Metabolic flexibility is a buzzy topic, particularly among biohackers—people who use themselves as an experiment in an effort to be healthier or perform better. Being metabolically flexible means that you’re able to switch between burning carbs and burning fat for energy, which helps your body consistently function at its best, both in everyday life and during exercise.

But even though metabolic flexibility is important, do you need a tool to track it? , the company behind what it calls “the first device to hack your metabolism,” claims it can do just that, helping customers burn fat, lose weight, and naturally boost their energy in the process. The premise is simple: users breathe into the device within 30 minutes of waking, and the Lumen app creates a meal plan for the day based on whether the user is burning more carbs or more fat. The gadget, plusÌęsix months of appÌęaccess, costs $249; subsequent months requireÌęan additional subscription.

Despite Lumen’s big promises, experts aren’t sold on the device. Here’s why.

It’s Good to Be Flexible

Being metabolically flexible helps performance. Glucose is your body’s quickest source of energy, but it can only store so much at once; fat takes longer to break down and convert into energy, but we can store much more of it, so it’s virtually always available. In order to best meet your energy demands at any given moment, it’s helpful to be able to switch between these two fuel sources, depending on how much energy your body is burning and what’s available.

A explains thatÌęduring vigorous exercise (basically, anything that makes it tough to carry on a conversation), energy demands are so high that muscles need fuel from a variety of sources, including both glucose and fat. This is crucial for staying energized during long workouts—without good metabolic flexibility, someone will tire more quickly during strenuous exercise and likely won’t be able to go as hard. Being metabolically flexible can be associated with a person’s fitness level: aÌę found that professional athletes had better metabolic flexibility and were more able to efficiently burn fat for fuel thanÌęmoderately active people.

Metabolic flexibility is measured by a person’s respiratory exchange ratio (RER)—a “measure of carbon dioxide being produced by the body versus oxygen being consumed,” explains Dylan MacKay, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Manitoba. Generally speaking, most people’s RER is close to 0.7 upon waking in the morning or after a period of fasting. This ratio climbs closer to oneÌęafter eating (particularly carbs), MacKay says. “When RER is at one, you’re burning purely carbs for energy. At 0.7, you’re burning mostly fat.” During strenuous exercise, RER can increase to about 1.1, due to the way the body buffers against lactate buildup.

People with diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and other chronic health conditions tend to be less metabolically flexible. A showed that men with Type 2 diabetes had a higher RER after periods of fasting and less metabolic flexibility overall (measured as less change in RER over time) than men without diabetes.

You Don’t Need Another Gadget

So, if metabolic flexibility is such a good thing, wouldn’t it be great to be able to measure yours every day? That’s what the folks behind Lumen want you to believe. But experts say that the information it sells—especially when it comes to weight loss—doesn’t actually provide new insights.

“If you’re more than three hours without eating, you’ll burn more fat. If you’ve recently consumed some carbohydrates, you’ll burn less fat,” says Nicholas Tiller, a senior researcher in respiratory medicine and exercise physiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “Do you really need an expensive gadget to measure your carbon-dioxide output and tell you this? I just don’t see a practical use for the product in helping people achieve their weight-loss goals.”

MacKay agrees. “The app gives meal suggestions, with the goal of improving metabolic flexibility,” he says. “But I haven’t seen any data saying that following a certain meal plan to expand metabolic flexibility will have any benefits.”

Plus, Lumen isn’t even all that great at measuring your RER. Its technology is loosely based on a metabolic cart, aÌędevice that measures a person’s total volume of gas in (oxygen) and out (carbon dioxide), calibrates against other gases that might be present in trace amounts, and produces a very accurate RER reading. Lumen, on the other hand, only measures your carbon-dioxide output. And while a metabolic cart reading takes about ten minutes and is usually performed in a medical setting, a Lumen reading is based on just a single breath.

of Lumen, conducted by the company and published last year in the ​​Interactive Journal of Medical Research, compared various RER readings using both Lumen and a metabolic cart, one after the other. While the Lumen readings were correlated with the metabolic cart reading—when one went up, the other went up, and vice versa—Lumen wasn’t nearly as accurate at measuring RER. (Here’s that shows how the Lumen readings lined up with RER readings.)

As Always, the Answer Is to Eat Well and Exercise

One possible benefit of Lumen, MacKay says, is that using it could encourage people to eat a more varied and nutritious diet and to exercise more often, both of which are associated with increased metabolic flexibility and better health overall. But you really don’t need a device and an app full of your RER data in order to do that.

“The use of metabolic flexibility and other science-sounding terms lend the product a false scientific legitimacy,” Tiller says. Lumen’s promise is alluring: “Breathe into this device every day, eat what we tell you to, and you’ll be healthier!” But it’s not really evidence-based. “It’s quintessential marketing over science,” Tiller says.

