One of the worst traps you can fall into is waiting until you're ready.

”I don't have the energy to workout"

Is something I hear very often.

The urge to wait until the sun is shining, your mom has made cookies and the entire Universe is working in your favor — is so easy to fall prey for.

But it creates a vicious circle that most people never get out of.

Because the problem with waiting for the energy to workout, or until you're ready to change your life -- is that you end up waiting forever.

Because when you wait for the energy to workout — you ignore the only way you’re ever going to get it.

Your health and the little energy you do have starts degrading.

Life quickly loses its zest and the things you really want to do become impossible.

There is no such thing as being ready. There is no such thing as the energy to workout.

The way you become ready is by acting before you are.

The only way to get the energy to workout is by working out.

But to get there, there is something you have to understand.

The Decision To Live Life Exhausted

You're always tired because you don't have a reason not to be.

When you wait for the energy, to come to you -- it never does.

Because there is no need for it.

First, let’s understand where your energy actually comes from.

Your life is powered by 3 trillion microscopic batteries called mitochondria.

It’s through these that you turn the energy from food into energy that your body can use. They’re literally your source of life. You can think of them as “life batteries”.

How well they function is a measure of how alive you are.

But if you don’t give them a reason to exist, they won’t.

This is why waiting for the energy to workout is so silly. Because the only thing it does is letting your mitochondria wither away and become less and less efficient.

The less energy you spend by using your body and mind, the more inefficient they become. And the more their numbers decrease

And so by waiting for energy — you just let it drift further and further away from you and you become a flashlight running low. Your experience of life fades until people barely notice that it’s still shining.

At some point you’re not alive, you’re just not dead.

If you want to have the energy to do the things you enjoy (or do anything at all), you need to create a reason for it.

In other words, to get the energy to workout — you need to workout.

So let’s solve this paradox.

How To Solve All Your Problems (In 5 Minutes Or Less)

The solutions to your problems are counterintuitive.

Because they are the same.

Let me explain.

When you break down a problem, you turn it into a series of tasks, that if completed — will solve the problem.

To solve a problem, you simply need to do what it tells you you can’t (yes I know this sounds confusing).

What you think is the problem is in reality your mind painting over the real problem — which is itself.

Because the real problem is just your mind getting in the way.

The problem of not having the energy to workout, of not being ready — is just your mind trying to avoid change.

Because if you're truly going to change something about yourself, the old you has to die. And it doesn't want to die. And it will fight back with everything it’s got.

This is why your mind will show you step 1 000 when you’re only on step 1.

It will show you the brutal workout with 35 sets to failure, instead of the uplifting and energizing one.

It will show you all the things you don't know yet, when the only way to truly learn them is by starting.

It will try to paint the steps towards the solution as beneath you. That the small tasks of:

• Going to the gym for 10 minutes

• Writing 100 words everyday

• Eating 1 healthy meal

Are not worth doing. But it is not doing the things that don’t matter that is keeping you from doing the things that are.

Would you refuse taking the 1st step towards the store because the 1st step won't make a difference?

Of course not, that's just silly.

In exactly the same way, you get the energy to workout by working out. By taking the step you're on, no matter how small it is.

You'll realize that all you had to do was start. All you had to do was get out of your own way.

Because that’s the only way you’re ever gonna be ready. By acting before you are.

In the same way, the only way you’re gonna get the energy to workout — is by working out.

Your problems aren't problems. It’s just your mind trying to survive. Your problems are just stepping stones towards personal growth.

If you want to dive deeper into this, check out "your only obstacle is your mind" (after you’re done with this one)

But here, I want to introduce a concept I call; "the catching on principle". And it’s really the key to all this.

It states that: if you don't quit, the Universe will eventually catch on to what's happening and provide you with the resources you need

When you workout, you create a need for energy. As a result, your body responds by building more and better mitochondria.

As a result, you get the energy to do the things you want and actually enjoy life. Which creates an even bigger need for energy. And instead of getting trapped in a vicious circle, you enter an upwards spiral.

Now that we've framed the situation, we can dive into the science and tools for building energy.

Building Your Energy Income

You don’t lack energy, your body is just can't channel it.

The source of your energy is your mitochondria. Because it's how you make the energy from food useful.

They do this by turning the energy from food into something called "ATP" (Adenosine Tri Phosphate).

You can think of ATP as the body's energy ciurrency. 1 ATP is like 1 energy dollar composing your body's energy budget. It uses this currency to repair, build and keep itself alive.

I want you to think of the amount of energy your mitochondria produce as your energy income. It's the amount of energy dollars your body can spend on your life.

The first step is making sure your mitochondria are healthy by fine tuning your diet, as we talked about int “how to lose fat without trying (and still enjoy life”.

But the second step it writing the code for them.

We've gone over why becoming energetically poor is a bad idea, so let's look at the other side.

