Some thoughts on investing in the outdoor and consumer sectors
Lifelong adventurer Craig Cooper is continuing his search for passion and profits. The former co-host of the CNBC’s outdoor investment show “Adventure Capitalists,” is joining the judging panel this month for The Pitch, a OneSeed sponsored event where budding outdoor entrepreneurs present their gear ideas for a chance to win a cash prize and product exposure.
Six alternative sleep therapies I’ve been experimenting with
The last 6 months I’ve been experimenting with a number of alternative ways to increase the quality of one of the core foundations of my wellness program – sleep.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that sleep, above everything else that I do to stay healthy and fit at 55, is the main foundation of my overall wellness program.
Without a good nights sleep, everything else that I do falls apart irrespective of how well I eat, how much I train or meditate, or anything else I do for my overall wellness during my waking hours.
For 50+ guys like me sleep is not just a number – it’s a critical part of overall health and it can have a massive metabolic and hormonal affect on us as we age if we don’t get enough of it. The health affects of too little quality sleep? Everything from decreased testosterone and human growth hormone, increased insulin resistance to decreased memory and cognitive function, to increased systemic inflammation (which is seen by many as probably the #1 killer of men). The list goes on – it’s no joke. Read More
Latest podcast is up with OpenSkyFitness
Finding your tribe. How to live a life of peak performance after 40 – and much more. Merry Christmas people! Listen here.
CNBC “Power Lunch” talking about “Adventure Capitalists”
Here’s 11 health changes I’ve made in my 50’s (that I wasn’t doing in my 40’s).
Remember your 40s? I certainly do, and although I’m approaching the middle of my fifth decade, I’m feeling just as good as I did a decade ago. I credit this well-being with recognizing I needed to make some lifestyle adjustments as I became more chronologically established in middle age. So here are 11 things I’m doing for my health in my 50s that I wasn’t doing in my 40s…and why. Read More
6 ways I’ve increased my energy after 50
I turned 53 a few weeks ago and it reinforced my focus on increasing my performance and energy levels as I age. I’ve increased my testosterone (“T”) naturally 36% over the last five years by focusing on my lifestyle, diet, and exercise. Use these tips to get the energy boost you need in later life:
Get regular sleep
Your body produces most of your energy hormones when you’re asleep. Burning the candle at both ends leads to adrenal fatigue and reduced energy levels. I aim for 6-7 hours a night which is the optimal sleep period for someone my age. I feel lucky if I honestly get 6 hours straight as I get older. I also take a mix of very light natural sleep aids a few nights a week to help me get a full nights rest. It’s a mix of ingredients that help you sleep but also help boost energy hormones at night while you rest. I also take magnesium before I go to bed. Usually about 300mg.
Lean out
The leaner you are, the more testosterone you naturally produce. That “beer belly” is nothing more than a fast track to declining T, increased estrogen, and a host of other health problems. Keeping the weight off gets harder and harder as you age. Here’s how I do it:
Skip the long cardio:
Long, slow cardio is time consuming and sucks away your energy and natural human growth hormone (HGH) production. Instead, I focus on a mix of strength, mobility, and short, high-intensity training, which I call “P.R.I.M.E Training” (Peak Repetition Intervals at Maximum Effort). P.R.I.M.E Training involves an all-out effort doing rowing, burpees, or similar exercises over 20-30 seconds followed by 1-2 minutes rest between sets. I’ve also started “rucking” more – doing hikes or stair work with anything from 40-60lbs of weight in my backpack or on my shoulder. This type of training promotes lean muscle, helps drop fat, boosts and maintains high energy levels, and kicks up T and HGH levels.
Lift hard and heavy:
As you get older your muscle mass starts to decline. So I include lifting heavy weights and working large muscle groups in my training program. Studies show that increasing the weight load on the big muscle groups (hips and quads) boosts short-term T production. So forget the “ego muscles” like biceps and triceps and focus on the big muscle groups that with give you the real gains in life!
Stay frosty
There’s a reason why our testicles (the main producers of T) hang outside our body – they love the cold (or just hate being hot!)! Cold showers, cryotherapy, or ice baths after exercise are a great way to reduce inflammation and can also help in boosting your energy, HGH, and fertility. I do cryotherapy 1-2 times a week and I can absolutely attest to the benefits – I go in feeling 75% and I come out feeling 200%. Try to also sleep in a room that’s between 60 and 67 degrees, which has been shown to enhance sleep quality. And sleep naked – it helps regulate body temperature.
Eat more fats and foods that boost your energy levels
Fats have had a bad rap over the years, but eating the right fats (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated) is critical for us guys as we reach our later years. The fats in avocados, nuts, coconut oil, and other healthy fats have been shown to maximize T, help with Alzheimer’s, reduce inflammation and risk of heart disease, and promote weight loss. So make fats your friend. But don’t overdose, as those calories can add up.
Fast (Periodically)
I do intermittent fasting (IF) every Tuesday and Friday. IF has been shown to decrease inflammation, and boost your natural T levels. There’s no real magic to my IF – I just don’t eat for a day, usually from 6pm to the following 6pm.