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Social media isn’t a great place to find wellness or nutrition advice. The most viral stuff tends to be the most over-the-top and the influencers who create it typically care more about shareability than science. Put bluntly: “Likes and follows do not indicate competence,” says , co-founder of and the sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs.ÌęBut once in a blue moon, a viral nutrition trend is worth trying. Like protein coffee, which recently took TikTok by storm.

#Proffee is pretty simple: it’s a protein shake, made with coffee. And while the idea of a caffeinated smoothie isn’t earth-shattering, it has its merits, particularly if you’re someone who likes to work out in the morning. Here’s what two sports dietitians have to say about it.

How to Make It

There’s no master recipe for #proffee. Scroll through the tag on TikTok and you’ll find thousands of videos. One woman orders a couple of shots of iced Starbucks espresso in a venti cup and then pours a pre-made shake on top. Another uses a vanilla protein shake as “creamer,” and several people blend their own shakes with flavored protein powder, ice, and coffee instead of milk. You get the idea.

Protein coffee is a great way to kill two birds—nutrition and caffeination—with one stone. Let’s get one thing clear, though. “Coffee is not a meal,” says Abby Chan, a sports dietitian and co-owner of Evolve in Flagstaff, Arizona. “And adding protein to coffee still does not make it a meal.”

If you’re relying on protein coffee alone to get you through the morning, Bonci recommends adding carbohydrates by blending in a banana or eating some fruit or cereal alongside your drink. Chan points out that you could add fat with a scoop of nut butter, too.

Protein coffee works well alongside a regular breakfast, particularly if your morning meal contains less than 15 grams of protein. Chan says this is the minimum amount that most people should eat per meal, although there’s no need to hit this target on the nose every time. For reference: two large eggs contain roughly 13 grams of protein, a seven-ounce container of plain Greek yogurt has 20 grams, and a half-cup of rolled oats cooked in a cup of two-percent milk has 13 grams. If you’re already eating protein-rich foods at breakfast, Chan says, there’s not much benefit to adding it to your coffee, although it won’t cause any harm. â€ÔšŽÇłÜr body can only absorb 25 to 35 grams during a meal,” she says.

Why It Works

Some TikTokers use protein coffee as a pre-workout drink. This makes sense, since caffeine is the main active ingredient in most pre-workout supplements, and a cup of coffee is far cheaper than a scoop of expensive powder. Bonci explains that for many people, consuming caffeine 30 to 60 minutes before a workout can boost endurance and increase focus.Ìę

But it might not work for everybody, and it’s not a magic bullet. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű columnist Alex Hutchinson previously reported on a looking at caffeine’s effect on performance, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. The study followed a group of 101 male athletes during 10k cycling time trials, and found that, while caffeine did boost performance on average, the athletes who benefited the most had a specific gene that helps them metabolize caffeine well—and those without that gene actually rode more slowly.Ìę

You likely already know from experience whether caffeine helps, hurts, or doesn’t affect your workouts. If you feel better exercising after coffee, Chan explains that adding protein could have some benefitÌęfor workouts lasting more than 90 minutes. When your glycogen stores are depleted, having amino acids (the building blocks of protein) readily available in your system will prevent your body from breaking down existing muscle to get them. But for shorter workouts, the protein probably won’t serve any purpose beyond helping you hit your nutrient requirements for the day.

Chan stresses that you shouldn’t need caffeine to train. “If you’re relying on caffeine to get through a workout, then you are not ready or recovered enough to be training,” she says.

“At the end of the day, protein coffee is simply a protein shake with caffeine,” Chan says. “It’s not a meal, and it’s not a magical elixir.” Frankly, it’s surprising that something so simple took off on TikTok, a space usually reserved for wellness trends that are either or completely ridiculous (like dipping cucumber slices in stevia as a low-sugar substitute for watermelon). If you like the taste of a coffee protein shake, great! Just don’t drink it in lieu of breakfast.

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To make long-term improvement in anything—from runningÌęto writingÌęto eatingÌęto gardening—you need to do it consistently. But you shouldn’t beat yourself up, at least not too badly, when you don’t. It’s simple, but not easy.

Rule #1: Do the Thing

This is self-explanatory. If you don’t regularly run, you will not get better at running. Showing up day in and day out; taking small steps to achieve big gains; being unrelenting,Ìęconsistent, or self-disciplined—whatever you want to call it, it is critical to lasting progress. In a world inundated with self-prescribed hacks, quick fixes, and countless other silver bullets—the majority of which are plentiful on promises yet meager on results—it’s easy to forget the importance of hard work. But even the most talented athleteÌęor the most gifted artist is nothing without pounding the stone. Putting in the work—when you feel like it,ÌęandÌęperhaps especially when you don’t—will eventually yield results.

Stephen King said it well in his bookÌę: “Don’t wait for the muse. As I’ve said, he’s a hardheaded guy who’s not susceptible to a lot of creative fluttering. This isn’t the Ouija board or the spirit-world we’re talking about here, but just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul trucks
Above all else, be consistent.”

