'll give you suggested servings, and you go, "Oh, yeah, yeah, that's about right."
- CWChris Williamson
Mm.
- YSYusef Smith
And you add it in. Um, the, we, I think we have a code for that as well, but it's just for an extended trial, but ap-
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, they don't do any discounts, sadly.
- CWChris Williamson
Hmm.
- JWJonny Watson
Um, yeah, they do a seven or a 14-day trial. So good. Um-
- CWChris Williamson
How much is membership if you want to stick about after that?
- YSYusef Smith
60 quid a year or something like that.
- JWJonny Watson
Something like... Yeah.
- 30:56 – 36:25
Theraband Flexbar
- YSYusef Smith
my hack is the wobbly sausage. I recently-
- CWChris Williamson
What are you brandishing at us?
- YSYusef Smith
This is my wobbly sausage.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- YSYusef Smith
It's a TheraBand, I believe. It's not gonna go in focus, is it?
- CWChris Williamson
No.
- YSYusef Smith
Um, I've been plagued with elbow problems over the last few months (laughs) , and this has been the only thing that's helped to fix it. So, if you're someone who does a lot of things like weighted chin-ups and heavy rows and stuff that just really aggravates that bit of your elbow, it's possible, 'cause I'm living proof, to get golfer's elbow without having ever played golf, um, and tennis elbow without having ever played tennis. So... (laughs) . And it's so painful, and it gets to the point where, like, using your hand brake in your car or opening jars and stuff is exquisitely painful. So, the wobbly sausage is brilliant. Just something that you can then do like negatives with, you can do lots of reps, and it, it does... You, you get a pump on exactly the area that is sore. And-
- CWChris Williamson
So for the people that are, for the people that are listening and not able to see what it is that you're brandishing at us, you're not using this as a soft tissue tool. You're using a kind of rolling pin, flexible rolling pin, to actually do movements forward and back with your wrists.
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah, using it as twisty, or you can use it as actual wobbly. Like this is genuinely one of the exercises.
- CWChris Williamson
Uh, yeah.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Let's be, let's, let's go steady with that one, shall we?
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
I don't want to get demonetized. (laughs)
- NANarrator
I also don't, I don't believe you, Yussef, that that's one of the exercises.
- YSYusef Smith
So, the, the guide even had like one where you, you get a band and you hold it with your right hand, stand on it with your left foot, and then you, you do that overhead to try and stabilize your shoulder.
- CWChris Williamson
Wow.
- NANarrator
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
But I mean, I'm sure that you understand the mechanism that's going on. Why does golfer's elbow occur? What's happening?
- YSYusef Smith
So, it's, it's been debated 'cause it used to be the theory that it was an inflammatory process, and now we think it's to do with the tendon matrix getting disrupted. Um, but it can just... It, it's probably like a combination of tissue level and sensitization events happening at that point. But it's just so localized and so painful that anything you do starts picking the scab with it. So part of the goal is to like stretch it away, work through the pain a little bit, get, g- you know, after you've recovered, to re-desensitize yourself to the area, but then also to strengthen the area through doing lots of negatives and wobbly sausage.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, well I was gonna ask what the fucking mechanism was if you were gonna say... It looks like a miniature foam roller, right? It looks like a tiny little foam roller. I was gonna say, what are you actually doing? If you're gonna go back and then do the same exercise again, how are you expecting a different result if all you've done is loosen up the area? Like this was what I got red-pilled by Sam Spinelli, uh, The Strength Therapist, uh, about-
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
... a, a little while ago (laughs) .
- NANarrator
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
We're gonna have to explain that.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs) .
- CWChris Williamson
So, we're laughing because Dr. Sam Spinelli, uh, had a handle on Instagram called thestrengththerapist. Now, one of the problems, if you write out thestrengththerapist all in one word without capital letters, you can also spell the strength, the rapist. And it seems like he became aware of this after a while and changed it to @drsamspinelli. Anyway, what he told me was that soft tissue feels nice but doesn't make a massive amount of difference to long-term injury.
- YSYusef Smith
Mm. Unfortunately, it's, it's, it's a way to kind of get acc- temporary access to a new range of motion or a new kind of pain-free range that you then have to do something with. You can't just do the foam rolling and then be like, "Oh, I've done, I've done the work now."
