Brian Johnson argues exercise rivals Zoloft for fighting depression, citing research from John Ratey. He emphasizes consistency over intensity and tracks his own progress with daily steps and rowing goals.
Questions this episode answers
October 2, 2015
Exercise is stated as being "as effective as Zoloft in reducing depression."
About 21,000 steps (also reports 16,000 steps and 146 aerobic minutes in related counts).
Goal: row one million meters in 2012; progress reported around 972,000 meters.
He commits to not missing a day of movement (15–20 minutes of walking minimum) since February (year not specified).
Chapters
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time.
Hey, guys, what's up? This is Brian with another optimal living 101. This one's on exercise, the number one way to boost your mojo. It's the foundation of everything, really. A lot of foundations, but this one's kind of right there at a biochemical level. And I got really inspired by exercise even more today as I was preparing to do the Philosopher's Notes TV episode on Spark, the revolutionary new science of exercise in the brain. I'll be doing that soon. It's by a guy named John Ratey, who's one of the world's leading psychiatrists and experts on the science of exercise and what we know and how it impacts our psychological well being, our creativity, our ability to learn, our ability to function optimally. The fact is, our genes are wired, our genetic code is wired from movement and we do not move enough. And when we don't move, we suffer. So here we go. Exercise number one way to boost your mojo. Did you know this exercise is as effective as Zoloft in reducing depression? Yep, exercise is as effective as Zoloft in reducing depression. Why don't they get that out in the news more often? I want to see a commercial with that. As John Ratey says, if everyone knew that exercise worked as well as Zoloft, I think we could put a real dent in the disease. Now, again, this is scientific. They've brought depressed individuals into a lab, split them randomly into different groups. One that exercised, one that took Zoloft, and one that did both exercise and Zoloft. And what they found was they all had similar reductions in depression. But guess what? Exercise is a heck of a lot more sustainable and health giving without all the side effects, aside from perhaps some soreness, than the Zoloft and other prescriptions we take for depression. So this is just huge. If you've ever felt funky or feel funky, or have loved ones who feel the funk know that exercise is a huge, huge part of getting ourselves feeling great. I know in my past when I haven't felt splendid, I was not moving. And you couldn't pay me enough these days to not exercise. Today I happened to go even more gone. So I wrote a 5k in the morning and then I went crazy. I keep track of. It's hard to see. I keep track of how many steps I take every day. And it's kind of a fun thing I picked up from Martin Seligman. He said that he keeps track of his steps with this little Guy Omron, get it on Amazon. And he shoots for 10,000 steps a day. Usually I go for 10,000 steps in a day. Get like 10, 12, 14. Today, 21,000. I was walking with the little man on my chest in the little wrap. 146 minutes we spent in aerobic. 16,000 steps. Kind of funny. I walked over 10 miles today, rode three miles and walked 10 miles. There you go. That's not, that's close to what I do. I don't usually walk quite that much, but exercise is huge. You couldn't pay me to not exercise. Side note on that too. While I'm exercising these days, I'm listening to my philosopher's notes. I'm listening to other stuff that's inspiring. It's a great way to both get the movement and get the wisdom. Soak ourselves in the goodness that inspires us. So moving on. Tall Ben Shahar tells us not exercising is like taking a depressant. So we know that exercise is as effective as Zoloft. But guess what? Not exercising is like taking a depressant. Now it doesn't make any sense to take a depressant, right? Well, guess what? If you're not exercising, you are. Sonia Liebomirsky, another one of the leading positive psychologists and again, Tal's Harvard guy. He taught the most popular class in Harvard's history on positive psychology. And he tells us that not exercising is like taking a depressant. These aren't woo woo thinkers, these are scientists. So Soni Liebomirsky, one of again, world's leading positive psychologist research scientist, she's very conservative, yet she says this. Has anyone told you, indeed guaranteed you that regular physical activity will make you happier? I swear by it. That's pretty strong. Dr. Bob Butler says if there was a drug that provided all the benefits that exercise does, the whole world would be taking it. So this leads us to the most important part. Are you exercising? If you're not exercising at all, go out and just take a walk tomorrow. Do whatever you can do to get out there and start moving. You don't need to go gonzo, but make it consistent. Consistency over intensity is one of my big mantras. Showing up day in and day out, day in and day out. Don't get all fired up and do.
It for a day, then take a month off.
Do it consistently. If you are exercising, can you turn it up a little bit more? Is there more room for you to have some fun and exercise even more? One of my goals, the way I made it fun for myself in 2012. I had a goal of rowing a million meters on our indoor rowing machine in 2012. I'm at like 972,000 or something like that. And that was a really fun goal for me. And I'll tell you what, it's hard to have too many really bad days and, and certainly not any bad weeks when you're exercising that consistently. So for me, I've learned that that's what I need to do. And now I create bright lines for myself, which is one of the keys of developing willpower where you just know you're not going to waver and go off on these different directions. Bright lines. I actually haven't missed a day of movement, which is like 15, 20 minutes of walking minimum since February. I'm recording this now in December next year. My goal is to not miss a day of exercise. I don't miss a day of meditation. Well, I don't plan to miss a day of exercise walking just for 15 minutes, 20 minutes just out of principle. To get my body in movement is my commitment. So what fun goals can you make for next year? 2013 is coming up. What can you do to end the year really strongly? And what can you do to set yourself up for a great 2013? Think about it and make sure that exercise is, is a key, key component to your overall optimal living strategy. There you go. Some ideas on why exercise is, in my mind, the number one easiest, most powerful way to boost our overall mojo. Hope you enjoyed it. Get your exercise on more soon.
See ya. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class.
If so, I think you'll enjoy everything.
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