So, yeah,Ìęget to work, even when you don’t want to.

Rule #2: Don’t Beat Yourself Up When You Don’t Do the Thing

Doing something for the long haul means you’ll make mistakes and have bad days. This is just how it goes, an unfortunate reality. How you respond when this happens is important.

Beating yourself up is perhaps the most common reaction. It is also the worst.

Freaking out about not doing the thing—or at least not doing it as you planned—is a waste of time and energy. It does nothing to change the past. It feels lousy in the present. And it is not helpful for the future; if anything, it often makes it worse. If you are overly hard on yourself, you may just quit. And even if you don’t, you’ll be apprehensive going forward. Why take a riskÌęor attempt to rise to the next level if the cost of failure is a self-inflicted beatdown? Fear is an .

Back in high-school, one of my football coaches would often say, “The key to being a good cornerback is having a short memory.” You are going to get burned every once in a while. The quicker you let go of that, the better.

Having a short memory doesn’t mean you don’t learn from your mistakes. You do. You just don’t dwell on them or get angry. You analyze them. Then you take what is helpful and leave the rest behind.

This kind of self-compassion doesn’t come easy to Type A, highly driven people. If you find yourself being overly hard on yourself, pretend that you’re giving advice to a friend who’s in your situation. What would you say to them? We tend to be a lot kinder and wiser .

Mantras can also help. They snap you out of your head and put you back in the present moment. Here is one I like to useÌęwithÌęboth myself and my clients: This is what is happening right now. I’m doing the best I can.

Doing the thing—whatever it may be—over and over again takes you to hard places. It requires self-discipline and persistence to keep going. Not beating yourself up too badly when you don’t do the thing is what allows you to brush yourself off and get up when you are down. Put them together and what you get is .

Brad Stulberg () coaches on performance and well-being and writesÌęșÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’sÌęDo It BetterÌęcolumn. He is the bestselling author of andÌęÌęand co-founder ofÌę.

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Just the other day, in between brutalÌęsets of squats at my local gym,ÌęI had an epiphany: training hard is really hard. You may be thinking,ÌęYeah, that’s not rocket science.ÌęBut there’s a difference between knowing somethingÌęintellectually and knowing it in your bones.

Marketing has conditioned us to believe inÌębody hacking and quick fixes, and the very fact that workouts hurtÌęgets in the way of many people starting and sticking with exercise programs. Unfortunately, there’sÌęno silver bullet that makes a hard workout easy. But the followingÌętips and practices will help you stick to a tough training plan, through low-motivation days and low-energy workouts, to get the results you want—no magic pill or program required.

Pick Something FunÌęand Start Slow

People are more likely to stick with an exercise program when they choose an activity they enjoy and increase intensity at a self-determined rate, according to research done byÌę, an exercise scientist at Iowa State University. SoÌęif you feel like you’reÌęfighting against your body when you’re running, consider trying a different type of workout. ShiftÌęto a strength-training programÌęor start riding your bike. And resistÌęthe urge to do too much too soon. “Consistency is key,” says Matt Dixon, head coach at Purple Patch, a triathlon-training businessÌęin San Francisco. “The surest way to real confidence and enduring performance is to progressively layer training, slowly building on what you did in the past, adding layers over time.” In other words, don’t just start training hard overnight. Ease into it to avoid both physical and mental burnout.

Just Show UpÌę

When you’reÌęlow on motivation,Ìęthe best thing you can do to change your mental state is to change your physical state. In the words of endurance athlete and self-improvement guruÌęRich Roll, “Mood follows action.” Long-standing research,Ìę in theÌęJournal of Personality and SocialÌęPsychologyÌęin the 1980s,Ìęhas found that the more you try to suppress a certain thought (for example, I really don’t want to exercise today), the strongerÌęthat thought becomes. ,ÌępublishedÌęin the journalÌęCognition and EmotionÌęin 2010, found that the same thing holds true for emotions: the more you try to change the way you feel, the more stuck in your current mood you’re liable to be. But if you simply take action, even if it feels like you’reÌęforcing yourself to do so, changes in your thoughts and feelings are often close behind. This explains why the first mile for a runner, or the warm-up for a powerlifter, is often the hardest part of the workout. Show up and getÌęstarted, and the energy and motivation will follow.

Don’t Go It Alone

The day I had my epiphany at the gym, I was with two friends who I’ve been training with for the past few years. Without their company, I’m not sure I would have ever beenÌęable to push myself so hard, let alone found the will to continue forging ahead. In aÌęcomprehensive analysisÌępublished in the journalÌęMedicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers reviewed over 30 studies in search of factors that consistently motivate people to start and stick with exercise programs. One of the strongest motivators they foundÌęwas having a supportive community.