- CWChris Williamson
What's the brand of that thing again for people that want to check it out?
- YSYusef Smith
It is TheraBand GRG.
- 36:25 – 39:26
Leave Sentences Part Finished
- CWChris Williamson
um, hack productivity with the Zeigarnic effect by leaving sentences part-finished. We've spoken about the Zeigarnic effect before. It, it is a psychological bias. It was discovered by this guy who was studying waiters and waitresses in-... uh, restaurants, and he was very impress- It's super impressive when you see someone that comes up and asks you your order and doesn't write anything down. They're just looking at you while you say it. This lady did it in Vegas for an entire table of 10 people, drinks, starters, and mains. Didn't write a single thing down. Nothing was wrong. And it all came out to the right people as well. I was like, "Fucking hell."
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Like that's, that's, that's 20, 20% to 25% tip worthy. Like if you wanna do, like-
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... give us a bit of a flourish, do some card tricks or sing or something. But, um, what this guy realized is that the servers had an unbelievably accurate ability to recall what each table had ordered while the orders and checks were still open, and as soon as the checks had gone, their ability to remember things had completely vanished. It's the same as anyone who, (clears throat) like me at university, crammed for exams. You'll be able to remember really, really closely what it is all of the different accounting principles or whatever that you've been researching, and yet as soon as the (laughs) exam's done and that loop is closed, everything's gone. And this is the same reason that Netflix shows use cliffhangers at the end of them, to get you to watch the next one, because the human mind abhors this sort of open loop, and it likes a closed loop. So it's the open and closed loop dynamic that we've got. And the way that you can use this to hack productivity is give yourself an easier in when you go to restart a project. And this is something Michael Malice does as a writer. I know a bunch of my other writer friends do as well, that they leave sentences part finished as they close the day out, which means that when they then begin the next day, it's really easy. How hard is it to finish a sentence? Like you're already, you're basically up and running already and then, before you know it, you're writing. It also means that your open loop system is a little bit more activated throughout the remainder of the break between doing the project again, finishing it and doing it again. Uh, so you're thinking about it a bit more. You're considering what it is that you need to do. So I do that with some of the stuff that I'm starting to write now. I'm starting to do some longer form stuff and, uh, yeah, leaving sentences part finished is a nice solution.
- YSYusef Smith
Nice. So you're not having to start the day and kind of crack the shell of the task and it's-
- CWChris Williamson
Oh, fucking finishing-
- YSYusef Smith
... getting over that.
- CWChris Williamson
... something at the, at the end of a chapter, you know, and you go, "Oh, okay. Let's start this new chapter now."
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Really, really difficult.
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
It's hard enough to begin a task in any case. It's just a case of making it as easy as possible for you to get going, I think.
- YSYusef Smith
I think we discussed the idea of, of dentists when you come in the room and they go, "Hello, sir, sit down," and then you open your mouth and they go, "Ah, Lewis, how are the kids?" Like, 'cause they recognize the particular configuration of fillings and teeth that you've got, and that's, that's what jogs their memory, 'cause that's the way that they see the world.
- CWChris Williamson
That's not one that I remember happening. But yeah, I mean, I'm going to see David Breton actually in a couple of weeks time before I go back to, uh, Texas. So if he starts remembering things about me as soon as I open my mouth ...
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
We'll know that that's true. Johan, there we go.
- YSYusef Smith
Contact specific learning.
- 39:26 – 49:24
Huberman’s Sleep Cocktail
- YSYusef Smith
- JWJonny Watson
Um, Andrew Huberman, who is a alumnus of the Modern Wisdom podcast, has a sleep cocktail. Have either of you tried it?
- CWChris Williamson
Magnesium L-threonate.
- JWJonny Watson
Chris has tried it.
- CWChris Williamson
L-theanine.
- JWJonny Watson
Yep.
- CWChris Williamson
Apigenin.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
And sometimes, sometimes not-
- YSYusef Smith
Glycine.
- CWChris Williamson
... uh, GABA.
- JWJonny Watson
And glycine.
- YSYusef Smith
GABA?
- JWJonny Watson
Gabri-
- CWChris Williamson
Whoa, the gy- So the guy, the glycine thing I haven't used. I haven't tried yet.
