0:00
You want to just move the base, you can. Just pick it up.
Search this video
0:04
You can also pick the whole thing up if you want to.
0:07
It's the smallest micro change I've ever seen in my life. That was amazing. Okay, ready? Oh, wait. Wait. So, we're rolling? Yeah, we're rolling. Okay.
0:14
3 2 1 >> [bell] >> It feels actually really good.
0:22
I feel like my bowl is a little smaller than yours.
0:24
That's That's always That's always been the case.
0:28
>> [laughter] >> You want to make it up?
0:29
Hello friends and family, colleagues, That was amazing.
0:34
Very prominent ejaculation projection. >> Show.
0:39
Welcome [snorts] folks to another episode of the Random Show. Yes. Couch Audition Edition. That's right.
0:42
ADU back of my place Yeah. edition.
0:45
Why do we have these fancy bowls?
0:48
So, this is For people not looking, these are meditation bowls. Yeah.
0:55
>> Got a bunch of script.
0:55
Presumably that's Tibetan or Sanskrit or something.
1:00
>> And You have a little corner.
1:00
That's not the bad corner. That's the Zen corner.
1:03
Yeah, this is Zen corner. You You say bad corner?
1:06
>> Yeah, you don't need to put kids in the bad corner.
1:08
>> You can like stand Did you use that as a kid?
1:09
In In school I got sent to like the bad table all the time. Oh, there was a table. Oh, yeah.
1:13
And then the teacher in kindergarten sent me to the bad table with a bunch of other kids who were really bad and then forgot that she had decided it was the bad table and just left us at the bad table for like the entire year.
1:25
And so she just left you with a lot of psychological >> issues that I've carried with [laughter] me.
1:30
This is not the bad table.
1:30
This is the This is the meditation area and I have bowls over here that are I just use I I just like the sound of a good I mean you heard that.
1:37
Hopefully it came through and didn't distort the mic, but a well-rung bowl is just it kind of sets it sets the tone for the beginning of the meditation and then also at the very end.
1:48
It's also just perfect for a podcast in Southern California. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Has to be in person.
1:53
It plays well in the the whole yeah, SoCal environment.
1:57
There's bowls per capita out here and crystal shops are very high. High density. High density, man. Yeah.
2:04
Another beautiful day in SoCal. >> Beautiful day. >> a lot of walking.
2:08
Where should we start off, man? We got tons.
2:10
>> We just came back from our retreat. >> We did. We did.
2:11
You want to describe the the format?
2:14
>> Yeah, so we've done a couple of these retreats.
2:16
This is the second one where it's just a small group of people that are interested in meditation and that want to go a little bit deeper in the world of Zen.
2:26
You know, you and I both talk about the way and Henry Shukman at a time, the way being his app, and Henry's just a great leader, great Zen master, and was accompanied by Valerie, another Zen master, >> Yes, Mountain Cloud.
2:38
at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
2:39
So, we flew out there, small group, got together, and it's kind of like if if a if a proper Zen retreat is like 5:30 cushion in the morning and then you're off at 7:00 p. m.
2:52
and it's hardcore like no talking, shitty food, this was not that.
3:00
[laughter] Like this was We had a good good chef that was there and we were allowed to ask questions in between sits.
3:07
The sits were purposely kind of time bound to call it maximum of 25 minutes and then a walking meditation then another 25 minutes.
3:14
That was like kind of the max.
3:17
>> Yeah, let me let me interject just so we don't get into hyper bougie territory too fast.
3:20
So, the chef was not our chef.
3:24
He's actually as I remember it, this is a former I think James Beard Award winner Yeah.
3:30
>> to forego the accolades and the attention.
3:33
>> How is that less bougie than what I was going to say?
3:35
Well, you said we had a like a a nice chef and people might assume that we're like bringing in a chef.
3:40
This is a chef who actually He lives there locally.
3:43
[clears throat] >> lives.
3:44
I know, that's the point I'm making.
3:45
He [laughter] lives at the Zen Center and has chosen a life of simplicity working with local ingredients and stuff. >> Yeah.
3:51
And he is also normally there.
3:53
It's not like we had our own dedicated That's right. chef. >> That's right.
3:55
That's only at James' house.
3:56
That's [laughter] not at my house.
3:58
I I eat venison jerky sticks most of the time.
4:02
Lentil lentils out of a can. Still tastes good.
4:04
>> And you chugged my freaking ketones about 5 minutes ago.
4:06
Tim Tim just goes to my fridge and he's like, "Okay, what do you have to I want to see what Kevin's up to.
4:11
I want to see He's like, "Okay, we got a little semaglutide in here. We got some repatha.
4:13
Repatha, what else you got? >> like, "Oh, ketones."
4:16
And he starts chugging my ketone ester.
4:19
>> Well, yeah, I unwrapped it and I was like, I probably should ask if I can drink this, but I'm guessing this has been in there for weeks.
4:23
>> Dude, I don't That stuff that you drank is like So, they make several ver- versions of that. Yeah.
4:28
That's like the full-on I won't even F-16 isn't the latest fighter jet.
4:34
Whatever the Gen 5 fighter jet is. F-22 right?
4:37
It's the highest intensity.
4:37
This is the Delta G brand ketone monoester which is BHB which is kind of what you want bound with something called 1,3-butanediol which I will say if you see that on the ingredient list of your supplement for exogenous ketones, treat it like a shot of tequila.
4:56
You really want to use it in moderation.
4:58
There's mounting evidence that it's pretty unhealthy for your liver.
5:02
So, just use in moderation in terms of ketone supplementation, but hey, right before a podcast >> It's a great time for me to take like 15 g.
5:12
I will not do 30 because and I talked to She'll probably come up again. Our mutual friend Dr.
5:17
Rhonda Patrick about this.
5:19
I don't think I'm talking out of school here, but when you take when I take and this is true for her as well and I suspect other people, the full 30, like the entire shot, rather than decreasing anxiety, it actually for me spikes it.
5:31
And I think that could be related to a very rapid rise and then trough >> Right.
5:38
afterwards, but who knows.
5:38
The point is keep it moderate.
5:42
You're the first person to tell me that it impacts liver function and I have more often than not had elevated liver enzymes. Mhm.
5:52
Surprise, surprise on the whole drinking front typically, but [snorts] it's something I watch and when did you hear about that cuz I'd never heard that to be the case Yeah.
6:03
Fortunately, by virtue of doing the podcast and also being incredibly interested in science, interact with a lot of researchers.
6:09
So, I get to have chats with them once I get to know them better about pre-publication data, right?
6:16
Studies that are underway and they never want to talk about them publicly because you have to check all the boxes and science is also very much about not fooling yourself when you make a certain hypothesis.
6:29
But the first whispers of this were from and still are from animal models where you can basically dose mice with 1,3-butanediol and give them the equivalent of fatty liver disease. Oh, wow. >> good.
6:44
And I'm sure I'm oversimplifying, but >> Holy [ __ ] >> The The point is treat it like ethanol.
6:48
Treat it like not even tequila, moonshine.
6:50
Like you're drinking moonshine and you wouldn't want to do that every day. >> like moonshine. Or cough syrup. Cough syrup moonshine. Yeah. Yeah.
6:56
So, that is just to say I think there's still think there's a time and a place for it.
7:02
I've been experimenting with other versions like ketone salts.
7:07
Dominic D'Agostino, he's also the co-author on some of the papers that are describing this.
7:10
He tried bath salts for a while, too, which is That was a very odd version of Tim that came out. If it's good for McAfee.
7:16
Just eating the flesh off of Yeah.
7:20
Eating people in >> Wasn't that a thing that happened? >> median in Florida.
7:22
It's always a Florida man. Yeah.
7:26
>> [snorts] >> It's a Florida man dot dot dot. Yeah. >> Eats another person.
7:27
Eating someone's face off after bath salts.
7:29
Stay away from bath salts, kids.
7:31
So, yeah, I came in nice and fully loaded today. Yeah. Awesome.
7:36
Well, I am glad that you're feeling better cuz you also might not have made today, so >> I Yeah, that's a sidebar.
7:41
I I ended up I may have had a glancing blow of eggplant to which I am deathly allergic and woke up in the middle of the night incredibly sick last night.
7:51
>> [laughter] >> So, I'm glad I'm here. >> Yeah.
7:53
>> And I brought my EpiPen for for dinner later. Amazing. >> Learned my lesson. Bring out your backup. Yeah. So, the retreat.
7:59
Let's finish that off real quick. >> Yeah. So, we got together.
8:01
What did you learn this time around cuz we've done this twice.
8:04
You've dabbled in the world of Zen. Mhm.
8:06
You've always said and correct if I'm wrong, but meditation's been a hard thing for you typically. Mhm.
8:12
Where are you now with your practice?
8:14
Well, what I would say is, you know, the first thing speaking as a very much still a novice on any level.
8:19
I would say that meditation is kind of like sports or exercise.
8:25
It's like do you like exercise?
8:27
Like well, what kind of exercise, right?
8:28
Meditation, there's so many different ways to meditate or explore mindfulness.
8:35
There's the Vipassanā approach.
8:35
There's transcendental meditation.
8:37
There's Zen which is very much its own thing, right?
8:41
And you know more about that than I do.
8:44
But what I do find helpful about the retreats is you can describe what is going on when you're sitting still with your eyes closed trying to focus on something in the case of say the breath or trying to just observe whatever comes up.
9:02
And the feedback that you get from someone like Henry or Valerie where you can do a 25-minute sit and then take a short break, talk about it, and they can say, "Well, given that you experienced this this, maybe you had restlessness.
9:18
Maybe you had in my case this sort of planning compulsion, so rather than memories or fantasies about who knows what.
9:27
Not I can run wild with that, but I default to plans, like things I need to do. >> Right.
9:36
And it's like, "Okay, well, if that's coming up, then Henry might say, 'Why don't you try in the next sit which we're going to do in 10 minutes or 5 minutes A, B, or C.'
9:45
And then you do it and you provide feedback.
9:46
And so, you're able to really polish the stone moving forward and similar I suppose to a lot of what we might call transcendental experiences which sounds fancy, but it's really just perhaps not fixating on the self or interrogating what this thing is that we call the self, >> Mhm.
10:05
which you can do through meditation. >> Mhm.
10:07
You can also do it with or maybe you're forced to do it in some cases with psychedelic experiences or other things, breathwork.
10:14
When I was there at the retreat, you might remember this, I was getting very frustrated.
10:17
And I was like, where's all this frustration coming from? >> Yeah.
10:20
And while I was there, I was like, I don't know how much I'm getting out of this right now. >> Mhm.
10:27
But when I got back to {quote} real life in Austin, I had like three to five days of this just kind of blissful calm attention, where I was able to get everything done I needed to get done. There was no rushing. >> Mhm.
10:41
There was no looping in any kind of future tripping.
10:45
And I was like, well, that's very interesting.
10:49
And it also holds true for say breathwork, psychedelics.
10:52
There are many different things that you could look at.
10:56
And interestingly, maybe this is one way to think of it.
10:59
I mean, in a sense, there are a lot of parallels between different methods for entering what people might consider a trance state.
11:07
And I don't think meditation is exempt from that, depending on what it is.
11:11
If it's concentration practice, Yeah. for sure.
11:15
You're using a mantra or you're using something you're repeating in the case of >> Yeah.
11:18
TM in the same way that you might use rhythmic drumming. Yeah.
11:20
And you can go some pretty weird places and then you come out of it and you're like, I don't know what to make of that.