Cut back on the alcohol and give your bathroom an “energy audit”
We all love a drink. But alcohol increases the metabolism and elimination of T from your bloodstream and also reduces the rate that your body produces the hormone. Cutting back on drinking helps increase your natural T levels and also helps you sleep better at night – which allows your body to naturally replenish your T levels. Alcohol also affects your liver, which is the main organ responsible for regulating the availability of free-T in our bodies. If you want to go “all in” then join me on one of my regular alcohol fasts. Your liver will thank you – and so will your energy levels!
Many people don’t realize the importance of your liver and how much it contributes to your overall health. Your liver, with the assistance of hepatocytes, works to ensure that your body and its other processes are performing as they should. These types of processes include metabolism, protein synthesis, and detoxification, and without them, your body won’t be as healthy as you would like it to be. So, cutting back on alcohol will prove wonders for not only the health of your liver but for your overall health too.
Speaking of which, you probably didn’t know that many common household products and personal skincare items can rob you of your T and energy levels. You can read more about these toxins here and how to reduce their effect on your personal health.
Good luck and stay strong!
Here’s why you should be taking a probiotic supplement
Taking a probiotic supplement is one of the best things you can do for your body. The special microorganisms that we call beneficial bacteria dwell in your gut (intestinal tract) where they help maintain a healthful, balanced environment that is critical for overall health.
Although you can get probiotics from fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchee—and you should enjoy these foods–many men find that taking a high-quality probiotic supplement makes the most sense.
Now, I usually recommend whole foods for better health. So why in this case do I recommend a supplement? Read More
These chemicals are destroying our manhood
I’ve talked about BPA before, a chemical found mainly in plastics that poses a big threat to your hormones and therefore your masculinity. Recently, information has surfaced about another group of chemicals-also found in plastics and personal health care products, among other places-that may be even worse than BPA and can massively affect your health.
Men’s health can be tricky enough to keep on top of already, and there are already increasing concerns for the decrease of testosterone levels in men, so the introduction of pollutants and chemicals that are potentially causing damage to men’s sexual health is concerning. Possibly these chemicals could even result in a rise in men suffering from conditions such as Lichen sclerosus and Phimosis, which are both issues to do with how the foreskin functions. If these conditions were to increase then it might lead more men to research procedures such as circumcision brisbane, if they were in discomfort or pain from potentially developing these health conditions. Other uncomfortable and possibly serious health conditions might be currently being caused by the increased presence of BPA and chemicals in individuals.
“Phthalates” are even more of an insult to your system than they are to my spell- checker. They belong to the same class of pollutants as BPA, called “endocrine disrupting chemicals” (EDCs). And although phthalates have been studied extensively (and declared “safe,” predictably, by interested parties), the true extent of the dangers they present is only now coming to light. Read More
My latest “Men’s Health” magazine column
Here’s why you shouldn’t listen to Doctors (most of the time)
There’s a good chance you’ve been with your general practitioner for a few years. You go in a couple of times a year (hopefully no more often than that), you chat about your respective families and the state of your career, he (or she) listens, pokes, prods, palpates, and possibly prescribes. And you listen and do your best to follow instructions. Your GP is a health care professional, and there’s a degree hanging on the wall decreeing as much. So he or she must know what it takes to be healthy.
Right?
In an ideal world, the answer would be yes. But this world isn’t ideal—especially when it comes to health care.
Doctors need to prescribe behavior not pills
Most doctors aren’t in the health care business. They don’t prescribe behaviors to make us healthy. They prescribe pills and surgeries and treatments to make us un-sick. Most doctors I know only rarely mention diet or exercise or stress-relief techniques to their patients, in part because they don’t believe that their patients are willing or able to follow through with such a program. Rightly or wrongly, health care consumers have come to expect quick-fix solutions from our doctors that require little to no action on our part—except maybe to take a pill or show up for a procedure. The implied agreement between you and your doctor is that you will show up sick and he or she will give you something to make you well.
In some circles, this is changing. Doctors are literally prescribing exercise—writing “Aerobic exercise 3x/week 20 minutes/day” on their prescription pads and handing it to their patients, knowing that, to a completely sedentary person, almost no single behavior can be as beneficial to a person’s health as exercise is. Bravo to them.
Many doctors aren’t in a position to give health advice
Too many others, however, are too embarrassed or resigned to bring it up, and instead they offer a few vaguely reassuring words, and maybe prescribe a pill to treat the patient’s depression, or blood thinners to treat his cardiovascular disease. Indeed, they’ve bought in to the medical myth of the patient as a passive recipient of treatment. These doctors are sometimes seriously overweight and deeply unhealthy themselves, and they often do little to combat unhealthy habits in the people around them. In fact, studies have shown that the standard of care given by doctors is in direct relation to their own health and fitness. Obese and overweight doctors, for example, are less likely to talk to their patients about health, exercise, and nutrition.