Action items

• Understand the value of each type of exercise

• Understand how to train each, effectively

• Understand the Sustainability Equation: Action happens if (Value * Enjoyment) > (Annoyance * Pain).
• Based on the equation, choose an exercise you see the value in, think you can enjoy, and can start easily.
• Track every single workout you complete.

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Ray's take

Exercise is more powerful than any drug. It is the best way to live longer by increasing strength, metabolic health, and cardiovascular function. It's also essential to looking and feeling your best.

Starting (or restarting) an exercise plan doesn't need to be complicated. Our goal here, is to give you an actionable plan, in less than 15 minutes.

Who I am

I'm Ray, an ivy league doctor that loves fitness and exercise. I believe exercise is more powerful than any medication, and can prevent so many diseases and accidents.

How you win

In sports, you play to win the game. To win the game, you have to score more points (or goals) than the other team/player. That's how you win.

For exercise, its simple how to win:

• Do the exercise
• Make progress
• Never stop

That's it. How much you do the exercise and how much progress you make is up to you.

If you want to win a marathon or compete in a powerlifting competition, then you simply need to train more, and make more progress.

If your health objective is simply to "look better" or "live longer," you still need to do the exercise, and make progress. It'll just be a lesser amount of volume, and a lower magnitude of progress. Of note, we still need to constantly make progress :)

What you are playing for

We know how to win, but what are you playing for? This is something that is unique to you.

Different kinds of exercise have different value to helping you reach the health objective you care about.

This leads to our 3 pillars (which match our criteria for how to win!).

3 pillars

Based on the the above, it is important to understand 3 pillars:

Pillar 1 - Know the value and how to train

This is a simple table for the different types of exercise, their value, and how to train:

In reality, there are many subtypes of strength and endurance training not listed. There are also countless ways to train, but my mantra is always to keep it simple.

Pillar 2 - Make progress / Track what you do

This is self explanatory. Simply write down what exercise you did. This is really important bc the key to it all is making progress, or more technically "progressive overload." The only way you will make progress is if you write down your workouts.

Luckily, you can do this in our app, very easily, and organized the way you want. All you have to do is use #exercise and any other hashtag you want to be able to look up easily, later (I use #bench #chest #HIIT, etc).

Pillar 3 - Make it sustainable

We'll get none of the benefits from exercise, if we don't do it. And we won't do it if we don't find it valuable enough vs the time and effort it costs us. Here is a breakdown of the components:

Based on the components, there is asustainability equation (or action equation).

Sustainability Equation: `(Value * Enjoyment) > (Annoyance * Pain).

Action will happen if (Value * Enjoyment) > (Annoyance * Pain).

Therefore, your goal is:

Goal: Maximize Value and Enjoyment, Minimize Annoyance and Pain.

You must ensure that your exercise program is sustainable by optimizing this equation.

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Putting it together for this week

Let's not make this too complicated to start. Keep in mind that you are in this for the long run, and we have so many resources for how to achieve every type of health goal. I am very confident you will find a sustainable program with this system.

Thus, if you already have an exercise plan you like, keep going with it, or add to it based on the above information on human physiology, and the action equation.

However, if you don't know where to start, you should definitely leverage RayAI.

Leverage RayAI for Your Personalized Plan

Understanding the pillars and structuring your exercise regimen can seem daunting at first. That's where our AI assistant, RayAI, comes into play. RayAI is designed to simplify the process of creating a workout plan that's tailored just for you.

To get started, all you need to do is communicate with RayAI about:

• Your Goal: Whether it's improving cardiovascular health, building muscle, losing weight, or simply maintaining general fitness.
• Time Available: How much time you can dedicate to your workouts each week.
• Equipment Available: What exercise tools you have at your disposal, whether at home or at a gym.
• Preferences: Types of exercises you enjoy or dislike. Make sure to specify what is painful and you do not want to do.
• Experience: Your current fitness level and any previous exercise experience.

RayAI will use this information to generate a sample workout plan that not only meets your fitness goals but also fits into your lifestyle and preferences. RayAI can also give you specific exercises and rep ranges for strength programs.

Ask RayAI through the AI tab on the app

This personalized approach ensures you can maximize your efforts, enjoy your workouts, and sustain your exercise routine over the long term.

Also, remember, you must track every single one of your workouts and make progress. We recommend doing it on the app with a check-in using #exercise.

Lastly, keep in mind that you will be honing your sustainability equation, until it is automatic. My best advice is to learn as much as you can about the value of each type of exercise, try what seems appealing, and see if you naturally want to keep doing it. Then just stick with what you enjoy the most for long term sustainability.

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Appendix 1 - My action equations

For strength training:

• I know and value highly the benefits of lifting heavy (increase strength, increase muscle, increase bone strength, increase longevity, feel good)
• I really like doing it (its actually stress relief and I enjoy improving)
• I have full rack setup at home (no travel necessary)
• I perceive it to be not painful at all (no downsides) **Thus I do strength training all the time, and have done consistently with no breaks ever since college

It's a similar story for zone 2 bc I love playing tennis. Truly love it, and am lucky to have a club nearby with amazing players to play with. (My bpm is about 125 for 60-90 min so i'm counting it as zone 2). I don't see myself ever stopping.

In contrast, I'm much lower on zone 5. I do not enjoy it. It is very painful to me. I used to do Barry's Bootcamp and did not look forward to it bc it felt very difficult and i knew it was going to be painful...thus I stopped. To make zone 5 enjoyable, I currently run sprints at the beach with my dog Bailey. Sprinting with Bailey results in a positive action equation because I still know there is value to zone 5, I enjoy making her happy (she loves chasing me when I sprint), there is no annoyance (I'm already at the beach), and there is slight pain (sprinting is hard), but I don't take it overboard (just run as fast as I can until I really want to stop, usually 20-30 strides per leg, 5-10x).

Appendix 2 - Sample plans

Appendix 3 - Plans encompassing all types of exercise

• Strength: Lower could include exercises like squats, deadlifts, and lunges.
• Strength: Upper could focus on bench press, pull-ups, and shoulder presses.
• Strength: Core might involve planks, Russian twists, and leg raises.
• Cardio could be running, cycling, or brisk walking.
• High Intensity: HIIT sessions incorporating a mix of aerobic and resistance exercises.
• Active Rest: Activities like yoga, stretching, or a leisurely walk to promote recovery.

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