11:24
And sometimes the payoff is what you notice in the next unfolding week or two or three or whatever the duration might be. >> That's right.
11:33
So, that was that was very invigorating for me.
11:36
And also, Henry at one point used a prompt in response to I'll give a great this is a real-world example of something that happened to me, something I experienced in a sit, and then Henry's response, right?
11:52
So, I use the way all the time, full disclosure. I'm involved with it.
11:54
I mean, it's really because Henry's amazing.
11:58
More than anything else, it's just I think it's good for humanity and people to learn from somebody who is really deliberate about layering on progressive skills that you can take outside of meditation.
12:11
But one of the practices is labeling.
12:15
So, if and there are a million different ways to do this, but let's just say talk comes up in the mind and you label it radio or talking.
12:23
And then, if some kind of video comes up in the mind, right? Images.
12:29
You're imagining something or planning something or remembering something. Okay, that's video. Yeah. And so on and so forth. >> Yeah.
12:37
But for me, as someone with very well-established OCD, >> [laughter] >> I can just end up being like, radio, radio, radio, video, radio, radio, radio.
12:46
And it turns into instead of a helpful thing, >> Right.
12:50
a very interruptive, stressful thing. >> Right.
12:53
And at that point in the retreat, and the retreat clearly was three to four days? Yeah. Something like that. It was very short.
13:00
Henry said, okay, well, let's he moved into the next sit and he said, just be still. Right? Like, just be still. That's it. That is the focus. Like, just sit still.
13:11
And did that for two consecutive sits. I just focused on that.
13:13
And it was remarkable how much everything calmed down. I was like, okay.
13:17
Well, just like exercise, like some people, sure, can go to the gym and do full sprinting workouts on an incline treadmill.
13:25
Not everybody can do that. Right.
13:27
And other folks are well-suited to yoga.
13:29
Some people are well-suited to different types of lifting, et cetera.
13:36
And everybody should probably spend a little bit of time in each of those compartments if they can.
13:39
But it's not like everyone is equally suited, for instance, in my case, to like the open monitoring stuff.
13:45
Like, well, just sit there and notice all the things that come up. It's like, uh.
13:48
So, I came out of the retreat thinking, you know what?
13:52
Something along the lines of transcendental meditation, not necessarily with that branding, but using a koan, using just be still as a concentration practice that I repeat, really gives me a lot of payoff.
14:05
If I just sit still for 10 to 20 minutes twice a day, I have a theory on this. No.
14:15
So, my my one of my theories, because I've been going super deep on bioelectric medicine and different ways of using electricity in place of pills, basically, and medications, which I think is really the next frontier in a million different ways.
14:33
People should check out Michael Levin Tufts and some of the crazy [snorts] stuff he's able to do.
14:36
But related to meditation, I did this deep dive with someone named Kevin Tracey, who's very credible scientist, very widely cited, helped discover and explore a lot related to TNF alpha and all sorts of things.
14:53
And he is incredibly [snorts] knowledgeable of vagus nerve stimulation.
14:58
Not the bogus [ __ ] kind, which is 99.
15:01
9% of what you see on the internet, >> Yeah, yeah.
15:04
but using, say, implants the size of an omega-3 capsule in the neck, which is where the biggest nerves run.
15:12
It's really like two transcontinental cables running down either side of the neck.
15:15
Each one has about 100,000 fibers.
15:19
And if you put an implant in that's giving continuous stimulation on and off, on and off, it's not 24/7, it's incredibly effective for things like rheumatoid arthritis. Mhm.
15:29
And actually it was FDA-approved.
15:30
It was on the cover of the New York Times >> Holy [ __ ] >> that I interviewed him.
15:34
And that raised the question, how? Why? What's going on?
15:39
And it just so happens when you stimulate the vagus nerve, you activate something called the inflammatory reflex, and you can in effect, prevent damaging cytokine storms, decrease systemic inflammation of all different types.
15:54
That word inflammation is kind of an umbrella term for a thousand million different things.
15:59
And I remember chatting with one of my friends who is a professor, he was using the 10% Happier app by Dan Harris. >> Mhm.
16:07
And he was meditating twice a day.
16:09
And then after like one or two weeks, he's like, all of his aches, which were debilitating, like he had a lot of musculoskeletal issues, they just went away.
16:18
And one way people might try to explain that is like, well, you're becoming more present to your feelings. >> Maybe psychosomatic. Right.
16:26
>> But I think it might actually be when you sit still and you inherently end up breathing rhythmically, because you can also stimulate your vagus nerve with, say, box breathing and other things, that you do that twice a day.
16:39
If you were to use an implant, or let's just say either ear-based or neck-based stimulation of the vagus nerve, guess how long it lasts? Roughly 12 hours.
16:47
So, you do it twice a day, you're getting full coverage. Oh, interesting.
16:53
>> And so, if you're getting full coverage, and there's a lot more to it, I won't dig dig too deep right now.
16:57
If you're getting twice a day vagus nerve stimulation from sitting and focusing on breathing, even if you don't realize that you're entraining your breathing, I think that might have explanatory power for some of the benefits people see from meditation. >> That's fascinating.
17:14
So, I bought one of the vagus nerve stimulators that hooks under my ear. Have you seen that one?
17:20
And you feel that this little tiny pulse of current that's happening.
17:23
>> People who are not watching this may have trouble envisioning this, but I'm actually in communication with a couple of scientists in Scandinavia.
17:33
I don't want to box this guy cuz I don't think he's public with it yet, but there are two ways currently non-invasively to to stimulate the vagus nerve >> Mhm. that are commonly known.
17:44
One is the neck, where you really like press some type of device.
17:46
There are a number of them out there.
17:48
Mostly used for migraines or cluster headaches. It's pretty unpleasant.
17:52
Like, you stimulate the neck and it activates the superficial muscles on your face and it pulls your face down.
17:59
And I used one of those for probably four to six weeks.
18:02
Didn't see any systemic benefits.
18:08
A friend of mine doubled his HRV using one of those devices. >> Mhm.
18:11
Like, from he had some I'm not going to call it PTSD, but he had some overactive sympathetic drive. Mhm.
18:16
And the vagus nerve stimulation is associated with the rest and digest parasympathetic.
18:24
Okay, which is also why right now I stimulate before bed.
18:26
Five minutes twice a day. I know I do.
18:28
For for the ear, Jesus Christ.
18:31
No, I I talked about the device.
18:34
>> [laughter] >> For the ear, there's something called the cymba concha.
18:37
I think I'm pronouncing that correctly. >> Yeah.
18:40
If you people can see, most of the research >> This this little bit right here? Most right here. Okay.
18:43
And you can look this up online.
18:47
You kind of want the the the portion of the cymba concha that is closer to your sideburns, let's say. Okay.
18:52
And then you need another piece that is grounding.
18:57
And or completing the circuit, and that's got to be touching your skin.
18:59
The contact point is incredibly important.
19:03
>> Are there any of these that you like that are consumer available?
19:05
Cuz a lot of this stuff I you you mentioned >> DIY it with components off of Amazon, and maybe I'll make that available to folks.
19:12
The reason I hesitate to do that is that it's easy to get wrong, and you can I just don't want to be responsible for people trying to >> [laughter] >> put current through their heads. >> Right.
19:23
>> There are a lot of people who DIY I I trying to do TMS and stuff.
19:25
Yeah, this is the one I heard of.
19:28
>> tDCS and they reverse polarity and they like, you can fry your brain.
19:31
Not with the vagus nerve stuff necessarily, but you got to be really careful with stimulation.
19:35
>> Have you ever heard of this one, NeuroPod? I haven't seen it.
19:37
>> I haven't had I mean, it's it's basically, if you look at who's involved on the the scientist level, like, it's it's crazy the number of, you know, >> U R O P O D. Let me see.
19:45
World's most studied wearable vagus nerve stimulation.
19:50
100 plus international, UCLA did a study there, Penn.
19:52
I I I I I >> Okay, that's interesting. I have to check it out.
19:56
>> It's interesting, but I will say like just be honest with you.
20:00
I've owned this thing for about a year and a half.
20:01
I did it for about 2 weeks for 30 minutes a day and I didn't notice anything. Yeah.
20:06
I'm looking it's hard for me to see the placement on the earpiece.
20:10
The placement is very very very specific. >> right here.
20:13
To this this lobe right here.
20:16
>> Oh yeah, I don't think that's in the right place.
20:17
>> you feel a little ticky ticky tick like like shock >> almost.
20:20
>> Yeah, I I don't think you're Look, I This is my first time seeing it, but I don't think you're going to be necessarily hitting as many fibers as you would want if that's the placement. >> Yeah. But who knows?
20:31
Look, a lot of fancy names on the website.
20:33
Maybe I'll take a look at it.
20:35
Yeah, I mean it's worth it.
20:36
You can borrow mine, dude.
20:38
>> something I can recommend to people.
20:40
>> Right now I I can't recommend this cuz it's not done anything for me, but I I when I was doing the research for the most like this one they've clearly paid for studies to be done.
20:46
Obviously that's a huge grain of salt because who's doing the studies and what their biases and what not, but I'll let you I'll let you borrow mine and see if it does does does anything for you cuz it is a $900 device which is like [ __ ] that's a lot of money to spend.
21:00
>> I'm Yeah, I'm using a prototype of one from Scandinavia right now.
21:03
On Amazon, I look I'm sure people can find some instructions for this.
21:07
You can DIY something for like 20 to $25 worth of components on Amazon. It is not hard.
21:13
It's just a small TENS unit.
21:16
>> Cables, the placement is very challenging to get right. >> Yeah.
21:20
And I did not see much in terms of results from me even with a lot of professional guidance using that.
21:25
So I want to tell you about something related.
21:29
>> can I stop for a second? >> Try breathing. Do box breathing.
21:32
>> So that's what this is.
21:33
>> Or something like that. Do that twice a day. Okay.
21:37
>> in the Great Nerve which is a book written by Kevin Tracy. It's a great book.
21:40
There's an extended chapter about Wim Hof and Wim Hof is very controversial figure, but well known for breath work.
21:46
And you see some of the same effects in terms of controlling immune response so that it is not excessive with respect to various types of cytokines and so on.
21:59
You can do it breath work. So >> Yeah.
22:01
All right, what are we looking at?
22:02
>> This Have you ever heard of HeartMath?
22:04
>> I have heard of HeartMath. Yeah.
22:04
I went to little mini retreat where they were doing like a bunch of different modalities in terms of different therapies and things to like just really bit let you be the best version of yourself.
22:15
And one of the things that they did was they gave you a HeartMath device and they had a whole class on it.
22:21
I was like, yeah, I heard that thing before. I never tried it.
22:22
And so I hooked it up to my ear and it measures your HRV.
22:26
But what what blew my mind was that the app once you launch it, it's like follow this box breathing and we're going to watch you to watch your HRV in real time. >> Yeah.
22:36
And dude, it when I followed it just as it was telling me what to do, the HRV just like shot up. >> Yeah.
22:43
>> And then I would try and trick it and I'd be like I'd follow it, but I'd think of something really stressful and my HRV would go down.
22:49
So There I'm telling you this is the coolest device I have owned in a while and you lock into this coherence mode as you do this breathing and it's it's pretty awesome. It's 250 bucks.
23:00
I'm not an investor or anything, but heartmath.
23:02
com and a 60-day money-back guarantee and Well, I I want to say that because I I hate recommending stuff.
23:08
Affiliate code Kevin 40%.
23:12
>> [laughter] >> Exactly. Tim Tim 20% off.