As for finding the ideal training partner, aÌęÌęfrom Kansas State University suggests you’d be wise to find someone who has a similar fitness level asÌęyou or is even a bit better. Researchers found that when people exercised with someone whoÌęthey perceived as slightly fitter than themselves, they increased their workout duration and intensity by up to 200 percent.

Don’t Rely on Willpower

A common mantra amongÌęmy little training group is, “Don’t think, just go,” a simple idea that aligns with the latest behavioral science. show that the more we rely on willpower (i.e., thinking) to get us through challenging activities, the worse we perform and the greater our risk for burnout becomes. Better than countingÌęon willpower is trying to eliminate the need for it altogether. On a macro level, this means making it as easy as possible to get to the gym by doing things like prepacking your bag the night before and finding spots to train near your house. On a micro level, the less thinking you need to do in the gym, the better. Plan your workout beforehand—or even better, get a coach—so when you’re in the midst of training, all you need to do is execute.

Be Patient

What feels hard today might not feel as hard tomorrow. “For most people, the plateau can be a form of purgatory, flushing out hidden motivations,” writes the late George Leonard, in his classic book .Ìę“At the heart of it, mastery is a practice.ÌęMastery is staying on the path.” Behind every breakthrough performanceÌęare countless hoursÌęof hard workÌęandÌęsomeone staying on track when it would’veÌębeen easier to give up. The above practices canÌęhelp you do the same.

Brad Stulberg () coaches on performance and well-being and writes șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s Do It Better column. He is the bestselling author of the booksÌęÌęandÌę. Subscribe to his newsletterÌę.Ìę

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Buddhism, Stoicism, and Taoism all teach adherents to repeatÌęparticular chants or mantras to steady the mind. Only recently, though, have researchers begun to look into the power of this practice. A 2015 studyÌę in the journal Brain BehaviorÌędescribed research in which participants were asked toÌęlie down, first with no instruction, and then, after a few minutes, with the instruction toÌęsilently repeat a simple mantra to themselves. ThroughoutÌęthe test, their brain activity was observedÌęwith a functional MRI machine. While they were repeating the mantra, participants had a marked decrease in brain activity, in what neuroscientists call the default mode network—the part of the brain that is involved in planning and self-focused thinking. When they weren’t repeating the mantra, however, participants’ default mode networkÌęhad normal levels of activity. In layperson’s terms: repeating a mantra occupies the brain enough so that it doesn’t get caught up in obsessing, planning, and wandering. This, the researchers write, accounts for a significant “calming effect.”

As I’ve , calm determination—what I define as a state of relaxed and ardent focus—is critical for peak performance, whether you are climbing a mountain, on the starting line of a marathon, or raising a child. Developing a mantra can help you achieve this state, especially in challenging or emotionally charged situations. I’ve used mantras in everything from the lead-up to big athletic events (“trust your training”) to when my son was an infant and waking up constantly throughout the night (“this is what is happening right now”). So long as they are short, memorable, and meaningful, just about any string of words can be effective.

I reached out to several top outdoor athletes to learn if they used mantras. Most of them didÌęand to great benefit—read on to find out what they are. If you are going to experiment with using a mantra, don’t wait to be in the thick of an intense experience. Like any other mental skill, it’s good to practice in lower-stakes situations first.

“Commit and Figure It Out”

“This was first said to me by Rick Ridgeway, and I believe Doug TompkinsÌęsaid it to him at some point. It applies to everything.”Ìę—, mountaineer and photographer

“Be Good”

“Those are the words my dad wrote in his letters home from Vietnam.ÌęHe died over there when I was three, so these words are really the only words I have from him as a father, but they’ve served me well. These words have guided me throughout my life.” —, mountain-bike and adventure racer

“Focus, Focus, Focus”

“I don’t set out with a mantra in mind,Ìęthey tend to come to me in the moment when I need them most. Last year [in Colorado], at Leadville, when my knee was feeling weak and unstable—it was only about 80 percent recovered from surgery—it was as simple as repeating this, knowing every step could be my last if I let myself daydream.” —, ultramarathon runner

â€ÔšŽÇłÜ GetÌęto Do This”

“I come back to this mantra when I’m dealing with stress, especially prior to or following races.” —, Spartan RaceÌęchampion

“Mood Follows Action”

“Applicable in sport and life. Rather than waiting to ‘feel like’Ìędoing something, the surest way to shift out of your discomfort or resistance is to lean into action. It’s in the doing that we alter our perspective and emotional state—not the other way around.” —, ultra-endurance athlete and podcast host

â€ÔšŽÇłÜ Are Strong, You Are Capable, You Are Strong, You Are Capable”

“I was struggling very badly at the beginning of my 2018 Antarctica expedition,Ìęso I started to say this to myself first thing every morning as my alarm went off and I needed to face another long, icy day pulling my sled.ÌęSometimes, with how much struggle I was going through, it was hard to believe my own words, but it got me out of bed and moving every morning.” —, adventure athlete and explorer

