10 Lessons from Engineering the Alpha Seminar – Part 2

Today we continue with Part 2 of the 10 lessons from the Engineering The Alpha seminar.

If you’re “bout it bout it” (in the famous words of Master P) then you have already read part 1 and you have taken notes, or bought the book, and are on your way to improving thyself.

I’m not going to give you much filler and go straight to the content.

What I will ask is whether you are actually taking action on any of it?

Only applied knowledge is power.

So do the damn thing!

#6. Supplements DO work!

Supplements just don’t work when everything else you’re doing sucks.

They supplement.

Getting your regular nutrition on point along with your lifestyle choices is key to make a turn around but that doesn’t discount that the right supplements can really help you get better results, most notably from helping recovery.

Here are some Alpha supplements that will guide you along the way (along with some of my own recommendations added):

Protein Powder

It helps you build muscle, lose fat, stay lean, keep full, and help you avoid binging on foods you should avoid (other than cheat days). There’s nothing magical about them but most people just don’t get enough protein in their diet so the magic happens when you actually take them. Nowadays many of them taste delicious and you can pretty much make them a dessert.

Research says that a blended powder that digests at different speeds so you make the most of the supplement is best.

Roman and Adam’s recommendation: BioTrust Low Carb, Trutein, Jay Robb

Luka’s recommendation: Biotest Low Carb Metabolic Drive, Vigor Fuel Enhance (as soon as we get it)

Greens Drink

For the longest it was said everyone should take a multivitamin and I agreed. The rules have changed though. The problem lies that your body doesn’t absorb most of the nutrients and can’t take advantage of most of the vitamins and minerals. In a greens supplement all the nutrients come from fruits and vegetables making it more natural for the body to absorb. It helps you boost your overall health, improve immune system, protect your digestive system (since the good greens drinks have probiotic enzymes), and help you ninja kick various diseases.

Unfortunately multivitamins can’t do that so it’s an easy pick.

Roman and Adam’s recommendation: Athletic Greens, Greens +, VegeGreens

Luka’s recommendation: the same

Fish Oil

Well, let’s see. It has been proven that fish oil helps with:

• Less inflammation
• Improved recovery from exercise
• Less body fat
• More muscle
• Better looking skin
• Higher sex drive
• Better brain functioning
• Less disease

Good enough?

Pick it up, enough said.

Roman and Adam’s recommendation: Athletic Greens Omega3, Nordic Naturals

Luka’s recommendation: the same + Biotest Flameout

Vitamin D

Men don’t get enough sunlight; especially men from Washington State. Studies show that over 40 percent of men are deficient in vitamin D. Since the sun provides your body with vitamin D and you may not have access to more of it, supplementing is essential.

Not only have low levels been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and depression, but it has also been shown that people with higher levels of vitamin D also have lower levels of body fat. This happens because vitamin D makes you feel fuller as it helps release more of the hormone leptin and it also helps you store less fat by decreasing parathyroid hormone (which makes you hold on to fat). Last but not least, vitamin D helps burn more fat by reducing the production of cortisol.

Roman and Adam’s recommendations: Athletic Greens D3, Nature Made D3

Luka’s recommendations: the same

Other recommendations:

Vitamin C: Everyone has heard of this one off course. Here is the deal, beyond helping with keeping the immune system boosted, it has been shown that taking 2 grams of vitamin C post workout lowers cortisol and increases testosterone within 3 weeks. This is part of what I take every night now (since I train late).

ZMA: This is a combination of Zinc and Magnesium, which men are deficient in both. They help with testosterone production and influence IGF-1 too (insulin like growth factor….let’s just say its something good for you).
From my personal experience as well as others that take it, ZMA will help you sleep better and deeper. Some of my clients sleep through their alarms the first time they take it so just a word of caution.

Rhodiola: Is an adaptogen and it helps the body adapt to and resist physical, chemical, and environmental stress. It stimulates the nervous system, improves depression, enhances work performance, improves sleep, and eliminates fatigue. Even if only 10% of that were true its worth taking.

