Category: The science of change

3 problems with modern science

conorkelLeave a comment

Lately, phrases like *research has proven*, or *studies show* get tossed around with less consideration than sucker punches in baseball.

No doubt, we’re children of the scientific age.

And for all its merits, there are a few noteworthy problems facing modern science that should give us pause before accepting the gospel of the white coats.

Have a gander…

1. Lack of reproducibility.  Because careers are built on, and money flows toward new research, there tends not to be a whole lotta checking on previous research for its validity.

Few scientists want to invest time and money refuting someone else’s study.

But if a study’s conclusions are legit, you should be able to recreate them.  In one instance, staff at a drug company tried to reproduce the results of 53 high-profile cancer research papers and discovered that only 6 lived up to their original claims.

The problem is gaining attention…but for now me thinks a bit of skepticism at early scientific reports is kosher.

2.  Outcome switching.  This bit of scientific trickery allows the dishonest researcher to farm data pools to more or less prove whatever he wants.  How does it work?  You start your study with the stated intention of measuring one thing (or several), and half way through when those measures aren’t holding up, you switch to new ones.

Do this with big enough sources of data, and you can end up with random correlations that appear statistically significant.  Then you present the quietly improvised and more compliant measures as though they were the focus all along.

Big pharma’s already been fined billions by regulators for this crafty little gambit.

A group of researchers called COMPare analyzed clinical trials in five leading scientific publications – a total of 67 – and found 58 of them had produced 357 outcomes not specified at their inception.  Not all are deliberate attempts to mislead.  But some are illusions that would make Criss Angel nod in respect.

3.  How it’s reported.  A couple of recent headlines set my spidey senses a tinglin’.  One was from the Toronto Star, *Just 60 seconds of intense exercise can boost your fitness level*.  The study compared 10 minutes of interval training with 45 minutes of traditional cardio for its effects on V02 max.  Which is fine, but your V-max is one narrow aspect of your fitness.  Even the study’s author said that *60 seconds is all you need* wasn’t the right conclusion to draw, contrary to what the article’s headline implies.

The second was a press release entitled, *Exercise, more than diet, key to preventing obesity*.  For starters, it wasn’t an even an obesity study.  It examined metabolic indicators in rats to determine the impact of exercise on metabolism – independently of weight loss.

See what I’m getting at?

Of course there’s an art to writing headlines that seduce people away from other stuff they could be doing online, like watching videos of parliamentary tussles, or googling the word *syncopated*.

My point is to read these things critically, and take their claims with a cubic foot of salt.

There’s a lot of great science currently being conducted by some brilliant scientists.

Just don’t take the *plunge* with fat-burning sea water suppositories because they’re *proven by research*.

Besides, I don’t believe in conspiracies, but I’m pretty sure aliens are behind all this…

Happy Doubting,

Conor Kelly

P.S. Free yourself from the hypnosis of confusion the media perpetuates.  Call (416) 826-4844 right now for your complimentary personal training consultation, and get the *skinny* on what works for better fitting clothes, and a fitter body.

Do this one thing and change your life

conorkelLeave a comment

When I first started working out at age 16, it changed everything.

At 120-pounds bodyweight, I hated being small, and made it my mission to build muscle.

I was most insecure about my stick legs…even refused to wear shorts in public.  Instead, I relied on pants to conceal my secret shame.

I’d hammer my quads with leg extensions, lunges, and leg presses, and shred my hamstrings with leg curls and deadlifts.  I could see ripples and lines emerging, but my thighs didn’t grow in circumference.

I’d read an article by a pro bodybuilder in one of the glossies about how the leg press is all you need to build your legs, and you shouldn’t do barbell squats because they’re for powerlifters, they’ll make your butt big, yada yada yada.

And I used it to justify not doing squats.

But in truth barbell squats are hard.  I hated them.  So I avoided them.

That’s until I learned about how the body responds to lifting weights, and the scale of neuromuscular activation.  You see, when you look at what really causes muscle growth, the barbell squat ticks all the boxes.