23:12
Uh I I hate recommending stuff when people spend their money and but I will say this was the one one thing that I was feeling.
23:20
>> good things about HeartMath.
23:20
I don't know who's involved.
23:21
I did maybe you didn't know this for a period of time and maybe it was about 3 months I did training for this specifically before I think it was before any retail options were available with a doctor named Leah Lagos who has a book about this and we actually in real time would do a video call and identify what type of breathing specifically would have in real time the biggest impact on HRV.
23:49
>> And there is something to this.
23:49
There's definitely something to this.
23:51
I can't speak to HeartMath, but I've I've heard of it before.
23:55
So don't worry about the device for stimulation.
23:59
The point being try meditating twice a day for 10 to 20 minutes yeah and if you're like ugh meditating, God I'm allergic to that word cuz it gets used so much, try breathing, right?
24:10
Use HeartMath or something else.
24:11
There's not a whole lot you need to worry about.
24:16
Andrew Weil has some very good breathing exercises.
24:19
>> Yeah, so I have box breathing and 4-7-8 on my app Oak.
24:22
It's still in the App Store and it's 100% free.
24:24
There's no way you can pay for anything on the app.
24:27
So if you just Google Oak, you can find it and it has like six different breathing techniques on there. That'd be kind of cool.
24:34
>> here's a hypothesis {slash} bet.
24:37
I think that if it hasn't been demonstrated already, I haven't done a full like lit search for this.
24:41
I think there are breathing patterns if you repeat them in the morning and at night twice a day roughly 12 hours apart for like 10 to 20 minutes that you will see a lot of benefits for things like chronic pain. Yeah.
24:55
I think it is I I really feel very confidently. So that's exciting. Yeah. Sweet.
25:04
All right, what else you got? I've got crazy things.
25:05
I mean I just had my birthday a few weeks ago which is crazy cuz I'm marching towards 50 really quick. I know. >> And so are you.
25:13
>> Getting dragged through the doorway with your fingernails leaving lines on the linoleum.
25:20
>> Okay, so when I first when we first started hanging out like whatever 15 years ago, 17 years ago, maybe like 20 I don't even know how long it's been.
25:27
>> Close to 20 years ago. >> 20 years ago.
25:29
You know, he's like let me like every time you walk into Tim's house he like tackles you with some kind of new jujitsu move to take you down.
25:34
And like the last 3 years he's been carrying a ball for his lower back where he's like, "Oh, I can't move."
25:40
And it's like old man Tim has appeared >> [laughter] >> and like that old Tim that would tackle you with a jujitsu move is gone. Yeah, the gentle Tim. Not so gentle. Turns out.
25:51
But I know one of the things that I want to really focus on for this next decade is balance.
25:54
I balance obviously is is such a key thing and it's the number one way that people in their as they get older in their 60s, 70s and beyond are actually permanently injured is by falling and breaking a hip and things like that.
26:09
So two things to show off.
26:12
>> Like incredible increase in risk like all cause mortality if you're older and you break a hip.
26:17
>> Yes, turns out breaking hips are not good. So check this out.
26:19
This one right here I've had for a while.
26:22
Don't fall on your ringing ball.
26:24
So I don't know what Can you imagine?
26:26
Smash my face on the ringing ball.
26:28
So I'm going to show you how this works.
26:29
Have you used this before? >> I have. Yeah.
26:31
And so are you good at these or no?
26:33
Oh God, you're like feel like a parent watching after you.
26:39
How well can you do the balance boards?
26:41
Uh I haven't done it in a long time.
26:42
There's one called the Indo board which I have and I've [ __ ] around with it.
26:44
I don't think today is the day.
26:46
Well, so let's check this out.
26:48
So 5 minutes a day there was some research that was done around people with ADHD and it dramatically improved their symptoms which I have a ton of.
26:55
Yeah, you can't really But I want I want to know if you can do this.
26:59
I want to I want to see if you can do the these squats.
27:01
You have to pay attention if you're on this thing. Could you do these? I don't know. Never tried it.
27:06
And then the tippy toes uh so I do 50 squats Woo. like this. >> Yeah.
27:13
And and I should also point out >> history as a skateboarder. I do. Yeah, which helps.
27:18
Uh let's see let's see Tim.
27:21
I don't know if I'm going to get You'll be okay. You'll be okay.
27:22
I'll hold your hand when you go up.
27:26
Come on, just give it a shot for a second. I want to see.
27:27
I'll give you some I'll give you some Depends and you're giving you a walker so you can get up there. Okay, so one foot there. Yep. I got it. Jesus. Okay. Oh [ __ ] Oh oh. There you There oh.
27:45
It's got blockers [snorts] so you won't slide off the end. Yeah, yeah.
27:47
Lean hard right hard right hard right on the right foot.
27:51
Yeah, it's like It's hard, isn't it?
27:53
>> Well, I'm like nervous about falling over. There you go. There we go. Now the squat.
27:57
This is kind of like slack boarding where you like you need a couple of days to get your nervous system. Yeah.
28:05
Yeah, isn't it amazing how your nervous system adapts to it? Yeah.
28:09
So there There's a crazy video people should check out.
28:11
I think maybe it's not online.
28:13
There's a guy named Jerzy Gregorek had on the podcast.
28:15
He's got to be 70 something right now, but he was 67.
28:21
He could stand on one of these at 67 with a fully loaded barbell with like 150 to 200 lbs.
28:27
He weighs probably 130 and he could do a perfect form Olympic snatch landing with ass to heels and then stand back up and do repetitions.
28:38
So dude, I when I was just in Japan last week >> Oof. All right, there we go. That's enough.
28:43
When I was just in Japan last week, I was out there and I was I was at this event. Oops.
28:47
I was at this friend's birthday party that Tony Hawk's also friends with.
28:51
So I was hanging with Tony and he's like I last time I saw Tony I was like dude, how you doing?
28:59
Because Tony Hawk one of the most legendary skateboarders of all time.
29:02
People don't know who Tony Hawk is, but yeah.
29:04
You might >> [laughter] >> I mean a lot of people definitely know who Tony Hawk is.
29:09
So so Tony For the youngsters.
29:09
Last time I saw him he had a cane. Oh.
29:11
And I was like this was probably like 8 months ago or whatever and I was like, dude, how you doing?
29:18
And he's like I just got a couple screws put into my hip.
29:20
And you know, he had this injury and I was like, holy [ __ ] man.
29:24
I'm like in my head I'm like, oh the [ __ ] legend, you know, pushing himself in his 50s to do like he's still doing like, you know, whatever 720s on the half pipe in in his mid-50s like [ __ ] crazy.
29:35
And I saw him up in up in Hokkaido and we're going snowboarding.
29:40
He's like, yeah, I'm going boarding today.
29:41
He has no cane, no nothing.
29:43
And I'm like do you have pain? Like do you have pain? Like do you feel pain?
29:48
Like what what are you doing in your mid-50s like doing vert snowboarding?
29:53
Like you know what I mean?
29:55
And he's just like, "Yeah, he's like my my wife jokes that I should have a shirt that says like always in pain or something like that."
30:01
[laughter] And I was just like, "That is a Some people are built like that though."
30:04
Have you ever seen his shins?
30:07
I'm sure they're just like he looks like a Thai kickboxer. Yeah, exactly, dude.
30:10
He has been hit so many times by the board, it's insane.
30:14
You and your birthday when I was at your birthday in New York probably about I don't know, maybe 7 10 years ago.
30:20
You had a slackline in your backyard.
30:25
And I couldn't do it at all. And not even one step.
30:28
Because it is a very much a nervous system practice.
30:32
>> It's a nervous system practice. So I found this online.
30:33
It's like a little home one.
30:35
Do you have one like this?
30:35
I have played around with these. These are pretty sweet.
30:40
So I have not used the smaller ones.
30:43
I had one between trees, same company, given.
30:47
And [snorts] just for people who've never played with this, if you're going to try it, don't do like an hour thinking that you're going to figure out in one day.
30:55
You actually my belief is you need sleep cycles for your nervous system to try to integrate it.
31:01
So you're better off doing a few minutes every day and gradually you'll figure it out. But that's cool. Very portable.
31:08
Obviously a lot easier to set up and take down than a gigantic thing between two trees with ratchets and everything. >> Yeah, exactly.
31:13
I just wanted to get one because again on the balance front, they will have a little QR code there at the end that you scan and they give you about 20 or 30 different exercises that you can do with it.
31:20
Like the toe taps where one foot is on and you just tap the toe on each side of the bar.
31:24
And like you're right and there's this weird thing I noticed this in my kids where they got those little hoverboards for Christmas so they can just kind of zoom around. They're 7 and 8.
31:32
And day one like eating [ __ ] you know, helmets, full gear.
31:37
And day two my youngest is just like woohoo like just flying all over the place.
31:42
They already figured it out.
31:42
But the it took a couple days of that that kind of adaptation and that muscle memory to kind of kick in which I think all these things do.
31:50
But yeah, this has been awesome.
31:52
Yeah, and for for people who might want to try slacklining, don't get on a slackline really far off the ground, number one.
32:01
But a lot of rock climbing gyms have slacklines set up.
32:05
So you can potentially get someone to show you the basic ropes, pun intended, of walking on a slackline over there. And it's called given.
32:12
Pretty sure this is why it's called given.
32:17
Because if you see really good slackliners, they they do this with their arms as they're walking across.
32:21
And what does that look like?
32:24
It looks like a given, this monkey. Yeah.
32:25
And you can see you can see footage of gibbons walking across like rope on small suspension bridges.
32:31
Pretty fascinating stuff. So try it out. Awesome.
32:36
And you know, I'll I'll I'll throw something out there. Yeah, let's do it.
32:38
>> Cuz it's related to rock climbing.
32:42
Well, a couple of things. Since you brought it up.
32:45
So for the last two days, you know, we've been hanging out a little bit and you have not seen my little blow up Pilates ball that I usually put behind my lower back.
32:54
>> I just mentioned it a few minutes ago.
32:54
I know, but you haven't seen it.
32:55
Yeah, but you haven't seen it. I know. So what's going on?
32:58
Well, it seems like and this is not going to apply to most people and this is a work in progress so it's not definitive, but I [snorts] ended up meeting with a neurologist and surgeon in Austin.
33:09
And he injected baby seal semen into your spine.
33:16
It's going to be some [ __ ] like that.
33:17
No, it's it's it might apply to a very very small fraction of the people who are actually listening to this. He did imaging.
33:25
He used to be in a clinic where they ran trials and studies related to something called Bertolotti's syndrome.
33:34
And Bertolotti's syndrome is incredibly uncommon.
33:37
Most specialists in his profession might see one or two cases in their entire careers, but he's seen hundreds.
33:44
And he looked at my imaging and he said, "You may actually have Bertolotti's syndrome."
33:50
And he he pointed out they had very advanced imaging.
33:53
It's the first time it came up.
33:56
It corresponds perfectly to where I point to when people ask me when I have pain or where I have pain, excuse me.
34:03
And it's it's in effect where you have a transitional segment.
34:06
So it's like a lumbar vertebra that's behaving like a sacral vertebra or vice versa.
34:11
And let's just say it's like L5 and the the transverse processes, I think it's transverse processes on both, try to form a pseudo joint.
34:18
So they basically lay on bone and [laughter] other material to try to create what is then called a pseudo joint.
34:26
And if you look at [snorts] textbook cases of Bertolotti's, you're like, "Yeah, of course that's going to hurt your lower back."
