This Week I Learned #86
“Go to bed smarter than when you woke up”
2020-01-20
Two chaps team up to build an underground pool with a slide and a house with nothing but pick-shovels and bamboo trees in a jungle. It’s 13 minutes that brings awe on what people are capable of. https://youtu.be/vjjshcZoQxw
2020-01-21
On the pursuit of designing my own strength training program, I re-listened to Pavel Tsatsouline’s interview with Joe Rogan again to pull out more learnings. Based on the empirical strength training data from Russia, the ideal weight intensities fall in the 75-80% range for the majority (following a normal distribution curve). The ideal rep ranges with such weight intensities seem to fall under 1/3 to 2/3 of the total amount you are capable of. So if you can only perform an exercise for 10 reps max, then doing it for 5 fits in the range. Given how strength tends to develop in the sub 5/6 rep range per set, doing 5 reps with 4 left in the tank (i.e RPE 6) and 4 reps with 3 left in the tank (i.e. RPE 7) can be how I can incorporate it this framework into the Reactive Training Systems model.
2020-01-22
"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." - Paulo Coelho
2020-01-23
Started reading a new book by Matt Ridley called The Rational Optimist. I’m still in the early quarter of the book. I thought about whether there would be a point to reading about optimism given I tend to optimistic in character. However, it’s been a holistic and ‘rational’ way of looking at global development and understanding how lucky we are, even those in developing countries, to be living in this part of human existence. It’s become the book I’d recommend to any cynic/skeptic/pessimist who’d argue that the world isn’t great because of poverty, climate change etc… based on nothing but raw feeling.
2020-01-24
Learned about the death of Clayton Christensen from cancer. Christensen was a famed author, entrepreneur and professor at Harvard Business School. Most people know him for his work on innovation like his book The Innovator’s Dilemma. For me, his book called How Will You Measure Your Life played a major role in my development as I’d read it multiple times and gifted it to friends. His lectures on business model were also valuable in growth as an investor. Such events act as another reminder that people who touch your life will pass. This makes life appear ridiculously short. This may also require one to put the ‘pedal to the metal’ on doing work that selfishly excites you but may help inspire others as a consequence.