Milk Thistle: Has been proven to help with liver function and has anti-inflammatory properties. Anything that helps with liver function is good to go in my book.

Creatine: Probably the most researched supplement ever; that works. It has been long proven that creatine increases muscular endurance and strength but lately studies have also shown that it gives a boost to working memory as well as general intelligence. Alphas are strong and intelligent so it’s on the list.

The right supplements can help significantly and you’ll notice that most of them have something to do with hormones and/or recovery, which is key.

Supplements are made of what is in our food most of the time, which brings me to…

...every piece of food and drink we put into our mouth influences our internal environment and just taking supplements won’t do much if anything for you if you eat crap and don’t pay attention to that part of the equation which is the most important!

#7. Sleep or die!

Ok, maybe not die, but here’s a list of things associated with lack of sleep:

• More fat
• More hunger
• Smaller muscles
• More irritability
• Higher stress
• Earlier death.

Well I take it back; you will die (earlier) if you don’t sleep.

No Sleep

Sleep

On a serious note this is a big issue with most guys and it was a big reminder for me since I don’t get nearly enough sleep.

Even though I handle it much better than most, it has me thinking about how much I could get done and how much my training would improve if I did get over 6 hours of sleep a night (unfortunately I average quite a bit less than that).

QUICK FACTS: While there are numerous studies that show a link between poor sleep and diseases such as hypertension and diabetes – as well as shorter life span – this study focused on problems that sleep causes in your day-to-day life. After reviewing ten thousand people’s behaviors and tendencies there is a very clear connection: lack of sleep ruins your ability to function, from trouble concentrating, remembering information, driving, taking care of your finances, and performing your job at a high level. And those were just the top 5 problems.

This may not be shocking but what’s important to know is how fast you can change how you feel. 30% of adults sleep less than 6 hours per night, who were the ones with the highest percentage of problems. Those who slept more than 8 hours per night didn’t even rate their problems as statistically significant!

Apart from getting more sleep, what’s even more important is the quality of the sleep you get (this is good on my end…)

That’s where GH (growth hormone) and the power of insulin come into play. Increasing GH can make sleep more restful even when you don’t get as much sleep every night. Most importantly, with more GH and better sleep quality you will lower cortisol , which offsets the damage caused by fewer hours of rest.

I’ll write a little about cortisol in a little because it’s important to know, you feel me?

Back on track...

High cortisol messes with sleep, as in sleeping like crap and waking up feeling like you got beat up and your brain was half way erased. Ever feel like that? Often?

The thing is it becomes a vicious cycle because poor or no sleep means elevated cortisol and elevated cortisol means your sleep won’t get any better. What’s scary about it too is that high cortisol will drop your testosterone (up to 15%), which is anti-Alpha! The drops are seen most significantly in the afternoon and evening when you need it for training and _______________ (fill in the blank).

Saying you don’t have time to get more sleep is bullshit! I actually call bullshit on my own behaviors right now and I’m glad I got called out some.

I’m not going to say I’ll be getting over 8 hours and I’m not saying you need to as well. What if you added an hour or maybe even two and made that sleep much higher quality though?

Cut out the TV and don’t watch an extra series of The Walking Dead and don’t check Facebook (again and again) and you’ll gain at least an hour.

Watch less of it at night and you’ll end up looking less and less like them in the morning

To make your sleep better quality, do the following:

