How We Work (Out), 2015: Dick Talens’ Advice on Gear and Productivity
Every week we ask interesting people how they work. This week is our turn. I’m Dick, and here are some of my favorite techniques, ideas, and applications. Oh, as I’m writing for the new Vital blog from Lifehacker, I thought it would be great to change some common questions and turn them into “How we work”
Location: San Francisco, California
Current concert: Right now I’m taking a break between startups. I just quit the last startup I founded (Fitocracy) and am now taking a break before the next one. Meanwhile, when I’m not writing for Vitals, I train a lot on fitness at dicktalens.com as well as Minimum Viable Fitness . Most of the “case studies” I write are real clients who, if I talk about their struggles, are anonymous so they don’t spit in my face when they see me.
One word that best describes how you work: chaotic (or spasmodic)
Current mobile device: iPhone
Current computer: Macbook Air. 11 inches and proud. (Haters gonna hate.)
What apps / programs / tools can’t you live without? Why?
Weakness. I love Slack. I told Lifehacker that I would literally work for free if I could just join their Slack room and post puns and GIFs all day. But it’s actually incredibly reliable, and I’m in (fuck you) seven Slack rooms .
Sometimes Slack circles collide. For example, I’m in two Slack rooms with Leo Babauta, and when Lifehacker highlights a post from Zenhabits, I rush to one of them and everyone is like, “HEY LEO, HEY LEO! LOOK! “
Apart from all the tech / computer stuff, I use MyFitnessPal to record my diet and Evernote to record my exercise activity.
What’s your best time-saving life hack?
Definitely not in terms of a “classic” life hack. But I suppose the shortcut associated with the life hack that I swear to is intermittent fasting (IF). I don’t have breakfast . Sometimes I don’t eat at all (don’t try if you don’t have IF experience).
When I first started fitness, I got carried away by all the myths – six meals a day (ridiculous metabolic oven), breakfast is the most important meal of the day, etc. But if you haven’t thought about it, bring six plates of carefully calculated dishes are slightly less than optimal.
So I started experimenting, erasing all these misguided “truths” about fitness. By starting with a clean slate of what I know, I was able to transform my daily fitness regimen into something incredibly easy and maintainable, even successfully shedding fat during the most stressful times of my life .
One of the key changes I made was intermittent fasting. It saves so much time that it is really valuable when your schedule is as fluid as mine.
Here are my daily exercises and diet regimen:
8-11 am: wake up (how about that)
1:00 pm: Lunch (usually low-fat food such as chicken breast and broccoli)
15:00: Train (procedure below)
20:00 until: Dinner and drinks.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
I run my entire life on Trello. I have severe ADHD and have an assistant who reviews my Trello daily and adds to my to-do list while cutting down on unnecessary stuff.
What exercise can’t you live without, and why?
Dumbbell press, exactly (evrday Chestday bruh).
My chest used to be my worst part of my body, but now that I’ve figured out how it reacts to resistance training, it has become my biggest asset. In terms of physique, I recommend that all men focus on breast development. Large breasts (as well as shoulders and lats) make your waist smaller, and this is the first thing people notice in terms of physique.
As you can see, a well-developed chest is quite useful for hiding a beer belly. I’m half kidding.
What are some of your best everyday activities? What’s your secret?
I’m really good at quantifying the exact amount of almonds in my hand, assuming it’s somewhere between 8 and 24. I get it right about 92% of the time. To be honest, I don’t know why or how, I don’t even eat them that often.
More seriously, as someone with obese genetics, one of the skills I use to stay fit is the ability to estimate my calorie intake when I eat out or have no idea what I’m eating. I highly recommend building this skill by guessing what you ate and then comparing it to actual nutritional information, if available.
What’s your current training routine?
I train 6 days a week doing basic movements with medium reps and lots of sets (high volume strength training). I’m not a cardio fanatic due to the memory of a former fat kid of swaying up and down while running. If I need to increase my heart rate, I just lift weights faster.
At the same time, large volumes of training have appeared recently. I am a big believer in minimalist training and have been following the procedure below for a long time. It only takes 45 minutes 3 days a week and is more effective at building muscle than p90x or any other trendy exercise.
Back Day (Monday)
Barbell Deadlift –
Set 1: 4-6 reps
Bundle 2: Delay Bundle
Pull-ups (with weights) –
Set 1: 4-6 reps
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Pendlay Rows –
2 sets of 5 reps
Chest and arms (Wednesday)
Bench press –
Set 1: 6-10 reps
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Set 3: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Incline Barbell Press –
Set 1: 8-12 reps
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Curl of arms with a barbell for biceps (bar with a barbell) –
One set of 8-12 reps
Legs (Friday)
Squats –
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Set 3: 20 reps (also known as widow … for obvious reasons)
Leg curls –
Set 1: 8-12 reps
Set 2: Reduce the weight by 10% and do +1 repetitions.
Twisting on a rope with weights
One set of 10-20 reps
What are you reading now?
Edward Zitron’s “This Is How You Present” and Ben Horowitz’s “Difficulties About Difficult Things”
Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
“Sociable” introvert. I was deadly shy as a kid, but somehow I grew out of it, and now most people think I’m a complete extrovert. But I’m not … I’m the kind of person who loves to perform in front of the crowd, but is afraid to talk to people after that. I like being around people, but not talking to any of them. When I was in college, I invited people to study with me, but only so that they were by my side. I didn’t want them to chat with them.
What is your sleep pattern?
Does not exist. Lack of sleep is probably my biggest drawback, and I’m going to be working on it shortly. I will say that I bought a sleep mask and it greatly affected my ability to fall into deep sleep.
Fill in the blank: I would like _________ to answer these same questions.
George R.R. Martin. He really needs to write something before he follows the path of most of his characters.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“The more you learn, the less you know”
This is incredibly true when it comes to fitness. At the beginning of my career, I was absolutely sure that I had all the answers. Some things I firmly believed in (and no longer believe): Sugar is toxic, obese people are just lazy, and you can always do more in the gym. My beliefs have completely changed. I often write about these topics because I don’t want people to make the same mistakes I do.
What else would you like to add that might be of interest to readers / fans?
When I was younger, I looked like a replica of the child from Up.
That’s why I dressed like him for Halloween.