“This Too Shall Pass”Ìę

“I use it both in sport and in life when I’m hurting, as a reminder that the pain is temporary. Whether it’s during a period of intentional overreaching in my training, an episode of depression, or feelings of anxiety when I’m in a crowded, confined space, it’s a reminder that the uncomfortable feelings will fade away with time.” —,ÌęOlympian and professional triathlete

“Don’t Wish It Away”

“It’s particularly powerful because some of my races can be 8-plusÌęhours, so you can just be wishing for it to be over from pure discomfort or, if you’reÌęout front, from just wanting to win. But this is a bad headspace to be in. You’ve got be in the race, not in thoughts about wanting it to be over.” —, mountain-bike racer

“It Means No Worries for the Rest of Your Days. It’s a Problem-Free Philosophy.”

“I’ve never had a real mantra, but occasionally I get snippets of songs stuck in my head on repeat. I can specifically remember having the refrain from ‘Hakuna Matata’Ìęstuck in my head on a scary aid pitch once upon a time.” —,Ìęclimber

Brad Stulberg () is a performance coach and writesÌęșÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s Do It Better column. He is also a bestselling author of the booksÌęÌęandÌę.

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Little Secrets Sea Salted Peanut Dark Chocolate Pieces ($5)

Peanut M&M’s are a popular backcountry treat for good reason—they’re sharable, and they pack some protein and fat along with the sugar hit. But this fair-trade version from Little Secrets is better, with a bit more salt to replenish electrolyte stores and no corn syrup or artificial flavors.

Fairlife Smart Snacks Nutrition Shake ($2.50)

Swap your post-run chocolate milk for Fairlife’s blend of milk, honey, and oat flour. These shakes are lactose-free, so they’re easy on sensitive stomachs, and the oats add fiber and carbs.

UnTapped Maple Syrup ($20 for ten)

Fuel like a Vermonter and trade your mystery goo for natural maple syrup. It’s high in quick-burning carbs and has a low glycemic index, which helps maintain stable blood glucose and avoid a nasty sugar crash.

Honey Stinger Cracker N’ Nut Butter Snack Bar ($2.50)

These bars are made from familiar foods: crackers, nut butter, and chocolate. They taste like dessert, but don’t fret about the sugar: they contain just nine to twelve grams each.

Patagonia Provisions Original Buffalo Jerky ($10)

Yes, you can get cheaper dried meats at the gas station, but Patagonia Provisions’ Buffalo Jerky is ethically sourced, and your purchase helps support grassland restoration. Plus it tastes great, and each one-ounce serving has 13 grams of protein without any weird preservatives.

RX Nut Butter ($16 for ten)

Packable nut butter is everywhere these days, but RX’s take stands out with extras like egg whites—which add protein without compromising flavor or texture—and natural sweeteners, like dates and honey, that pack a nutritious punch.

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Abstention is a very controversial topic—and yes, I’m talking about sports science here. You’re gearing up for an important race, and hoping to get the biggest performance-boosting jolt possible from your race-day caffeine. Should you deny yourself coffee for a week or so leading up to the race, so that you’re in a state of heightened caffeine sensitivity?

That’s a fairly common routine among elite endurance athletes, but definitely not a well-loved one. I once attended a sports nutrition panel where Des Linden talked about this part of her pre-race routine. This is a woman who (along with fellow elite runner Ben True) owns her own coffee company, . She doesn’t swear off coffee lightly, and you could hear the angst in her voice as she described how that coffee-free week felt to her. But hey, anything for an edge, right?

The trouble is that the scientific research into the supposed benefits of abstention has been murky and inconclusive at best. A number of studies have looked for an effect, but none have been particularly convincing. The , two years ago, involved 40 well-trained cyclists, and found no difference in the size of the boost the riders got from caffeine whether they were low, medium, or high caffeine consumers normally. This argues against any big habituation effect that dulls caffeine’s benefits with regular use.

Still, it’s very hard to pick up subtle differences in this sort of study, given that variations in individual performance are so large. To get a better handle on the question, you’d need to do some sort of crazy study that involved testing the same people over and over and over and over as they gradually habituated to caffeine. And that, as it happens, is exactly what in PLoS ONE does.

A team of researchers from Camilo José Cela University in Spain, led by Juan Del Coso, put a group of 11 volunteers through a pair of grueling 20-day protocols. All the volunteers were normally light caffeine users, consuming less than 50 mg per day, much less than the in a typical cup of coffee. For one of the 20-day protocols, they took a daily pill containing 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight, a relatively standard dose used by athletes for performance enhancement that works out to about 200 mg per day. For the other 20-day protocol, they were given a daily placebo. The two protocols were separated by seven days, with the order determined randomly and concealed from the subjects.