- JWJonny Watson
So I haven't tried the GABA.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- JWJonny Watson
'Cause Youssef scared me about GABA.
- YSYusef Smith
We, we used to gabber a lot.
- JWJonny Watson
What, in, in Z12?
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah, back in the day.
- JWJonny Watson
But then I-
- CWChris Williamson
How often were you gabbered?
- JWJonny Watson
Sorry?
- YSYusef Smith
I mean, I, I got through a bottle of GABA. I got my-
- CWChris Williamson
Hey, stop.
- YSYusef Smith
I gave it to my brother and he ended up getting withdrawal. I, like, I gave it to him and I was like, "Listen, Habibi, don't take this every day. Every couple of days." And then, of course, he didn't. He ignored me. Took two every day and then at the end of the month he was like, "Youssef, I need some more of that stuff here. I can't sleep at all. I'm anxious."
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
I told, I, I told you, man. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) I'm fucking telling you, bro. Stop taking that shit.
- 49:24 – 51:43
How to Recover in a Speech
- CWChris Williamson
- YSYusef Smith
When you are giving a speech or dealing with a client or dealing with a patient or anything and you get lost in the middle of something, a great hack is just to put yourself in context. So, if I was drawing a blank now... "So, we're currently talking about life hacks in general. We've gone through some physical ones, some digital ones. Chris and Johnny have given their suggestions, and now we're on to mine." And often-
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
... that alone just jogs your memory and gets you going again. So, if you're in the middle of a, a speech and you're like, "Oh," and the audience appreciate it as well. It's not as if, um, it looks bad 'cause the audience are like, "Oh, great. Like, we're back in context again." Just, "Let's just show everyone where we are in the map, and then here's where we are going next."
- CWChris Williamson
I really like that. I really like that. That's, that-
- YSYusef Smith
It's brilliant. Saved my ass a lot of times.
- CWChris Williamson
Alex O'Connor does something v- kind of similar. It's not... I, I don't, it may be to cover up when he loses his place, but he does, uh, he asks a rhetorical question that makes it obvious about where he's going to go next. So, let's say that he was doing some video about Jordan Peterson's views on veganism or something, and he would say something along the lines of, "So, you might ask yourself, why would it be the case, given everything that we know about Jordan's beliefs around humanity needing to be as generous and kind as possible, that he would not have, uh, decided to adopt a plant-based diet? Well, the reason for that is..." And like-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... all of that, what he's done is he's created a question that he can answer himself. He's opened a loop. You want him to answer it. Like, it's a, he's, like, interviewing himself, um, uh, very much. And he does that when he's doing his YouTube videos. He'll go off script to do that to then go back on script, and it's... You can do it with all of the naturalistic language that you need. You can do all the rest of it. It's a really, really... And Zach started putting that same tactic into his videos on YouTube too. It's like, "So, you might think, like, why would someone do this? Well, the reason that you could say perhaps they might do this is..." And then you're back on script. So, you've just veered off and come back on. But i- i- it's so, it's just easy to inject. You do that one or two times per, um, talk. No one's gonna notice, but it's a really good tactic.
- YSYusef Smith
Nice, I love that.
- JWJonny Watson
Good one.
- CWChris Williamson
Okay, um, I guess given the fact that
- 51:43 – 56:12
Use Caffeine Every Other Day
- CWChris Williamson
Johnny's just spoken about the, uh, sleep stuff, I might as well throw this in. So, I did 500 days without caffeine. Um, I then reintroduced caffeine back into my use, but wanted to maintain the current level of sensitivity that I have to caffeine and m- most importantly, not reintroduce the dependence that I had to caffeine. Alex Hormozi has this fucking amazing quote when it comes to reliance on substances, caffeine in particular, that says, "If you can't perform without it, it's stopped conferring a benefit." And you're like-
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... "Look, that is the way that most people view caffeine." They don't use it to improve performance. They use it to get themselves back to zero. And it's no longer assisting you. It's no longer a performance enhancer. It's just buttressing what you do with your life. So, for me, the best way to do it is just every other day caffeine use. And the, the reason that it works as a rule is I can always remember if I had caffeine yesterday, and if I did, I can't have it today. That's it. It also means if I'm thinking about having caffeine today, I actually have to make a scarcity calculation about, how much do I need it today and how much might I need it tomorrow? If I need it in two days' time, it doesn't really matter. But if I'm going to need it tomorrow more than I'll need it today, I won't take it now.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs) I do exactly that. (laughs) I'm, like, planning two, three days ahead of like, "Oh, no, if I have one today, then that's two days in a row, so I can't do..." Then I'm like, "No, no, not an odd number."