To live a fuller life and do the things we want, we need energy. We need to increase our energy income. Because the more energy dollars your body has, the better it can fuel your life.

Things like:

• Motivation

• Clear thinking

• Longer life span

• Chronic disease prevention

But the way you increase it is counterintuitive...

I concept I want to introduce is "energy investing".

It goes like this: When you invest energy into exercise, you create a need for more energy.

Your body releases a protein complex called AMPK. This tells your body to build more and better mitochondria. And so, by losing energy in the short term, you're increasing your energy in the long term.

You're building energy assets (better and more mitochondria).

When it comes to energy, the more you put out, the more you get in.

To increase your energy income, there are 3 things you need to focus on:

• Build

• Push

• Maintain

Let's dive in.

Build

The first step to increasing your energy income is obvious...

You need to build a higher income stream -- you need to build more life batteries.

The key to this is improving your aerobic capacity -- or how much oxygen your cells can utilize in a given time.

To put it another way, the secret is plain old cardio.

If you want the batteries that power your life to work -- cardio is not optional. More specifically zone 2 cardio.

80 % of your cardiovascular training should in zone 2.

It's an intensity where you are failing "the talk test", meaning that you can barely manage to hold a conversation.

More scientifically: It's the maximum cardiovascular output you can maintain without producing lactate in your cells

Because your mitochondria uses oxygen, the more you push them to the limit of their oxygen uptake -- the better and more efficient they become. And the more energetically rich you become.

The standard recommendation for zone 2 cardio is 180 minutes a week -- which is pretty darn accurate. This means that if you do zone 2 cardio 4 days a week, you need to do 45 minutes of cardio every time.

I don't I know 1 single person who does enough cardio every single week. And I've heard a lot of excuses as to why. So I want to address some of them (and influence your mind in a positive direction)

1. 45 minutes a day?!

Yes I know that sounds terrible.

But remember what we went through about the counterintuitive solutions to your problems. You'll think you can't do it -- until you do it.

If you want to master discipline and make all this easy, I recommend checking out this letter.

For example, I do my cardio 6 days a week, 30 minutes at a time.

Before I started doing it consistently, it felt impossible. 20 minutes felt like the very most I could endure.

But one day I just didn't stop. I put on a show on my phone and forgot where I was. When I look up from my catatonic state I realized it had been 30 minutes. The ceiling was broken Now I can do 30 minutes without thinking about it.

This has been the case with so many things in my life.

I thought I couldn't do it -- but then I started

Another objection floating through your mind is probably that it will take time.

1. I don't have 3 hours to spend on a treadmill!

Sure.

It will take time.

But I can't tell you how much time it will save you in the long run.

Just think about what you can accomplish with 2x the amount of energy you have.

Your mind becomes clearer, you get more motivation and your productivity sessions become that much more intense.

This is not to mention that you literally get more time in the form of life. The amount of mitochondria you have is almost directly correlated with how long you live. Cardio makes you live longer stupid.

It's not that you don't have time to do your cardio.

It's that you don't have time to not do your cardio.

1. “But cardio will interfere with building muscle”

Yes, but only in the short term.

When you do your cardio, you're increasing cortisol and adrenaline.

This puts you in a catabolic state where muscles are being broken down. Not fun.

This is where most people freak out.

But it's only the case while you're doing your cardio.

The rest of the time, it will decrease your resting heart rate, increase your blood flow and create a cascade of anabolic effects:

• Better digestion = more muscle

• You get better sleep = more muscle

• Better nutrient partitioning = more muscle

By being a little bit catabolic in the short term, you become very anabolic in the long term.

Doing your cardio literally allows you to build more muscle.

So that argument is pretty stupid.

If you want to dive deeper into building muscle, check out "how to build more muscle (and find meaning in life)".

To sum this up:

The first step to increasing your energy income is increasing the amount of organelles that pay rent (mitochondria).

Let's continue.

Push

Having a lot of mitochondria is great.

But if they're not working -- it doesn't really matter.

To get a stable energy income, you not only need to create more mitochondria -- but you need to improve them as well.

The best way to do this is by increasing your VO2 max.

When you push yourself beyond your cardiovascular limit, the stress that it creates activates a protein complex called AMPK. In turn, this little fellow "tells" the cell to increase its aerobic capacity and glucose utilization.

In other words, the cell is told to improve the capacity of your life batteries.

This means more energy, lifespan and potential. Muy bueno.

Aim to get 20% of your cardio in this top zone of intensity. Meaning, if you do cardio five times a week, one day should be dedicated to increasing your VO2 max.

There are 2 ways to do this:

• HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training

• SIT - Sprint Interval Training

Let's start with HIIT.

HIIT is a form of exercise where you're alternating high intensity endurance training with rest. Meaning, you sprint for a couple of minutes, then you rest for a couple of minutes.

The main function of HIIT is increasing your aerobic threshold, or the intensity of output that's too much for your mitochondria to handle.

