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“Boom!” It was a loud noise coming from upstairs. I didn't know what it was. But it was followed by a terrifying scream. I knew it was bad. I ran upstairs as fast as I could. Courtney sprinted right behind me. There was little Jagger on the ground. Crying hard. I swept him up and held him tight. Tears poured down his little cheeks. “He fell, he fell,” I whispered. I tried to console him. That's exactly how our Monday morning started. Jagger jumped out of his crib. The thud was so loud it reverberated throughout the entire house… Luckily, he was okay. We just came together as a family. Courtney went straight to work doing research. Within minutes, we ordered a new toddler bed. My day shifted completely… Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your family. Jagger and I drove to pick up the bed. I cut my workout early so I could come home and build it. I didn't know if the box would fit in the Tesla. But when they brought it out, I swear it could've fit in the glove box. That meant there were a lot of parts, a lot of parts… Rats… As I started building, I prepared myself mentally. Jagger had only ever slept in his crib. Switching him to a toddler bed the same day brought back flashbacks. I remembered the torturous sleep training days. Those days beat up both Courtney and I. But this time, we talked about it. We had a plan. We were emotionally prepared for the onslaught that night. After a few of taxing hours, I struggled to put the bed together. Jagger was jumping on me, “trying to help.” He's only two, so he can't exactly work a power drill. I was starting to get really frustrated. Finally the bed was built. Halleluiah! Now we needed to baby-proof the room. That meant moving the old crib out. We started moving it, but it didn't fit through the door… So, we unscrewed the door and took it off the hinges. Still no luck. “I guess we have to take the crib apart too,” I said in an irritated voice. There I was with a tiny Allen wrench, taking the crib apart piece by piece. Courtney jumped in to help me. Then it hit me. I felt that familiar feeling of being suffocated. The room was closing in on me, and I could feel my pupils dilate. My heart rate sped up. I could feel the cold sweat tingle down my back as I dropped the Allen wrench for the fifth time. I leaned into my breath and calmed down. Then something new happened during all of this. We both stayed completely calm. We worked extremely well together. We solved each puzzle one by one. We went to bed early to prepare for the long night ahead. “How do you think Jagger will do?” Courtney asked. I looked at her and referenced a line from Gladiator. “Hold the line.”
If we stay together as a united front, we can overcome anything. The reason I'm sharing this with you is because life's going to test you. You'll face a slew of competing demands and unexpected chaos. It's easy to let life's fire drills throw you completely off your game.
This is exactly why we practice the Body Throttle protocol and focus so much on lateral rib expansion. When chaos hits, your “fight or flight” system flares up. If you haven't automated that deep diaphragmatic breath, you'll forget to use it when you actually need it. You can't wait for the crisis to learn how to use your most powerful tool. You have to make it a daily habit. When you automate your breath, you can stay calm and hold the line. You can solve real fires… And your mind won't make up imaginary fires. You got this! 💪
​ PS: Oh, yeah, and we're moving this week… :/ (Life is on Level: Expert) |
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I'll never forget that day. After my client saw incredible results, I was invited to present to them. I stood in front of Sonny's corporate team. They were expecting a grueling workout plan. They thought I would yell at them to pump iron. Instead… I just asked them to breathe. I walked them through proper diaphragm breathing. This is the Breath Domino. It is your Body Throttle. Most professionals live in a state of “Permanent Redline”. You have too many tabs open in your brain, and your body pays the price. When you use the Body Throttle, you manually pull back on the gas and tell your brain you aren't actually being chased by a lion. I saw the shock and surprise wash over their faces. Then a massive wave of relief filled the entire room. They didn't have to dedicate six hours of their life to suffer in a gym. They just needed the right systems in place. If you feel like you're constantly sweating but getting nowhere, it is time for a new approach. You don't need more willpower… You just need the right strategy…
​ To find out exactly how to rebuild your internal architecture, ​<Click here for The Human Hardware Quiz: Find Your Exact Workout Match>​ Tell me about your body, your schedule, and your roadblocks, and I'll send you a custom video breaking down your exact Live Fit protocol.
​ PS: If you are working hard but feel like you're going nowhere. It's time to take this assessment and gain some clarity. |
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The day after our conversation, Phu went out and ran 14 miles. 14 miles!