- CWChris Williamson
Every other day, caffeine.
- JWJonny Watson
Does that mean you can... You can borrow from tomorrow, then? So, if, if I'm not just supposed to have any today and I'm supposed to have some tomorrow, but I need it tomorrow, today more than tomorrow, can I borrow from tomorrow?
- CWChris Williamson
Not if you've had it yesterday. Can't ever have it two days in a row.
- JWJonny Watson
But you could go more than two days without caffeine, for example. So, like, if I-
- CWChris Williamson
Yes, you can go more than two days without, but you can't go more than two days in a row with.
- JWJonny Watson
I see. So I can-
- YSYusef Smith
Unless you create, like, a really complicated credit system with a spreadsheet of, like, "Okay, I'm this many in reserve and..."
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, yeah.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
"I've banked, I've banked this many days." No, but this is the reason that it's super easy, because you can't do two in a row, but you can do two without in a row. And that's it. You just hold onto that. And it's meant that I'm still taking... So, Kill Kliff, uh, looks like we might be doing some work with them next year. Massive fan of what they do. Um, natural, preser- no preservatives, no additives, no nothing else, flash pasteurized, blah, blah, blah, loads of L-theanine. Uh, they do a 25 milligram, uh, drink, which is basically ju- I mean, it's half a, half a cup of coffee, and it's just about enough to give you a little push, especially if you're sensitive with it like I am at the moment, uh, for non-physical activities, 25 mgs is about right for me, uh, to go down and do some mental work. And then if I want to train, they do a, w- a 90 and a 125, and JockoGo also is a 90 mgs. Perfect. Like, and that, I feel the hell out of that. Like, seeing people walk around with a Bang Energy that's 350 milligrams of caffeine just blows my mind. Zach will go and get a Reign Energy, 300 milligrams of caffeine before we go and train, and I can, like, I, I get caffeinated by watching him drink it.
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
So, yeah, every other day caffeine use, really, really good.
- JWJonny Watson
So, you mu- you must be pretty damn sensitive to it, then.
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, crazy-
- JWJonny Watson
If it's... Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
Crazy sensitive. I mean-
- JWJonny Watson
So if you, if you had, like, three or four coffees in a day, does that... How would you feel, the sensitivity? Is it just, in just, like, jitters, anxiety?
- CWChris Williamson
Never. I've never had it. I, I, since I've come back on, I've never had... I think the most I've ever had in a day has been-... two 25 milligram drinks.
- JWJonny Watson
But if you scoot back to, like, pre-500 day with the episode?
- CWChris Williamson
I can't remember 'cause my sensitivity was just so high, or r- so low, should I say. I was so desensitized to the effect of caffeine, I can't remember what it was like. But it would make me... If I overshoot it, it makes me jittery, it makes me anxious-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... I can't focus, um, and I don't need it. Like, m- my energy levels are not determined by the caffeine concentration in my blood anymore. And this is the-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... this is the big thing about caffeine, that it's papering over the cracks in the issues that your daily routine has created, that people are using caffeine to get themselves past the 11:00 AM slump, but never having to ask themselves, "Why the fuck am I tired at 11:00 AM?" Like, dude-
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... you're not supposed to be tired and fatigued and needing your adenosine system to be completely hijacked by a massive energy drink at 11:30 AM. Maybe it's because you're not sleeping enough, maybe it's because you're not getting enough daylight, maybe it's because you're not spending enough time outside, whatever.
- 56:12 – 1:02:00
Gamify Mundane or Difficult Tasks
- CWChris Williamson
Johan.
