So I got my butt off the couch and started tossing her in the air.

There will come a time when your child won't want to be tossed in the air. There will come a time when it'll be your last time talking to a loved one.

Cherish these moments. Regardless of how tired or stressed you are do what you feel is the right thing to do.

That being said...

Here is your 4 Minute Friday:

1. The Best Diet You Should Never Do

Researchers​ wanted to see how fast they could lose fat so they recruited 15 fat guys with 40-inch plus waists, all around age 40.

They had them consume 320 calories (!) per day for four days. During those days they had them do 45 minutes of a hand-cranking cardio exercise along with walking on a treadmill for 8 hours (!) a day.

Here's what happened:

They lost an average of 11 lbs in four days. 5 of those pounds were fat and the rest was water. They lost 1 pound of fat a day.

What should you take away from this?

It takes super low calories and a ton of exercise to lose 1 pound of fat daily. This is unrealistic for 99.99% of people on the planet but it was a good experiment nonetheless.

There are better ways to get lean, which don't involve killing yourself in the gym and eating almost no food.

If you do well with accountability and guidance I'd suggest private coaching​. If you are self-taught I'd suggest the ​Lean Body 90​.

Either way, I would avoid extreme measures.

2. The Best Times To Eat Carbohydrates

Carbs are the only non-essential macronutrient but that doesn't mean they aren't worth eating.

They are an excellent tool for performance when used in the right ways. Here are 3 ways to use carbs to improve your performance on a day-to-day basis:

Post workout - When you're done a workout you're most insulin sensitive. It is also when you are depleted of muscle glycogen. Aim for 20-25 grams of carbs or more.

Intra Workout (while working out) - This helps provide an available fuel source, which keeps your energy high for subsequent sets. The best way to take this in is through a fast digestible carb source like liquids. Aim for 15 grams of carbs.

At the final meal of the day - This is for someone who has trouble sleeping. There's an amino acid called tryptophan, which helps the body produce serotonin. Carbs help the body absorb tryptophan, which can induce sleepiness.

Instead of cutting out carbs learn how to optimize them to your advantage.

3. A More Efficient Way To Increase Your V02 Max

There's a big push from experts to increase V02 max as a means of increasing your longevity. One of the ways to do this is through Zone 2 cardio.

But what happens when you don't have the time to do it or you hate doing cardio for long periods of time?

Researcher Martin Gibala has run a few studies and has come to the conclusion that you may not to do cardio for hours on end each week.

In an interview with Dr. Rhonda Patrick, he states,

"I think you can do more vigorous or high-intensity exercise for shorter periods of time and at least see similar improvements in VO2 max. So, for the individual who is time pressed, I don't think there's a need to do 3-4 hours of what I understand to be zone 2 training."

My opinion on this is to choose the path of less friction. For me, that means getting walks and doing quick high-intensity work in the gym. For some that may mean doing Zone 2 cardio as it's more enjoyable.

I enjoy his take because fitness can be seem to be binary. Everyone says that you need to do this or that or else you won't get the result you're after.

There are many roads that lead to your target destination. Choose the one that works for you.

You can check out his thoughts on V02 max and high-intensity training here. I time-stamped it for you: