More and more I’m starting to feel like myself again.

Getting settled. Finding a rhythm. Dialing in my time management, organization, and productivity.

Right now I’m doing a time study, which I first learned about from the book 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam.

It is the time-tracking equivalent of tracking your macros.

Most people never do it.

Which is why most people waste a massive amount of time or manage it poorly. Without data, you are flying blind.

If you feel overwhelmed, scattered, or like you “never have enough time,” do a time study.

Track everything for two weeks.

Here's how:

• Download Toggl​
• Log everything (sleep, eating, bathroom, brushing your teeth).
• Review the data after 2 weeks. It will blow your mind.
• Toggl gives categories, but you can also feed the raw logs into ChatGPT for deeper insights.

Pro Tip: Don't forget to record transitions between activities. A lot of time gets wasted here. Productivity rant over.

Let’s dive in. 🚀

🏋🏼‍♂️ Training: Weighted Lower Ab Reverse Crunch

If you want the deep, razor-sharp lower ab cuts — the ones everyone wants but very few have — you need one thing most people never do:

👉 Apply actual resistance or load to your lower abs.

Bodyweight leg raises are fine, but they come with two major limitations:

• The resistance is fixed. Sometimes it is too heavy, other times too light.
• You cannot progressively overload, which means your lower abs never actually develop.

Like every other muscle, if you do not increase the load over time, you will not develop the deep cuts you are chasing.

Enter the Weighted Lower Ab Reverse Crunch, which is the most effective and most overlooked lower ab exercise you can do.

It works on Tonal or on a regular cable machine, and it finally solves the real problem:

👉 You cannot get defined lower abs without mastering spinal flexion under load.

This is not a leg lift...

It is a controlled hip roll-up that keeps tension on your lower abs without shifting everything into your hip flexors.

Why this matters:​
🔥 Creates deep cuts & visible lower ab lines
💪 Builds full 6-pack, not just top 2-pack
🎯 Shifts emphasis from hip flexors to lower abs
📈 Lets you increase weight over time, which is the key to better definition

I recorded two videos so you can use it regardless of where you train:

1. ​Tonal Video Demo​
2. ​Cable Machine Video Demo​

​

🥗 Nutrition: How I Eat While Traveling (Whole Foods Hot Bar Strategy)

People love to complain about how “impossible” it is to eat healthy when traveling.

I don't buy that B.S. for a second. 😒

Here is how I handle lunch or even sometimes dinner on the road...

I go to Whole Foods and order their $13 hot bar plate. You get one protein and two sides. Easy. Fast. Quality. Zero excuses.

This is how you build a balanced plate every single time:

1. Pick a lean protein. Salmon or chicken breast are my favorites.
2. Pick one quality carb. Sweet potatoes are best, roasted potatoes next.
3. Pick one low-calorie vegetable. Green beans, broccoli, or kale salad.

The photo above is my exact meal:

• Grilled salmon
• Sweet potatoes
• Green beans

Simple. High protein. High volume. Low Calorie.

Great energy that keeps you feeling full for hours and no macro guessing games.

📊 Estimated Macros and Calories

🐟 Grilled Salmon: 6 oz (360 cal)
​🍠 Sweet Potatoes: 6–7 oz (180 cal)
​🥗 Green Beans: 5–6 oz (50 cal)

📊 Total: 590 Calories | 39g Protein | 50g Carbs | 25g Fat

⚖️ Macro Split: 27% Protein | 34% Carbs | 39% Fat

If I were logging this in a macro app, I’d tack on an extra 100–150 calories. As humans, we underestimate calories the same way we underestimate time.

(For more protein and fewer calories, swap salmon for chicken. For fewer carbs, swap sweet potatoes for another veggie.)

The Real Lesson

Most people are not struggling with lack of options. They are struggling with:

1. Mindset. If you think eating healthy while traveling is hard, your brain will prove you right.
2. Skills and habits. Knowing where to go, what to order, and how to build a plate is a skill set.

Fix the mindset and you will naturally find the tactics.

And if you want help with the tactics, educate yourself or hire a coach.

Shameless self-promotion: This is exactly what I help clients with every day.

For more information about our services, check out this resource about our coaching program.

🤔 Observation: The Strength Test Many Men Are Quietly Failing

My wife and I flew from Dallas to LA this week for an event at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

(low-key flex 😜)

While we were boarding, I watched a grown man struggle to lift his carry-on bag into the overhead bin.

He was overweight and clearly out of shape, not unlike most of America.

Now, let me be very clear.

This is not fat-shaming and I'm not mocking him.

There are absolutely medical conditions, injuries, disabilities, and exceptions that can make something like this difficult or impossible.

This is not about those situations. But what hit me was something deeper...

I felt a deep sense of sadness because what I saw is becoming the norm in America, not the exception.

Some uncomfortable truths:

• Over 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.
• Less than 1 in 4 adults lift weights twice a week.
• Heart disease remains the number one killer.
• Someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds.

And here's a sobering stat I recently read: fewer men can bench 225 lbs than have a net worth of ten million. 🤯

Which tells you everything you need to know about our priorities as a society.

We chase money like it’s everything, but neglect the one thing we can never replace: the one and only body we get and our health.

And here is where this gets interesting.

My wife, who strength trains multiple times per week, can put her suitcase in the overhead bin without hesitation.

Sure, I usually do it for her to be a gentleman… but she is more than capable.

Her checked bag, on the other hand?

Let’s just say loading that thing into the car is basically a near-max deadlift. I think I might have PR-ed last week when she went to NYC with our son.

So, here is the unpopular opinion I could not shake:

👉 An able-bodied adult man should have the basic physical strength to lift his carry-on bag into the overhead compartment.

Not to impress, earn a medal, or show off.

But because basic strength is part of being a capable, functional human being.

And now that I am a dad, this lands differently. I keep thinking about the example I want to set for my son.

I want him to grow up watching his dad move well, lift things, carry things, stay strong, and take responsibility for his health...

Just the way I watched my dad do these things.

Not out of vanity. Out of leadership.

One day he will imitate what I do, not what I say. And I refuse to model fragility or helplessness for him.

Strength is not just for the gym.
Strength is preparation for life.

If lifting a 25 to 30 pound object overhead is a struggle today, the rest of life will only get harder from here.

This is not judgment, it's a wake-up call.

Be strong for your future.
Be strong for your family.

Be strong because someone you love will one day need you to be.