The Expedition: 30-second longevity test, a sleep trick, Mike Tyson's wisdom, 4 qualities of resilience, etc.
The 15 best ideas that'll improve your life this month.
Housekeeping
Hot damn. It’s the third Friday of the month, which means it’s time for The Expedition, the internet’s best monthly roundup of information that’ll improve your life.
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Podcast/audio edition
The post
The Expedition is a monthly journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc.
Good ones, insightful ones, interesting ones, weird ones, and ones you can use to live and think better.
It’s a roundup of all the worthwhile stuff I’ve discovered in the last month. The Expedition is a bit of an island of misfit toys. But, hey, the greatest journeys are winding.
This month, we’re covering:
Numbers on:
How much caffeine disturbs your sleep (this surprised me!)
A 16-year-old girl who is as strong as an ox.
Rising rates of pre-diabetes among kids.
How exercise impacts the brain for weeks.
Dipshit fitness influencers.
Environmental pollution changes.
Willie Nelson albums.
How muscle and power change after age 40.
Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul.
GLP-1s and addiction
The four qualities of resilience (build ‘em and benefit).
A 30-second fitness longevity challenge.
The optimal dose and timing of melatonin to sleep better.
A 29-minute, 33-second podcast encapsulating my health ideas.
How AI will transform scientific discovery and innovation.
A good parting quote.
By the numbers
38
Percent of 12- to 19-year-old Americans are pre-diabetic.
Feed your kids less ultra-processed food. Make recess and gym class great again.
7 to 14
Days your brain spends processing the impacts of a workout. The cognitive benefits shape your memory, mood, and attention.
0
New York City Road Runners club events an influencer can run in the future after he paid two cameramen to follow him on e-bikes and film his entire New York City marathon race. The e-bikes—obviously!—obstructed other runners. Now the influencer is banned from all New York City Road Runners club events for life because God is good and just.
78
Percent that common environmental pollutants have decreased since 1970.
0.5 to 1
Percent of your muscle mass you lose each year after 40. But wait! It gets worse …
2 to 4
Percent your muscle power drops each year after 40. Power is critical for longevity and living well every day.
There are simple solutions. More on that in a future post ...
31
Year age difference between Mike Tyson, the Baddest Man on the Planet, and Jake Paul, a person who films himself doing things for the internet.
The two are boxing tonight on Netflix at 8 p.m. ET.
31
Percent lower risk of death among people over age 90 who had the highest handgrip strength.
100
Milligrams of caffeine before bed did not disturb sleep. That’s equivalent to about 2 cans of Diet Coke or ~5 ounces of coffee.
On the other hand, drinking 400 milligrams of caffeine even 12 hours before bed did disturb sleep.
A takeaway and a caveat:
Takeaway: The dose makes the poison (and whether something is a poison depends on why you’re using it).
Caveat: Sensitivity to caffeine fluctuates among individuals.
170
Pounds this high school sophomore women’s lacrosse player is lunging with (for three reps!). Watch the video.
42
Percent of adults ages 19 to 30 have used marijuana in the past year. Twenty-nine percent of adults ages 35 to 50 have done the same.
That’s a historic high.
153
The number of albums Willie Nelson has released over his career.
Texas Monthly ranked them all, which … LOL. No one has listened to all 153 of those albums deeply enough to rank them.
Anyways, Red Headed Stranger or GTFO.
40 to 50
Percent reduction of opioid overdose or alcohol intoxication among 1.3 million people who took GLP-1 drugs and had a history of opioid or alcohol abuse.
Four qualities of psychological resilience
A team of international researchers analyzed the results of 30 different studies on resilience. They wanted to know which personality traits are most tied to resilience and success.
Resilient people are the learners and doers. They take big swings in life. Sometimes they miss, but they swing again. Hence, they get farther ahead and live happier, more successful lives. They’re also more liked and have more fun along the way.
The four traits they identified:
Openness: Think of this as the f*ck around, find out trait. It reflects your curiosity, creativity, and willingness to experience new ideas and ways of thinking. You’re willing to try stuff and aren’t as routine, conventional, or resistant to change or new ideas.
Conscientiousness: Think of this as the Navy SEAL trait. It’s about self-discipline, focus, and the ability to execute on goals. People who lack this are more impulsive, careless, and less organized.
Extraversion: Think of this as the “good at parties” trait. It’s how willing you are to be social, respectfully express your viewpoints, and experience positive emotions. People higher in extraversion are—wait for it—more extroverted, talkative, and enthusiastic.
Agreeableness: Think of this as the “nice guy/girl” trait. It’s how empathetic and cooperative you are. This quality is associated with being kind, trusting, and considerate, and not popping off the handle if someone disagrees with you. People lower in this are more competitive, skeptical, and unwilling to give and take.
The lesson: Blend those up into a personality smoothie, and you’ll be able to get farther ahead in life and use setbacks to learn and grow rather than be crippled by them.
A 30-second fitness longevity challenge
Take this science-backed test at least a couple of times each year.
If you fail:
You have some critical information about your fitness, functionality, and how you’re aging.
We’ve given you a plan below to build yourself up so you can pass.
And it only takes 30 seconds. The test is simple: