PropaneFitness Podcast

This article is the result of my recent experiment to answer one question: Can you influence serum testosterone by eliminating artificial oestrogens from your daily life?

Video version of this article:

https://youtu.be/zN7oxGV0ASI

1. Introduction:

Oestrogens in the environment - ruining your gains?

I’ve been down another rabbit hole recently. After reading Anthony Jay’s work and doing a podcast with him, I started to see the extent to which we are exposed to environmental oestrogens, and what hormonal disruption is doing to us as a population: cancer, obesity, infertility, and even allergies.  The problem with oestrogen is that it’s subtle. There’s a time lag. It causes epigenetic modifications, functionally altering your DNA long term. It’s not like being spiked with caffeine where you'd instantly feel something. Being exposed to environmental oestrogens doesn’t mean you’ll have an instant urge to dive under the blanket and watch sex and the city, tearfully shovelling in the Hagen Dazs.

It’s worse. What it does, over the long term, is hamper your muscle gain and fat loss progress 😱️

As drug-free lifters, especially if we’ve trained for some time, we cannot afford to take chances with our hormones. Testosterone is precarious at the best of times: if any ONE of your diet, training or recovery is not at 100%, your testosterone will suffer.

2.1 What is oestrogen? 

This is the oestrogen molecule:

Note the benzene ring at the bottom left. This is what interacts with the oestrogen receptor to trigger it’s downstream effects.

Now look at the BPA molecule, one of the main compounds we are heavily exposed to, used in plastics and resins. It’s got TWO of the buggers. It’s like the T2000 version of oestrogen: acts strongly on the receptor, but much more difficult to destroy.

2.2 Population effects:

There are some well documented, biological trends that point towards direct effects of oestrogen on a population-level:

Markedly reduced sperm count

Rates of erectile dysfunction ↑

Metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, mitochondrial dysfunction)

The evidence for these effects is growing to a point that it’s indisputable. If you're interested, I’d encourage you to read Anthony Jay’s book for more data.

It is hypothesised that the recent buildup of oestrogen-analogues in our environment has produced feminising effects on a cellular level. These effects are more pronounced in prepubescent/adolescent boys, who are more developmentally susceptible to hormone disruptors. Even plant oestrogens, such as lavender oil have been known to cause gynaecomastia or delay puberty in children.

There are alternative hypotheses. Historians posit a more psychosocial cause of this feminisation: the industrial revolution: Boys being brought up in increasingly female-dominated environments (households & schools). Their fathers were mostly absent, now either in industrial work, or at war, leaving boys to be socialised almost exclusively by women in their early years. 

No value judgements or political statements here about the inherent value of femininity or masculinity: That's not my area.

My concern as a clinician is the effect of oestrogens on your health and physique, and nobody wants to be drugged against their wishes. 

By now, I am fully aware that I sound like this:

I didn’t want this oestrogen stuff to be true. Not least because I’m BUSY, mannnn. I want life to be simple: to eat and train, and not worry that I’m driving with the handbrake on by inadvertently ingesting anti-androgens.

As you know, our motto is “Simple rules, dramatic results“. Until now, I believed that worrying about hormonal optimisation was getting caught in the weeds, obsessing over minutiae.

“If this is real, it’s probably only negligible amounts anyway”

WRONG

Unfortunately not. The sheer DOSES that we’re exposed to from artificial oestrogens are no joke, and difficult to avoid.

Here we are again for another Life Hacks episode as we detail our favourite apps, websites, resources and tools for a productive and efficient life.

What’s our best product for beginning a journalling habit? How can you dispense with every USB plug in your bedroom? What’s the most efficient way to pack for a holiday? And how much would we have to be paid to put someone else’s poo in our bums?

Below you will find links to everything we reference, including as many referral & discount codes as we could find! Enjoy.

Resources: Throw One Thing Away Every Day Pull-Up Bar Anker USB Hub Get A Monthly Massage Shoehorn Tell Your Friends You Miss Them Be The Person Who Organises Things For Your Friends Self Monetise As A Side Project Alarmed - Reminders + Timers by Yoctoville Pregnancy Pillow Give Up Coffee For A Month Automate Fuel Filling By Wedging The Cap Under The Handle Plan Your Holiday Outfits In Advance Spend Time By Yourself Try Grounding (stand on grass or ground in bare feet) Pocket Article App The 6 Minute Diary NeilMed Sinus Rinse Skyr Yoghurt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k34S8K8co04

Video editing & production by Dean Hindmarch

https://www.deanhindmarch.com/

https://www.instagram.com/deanhindmarch

The internet is a dangerous place... This week we discuss:

The death of Charles PoliquinThe Alan Aragon sex scandalThe venomous backlash we received from an instagram post that we are not allowed to refer to pregnant women as such, and must instead be called ‘pregnant people’. This trivialises and makes a mockery of trans-rights issues by getting caught up in semantics. Some readers argued that doing so also denies biological women their femininity where pregnancy is seen as an exclusive right. Equally, ‘pregnant people’ excludes those who do not identify as pregnant, or as people. It’s a minefield.