- JWJonny Watson
Okay, okay, cool. Um, mine's more just, like, a behavioral thing. So, um, I have found... I, I'm, I'm... Well, I think probably everybody struggles with this, like, you have a long list of boring things to do, you've got, like, something in the... like, to tidy the house or something like that, or do some admin. Um, even just if you're, if you're putting off a training session, um, it's something that, that... I've always kind of done it in some way, but the first time I really experienced the effect of just having, uh, like, a, uh, totally arbitrary deadline was actually when I was trying to do the CrossFit Open when you were there, Chris, and you were just like, "Five, four, three..." And I just found myself, even though I was shattered (laughs) , like, you're just like, "Oh, well, there's the countdown. Suppose I better get back to doing what I was doing." So you... having just this arbitrary thing that just encourages you to just get going again. So being, like, playing around with that to encourage me to do things that I'm putting off. So, um, you've got, like, a, a list of boring tasks that you've gotta do and you've got a phone call that's happening at one o'clock. Challenge yourself to do as many you n- many of them as you can before one o'clock, or even sometimes waiting until you've only got an hour to train. Like, you know your training session's gonna take you an hour, I know that at 11:30, I'm gonna have one hour exactly to train, otherwise I'll miss my training session. Suddenly, you find yourself, like, in the gym, powering through it, getting it done in 45 minutes. So kind of creating these, like... almost turning things into a bit of a game, it's a bit childish, but makes such a difference (laughs) to things that are otherwise very boring and could easily have taken all day. Um, and I know it's, it's Parkinson's laws and, and lots of other ways of kind of viewing these things, but when you've got stuff you don't want to do, turn it into a bit of a game, set a random and arbitrary deadline, and suddenly it becomes, like, even fun sometimes.
- CWChris Williamson
That's so... The, the pro-
- YSYusef Smith
Something I really admire about you, Johnny, and you... this is parallel to Parkinson's law, is... you know the effect of when, like, you're at home and you've got a train to catch at quarter past four, so... but it's, it's quarter past three, and so you're thinking, "Well, I've got an hour, but I can't really do anything proper," and then there's like half an hour before you have to leave and you're like, "Well," like, "I'm in this limbo." Johnny will always just be like, "Oh, I'll just do a thing." Like, so something... you know, even if you have to record a module or something that I would consider quite heavy project work and you'll be like, "Oh, it's fine. Like, I just need to leave at that time and I'll just do it anyway." Whereas I get very much caught in limbo mode and end up doing, like, emails or shallow work.
- CWChris Williamson
Well, that was-
- JWJonny Watson
It's like cancer.
- CWChris Williamson
... that was something that you... that I still use from you, which is having a holding pattern activity. So in between... I- I've had a lot of calls over the last few months, and sitting down and waiting, and the call finishes 10 minutes before your next call. W- really what are you going to do?
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Not even long enough for me to do a loop of the park next to where I live. That's 13 minutes and 30 seconds door to door.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
So I'm like, "Right, well, iPad or a Kindle next to my desk means that instead of picking up my phone, I might pick up a book. Maybe I'll read for a little bit or..." Emails, I think, is actually the best use of your time for this-
- YSYusef Smith
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
... because you can chip away at your emails in such an easy, bite-sized form. I'm gonna try... e- email's been a real issue for me, so if anyone has some great life hacks around emails, please send them over, um, to try and make email less of a, an entire day thing. I've currently 120 unread emails, all of which need in-depth replies that need me to get a calendar out or d- link other stuff or submit a form or do some shit. Uh, how are you gamifying common boring tasks? Like, just saying, "I've got half an hour to do these, I need to get these done." Is there anything else?
- JWJonny Watson
So, uh, it depends what it is, but I'll, I'll always try and pair it with something that's, um, fun or enjoyable. So, like, it d- it... Emails that require a long, complex reply, it's a little bit different, but I'll have a 30-minute batch where I'm like, "Right, I've got 30 minutes, I'm gonna call it X." I've got, like, a p- predefined list of all these things, and I know that they're, like, really bitty, like, renew my car tax, pay this thing, reset this insurance, what- whatever it is. I'll stick a... whatever I'm listening to, podcast, course, whatever on in the background, set a timer for 30 minutes and just try and get all of them done in the time. And it, it turns it into this, like... you, you've gotta do it anyway, like, you've gotta do those things at some point anyway. You either do them or you don't do them, so if you're gonna do them, you might as well try and compress it and make it take the least of your day possible, turn it into a bit of a challenge, and pair it with something that, like, takes the edge off. So, like, uh, listening to a podcast, or even just your favorite album or whatever. Um, but yeah, I think forcing yourself to... it's something I actually... I think it was, like, a Tim Ferriss tip from years ago, which was, like, create positive constraints in your day. So cre- have... like, make plans at 4:00 PM.... that force you to finish work by 4:00 P.M. or-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah.
