Gabriel Zhañay

Traveling internationally is a lot.

But it's gotten easier over the past decade.

In fact, this year has probably been the least hectic compared to prior years.

Organizing our trip to Poland has been much easier after years of doing this.

Every summer we go to Poland to see family.

The trip is long.

It's tiring.

It takes a toll on the body and mind.

Which is why having a strong body makes a huge difference for trips like this.

Working out and exercising isn't purely performance or aesthetic for me anymore.

It's also about maintaining a high quality of life, especially as the demands on my body increase.

Dehydration and poor sleep take a toll on the body.

So preparation makes a big difference when traveling.

For example, even though I was at the top of my hydration game leading up to the flight, I was dehydrated by the end of it.

Paired with poor sleep while flying and a long 24-hour trip from door to door, my body was beat up.

It's interesting how our minds can run us into the ground, but our bodies have their breaking points.

It's an interesting phenomenon to observe.

It's part of why burnout is so common, especially for parents and overachievers (even more so after 30 and after 40).

Rest, rejuvenation, and relaxation are far from the norm.

A few weeks ago, I spent most of my day restoring my health by:

- Sleeping in late
- Taking a late morning nap
- Eating high amounts of fruits
- Sunbathing while grounding for 30+ minutes
- Drinking lemon water, then watermelon juice
- Moving slowly and doing my best to stay centered

Relaxation restores health.

Most of us don't relax enough.

Yet, ironically, true high performance emerges when you relax more often.

The best athletes, thought leaders, and artists discovered this long ago.

I'm still learning this each day.

After a full day of restoration, I felt better writing this than I do in the morning.

Qi Gong masters would say something similar about Qi Gong practice:

'When you practice, you should have as much or more energy at the end of the day as you did starting the day'.

Less is more... especially when you're overwhelmed and burnt out.

My wife's cousin got married a few weeks ago.

It was my first Polish wedding.

It was beautiful.

Rafa and Alexandra (Anna's cousins) changed their wedding style. They chose an outdoor setting by a running river instead of a Catholic church.

Dancing till late.

Talking till late.

Spending time with loved ones.

We had a great time together.

There isn't a 'bad' exercise.

All evidence-based exercises serve a purpose.

But sometimes there are some that we dislike.

And some that should be contraindicated (don't use 'em).

You don't need to do every exercise.

In fact, there's around 20 or less exercises that you could use for the rest of your life and see great results.

So less is more.

As usual, the simple path is the hardest to follow since there's so many distractions in the fitness world.

But a simple fitness plan that's sustainable and structured will always beat a complex plan.

If you're familiar with Jungian psychology, the Trickster archetype thrives off of shiny object syndrome.

It will do anything in it's power to keep you from doing the simple things that actually move the needle forward in your health and fitness.

So ignore the next 'shiny' exercise you see.

Focus on big compound lifts like:

- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Presses
- Rows

And keep it simple.

Burpees not included.

Share or repost this with a friend who'd appreciate this.

So how much muscle can you build?

It depends.

We all have a certain threshold for muscle building. In fact, we may even have our own genetic ceiling for muscle building, too.

Men are estimated to gain 40-50 pounds of muscle. Women can add about 20-30 pounds.

There's not much research on this. It's hard to study advanced lifters with high muscle growth.

Brad Schoenfeld, a top expert in muscle building, shared his views on human muscle potential:

"While a “ceiling” may exist in theory, you never actually realize your full genetic potential; there is always the ability to further increase muscle mass. Indeed, muscular gains can be made even at very advanced levels, albeit at a much slower pace than when you first started training.​"

I agree with this.

We may never fully know our muscle-building potential.

Aging and muscle loss, especially after the age of 30, play a significant role. It's estimated we can lose 3-8% of our muscle tissue each decade, with this rate accelerating after 60.

So atrophy is a real thing.

But so is entropy, another way of saying things gradually fall apart or move toward chaos.

So, do we have a muscle-building potential?

Maybe.

Will we ever find out what it is?

Unlikely.

If you want to simplify your health (and reading) to less than 5 minutes, feel free to check out my 1-3-1 Friday Letter.

Every Friday, at 6 am EST, I share a brand-new issue for plant-fueled parents and former athletes over 40 who want to get lean, strong, and healthy while dropping stubborn weight and building muscle for life.

Get free access via the link in bio.

Building is a process.

And like all processes, it can be replicated and duplicated.

The best way to create success for yourself is to find someone else who has created it for themselves... and then just model what they did.

Modeling is our primary way of learning.

Tap into this.

Getting in shape isn't about your body.

It's about owning who you are and your standards.

And it's not about going 0 to 100. Or all or nothing. Or no pain, no gain.

It took me years to learn this. And relearn this.

I spent the majority of my first 10 years

You can always do more in health and fitness.

You don’t need to do everything to be very healthy and well.

When you pair energy balance (how much you’re eating) with anti-inflammatory nutrition, you create a unique place to live from:

Bulletproof health.

It’s a place free from disease, obesity, lack of confidence, and health crises.

It’s a place all of us can achieve.

But it requires saying no to many things in the health & fitness industry.

No to things like:

- Yo-yo cycling with your weight
- Carnivore, keto, or high-fat diets
- Dieting for years on end and then binge eating
- Trying every new diet fad or technique that comes out

Getting in shape is about your values, who you are, and the standard you hold yourself to.

It might have started with dropping weight or building some muscle.

But where this journey can lead you is to your highest self.

Self-mastery always starts with mastering your health.

You can't master your higher faculties if your health is in shambles.

I also wrote a full guide on using diet breaks correctly and dropping body fat without feeling frustrated.