• Follow all the other points in the part 1 and part 2 as they all help regulate insulin and increase GH (insulin reset, intermittent fasting, MRT and lactic acid training, supplementation)
• An hour or more before you go to sleep, don’t be around screens such as TV’s, computers, tablets, etc. as the light will throw of your sleep patterns
• Try to have complete darkness in the room
• Read a fictional book (real book, not Kindle or a tablet) before falling asleep as it doesn’t make you think like business, technician or self development books do
• Write out the next day’s “to do’s” so they are not on your mind when you go to bed!
• Take an ice-cold dip. I know it sounds a little out there but the lower your core temperature the better and deeper your sleep will be. I go to the Russian Bath House in Seattle and do hot sauna/cold plunge pool once a week. The other way you can do it, which works for me, is taking a hot shower and then stepping out and drying naturally (no towel, just wait to dry). This will get you cool and put you out!
• You could also make your room colder and counter the above step...
• Take some ZMA before bed (make sure you have a strong alarm to wake, maybe a slight slap in the face)
• Set your alarm to wake you up in a 45 minute increment since that is how your sleep cycles run and you will wake up more refreshed.
• No caffeine after 2pm!
• This one is going to be “DUH!”…Get a great mattress and a great pillow. You spend a third of your life sleeping (ok, maybe a fifth) so don’t skimp on it. I will admit I have been horrible when it comes to this and I’m finally getting a good bed Sleep Number style.
• Keep a regular sleep schedule. Ever notice how you can go out late and not have one sip of alcohol yet feel just as hung over the next day? If you want to be a great sleeper you've gotta go to bed and get up at the same time every single day(this is a work in progress for me too!)

If you don’t take anything else away from this post, let it be the fact that more (and better) sleep will significantly help you with looking, feeling and thinking better.

#8. Sex is great but these days...

Sex is great.

It’s healthy.

If I’m making anyone feel uncomfortable then, well, I’m not sorry. This is an Alpha post so you should expect some sex talk.

This is serious so it should be said.

Here’s the sad truth; there’s a nation of guys with beautiful girlfriends or wives and should be having sex, end up falling asleep in front of the TV, or lying in bed staring at the ceiling, waiting for their partner to doze off.

That is not normal. Or should I say for some it has become normal when it’s not!

Declining sex drive is a direct effect of lower testosterone and it’s not normal (did I say that again?). It’s not ok. It is in term a very obvious “not so friendly “ a reminder that you need to make a change – you’re a man damn it!

Some may say its natural and comes with age. This is only true to some extent but here’s the deal:

#1. This is not only happening to middle age men but rather guys out of college in their early and mid-twenties (yes, guys out of college not wanting sex!)

#2. New research shows that declining testosterone is not as much a result of aging as we thought, but is actually the result of your health and your body fat.

NOTE: We need to tell doctors this as the answer to lower T is usually “aging” when its really health related behaviors and health status itself.

So those excuses are out the window.

Here’s the thing; less sex is more stress. More stress means less sex. Do you see a similar pattern here as the one we saw with sleep?

Everything influences everything.

Sleep deprivation and lack of quality sleep, poor food choices, stress, lack of training, behavioral choices, all of them influence sex drive.

Cortisol goes up, testosterone goes down, and your body’s main sex hormone (gonadotropin-releasing-hormone, or GnHR) gets inhibited. The last one is as serious as it sounds as it not only lowers your drive for sexual activity but it also weakens your sperm count and makes it a lot harder to reproduce (the statistics on “healthy” men having trouble reproducing are not only significant, but scary).

Luka loves the kids. So I can’t let all that doom and gloom happen!

Which is why I’m not going to write all that and not help out though. Remember, fixing your hormones is the key to fixing your life.

This should elicit a certain response, if it doesn’t we have an issue!

There are so many implications to make this change that it’s honestly hard to write about all of them. An extremely important one that plagues men (and women just as much) and is “missed” in the conversation is - self-esteem/confidence.

So that I don’t keep giving you the “you’re possibly messed up speech”, I’m going to write eleven ways that you can boost your sex drive (courtesy of Roman and Adam):

Lose your gut. People who don’t like they way they look have less sex. This is proven. When you don’t feel attractive it creates stress and lowers sex drive. It’s also proven that themore fat you carry the lower your testosterone level is; the same genes that control testosterone control your fat level. Fat levels also increase estrogen levels, which means bye-bye to your sex life.

Lift heavy weights. Lifting weights won’t only change the way you look and feel it WILL improve your sex life. Not might or maybe. Lifting weights increases both GH and testosterone big-time. Researchers show that lifting weights (real weight, like barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells,...) can boost testosterone up to 49%, and the increase is directly related to sexual virility. It’s also proven that aging doesn’t reduce testosterone that much but rather behaviors such as obesity, low activity, smoking, etc.

