Hey everyone,

in this post I want to talk about 3 habits that I wish I had started sooner. 

So the first one is exercising for longevity instead of bodybuilding. 

Now, I don’t have anything against bodybuilders. You do you. 

The reason I stopped training that way is because of my priorities. 

More specifically, I want to be & look healthy for the rest of my life. 

And training like a bodybuilder doesn’t lead to that. 

When I first got into the gym I was a teenager. 

So, wanting to get a girlfriend and also not knowing any better, I probably watched every fitness video on YouTube (especially the 10 min at-home ab workout ones lol). 

I then crafted probably the most regimented, excessive training program one could imagine. 

The result? 

After 2 years I looked no different than when I had started; in fact, I was worse-off than before.

The reason? 

I got injured multiple times. I broke both of my wrists, tore my ACL and suffered a number of other damages to my body. 

Of course, this prevented me from being able to stick to my hyper-optimized split; so I never saw meaningful results. 

I’m not saying that all bodybuilders are destined to get injured. 

But based on what happened to me, I was forced to change the way I train to accommodate my injuries and prevent them from happening again.

This meant: 

• reducing my volume in a given session 

• choosing low-risk exercises 

• focusing on compound movements 

• strengthening my joints 

• incorporating a lot more cardio

and overall training more like an athlete. 

And after having done this for the past 4 years, I have never looked or felt better in my entire life. 

I haven’t gotten injured. I’ve made great progress in the gym. I’ve made great progress in my two sports, which are basketball and boxing. 

I only need 20-30 minutes a day for my entire workout, and I really just enjoy the way I train. 

It’s so flexible, it works with my lifestyle, and it’s just fun. 

And when you enjoy doing something, you can stick to it for a really long time. I think that’s the most important aspect of really anything that you want to do in life: consistency. 

So in retrospect, I really wish I had started this sooner. 

If you’re interested in learning about my training philosophy, I made a post about it titled: “How I got jacked with 20 minutes a day” - so you can check that out if you’d like. 

The second habit

I wish I had started sooner is stretching and bullet-proofing my joints.

This is an extension to the previous habit I discussed, but I thought it deserved its own rant.

Now, I’m not that old, but the older I get, the more I value flexibility and mobility.

And I really think you can relate to this one. 

In fact, I can say with confidence that 99% of you are more stiff when you first wake up in the mornings now, than you were 10 years ago. 

And it makes sense; it’s like the second you turn 25 you start to feel the consequences of all of your actions. 

You didn’t warm up properly before exercising yesterday? 

Great, now you’re stiff for days. 

Oh, you got 4 hours of sleep last night? 

Now you can’t make it past noon without 3 cups of coffee. 

You can’t get away with anything after a certain point. 

And I honestly wish this had happened to me sooner; because then I would’ve started all of these quote unquote “grandpa” habits at a younger age.

Because the combination of improving my flexibility and bulletproofing my joints with specific strengthening exercises, like knees over toes, not only makes me feel and look better, but I’m also more confident.

Whether it’s when I’m in the gym, on the court or sparring, I’m more confident in my abilities and less afraid that I’m gonna suffer an injury. 

At the same time, I can also do things that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do if I didn’t intentionally work on my flexibility and joint-strength.

For example, boxing requires a lot of rotational movement and shoulder stability.

If I didn’t work on loosening my hip flexors and strengthening my rotator cuffs, I would not be able to generate the kind of force that I do when I strike. 

So nowadays, the very first thing I do in the mornings, after using the bathroom, is yoga; it takes 10 minutes. 

People might call me a grandpa,

but I do not care.

I feel fantastic after stretching in the mornings and I’ll continue to incorporate mobility-work into my training for the rest of my life. 

The third habit

I wish I had started sooner was practicing mindfulness 24/7. 

I cannot describe in words the amount of time I wasted when I was younger just living in my head.

Whether it was daydreaming, worrying about something I couldn’t control, getting frustrated about something I couldn’t undo, or any number of useless things that just manifested in my mind. 

That was time that I could’ve spent in much better ways, like pursuing my goals or making memories with people that I care about. 

And you might be thinking that I’m setting up a case for meditation. 

No, not at all.

In fact, I never sit down to meditate. 

Instead, the wallpaper on all of my devices is just white text on a black canvas, reminding me of my vision, my short-term goals, and to stay present. 

And given the work I do I’m on a device for pretty much the entire day, so whenever I see my wallpaper it instantly forces me to become aware of what I’m thinking at the time.

And if whatever’s going on in my head doesn’t serve me, I cut it out immediately. 

That’s all mindfulness is:

it’s a cycle of becoming aware of what you’re thinking, controlling what you choose to allow in your mind, getting distracted and then again becoming aware of what you’re thinking. 

And the more frequently you practice it, the easier it becomes. 

You’ll never be able to completely prevent unproductive thoughts from creeping up, but you can get really good at cutting them out very fast. 

After doing it for so long I’ve gotten to the point where an unproductive thought may creep into my mind less than 200 times a day, whereas 5 years ago it would’ve been around 20,000 times a day. 

And I’m not exaggerating that. You can search up the number of thoughts a person has in a given day - it’s around 60,000. 

And I was obsessive enough that 5 years ago I literally counted the number of times I had to snap out of imagining some stupid scenario in my head. 

I just did this for a day, because it was so difficult, and I counted something like 18,000 unproductive, downright harmful thoughts. 

Also 5 years ago,

you can tell that I had my mindfulness epiphany around this time, I read “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. 

And my biggest takeaway from the book was that all that exists is the present moment. 

The past is the series of present moments that you’ve already experienced, and the future is the series of present moments you’re yet to experience.

So really, all that truly exists is the moment you have right here, right now. That’s it.

Which means that there’s literally no point in you living in your head, getting dragged down by the past or pretending to already be in the future.

None of it’s real. 

And when I really let that sink in, it changed my entire perception of time, of life and made me take my mental health so much more seriously.

If you’re struggling with negative thought patterns, daydreaming, or anything of the sort, I genuinely, wholeheartedly believe that mindfulness is your solution.

It’s simple, it’s free, it’s really difficult sometimes, especially in the beginning, but it’s worth it.

And of all the things that I’ve talked about in this post, if I could only choose one thing for you to take away, it would be to get serious about practicing mindfulness, and taking care of your mental health.

Because when you do that, I promise you every other aspect of your life will fall into place.

So I hope that was valuable. 

If it was, I’d really appreciate you getting someone you know, who you think would like our content, to join our community.

As always: Take care of your health and it will take care of you!

Your Internet Siblings,

The Healthy Kangaroo Team ;)