- JWJonny Watson
... or set, like, set things that happen throughout your day that are fixed that mean that suddenly y- you've not got all morning to do something, you've got 90 minutes to do something. And you'll still do it, and it turns into a bit of a challenge. Or you'll still, you'll still always fit your training in multiple times a week even if you're really busy. You just kinda find the time and make it, make it, take you a little bit less time in the gym.
- CWChris Williamson
Having this-
- JWJonny Watson
So, just, you, using-
- CWChris Williamson
... big amorphous fucking work blob-
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... just allows everything to bleed into everything else. Yeah, you need structure.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
You re- you really do. I like, I like that a lot. That's good. I think, um, uh, calling people while you're doing, like, house tasks is another really good one.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
Or listening, obviously listening to a podcast if you don't have anybody to call, or if you can't be bothered.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
If you've gotta fold clothes, or sort shit out, or, you know, w- whatever, you're off to print some stuff and return some parcels, like, just ring someone and it's gonna make it a little bit less shit, and you've gotta do it in any case.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm. Definitely.
- CWChris Williamson
Yusuf.
- YSYusef Smith
So, we're winding
- 1:02:00 – 1:04:52
Jonny’s Decaffeination Routine
- YSYusef Smith
back to caffeine. If you've been convinced by Chris's argument there to, to just stop relying on caffeine, if you're one of these people who you're like, "Oh, actually my energy levels are dictated by my serum caffeine levels," or, um, "I, I can't function without it," the first thing you can try from probably about six life hacks ago is Johnny's decaffeination protocol. So that's, let's say you have three cap- three coffees a day, 9:00 A.M., 12:00 P.M., and 3:00 P.M., you do three weeks where you substitute the last coffee, so the 3:00 P.M. one for decaf. And then the next week you go the midday and the 3:00 P.M. on a decaf, and then you go the n- the 9:00 A.M., the 12:00 A.M., and the, the, the 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00 are all decaf. And then you reintroduce them slowly over time. So, then you've, you've managed to wean yourself off without having to go through all the caffeine headaches and withdrawals, and you, then you, you're getting the most out of the least when you reintroduce it. So, that's a good way to do it. If you need something with a little bit more fine tuning, then I've got two options for you. One of them is called Norlo lightly caffeinated coffee. So, this is some kind of Scandinavian coffee brand that is like a third of the caffeine of normal coffee. So, it doesn't have that decaf taste and it's, it, it's pretty good. It's very, i- it's all, like, minimal design and really kind of cool looking, uh, lightly caffeinated coffee. So, you could go for that and then you can play around with your protocol and maybe have that at midday as your final one or something. The other option that I've been having recently, if you're a tea fan, is hojicha. So, you might have heard of matcha, which is the, the powdered green tea that's kind of an acquired taste.
- CWChris Williamson
Hojicha is his Arabic cousin. (laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
It's, yeah, exactly. It's his Arab uncle.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
Lightly roasted. (laughs) It is actually roasted, so it's brown.
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
And it's got more of a, um, caramelly, malty kind of taste to it. And it's beautiful. I think it's really, really nice. And you can make cakes with it. There's, there's a, there's place, there's a place all over the UK called Sujiri which does hojicha and matcha, like, soft serve ice cream or cheesecakes and all that kind of stuff.
- CWChris Williamson
We're getting increasingly Lebanese here, aren't we? (laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
Uh, yeah. So, you can get the hojicha powder. It's like £10 for a, a big bag. Well, a big-
- CWChris Williamson
How do you spell that?
- YSYusef Smith
H-O-U-J-I-C-H-A. And you can make frozen yogurt with it. It's genuinely lovely.
- CWChris Williamson
So, you would have frozen yogurt that's lightly caffeinated?
