Stephen Lawhon

@emilyofeasttx What restaurant?

when in Rome (Lufkin, Texas)

@Camp4 “But what if powerlifting IS the sport you train for…? 🤔 We discuss next on The Inner Circle with @mbrown_co.”

Today is 5/13. For rock climbers, 5.13 is a special number. It’s where elite-level climbing begins. This is me sending my first 5.13 — at the age of 50. Bragging rights aside, 5.13 is also a uniquely good benchmark for all-around fitness. Here’s the thing: You can be a good runner or cyclist and still be unfit. In fact, imbalance is rewarded. Ryan Hall said he was the least healthy he’d ever been when he became the first American to break one hour in the half marathon. Likewise, you can lift big numbers and look ripped but still be unfit. But if you can climb 5.13, you are by definition fit because it demands: —Strength —Endurance —Power —Coordination —Mobility —Balance It’s the reason highly varied, functional sports like climbing, surfing, and jiu-jitsu are the best way to get fit. You can try to train all that stuff in a gym… or you can pursue mastery in a sport. The latter is way more fun. Happy 5/13 to those who celebrate.

@Camp4 RW is another similar story: delivers a pizza to the company while in college. Now owns it.

My college roommate, Chris, has worked for the same company his entire career. For 34 years, he’s punched the clock, lived below his means, and plowed savings into index funds. If I told you Chris’ net worth, you wouldn’t believe the number. 🛩️ He’s in the PJ class—and he took zero risk to get there. People on this app glamorize entrepreneurship and belittle 9-to-5 jobs, but remember: 1) There’s massive survivorship bias. You only hear from the 1% who made it, not the 99% who crashed and burned. 2) Most of the loudmouths here aren’t as successful as they portray. (It’s especially true if they’re selling courses and advice.) For the the vast majority of us, the surest path to success is to be like Chris: 📈 Do ordinary things extraordinarily well for a long period of time. Discipline and consistency compound. The problem is, most people give up before the returns go exponential.

@Camp4 Not buying any of this AI-generated propaganda. I don’t care how busted up you are, you’ll still find a way to beat me at whatever competitive athletic endeavor we try. (Let me know when I can pre-order the new book.)

So… this happened. I had surgery today to repair a detached tricep tendon. The good news is, it’s my first serious injury in 30 years of climbing. The bad news is, it’s a doozy. I’m out for six months. The injury happened in February, while I was climbing in a remote area of Mexico. A foothold broke, and I fell onto a tufa (a protrusion of rock), crushing the soft tissue in the upper part of my right arm. After a few weeks, I thought I was recovered, so—me being me—I started climbing again. Things were going fine until I made a weird move and heard a tearing sound. As far as this type of injury goes, it was a pretty bad one. Luckily, I live near the world famous Steadman Clinic, where athletes from all over the world go to get put back together. There’s no denying it — this sucks. But mark my words: I’ll be back and stronger than ever. (Maybe it’s my opportunity to finally write the book.)

@Camp4 @DanReese21 @AliBrownleetri And Paul Sherwin taught us that cycling usually requires a suitcase of courage. 😄

@DanReese21 @AliBrownleetri Legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett called it: "A face only a mother could love." 🤣 @RealDealLawman knows what I'm talking about.

It is my birthday today, so I allowed myself a completely self‑indulgent data analysis. I have had the “what is the hardest endurance sport” argument in so many changing rooms and cafes that I lost count years ago. Swimming feels psychologically hardest for me. Cycling feels highest risk. Running just feels brutally honest. So this time I tried to answer it with data. I pulled nearly a million sessions across nine endurance sports and looked at what each one does to the cardiovascular system, both per minute and per session. Here is what I found: - Every sport has a distinct heart‑rate “fingerprint”. Running is a tight, right‑shifted bell around 145 bpm. Walking and ski touring sit broader and lower. Downhill skiing is all peaks and troughs. - Running really is hard on the heart. It has the highest session average, peak HR, and sustained intensity ratio. - Walking’s “high” intensity ratio is a statistical trick. Low average, low peak, very flat sessions that only look hard on paper. - Downhill skiing has the biggest swings. Peaks rival outdoor cycling, but average HR sits near walking. That 47 bpm gap matches the feeling of short bursts and a lot of standing around. - Cross‑country skiing behaves like running at the top end and like cycling on average. Huge peaks, long gliding recoveries. - Indoor cycling is the purest steady effort after running. The sustained profile is similar in relative terms, but the absolute load is lower because seated cycling simply costs less than weight‑bearing running. Within the same person, running still wins. Among 1,480 people who both run and ride outside, 93% hit a higher fraction of their personal max HR when they run. Same body, same heart, different biomechanical demand. Then I changed the question. Because intensity is only part of the story and I recently cycled for 35 hours at a low Heart Rate, but it certainly felt pretty hard! Do you want to reward time on feet, or time in the red zone? Full research below.

@johnpaulp Follow @CoachDanGo—lots of great information, including food. Yogurt has become my friend.