Suddenly, I realized how foolish I’d been.  I was killing myself trying to beef up my legs by doing everything BUT the one lift that mattered most.

So I chained myself to the squat rack and worshiped at the altar of the almighty king of exercises.  I did high reps with lung-bursting intensity, and low reps with as much weight as I could handle while leaping into the abyss of a deep squat.

My legs grew.

Before too long, my quads, hamstrings, and glutes had expanded to the point that my various strategic leg coverings didn’t fit.  And indeed it was a proud day when I finally unveiled the new pillars by wearing – ready for this? – shorts.

My point is not to argue for why you should do barbell squats, nor highlight how great I look in shorts these days (I do, you know.)

It’s that I’ve noticed most people have a thing – kinda like I used to have with squats.

A thing which, out of fear or reluctance or sheer habit, they’re either unwilling to do, or simply don’t do.

And it’s usually this very same thing can catapult them to the next level of their pursuits if they could just bring themselves to embrace it.

*Forgoing alcohol
*Preparing meals
*Quitting smoking
*Giving up the evening oral fixation
*Doing cardio
*Letting go of obsessively weighing themselves
*Drinking water
*Keeping a nutrition journal

These are just a few common ones.

Feel free to substitute your own for the sake of the lesson.

Sometimes a person is merely unaware of how it’s affecting them.  But most often, they know what their thing is on some level, and accept it.  Even defend it.  They build complex rationalizations around it, and share their story with anyone who’ll listen.

And it keeps them mired in mediocrity for months, years, decades – or lifetimes.

Unfortunately, the only way to slay the Ogre terrorizing your cattle and turning their milk sour is to sharpen your axe and take a few swings.

That means you gotta do the thing.

Like you’re possessed.

And years later, while you’re enjoying the feeling of a cool breeze stroking the skin of your lower extremities, you can look back and laugh about the time you wore jeans by the pool in 36-degree heat.

Happy Squatting,

Conor Kelly

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The Biggest Loser Rule

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For years, America’s ‘heavyweights’ have duked it out in reality TV’s equivalent of a science experiment gone drastically wrong.

The Biggest Loser pits obese men and women against each other in a battle of who can lose most absurd amount of weight.

Aside from airing some oversized dirty laundry, contestants are subjected to an intense regime.

First, they’re whisked away from their families and made to share a house with a bunch of strangers.  Then they’re put on an extremely strict, calorie-controlled diet.  Finally, they’re abused in all sorts of ways by well-meaning trainers with a penchant for theatrics.  All the while, the carrot of a 250K grand prize is dangled in front of their pale, mouth-breathing faces.

This ritual continues for weeks, with routine weigh-ins and the obligatory emotional breakdowns.

The only thing about the process that’s not extreme is the rate at which the losers regain the weight after the final episode wraps.  In fact, it mirrors exactly what happens to most people who attempt to lose weight in the privacy of their own homes.

Why do participants fight so hard to stay on the show?

Partly because they know what happens after they go home.

Between the stresses of daily living and the familiarity of their surroundings – with all its long-standing triggers and relationships – there’s room for their addictions and bad habits to take root all over again.

Almost nobody survives this test.

Thus is the power of ENVIRONMENT, and why it precedes behavior.

Think of it this way…

If you’ve got fifty pounds to lose in the first place, it’s because you live in a fifty-pounds-to-lose house or apartment, and are conditioned by fifty-pounds-to-lose patterns.

How would your surroundings look if you’d already lost the weight?

A shilling says, if you merely opened your fridge, you could cherry pick the obvious differences.

When you change…your environment changes.

Alcoholics who are serious about their recovery don’t hang out in bars.  Nor do they keep bottles of vodka in their cupboards – at least not at first.  They purge their surroundings of alcohol until their recovery has had the chance cement itself.  They form new, supportive relationships (e.g. go to AA meetings), and shun those connected with their substance abuse.  And while their sobriety can be fragile at times, their commitment is measured by the kind of external changes they implement.