34:33
And as a way of testing the hypothesis, he said, "Well, let's before we even consider any interventions, let's try to hone in on whether that [clears throat] is accurate or not as a diagnosis.
34:46
The way we'll do that is there are some nerves that affect that area specifically.
34:51
There's no like radiating effect or anything down the leg.
34:57
Let's put in effectively a nerve block and then see what happens.
35:00
Like we'll we'll put in a nerve block. What is a nerve block?
35:05
Basically stops the area from transmitting pain signals.
35:09
>> what what does it mean that what it when you put in a nerve block?
35:12
Well, you you lay down in my case on your face.
35:14
I hate when anyone is messing with my spine, man.
35:17
It's like very I've had so many things done to me and I'm usually cool as a cucumber, but when needles are like in or around my spine, I really get the fear sweats. I don't like it at all.
35:28
But in this case, that was required.
35:32
So you get a In this case, it was I think it was lidocaine, small amount of lidocaine to numb the surface.
35:39
Then they're going through quite a bit of deep musculature.
35:40
So they go in and then they're putting in in this case and obviously you need specialists for this who have baby seal prolocaine.
35:48
They have baby seal semen.
35:53
No, it was prolocaine and something called Kenalog.
35:56
And but none of none of those specifics are the punchline.
35:59
The punchline is he's after he did the injection, he said, "Okay, this particular portion of the cocktail is going to last 18 hours and then you're going to get probably 2 weeks of effect from the Kenalog, something like that."
36:11
Which is a cortisone shot, basically.
36:13
And he said, "I want you to do all of the things that you think will most piss off your back.
36:16
Like all the things you've been avoiding."
36:19
Which for me are sitting on hard surfaces, sitting with a slightly flexed back.
36:25
Like you're sitting on a bar stool and you're kind of like this.
36:29
Any of those, stretching in that position, sitting on the floor with the dogs, certainly things like heavy deadlifts, squats.
36:36
So I did all of that stuff for 3 days straight. Zero pain.
36:42
And I'm like, "Holy shit."
36:46
After having so many specialists from different disciplines say like, "Yeah, I know you point to that, but that's not the spot.
36:52
It's actually because there's referral pain from this, this, or this."
36:56
And just having so many people dismiss how precisely I could point to where I felt the most pain.
37:06
Which which was consistent over years.
37:10
And for the first time he's like, "If we look at the imaging right here, it is exactly where you were Wow.
37:16
So I'm I'm cautiously optimistic. Dude, that's amazing.
37:18
This is the first time in 6 years.
37:20
Also just like you have there are different tools that work for different people.
37:26
Sometimes it requires multiple tools.
37:29
A lot of people have benefited from the work of John Sarno.
37:34
But that school for instance in effect says none of the imaging really maps to symptoms well. It's all in your head.
37:41
So do cognitive training and reconditioning to solve it because >> That's the guy that Howard Stern got his back problems fixed through, right? >> be.
37:52
A lot of people benefit from that stuff.
37:55
But it's also infuriating to be told like every type of back pain is in your head. I'm like, "Really?
38:02
If I took a ball-peen hammer and smashed one of your vertebrae, that would be in your head?"
38:06
Like I guess technically it is the brain that's governing pain. Like fine.
38:08
But this is the first time with a very simple relatively simple but precise intervention, I guess it's been about 5 days.
38:20
He's like, "I can do everything with no pain." So Dude, that's amazing.
38:25
>> So what does that mean?
38:25
Well, Could be the cortisone shot.
38:28
That's the one thing that's like Well, that's that is >> You probably had that before, right? Or no? No, I haven't.
38:33
But but here's the thing.
38:35
So that that's going to have anti-inflammatory >> Yeah, anti-inflammatory.
38:38
It's also going to basically kind of for lack of a better term like puff up the pseudo joint in a way that sort of reverses the chronological age or development of that in some ways from a symptom perspective.
38:50
But the the this this is where I'll offer people something they can potentially look into, obviously with the help of really really really good doctors.
39:02
If that shot continues to deliver benefits and I can do all these things pain free, which is the case right now, then there's something called radio frequency ablation, RFA, which is used to in this case temporarily completely incapacitate those nerves.
39:16
So they go in, they apply radio frequency ablation, and that should last for like a year to a year and a half, hopefully.
39:27
And the hope in that case is okay, with a year year and a half.
39:30
And I already spoke, you know, I've spoken to multiple people and they're like, "Yeah, it shouldn't even if you resume a lot of your activities and stair step into it that previously caused pain, you shouldn't structurally make that worse, right? So that was a concern.
39:45
And I think that's an enough enough of a period of time where you could effectively reprogram your pain patterning, right?
39:53
Because for years now, it's like if I sit on a hard surface, my brain is like code red, defcon five, you are about to not be able to sleep for six to seven days. Yeah.
40:04
And you're going to have trouble walking and sitting and standing. So, super exciting. That's awesome. All right.
40:08
So, you mind if I continue my Ted Talk for a second? >> All right.
40:14
So, also >> [gasps] >> had long overdue surgery.
40:20
I think I might have talked about this last time, but on my extensors, right?
40:23
So, the forearm extensors.
40:25
So, this would be considered like tennis elbow. Oh god.
40:28
>> Like 20-plus years overdue from a sports injury.
40:30
And I'm back to rock climbing.
40:33
I'm not at rock climbing, but I love it.
40:35
I just love rock climbing. Feeling really good.
40:37
And if people have never seen something called Abraham's, so like Abraham, but Abraham's.
40:47
Go on YouTube, find this Swedish rock climber named Emil Abrahamsson, so Abrahamson, s s o n.
40:53
He's a monster, very competent rock climber, does like V13 problems and probably much more.
41:02
Incredible explainer of things and dives into a lot of training.
41:06
And he, along with the help of this scientist named Keith Barr, b a a r, who I've actually had on the podcast, developed or tested this protocol for improving tendon strength.
41:19
And it is the simplest lowest impact thing you can imagine.
41:24
It's basically 10 minutes twice a day.
41:26
And he does a bunch on a hangboard, but let's keep it simple.
41:29
Let's say you're hanging on could be a pull-up bar, could be a door jamb, could be you know, the the underside of some stairs, whatever.
41:40
And he's hanging with like 30 to 85% of his weight, so his feet are still on the floor.
41:44
Does that for 10 seconds on, 50 seconds off.
41:48
10 seconds on, 50 seconds off.
41:49
And you do it 10 times, that's 10 minutes.
41:51
And then you do it again later in the day.
41:53
And his before and after strength and endurance tests are mind-blowing.
41:59
This is already a guy who we could say is a high-level climber, and to see like the before and after is crazy.
42:05
So, you don't always have to kill yourself >> Yeah.
42:09
to adapt in really, really interesting ways.
42:11
And that's something I've really, really benefited from, but the low back has been a limiter, right?
42:19
For like the last few months.
42:21
Because hanging from a bar, if I don't engage the abs, could cause some issues with the low back and spasming.
42:25
So, I bought this thing recommended by a friend of mine, Nick Norris, who's also been on the podcast, former Navy SEAL, called the Nug.
42:33
And the Nug is it's about the size of like a gigantic bar of soap. It's a piece of wood.
42:40
And it has different depths of grips on it.
42:44
It's like 25 mm, 20 mm, and you can move it around really easily.
42:47
And basically, like you could keep it in jacket pocket.
42:51
And as long as you have a carabiner, like one of those things that kind of clicks on, you you can do all sorts of exercises while you're traveling.
43:00
And at home I have basically a [snorts] a plate loading pin that you can load plates on. Yeah, exactly.
43:07
So, that you can basically do like a single-handed deadlift.
43:11
And so, this would be the same as essentially doing the hanging board?
43:15
It's it's similar, right?
43:15
You're going to be I'm looking for the same kind of loading, but what you can also do is take this thing that you can fit in your pocket and attach it to like a low cable machine.
43:23
That's what I was doing in Santa Fe actually.
43:25
And just like get the weight off the ground, you know, the stack off of the resting position.
43:30
And I was doing 10 seconds on, 50 seconds off.
43:36
10 seconds on, 50 seconds >> only have one of these?
43:37
Yeah, because I'll do one hand and then I'll do the other.
43:40
So, like 10 seconds, 10 seconds, 40 second rest.
43:42
10 seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds rest.
43:45
And I think a lot Yeah, the the website is Frictitious Climbing.
43:49
It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but like friction, Frictitious Climbing.
43:53
They have the Nug, they have a bunch of other items that you can use while traveling for this, which are really, really interesting.
44:02
So, that's another one that I've been traveling with. I'll let you go.
44:07
And then >> Yeah, this is awesome.
44:10
>> Yeah, it's it's just a fun little tool to play with.
44:12
Do not overdo finger training.
44:16
You do not want to tear a pulley or something in your fingers.
44:21
So, less is more, less is more, less is more.
44:23
This is I guess something like 30 to 85% of body weight.
44:28
And if obviously, or maybe it's not obvious, if you're doing [clears throat] that's with two hands.
44:32
So, if you're doing it with one hand, it's going to be, you know, 15 to 40%. Let's just say. >> Oh, this is cool. Thanks.
44:38
I I did I did I just ordered by the time you're done talking about it.
44:41
Yeah, yeah, it's fun to play with. >> Cool. What you got?
44:44
>> Yeah, so I've got a couple things.
44:44
One, I was hanging with Craig Mod in Japan, and you've had Craig on the show before. >> Yeah.
44:50
Craig Amazing, amazing guy.
44:50
I don't think there's anybody that understands like Japan the way that Craig does, like in terms of the back country and just like the little artisans and all the stuff that he's into.
45:02
>> Craig has walked, I probably fair to say like thousands of miles of different trails and pilgrimage paths in Japan.
45:09
He's it's very likely he has walked more of Japan on foot than any other person.
45:14
>> Yeah, so he was out here visiting.
45:16
He actually stayed in this house for a week when he was out here in LA.
45:19
And I walked in and he's got all his little toiletries like sitting out, you know? Yeah.
45:24
And I'm always like it's like sitting out he puts it all in Japanese order where it's like on a little nice little cloth and it's got like all this [ __ ] like >> dresses like a Japanese person now. >> Yeah, I know. I know. >> [laughter] >> I know.
45:34
So, I mean he's lived there for 25 years, so like that makes sense.
45:35
But I saw his toothbrush and I was like, that is a dope-looking toothbrush. And I got you one. >> Oh wow, look at this.
45:42
So, you can get these on Amazon.
45:45
It's got a really wide head.
45:48
He said it's his favorite Japanese toothbrush.
45:50
It's got It's so So, for people who can't see it, it's like the toothbrush bristles are almost in a square, right?
45:55
I mean, it's very square-like as opposed to being more elongated.
46:00
>> And so, you get three of these for $11. 50 on Amazon.
46:01
And what does it say in Japanese? Premium care. Premium Premium care. For premium care. Oh, Toaster's here. Premium care. Hey, buddy. Look at old man Toes.
46:11
I was just I was just saying hi to him earlier.
46:16
This is Toaster is now 15.
46:16
You know, I was just saying to Daria that the last time we did a podcast sitting on a couch was at your place in San Francisco back when Toaster was a puppy and he chewed through the cable, the XLR cables on the Zoom. >> right.
46:31
>> Yeah, he can't [snorts] hear anything anymore and sadly his back legs are falling out from them now, but I feel like Look at that. He's still a good dude. Look at that.
46:38
>> I feel like he recognizes me cuz I've seen him so many times. Yeah. What a sweetheart. >> He's such a good boy.