Eat more fat. You need fat to lose fat. You need fat to build muscle. And yes, you also need fat to have awesome sex. Fat plays an important role in regulating all your sex hormones.

British scientists discovered that that having productive, fertile sperm depends on polyunsaturated fats, which you can receive from fatty fish (like salmon or trout) or fish oil supplements. Those same fats promote good circulation and blood flow, something you kind of need for good sexual function. Quick warning though, stay away from trans fats; nothing good comes from them!

Eat Less Soy. That’s a nice way to put it. Just stop eating soy would be even better! Soy is not good for men and that is not just my “opinion”, it’s what some pretty smart folks at Harvard figured out (strong relationship between poor sperm quality and erectile dysfunction and the amount of soy in a man’s diet).

Be aware of cutting soy as it’s hiding in a lot of products, especially protein bars and powders.Check the labels next time so that you can keep your manliness in check!

Be a strategic drinker (In other words: Drink less beer). Strategically drinking with your cheat meals is fine and encouraged in the Alpha diet (this is why I love it and you need to get the book to see how it is implemented). But we want to be weary of alcohol because it drops testosterone levels as much as ten percent and that is huge downer (literally) for your sex drive. The impact of alcohol is not “long term” but manifests itself in weeks! So be strategic with the alcohol and lay off the beer some.

Set your alarm and hour earlier (or maybe a bit less). Your testosterone peaks in the morning so it’s beneficial to have sex in the morning (for more than one person) as it gives you a surge of testosterone. Having sex when you’re primed to do so is good and I won’t apologize for saying it damn it! Most people don’t have morning sex because they don’t feel they have time and don’t at night because they’re tired and ready to sleep...so set the alarm a bit earlier and make it happen.

Eat less sugar (or time it right). Everything in moderation doesn’t work for this one. I recommend you leave the typical bad sugars for the cheat day and group all that “moderation” into that day (even better if its after training on that day). Sugars are not great for your health and make you fat, but they also wreck havoc on your sexual health (studies show that healthier blood levels improve your sexual health). The main reason for this havoc is the fact that sugar plays a dangerous role with insulin. Too much of it increases insulin resistance, which we mentioned before does a lot of “unmanly” things to us but also impairs blood flow. Don’t stress about fruits as much, instead watch out for the hidden sugars in packaged foods, and be wary of taking too much dried fruit or juice.

Watch less porn. This seemed to come off funny to many at first, but it’s not at all. If this becomes a frequent hobby it has been shown that it makes neurochemical changes that kill your ability to become aroused. The “culprit” behind this is dopamine, the neurotransmitter that influences your ability to feel and experience pleasure. When you watch porn it triggers a strong dopamine reaction. This is a good thing. It can become bad when you get a repeated surge from watching porn and, like with any drug, you desensitize your ability to become aroused by sex and pleasurable experiences.

Too much porn can literally mess up your ability to form intimate relationships and regular sex will no longer be enjoyable. Enough said? I think so.

Check your prescription meds. This is real and something that I have personally dealt with when it comes to some clients in the last few years. Depression is one of the biggest hurdles for sexual satisfaction. Some of the most effective meds are selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), which increase serotonin, a feel good transmitter. You end up feeling better but the SSRI’s have been show to inhibit your ability to orgasm. This makes you feel bad and makes you more depressed.

There’s no simple fix here; you may have to play around with a lower dose to see if there are improvements without the downside and possibly take another route, experiment on a personal level.

Get More Sleep. You can check the above point to get all the benefits. Less testosterone, less sex-drive. Get at least 6 hours; quality hours.

Take more vacations. Much of this two-piece article has been focused on how we all need to lower our stress levels because they are detrimental to our hormones and in this point, our sex drive. I have no illusions that we can be stress free like that and it’s a work in progress. So as you’re working on it, make it easier on yourself and take vacations.