Those of you that get a gram of protein per pound of body weight how do you do it without being in a caloric surplus? Days I eat steak is easy but I get tired of chicken im 195 pounds and getting that every day can be exhausting and I get tired of multiple protein shakes per day

@Camp4 Absolute gold.

I used to set up makeshift “ninja warrior” courses in the backyard after work. At the time, I was just trying to give my wife a break and get the girls outside. Now those are some of our most cherished memories. Young parents, remember this: Little moments like this aren’t a distraction from the main thing… they *are* the main thing.

This is the best thing you'll see this week... A few years ago, I came across this beautiful story written by a woman named Pam Kearney in a local newspaper. I visited Matthew, the owner of Lucy’s Flour Shop a little while back. As I nibbled on an enormous chocolate chip cookie I began to tell him a story. A few years back on a bitterly cold December evening, there was a visitation at the funeral home across the street from his bakery. The people, bundled up in coats, scarves, and blankets were lined up around the building waiting to hug the family of the deceased. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man showed up and began giving away hot coffee to the people outside. People who entered the funeral home with coffee in their hands whispered of a mysterious man handing out free coffee, and how much they appreciated it. I looked at Matthew and said, "I have a suspicion that you were that man. Is that right?" Matthew very humbly replied, "Yes, I felt so bad for them and wanted to do something, but all I could do was make coffee, so I made coffee." I responded that he blessed so many people that night by helping them warm up and by showing there’s good in the world. He added a positive note to a devastating situation. I paused, then added, “That visitation was for my sixteen-year-old son. Thank you for being so kind.” That conversation has stuck in my head since then: "All I could do was make coffee, so I made coffee." *** I want you to read that final line again... "All I could do was make coffee, so I made coffee." Every single day, we face our own version of this situation. Different circumstances, yes, but the same general experience: We feel stuck. Completely frozen. Not because of the lack of options, but because none of the options are perfect. None of the options feel big enough. None will solve the entire problem or fix the entire issue. So, most of the time, we do nothing. But nothing is the one option that's guaranteed to change nothing. If I could synthesize the lessons of my five years of writing down to one single statement, it would be the following: Do the thing. Take the action. Just start. Show up. Make the move. Walk the path. Because the change you want to see doesn't happen unless you create it. The new life you want doesn’t magically appear. It’s built through action. New habits. New mindsets. New standards. New boundaries. Action, however imperfect, is always the cost of entry. I might think of it as the Paradox of Imperfection: The most perfect outcomes are often just a byproduct of a large volume of imperfect actions. In the immortal words of Teddy Roosevelt: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." As you continue on this crazy adventure of life, you will face daily moments that conspire to make you feel completely helpless. You'll feel paralyzed. Unable to see a clear path to create momentum or improve the situation. In these moments, you have a decision to make: You can freeze, paralyzed by the imperfection of your options. Or... You can act. You can do what you can, with what you have, where you are. You can make the coffee. This is the single most important decision of your life. Making the coffee isn't just for the moments of turmoil or crisis. It's for the ordinary Tuesday when you dread getting out of your warm bed. It's for the business idea that's been sitting in your head for two years. It's for the hard conversation you've been avoiding. It's for the workout you want to skip on the day when everything fell into chaos. It's for the dream that feels too big to begin. The moments themselves can be big or small, but the lesson is clear: Action doesn't have to be perfect for it to be right. So, the next time you face a situation and start to feel helpless, remember: Just make the coffee.

@Camp4 Also: ‘Interest fluctuates’ and ‘Inattentive’… 🤣

@Camp4 Incredible—what a beautiful (and funny) story! I remember Mrs. K, though I never had her as a teacher.

📏Mrs. K’s Secret (a heart-warming story to break the negative news cycle) “Kevin’s poor performance shows lack of understanding. I expect improvement.” That’s what Mrs. K—my high school calculus teacher—had to say on the report card below. She was a real ball-buster… never satisfied with my work. Her comment—and the failing grade—were a wake-up call. I doubled my effort… but saw little improvement. It felt like chasing a moving target. Only later did I learn that Mrs. K failed to mention one important thing on that report card: My 69 was the highest grade in the class. Mrs. K didn’t care about grades—she cared about potential. She knew a secret: Nobody reaches their potential without someone raising the bar. Upon graduation, I rolled the dice and asked Mrs. K to write a recommendation letter for a prestigious college scholarship I’d applied for. I never saw her letter, but I can only assume it was more positive than my report card, because a few weeks later I heard back from UT: Full ride in engineering. 🤘 But the story doesn’t end there… Fast-forward 36 years. Recently, while rummaging through some old boxes, I stumbled upon that report card from 1989. I Googled Mrs. K and discovered that she was still alive (at 95!) and lived in the same house. I wrote Mrs. K a letter to thank her for pushing me toward excellence. I told her about some of my academic and career achievements and included a copy of that old report card. A few weeks later, I received a response from Mrs. K’s daughter. She told me that her mom’s health was failing but her mind was sharp as ever. She said Mrs. K remembered me—the “lanky, blond-headed boy”—and got a kick out of my letter. She only had one comment: “He should have studied more.”