46:44
>> So, yes, premium care.
46:44
Yes, I got you one of those and like there's a three-pack for $11. 50 I think it's great.
46:50
It's fantastic toothbrush. >> Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Cool. I dig it. Thank you.
46:58
Speaking of all things Japanese, Mhm.
46:58
so I am hesitant to give this up.
47:03
So, if you want to get if you want to get a >> Cool.
47:08
Low in stock, only one left.
47:10
>> Well, hold let me tell you why.
47:10
So, first of all, check this out. Check out this jacket. Cool. All right. Oh, nice.
47:18
You feel how heavy that is?
47:21
>> Feels like a almost like a I know what this is. I know what this is.
47:25
>> So, this is this is a fireman's jacket in Japan.
47:29
And this is a heavy like dope fireman's jacket.
47:33
It's vintage >> would be hard hard to rip. like the 1970s. >> Oh wow.
47:38
And so, I found a store on Etsy.
47:42
How did you even think to look for this?
47:44
Because I love this style of jacket.
47:46
>> Japanese fireman vintage Japanese fireman jacket.
47:48
I didn't type in fireman jacket.
47:49
I just typed in like Japanese jacket on Etsy.
47:50
And so, this importer, Yeah.
47:53
they import like the coolest [snorts] vintage Japanese >> everything from jackets to like you know how they used to do that patch mill kind of work where they take stuff they would like patch quilts out of out of old material. >> Yeah.
48:09
Yeah, so like everything from like little tiny shrines to wicker baskets, like dude, check out this store.
48:14
Let me just show you this store real quick.
48:15
And the only reason I'm plugging it is in >> Vintage Japanese indigo dyed kendo jacket.
48:21
So, they got all the little dolls, they've got look at these different types of indigo dyed kind of blankets and like >> what's the seller?
48:28
The seller is just an importer from Japan, exporter. No, I will.
48:33
So, he Well, here's the deal. It's so inexpensive.
48:36
Like in the states, if you were to buy this jacket from a a designer called Visvim, which is like a well-known Japanese designer. Yeah.
48:45
This style of jacket >> Yeah.
48:46
would be gosh, I mean, it would probably be $2,500 >> Wow. >> for that jacket.
48:51
>> More expensive than my car.
48:52
>> They What's [laughter] that?
48:55
They they sell these jackets on there for Here's one for $92.
48:57
Like look at this, vintage 1960s jacket, $92. >> Oh, that's cool. Oh, watch out, buddy.
49:05
He's going to need some little help.
49:06
>> I don't think you're ready for the slack board, my friend. >> Yeah. There you go. Okay. I know, I know.
49:11
I mean, that jacket's dope. >> Yeah.
49:13
But I just wanted to give this out there because I I think if you're looking to buy vintage fun things in You can't scroll. >> I know, I know.
49:19
Um I know, I'm being an idiot.
49:21
If you're looking for just various objects around your house that are vintage from Japan, this place is insanely inexpensive for all different types of things. Blue Heritage Japan?
49:33
Yeah, so the Etsy name is Blue Heritage Japan 4.
49:37
Japan 4.9 stars thousands of reviews but look at some of the stuff yeah that's cool these kind of hanging tapestries for stores and stuff those are fun [clears throat] anyway I just thought it was kind of a fun shop that and you know it's legit cuz it when you get the package it's actually in like it's shipped directly from Japan like often
49:55
times you'll find some of these places that make like a Japanese style jacket and then you find a little tag says made in China on the the inside of it or something you know so anyway look at this farmers washi paper basket but like wouldn't that be cool to have in your house sitting around somewhere I mean like that's just awesome
50:12
I guess these guys are based in Canada looks like see just cuz I'm not logged in the Canadian store they're based in Japan I don't know I got I was I was on VPN >> [laughter] >> I think close as porn browsers I was in Japan and they were firewalling me off of some stuff and so I had to use VPN I think that's serious if he does
50:34
it with porn dude >> [laughter] >> thou doth protest too much or should I happen yeah go ahead all right cool so I want to recommend some podcasts for people and these are two that I continue to revisit one is this is a mini series by 99% invisible one of the ogs Roman Mars and he's got some co-hosts it is a series on the power broker so
51:03
the power broker by Robert Caro won the field surprise in 1975 it's a biography of Robert Moses who basically shaped modern New York and this book is considered the quintessential book to read if you want to understand state and local politics especially power wielding in New York and it's is it's a legendary book it's 1200 pages I've never made it through I've
51:31
never even really put a dent in it and then what 99% invisible does they walk you through the whole book and kind of give you their highlights they interview Robert Caro himself who got to meet Robert Moses multiple times and they have guest appearances by people like Conan O'Brien who's a huge Robert Caro and power broker fan it's a
51:52
wonderful series and I think there are 12 parts I had listened to it ages ago but they only had three episodes out and then I just petered out because I didn't want to wait months for the next one to come out now they have the full 12 so that's one and then the other one is a podcast called stem talk and if I want to find
52:10
interesting scientists doing things that I think I might be able to apply to my life or the lives of loved ones and certainly there's a lot of stuff that's out on the edges that is not yet ready for any clinical applications stem talk is just incredible and my latest discovery there is an a really fascinating scientist named dr. Francisco Gonzalez
52:29
scientist named dr. Francisco Gonzalez Lima who's at UT Austin one of the many reasons I'm interested in his research is that he is a a very different view on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and thinks as I do that people underweight and researchers
52:49
underweight just how critical or how you might think of Alzheimer's as a vascular disease and including mitochondrial dysfunction and the more I dig into this the less compelling I find kind of amyloid plaque like amyloid beta plaque amyloid beta
53:09
plaque for for for a whole host of reasons it's pretty widely accepted now that that is a byproduct of something gone wrong and not the cause of it right I do think a lot of doctors and scientists would view it as a byproduct nonetheless a lot of
53:22
the treatment options like donanemab infusions or otherwise are focused on removing plaque but you can remove a lot of plaque it doesn't do [ __ ] assuming it doesn't kill people because there are risks with MRI and stuff and you may not see any change in
53:37
cognition whatsoever what do you think of the Bredesen protocol Dale Bredesen I don't know much about Dale so you can illuminate me let's get to that in a second but what I have seen let's just say in the case of some of my relatives I've got three relatives with Alzheimer's right now
53:54
one is disintegrating very quickly one who's in hospice and another who's sort of in the the early but rapidly advancing stages and if I give I gave one of them actually the exact same ketone that I had before we sat down only 10 grams cuz I didn't want to risk
54:12
them getting dizzy which can be a byproduct and falling but I gave them 10 or 15 grams and within 20 minutes longer sentences faster speech this is someone who is giving like one word two word responses and that lasted for about an hour hour and a half
54:27
so if plaques even if we're talking about tau and so on if those were solely responsible that shouldn't work but I don't want to be dosing my family with ketones constantly for a lot of reasons it's like okay what else can we do and this dr. Gonzalez Lima has looked at
54:42
and this dr. Gonzalez Lima has looked at low dose methylene blue and also photobiomodulation using lasers or LEDs like right on most cases the right prefrontal cortex by the way do you know that there's selling methylene blue on freaking Amazon now that's scary I know they didn't used to
55:04
because they were scared to do it now there are supplement companies that are selling straight up methylene blue on Amazon right yeah although the safety profile like it's been used for a very long time it's got like 120 years of research but if you overshoot the therapeutic window like you can [ __ ]
55:18
yourself up yes so in this case it's low dose ideally plus photobiomodulation and you're hitting two aspects of the electron transport chain that should be synergistic for mitochondrial function and also glucose metabolism so that's really got my attention right now dude look at this on Amazon
55:40
look at this guy drinking a big pitcher of it guys drinking a like a shaker bottle full of methylene blue with the goldfish you know methylene blue is what they used for fish tanks right to to color the water blue is it yeah they were using it in fish tanks well if it's good
55:54
enough for the fish tanks I guess be careful here it is general disease prevention for fish oh you know if it works for fish let's pet stores figure it out exactly be very careful folks yes if you overdo this is true for a lot of things you basically have a response curve where a hormetic dose
56:15
like a very small amount is good for you kind of like iocane powder in Princess Bride or it helps with immune functions on right if you take too much has the opposite effect so you you could I believe I don't I don't think I'm getting this wrong handicap your mitochondrial function by
56:34
taking too much dude look at this 15 milligrams of methylene blue with 75 milligrams of vitamin C neuropro I'm not recommending this it's just what's on Amazon it's all over Amazon God that's terrifying what would it be considered a microdose in your opinion I'd have to go back and look at his
56:49
actual research people should listen to the stem talk episode with Francisco Gonzalez Lima like an EpiPen also take this to go with methylene blue by the way the comments I I it's so funny you're you're on this cuz I literally two days ago I was in here reading the comments and they're like I'm peeing
57:07
blue now like you pee blue you do pee blue and that's actually a way individually that you can begin to identify your customized dose you shouldn't be peeing blue no at what point you go from blue to clear you can figure out basically what they're probably using not exactly the correct terms but figure out
57:28
what the half-life is in your body so that you're dosing at the right interval they call this bro science by the way but two guys that don't have well I mean I I am pretty closely [laughter] echoing yes it is bro science but but it's it's bro science with citations meaning like
57:43
don't trust exactly what I'm saying but go listen to the episode and read his research methylene blue gummies [ __ ] they're selling it gummies now of methylene blue terrifying anyway just because it's a supplement doesn't make it safe folks amen hemlock all natural turns out you can't have too much of it
58:06
killed Socrates oh yeah that's right it's just like arsenic all natural don't go take a shaker bottle full of arsenic so yeah be careful out there kids but that definitely has my attention right now because I I think about say parental risk you know my my mom's cognition is slipping
58:27
but she's apoe33 her apoe allele profile is 33 I'm 34 my brother's 34 which means we got the four from my dad he's sharp as a tack he is incredibly sharp and he's older than my mom so it's like all right they both have metabolic dysfunction so that's kind of equalized right like their fasting glucose and all
58:43
that's terrible so it's like what's going on well you do inherit mitochondria from your mom and mitochondria are a very big deal so I'm looking at different levers that I might experiment with in my mom that could also potentially be applied preventatively and me and my brother yeah so so the
59:04
Dale Bredesen protocol is is pretty awesome he wrote a book about six or seven years ago maybe it's closer to 10 years exactly that's all that all it is which you tried for the first time today well it wasn't exactly that but yeah so the one thing I like about it's called
59:23
the end of Alzheimer's is the name of his book is that he's understated yeah exactly it's not it won't sell any copies with that title but what he came up with is he said, "Okay, listen, the the what we're seeing in the brain is the byproduct of something going haywire. It's either blood brain barrier
59:37
It's either blood brain barrier breaking down allowing bad [ __ ] in. It could be bacteria.
59:41
It could be like a whole slew of different things."
59:44
It it could be, like you said, an issue with blood flow.
59:49
And it could be, what did you call it, vascular type issue.
59:51
And he thinks it's like three or four He thinks it's either vascular, which sauna and other things like that help with.
1:00:00
Cocoavia, like other ways to make sure that you have vascular health.
1:00:04
Obviously, the mitochondria thing is another one that he's huge on.
1:00:09
And then he also thinks it's that it could be toxin related as well.
1:00:10
So, like and and talking about how to get those toxins out of your body.
1:00:14
But, his protocol is very common sense. It's like >> What is it?
1:00:19
It is essentially a handful of supplements, which are all the ones that you've basically talked about. >> Mhm.
