2 Percent with Michael Easter

Today’s post covers a tactic to build better workouts. I first noticed it when I was an editor at Men’s Health magazine. In that role, I’d speak to some of the world’s brightest fitness minds: Exercise scientists or trainers who worked with pro athletes or the A-listers we put on the mag’s cover. When they sent me workout plans, I was annoyingly curious. Why is this exercise here? Why that one there? Why is this type of squat on Monday and this one on Friday?

Navy SEALs are some of the toughest human beings on the planet. No doubt. “Never quit” is a mantra across Special Forces. But many of them do quit—under circumstances many everyday people don’t. “We get a lot of badass active-duty and former Navy SEALs and Special Forces soldiers on our courses,” Jay Carson, former Executive Director and now Instructor at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) told me. “We’ve noticed they often struggle and do the worst.

It’s time for Gear Not Stuff. We live in a world of mass consumerism and have more stuff than ever. As I point out in Scarcity Brain, the average home contains at least 10,000 items. Yet minimalism, as I wrote here, has failed us. When considering how to make smarter purchasing decisions, I’ve started distinguishing between gear and stuff. Stuff is a possession for the sake of it. Stuff clutters.

I recently found myself sitting with Sean Hannity and Gary Brecka, the health influencer who famously helped UFC owner Dana White take his health back. Mics were hot. Cameras were rolling. Sean had recently launched Hanging Out With Sean Hannity, a long-form podcast. Gary and I weren’t there to talk politics1. We were there to talk health. Sean looked at Gary.

I was emailing with Sam Nichols, a new writer for Two Percent. “The New York Times recently ran a piece about how working from home is making us mentally ill,” Sam wrote. “Which kind of makes sense, given possible social benefits of being around others … but I used to have to commute 60 to 90 minutes each way to work in a newsroom in Sydney, and that commute made me depressed. Plus it was super hard to organize my life.” I felt that.

It’s the first Friday of the month—which means it’s time to Burn the Ships. On the first Friday of every month, we publish a new Burn the Ships workout for Members only. If Two Percent is a cult, these Burn the Ships workouts are our Kool-Aid. Burn the Ships workouts are hard, safe, and effective. They improve your strength, cardio, movement quality, and mindset—and, in turn, your life.

When I was 31, one of my best friends from high school called me. He’s the type of dude who spends his weekends driving the hell out of anything motorized and dangerous—ATVs, side-by-sides, dirt bikes, you name it. “I have skin cancer,” he said. “It’s Stage 2.” I immediately got a checkup. I was fine. And, thank God, my friend ended up fine, too. Being outside and active is one of the best medicines on earth. Then again, the sun might give you cancer.

We get a lot of brands that want to advertise on Two Percent. My standard response: I’m happy to consider their product for at least a month1. If I don’t love it and think it would be useful to the Two Percent community, we pass. I’d guess 95 percent of stuff doesn’t make the cut. A nutrition tracking app called MacroFactor recently reached out. I ran them through the standard lines, then tried it for a month. It’s the best nutrition tracking app I’ve found for active people who want to improve.

It’s the fourth Friday of the month, so it’s time for our AMA. We’re approaching this AMA differently. The producer of the Two Percent podcast, Robbie Hiser, had a fun idea. “Let’s field questions and I’ll ask you them.” The idea is to have another voice in the room, so the AMAs are more conversational. Robbie will ask me your questions and some of his own, be there with followups, force me to clarify anything confusing, and defend my position.

Last Wednesday, we looked at a study led by scientists at Harvard that identified an ideal amount of strength training per week for health. Today, we’re returning to something I learned while reporting The Comfort Crisis, but didn’t put in the book. It gives us an ideal weekly rucking or running distance. Most cardio recommendations measure endurance in time. The Federal Exercise Guidelines tell us to get at least 150 minutes of cardio for health.