This is why it's such a good tool for increasing energy.

The sweet spot for HIIT is doing an activity you can maintain for just 3 - 8 minutes. Then you do rest, and perform another bout of exercise. You can think of them as sets.

When doing HIIT, you're failing the talk test. It should be pretty darn impossible to keep a regular conversation going.

You should also keep in mind that you will probably need to rest equally long as you perform. If you cycle for 3 minutes, you'll probably need to rest for 3 minutes as well.

Some examples include:

• Sprints

• Battle ropes

• Elliptical bike

Some important notes:

• HIIT is not all out training (even though it can feel like that). It's performing on the edge of your cardiovascular abilities.

• HIIT not only increases your mitochondria efficiency, but also builds more mitochondria. It's sort of the intermediate between SIT and zone 2 cardio (as you'll come to find)

This brings us to the upper end of intensity...

SIT

SIT is where you really go crazy.

It's where you go ALL out, using every single piece of strength you have.

If you're actually at this intensity, you can't do more than 10 second bouts. Any longer, and you're in HIIT territory (even though SIT is defined as 10 - 30 seconds).

SIT is crazy hard. It's the equivalent to your one rep max during weight training.

It's usually repeated for 4 - 7 sets with 10 - 30 seconds of rest in between.

SIT will put your mitochondria on full blast because it requires them to increase their anaerobic threshold.

It won't build new ones, but it will supercharge the ones you have.

You can do SIT if you want, but in my opinion, HIIT is a better idea. It doesn't create as much fatigue and you get the benefits of increased mitochondria as well.

To sum this up:

Pick your cardio exercise of choice, choose one day a week and go crazy. Do 4 - 7 sets of either SIT or HIIT.

The energy increase you get in both the short and long term is amazing.

Maintain

The amount of energy you have doesn't matter if you can't maintain it.

To keep your energy income stable, you need to take care of it.

You need to create an environment conducive to a good metabolic health (that's the fancy term for having healthy life batteries).

Otherwise, your body will lose its reason for creating energy -- and life will fade again.

No bueno.

After you've built and supercharged your batteries, you need to maintain them.

But the problem with maintaining anything is that life happens.

For whatever reason, you won't always have the access or time for getting to the gym, or spending 45 minutes on the treadmill.

And although it won't be ideal, maintaining your energy income is much easier than building it. You can get away with way less effort when maintaining, than what it took to build it.

I'm not saying that after you've worked hard for a couple of months, you can just maintain your condition without any effort.

What I am saying is that when you're short on time, life gets stressful or when the Universe won't allow it -- you don't have to give up the energy income you've built.

By doin a few things, you can maintain your energy income until you're back on track again.

Let's go through them all

• Walks

No matter what, you'll always have the time and ability to walk.

It doesn't matter if it's just around the block, in your backyard or inside your house.

Walking is the fundamental exercise.

It gets your blood flowing, reminds your body that it's alive and is great for developing ideas.

Make sure that you get in a walk everyday.

My recommendation would be a walk in the morning, so that you can get some morning sunlight too.

• Calisthenics

As with walking, you can always do a couple of pushups or squats no matter what.

This will train your strength endurance because the intensity is pretty low. It's an easy and effective way of maintaining your energy income.

When you're sitting down and working, get up every now and then to do some pushups. You'll be amazed with how much better your work will become.

• Quadrapedal movements

This one deserves a letter of its own.

The amount of benefits to this are crazy:

• Hypertrophy

• Strength

• Strength endurance

• Mobility

• Blood flow

• Metabolites

What you do is basically crawl around on all 4. Either close to the ground like a lizard or high of the ground like a bear.

You can do it anywhere (if you don't care about society judging you).

It's also extremely enjoyable.

There are more ways to maintain your energy income but these are some of the easiest ways. You can get creative and just move around as much as you can.

But remember that the goal should always be to make time and space for the build and push phases -- because they're the heavy hitters.

You've Always Been Ready

You become ready once you realize you've always been.

To escape the trap of withering away, waiting for the perfect moment -- you simply start.

You take the first step and let it spiral out of control.

When you feel like crap, and the last thing you'd want to do is to run -- you get up and run.

Not because you're a massochist who loves pain. Not because you're mentally tough or extremely disciplined -- but because you know that the solution to your problem is the problem itself.

The solution to not having the energy to run, is simply to run.

The solution to becoming ready, is to act before you are.

• Build your energy income with 30 minutes of zone 2 cardio, 6 days a week

• Push your efficiency through the roof by doing HIIT for 3 minutes, 7 times once a week

• Maintain your energy income with walks, calisthenics and quadrupedal movements

If you do just these 3 things, the flame that is your life will burn brighter than ever.

You will have more energy than you know what to do with and the world will regain its colors.

(Yes, I may be an irrational optimist)

That's it for this week.

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Thanks for reading!

-Simon