Similarly, when it comes to weight loss, how you organize yourself is more important than how much willpower you have.

The Biggest Loser proves that.

The reason such stratospheric weight loss is possible, is the same reason it doesn’t last.

Of course, the show’s kinda like the Siberia of weight loss programs.

The good news is you can borrow its trademark success secret without turning your life into a prison camp.

I’ll show you how at my Lean For Life talk on May 17th in Liberty Village:

=>Click here to register & save your spot.

Auto-pilot is a strong word…but you too can achieve your goals with greater certainty – and staying power – when you embrace this simple rule of human behavior.

Happy Losing,

Conor Kelly

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The ravages of low testosterone

conorkelLeave a comment

Today, a topic that’s near and dear to my heart…

El Testosteron-e.

Did you know testosterone is the primary hormone responsible not only for libido (in both men and women) but is also essential to normal emotions of self-confidence, friendliness, affection, and joy?

You got it, Esse…if your Test languishes, it can make you straight loco.

And we’re in the midst of a testosterone crisis.

In the U.S. alone it’s estimated that 1 in 4 men are completely impotent.  That’s a twofold increase in the last half-century!  And it’s a doomsday for our *swimmers*.  If sperm counts continue to dry up at the current rate, within three generations we’ll no longer be able to reproduce as a species.

In women, the effects are just as tangible.  Clinics in both Europe and North America report that roughly half of all women suffer from low libido.

But the decline in sexy time, and the desert of infertility are only the start of our problems.

This testosterone shortage is slowly turning us into a society of wimps, barely capable of courage, leadership – even love.

We’re being chemically neutered.

Driven to depression and lethargy.

What’s causing it?

A nasty cocktail of unnecessary surgeries, prescription medications, pollutants, and industrially manufactured food that’s not much more than a distant echo of the nutritious fare we evolved on.

But uno momentito, here’s the good news…

We can sober up from this dreary, sexless haze with a few smart lifestyle changes.

One of them happens to be my specialty.

Losing bodyfat.

Yes my friend, adipose tissue (as I like to call it when I’m being fancy) houses an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen – causing your t-levels to tank.  With less bodyfat, you’re more likely to have a healthy balance of both, and live a happier, more confident, and let’s not forget sexier life.

Mm hm…Si.  Es muy bueno.

I teach how to permanently get rid of said fat at my Lean For Life workshop in Liberty Village on May 17th:

=>Click here for details & to register.

Come prepared for a testosterone-boosting and life-enhancing experience.

Don’t let modern living take your balls…metaphorically speaking.

You can fight back against the scourge of low testosterone.

And you can WIN.

To A Testosterone-Fueled Life,

Conor Kelly

We talkin’ bout practice, not the game

conorkelLeave a comment

Yes sports fans, Allen Iverson’s famous rant (benched for missing practice, he repeated the phrase *we talkin’ bout practice* 22 times in a press conference) shall serve as fodder for the lesson today, which is:

You don’t get to be a champion unless you love to train.

Practice?

That’s right.

I’m talkin’ bout practice.

Even the great A.I. – despite his apparent disdain for practicing – loved to play basketball.

Roger Federer loves to play tennis.

Wayne Gretszky loved to play hockey.

They all loved to win too, but winning – be it awards, championships, or praise – wasn’t their primary motivation for playing, despite what you may think.  It drove them to greatness, but wasn’t what summoned them to invest a disproportionate amount of their lives participating in, and preparing for their respective sports.

Pleasure did.

They all felt great just doing what they were doing.

I became a strongman because I wanted to flip tires, pick up stones, and do other cool stuff like that.  Sure I cared about my results in competition.  But I always looked forward to training.  In fact, I didn’t really excel until I stopped caring as much about my competitive performance and threw my focus into my prep.  As long as I was happy with how my training went, and had fun on contest day, the outcome would take care of itself.

Too often we want things – achievable things – but throw up veritable hailstorms of resistance to avoid getting there.

