Twenty weeks in a row of The Superset! I won’t lie, I am proud of that number. I also believe that this thing is just getting started.

Like any other discipline in life, there have been better weeks than others. I have had weeks where the content and message was all I could think about, and the words flowed off the keys. I have had others where I have had to force myself to sit down to consume content and write about it to make for a quality letter.

I love the gym. I love good podcasts. I love reading. I love running. The common thing amongst all of them too is that I have those good and bad days and weeks. Some days I don’t want to read (and don’t). Some weeks I don’t want to run at all. But stepping back and using a wider lens, so long as the focus is brought back and action is taken, the consistency over extended periods is all that matters.

I started this because I wanted to become a better writer, I wanted to consume more positive content, and I wanted to share things I am passionate about. There are no growth targets for this to take over the world, yet it feels like a small place where I can make a positive impact and encourage others, and myself, to live healthier lives. Hopefully, something from a previous letter has done that for you. Maybe some will be encouraged to share with a friend. Together, we’ll get better.

Volume 20 is a good inflection point for me to sit down and figure out how to improve this content. I want to become more structured in my weeks and note-taking for the letter. I want to double down on posting on socials. I want to continue to invest in becoming a better writer. Cheers to the next 20, 200, and 2000 volumes.

Brain - The Blue Dot Effect

Easily the best content I consumed last week was this episode from Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** Podcast,” on the “Blue Dot Effect.”

The premise of the episode is diving deeper into why we as humans are wired to always find problems and threats in things in our lives, regardless of how much better that particular instance is compared to what it used to be.

Think about Uber. Not too long ago we were willing to call a cab, wait 30 minutes, have no tracking, and then finally take the ride to our destination. How many times have you canceled a ride on Uber or gotten frustrated that the driver was 11 minutes away?

Or why does it seem like the average human happiness is consistently hovering somewhere around a 7/10? You’re making more money than you used to, have a steady job, live in a nice place, have great friends - yet, you sometimes feel like something is missing?

Scientists dove into this idea with some studies that have come to be known as “The Blue Dot Effect.” An experiment was run that presented participants with an image of thousands of blue and purple dots. They were asked to pick out the blue dots from the purple ones, and had no issues doing so first wave.

The participants were continually fed more blue and purple dots, only as time went on, the scientists started to present them with fewer and fewer blue dots. Oddly enough, the participant’s classification of blue dots expanded, as researchers observed them beginning to select more dots of different shades of purple, and classify them as blue, even though there were exponentially more purple dots being presented.

The participants were also presented with images of faces that they were to classify on a range of “not very threatening” to “very threatening.” Similarly, an equal amount were presented at first, and over time, less “threatening” faces were presented. Researchers observed the same effect of the dots - the participant’s classification of “threatening” faces expanded again, even though fewer were being presented.

The episode dives much deeper into this study and its meaning, but in short, the tie the study has made to understand the human mind more is this: We as humans are living more comfortable lives than we ever have, yet we continue to deal with a sense of dissatisfaction. Much like blue dots and frustrated faces, our brains are wired to amplify the negatives (what we aren’t looking for), even in the presence of fewer examples. It’s all about how our brains can trick us into seeing problems and negativity even when everything around us is getting better.

Understanding this phenomenon can be huge for working on a more fulfilled life. It can also help you navigate conversations with close ones who feel they are going through a tough time or a rut. I encourage you to listen to the episode and let me know your thoughts. I have included a couple of powerful snippets below:

• On Health: “Back when I was really unhealthy, my definition of being unhealthy was drinking 8 cocktails and ordering a pizza at 3 in the morning. Whereas today, I am so much healthier on every metric, yet I feel the same sense of guilt eating an extra slice of pizza as I did back then”

• “I don’t consume as much social media or news anymore, and what I’ve found is, I just have less strong opinions on things. I found I got more objective the less news I watched, which didn’t make sense. But what you find is that you raise the threshold of what information can get though to you, and that often means only very high quality info that has been vetted and discussed multiple times over a long period”

• “As things improve we simply move the goalposts back and we start imagining threats that weren’t there before”

Body - Misconceptions Around Ab Training

Circa 2014, college Cruz was rapidly trying to shotgun train his way into having some visible abs for a Panama City spring break trip. With 6-8 weeks until we set off for that 14-hour drive to the beach, the recipe seemed simple - hammer abs every single day and try some crazy dieting techniques (hilariously including a 3-day juice cleanse - a nothing but liquid diet).

