A superset in weight lifting is the act of performing two or more lifts, often targeting different body parts, in succession with minimal rest in between. Supersets in the gym are utilized to increase intensity, increase volume, maximize time, and to shock the muscles from the standard lifting routine.

The name for this newsletter has been an idea I have had for a couple of years now. As I have consumed content in the fitness, personal development, and reading spaces over the past decade or so, I have often wondered why there seems to be so little overlap.

As a personal anecdote, I know that when I am performing at my absolute peak, I am consistently doing these things together:

• Getting a hard workout in at least 6 days a week

• Starting my day with no screen time, instead picking up some type of influential book (self-help, personal development, biography, etc.)

• Listening to at least one piece of content a day that is thought-engaging

• Eating a healthy diet that is centered around protein intake and a specific calorie window I am tracking for

• Getting to bed before 10, getting up at 5 - At least 7 hours of sleep

I can have a good day if I check 3/5 or 4/5 of these boxes, but over a longer period, I find that my absolute peak is when I am consistently taking action on all of these pillars.

The early morning alarm and reading gets my mind right for the day. The gym clears stress and pushes my body to feel I’ve accomplished something. That gym effort feeds into the diet. The diet allows me to feel good, physically and mentally. The podcasts and engaging content keep positive thoughts front of mind and challenge me to take action. The sleep allows me to reset my body to do it all again.

This is a long-winded way to say that the foundation of The Superset is formed from the acknowledgment above - all of these pursuits are interconnected. They work hand in hand. So while there are plenty of places to get gym inspiration, meal ideas, book suggestions, and podcast recommendations, the goal for this space is to provide an area where we can think about them all together.

Let’s have a day now -

Brain - How to Enhance Focus & Improve Productivity | Cal Newport

Huberman Lab Podcast | Dr. Cal Newport: How to Enhance Focus and Improve Productivity

I first found Cal Newport when he released a book called “Deep Work”. The premise was true “deep work” was becoming more rare every year in our society, but also becoming equally more valuable. I quickly was hooked on his writing style. It covered all of the bases:

• Thorough Research

• Engaging Writing

• Actionable Ideas

Cal has written some great other titles I consistently recommend, with Digital Minimalism and A World Without Email. He’s constantly evaluating and writing about how the world of work is evolving around us, primarily tied to the rapid increase of technology use and corporate expectations.

Huberman is a favorite because of his ability to communicate complex science topics into actionable ideas. Combine these two, and of course the episode becomes a must-listen for all. Here are some actionable ideas from the episode for focus and productivity (Look forward to more Cal in today’s “Book” section):

• Don’t delete social media completely. Delete the apps from your phone. Rewire the way your brain thinks about social media. The social media itself isn’t bad - it’s the ease of access and barrage of notifications that interrupt deep thinking. Limit that to a desktop

• In need of a creative boost? Try going for a walk. Walking simulates productive meditation, where your body is in motion but your mind can be still (no headphones recommended)

• Keep a notebook of thoughts you have that feel important and to-do’s that come to mind. Dumping these from your brain can free storage to think and create

• Put your phone in a different room when you are trying to focus and accomplish deep work

• Multi-Scale Planning - Plan for the week, quarter, season, year

  • When building your plan for the week, reference your plan for the quarter. Ensure high-priority items have scheduled times

  • When planning for the day, reference your plan for the week. Ensure high-priority items have scheduled times

  • Put boundaries on leisure - Build in time for social media, TV, hobbies - stick to these time blocks

Body - It Was Time For a Change

In doing some reflection on the last few years of this fitness journey, I was looking through pictures and started writing some of the passage below in my notes. I vividly remember the day I decided I needed to make a change in my life. I was flying back to Florida from a Luke Combs concert in Missouri when I saw some pictures from the show I was far from flattered by. How had I gotten to that point?

I know how hard that first step is to take. So I share the below in the hope that maybe it kicks one person in the butt who is reading to take that first step for themselves as well…

“Damnit it’s never fun to post this first pic, but it’s every bit a part of my story as the ones that follow.