- YSYusef Smith
Yeah, but the hojicha is actually, because it's roasted, it's got lower caffeine than matcha, but it still has the theanine and all that stuff too. So, it's a really nice kind of almost green tea light, but it's got a kind of malty, wholesome flavor to it.
- CWChris Williamson
Very nice. I like it. Okay, let's get ourselves out of health and fitness
- 1:04:52 – 1:08:15
Install a USB Socket in the Bathroom
- CWChris Williamson
and get into why you should install a USB charger in your bathroom.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
So, it's the first bathroom-
- YSYusef Smith
What a sentence. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
(laughs) We need to divert. Um, the first bathroom that I've ever had a USB charger in is the place that I'm at in Texas at the moment, and it's fantastic. It means that my Whoop external battery is always in the same place for if I'm taking it off, I'm getting in the shower, that's the time when I'm taking my wearables off in any case. For, uh, razors, electric shavers if they've got USB compatibility, for, um, electric toothbrushes, all of which pretty much use USB to power them if you've got a Sonicare or something similar. Um... What are you doing, Yusuf?
- YSYusef Smith
I'm just (laughs) prepping for the next... (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Dean, can you, can you cut back?
- YSYusef Smith
Enhance that?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah. Can you cut back early enough so that we can see what he's doing, please? Ah.
- JWJonny Watson
Looks like we have a Mr. Bean episode.
- CWChris Williamson
It was, yeah. Okay, so, um, yeah, it's just you need a USB charger in your bathroom. So, if you're doing a, a bathroom, uh, revamp, I'm also going to guess that the same way that the double-prong shaver thing 30 years ago was sufficiently safe in terms of wattage or amperage or voltage to be able to be in a room that might have some mist, I'm going to guess 100% that a USB port is going to be sufficiently safe. Uh, check with your appropriate electrical-
- JWJonny Watson
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
... loc- local, local council electrical company before doing this. However, I've got it in Texas, haven't killed myself, and all of my devices are very well charged.
- JWJonny Watson
It is the, it's the frustration, isn't it, with having so many little devices that require, like, a micro or a mini, or just a normal USB, that you have to charge them at kind of different intervals throughout the week. So, having, like, a slot where you regularly... So, is that why you're showering, or something like that, that you charge that?
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, so especially with, uh, especially with the Whoop, I'll just take it off before I get in the shower because I don't want the strap to get wet. And I'm like, "Well, I might as well plug it into the external charger," which lives right next to the little port, so it's always in the same place.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
It's just an extra hub, 'cause there isn't... Th- for me, the kitchen is where my phone stays and all of the phone charging stuff tends to live around there. The office would be where all of my tech-... for work would be. I don't actually have a very good location for the wearables in my life. I don't want them next to my bed, I think that that's just too messy. Um, so where is it that you would go? And it seems to make, I don't know, pretty good sense to me to have it in the bathroom. And the wearables, you can take them off. The same stuff for shaving, same stuff for cleaning your mouth, et cetera.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, I think having like a... It's having the, the, the time to charge them when you don't need them that happens regularly. And I think showering is the... As long as something can charge in a su- sufficient amount while you're showering, it's the perfect time.
- CWChris Williamson
Well, think of it this way. The way, the way that I do it, or you could do it with, um, your Whoop, for instance, or an Apple Watch or something similar could be, take it off to shower first thing in the morning, go downstairs, do whatever you need to do, go back up to clean your teeth, presumably, which you're going to do before you leave, grab it off the shelf. That's half an hour charge.
- JWJonny Watson
Mm-hmm.
- CWChris Williamson
During a period, you're not gonna get much low intensity steady state cardio in during that one half hour. But yeah, I, I think it's a definitely a good consideration.
- JWJonny Watson
Cool.
- CWChris Williamson
Johan, give me
- 1:08:15 – 1:17:15
Use a Safety Bar
- CWChris Williamson
something.
- JWJonny Watson
I want to send us back into health and fitness. Can I do that?
- CWChris Williamson
Sure.
- JWJonny Watson
Shout it out?
- CWChris Williamson
Sure.