1:00:24
Along with it's like a lightweight keto.
1:00:27
So, just making sure you go into lightweight ketosis. Like 5 days a week.
1:00:33
And then, you know, obviously no sugar, no refined carbohydrates, like eliminating all that [ __ ] Turns out exercise, like intense exercise is very important.
1:00:43
And he's shown now, over the course of a decade, that he's taken people Actually, you know what, Kelly Broyles, who we were on the the retreat with.
1:00:51
She's an awesome meditation.
1:00:55
She teaches something this form of relaxing yoga. But, Yoga Nidra.
1:00:59
Yeah, as an aside, her father, I think she'd be okay with me sharing this, we'll double check, but her father had mild cognitive impairment 10 years ago.
1:01:07
And they're of course really worried.
1:01:09
They put them on the Dale Bredesen protocol, and he's scoring better now than he was when he first took the test. 10 years later. >> Yeah.
1:01:17
And she's like, "Yeah, he still has issues like here and there."
1:01:19
But, he's like, you know, I guess he's in his 80s now or something.
1:01:22
And it's like, but that That's what you want, right?
1:01:26
Like, even if we can say, "Okay, mild cognitive impairment, it's progressing."
1:01:31
Like, my mom is in this situation.
1:01:31
She can't tell you what she had for breakfast, but thankfully, she doesn't have Alzheimer's.
1:01:36
She has some form of dementia.
1:01:37
She remembers me, kids' names, stuff like that, the important things.
1:01:42
She would have a hard time telling you what name my dog is.
1:01:43
Like, there's little things that slide through the cracks.
1:01:47
She's And sadly, really overweight, you know, didn't really want to do that.
1:01:50
But, the point is if we can see this stuff early enough, where they you still have enough of your wits about you to take action.
1:01:57
Cuz compliance is huge, as you know.
1:02:00
Like, how hard is it to get your family members to go do high-intensity like exercise?
1:02:06
>> Yeah, can I pause for a second? >> Yeah, yeah.
1:02:07
So, that's part of the reason why the the methylene blue and the photobiomodulation is so interesting.
1:02:11
Because, for instance, there's a device that is actually worth investigating on some levels.
1:02:15
It's called the Cognito device. It's a headset.
1:02:18
It was developed by scientists at MIT.
1:02:19
And it's 40 hertz, I believe, both visual and auditory stimulation.
1:02:24
In rhesus monkeys, pretty recently, in the last year, they showed a lot of plaque clearance enhanced by this, right?
1:02:32
But, that's still if I'm understanding correctly, people fact check this, but that's still predicated on the theory of disease for Alzheimer's that by removing plaque, you get clinical outcomes, right?
1:02:46
The photobiomodulation Well, let me before I get to that.
1:02:50
As I understand it, this is an hour a day of wearing this device on your head.
1:02:56
My mom's not going to do that. There's no [ __ ] way. Right? Nor any of my relatives.
1:03:00
However, the photobiomodulation is like 8 to 10 minutes, right? Laser or LED.
1:03:07
LEDs a little harder to make work.
1:03:10
>> have to go in to do that?
1:03:10
Or do you can you get a device that does it at home?
1:03:14
>> And I'm not recommending people do that.
1:03:16
You can really damage your eyes with lasers and so on.
1:03:17
But, right now it's not like you can go to a clinic and be like, "Hey, I'd like to have this treatment." It just doesn't exist.
1:03:23
So, let me be the guinea pig before anybody does anything.
1:03:28
But, you get this device, and it's I'm sure it's going to be very expensive, right?
1:03:31
Some of these lasers like they're like $30,000.
1:03:35
But, 8 minutes, 8 to 10 minutes, and you you can see even after a single session, you can see multiple weeks of effects. Mhm. Crazy.
1:03:44
And so, it it just sits right on top of into the eye or on top of the Well, there are devices that go through the eyes, but this one, what makes it so mystifying in a way for me, is that it's it's actually pointed the forehead. As an infrared laser. It's so fascinating. Wow.
1:03:59
And there's peer-reviewed published studies on this, which you can find.
1:04:04
Anybody who looks up Gonzales-Lima will will find it. So, it's exciting. It's super exciting.
1:04:08
Cuz there's certain things like I know that my mitochondria are funky. Right?
1:04:13
And I I know that through different types of endurance testing, different types of obviously all sorts of stuff done through doctors and tests and blah blah blah blah blah.
1:04:26
There's something funky with the mitochondria.
1:04:28
And I'm like, "Okay, well, let's try to get ahead of that."
1:04:29
And actually, related to that, to invoke, I said she would come back, Rhonda Patrick also, you know, I was texting with her at one point because I was listening to Stem Talk, the podcast I mentioned, and I came across scientists discussing something called urolithin A.
1:04:43
Of course, it might appear. Yeah, might appear.
1:04:45
And 2 years ago, maybe it was 2 years ago, like she was pretty bearish on it, but there's a lot of new research, or I shouldn't say a lot, there's new research that's come out.
1:04:55
And also, I met with a couple of biotech people in Boston who are very well respected.
1:05:00
I'm not going to dox them cuz I don't want to, but they basically did this like comprehensive analysis and landed on three or four things, and one of them was urolithin A. Right. I take 300 mg a day.
1:05:11
300 How do you How did you choose 300 mg?
1:05:13
Because that's what all the studies are are done on Sorry, 5 So, 500 to 1,000. I take 500 mg a day. Yeah.
1:05:22
>> [laughter] >> I've only been doing it Do you think I can do it for 3 months and see some results?
1:05:27
So, bear with me, people. I the urolithin A.
1:05:29
What's What's a little strange is that that when you if you buy the bag, you can get this on Amazon.
1:05:34
I'm not recommending you do that. Jury's still out.
1:05:37
But, I'm like, "Hey, I want to hit mitochondria from as many reasonably plausible mechanisms or angles as possible." You can get MitoPure. It's expensive AF.
1:05:48
>> Yeah, so I was going to I was going >> to tell people that the one that people talk about the most in this world that that has done a lot of clinical studies around it, urolithin A is this company called Timeline.
1:05:59
It does It does a, you know, they trademark the name of it, which is MitoPure.
1:06:02
The problem is it's freaking expensive. >> very expensive.
1:06:07
>> And I don't know, is there another company that's out there that has high quality Cuz I want I'm not going to put [ __ ] into my body, right?
1:06:17
So, the difference between But, I would like to know it is there any company that has >> it's like 60 count is $125, right? Right.
1:06:25
And you're taking two a day. >> It's expensive, yeah. >> 30 days.
1:06:28
>> And most of the studies actually have people taking 1,000 a day.
1:06:30
So, if you're taking 1,000 a day, Right.
1:06:34
the prices are, you know, the prices are going to add up.
1:06:38
But again, I would trust Pure Encapsulations if they offered some of it.
1:06:43
I haven't seen anybody You know, like there's no other brands that I've seen that you know, the household names, like the Thornes, the Pures, the ones that I mean, this is a single compound company.
1:06:52
Like, they have a lot vested in IP protection and so on.
1:06:56
But, it can be synthesized.
1:06:56
Like, they don't own that they urolithin A.
1:06:59
Obviously, that's that's something that anyone can produce.
1:07:02
>> Well, urolithin A is also what's called a postbiotic.
1:07:06
If you were eating tons of pomegranates and walnuts and so on, there's certain things that in your gut, by microbes, would be converted into, in part, urolithin A.
1:07:15
The problem is that there's a high degree of variability.
1:07:17
So, if Kevin eats two handfuls of walnuts and I eat two handfuls of walnuts, we're not going to get the same amount of urolithin A out.
1:07:26
Fortunately, urolithin A is very orally bioavailable, which is why the supplementation Right. potentially makes sense.
1:07:33
What's interesting is that actually, Pure Encapsulations does make one.
1:07:36
And and when you go and look at the label, they actually buy MitoPure for theirs. Oh, there you go.
1:07:40
So, they use MitoPure in theirs.
1:07:42
>> in this case is almost like a It's like an industrial grade supplier, in so much as Creapure, like if you're buying creatine, Right.
1:07:51
like I use Momentous creatine, and they're sponsors of the podcast, but I like their stuff, and everything is like NSF certified and third-party analyzed.
1:07:58
Creapure is this supplier, right?
1:08:03
Just like maybe MitoPure is. >> Right. Right.
1:08:04
That's providing something that is very pure and properly assayed and so on and so forth.
1:08:09
Okay, so Pure Encapsulations is not cheap, either. That was 80 bucks.
1:08:12
80 bucks, but so that'll get you Hold on, let's just do the math here.
1:08:16
So, $80 is 60 pills, and again, it is 250 migs per two pills.
1:08:23
So, that's half the dose. Per two pills.
1:08:26
So, if you wanted 1,000 a day, that's eight per day. the Oh, 8 8 1,000 a day. Yeah. Yeah, it's eight a day.
1:08:33
60 capsules >> other [ __ ] in there, too.
1:08:35
I don't want all this other stuff.
1:08:36
The trans resveratrol and whatever.
1:08:41
So, yeah, it's expensive.
1:08:41
That's That 80 bucks is going to last you like 12 days, something like that.
1:08:46
In any case, guys, jury's out. Sure. Jury's out.
1:08:49
>> interesting enough that I added it into the rotation, and I I routinely take things out of the rotation, also.
1:08:54
This one This one I've been taking for probably 68 weeks.
1:09:01
What's the number one thing that you've kept in rotation for the longest time? I have two.
1:09:05
Vitamin D, obviously, cuz my levels are chronically low without it, and I think at this point it's a no-brainer to get your levels where they should be.
1:09:12
And then I would say Cocoavia is another one that I have had in for a long time.
1:09:19
Just cuz it looks really interesting in terms of vascular health.
1:09:22
And then, I think that's Well, obviously, a quality omega-3.
1:09:28
Outside of that, I don't know what else I've had.
1:09:30
What's been in your rotation forever?
1:09:33
I mean a lot of them are dictated by >> [gasps] >> genetic analysis and blood biomarkers and so on, right?
1:09:39
So outside of prescription stuff because I am taking things to not die of cardiovascular disease cuz everybody in my family gets smoked by some kind of cardiovascular disease and I'm like, "Yeah, I'm no spring chicken." >> Repatha, too? Yeah, taking Repatha. Where do you inject it? In the thigh. I hate it. It's so painful. >> I find it so painful.
1:10:00
>> dude, I can tell you a secret. >> What's the secret?
1:10:02
>> How long do you let the alcohol dry for?
1:10:05
I don't think it's the alcohol.
1:10:07
>> Dude, I'm telling you.
1:10:07
>> I've done thousands of injections on myself.
1:10:10
>> You got to let it cuz if you just like swipe, swipe, swipe and then go pop, it hurts so cuz it's pushing the alcohol down into the cut.
1:10:18
>> I'm not waiting long enough cuz I'm impatient.
1:10:19
Oh, oh, are you letting it come to room temperature, too?
1:10:23
>> Yeah, I did let it come to room temperature.
1:10:24
You know, you know it takes five times as long to inject it if you don't.
1:10:28
>> Yeah, so there's the prescription stuff.
1:10:29
It's not going to apply to too broad a number of people and I don't want anyone aping it and getting themselves into trouble.
1:10:35
But there's they're like a few prescription meds for for lipid profile.
1:10:40
It's specifically in my case, cholesterol absorption, hyper absorption.
1:10:44
But I would say supplement-wise, omega-3, I honestly try to get that from fish when I can.
