The Uncommon Life

In our last episode of the year, we’re going to hash out how we’re each planning to tackle our training and nutrition over the Christmas break. The holiday season is a time of the year where there’s usually some travel, there’s more social events, and in general there’s less structure and a drifting away from our usual routines. This definitely presents a challenge when it comes to keeping up with training, eating right and sticking to good habits. So we hope that sharing how each of us are thinking about the Christmas period is helpful for planning out your own strategies to stay somewhat on track, and importantly, enjoy yourself. We also want to say a big thank you for everyone who has tuned in. We started the podcast 5 months ago. Since then, we’ve published 14 episodes. We’ve had over 4000 views and over 100 hours of listened to content. And our listeners are spread out over more than 15 countries. That is super cool. Honestly, the three of us just love catching up and sharing our perspective on everything training, nutrition and health. And we also each pick up some learnings from each episode.  But, even if, on top of that, we just helped one or two people – we would be happy. So, I think I can speak for Luis and Rich when I say – I think we’re pretty happy!

We don’t have Rich this week, but we do have a SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE. Barry is a very good friend of mine, and also happens to be Luis’s cousin! So we all know each other well and it was great for the three of us to catch up and do this episode. Barry has been figuring out his relationship with alcohol for a while, and it ultimately led him to giving up alcohol – a journey he’s six months into. I’ve gone through a similar journey, leading me to being nearly two and a half years sober now. And Luis, whilst he doesn’t abstain from alcohol, he does have his own way of being able to keep it in check. In this episode we share each of our journey with alcohol, and why we’ve landed where we have.

We’ve had a few weeks off, mostly just because of our very busy lives and schedules at the moment. But, we’re back – and it’s with a fun one for Episode 12. It's another random show – where we basically have a good old chit chat about what’s on our minds, in the land of health and fitness. We cover Whoop, and spoiler alert - there some traitors in the midst (Luis). We also get into a discussion about personal health metrics – which ones are important to us, and also the dangers of overanalysing them. We talk about my recent back injury and how I’m dealing with the set back. And we also have an interesting discussion on the minimum effort need to maintain muscle mass and cardio fitness – and how that can help when you think about the big picture of results. =============== References in the Show: Whoop - https://www.whoop.com (use Daniel’s Whoop referral link if you want to be really nice! https://join.whoop.com/C77A99E9)  My back injury article:  A major setback (and how I will come back stronger) - http://www.danielclough.com/setback/ The discussion on the minimum effort required to maintain muscle mass and cardio fitness:  350: How to Optimise Your Workouts for Health, Fitness and Longevity | Andy Galpin  – https://open.spotify.com/episode/6f9jx4NzXGTz4cTVvbGCv1?si=xluWkFfmQJWuY1WGatX4gw 

Rich is off on his holidays, so it’s just me and Luis this week. And we decided to use the episode to talk about our recent dexa scans. So what is a DEXA scan? It’s a body composition test and is generally regarded as the best way to measure body fat and your overall body composition. That’s an accurate and precise measurement of body fat, lean mass and bone. Both Luis and I learned some new things about ourselves from our DEXA Scans. And it also helped us have some ideas of adjustments we might make over the coming months. ================= Referenced in the show: Bodyscan – https://bodyscanuk.com/ (where Daniel got his Dexa Scan) Dr Peter Attia’s DEXA metrics #1 – Visceral Fat – https://bodyscanuk.com/blog/peter-attias-dexa-metrics-visceral-fat/ Dr Peter Attia’s DEXA metrics #2 – Bone Density – https://bodyscanuk.com/blog/dr-peter-attias-dexa-metrics-2-bone-density/ Dr Peter Attia’s DEXA metrics #3 – Muscle Mass – https://bodyscanuk.com/blog/dr-peter-attias-dexa-metrics-3-muscle-mass/ 

It's another random show – where we just have a big old chit chat about what’s on our minds. We cover a lot of ground today - self limiting beliefs, setting goals, World record for pull ups, falling out of the flow of consistency, habit stacking, running backwards (yeah, I really did say running backwards – Rich is not impressed!) and working with a personal trainer etc. =================== Referenced in the show: WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT FOR MOST PULL-UPS IN 24 HOURS (Truett Hanes) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF2A5NqXAE0 Dr. Benjamin Hardy – https://www.instagram.com/drbenjaminhardy/ 10x Is Easier Than 2x (book) by Dr. Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan  – https://www.amazon.com/10x-Easier-Than-World-Class-Entrepreneurs/dp/140196995X Atomic Habits (book) – https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) – https://www.instagram.com/kneesovertoesguy/

We’ve all done it. One minute you can feel amazing at where you are in your health and fitness journey. And then, Instagram serves you up a post by someone you don’t even know, and it all comes crashing down.  You suddenly feel terrible about yourself. You feel so behind where you should be. And you start to question some of your approaches – and in the worst case, you knew jerk react and make changes to things that have been really working for you. In todays episode, we share some personal and even recent examples of getting caught in the trap of comparing ourselves to others – and spoiler alert – in some cases it’s between ourselves!