It was incredibly impressive. I asked him if he was completely destroyed after the run. I expected him to be resting on the couch for the rest of the day. He said no. He finished the run, took a shower, and immediately went to church with his family. I absolutely loved that. He took care of himself as an athlete… so he could show up as a husband and a father. That is the true definition of Phase 3: The Family Legacy. With life, we cannot just collect one coin. You do not have to relegate yourself to just one aspect. You can succeed in every single dimension of your life without sacrificing the others. Phu said something incredible to me after that weekend. He said, “I needed to remind myself of who I am.” His identity shifted completely. Up until two years ago, this man was not a runner. He used to be the guy who passed out from a light jog. Now he identifies as a fitness guy. The game changed because he accepted his new identity. If you want to make a fundamental shift in how you live… you have to point to the destination. It's Gametime! Stop the random workouts that leave you exhausted and frustrated. Take the Human Hardware Quiz: Find Your Exact Workout Match. Tell me about your body, your schedule, and your roadblocks. I will send you a custom video breaking down your exact LivFit protocol. ​Click here to take the quiz before it closes tonight.​ ​
​ P.S. I will soon resume training for qualification for the Ironman World Championships. Having 7 finishes under my belt certainly helps… but having a solid Human System is what actually gets me across the finish line every single time. |
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On Thursday, I told you about my client Phu passing out on my treadmill. Why did his body shut down from a simple, light jog? My background in Economics and Engineering tells me it was a classic hardware failure. We completely ignored the Order of Operations. Traditional fitness tells you to just push harder and use more willpower to get the job done. It tells you to restrict calories and force the cardio. But as an engineer, I know you cannot run a high-performance machine on a cracked, burning foundation. We tried to push the Move Domino before anything else was ready. In the LivFit 365 program, we know that movement is the final step, not the first. If you do not master your breath, water, sleep, and nutrition first… movement will only destroy you. You cannot live like a Ghost Dad all week, paying the Exhaustion Tax, and expect to crush it in the gym. Fast forward two years later. Phu has gone on to lose over 40 pounds and has transformed his entire life.
A few weeks ago, he told me he wanted to step it up for the second half of the year. He wanted to show everyone, including himself, that he still had it. He wanted to be the leader he was meant to be. He went out the very next day to run. Honestly… part of me was worried he might crash again. I thought his system might overload just like it did two years ago. But he used a very specific Map to guide his Human Hardware this time. I will share exactly what happened on that run on Tuesday.
​ P.S. My current bottleneck is trying to keep my Jagger from feeding his breakfast to Kona. Our female Golden Retriever is very opportunistic… rats! |
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I was on the floor holding my client's legs in the air. I had to get blood back into his brain immediately. My client Phu had just passed out cold on the treadmill.
We were trying to get his daily step count up. For the 19th time, he managed to come in under 3,000 steps and missed his goal. So, I decided to take my client and do the steps together. I put him on the treadmill. But I didn't want to wait 20 minutes into a session for him to get done. So we decided to jog. We jogged a little bit. We didn't run that far… and we didn't run that long. We finished about a mile so he got maybe another 2,500 steps. We got those done together, but then he got really light-headed. Before I knew it, my client was on the ground. I gave him a bar to bring him back in and let him rest as I stretched his leg. His cardio was tapped out. His body completely shut down. That was all his system could handle at that moment. As a high-achiever, you probably know this cycle all too well. You pay a massive Exhaustion Tax at the office all day long. You manage the stress, the meetings, and the endless demands. Then you try to force a brutal workout when your tank is already empty. You operate like a Soft CEO. You look great in a suit, but you rely on sheer willpower to survive your fitness routine. Willpower is a finite resource, and it always runs out by 5:00 PM. Phu experienced a total system failure that day on the gym floor. But there is a biological reason his body fought back. We ignored a massive circuit breaker in his Human Hardware. I will reveal exactly what that circuit breaker is… and how to flip it… this Saturday.
​ P.S. If you are tired of guessing and want to find your exact circuit breaker right now… take my Human Hardware Quiz. Stop the random workouts. Tell me about your body, your schedule, and your roadblocks, and I’ll send you a custom video breaking down your exact Live Fit protocol. <Get Your Custom Workout Here>​ |
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I was laying in bed on Sunday morning. This is the exact time I usually get ready to train. It's the final Coveathlon ever. Courtney and I have done this Thursday night summer race with clients for years. I always look forward to the swim and the run.