Before and after the study, and three times a week during the study, they completed a VO2max test to exhaustion and a 15-second all-out sprint on an exercise bike. This allowed the researchers to track exactly how the performance edge from caffeine changed as the subjects gradually got used to taking caffeine each day, and compare that to exactly the same progression when they got placebos instead.

Here’s what that data looks like for the peak power (Wmax) the volunteers reached in their VO2max tests before reaching exhaustion (caffeine is the black circles, placebo is the white circles):

The bottom graph shows the actual power data. You can see that as soon as they start taking caffeine for the first time, on day 1, they immediately get a roughly 5 percent boost in peak power compared to the placebo. The top graph shows the effect size, which is a measure of how big the difference between caffeine and placebo is relative to the error bars. The boost for the first few days is considered a large effect size.

But then things start to tail off. In fact, on day 11, the effect size drops to about zero. This is a good thing, because day 11 in the study was a manipulation check. Instead of taking a pill and then getting on the bike 45 minutes later, as they did most days, they took their pill after the bike tests. So they were still getting their caffeine dose as part of the habituation process, but they didn’t get any performance boost during the tests. So the results of the caffeine and placebo should be roughly the same that day—which is exactly what you see.

If you look at the other results from the study, you see similar patterns for VO2max and for the 15-second sprint power. The subjects get a big boost from caffeine in the first few days, then it starts to taper off, but it never gets to zero. In fact, day 20 generally looks pretty similar to day 6. Based on these results, you might figure that caffeine tolerance (at least at the doses tested here) never completely takes away the benefits of a caffeine boost. But it does, perhaps, rob you of a little bit of the edge you’d otherwise get. That’sÌęprobably a mixed blessing for Linden and co., because it suggests that a pre-race caffeine detox, no matter how painful, might be worthwhile after all if you’re truly chasing every second.

Of course, performance is a complicated equation. For some people, swearing off caffeine would make race week so miserable that they’d probably lose more than they gain. And there’s also some emerging genetic research suggesting that some people don’t actually get a performance boost from caffeine anyway. But perhaps the biggest remaining question is the opposite of the one that this study tackled: how many days of caffeine abstention does it take for caffeine addicts to get their full boost back? It’s a pressing practical question. But good luck recruiting subjects to answer it.

My new book, , with a foreword by Malcolm Gladwell, is now available. For more, join me on and , and sign up for the Sweat Science .

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A few years ago, when I began to focus more on my writing career, my mom, a former writer herself, gave me a book titledÌęPassion: Every Day.ÌęIt was filled with inspiring quotes like “I dare you, while there is still time, to have a magnificent obsession” and “follow your desire as long as you live.” The book is part of a larger canon that argues that the key to a good lifeÌęis just magically finding your passion—a word often vaguely used to describeÌęa general enthusiasm, drive, or intensity for something—and then following it wherever it leads. You might recognize this type of language from hokey Instagram posts.Ìę

There’s only one problem: in researching, reporting, and writing my new book,Ìę,ÌęI learned that nearly everything people think about passion is wrong.ÌęSo, let’s bust some myths.Ìę

What People Say: “Find Your Passion”

The reality: You don’t find it. You cultivate it. Expecting to find something that feels perfect right away sets you up for frustration, constant seeking. Lower the bar from “perfect”Ìęto “this is interesting”Ìęand choose activities that offer these big three traits linked to long-term passion, performance, and life-satisfaction:

• Autonomy: having control over what you do.Ìę
• Mastery: the ability to make clear and tangible progress.Ìę
• Belonging: aÌęsense of community. ÌęÌę

What People Say: “Quit Your Day Job”

The reality:ÌęBad idea. The shows that individuals who pursue their passions as side-gigs and graduallyÌęramp up are much more successful over the long-haul. This is because there’s less pressure, so you can take more risks. Don’t quit your job too fast.Ìę

What People Say: “Go Big or Go Home” Ìę

The reality:ÌęDumb! People with that attitude tend to end up home. They get injured or burn out from doing too much, too fast, too soon. Much better to take small and consistent steps, which lead to big gains.

What People Say: “Follow Your Passion” Ìę

The reality:ÌęDefinitely wrong. You want your passion to follow you.ÌęIf you follow your passion, you set yourself up to go down a slippery slope of craving, chasing external validation. That’s why obsessive passion is associated with anxiety, depression, cheating, and burnout.

What People Say: “Be Balanced”

The reality:ÌęPassion and balance are antithetical. Aiming to be balanced as a driven pusher is just fighting against yourself. That’s no fun. Better than balance:Ìędeveloping astute self-awareness so you can prioritize and make wise tradeoffs.Ìę

My hope is that Ìęgives you pratices to implement in day-to-day life to develop passion and then channel it in a productive manner. Passion can be a gift or a curse. What direction it takes depends on you.