- JWJonny Watson
Uh, one of them is a exercise technique hack, and the other one is an equipment hack. You might not have the bit of equipment in your gym, but if you do and you've always looked at it and thought, "I wonder what that does?" A safety squat bar. Have you ever tried one? Chris, you ever tried one?
- CWChris Williamson
So that's where you've got handles on the front-
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah.
- CWChris Williamson
... and usually a padded sort of H shape up and above you and then they-
- JWJonny Watson
Yes.
- CWChris Williamson
... goes out to the side, and then it kind of yokes down as well, right, on the outside of that?
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, so the, the, the plates are at, like a, on a, a portion of the bar that's at an angle, typically the same angle as the handles. So they're kind of tilted forwards a little bit. It's a similar stimulus to a front squat without the kind of positional issues or having to get onto a front rack or pinching an artery or, or something nasty. Um, so it allows you to kind of push the, the lift more without the technical demands if you're not looking to be an Olympic weightlifter or whatever. Um, some... The reason I've done it is it's allowed me to basically, like, reset a, a lift. So the problem I was having with squatting was doing anything that wasn't, like, powerlifting training. It's kind of... I'm, I'm kind of too, technically too advanced in the lift for it to kind of be a... something I can train regularly. And I just feel it in my hips and hamstrings and lower back and kept getting injured with it. Safety squat bar, the loads are way lower. Um, the training effect is really high, like my quads are in pieces for days. So if you've never tried one, you don't particularly like back squatting, you don't particularly like front squatting, there's one in your gym or you got a home gym and you wanna buy one, buy one, they're fairly inexpensive. I highly, highly recommend that. Um, the second thing is, if you do lateral raises and you find yourself like... Sometimes you use like a... You swing, you swing your body around, sometimes you kinda go halfway, sometimes you go to, I don't know, random stages. Allow as much body swing, as much body English as you want, but the range of motion has to finish completely over your head with the dumbbells touching. So no-
- CWChris Williamson
Has to finish over your head?
- YSYusef Smith
Until you're doing star, like star jumps. (laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
Just to get it going.
- JWJonny Watson
But I think if you try... Like try experimenting with an amount of body English and you'll find it kind of polices itself. 'Cause doing star jumps actually makes it harder. (laughs)
- YSYusef Smith
It's funny because we... I feel like we've all converged at trying to get the most out of the least weight recently with, with training. So I've, I, I've gone the opposite way with lateral raises where I do like chest supported ones. So you-
- CWChris Williamson
Okay.
- YSYusef Smith
... sit back and bench up. Almost vertical.
- CWChris Williamson
Mm-hmm.
- YSYusef Smith
Lean forward onto it and... Honestly, doing like five kilo dumbbells, it's embarrassing, but it's a lot harder.
- CWChris Williamson
I really want to be a part of the movement but I can't pretend like I haven't just been throwing stupid heavy weight around for the last few months.
- YSYusef Smith
(laughs)
- CWChris Williamson
I've just... It's been idiocy 2008 lifting with Z.
- YSYusef Smith
I feel like you're living with Zach. It's-
- CWChris Williamson
Yeah, I mean, he's 260 pounds and 6'4", so he... I've got to try and catch up with him and his weight and his strength but... Yeah, uh, I definitely see the advantage of, um, increasing the like mechanical difficulty of a movement in order to stop yourself from being too stupid with it. That makes a ton of sense.
- JWJonny Watson
Well, it's just like the... So, Mike Israetel talks about the stimulus fatigue ratio. So like it depends why you're training. If you're training to... for health, as he mentioned, or like for muscle gain, it does kinda make sense to get the stimulus you need while accumulating the least fatigue possible. Like without over accumulating-
- CWChris Williamson
The least danger.
- JWJonny Watson
Yeah, danger is a big one. So like, you have to train your legs, you have to load up a leg press, or you're, you're deciding to load up a leg press with as many plates available in the gym and doing quarter range motion. This is like a fifth of that or a tenth of that and doing full range of motion. You're probably less likely to get injured but you might actually-
- CWChris Williamson
Will you get the same training stimulus though? Because presumably you could over shoot it on lightness.
Episode duration: 1:44:26
Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript
Transcript of episode TnT9f9AbaaY
Get more out of YouTube videos.
High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.
Add to Chrome