If you want a free copy, comment 'BREAK' below, and I'll send it over.

Share or repost this with a friend who'd appreciate this.

Meat is dominant in Polish culture.

So is alcohol.

Unfortunately, this isn't only at weddings.

Heart disease and cancer are rampant in Poland, as in many other 'modern' countries.

Obesity and being overweight are rising here as well with the increase of processed, fast food, and high-fat foods.

Poland has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in Europe, and the leading cause of death in Poland is cardiovascular disease.

I'll reference Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who won America's Doctor of the Year and was one of the world's leading heart surgeons for years:

'Cardiovascular disease is nothing more than a toothless paper tiger that need never ever to exist, and if it does exist, it need never ever to progress. Heart disease is a completely benign foodborne illness.'

Big Food. Big Medicine. Big Pharma.

The corrupt 3, as I think of them.

If people knew that the leading cause of CVD was food-based, there wouldn't be a revolution.

Most would shrug their shoulders.

Change has to come from within.

Many of my wife's family members have died from cancer over the years.

Many from my mother's side have died from the same.

My father-in-law (Anna's dad) and a close family member of mine have had cancer.

Multiple abuelos (grandparents) have had cancer and died from it in my family.

A family member on Anna's side who was at a family wedding recently has cancer (currently).

In the midst of celebration, the sobering truth of our ignorance, choices, and habits slowly reveals itself.

To shake and wake others up to the reality that we live in.

The ownership we can bring to our health.

To remind those we love that their health matters.

That it's never too late.

To spend a long, full life with those closest to us.

It's never too late.

Believe in health.

It's always possible.

Share or repost this to a friend who would appreciate this.

The best 'hack' to improve your health in 5 minutes or less:

Stand outside barefoot in early morning sunshine.

The best healthcare I'm using these days.

We're in Poland.

Every year we go to visit family for an extended period.

This year we have a family wedding we're attending.

I've been at a healthy body fat percentage (around 15-18%) over the past few years and similar bodyweight for the same time period. But recently, I've felt motivated the past 6 weeks to get leaner.

With my skin healing from psoriasis and finally seeing an end in sight for my healing journey, I've been eager to rebuild my fitness.

So dropping a couple of pounds to get a tad leaner for the wedding became my goal.

Except, the first few weeks I didn't drop any weight.

Curious, I started tracking my nutrition more diligently.

Even though I was guessing that my 12 bananas for our family breakfast smoothie were around 1000 grams... I was wrong.

It was 400 grams more.

I was doing this for every meal.

No wonder I wasn't dropping any body fat (or weight).

I was eating at maintenance calories.

Shaking off the rust on my portion tracking tools and skills made me remember this quote:

'Most people underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how much they move'.

I was doing the same thing.

So, my solution was simple.

I flipped the quote on its head.

To get leaner, you need to eat less.

A deficit is a deficit is a deficit.

At the end of the day, dropping body fat comes down to this law of thermodynamics.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transferred.

So to drop body fat, you need to transfer energy out of the fat cells to use for your daily energy needs, and over time you'll get leaner.

Think of it as using your food storage in your pantry vs going out to get more food in the store.

Getting leaner means emptying your pantry instead of buying more food.

Empty the fat cells, use their energy, and get leaner.

At least, that's been a helpful analogy for me.

So I've dropped the few pounds I wanted.

I'm leaner. Still healing. And re-learned a few reminders about fat loss and dropping weight.

All set for the wedding.

(We're running a small private fitness challenge for 10 spots. Deadline to apply is tonight.

It's $27, but spots are application-only. Link in bio or message me 'ZH' for more details).

Want to get strong over 40?

It's simple, not easy.

To build muscle, several key processes work together.

The first is MPS, or muscle protein synthesis.

The second is leucine.

Lastly, using plants to maximize the benefits of the first (MPS).

So what is MPS?

Muscle building happens when muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown.

You'll need a reason to trigger MPS, and the two main reasons are:

- Resistance training (aka strength training)
- EAA's (essential amino acids)

Without a consistent and legitimate reason to hit your muscles each week, why would your body want to change?

Hitting the weights gives your body a reason to build muscle.

Building muscle connects directly to resistance training. This makes it an important topic to discuss.

As for the second reason, EAA's are the building blocks of protein. Protein consists of amino acids.

These building blocks help repair and rebuild our bodies after workouts and in daily life.

Mastering both is how you create sustainable muscle growth.

The basics always beat supplements.

(We're running a small private fitness challenge for 10 spots only. Deadline to apply is tomorrow, and we start Monday.

It's $27, but spots are application-only to make sure it's the right match/right time. Link in bio or message me 'ZH' for more details).

A simple way to create a fast deficit is to reduce your fat intake.

Carbs have, on average, 4 calories per 1 gram.

Protein is similar.

However, fats have an average of 9 calories per gram.

So it's more than twice the energy intake per gram of carb or protein.

In our fast-food culture, it's easy to eat too many calories if you don’t plan.

The solution here is simple: remove ultra-processed foods and focus on whole foods.

The better the quality of food, the more likely you'll be eating less fat.

We need healthy fats for hormones and organ health. But too much fat is what often leads to weight gain for many of us.

So, slicing back what doesn't need to be there can do wonders for your fat-loss progress.

Fat loss > weight loss.

The first aims to cut body fat, while the second drops fat and muscle tissue.

You don't just want to 'do weight loss diets'.

You want to drop body fat, stay lean, and retain muscle.

Stay lean for longer.

(We're running a small private fitness challenge for 10 spots only. Deadline to apply is August 28th, and we start the 31st.

It's $27, but spots are application-only to make sure it's the right match/right time. Link in bio or message me 'ZH' for more details).