Brad Stulberg () is a performance coach and writesÌęșÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s Do It Better column. He is also the author of the new bookÌę.Ìę

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We’ve all been there. You’re hitting the wall or struggling to squeeze outÌętheÌęlast repÌęwhen suddenly that song comes on and you can do anything. But it’s not just you: research has shown that the right music can help reduce fatigue, increase heart rate, and make a workout feel less challenging. Although there are still many unanswered questions about how this works, it’s clear that music can be a motivator. SoÌęwhen the going gets rough during your next workout, some new tunes might help.Ìę

From the Velvet Underground to Janelle Monae, we’ve rounded up some of șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűÌęeditors’ favorite workout songsÌęto help you out.Ìę

“Loser,” by Beck

This track’s hip-hop beat, sitar riffs, and rolling stoner-rap lyrics are glorious when it’sÌętime to kick my vinyasa into warrior flow.Ìę—Aleta Burchyski, associate managing editor

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” by Whitney Houston

If you don’t already believe that thisÌęis the absolute best song and the only one that should be played during life’s seminal moments (and every single run), I don’t know what to tell you. But I will give you some hints that the universe agrees with me. Athletic luminaries love Whitney Houston, most notably . An informal poll by me indicates that about 70 percent of people would choose it as their first wedding-dance song; 100 percent of people lose their minds when it is the first wedding-dance song; and Meghan Markle herself Ìęit as her first wedding-dance song. Also, it started playing exactly as I reached mile 13 during the Chicago Marathon in 2017, whereupon I burst into tears and picked up the pace. —Erin Berger, senior editor

“Radio,” by Sylvan Esso

Between the pulsing synths, courtesy of producer Nick Sanborn, and singer Amelia Meath’sÌęsassy lyrics, I can’t not move when I hear this dancey single from the North Carolina duo’s sophomore album—even if my body’s ready to quit.Ìę—Ali Van Houten, editorial fellowÌę

“7 Rings,” by Ariana Grande

Grande’s consistent chanting ofÌę“I want it, I got it”Ìęgives me a new lease on energy during the hardest setsÌęand reminds me why I’mÌęat the gym suffering through sumo squats in the first place. It’s best for slow-but-steady reps of your least favorite exercise,Ìęi.e., weighted walking lunges on the sliver of space behind the treadmills in Planet Fitness.Ìę—Jenny Earnest, audience development directorÌę

“Good as Hell,” by Lizzo

This song’s first verse starts with Lizzo singing, Woo child, tired of the bullshit / Go on dust your shoulders off, keep it moving,Ìęand I can tell you two things about hearing these lines during a workout: you will yell “woo child” (which can be embarrassing when you have headphones on in a crowded gym), and you will, in fact, keep it moving. —Ruben Kimmelman, editorial fellow

Find the whole playlist below.Ìę

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Common advice is to find and follow your passion. But it’s not so simple. You don’t just magically stumble upon the feeling and enjoy everything from there. Expecting to only sets you up for repeated disappointment. Passion needs to be cultivated and nurtured. Otherwise, what was once something you loved may start to feel like a chore, and burnout looms right around the corner. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a set of actionable principles that supports the kind of ongoing passion that yields not just peak performanceÌębut also a rich and fulfilling life.

As we report in our new bookÌę,Ìęnearly every top performer to whom we spoke—from star athletes like Shalane Flanagan to creative gurus like Rich Roll—shared a few common characteristics, all of which are supported byÌęemerging science on passion and performance. We’ve come to call this bundle of principles the “mastery mindset.” Adopting this mindset is key to living and performing with passion—without burning out.

Before getting to the individual traits, a few words on mastery. Mastery is a mindsetÌęand also a path. It values both acute (in the moment) and chronic (over a lifetime) engagement but devalues most of the transient stuff in between (point-in-time successes or failures). Mastery is not a New Age self-help concept. It is rooted in principles that are central to psychology and biology, and it is an ever present theme in the lives of people who embody and productively channel their passion.

Individuals who are on the path of mastery not only accomplish great things, but they do so in a healthy and sustainable manner. They exude a Zen-like aura, are resistant to burnout, and produce work that is of an incredible quality. And yet perhaps their greatest accomplishment is an even more cherished one: continual growth and development, a fulfilling life. Below are the six individual components of the mastery mindset. Keep coming back to these and make them an ongoing practice.

Drive from Within

Individuals on the path of mastery are driven from within. Their primary motivation isn’t an external measureÌęof success or fear, and it’s certainly not satisfying others or conforming to a certain peer group or social norms. Rather, their motivation originates from an internal desire to improve and engage in an activity for its own sake. This doesn’t mean that each day of their pursuit will be exciting or pleasurable. But it does mean that they will show steadfast enthusiasm about the totality of their journey.