Take losing weight for instance.

Many people obsess over the number on the scale but bury their heads in the sand when it comes to changing their lifestyle.  They proclaim that working out is torture, and cringe at the prospect of healthy food, which they consider bland.  They’ll try shortcuts like crash diets, supplements, and juice cleanses – really anything to ensure not a single bead of sweat traverses their pores.

But that’s backwards, you see.

The best bodies belong to people who enjoy whatever mode of exercise they prefer, and possess a sense of satisfaction about nourishing themselves well.

In short, they like the ins and outs of acquiring their desired body.  The activity itself is its own reward, without needing the additional payoff of being thin (or ‘thin right now‘) to feel good while doing it.

Surprise, surprise…they’re leaner.

People who love making money, and managing their money…are richer.

Whatever the achievement, it’s the ones who love the process of success that have it.

They don’t blow off practice.

(Well, most of the time.)

That’s why many humans approach to getting what they want is seriously effed up.

They just want the trophy.

But ya don’t get the trophy without practice…

…And you’ll never practice enough without passion.

What you’ll find, that I’ve discovered, is that there’s something else for us to gain through all this that goes way beyond winning or losing.  And that’s what you really miss out on, unless you spend those days, weeks, or years covering the terrain in search of something wanted.  Answer the call of your desire.  Let what’s ahead entice you.  Just don’t let it blind you to the beautiful vistas along the way.

Love the game…you can have your championship.

Love the process…you can have your result.

Yours In Great Health,

Conor Kelly

P.S. For help with de-mystifying the process of getting and staying LEAN, check out my latest Lean For Life talk in Liberty Village, May 17th:

Click here for details.

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Give up the willpower binge

conorkelLeave a comment

Did you know you have a limited supply of decision-making power?

That’s right, research shows willpower is like a muscle…it fatigues, and eventually refuses to cooperate altogether.

The more decisions you make in any given day, the more you deplete your willpower stores.

Yet, most people attempt to form new habits (e.g. eating well, exercising) by willing themselves to it.

And it don’t work.

That’s why I recommend abstinence in making choices.  Quit dispensing your willpower in such a willy-nilly way.  Restrict yourself to high-leverage acts of will, and instead of trying to moderate your minute-by-minute behaviours, focus on applying what I call *context changes*.

A context change is a change to your environment.

The reason it’s so powerful, is you apply a little determination ONCE, and it pays off over and over again.

Eee Gee…

One of my most harped upon nutrition strategies is food prepping.  Why?  It’s a high-leverage, high-upside decision.  Sure you’ve gotta convince yourself to make time to cook and pack meals.  But that one move saves you having to make 6-10 individual choices you’d otherwise encounter if you didn’t already have meals and snacks on hand.  Standing at many repeated crossroads will eventually leave you tapped out in the good-decision-making department.

You’d be binging on your own willpower.

Example numero dos…

Let’s say you want to walk more.  One way is to simply tell yourself you’re going to walk more, and daily match wits with the devil on your shoulder and his compelling case for collapsing on the couch instead.

The other is to not buy a metropass, so you’re forced to walk to and from work each day.

Again, one choice vs. many.

Leverage.

Got a weakness for potato chips?

Perform a Lays-ectomy on your kitchen cupboards.  You might still eat them, but at least you don’t have to stare temptation in the face so often that it erodes your judgment.

Is any of this advice new?

Maybe not in the specifics.  But I’ll wager the concept behind it has never been placed before you in such a neatly wrapped package.  Once you get the thought-process behind the examples above, you can see with new lenses any area in which your actions often betray your goals.

What context change can you implement?

How can you make better choices by making fewer choices?

I cover this in full detail, along with several other BREAKTHROUGH concepts at my Lean For Life talk on April 25th:

=>Click here for details & to save your seat.

Don’t miss it.

Hear me, ye faithful…

Forsake thy binge.

Ration thy willpower, and thou shalt not hunger.

To A Low-Willpower Diet,

Conor Kelly