4 Minute Fridays: Do This Exercise For Stronger Shoulders, How Your Smartphone Affects Brain Function & A Simple Way Give Yourself A Massage
Oct 04, 2024
Read time: 3.7 minutes
Welcome to 4 Minute Fridays, my weekly newsletter where I reveal cutting-edge tips to help you get lean, boost energy, and live longer.
What's In Store For Today:
- Do this exercise for stronger shoulders
- How your smartphone affects brain function
- A simple way to get super cheap massages
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Hello friend.
Writing to you from Hawaii today so this will be a quick one.
Something you may not know about me is that I've built a few homes in the past and it's similar to body transformation.
First, you need to build the foundation, which is: Exercise, sleep, nutrition, and time in nature.
Second, understand that it'll usually take longer than you think.
You overestimate what you can do in 4-6 weeks and ​underestimate what you can do in 2 years​.
Finally, the home you're building is the one you'll live in. In this case, it'll be for the rest of your life.
Why not renovate it and make it as awesome as possible?
That said...
Here Is Your 4 Minute Friday:
1. Do This Exercise For Stronger Shoulders
Since I've picked up surfing again in Hawaii my shoulders have taken an absolute beating. I started to feel pain and stiffness and this is no bueno if you want to paddle out in the ocean.
So I turned to the elbow-on-knee external shoulder rotation exercise.
First, our shoulder joints get weak and tight, especially with external rotation when we spend too much time sitting down.
This exercise forces those tiny, often-ignored stabilizer muscles (hello, rotator cuff!) to wake up and do their damn job.
So yeah, this exercise isn’t just “great.” It’s like the unsung hero of shoulder training, especially if you don’t want to end up in a sling by the time you’re 40.
By the way, since doing this for 8 to 15 reps every other day, my shoulder pain has gone away, and they feel stronger than ever. Let's go!
2. How Your Smartphone Affects Brain Function
I don't know who needs to hear this but keeping our phones around us when working creates something called Brain Drain.
Through two experiments, researchers found that even when people resist the temptation to use their phones, their cognitive capacity is reduced simply by the phone’s presence.
The idea is that smartphones give us constant access to information and connections, but they also come with a cognitive cost by occupying space in our brains, making it harder to focus on other tasks.
The effect is stronger for individuals who are more dependent on their devices.
So when you're working keep your smartphone in a place where you can't see it. Even its mere presence can make us dumber and less productive.
❤️ My Favourite Thing This Week
Here's the deal: Your body is feeling tight, but hitting up your local massage therapist just isn't realistic right now.
No problem. Enter the tennis ball—your new best friend in the world of DIY body maintenance.
Why a tennis ball? It’s like having a free personal masseuse without the awkward small talk.
Here's the magic: When you roll a tennis ball under tight muscles—think your back, glutes, or even your feet—it applies pressure to the tissue, helping to release tension and break up those nasty knots.
You control the pressure, so you can go as hard or as gentle as your masochistic tendencies allow.
Plus, because it’s so portable, you can throw it in your bag and whip it out whenever your body feels like a mess.
So yeah, stop overcomplicating things. Grab a tennis ball, start rolling, and thank yourself later.
Here's a private video I share with my clients on how you can use a tennis ball on your body:
Client Of The Week - Mark Manson, New York Times Best Seller
Mark is an author and the best-selling writer of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Before working together he struggled with his diet while crushing his body doing CrossFit workouts.
The goal was to get his body fat down to a healthy level, lose the love handles, and boost his energy levels.
I'm happy to say we lost 25+ lbs and lowered his body fat from 33% to 18%. His energy levels are up, and he's used his newfound health habits to reach his full potential!
The best part? Since getting in shape, his business has grown significantly, and he's created one of the top podcasts in the country.
One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong
What if I told you that 10 years from now, your life would be exactly the same? I doubt you’d be happy. So, why are you so afraid of change?
10 years from now you'll wish you persevered through the hard times and stuck with the vision. Never give up. Keep going.
Have a wonderful week.
- Dan Go
Founder, Dan Go Fitness Coaching ← if you want to transform your body, check this out
When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help:
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References
- Chaconas EJ, Kolber MJ, Hanney WJ, Daugherty ML, Wilson SH, Sheets C. SHOULDER EXTERNAL ROTATOR ECCENTRIC TRAINING VERSUS GENERAL SHOULDER EXERCISE FOR SUBACROMIAL PAIN SYNDROME: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2017 Dec;12(7):1121-1133. doi: 10.26603/ijspt20171121. PMID: 29234564; PMCID: PMC5717488.
- Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, Volume 2, Issue 2: The Consumer in a Connected WorldGuest Editors: John Deighton, Jacob Goldenberg, and Andrew T. Stephen, April 2017Pages 137-266