But we have a big move coming up… I knew if I got myself physically ready by doing my usual track sprints, I would force myself to race. I had to stop myself from myself. I looked at my wife and said, “Hey, I don't think we should race on Thursday nights because of the move.” Courtney slowly shook her head in agreement. I remembered trying to race during a move last year. You finish at 8:00 PM, and your heart is just pounding out of your chest. It takes hours for your body to calm down enough to sleep. My day starts at 3 am every single morning. That kind of late-night shift is crazy. Plus, our weekends are fully designated for packing boxes and setting up systems. Adding race training to that mix just adds another massive demand to our lives. The old version of me would've said screw it and tried to get it all done. But I know better now.. The reason I'm sharing this with you is because stress taxes you more than you know. Pressure dwindles your resources and steals your ability to be present. You might get the things done, but it will cost you your sanity. So, I decided not to race. Almost immediately, I lost all motivation to work out. I knew it was gone because I usually do sprints and breath holds on the treadmill to warm up at the gym. I didn't feel like doing them because I didn't need the speed. I felt like a shadow of my competitive self. Races always keep me fired up. When your goal vanishes, you have to look deeper. You have to ask a core question. Who am I? I'm a coach, a father, and a husband. I'm a role model who lives fitness every single day. Then you ask the next question… What would someone like me do in this situation? Someone like me works out regardless of an upcoming event. I'm doing this for my son, Jagger. For the first time in my life, I thought about being an active grandfather. Jagger is only two right now, so that's a long way off. But I need to stay in great health for the next 30 years to make that happen. That doesn't happen by just training for races. That happens when you train for life.
​ PS: We don't have to be good at everything. We only have to be good on the things that matter. ​ |
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Courtney's eyes widened. She looked at me and asked, “Did you see that?” I looked down… I slowly nodded up and down. It was an email from our landlord. They aren't renewing our lease. Cold sweats and shockwaves shot down my body. I knew exactly what my family was in store for. I dreaded the boxes and setting up utilities all over again. We've done ten moves in the last four years.
Now we're hunting for a new three-bedroom place around Irvine before August 6th. It's incredibly stressful… I thought about my wife, Courtney. I thought about our son, Jagger, and our dog, Kona. Luckily, I go to sleep at 7 pm every night. I keep my phone off at night, so I didn't get the bad news until the morning. If I'd seen that email when it arrived at 10:30 PM, I wouldn't have slept at all. Life isn't a smooth ride. If it were always easy, it'd be really boring. We all experience unexpected challenges. They might be financial, medical, relational, or professional. The reason I'm sharing this with you is because of how we handle the chaos. This move's inconvenient, but we're all in good health. We've grown tremendously as a family with every single move. Each new environment gives us a fresh start to improve our systems. We rely heavily on our Order of Operations to keep us grounded. These include breathing mechanics, hydration, sleep regulation, nutrition, and daily exercise. Because we've got these systems in place, we don't destroy each other when things get hard. We aren't at each other's throats. Our goal isn't just to survive the difficulty. We aim to embrace life, extract the knowledge, and convert it into wisdom. The Chueys can handle anything together. When life throws a curveball at you this week, rely on your systems. Take a deep breath, drink your water, and get moving.
​ PS: If you wonder why we call ourselves “the Chueys” please just ask me. It's a funny story. |
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I had an interesting conversation with my client Karla recently. She's absolutely crushing it and has already lost over 20 pounds on her road to her first Ironman 70.3 triathlon.
But she told me she sometimes skips her breathwork. Why? Because she felt she was already pretty calm and had her anger under control. I hear this exact same thing from my busy male executive clients. You think you're completely fine because you're not yelling in the boardroom. I told Karla there's a fundamental difference. There are actually three levels of calm. The first stage is looking calm. You don't yell, you don't overreact, and you stay looking controlled. The next level is being calm. You don't explode or roll your eyes… you just hold everything inside. The Ninja level is feeling calm. When you feel calm, the game changes and you become a black belt of the breath and emotional regulation. Most guys I coach are trapped at level two. You just hold it all in. But emotional regulation is the key to a good life. When you can't handle your emotions, you make poor decisions when it comes to eating. You snap at your kids, you're short with your wife, and you stay up all night because you're anxious. As a NASM Master Trainer and 7-time Ironman finisher, I can tell you exactly why people fail. You can't access true emotional regulation without regulation of your breathing mechanics. Diaphragmatic breathing is your Body's Throttle. In Phase 1 of my LivFit 365 program, we tackle The Domino Effect. The Breath Domino is the very first step. You'll die in 3 minutes without air, and it's the only way to manually pull back on the gas so your brain knows you aren't being chased by a lion. Let's stop holding it all in and start actually feeling calm. ​
​ PS: I was trying to teach my son, Jagger, about deep breathing today, but he was more interested in feeding his breakfast to our golden retriever, Kona… rats. |
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Here's the exact 5-point checklist I use with all my clients to master the Neuro-breath. It's gotten some incredible results.