As I look back, I realize that all of this was absolutely as much of a mental change as it was a physical change. Matter of fact, the mental change preceded the physical change. I had to decide that enough was enough. The only person responsible for my appearance was me. It was time to rewire my brain to eat for fuel and function rather than for fun. It was time to treat the gym like it was a side hustle - skipping was no longer an option. It was time to reprioritize my weekends where I felt I was doing the most damage. It was time to fill my mind with positive content that I could take action on. It was time to stop acting like I would start one day in the future and start right then and there.

I started for physical reasons - I keep going for the mental reasons. I have to prove to myself every day that I am who I say I am. One day I won’t be able to go at it like I am today. Until that day comes, we will keep pushing the bar.

If you’re struggling with your appearance, I’ve been there. But I’ll also be the first to tell you no magic button is coming to save you. It will be harder than you think. Take longer than you think. But it’ll be more worth it than you could ever imagine. You can change your life if you start today.”

A couple of additional notes:

• Diet is #1 - You can kill yourself in the gym hours a day and make negative progress if you aren’t eating to your goals

• Progress is not linear - Over the past few years I have lost 60 pounds, put on 20 again, lost that 20. Gotten stronger, then lost it because of sub-par focus and effort, only to get it back again. I’ve run 6 days a week for months, then not run for weeks after. The important thing is you never let those lulls last forever. Get back on the wagon

• You need an accountability partner. I can be that for you, but even the most disciplined people in the world can’t do this on their own

• Don’t change your diet, change your lifestyle. Instead of a 12-week diet blitz that you will inevitably rebound from, commit to a longer, slower period of progress that you could realistically stick to forever

If you are looking for a sign to take control of your body, I hope this is it. It’s changed my life. I hope it does you too.

Book - Cal Newport’s “Slow Productivity”

In Volume 005, I mentioned I would be beginning Cal Newport’s new title, “Slow Productivity” (Same Cal Newport from the Huberman Podcast above). I rolled right into it this Thursday, after having finished Ryan Holiday’s “Stillness is Key” (Great book on the art of stillness and solitude).

I am about 60 pages in so far, and strongly encourage you to read this along with me. Here is the link to order on Amazon again: Slow Productivity

My version of a synopsis after reading ~20% of the book is this:

Cal Newport began to study human behavior and this overwhelming sense that American workers were reaching burnout in increasing amounts, and at faster speeds. He opens the book by analyzing the history of how work/productivity in America has progressed, ever since the Industrial Revolution.

He argues that in simpler times, productivity was very measurable, especially in primarily manual labor jobs (of which most were). Ford as an example, revolutionized the way cars were built, by implementing new and more efficient processes at every step of the assembly line. In doing so, they were able to time and measure the efficiency of each point of the car-making process, and make judgements on where time was being wasted - by process or personnel. They eventually cut the time to make a vehicle from 12.5 hours to just 90 minutes.

As time has evolved and our work has become more complex, these simple areas to measure how productive a particular employee is have become more nuanced. Many “knowledge workers” as he describes (people working on ideas not things, which applies to most of us), don’t have tangible timed projects.

So over time, as expectations have risen in Corporate America, people in power have been trying to navigate what buttons to press to get their workforce more productive. This led to longer hours, more work, more projects, more people wearing multiple hats, etc.

As the employees, this generation of workers has been brought along by this idea that time and productivity go hand in hand. Re-Ford Analogy - Need to make more cars? Okay - let’s put in more people, more assembly lines, more factories, longer hours, or faster processes.

This causes a “pseudo-busy” epidemic where we find that people are often filling their calendars and responding to emails as fast as possible to give the appearance of “being busy”, rather than being productive.

As technology has progressed, those lines have gotten blurred to as where the work day starts and ends too. Email, text, calls are always in our pocket. The old-fashioned 9 - 5 is seemingly gone. The pressure to appear committed pushes people to remain on the line at all hours of the day. We must respond to that email immediately.

Every time we say yes to a task, that task comes with “administrative overhead”, which is just a fancy label for activity talking about the work, rather than doing the work. Zoom meetings that only schedule in 30 minute slots - scheduling collaboration with other remote workers - etc.

Cal’s premise is that America is not overwhelmed and overworked - we are operating under the completely wrong premise of what being productive vs. being busy really means.

The rest of the book is going to focus on actionable ideas that he recommends to adopt Slow Productivity and take back control of your life:

• Do Less Things

• Work At A Natural Pace

• Obsess Over Quality

Read along with me if you would like -