Issue No. 43: Why People Quit the Gym
Good Morning! Welcome to this week’s edition of Morning Cowbell. Let’s take a look at the top stories and coolest trends shaping fitness and health.
💪 Why People Quit the Gym. Whether you’re training or coaching, understanding the emotional undercurrent behind commitment is the real game changer - and it’s the difference between short-term effort and long-term transformation.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Japanese Interval Walking Method
2. Cold Plunge: Benefits and Risks
3. Silent Roommate That Makes You Healthier
4. Cardio Before or After Weights?
5. Flatlining at the Gym? Here's What You're Missing
🐄 🐄 🐄 — John, Nolan and Josh
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The Japanese Interval Walking Method
It’s time to walk the walk - Japanese style - with bursts of intensity that pack a serious health punch.
The big picture: The method alternates three minutes of brisk, heart-pumping walking (at about 70% of your max effort) with three minutes of slower, relaxed walking (around 40% effort). This pattern is repeated five times, making up a 30-minute session. It’s structured, but not rigid - so it’s easy to fit into your daily routine without needing a stopwatch glued to your hand. Developed by Dr. Hiroshi Nose and his team at Shinshu University, this approach was tested on older adults over five months. The results? A noticeable improvement in aerobic capacity, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and even leg muscle strength.
The verdict: The Japanese interval walking method is a brilliantly easy, evidence-backed upgrade to ordinary walking - great for building heart health, strength, and metabolic fitness without needing a gym or heel‑crushing workouts.
Cold Plunge: Benefits and Risks
Could plunging into icy water be the secret to better sleep, reduced stress, and a stronger body - or are the risks just too chilling to ignore?
The big picture: Cold plunging, submerging in 39–59 °F water for minutes, can spike heart rate and blood pressure, triggering a stress adaptation that may cut cortisol, improve stress resilience, mood, sleep, metabolism, immunity, and even ease menopause symptoms - but it's not safe for everyone, especially those with cardiovascular issues. Research suggests cellular-level perks like enhanced autophagy, neuroprotection, reduced inflammation, and increased energy expenditure, though many studies are small or not yet diverse or longitudinal. Downsides include hypothermia risk, harmful vasoconstriction (especially in open water), and evidence that cold plunging immediately after resistance training could blunt muscle growth.
The verdict: Cold plunges can be a refreshing boon to stress resilience, recovery, mood, and cellular health - if done safely, mindfully, and not immediately post-strength training; if not, you might just freeze your gains (or worse).
The Silent Roommate that Makes You Healthier
Ultrahuman has just launched its sleek new Ultrahuman Home device to keep tabs on your air, light, noise, temperature, and humidity - because your environment affects you, not just your wearables.
The big picture: Ambient health matters: Ultrahuman Home continuously measures environmental factors like air quality, noise, temperature, humidity, and light exposure - aiming to bridge the gap in holistic health monitoring. Smart syncing: Paired with the Ultrahuman Ring, it activates “UltraSync,” correlating environmental data with sleep and recovery patterns to reveal how your surroundings impact your well-being Silent but powerful: Designed to blend into your space with no screens or sounds, it delivers all insights through the app - quietly collecting data so your home becomes the wellness coach.
The verdict: If you're ready to elevate your wellness routine beyond wearables and into your everyday environment, Ultrahuman Home serves as an elegant, insightful, and passive advisor for healthy living - no nagging, just knowledge.
Cardio Before or After Weights?
If you want more muscle, less fat, and workouts that don’t feel like punishment, start with weights - then earn your cardio badge.
The big picture: The group that began with strength training before cardio saw more fat loss, better gains in muscular power, and more frequent attendance at their training sessions. In short: they got more bang for their burpee. Starting with weights seems to set a stronger tone for your workout - and possibly your motivation. Kicking things off with cardio may deplete your glycogen stores and leave your muscles and nervous system too wiped to give your all during resistance training. So if building strength or preserving muscle is your goal, put the weights up front.
The verdict: If you want more muscle, less fat, and workouts that don’t feel like punishment, start with weights - then earn your cardio badge.
Flatlining at the Gym? Here’s What You’re Missing
If your muscles aren’t showing up to the party, it’s time to check your reps, your rest, and your real reasons for training.
The big picture: Without a clear objective, you're just throwing weights around in the dark. Most people should focus on hypertrophy (muscle growth) as a base, which means specific rep ranges (typically 8–12), moderate rest periods, and enough volume to challenge your muscles. You need to train close to failure, stick to the right rep ranges, and take enough rest - 1 to 2 minutes for most hypertrophy sets. Also, volume matters. Borland recommends about 6–10 sets per muscle group per week (more for larger muscles), and emphasizes that “effective reps” - those final reps near failure - are what actually push your body to adapt. The point is to show up, track progress, repeat movements, and stick with a plan long enough to let your body adapt.
The verdict: If your fitness results are flatlining, it's not time for a new program. It’s time to fix how you're training: get clear on your goals, lift with purpose, rest strategically, and show up consistently.
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