TPL #17: Mouth Taping is Not Dumb + Work Will Not Always Be Fun

Happy Monday, legend!

This week at a glance:

• Why you should breathe through your nose and consider taping your mouth shut at night

• Debunking one of the dumbest ideas about work

Fitness Hack: Mouth tapping is not a stupid trend

I don’t jump on every health and fitness trend; I expect you don’t either.

I’ll admit — I’m really bad at waiting 90 minutes to have my first coffee in the morning…

If you did everything that was recommended, you’d end up being some lame biohacking robot with no life.

Health optimization is about finding out which habits are worth it — which ones have a juice that is worth the squeeze.

And mouth taping, my friend, is one of those habits.

Many people are night-time mouth-breathers. 

I was one for years.

I never thought too much about it until I started reading about the benefits of nasal breathing.

• Your nose acts as a filter

Nose hair doesn’t exist just to make you look sexy — it filters out dust, particles, and potential toxins from getting into your system.

• Your nose acts as a humidifier

Air through your nose is warmer and moister than air through your mouth, and therefore it’s easier for your lungs to use.

• Nose breathing produces Nitric Oxide

This is the main reason you should breathe through your nose.

Nitric Oxide is kind of a big deal.

The 1998 Nobel Prize went to the scientists who discovered nitric oxide.

Here are a few reasons why having more nitric oxide production should be something that interests you:

• Regulates hormones

• Prevent blood clotting

• Decreases blood pressure

• Promotes erectile function

• Promotes healthy digestion

• Supports a healthy immune system

But let’s be real; I had all the guys at “Promotes erectile function.”

Nasal breathing is well-documented to produce more nitric oxide than mouth breathing.

So what can you do?

Nose breathing cardio

Aim to do your zone 2 cardio with nose breathing only. I work on this for my incline treadmill walks.

4 mph at a 12-degree incline with nose breathing only is no walk in the park.

Keep your mouth closed except when eating or talking.

Train the habit of keeping your mouth closed throughout your day.

Tape it shut at night!

The sleeping version of you is much harder to control, so if you’re a recovering mouth breather like me, you’ll want to tape your mouth shut at night.

I PROMISE you that this is not as bad as you think.

And no, I’m talking about duct tape.

This is the tape I use:

Breathing through your nose might be the easiest thing you can do to give you a serious ROI for your health.

It’s one of the healthy things worth doing.

An Idea: You Don’t Need to Love What You Do

What complete horse shit.

Embracing this philosophy is an excellent way to never achieve anything meaningful.

Because the pursuit of excellence in any domain is going to require you to do some things you don’t enjoy doing.

It’ll involve being uncomfortable.

But if this ass-backward idea that your purpose will never feel like work takes hold in you, you’ll think that you haven’t found the “right” thing yet as soon as you have a bad day.

As soon as it gets hard.

I recently read two books by Tim Grover, most famous for being Michael Jordan and Kobe’s trainer.

He has a mantra that’s bang on:

It’s true that most of life is lived in the process, and choosing a career and calling based on the process and lifestyle is important.

But mostly enjoying the process and lifestyle of what you do and thinking that every minute of work is supposed to be fun are two very different things.

My current situation is a good example of this.

I’m working on getting my fitness coaching business off the ground while working as a front-end engineer at a startup.

I love fitness and helping people make progress, and I'm deeply passionate about the end result of this goal (having my own business where I can work from anywhere and help people be healthier).

But if I judged this endeavor based on the day-to-day process of getting there, there’s no way I’d make it.

Because there are many aspects of the grind that are not fun.

But the result will be completely worth it.

I have to believe that. The result is what drives me.

The “right” thing for you still won’t be easy.

It won’t always feel like a breeze.

Millennials, in particular, have had this stupid idea of “never working a day in our lives if we find the right thing” shoved down our throats.

It’s so fucking dumb.

If you want to push yourself to be better than average in ANY field, work will not always be fun.

You will have to show up when you don’t feel like it and do the monotonous, busy work that cannot be avoided.

So let’s get rid of this ridiculous idea that you’ll “never work a day in your life if you’re doing what you’re meant to do.”

Horse shit.

When you’re ready, here’s how you can work with me.

I have room for 3 more high-performers who want to get in the best shape of their lives without starving themselves with a boring diet.

P.S - It’s still very possible to lose 10 pounds in time for the last month of summer.

Results like these are guaranteed (or you don’t pay) :

If you’re ready to love how you look naked, reply to this email with subject “WIN” and a brief description of your health & fitness goals.

Have an amazing week!

-Colin “BREATHE THROUGH YOUR DAMNED NOSE” Matson