Newsflash Brosefus, your body does not want to add more muscle, run faster, and get leaner all by itself.

This is not a motivational failure nor a mindset problem where you just need to biohack your way out or keep trying harder.

This is physiology at its most fundamental as your body is designed to survive above everything.

A massive part of this survival mechanism is homeostasis, your body's insane, around-the-clock commitment to holding its internal environment constant no matter what you throw at it.

For example, your temperature must stay at 97.9°F.

Blood pH between 7.34 and 7.45.

Blood glucose at roughly one teaspoon circulating at any given moment..

...which is genuinely wild when you think about it, because you can two large slurpees with no ice or fast for 24 hours, and that number barely moves in a healthy person.

CO2 and O2 in a ratio precise enough that small deviations in either direction change how your brain functions, how your muscles contract, and how fast you recover.

Your body is spending enormous energy 24/7 to hold all of this in place.

The key to any type of adaptation is to disrupt your body’s equilibrium just enough that it has to rebuild slightly more capable to survive the next time you do it.

Simple example. Bicep4Ever17 crawls out of his mom’s basement to enter the purple hallZ of PF to do some bicep curlZ of course.

Bro is wanted bigger pipe cleaners so he brutalizes them with preacher curls and Arnold curlZ cuz Arnold had big arms.

If we were to look inside his biceps post assault, we would see a mess of physiology complete with Z-line streaming and other disorientated structures.

Now when we look at those same bicep fibers again in 48 -72 hours, they would look nice and regular again and ever so slightly bigger.

Why?

Because his body saw the insult and repaired the fibers to be better able to handle that insult / stress next time by being just a bit better.

Now just apply that concept of stimulus and adaptation to your body as a whole.

And think of adaptation as the process of building back better as you get back to homeostasis ( baseline).

Over time and applying this concept across different physiology systems, you are physically better, stronger, more resilant and able to handle more stress, aka less fragile and even anti-fragile.

Again, fragile is not a personality type.

It's a narrow range of function from a life of too little of the correct stimulation.

And here's the part that took me years to fully systematize:

Your Rang (I use the term HDR – Human Dynamic Range) is very trainable.

This HDR — how far your body can handle going toward acid before it shuts down, how well it tolerates real cold or serious heat, how efficiently it accesses lactate and ketones as fuels, how long it can sit with rising CO2 before the drive to breathe becomes a full panic respons...

…All four of those directions are trainable.

All four have explicit mechanisms, documented adaptations, and protocols that actually work.

The downside is that they remain untouched by most coaches and athletes doing otherwise excellent work.

This is why the Physiologic Flexibility Certification was created.

To teach you how stress these systems for better results all while making you and your clients more resilient in the process.

Temperature regulation. pH tolerance. Fuel expansion via lactate and ketones. Breathing via O2/CO2 control.

Not four random biohacks duct-taped together.

Four sides of one framework, each with its own mechanism, its own spectrum from eustress to distress, and its own set of explicit action items.

The cert has 40+ of those action items, the technical deep dives on each pillar, the protocols, the progressions, and the integration model that shows how the four pillars talk to each other — because they do, in ways that make the whole thing considerably more powerful than the sum of its parts.

Check out the link below for the full details.

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details

Here's the full bonus stack when you enroll:

Fast action bonus — expires Wed April 23 at midnight PST: 1-hour private consulting call with me. $250 value at no cost.

Secondary bonus — expires Thurs April 24 at midnight PST: Pre-recorded Ask Me Anything series — 5 calls, 4.5 hours of content on programming, HRV, continuous glucose monitoring, aerobic training development, and more.

New Bonus! A 6-video series I spent nearly a year building exclusively for Dr. Andy Galpin and Dan Garner at Biomolecular Athlete. Never been publicly available. It is all on the science and application of red light therapy. Yours at no cost when you enroll.

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details

Tomorrow I go deep on temperature your gainZ. The mechanism is not what the internet GooRoos who barely read an abstract think.

Much love,

Dr. Mike

PS — "The Physiological Flexibility Certification is an amazing Level 2 to the Flex Diet Certification.

Dr. Mike takes all the sexy topics you find tossed around by various influencers on the interwebs and on podcasts, breaks down the science and removes all the BS to show you exactly what the practical takeaways are.

As a coach this leaves you free from having to decipher what is worthwhile and what is not, and gives you a set of actionable steps you can take with your clients that will help move them closer to their goals." — Ryan Baxter, coach, OCR athlete

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details

_____________________

Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

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