A nine-year stuffy found that vacations are one of the best stress relievers. Men who take vacations have lower levels of cortisol and are 30% less likely to die from heart disease.

It’s not about the length of the vacations but rather the frequency. We know vacations are a luxury, but a getaway can happen in many forms; camping, kayaking, hiking, or spend a night somewhere different and relaxing (even a tent). The idea is to unplug, get away, and include some form of exercise (if you do sprints and pull ups more power to you!). Go with your friends and enjoy a weekend, you’ll be surprised at how big of a difference it makes.

Weekend getaways that are close can completely relax you

There’s nothing better than training outside on vacation, double serotonin boost!

#9. Take control and just be happy.

Take a moment and think about the last time you were happy. I’m not talking about the moments where you were happy (a laugh and a smile) but rather a permanent state of being; content with yourself and the world you live in.

I know this may sound like something that is reserved for sleep, your dreams, but even though stress and frustration are inevitable, you can still have a feeling of control and be happy inside.

Happiness is a byproduct of creating more control in your life. This is far from a world where you’re in a “bubble” and every decision and person is a puppet to create a safe environment. It’s all about using your newfound confidence to create more comfort in your universe, which helps you lower stress and stop worrying about everything that damages your happiness.

Once you start taking control regularly, you no longer have time to focus on things you can’t control. When it becomes a habit making sure you have your umbrella, you stop worrying if it’s going to rain (I hope you see that this is an analogy and you don’t think the key to happiness is carrying and umbrella).

This clears your mind. And clarity with decisions helps you make better decisions. You get more laser-focused and you will be in the “flow” (being in the “flow” has proven to make people happy…more about the flow another time).

Success is a habit (check out a great book on habit called “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. Get in the habit of trusting your decisions and you will make better, clearer decisions.

It’s simple, not easy.

The million-dollar question, where do I start?

This may be bias because the vehicle in which I drive change through clients is fitness (I know this is general and we do more, but for the point at hand), and the same goes for Roman and Adam, but getting into the gym and influencing your transformation (performance even more so than just body composition) is one of the first things you should and can do to affect your life directly.

“Huh, where are you going with this Luka?!”

Glad you asked.

Might sound shallow and superficial but in the gym you are in control. And the more control you feel, the happier you feel.

It doesn’t even matter where you start, what you look like and what you’re doing, but you have control of whether you do work, how you eat and the choices you make; you have the power to turn your body into what you want it to be.
Even if someone else is guiding you, you’re still the one taking action on it and making that choice. You’re lifting the weight, you’re eating the food, you’re being productive and not busy.

YOU!

And at the end you turn into the hero with your own success.

Start with the steps from here, buy the book, and seek out a trainer, mentor, whatever you need to do to get going.

GO!

“There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength” – Henry Rollins

#10. Get better (compared to who?)

This will be short but sweet and very important.

Stop comparing yourself to others.

Be better tomorrow than you were today - relative to yourself.

Constantly comparing yourself to others is a sure way to be unhappy. Having someone be an inspiration is great. But comparing yourself to them and being down because you are not where they are, is a road to a “sad face.”

Be you. Get better. Become your own hero.

Conclusion

There were many more lessons from the seminar and the book but I wanted to touch on things that you could use right away and may inspire you to dig deeper, whether that means getting the book, searching for some more information on a subject, just applying it right away, or even finding someone to coach you through the process.

Knowledge is power, but only when applied.

You can inch away on this journey and work on one thing at a time. As long as you are moving forward you’re on the right track.

If many of these points overwhelm you then just start with one that you feel like you can do and start doing it.

There is a call, a call to action.

Are you going to answer it?

I know for some of you the time is right now.

P.S. I will cover certain lessons in a separate article, as they need their own space (things such as mindset, habit change and thoughts on intermittent fasting for women, etc.). Let me know which one’s interest you the most so I get that out to you first.

One thing that I cannot leave before being done that I learned…..

“Rich Froning is made out of steel and Jesus!” - Roman