When the majority of your motivation lies outside yourself, you become a slave to results that may not be under your control. This causes a lot of distress and is a surefire route to burning out. And yet, it’s a lot easier to sayÌę“I’ll be internally motivated” than to actually do it, especially if you start performing well and seeing positive results. There are two practices that help:

1. Regularly reflect on what you love about your work or activity—the reasons that you got into it in the first place.
2. After a tough loss or big win, give yourself 24 hours to grieve the defeat or celebrate the victory, but then get back to doing the work itself.

Focus on the Process

Goals are like steering mechanisms, North StarsÌęto shoot for. When used in this manner, they can be very productive. But too much focus on a specific goal,Ìęespecially one that’s outside your full control, almost always does more harm than good. The mastery mindsetÌęinvolves shifting your focus from achieving any one goal itself to executing on the process that gives you the best chance of more general improvement over time. Someone who embodies the mastery mindsetÌęjudges themselves based not on whether they accomplish their specific goal but rather on how well they execute on their process. After all, it is the process—not the outcome—that is within your control. And it is also the process that makes up the vast majority of one’s life. Results, good or bad, are fleeting. A goal is a direction, not a destination. Process keeps you focused and present on your journey.

Don’t Worry About Being the Best—Worry About Being the Best at Getting Better

You just learned the importance of not becoming overly attached to specific goals, but becoming attached to the ultimate goal—getting better—is an inherent part of internalizing the mastery mindsetÌęand living productively with passion. When your utmost goal is simply to get better, all failures and successes are temporary because you will forever improve, given more time and more practice. You don’t define yourself by any single moment in time; you define yourself by an entire body of work in service of ongoing growth and development. Your pursuit ceases to be something you are aiming for and becomes a part of who you are. Do you write to sell books, or are you a writer? Do you run to win marathons, or are you a runner? Do you paint to sell portraits, or are you a painter?

When you make this shift—your pursuit transitioning from a verb, something you do, to a noun, someone you are—you’re more apt to hold on to your passions for life. This isn’t to say there won’t be rough patches, disappointments, and triumphs along the way. Almost undoubtedly, there will be. But rather than serving as end points, concrete achievements and failures become more like information—markers of progress and exposures of weakness. And it is this very information that helps you improve and refine your process over the long haul.

Embrace Acute Failure for Chronic Gains

A well-known principle of physical training is this:Ìęif you want a muscle to grow, you must push it beyond its normal boundsÌęuntil it is hard, if not impossible, to perform additional repetitions. In exercise science, this is called training to fatigue. Training to fatigue isÌęeffective because muscle fatigue, or,Ìęin some cases, failure, serves as a critical signal, telling your body it must grow and adapt in order to withstand future challenges. When you fail, your body learnsÌęon an innate biological levelÌęwhat it needs to do differently. Failure sets off a cascade of changes that help you evolve so you can meet a greater challenge next time. In other words, your body can’t really grow unless it fails. This principle holds true far beyond your muscles. It’s true for everything. Along any lasting and meaningful journey, you are bound to fail. So long as you use those failures as informative opportunities to grow, that’s fine.

Be Patient

The path of mastery is almost always very hard and requires lots of time and unyielding commitment. Any long-term progression contains inevitable periods of boredom. We are hardwired to seek novelty and stimulation, which is why quick fixesÌęand hacksÌęcan be so appealing—even though they rarely, if ever, work. Advancing on the path of mastery, getting the most out of yourselfÌęand sustaining passion for a lifetime, requires patience. Ignore the hacks. Be prepared for ups and downs. Ride the wavesÌęover and over again. Be patient with yourself, and be patient with your process. Small steps taken consistently over a long period of time lead to big gains. Walking your path with others—community support—helps you navigate the ups and downs and keeps you moving forward.ÌęAnd remember:Ìęthe goal is the path, and the path is the goal.

Be Here Now

When we are fully present for whatever it is we’reÌędoing, we gain a new appreciation for our respective pursuits and our own unique role in them. Yet the majority of the time, we walk around on autopilot, not deliberately choosing where or how sharply we direct our attention. To sustain passion, however, we must remove distractions that prey on our attention and break from the mundane and automatic thoughts that normally fill our minds. Practically, this means we should set aside the time, space, and energy to give our respective passions our all. It doesn’t need to be all day, every day, but we do need to prioritize this time and make it sacred.

Deep-focused engagement is fuel for lasting passion. It seems simple and obvious, yet step back and think about just how little receives your full attention. Even activities that once forced us to be present—such as a walk or run in the woods, holding a newborn baby, or a physician’s encounter with a patient—are now frequently hijacked by the beeping and buzzing of our digital devices. These modern inventions continuously pull our attention to the next external diversion, creating the illusion that we are busy and present butÌęall the while keeping us on autopilot and at the whim of whatever distracts us next. Way too often, we may appear to be here, but we are really there. Keep coming back to here. Mastery requires you be here—really here—with what is in front of you.

This article was adapted from the new book The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness, published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.ÌęIt is available from , , , and everywhere else books are sold.

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