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Aubrey Marcus might have the most interesting title of any Barbell Shrugged guest to date.

You can call him a spiritual experimentalist, human optimizer, unconventional fitness junkie, and\xa0warrior poet. He\u2019s also CEO of\xa0Onnit, a unique human performance company which sells performance and health supplements, as well as some novel training tools. They also make some pretty righteous\xa0YouTube videos, including this\xa0jewel with Joe Rogan.

Watch that video right now if you\u2019re in need of a motivational kick in the ass!

Aubrey\u2019s interest in human optimization began during his basketball career. With the help of his step-mother, a naturopathic doctor, he was able to experiment with all manner of supplements and develop a regimen to aide his performance on the court. That\u2019s really a huge advantage, especially when you consider that most young athletes are 100% uninformed on the topic. They are completely subject to marketing spin and are left to experiment on themselves, which is obviously less than ideal.

First things first, before you invest and consume any supplements, make sure you do your research. Read all you can on the topic. Visit websites such as\xa0examine.com, which can help you quickly sort through the available scientific evidence (Do that!). And sure, if you happen to have a qualified Naturopath in the family, please ask them what\u2019s what before you go snorting bee pollen or powdered deer antler during your next heavy deadlift session.

As you understand more and more, please do experiment with supplements and pay close attention to how they affect your performance.\xa0Read the available research. Add them in one at a time. Take careful notes. Track your training numbers. Hey, you might be surprised. The addition of\xa0nootropics\xa0or some\xa0cordyceps sinensis mushroom\u2019smight make a real difference. There\u2019s only one way to find out.

All of these unique supplements are really interesting and potentially beneficial, but the coolest thing Aubrey has to share is the importance of unconventional fitness tools.

You probably know all about barbells, dumbbells, and even kettlebells, but I would bet that you\u2019re much more unfamiliar with things like steel clubs, maces, and maybe even battle ropes. It would be easy to label this stuff as little more than functional training gimmicks, but before you make any conclusions consider the history.

Tools like heavy clubs have been around for the better part of a millennia, making people strong, and preparing them for the dangers and rigors of war. That\u2019s really the foundation of human performance training. It\u2019s not sport, really. We began training to become bigger, stronger, faster, and more mobile or stable in key joints because we wanted to decrease our odds of getting chopped up into ground beef on the battlefield.

Imagine, how much harder would you train if that was your reality? If that was the training goal? We don\u2019t face much in the way of real danger outside of the gym today, but it\u2019s fair to say that almost none of us train as hard as we could, or should. That\u2019s the first consideration, before programming, before supplements, before judging your tools. What is it that you are training for, and be honest, how hard are you prepared to work?

If you want to see just what unconventional fitness looks like, pop over to the\xa019:00\xa0minute mark in the episode and see Aubrey rough up the entire Barbell Shrugged crew in the Onnit gym. Laugh all you want, but those clubs and maces are no joke!

For more human optimization info make sure to check out the Onnit podcast, especially Aubrey\u2019s chat with Chris and Mike on\xa0episode #28. You\u2019re sure to enjoy it. Also, if you want to learn more about those unconventional fitness moves, go visit the\xa0Onnit Academy\xa0on YouTube. Just be careful with those clubs, they are much harder to handle then you think.

Cheers,
Chris Moore