Ben’s 68 Lifestyle Tips for a Lean, Healthy, and Muscular Physique

1. Take 100% ownership for your body and your life.
2. Implement daily discipline into your life.
3. Drink 1 liter of water before eating anything in the morning.
4. Add sea salt to your meals (especially pre workout).
5. Floss your teeth first thing in the morning, and again before bed (yes it does matter).
6. A little bit of organic coffee or green tea in the morning before eating has great health benefits and can help mobilize fat to be burned.
7. Start your day with a walk outside. Ideally at sunrise.
8. Get sun on your face and full body when possible, every day (naked backyard antics encouraged).
9. Avoid carbs pre workout unless you’re under 10% body fat (18% for women).
10. Eat an easily digestible meal 2 hours pre-training.
11. Meditate daily to focus your mind and harness your power. Morning is best.
12. Create a Sympathetic/Parasympathetic input chart.  Balance them.
13. Training should be highly sympathetic. Everything else should be parasympathetic.
14. HRV (Heart Rate Variability) is your best objective predictive measure of performance.
15. Breathing is the most underrated and unknown performance enhancer.
16. Aim for 6 breaths per minute. (5in, 5out).
17. 1 gram of protein/lb lean body mass as a foundation.
18. Eat your protein first.
19. Use a great water filter that removes chlorine, plastics, and pharmaceuticals.
20. Minimize water with meals.
21. Drink way more water than you want.
22. Drink 1 liter of water before training.
23. Drink a minimum of 1 liter during training (add non bicarbonate electrolytes) and small amount of carbohydrate.
24. Training doesn’t burn a lot of calories for most people. You don’t need as many carbs as you think.
25. Earn your carbs. Hard training earns more carbs.
26. Divide your protein doses. Eat 30-50g of protein per meal.
27. Support larger amounts of protein with digestive enzymes, and HCL.
28. Apple cider vinegar before meals aids digestion and can help mitigate the negative effects of glyphosate. Just make sure to brush your teeth afterward.
29. Don’t microwave plastic or put hot food into plastic. (Ideally don’t use it at all).
30. High carb and low fat when training volume and frequency are high.
31. High fat and low carb when training volume and frequency are low.
32. Avoid plastic bottles whenever possible.
33. Minimize stimulants and coffee. Use alpha GPC, Tyrosine, Lions mane, and L-carnitine instead.
34. If your stress is high, don’t fast.
35. Meditate, breathe, get outside daily.
36. Connect with nature, get sunlight, and ground yourself.
37. Unplug one day per week.
38. Create a list of the things that bring you joy. Schedule them in your life.
39. Breath consciously, slowly and only through your nose.
40. Sit up straight.
41. Breathe through your nose when training.
42. Yoga will make you stronger.
43. Eat 60 minutes after training.
44. Liquid calories only within 60 minutes before, during and after training.
45. Take creatine daily. It’s not just for muscle building.
46. Take more calming supplements than stimulating ones. (Theanine, Reishi, Taurine, Magnesium, Ashwagandha, Fish Oil, Glycine).
47. Don’t overcook or overheat your food (especially fats and proteins).
48. There are no essential carbs. Only essential fats and amino acids.
49. Record everything you eat. You can’t change what you don’t track.
50. Record your workouts.
51. Control your light exposure after 6pm to optimize sleep. Dim the lights, turn them off, or wear blue blocking glasses. (Try my favorite brand, BLUBlox, and use the code MUSCLE for 15% off).
52. Optimize your sleep. Sleep is king. Light, food, temperature and environment have the greatest influence on sleep quality and quantity.
53. Most people are deficient in Magnesium and Zinc.
54. Electrolytes are the most underrated supplement for athletes. Use them daily.
55. You’re not training hard. Trust me. Train harder.
56. “Training hard” is measured by precision execution, with heavy loads, maintained over time to exploit your weaknesses and make them strengths. Most people miss the point and make excuses about why they don’t build muscle and lose fat.
57. Eat vegetables at every meal (except around the workout).
58. Supplement with Collagen or Glycine if you’re eating a lot of meat. (BUBS makes my favorite collagen – use the code INTELLIGENCE for 20% off!).
59. Take Methylation support. (B-complex or TMG).
60. Turn rest days, into parasympathetic days. Take them often.
61. Practice a calm mind and violent muscle contractions.
62. Whole foods win 100% of the time.
63. Wild meat and wild fish should be your primary source of protein. (I get my meat from Belcampo, discount code BPAK10, and my fish from Wild Alaskan – discount code ben).
64. Find the foods that work for your body. Lose dogma around food. Chicken and Broccoli DOES NOT do the same thing in my body as it does in yours.
65. If you’re not getting enough vegetables. (HINT: you’re not). Take a super greens supplement and something to support NO2 production (Nitric Oxide). ex/ Beet root, citrilline, etc.
66. You are not what you eat. You are what your body does with the food you eat. Digestion, Microbiome, Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Hormones, stress, DNA, light, all play into what happens with the food you eat.
67. Practice self-love. Unconditional acceptance of self and of others is vital for happiness. YOU ARE PERFECT. It’s all the false beliefs, inadequacies, and fears that create self-contempt and limiting beliefs.
68. Don’t ever be a victim. Choose your words. Choose your company. Choose your body. Choose your mindset. Create your life.

With strength and love, we will all thrive together!