Underrated Overrated

Alcohol? Overrated.

Breathing Consciously? Underrated. Learn more.

Daily Exercise? Incredibly underrated. I’m certain the less physically active one is the more medicine one will need. Fortunately the reverse is also true. 

Doing Front Squats Because I Don’t Have the Flexibility in my Shoulders To Back Squat? The Same For Front vs Behind The Neck Press? Overrated. If you’ve lost range, get it back. Abandoning an exercise is not the solution. Your previous decisions got you here. Your current decisions create your future. Ideally a future with optimal range.

Fasting? Underrated. Learn more.

Giving full attention to who you’re talking to? Underrated.

Gratitude? Underrated.

Great Friends? Underrated. As Jim Rohn said ‘friends are those people who know everything about you and still like you‘. I’m over 30 years with my closest mates and incredibly grateful.

Having Fun Training? Underrated. If you enjoy it, you’ll look forward to doing it.

Hydration? Underrated. The simple action of drinking more water daily has incredible upside potential.

Intra-training nutrition? It depends on the individual and his/her goals. If I had to pick I’d say underrated. Pre and post training nutrition get all the attention, leaving opportunities during training sessions.

Learning New Skills and/or Doing Difficult Things? Underrated. Enjoying the process of learning something new that you enjoy, without caring about the outcome is a great use of time and a fantastic way to learn. As is figuring out how to do difficult things you enjoy.

Maximal loading in strength training for sport? It depends on the individual and sport. If I had to choose, it’s over rated. The only sports with high correlation to strength training are Olympic lifting, powerlifting, strongman events and some field events in athletics. Every other sport’s correlation is lower than you’d think. 

Meaningful Work? Underrated. It pays a dividend far greater than money.

Nutrition Trends? Overrated. At one stage or another each of the macronutrients (protein, carbs and fats) has been enemy number one. Tribalism around nutritional strategies is unfortunately rampant. Too much energy is put into macronutrient discussions and not enough energy is put into food sources, eating seasonally and eating locally. Something to consider. 

Pre-training Dynamic Stretching? Overrated. 

Pre-training Static Stretching? Underrated. 

Pre-training stimulants? It depends on the individual and his/her goals. If I had to pick I’d say overrated. The allure of an exogenous stimulant to band-aid inappropriate programming, nutrition and/or lifestyle choices is the ultimate quick fix.  

Research/Asking Questions? Underrated. Considering we no longer have free speech in the developed world, incentives drive the narratives we’re continually fed. Questioning everything is a good start. Including anything I write. 

Sauna’s? Underrated. With the current trend of cold water immersion, don’t forget the other end of the continuum, heat! While not as accessible as ice baths/cold water, if you can access one regularly, it’s worth it.  

Silence? Underrated. 

Sitting On The Floor? Underrated. Spending 30-60mins/day on the floor instead of on the lounge, will do wonders for your body long term.

Sleep? Underrated. Deep restful sleep is one of the great pleasures in life. However, like breathing, because we do it daily, people think that’s all there is to it. There’s more…

Speed of Movement? Underrated. It’s one thing adhering to a predetermined SOM every rep of every set of a strength training session. It’s another thing to positively manipulate SOM in a training cycle long term.

Stretching? Underrated.  

Training partners? Underrated. Great training partners will influence you for the better. Just as terrible training partners will negatively influence you. Training partners will accelerate you in the direction they are. Be a great one to attract great ones.

Training Trends? Overrated. Anything can be hyped up and marketed well for a few years. Long term it’s a different story. Time always tells. 

Warm-up? Underrated. The opportunity cost of cutting corners in the warm up, short term and long term compound with time.