1:10:47
So I I eat a lot of canned sardines and mackerel and stuff.
1:10:52
Which ties into the keto and fast-mimicking diet stuff.
1:10:56
Vitamin D, yes, although I'm pretty skeptical of like the entire planet having vitamin D deficiency, frankly. I do take it, though.
1:11:02
Then there's some B vitamin complex stuff.
1:11:04
I'm a shitty methylator, so that's a good idea.
1:11:09
And creatine, although I end up looking kind of like a puffy fat baby if I eat too much of that stuff.
1:11:16
>> What are you doing, 5 g?
1:11:16
Uh depends on the day, right?
1:11:18
So like I took 5 g today.
1:11:21
If I'm training, I'm going to use at least 10 if I'm doing weight training.
1:11:24
And then if I'm I have a crazy travel schedule ahead of me where I'm going to be in like London for 1 day and Sweden for 1 day, I'll be taking probably 20 to 30 g a day because my sleep's going to be so screwed. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:11:35
>> Just to compensate for the sleep deprivation.
1:11:38
>> Holy [ __ ] Good luck.
1:11:38
Good luck making it to the toilet. Yeah.
1:11:43
>> Don't Don't inject your stomach up, right?
1:11:46
>> Actually, I'm fine with creatine.
1:11:46
If I get >> me at one point it was messing you up, though.
1:11:50
>> Well, there was the story of me What did I have?
1:11:55
I had I was in San Francisco.
1:11:58
This is probably TMI, but whatever.
1:11:59
We're all friends here, right?
1:11:59
So I was I was I was in San Francisco.
1:12:02
I had my Volkswagen Golf that got broken into like three times for change. I was so annoyed.
1:12:07
San Francisco for the win.
1:12:07
And in any case, I had to run to an international flight and I was stressed out cuz I was running behind.
1:12:15
And I was like, "Well, just before I go, I'm going to have double espresso, 10 g of creatine, and then I had MCT oil.
1:12:24
>> [laughter] >> And I'm driving on my way to the airport like in a massive rush.
1:12:28
I don't have time for anything. Yeah.
1:12:31
>> And I leaned to do a little squeaker and just No. >> full disaster pants. >> Uber? No, in my own car.
1:12:37
I park in long-term parking.
1:12:42
You grab a new pair out of your thing, just wipe and go? I God, all right.
1:12:46
I can't believe I'm talking about this to millions of people, but basically took the underwear and like some rags that I had.
1:12:53
Like Did what I had to do for like emergency field triage. Oh my god. Tossed it under my car. Put on my pants.
1:13:02
>> Threw it in the trash. >> my Put on my pants.
1:13:03
Come in No, I literally was like about to miss my flight.
1:13:06
Put my pants on commando style and then ran on and got on the flight. >> Wow.
1:13:11
>> And I was just like, "I'm sorry, everybody.
1:13:12
I know this can't Oh, god.
1:13:17
>> wonderful cologne for anyone near me. >> Oh, god.
1:13:20
>> need to edit some of that.
1:13:20
So yeah, don't do this three at once.
1:13:23
If you're getting Creapure creatine, I don't find it to mess up my stomach at all. Totally fine. Yeah.
1:13:28
>> If you combine it with caffeine and MCT oil, MCT oil is the devil, dude. >> All bets are off.
1:13:35
>> That stuff just goes straight through you.
1:13:36
I don't know a single person that could do high dose MCT and has been like, "Oh, my stomach's fine."
1:13:41
Like >> Yeah, no, you're going to high risk you should just you should just pre-order the subscription of Depends. >> Yeah, exactly.
1:13:48
Let me mention one other thing.
1:13:48
So related to all the mental health stuff, it sounds like we're doing like tons of stuff, millions of things.
1:13:53
It's actually not that complicated for me, right?
1:13:57
There are there are a few supplements that I'm taking consistently, the creatine, the urolithin A, etc.
1:14:02
There are a few things I'm considering like methylene blue.
1:14:06
If photobiomodulation, right, with the lasers or LEDs is something that you can experiment with once a week or once every few weeks and track changes over time, let's do that and before and after a cognitive testing.
1:14:17
Intermittent ketosis, Yeah.
1:14:20
>> right, which I find easiest to do through intermittent fasting, frankly.
1:14:24
Which I'll be doing when I travel, also.
1:14:27
I find it's helpful with jet lag.
1:14:27
And then there's the exercise, right?
1:14:29
And so what kind of exercise? I did a podcast with Dr. Tommy Wood recently. Fascinating guy.
1:14:35
People should listen to that episode.
1:14:37
But 4 by 4 Norwegian high-intensity training, which is like you're basically doing I guess it would be considered zone four.
1:14:44
You're really maxing out your heart rate and you're doing 4 minutes on, 3 minutes off, 4 minutes on, 3 minutes off, 4 minutes on.
1:14:52
You're repeating that four times.
1:14:54
And it is very much puke-inducing.
1:14:56
It's a lot of lactic acid.
1:14:59
The problem has always been or one of the problems has always been that if I'm traveling, stationary bikes in hotels are just terrible.
1:15:05
They will destroy my knees.
1:15:07
They're just they're just too inconsistent in terms of settings and stuff.
1:15:11
So I was texting with Tommy.
1:15:12
I don't think he'd mind me saying.
1:15:15
I'll have to double-check with him.
1:15:15
But I asked him, I said, "If in the conversation we had, I was like, "Well, what are the drivers here? Is it VO2 max?
1:15:22
Cuz people talk about VO2 max, VO2 max, VO2 max.
1:15:26
And he said, "Well, lactate actually seems to be a big driver." Like lactic acid, right? >> Driver of what?
1:15:32
Driver of the cognitive changes, like the neuroanatomical and vascular changes.
1:15:37
And it's like, "Okay, well, hold on a second."
1:15:38
I was like, "If that's the case, there are certain ways of weight training.
1:15:43
Like if you do 20 rep squats in slow cadence or any number of different things, like you are going to be brimming with lactic acid.
1:15:53
Could that possibly achieve the same effect?
1:15:55
>> You don't think it's Klotho?
1:15:55
Klotho's another part of it.
1:15:57
>> Cuz Klotho has been shown like HIT is what creates Klotho in the humans.
1:16:00
Well, Klotho Klotho's another piece.
1:16:02
I don't think it's the only piece.
1:16:03
I think that I mean, look, I can't wait for us to have proper injectable Klotho or that lever to pull.
1:16:11
But in the meantime, I guess the right now, today, right?
1:16:18
What I'm saying is like high-intensity interval training when you're traveling is not always easiest thing to do. >> Right, right, right.
1:16:23
But like for instance, when I go back to my hotel tonight, >> Yeah.
1:16:26
can I do like like a couple of sets of very high repetition leg presses and just basically have lactic acid pouring out my eyeballs? Yeah, I can do it.
1:16:35
>> And I can do it in like 5 minutes, right?
1:16:37
>> Yeah, it's very And there are many open questions about it, but that's the approach I'm taking.
1:16:42
And what's really cool about the the Norwegian 4 by 4 that Tommy describes, and I think I'm remembering this correctly, is that if you do it I think it's three times a week for 6 months, you can observe the effects, the beneficial effects, for like 5 years afterwards. >> Wow.
1:17:00
Holy [ __ ] >> [ __ ] crazy? >> That's amazing.
1:17:04
>> of the effects are just nuts.
1:17:04
Okay, this is what I got to I'll start by like 1 by 1 or something to get going.
1:17:08
4 by 4 4 by 4 if you're doing it properly.
1:17:11
I use a Morpheus chest strap. >> Yeah.
1:17:15
But you're assuming a certain level of baseline cardiovascular fitness to do 4 by 4.
1:17:20
Not not really because I mean, look, you don't want to blow you don't want to like blow your self apart, but it's heart rate-based, right?
1:17:27
So if you get winded and your heart gets going walking up a flight of stairs, like you're not going to need very much to get into the proper zone.
1:17:35
I will say for me, and this comes back to the mitochondrial discussion, and I've had doctors who are like, "That's nonsense.
1:17:41
It's all mediated by the lungs."
1:17:42
Or it's actually not mediated by the lungs.
1:17:44
It's all like heart stroke volume.
1:17:45
I'm like, "My legs crap out first." >> Yeah.
1:17:48
Before my heart rate gets to where it needs to be, my legs are the weak link. The fatigue in my legs.
1:17:53
I've got boots for you tonight.
1:17:55
Can I put the boots on while you have dinner?
1:17:58
Are these the >> The ones that go all the way up the leg? >> NormaTec? Yeah, NormaTec.
1:18:01
Have you ever tried them? I have. I love those things. >> Oh, they're so good.
1:18:04
For people who don't know, real quick, quick side, you just like squeeze and they move the blood around in your legs. Great for recovery.
1:18:10
It's like if you want to feel like a Kobe cow, Yeah, exactly.
1:18:12
next round of NormaTec boots, have have a cold beer while you're doing that.
1:18:19
>> Yeah, [laughter] we can do both those things tonight.
1:18:22
>> [snorts] >> I mean, that's it for my side.
1:18:22
I've got some doom and gloom about AI [ __ ] but I don't want to talk about that.
1:18:27
>> Yeah, no, let's save the doom and gloom for next time.
1:18:28
I think you're getting contagion from one of our other friends.
1:18:32
I left out something that's kind of important.
1:18:35
>> [laughter] >> We have a buddy that just like we text with and we love you if you're listening, but he's like, "THE WORLD IS ENDING."
1:18:42
>> It's a lot of >> [laughter] >> It's I can only I lean dystopian anyway.
1:18:46
It's like I don't need anyone feeding that hypervigilant like I need to become John Connor. Like I don't >> Yeah.
1:18:52
Plus it's like, "Can I do anything?
1:18:54
What What am I going to do?
1:18:55
What's Tony going Yeah, exactly.
1:18:55
I mean, the genie's out of the bottle, folks.
1:18:57
So we'll save the doom and gloom for next time, but in terms of an actionable thing, like something I just did before coming here, let's say you want to experiment with this lactate as lever for cognitive longevity, right? Like that's interesting. Okay.
1:19:16
>> [snorts] >> And let's just say furthermore to your point, right?
1:19:18
Everybody's getting older and believe me, maybe you're like 20-year-old dude and feeling immortal.
1:19:27
Those like [ __ ] up joints and broken bones will add up, and they will come back to haunt you like the ghost of Christmas past.
1:19:32
So, if you're trying to minimize injury risk, right, in lifting, there are there are a couple of different ways you can do it.
1:19:39
One that I've been a proponent of for a long time is slow down, right?
1:19:43
5 seconds up, 5 seconds down, 10 seconds up, 10 seconds down.
1:19:47
Time under tension is is huge, right? >> Yeah.
1:19:49
So, it's like If you're not a competitive powerlifter, consider moving slowly.
1:19:52
What that requires you to do is lower the weight.
1:19:56
You're also not going to be using momentum. Yeah.
1:19:58
The The second thing you Testosterone.
1:20:01
>> [laughter] >> Well, not for lactates, but the second Yeah, I mean, sure, when in doubt, yeah, testosterone. When in doubt. When in doubt.
1:20:07
>> 200 mg [clears throat] once a week.
1:20:08
Yeah, that's a joke, people.
1:20:11
Well, first of all, if you have it, you Well, anyway, don't do that. So, it's Jeez.
1:20:16
The second thing you can do, which I've been experimenting with, which Tommy Wood uses all the time, especially when I'm traveling, is blood flow restriction cuffs. Yes.