Needless to say, even after many nights of doing P90X Abs in the basement of the fraternity house and chugging glasses of V8, my 230-pound frame blessed the beach with no abs to show.

A funny anecdote at my own expense, but in reality, the mindset isn’t that far off from the mainstream beliefs around getting abs. This Men’s Health article accurately details some of the common misconceptions around getting “abs”:

1. More Is Better

   1. To be successful with ab training over the long term, it’s crucial to treat them like any other body part (chest, back, etc). You want to progressively overload the muscle, while also giving them time to recover between sessions (which means training abs every day ain’t it)

2. Training Abs Burns Belly Fat

   1. There’s no such thing as targeted fat loss (naturally, that is). Each person’s body is different. To get lean enough for your abs to be visible, you need to be in a consistent, extended caloric deficit for a long enough period to get to a low enough body fat level. For men, abs start to become visible around 15%, have good definition around 12%, and become a visible 6-pack at 10% and under.

3. Aesthetic & Functional Training Are Mutually Exclusive

   1. There is some belief out there that you train abs one way if you want a certain look, and you train them another to be functional. While there might be some niche strategies here to keep waist size small and develop different parts of the abs in stages, the strategy to a visible six pack and strong abs is the same. If you train your core to be strong and eat properly, you will get the aesthetic and functional results you desire

4. Everyone Has a Six-Pack Under Their Belly Fat

   1. Everyone’s genetics are different. Even simple ab composition isn’t the same. That’s why you’ll see some that look like they are at 7% body fat and peeled but only have 4 abs clear, while others will have 8 chiseled-out abs at a slightly higher body fat. You want to train your abs hard, so when you do get lean enough, you will have something to show for it.

My personal recommendations for training abs are below. Focus on them, make sure they are strategically placed in your plan, and then NAIL the diet. No excuses.

1. Compound Lifts:

   1. The easiest way to strengthen your abs is to train your compound movements heavily. Brace your core as you squat, bench, row, and deadlift, and 75% of your core training will be taken care of.

2. Superset Training:

   1. I love to raise the intensity of a workout and maximize the time I am in the gym. To do so with abs, I will mix them in with another lift to keep the heart rate high and the sets for the day maxed too. Think of something like doing Dumbbell curls and Plate Oblique Crunches, or Bench Press and Mountain Climbers.

3. Hanging Leg Raises:

   1. My favorite core lift of them all. Grab a pull-up bar, brace your core, and raise your legs in a 90-degree fashion to waist high, and slowly lower them. Beginners can bend their knees and bring their knees to waist height. This movement allows multiple variations, the ability to add weight, and focuses on overall core stability, with an emphasis on the lower abs, which are the hardest to develop IMO.

Book - July Book Club - Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday

Right Thing, Right Now - By Ryan Holiday - Buy Now

Superset readers will know that Ryan Holiday, known for his focus on stoicism and modern stoic living, is one of my favorite authors. Two weeks ago, he released this new title to complete his series on the virtues of stoicism (Courage Is Calling and Discipline is Destiny as the others).

I just received my signed copy last week, and I’d like some folks to read along with and share ideas. I am going to use this book for a pseudo Superset book club for July. Each week on socials I will share some of my favorite highlights, and if enough people read, I will create a small group message session where we can discuss the text. Here is a synopsis to see if you might join the fun':

For the ancients, everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice—or one’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must begin with justice. The influence of the modern world often tells us that acting justly is optional. Holiday argues that that’s simply untrue—and the fact that so few people today have the strength to stand by their convictions explains much about why we’re so unhappy.

In Right Thing, Right Now, Holiday draws on fascinating stories of historical figures such as Marcus Aurelius, Florence Nightingale, Jimmy Carter, Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass, whose examples of kindness, honesty, integrity, and loyalty we can emulate as pillars of upright living. Through the lives of these role models, readers learn the transformational power of living by a moral code and, through the cautionary tales of unjust leaders, the consequences of an ill-formed conscience.

The Stoics never claimed that living justly was easy, only that it was necessary. And that the alternative—sacrificing our principles for something lesser—was considered only by cowards and fools. Right Thing, Right Now is a powerful antidote to the moral failures of our modern age, and a manual for living virtuously.