In our Order of Operations, breath is the very first domino. When you get this right, you kill the 3:00 PM energy crash and stop paying the Exhaustion Tax. Step 1: Clear the airways. If you can't breathe through your nose, your body's engine is sputtering before you even turn the key. Start with a quick nose-unblocking exercise to clear your nostrils so you can comfortably access your Neuro-breath. Step 2: Lock in your tongue posture. Say the word ‘thin‘ and hold that ‘n' sound. Feel where your tongue rests against the roof of your mouth? Keep it there and create a slight suction. This acts as a natural backstop, forcing you to breathe exclusively through your nose. It's the ultimate biological filter, purifying and humidifying the air while killing off pathogens. Step 3: Control the exhaust. Breathing out through your nose naturally slows your breath rate. Quick, shallow mouth-breathing tells your brain you're running from a tiger, instantly flipping on your fight-or-flight stress response. Nasal breathing hits the brakes on that stress, giving you the clarity to own your day. Step 4: Grab the Body Throttle. Place your hands on the sides of your lower ribs. Take a low, slow breath. If you feel those ribs expand outward laterally without your shoulders shrugging up, you're doing it perfectly. Step 5: Take the 40-second CO2 tolerance test. Exhale all your air into a controlled pause and pinch your nose. You should be able to hold this comfortably for 40 seconds. If you can't, your tolerance for CO2 is too low. This means your ‘air hunger' will hijack your diaphragm when you try to take deeper breaths. It's the ultimate diagnostic test for your internal hardware. Apply this checklist, and you'll build the physical foundation you need to run your life like a Swiss watch.
​ PS: If you are unsure or don't know how to do a specific step, please hit REPLY and I'll personally help you. |
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“You're obsessed with this breathing thing.” It was 6:00 AM, and I was training my client Jesse over Zoom. We were right in the middle of a side neck stretch. He stopped, looked right at the camera, and dropped that line on me. At first, I was completely taken aback. The room was dead quiet, and all I could hear was the humming of my computer fan. I felt that realization hit my whole body like a physical shock. But then I smiled. I realized what he was saying was completely true. I'm obsessed with it because it is my North Star. It's the missing piece to true behavior change. Once I started adapting the breath and changing mechanics, everything shifted. I learned about the diaphragm, the lymphatic system, and the autonomic nervous system. I started going a lot deeper into the science of oxygen and carbon dioxide. And the deeper I went, the more I recognized something crucial. I finally understood why changing your breathing mechanics is so incredibly hard. Out of all the thousands of people I've trained in my life, only one stands out. I have just one client who's close to making functional breathing their default… Just one. The odds are heavily stacked against us. Let's look at why. First, your breath is ingrained in you for survival. Three minutes without oxygen, and you die. Your body will always find a way to breathe because the alternative is death. It doesn't care if you use your upper chest, your traps, your neck, or your throat. The body is just trying to get oxygen into the system. When your diaphragm isn't used, that body throttle in the center of your core experiences muscle atrophy. Think of a broken arm inside a cast. For a lot of us, our diaphragm has atrophied. Second, you need a neuromuscular connection. You must have a mind-muscle connection to activate that specific muscle. Think about flexing your calf or pulling with your back.
Motor mechanics are a huge part of activating the diaphragm. The third barrier is synergistic dominance. Overactive muscles take over the movement to compensate for the lazy diaphragm. Your body is conditioned to breathe with your upper chest and neck. So, the diaphragm doesn't feel like it needs to do its job. The reason I'm sharing this with you is because changing this pattern requires extreme intention. We have to be purposeful in our conviction to use that diaphragm. We have to keep our mouths closed and pin the tongue to the roof of the mouth. We have to make these habitual changes to improve the physical function of our breathing. Those old neural nets are deeply ingrained in your autonomic nervous system. To change them, you're going to have to be aware and present. It's going to be uncomfortable… Your brain and body will want to default back to chest breathing because it feels familiar and comfortable. Nobody wants to think about their breath all day long. But pushing through this discomfort is how you master your Neuro-breath. It's how you take control of your stress and your health. This is exactly how you stop the exhausting cycle of a high-performer and upgrade your Internal Operating System. Rats, I know building this habit feels tough. But once you recognize, or know what I know. You'll see that everything is at stake. Everything.
​ PS: I have a Functional Breathing Checklist that I use with all my clients. I'll share that with you next week. PPS: By the way, Jesse has officially lost over 30 pounds with less time in the gym. So, there must be something to this breathing stuff 😉 |
