SmartSolopreneur Newsletter #3
Hi there! It's time for a brand new SmartSolopreneur Newsletter!
These last few weeks, I’ve been knee-deep in research, testing new ideas, and making surprising discoveries. From experimenting with workouts that don’t suck to realizing that sleep isn’t just about feeling rested—this journey has been full of insights. Let’s dive in!
Fit over 40 updates
One of the subjects I explored is conditioning. And I don’t mean the salivating-dog-when-a-bell-is-rung kind of conditioning, no. I explored the kind that makes you sweat: cardiovascular conditioning. Being over 40 now, this needs more attention. Since I never gave it much thought, I decided to first explore what it actually is. You can read all about that in this article.
It is always a good idea to start with the fundamentals. Once you know those, you can build on that. So after I learned what cardiovascular conditioning is, it was time to explore methods to work on that. The concept of heart rate zone training really appealed to me, so that’s what I learned all about. It’s a very easy method, which you can easily apply using a simple heart rate monitor. You can read all about it in article 2 of the ‘cardio without running’ series.
So, now we know what cardiovascular conditioning is, we have a basic method, time for how to actually do it. The third article in the ‘cardio without running’ series is all about the sweat! You can read all about how to structure a workout for the different types of heart rate training. I included example workouts you can try. Don’t have a gym at your disposal? Don’t worry, I got you covered. The article contains example workouts with and without equipment! And yes, I did try them myself. The HIIT sessions left me gasping for breath once I was done (not a pretty sight!)…
All this working out might make you tired. And that brings me to my article about sleep. Slaap had always been a ‘thing’ for me. Sleep is very important to feel good, so obviously it's the subject of investigation in my Fit over 40 project. I monitored my sleep for the last 3 months, and this taught me a surprising lesson. Curious about that lesson? You can read all about it in this article.
While working on my physical well-being, I also made sure to dedicate time to another key aspect of this journey—figuring out how to fund it sustainably.
Funding a Gentleman Scientist Lifestyle Update
I have been experimenting with my marketing in the last few weeks. I have been busy posting on Linkedin (you can check out my profile there if you’re curious. You can always connect with me there too!).
One of the things I did to make it manageable for myself, is using a posting cycle. You can read about what that is, and how it works for me in this article.
Which brings me to one quite successful thing I did. I decided to write about my struggles trying to figure out what was ‘wrong’ with me. I went deep, and writing about that was good for me. Getting my story out there is important to me. It was a bit scary to hot ‘publish’, and even more so to share it on Linkedin. But I did. And got a lot of (positive) responses. It turned out to be my most read blog ever. And that in only a couple of days. I am very thankful for that, and I see it as an encouragement to keep going. Curious about that story? You can read it (in Dutch) here.