Episode 452: Henry Abbott on Misogi - The Extreme Challenge With a 50% Chance of Failure
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What is Misogi and how can it challenge you?
Welcome to Fitness Friday. Today I'm joined by journalist Henry Abbott to explore Misogi, which is a powerful practice where you take on a challenge so tough there's only a 50% chance you'll finish. Think underwater 5Ks with rocks. or nine-hour paddleboard treks through sharky waters. We also talk about the science behind mental limits, Henry's journey through chronic pain, and why pushing to the edge might be exactly what you need to break through. So let's dive in. Before we dive into today's episode, I want to thank our sponsor, Momentus. on NSF certification, which means every single batch is tested for heavy metals, harmful additives, and label accuracy. And that's why they're trusted by all 32 NFL teams and top collegiate sports dieticians across the country. Here's the thing. They don't sell every supplement under the sun because they believe in nailing the basics with rock-solid consistency. And those basics are protein and creatine.
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Do you know about Misogi?
I do.
Do you know where it comes from?
Isn't it like, yeah, I do. Do you know?
It comes from this guy. This comes from Marcus.
Oh, it does?
Yeah. Yeah. You should read that chapter. Oh my gosh. Okay.
I'm going to read that chapter. That's the chapter I did not read.
And then Kyle Korver. We'll talk about it. Okay. So when Marcus was in medical school, Harvard Medical School, he and a friend named Garth were very outdoorsy and they didn't like being in Boston and they wanted to sort of get back to the country. So they went to the Wind River Range in Montana, which is extremely high elevation, like 12,000 feet at the low parts. And
How does pushing boundaries rewire the brain?
very intense and they were going to pack almost nothing and catch what they were going to eat and deal with altitude by just being tough and like 10 minutes in that's a slight exaggeration garth gets altitude sickness has to go home so then but he's been the lead up he's been talking to marcus about how he does all these martial arts and there's this like shinto tradition of Misogi, where you do, as Garth explained it, which is not totally accurate with the Shinto tradition, but you once a year, you do a challenge that's so intense that you think you're only 50% likely to make it. And so Marcus latched onto it as this idea of a way to get into your capabilities that are beyond what you think they could be. We're held back by our brain a lot of times, right?
A lot of the times, even in like breath holding, you get this panicky feeling you have to breathe long before you need oxygen, right? So you want to defeat that a little bit. And so they've done crazy things. One of the ones was run a 5K on the ocean floor carrying a rock. So if we were partners, i would drop the rock it's like they do it in like the channel islands so like 10 feet deep under the waves drop the rock on the ground and then you dive down and pick it up and run as far as you can and then drop it and then i swim down pick it up run as far as i can and they do a 5k or they they paddleboarded from the channel islands to santa barbara which is nine hours of wind and sharks and craziness. Nine hours. Or they climbed the height. Actually, most of them failed this one. They arranged to climb the height of Mount Everest in, I think it's called the U.S. Bancor Tower in L.A. Is that what it's called? Something like that. But a skyscraper.
A skyscraper. What's the point? So this idea, why did he do the idea of doing this Misogi? Yeah. Yeah. It was basically picking one thing a year that you're doing that is something that you think you have a 50% chance of actually completing basically. It's like a super hard challenge.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is Misogi and how can it challenge you?
0:08–2:48
2
How does pushing boundaries rewire the brain?
2:48–4:48
3
What are the extreme challenges associated with Misogi?
4:48–6:24
4
What role does movement play in overcoming pain?
6:24–6:49
5
What is the significance of the Harvard Fatigue Lab's findings?
6:49–7:06
6
Can doing hard things improve self-confidence?
7:06–8:29
7
How do our mental limits affect physical performance?
8:29–14:35
Speakers
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