Lecture Notes: Enhancing Exercise and Cognitive Performance with Supplements

Introduction

• Presenter shares a personal anecdote about their love for exercise.
• Expresses enjoyment in both the experience and the aftermath of exercise.

Exercise Preferences

• Enjoyment of physical training, particularly resistance training and running.
• Unique personal wiring that makes exercise enjoyable during the activity.

Performance Enhancement through Supplements

• Discovered benefits of caffeine (black coffee, Americano, double espresso, yerba mate) before workouts.
• Use of pre-workout energy drinks and supplements like Alpha GPC, phenethylamine, and L-tyrosine.
• Combined use of caffeine and supplements enhances focus and performance.

Cognitive Work Enhancement

• Application of exercise supplements to cognitive tasks like studying, writing papers, and conducting experiments.
• Results in peak experiences and enhanced performance.

Potential Downsides

• Experiences of energy troughs on rest days.
• Concerns about burnout and overstimulation.
• Realization of the risks of stacking too many dopamine-stimulating behaviors.

Adjustments and Recommendations

• Suggestions to limit the use of stimulating behaviors to maintain enjoyment of activities.
• Avoid excessive stacking of dopamine-releasing substances.

Importance of Intrinsic Motivation

• Encouragement to engage in activities with intrinsic joy without additional stimuli.
• Emphasis on the value of intrinsic motivation as the holy grail of human endeavors.
• Intrinsically motivated activities sustain pleasure and drive over time.

Closing Thoughts

• Highlight the significance of intrinsic motivation in achieving goals.
• Encourages the audience to tap into this intrinsic pleasure for sustainable success.

Key Takeaways

• Be cautious about over-reliaing on supplements.
• Value and cultivate intrinsic motivation for long-term satisfaction and achievement.