Training and sleep for entrepreneurs, developers, and other busy people
Paul Graham and YC are famous for giving great advice to entrepreneurs. However, there is one piece of advice that is not clear enough.
“Get sleep and exercise — take care of yourself”
— Geoff Ralston and Michael Seibel
Sleep and training are important, and it’s great that Y-Combinator highlighted this in their essential startup advice.
Working on your career and company goals (or any other life areas) without having a good foundation of health is one of the worst behaviors of entrepreneurs, contributing to devastating long-term effects.
It’s funny how some entrepreneurs, like Elon Musk, are concerned with the survival and growth of the whole civilization, but completely ignore the fundamentals of health. How can you grow your company (or even your family) without growing your health first?
The goal of this article is to extend the advice by YC using a concrete example of how to apply this to a busy entrepreneurial schedule.
Training is a continuous routine, and it should be designed in a sustainable way to spend the least amount of time to achieve the best possible outcomes.
What are the outcomes we are looking for?
Most people try to spend a few hours in the gym every week, putting emphasis on the time spent in the gym.
However, the hours you spend in the gym or running are irrelevant. Most people waste hours in the gym for zero gains. What is important is efficiency and results.
If your goal is health, then you should ask yourself what type of training is optimal for health. There are many opinions, but very few people can point to real facts proving a certain type of training is optimal for health.
My current schedule is to train 3 times per week with weights (machines) and my average time spent in the gym is ±25 minutes.
I never run or swim or do any other type of training, except for the occasional hike with my wife.
I spend less than 1.5hrs in the gym per week and I have consistent strength gains of 5–10% every week. How is that even possible?
It’s all about a specific and evidence-based methodology designed to get results and health benefits with the lowest amount of training possible.
The methodology is described in the book “Body by Science” by Doug McGuff, MD, which explains why resistance training contributes to health effects that are not achievable via other types of training (e.g. running or swimming) while spending less than one hour per week in the gym:
https://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Strength-Training/dp/0071597174
Resistance training with weights is the best way to stimulate muscle growth and get the optimal metabolic and health effects for your body.
Runners and swimmers are not going to like this, but hey, it’s just evidence. There are health benefits for any type of workout or training, but resistance training wins in terms of cost-benefit.
It turns out that resistance training is not only for building muscle, but it’s the best way to grow your overall fitness and health.
What about sleep?
Sleep is as important as (or more important than) exercise. It contributes to health in a way that is hard to describe in a few sentences.
The advice is to sleep at least 7 hours every day for optimal physical and mental health. The science of sleep has evolved a lot over the last 10 years and it’s not as boring as it sounds. Most of the things you know about sleep are wrong or incomplete.
To dive deeper into the science of sleep and how sleep affects our daily life read “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker, PhD:
https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144316
Regulating sleep and exercise is just the beginning of a journey to optimize the fundamentals of life and health. Keep growing your health like you grow your KPI’s.
Good health => Quality life => Great work and business results