@Camp4 As someone who routinely benc…never mind.

Fitness bros are saying a 315 bench isn’t elite. There’s no way more than 1 in 10,000 (0.01%) men can do it. For guys over 45 it’s probably less than 1 in 50,000 (0.002%). For men who are also lean (~180 lbs) it’s probably less than 1 in 200,000 (0.005%).

@Camp4 Good stuff. I like the way @SahilBloom puts it: ‘Someday’ becomes another word for ‘never’.

⭕️ The Inner Circle, Ep 7 just dropped. Don't fall victim to "someday thinking" because... Someday never comes. The time to start living the life you want is now 👇

@SahilBloom Needed this reminder today—thanks, Sahil.

The most attractive trait in the world is energy. Walk into every room with genuine curiosity, enthusiasm, and interest. You become a magnet for the highest quality people. Energy is contagious. Spread the kind you'd want to catch.

@Camp4 @DrCamRx “They’re not chasing deadlift PRs…” Wouldn’t be me. 😅

Go read this discussion. It raises an important question: What are you optimizing for—form or function (or health)? @DrCamRx posted an unpopular opinion that most guys—even those who look lean and ripped—carry too much weight. I’ve been saying this for years. Guys are obsessed with muscle mass, but… Ripped is not fit or functional or optimally healthy. Bulk doesn’t perform or age well. If you look at the fittest guys in their 50s and beyond, none of them are meatheads—they’re all lean and mobile and strong enough. They’re not chasing deadlift PRs. As a lifelong athlete who is still performing at an elite level at 55 (in perhaps the most physically demanding sport), I can tell you that when I carry too much bulk (whether it’s muscle or fat) my body is noticeably less functional—and ultimately that impacts longevity. I’ll point the finger at myself: I like lifting just as much as the next guy and as we speak I’m carrying too much mass. I look reasonably lean and at 6’3” 198 lbs nobody will say I’m overweight, but I’m carrying ~10-15 lbs too much bulk.

@JoshPateCFB I would like to nominate @tenthousandcc as the new white tee provider. The CORE TEE is amazing, not to mention Ten Thousand makes the world’s finest workout gear. Pate State Freights X Ten Thousand collab feels inevitable. tenthousand.cc/products/core-…

I am in the market for a new white tee provider

@Camp4 Me reading this post.

Elon Musk was in Boulder last week and I had the pleasure of taking him climbing in the Flatirons. Halfway up the mountain, I couldn’t resist saying… “You know Elon, your billions are no good here on the rock. Right now, I’m wealthier than you because I’m more fit.” He responded, “Yeah, but I hate rock climbing—I like building rockets. And that takes a sh!tload of money.” Touché, Elon! The point of this completely made-up story is this: Too many people mindlessly chase money without asking themselves: To what end? Elon wants to make humans an interplanetary species, so there’s utility in having enormous financial wealth. I, on the other hand, am a simple man—I just want to climb rocks, hang out with loved ones, travel, write, and work on interesting projects. If I had billions of dollars, my agenda wouldn’t change. Sure, I’d dream a little bigger and fly private—but that would be the icing, not the cake. Here’s the thing: ⛽️ Money isn’t the destination, it’s just the fuel. FIRST, figure out your destination. Search your soul and define the day-to-day life you want to live (being careful not to default to what society *tells you* to want). Most people have never taken the time to define their “Ideal End State” in detail and in writing. THEN, figure out how much fuel ($) you need to live that life. Rockets require a lot of fuel, rocks almost none. I’ve been through this exercise with dozens of people—from broke college kids to billionaires—and most are surprised to find that their ideal life doesn’t cost as much as they assumed. What life are you chasing? P.S. My Ideal End State exercise can help you answer that question. It’s in the comments below.

@drgurner This! Combined with what @Camp4 always preaches: being in good shape. If I can’t be bothered to represent myself well, why would an employer want me representing them?

Dressing well, having good manners, and being well-groomed is a hack. Everyone can do it, but most won't. You stand out in a world that is sloppy & doesn't care about manners. Show up in the world with some effort. You stand out. It makes a difference.

@AmandaMAtwell Billy is all of us.

Presented without comment

Us at the Thanksgiving table with our Longhorn family members this year

@Camp4 How have I never heard this story? Incredible.

A fun story: In 2013, I licensed this scene for a TV ad. This was before Zoom, so we did a call to negotiate the deal. During introductions, a distinctive deep voice spoke up: “Hey, it’s Sly.” Stallone was so protective of his work that he personally approved every licensing deal. He wanted to know exactly how this scene was going to be used. I made my pitch and added that my dad took me to see Rocky when I was six years old. It was the first time I’d ever been in a movie theater. Sly listened, then said, “OK, sounds good,” and that was that. A couple weeks later, I got a package in the mail from Stallone’s office. It was a signed boxing glove. 🥊