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Hi Everyone,
Welcome to another edition of Life Ingredients, the newsletter where I share a workout, a healthy recipe, and a piece of motivational advice.
I like to train before I eat a big meal—spent muscles are great at sopping up those calories and putting them to good use—so that’s how we’re gonna kick things off.
Let’s get to work!
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A good life is all about finding balance. That’s true when it comes to strengthening your muscles, as well. To wit, you always want to push as much as you pull, with the two best exercises for each of those basic movements of course being the pushup and the pullup.
Cue the excuses! Come on, hit me with ‘em. I’ve heard it all.
“But Robert, I can’t do pull ups because I’ve gained some weight,” or “You don’t understand, Robert. I haven’t done pushups since I was a teenager. I can’t even get down the floor right now, never mind push myself back up.”
Luckily (or unluckily) for you, we’ve got away around, over, and through every single excuse you could dream up. This brilliant progression—starting with the easiest version of each exercise and slowly working toward the real deal—was designed by my trainer Steve Wrona, and in the video here, he shows you exactly how to do each version, so that you can build an upper body that will have you holding your head up high well into old age.
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PUSH UP & PULL UP PROGRESSIONS
Push up
1. Incline Push up
2. Negative Push ups
3. Push ups
4. Weighted Push up or Deficit Push up
Pull ups
1. Rack Pull ups
2. Band Assisted Pull ups
3. Negative Pull ups
4. Neutral Grip Pull ups
5. Pull ups
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It’s cold out there. Especially if you live in the north, but even if you live in the south, it’s been a particularly bitter winter. When it gets like that outside, I want food that sticks to my ribs, not my gut. Soup is a nice starter, but a stew is a meal, and that’s what I’ve got for you this month: a beef stew that’s hearty, nutritious, and totally fuss-free. Nothing fancy for the sake of fancy. Just healthy food that’ll fill you up and keep you warm.
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LUMBERJACK BEEF STEW
SERVES 8 – Cut recipe in half or freeze extra.
YOU’LL NEED
4 tbsp grapeseed oil
4 lbs beef stew meat trimmed and cut into 1” cubes and dusted in flour
3 carrots, peeled and large diced
1 white onion, peeled and large diced
4 ribs celery, large diced
2 rutabaga, peeled and large diced
6 cloves garlic, thin sliced
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
¼ cup tomato paste
1 cup red wine
2 qts chicken stock
2 qts beef stock
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
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MAKE IT
1) Season the cut beef stew meat with salt and pepper.
2) Place a large Dutch oven or large stock pot on the stove top over medium-high heat, add the grapeseed oil and cut flour-dusted beef stew meat. Stir and sear the meat for 5 minutes and allow to get a golden-brown color.
3) Next, add the carrots, onions, celery and rutabaga. Stir and allow to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes to allow vegetables to slightly brown.
4) Add garlic, paprika, onion powder, fresh thyme and fresh rosemary. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
5) Add the tomato paste, stir and deglaze the sauce pot with the red wine, reduce for 2 minutes, and add chicken stock and beef stock. Stir well and allow the stew to simmer on low heat for approximately 1 hour or until meat is tender. Season the finished stew with salt and pepper, to taste.
6) Ladle a portion of the stew in the serving bowls and garnish with the fresh chopped parsley and serve.
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I’ve heard this story called a few things. I’m going with “Maybe” because that’s the version I like best, though I’ve also heard it called “Good Luck, Bad Luck.” Anyway, it’s a little parable that goes like this:
When an old farmer’s horse ran away, his neighbors came to console him. “Such bad luck,” they told him. “Maybe,” the farmer said.
But when the horse returned the next morning, bringing three wild horses home with it, the same neighbors congratulated him. “Such wonderful luck,” they said. “Maybe,” replied the farmer.
The following day, when his son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg, again the neighbors were on the scene to sympathize with this terrible misfortune. “Maybe,” said the farmer.
The day after that, the army came into the man’s village to draft young men into the war effort. Seeing the farmer’s son laid up with a broken leg, they passed him by. The neighbors were relieved for the farmer, congratulating him once again on this stroke of good luck.
The farmer’s only reply: “Maybe.”
This is a longer version of what Gandalf tries to teach Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring when he says, “Even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
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We have no idea what’s around the corner. And with the birth of AI, and geopolitical realignment upending everything we thought we knew about the world and how it works, well, you’d be excused for worrying a bit about how it’s all going to turn out.
I can’t tell you everything is going to be OK. But, since we always stress in this newsletter the importance of mental health, I want you to remember the story of “Maybe”. Events that seem great at the time often have a way of turning out much different down the road. Ditto events that seem terrible. The universe has a way of balancing the scales over time. To get too high or too low in reaction to the news of the day? That way lies madness. Be like the farmer. You’ll be much happier.
Well, maybe.
Either way, be sure to remember the words I live by:
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.
Until next time,
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