What’s our view on supplements? How has our view changed over time? Which ones do we currently take, and why? =========== Referenced in the show: Athletics Greens – www.drinkag1.com Luis’s milkshake tasting protein powder – https://www.bodyscience.com.au/products/high-protein-powder-800g

Slightly different episode this week.  Our first six episodes have been focused around specific topics. This week, we thought we’d experiment with a bit of a random, free for all chat about what’s on our minds at the moment. We ended up covering lots of cool stuff – as always focused around training, nutrition and leading a healthy, disciplined lifestyle. If you liked this style of episode (or actually, even if you didn’t), please let us know. Any type of feedback is super useful to us.  And don’t forget. You can support the show by leaving a review wherever you listen to this. And if you want to get notified when new episodes are out, follow or subscribe to our channel. =========== Referenced in the show: - Lyle McDonald - https://www.instagram.com/mcdonaldlyle - The Ultimate Diet 2.0 - https://store.bodyrecomposition.com/shop/ultimate-diet/  Brian Johnson - https://protocol.bryanjohnson.co/ Ninja Air Fryers – https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/ninja-catalog/ninja-air-fryers/ Skuma Reverse Osmosis Water system - https://skumawater.com/ Whoop – https://join.whoop.com/61EA09CB (Daniel's referral code!)

In a perfect world, we’d always be up for hitting the gym. And we’d always be motivated to eat the right foods. But, life isn’t perfect. So, it’s fair to expect moments where we don’t feel like being active, or we get tempted to eat ultra-processed foods. In today’s episode we talk about how we deal with these moments. What do we do when we don’t feel like getting a workout in? What do we do when we’re feeling tired of eating whole foods and just want to let loose on a pack of donuts – or in Luis’s case, a whole Christmas pudding? And by the way, we’re certainly not infallible to veering off track and making wrong decisions. So, we also cover what we do when we fall off the wagon – and how do we get ourselves back on track? =========== Referenced in the show: Workout (Daniel’s gym workout playlist) – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1vy4gdT5CHRsLYlqOtoj0k?si=99bul1M5T9us4wByDUnlWg&pt=d689fc257f62e19bc1bb862f950f4586f Luey Diamond Gym Tunes (Luis’s gym workout playlist) – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1hVuMVLe5uFBW7jaYxlmuz?si=WSPGzWEDR1Sxwd8TNMxtLA The two playlists Rich uses: Gym Pump – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2m2vJ3gVo2r7eFwv6tspos?si=UExd2R8YTXSUpDt8CLT62w Crossfit Hits 2023 | Beast Mode – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tgHGy6VpMrrOt1hZANdMV?si=swQH_IAHQgqRbTZWdFCRlg Josh Bridges YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/JoshBridges

All three of us are at a point where we’re shifting direction a bit with our health and fitness goals. We spend some time talking about the new direction we’re now heading, why we’re changing direction, and also how we’re now structuring our training and nutrition to achieve these new goals This is an episode which I think a lot of people will find useful. It may well give you some ideas that help shape your own health and fitness goals and also how you might best go about achieving them.

Luis and Daniel talking injuries. If you’re training hard, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll run into getting injured at some point – especially as you get older.  We cover what we feel are seven of the most common mistakes that can lead to injury. And we also share some tips and tricks that have helped us reduce the risk of getting injured. =========== Referenced in the show: Agile 8 – https://forums.t-nation.com/t/defranco-agile-8/283222 Limber 11 – https://www.defrancostraining.com/joe-ds-qlimber-11q-flexibility-routine/ The World's Greatest Stretch – youtube.com/watch?v=-CiWQ2IvY34 Pliability – https://pliability.com/

Rich, Luis and Daniel discuss what might be the best way to start making health a bigger priority in your life.  We know at the beginning it can be hard. You might be overweight. You might be lacking energy. You might be wondering where you’re going to find the time to work out. Perhaps you’re struggling with confidence. You might just not know where to start. But, there’s always a place you can start. And there’s a bunch of things you can do that will make it easier to take those first steps, and to start to build some consistency towards better health habits.

Rich, Luis and Daniel talk about each of our journeys towards being in the best shape and health of our lives. It certainly hasn’t always been like this. It’s been a journey for each of us, which we’ve had to build towards. And each of our journeys have been different – as they should be.  YOU have to go on your OWN journey, and you have to do the work, to build towards being in the best shape and health of YOUR life. And there’s no excuse to not be on that journey. You owe it to yourself, and you owe it to those who depend on you. We at least hope that you can relate to some of our journeys – and that you find them useful for charting your own. =========== Referenced in the show: - Whole30 - https://whole30.com - Dodgeball, Donut scene - https://youtu.be/e1-qmLk64NA - Daniel’s habit tracking progress - https://www.danielclough.com/daily-habits-june-2023-are-the-cracks-starting-to-appear/ - Why and how Daniel gave up alcohol – http://www.danielclough.com/two-years-sober/  - Rich’s autoimmune diagnosis (Ankylosing Spondylitis) - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ankylosing-spondylitis/ =========== Intro Credit: David Goggins

A conversation about how we’re approaching our nutrition. We cover our short to mid-term goals, and then follow up with how each of us are approaching our nutrition to fit in with those goals. As you would expect, there are a few common threads between us – almost high level principles of nutrition. But, there’s also a lot of uniqueness in how each of us goes about our eating, in order to achieve our goals.  And that’s actually half the battle. Finding out what works for you, and what’s going to help you be the most consistent. =========== Referenced in the show: - myfitnesspal app - https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ - MacroFactor app - https://macrofactorapp.com/ - How to Start Intermittent Fasting in 2023 | Thomas DeLauer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiGg4Fk1PGY  =========== Intro Credit: David Goggins