http://www.instagram.com/p/BoyRC2jBzJz/

Deepest apologies to any pregnant men that we’ve offended. We’ve yet to meet one, but am willing to be proven wrong. The ONE trans dude that DID comment said the following:

“As a transman (!) I’m not particularly offended; I think a lot of people get their knickers in a twist about quite lighthearted things like this and often the offended people in question aren’t even trans. Frankly the idea of my being pregnant makes me rather sick, (and that’s not morning sickness that’s pure unadulterated horror!) but at the same time if someone wanted to do that then fine, they can get on with it over there. If someone chose to undertake such a decision then they must do so in the knowledge that the huge monumental majority have not had that experience and that it is understandably preposterous to most, which is the basis of a non-offensive joke.”

To truly move us forward, rather than policing language, a more material way to progress our species would be to donate to a charity such as GALOP for LGBT-induced hate crimes: http://www.galop.org.uk/ “Replacing one kind of intolerance with another, doesn’t represent any kind of progress at all”

Videos referenced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSDa8cwIteY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceS_jkKjIgo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzdpxKqEUAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXibs82YLM

A little throwback for you - we've had a lot of requests for this, so here is MEDITATION 101.

This was originally aired in our private Propane Athletes VIP group, but we thought to release this for you as a podcast, because we're cool guys and stuff. I refer to going on a 10 day retreat, which is debriefed here.

For more in-depth guides like this, and to access the full program, cheat sheets, accountability, nutrition tracking, training program and access to us, the coaches, you can join the Propane Protocol at PropaneProtocol.com. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK62_opEzOY&feature=youtu.be

The standard 'FitPro' morning routine.. otherwise known as the anxiety cocktail.

Make sure you're not falling for this trap with your morning routine, sending yourself down a spiral of stress and poor productivity.

Listen below for the 4 cardinal morning-routine pitfalls, and how to avoid them.

http://www.instagram.com/p/BpXIuRnBOsa/

Image credit: The coffeegeek

Christmas jumpers out my friend. Join us for a special Christmas Episode as we roll around in festive cheer, reflecting upon 2018 and reviewing our best hacks & fails from the last 12 months before setting some goals for the coming year. This episode is snided straight from Chris's Modern Wisdom Podcast:

Discover why a chestnut didn't kill Jonny, what our individual approaches to new year's resolutions are, and why Yusef decided to take his pants off halfway through this recording (for real).

Extra Stuff: 6 Minute Diary - http://amzn.eu/d/0hz6JJH

Video & production by Dean Hindmarch https://www.deanhindmarch.com/ https://www.instagram.com/deanhindmarch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOWTQlypwpU

Welcome to the dark side of Life Hacks.

Jonny and Yusef get together again with Chris Williamson to discuss all of the times they've tried to optimise their lives and fallen flat on their faces. Enjoy as they face-palm their way through a full hour of embarrassing stories.

Free Gift for Podcast Listeners

This week on the Propane Fitness Podcast, Jonny and Yusef once again get together with Chris Williamson & reminisce over their best and worse moments at university. Discover how you can complete a degree without going bankrupt, getting a police record or having a mental breakdown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrMxaBegaR_/

If you’ve never been to university, then you might enjoy hearing that it’s not quite the doss around of Netflix and chronic masturbation that you hear in the news. And if you HAVE been to university, then throwback fondly or cringe your way through your memories.

Expect to learn why you should go to Hadrian’s Wall and wear a condom while you’re there, what you can do to avoid becoming a basic bitch and how Evernote will save your life.

Free Gift for Podcast Listeners

Evernote (with referral gains)

Anton Kreil on School Teachers

For the last few months, much to the dismay of my girlfriend, and mockery of my friends and family, I've been sleeping on the floor.

I'd been wanting to try this for a while, thanks to Katy Bowman, anthropologist and floor-sleeping advocate. Recently I've been quite low on cash anyway, so thought this was a convenient time to trial it.

I CANNOT let the curiosity lie for these things, and I wasn't satisfied with the evangelistically positive reviews from weird hippy dippy types on youtube, where I got the impression that they only enjoyed doing so because it matched their sense of identity, rather than it being an objectively better way to sleep. So here is my unbiased review, lessons learned, pros and cons of floor sleeping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP1M8JjKx2Y&feature=youtu.be

By popular demand, I'm releasing another freebie from our flagship programme, the Propane Protocol, where we cover much more than just getting big arms. Here, I share everything that I've picked up from working as an investment banker, degrees, professional qualifications and years of trading, and distilled it down to some key actionable points.

If you identify your financial leaks, and treat them like a bug that needs to be squashed before moving on with your financial planning, then you will literally save yourself years. That daily Starbucks and biscotti is not only a bit disappointing, it is adding years to your working life when you compound out the cost. 

Resources mentioned:

Anton Kreil

Fundingcircle (£50 cashback with this link)

I am not your financial advisor. This does not constitute investment advice, and is for informational and entertainment purposes only. You must make your own financial decisions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcHfFdfX22k&feature=youtu.be