I hear a lot of people crack on Laird Hamilton’s obsession with health and fitness and, by extension, his position as a guru. When any philosophy or approach to maintaining health can be turned into a fad, that tends to happen. But the guy’s halfway through his 50s and he appears to be as obsessed as ever with maintaining or reaching his peak physical performance. That’s A) commendable, B) motivating, and C) something just about everybody can learn from.
Anyway, my point is if the man has an established philosophy on anything then it’s worth a listen. You might learn something. The Inertia’s Associate Editor and Dad Joke Connoisseur, Dylan Heyden, for example, learned that eating like Laird is too painful to endure for more than 48 hours at a time. In turn, he carried away a few nuggets of wisdom about his own approach to a healthy diet. The Inertia Founder, Zach Weisberg, learned that a mortal human will not die in one of Laird’s notorious pool workouts. The man once taught me the origin of the phrase “pop-a-wheelie” and I’m sure there will come a day when that knowledge graduates from random party trivia to a life-changing revelation. So what I’m trying to say is that life lessons from Laird Hamilton are varied. Take them whenever and however you get them.
Hamilton appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience this week and the two men talked about everything from why Elon Musk is a robot to obviously, his unique philosophies on performance. His take on breathwork, including why you should be breathing through your nose and not your mouth, is pretty interesting and informative. It turns out the most natural human reflex is far more complex than you’d ever imagine…and you’re probably doing it wrong.
