Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

swinging kettlebells, surfing, horse training, or having sex that you can from long-distance cardio. In other words, they’re just as deranged as the cardio lovers mentioned above.
    The fact of the matter is, there are benefits from running that you can’t get from anything else—such as getting better at running. While all the other types of exercises listed are good for fat loss, if properly used and programmed correctly, longer, slower bouts of cardio can be used not only to help with fat loss but also to support recovery and blood flow to enhance the efficacy of the program as a whole. And it’s a hell of a lot better than sitting on your ass.
    Short bursts of high-intensity exercise are fantastic. But they have limitations because intensity is a relative term that differs on an individual basis. Most trainers work with people who are in an untrained state. How much sense do you think it makes to take these people who haven’t worked out and tell them to sprint as fast as they fucking can for thirty seconds—which, by the way, is longer than many Olympic sprinting races last?
    In other words, while high-intensity interval prescriptions are great in theory, in practice they need to be applied strategically and cautiously. This extends beyond sprinting to include biking, stair climbing, hill running, and interval weight training.
    Right off the bat, we see that moderate-intensity cardio has some benefit, if at the very least as a tool to progress to more intense exercise and modalities. Going beyond that, we still believe that there is a lot of merit to keeping your body in motion for long periods of time. Even if sprinting causes no injuries, your body will get good at running for short periods of time but not for long periods of time. And these limitations can show up in other areas of your life. You won’t be able to play a game of flag football without getting hurt. Want to run a charity 5K? You can only run the first 300 yards.
    That’s why a balanced approach is the best approach, which is exactly what you’ll find in the workout programs starting in chapter 8.

    We love alcohol ads, and it’s not because we love alcohol. Whether it’s Dos Equis promoting the Most Interesting Man in the World or Patrón portraying a life with you as a baller, alcohol brands understand how to sell image without negative backlash. Those ads facilitate a world of partying and fun, which are elements of a lifestyle that people desire. No one actually thinks that drinking Dos Equis will make you savvy or that ordering Patrón will guarantee that beautiful women will throw themselves at you. You’re smart enough to know that’s not the case; and yet you don’t criticize the alcohol as a crap product because of an unrealistic, sensational sell.
    The ads you see for alcohol—or almost any other consumer good—are no different than what you’ll find on supplement ads. The models in supplement ads don’t look the way they do because they took that particular product. You know this, and yet the marketing techniques used to sell supplements oftentimes end up with the products condemned as useless.
    Like anyone else who’s been involved with the fitness and nutrition business for a decade or more, we’ve developed sort of a love/hate relationship with supplements—and supplement companies.
    On the one hand, we love supplements (when they do what they claim), and without the convenience of protein drinks, meal replacements, vitamins, and the occasional protein bar, many people would struggle to reach their goals given all the demands and barriers that exist in busy lives. On the other hand, a lot of supplements are just flat-out crap. They’re filled with only half of what the label says, and who knows what the other half is. And of course, many supplement companies have shady marketing tactics like Photoshopped before and after pics and other underhanded BS—and we’re just not into that.
    Having said all that, if chosen wisely and used correctly, supplements can make your program even more productive and can accelerate your progress. The companies we recommend are certified GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). With this rating, you know for certain that you’re getting exactly what the label says—and nothing it doesn’t—every single time. You can find a GMP stamp on the front of the packaging or on the back next to the nutrition information. One thing is certain: it won’t be hard to miss. Manufacturers that