1:20:23
And so >> to have some of those before my fire happened.
1:20:27
Yeah, so I I would blood flow.
1:20:29
I got the automatic ones that would automatically keep the pressure, too.
1:20:32
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you're not going to be You don't want to have to use like a hand pump.
1:20:34
I've got the I'm using the Kaatsu Yeah, my my were digital Kaatsu, yeah. A T S U C4.
1:20:38
I'm using the C4 cuz I'm like, I don't want another app >> get the app? Oh, I got the app. I don't want an app.
1:20:44
No, like, look, if people want apps, they can.
1:20:46
I'm kind of along the Bill Burr lines of like, I need to install a [ __ ] app to use my toaster now? Like, please, shoot me. My hummingbird feeder.
1:20:52
Oh, yeah, we'll talk about that.
1:20:54
Let me finish the blood flow restriction thing.
1:20:57
We're all over the place. All right.
1:20:57
So, the blood flow restriction, all it is the cuff, it inflates, and it's it causes a partial occlusion, right?
1:21:09
It's cutting off circulation to your arms or your legs.
1:21:12
And there's a lot of really good science on this, so you you can check it out.
1:21:16
But, what you can do when traveling, and I'm trying this right now, Tommy Wood, by the way, is an a phenomenal athlete, endurance and strongman, in addition to being an incredible researcher.
1:21:23
I don't know where they breed these people, like Dominic D'Agostino, same thing.
1:21:26
Like, 500-lb deadlift for 10 reps after a 7-day fast.
1:21:30
Like, who are these people?
1:21:32
Anyway, Tommy's Tommy's a beast.
1:21:35
When he's traveling, and he doesn't lose muscle when he's doing this, he'll use blood flow restriction, and he'll bring bands.
1:21:41
He'll just have a bunch of these things.
1:21:42
And I got to tell you, like, I I like to think of myself as reasonably strong.
1:21:47
I'm not a world-class powerlifter, but I think like generally pretty strong, yeah.
1:21:53
I put on those cuffs today, and I was like, I think I'll just bump it from light up to medium. Like, 20 lbs?
1:22:00
Well, it's it has a different metric.
1:22:00
It has a different The band band strength.
1:22:05
Yeah, in terms of I There's it's Extra large or extra strong or whatever. >> remember.
1:22:08
Yeah, I mean, it's if you use the Kaatsu bands.
1:22:10
There are many other brands.
1:22:11
Tommy uses a different brand.
1:22:13
You can find it in the podcast.
1:22:13
I'll put it in the show notes.
1:22:15
But, suffice to say, it's like you're using very, very light weights.
1:22:20
And it's like I can probably do hammer curls with like 40-lb dumbbells, let's just say. Wait, with those on? No.
1:22:25
No, that's what I was going to say.
1:22:28
That guy's way too much weight.
1:22:30
>> normally, right, with reasonable cadence, not swinging around, I can probably do hammer curls like with 40 lbs without too much trouble.
1:22:41
Uh with the [clears throat] blood flow restriction bands on, Like Like literally 20 lbs is all you need. >> Oh, 10 lbs. Yeah.
1:22:46
And uh I was doing like 30 reps, and then take 15-second rest, then 20 reps, 15-second rest, like 10 to 15 reps.
1:22:57
So, you have the C4s, these these bad boys?
1:22:58
>> I've got the C4s, yeah.
1:22:58
And And look, Kaatsu's expensive. These are what? $1,259. Like, that is expensive.
1:23:04
There are other options that are not that expensive.
1:23:08
But then, the one that really was humbling is I was I was like, okay, I'll just do push-ups for like triceps, just to because I only brought the armbands.
1:23:16
I didn't bring the leg bands and everything this time around.
1:23:19
I can just do like walking lunges, trust me.
1:23:22
You can smoke yourself doing those.
1:23:24
But, I was doing push-ups, and I was like, well, let me start moderate.
1:23:27
I'll just start on like a bench that's about 18 in off the ground. I'll do some push-ups.
1:23:31
And I did like 25, and I'm like, wow, that's a lot harder than I would expect, right?
1:23:36
Cuz like on the ground, I could probably do I don't know, 40 like good form, 50 push-ups.
1:23:43
And I did I did 25, and I'm like, wow, that's uncomfortable.
1:23:45
And then I went to do the next set, got like five, and I was like, oh, I can't do it.
1:23:49
And so I I I then I I increased my basically elevated myself to make it easier, right?
1:23:56
And I'm doing it on like the the seat of a hamstring curl machine, did like 12, couldn't do anymore.
1:24:02
And then I got I got to the point where I was literally doing push-ups, it's so humbling, on like the railing of the stairs.
1:24:08
I was like, I'm basically standing up straight, and I did 30 reps, and I was like, And this Okay, really >> Real quick. keeps your ego in check.
1:24:20
>> 20-second version, why is it working?
1:24:22
Why is restricting blood flow working?
1:24:24
Why is it building more muscle?
1:24:24
Well, it's it's doing a few different things.
1:24:27
It's also increasing like capillary density and vasculature.
1:24:31
So, it's having a whole host of effects.
1:24:33
I, to be honest, but >> Doesn't it increase HGH as well, localized? It might.
1:24:36
It makes you sweat your balls off, too.
1:24:39
And then I had another question.
1:24:42
>> to get too technical, but Could it work? Could that work?
1:24:46
>> [laughter] >> Kevin's asking me if you could use blood flow on your schwantz.
1:24:49
I didn't want to bring it up unless unless it was schwantz. So, listen.
1:24:51
I think it sounds like a terrible idea.
1:24:55
>> No, listen, they have rings that you can put around your schwantz.
1:24:59
And And But, listen to me out.
1:25:02
>> Yeah, I I know what you're going to say.
1:25:03
>> Googled that there is smooth muscle tissue in there. Yeah.
1:25:05
If you're telling me that you're putting bands on your arms, doing lifts, How are you going to do lifts with your schwantz?
1:25:14
You get have to have an a schwantz erection.
1:25:19
And then you do like some shallow and monk. Like that.
1:25:20
But, if you have the band, I'm just saying this is theory.
1:25:24
Oh, I guess you could like do manual resistance.
1:25:25
You could push it down, and then bring it back [laughter] up.
1:25:30
5 seconds down, 5 seconds up.
1:25:31
>> what's crazy is like we obviously everyone knows this is a joke, but it might not be. You know what I mean?
1:25:37
[laughter] Like, this could be real.
1:25:40
Do not Yeah, do not wrap duct tape around >> rings that they sell at stores. >> Yeah, yeah, okay.
1:25:46
I think you can you can try that, and then report back in the next Have you ever used one of the rings? I don't think so. You have to. No, I mean, I would. Why not? Yeah, I mean, why not?
1:25:57
As long as you're not going to like completely It's not going to just like fall off.
1:26:00
It apparently it's so it locks the blood in.
1:26:03
>> Well, obviously, yeah.
1:26:05
Well, I'm just saying for people who don't know, pre-viagra era. >> [ __ ] rings.
1:26:08
We're speaking in [ __ ] [laughter] riddles here.
1:26:10
It's like that's what they're called. >> in zinc talk. Yeah, that's right.
1:26:15
What is the sound of one Yeah, okay.
1:26:17
It's really [ __ ] wet in the gutter. Yeah, quickly.
1:26:18
We'll see you at the end of the episode, so Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds.
1:26:22
Okay, so before we started the show, Tim was like, you got to mention the hummingbirds, and I'm like, okay.
1:26:29
>> and I was like, you got to talk about your hummingbird thing.
1:26:30
You sent me a bunch of these videos. Dude, they're so cool.
1:26:32
Okay, so essentially, for Christmas, I got my my kids a hummingbird feeder with a digital camera built in.
1:26:40
And the cool thing about it is it charges from the sunlight, and then also, so the camera just always stays on.
1:26:47
And then also, it it detects what, in this case, is the hummingbird, but they have them for normal birds as well.
1:26:54
But, it'll tell you the variety of hummingbird that landed.
1:26:55
And then use the AI, and then you can name them.
1:26:58
And so, we have one Tony's Tony's back. Yeah, exactly.
1:27:02
We have one named Sunset.
1:27:03
Our girl's named him Sunset cuz he has this beautiful red neck.
1:27:05
And I'll get a text notification Sunset is drinking at your hummingbird feeder. That's the one.
1:27:11
It's a Bird Buddy Smart Solar Pro Hummingbird Feeder.
1:27:14
And it's fun, people, cuz you these things are so beautiful. The videos are amazing.
1:27:21
>> The videos are amazing, and then they play with each other, and you watch them hovering, and you get full audio, so you you see their little tiny tongues like sticking out. It's It's just amazing. It's really cool. >> were were quite cool.
1:27:30
Then, I got the one that is for just standard birds, which has bird feed that comes down. >> Yeah.
1:27:37
And [ __ ] squirrels are taking it over.
1:27:41
>> Oh, they're just >> They are ruthless. They They jump.
1:27:42
Like, there's nothing you could do to keep them out of it.
1:27:46
Like, they they will spring onto it, and then you see they're like Sadly, they look out cuz they don't want to get attacked. Yeah.
1:27:51
And so, you just All I have is squirrel ass on my freaking camera. I'm like, god damn it.
1:27:58
Like, how do I get rid of the squirrels?
1:28:00
So >> Have you heard of Mark Rober?
1:28:01
Does this name mean anything to you?
1:28:04
>> He created like the ultimate squirrel ninja warrior course in his backyard, put it on YouTube.
1:28:08
Let me Let me Yeah, there we go.
1:28:10
All right, Mark Rober squirrels.
1:28:14
I think he had the same problem.
1:28:14
Here we go, backyard squirrel maze 1. 0 ninja warrior course.
1:28:21
>> [laughter] >> He's trying to keep them out.
1:28:21
We will have to check this out. Oh, no ads, no free ads. >> to pay for my pro.
1:28:27
Yeah, you're not paying $5 >> logged I'm not logged in to the pro.
1:28:31
>> $7,000 Japanese vintage jackets, but you won't pay $5 to get rid of these goddamn ads. Click skip. So, here, all those ads. Woah.
1:28:38
Yeah, look at this setup. This is like Mr. Beast for squirrels. It's Oh, yeah, look. These guys just get God. It's totally Mr. Beast for squirrels.
1:28:50
Like, he's having them do all these obstacle courses.
1:28:51
They stick their heads through, and then they got a photo taken.
1:28:55
>> [laughter] >> All right, we'll link to that.
1:28:58
People, you have to watch this video.
1:28:59
Backyard squirrel maze 1.
1:29:01
0 by Mark Rober, R O B E R. 144 million views.
1:29:06
>> is the kind of [ __ ] where I'm like, I should [laughter] have come up with this idea. Like, this is too good. All right. Solid.
1:29:14
Hummingbirds and [ __ ] rings.
1:29:14
Yeah, we covered it all this time, people.
1:29:16
Watch you do this is the random show.
1:29:17
Brother, good to see you.
1:29:19
Yeah, good to see you, too, man.
1:29:20
Glad you're glad you're feeling better and To be continued. To be continued. All right, folks.
1:29:23
We'll put everything in the show notes, tim. blog/podcast. Uh random show.
1:29:30
It's going to be one of those.
1:29:31
Search for [ __ ] It'll be the only result on tim. blog.
1:29:32
[laughter] And until next time, take care of yourselves. Be nice.
1:29:36
Be a little kinder than is necessary to yourselves and to others.