#1: Taking the Plunge

Welcome to Wellworthy’s first weekly newsletter. We’re so stoked you’re here!

Each week, we’ll highlight what’s new and what’s good in health and wellness. 

Come for the cool brands, stay for smart insights from successful founders, athletes, and innovators.

In today’s issue:

• Metabolic health expert Casey Means shares her favorite products 

• What we’re reading about in the eat, sleep, move, and recovery spaces

• Sauna House founder Andrew Lachlan gives us his tips for getting started with cold plunges 

• And more…

Dive Into: Hyperice 🔦

In one sentence: Hyperice’s suite of products help to relieve tension, unlock sore muscles, and prime your body and mind to be at their best

Company mission: Hyperice exists to help everyone on Earth move better, live better and be better.

Product Showcase: Huether’s go-to products right now are the Normatec 3 Legs and Venom 2 Back:

• Normatec 3 Legs: “I use these post-run and pre-workout for recovery and body maintenance,” explains Huether.

• Venom 2 Back: “It's heat and vibration for the lower back, which just really helps with range of motion, flexibility and also reducing pain and tension.”

The bigger picture: There’s been a huge amount of learning and education on recovery over the past 5-10 years, “Because of that athletes are understanding the benefits [of recovery] and that's trickling into the masses now,” explains Huether.

Alongside brands like Hyperice, there’s also been a rise in recovery-focused centers popping up like Pause, Restore, and Sauna House (more from Sauna House’s CEO below…).

“People are thinking more about their longevity. It's not just performance now. It's [thinking about] greater health, which is a great thing for humanity. People paying more attention to their health and wellness is always a good thing,” adds Huether.

Go deeper: Watch our interview with Hyperice CEO, Jim Huether here.

Eat, Sleep, Move, Recover

Here’s what our team is reading this week:

EAT: Sardines! Tinned fish has been a hot snack on social media for a few years now. It’s why brands like Fishwife are having a major moment. Aside from getting the cool branding treatment, sardines can be pretty good for you. They’re a great source of protein, healthy fats, vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium, phosphorous, and selenium, among other health benefits. (Read here)

SLEEP: To the sound of relaxing words. Researchers looked at how the body reacted to hearing different words during sleep, and found that cardiac activity slowed down when listening to relaxing words vs. neutral ones. It’s an interesting finding, suggesting that it’s not just about the vibes, but the content. So when you’re looking for something soothing to fall asleep to, consider the scripts and lyrics. (Read here)

MOVE: To process grief. Psychotherapist Meghan Riordan Jarvis says that grief is “this jet pack of new energy that’s created in the body on account of loss” and “needs to be processed and moved through the body.” It’s why a lot of people are turning to running (and even “running therapy”) as a way to cope with loss. (Read here)

RECOVER: After an injury. It can be both physically and emotionally taxing when you have to hit pause on movements that bring you joy and fulfillment (and even community!) due to an injury. There are steps you can take to get back into your physical practices, starting with seeking clearance from a medical professional. (Read here)

Health Stack: Casey Means 📈

Welcome to our Health Stack series, where founders, operators and experts share their favorite products, supplements, gear, apps, and routines…

This week, we’re joined by Casey Means, co-founder of metabolic health tech company Levels. She trained in Head & Neck Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University before leaving traditional medicine to devote her life to tackling the root cause of why Americans are sick. You can pre-order her upcoming book on how to be metabolically healthy. 

Here’s Casey’s Health Stack:

Plunge XL: “I cold plunge a few mornings a week to increase my mental resilience, boost brown fat production, improve my mood and motivation by modulating dopamine, and amp me up for the day. I keep it around 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit, do it for 3-4 minutes each session, and usually blast Kygo or Taylor Swift while I’m in there! It is so much easier doing it with someone else! Recruit a friend or partner to tell you a story while you’re in there!! I love the look of the Plunge - it's like a chic sculpture in the backyard!”

Eight Sleep: “I don’t have central heating or air conditioning in my house, so Eight Sleep is my temperature regulator at night. Aside from the health and sleep benefits of being cooler at night, is just pure bliss to get into a colder bed on a hot day during LA summer, or a warm bed during a cool night in LA winter.”

• Worm composting system: “I consider this part of my wellness routine because one of the happiest parts of my day is when I’m "feeding" my worms in the backyard!”

• Remedy Place and Open in Los Angeles: “[They] make biohacking and breathwork so chic and social. I love going to Remedy Place for an infrared sauna or cold plunge treatment, and Open for an immersive breathwork class.”

• HVMN KetoneIQ: “My boyfriend and I fast almost every week from Sunday night (after dinner) to Tuesday morning for 36 hours, just drinking water during it. As a treat mid-fast we have “ketone cocktails” on Monday night where we put a KetoneIQ shot with a Spindrift and squeeze of lemon or lime, in a wine glass.”

• WeNatal multivitamins: “I love WeNatal multivitamins and omegas because they are incredibly high quality, are in sustainable packaging, get shipped directly to my house, is a mission driven company, and covers the key bases for vitamins, minerals, and omega-3s to optimize hormonal health and cellular health in the months and years before getting having a baby. And they aren't just for people who may be trying to get pregnant in the future— they are a great multivitamin regardless.”

Check out Casey’s full Health Stack here.

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Cold Plunging with Andrew Lachlan 🧊

Andrew Lachlan is a dark chocolate-loving, mountain bike-shredding, girl dad of two. He’s also the founder of Sauna House — a modern bathhouse experience where you can find balance in opposites through sauna, ice baths and more.

We recently chatted with Andrew to pick up some tips on getting started with cold plunges.

How to get started: Andrew recommends taking it “slow and steady.” He advises that you maintain control of your breath and take that time to sink into yourself.

“The cold plunge forces such a present and deliberate moment where you’ve made a decision to push yourself to places you didn’t know were possible. Take that momentum from the cold plunge into other areas of your life and see what can happen,” he adds.

How long should you cold plunge for? “We recommend a nice 3-5 minutes session in the plunge, up to your neck,” Andrew explains. He adds that the duration will be a little dependent on temperature and “according to the latest data, 11 minutes a week in the cold plunge is the goal.”

How often should you cold plunge? Andrew is a big fan of daily exposure and takes a cold shower every day. But in general, he says, “If you can get into the bathhouse once a week for a session, that’s great.”

Go deeper: Learn more about cold plunging here.

Question: The Wellbeing Dilemma 💭

Without giving away the answer… Despite the overall percentage of people that say their wellbeing is a top priority, just 44% feel it’s impossible to achieve it and only 12% say their wellbeing is where it should be. (Read the full report here.)

Add To Wishlist: G-Vest Sport ✨

• OMORPHO, a brand that designs weighted training gear, dropped its G-Vest Sport, a snug weighted vest created for both men and women’s bodies, featuring the brand’s stainless steel G-spheres across the torso for evenly distributed weight. (Shop here: Womens, Mens)

A few more drops:

• Lululemon now has shoes for men, including these minimalist recovery slides in four different colorways (Shop here)

• Beekeeper Coffee is a new brand of ready-to-drink canned coffee drinks featuring, as the name suggests, a little bit of honey in each beverage. (Check out the lineup here)

• Arc-teryx is hardly new—the outdoor apparel brand has been around for decades and remains relevant, thanks to its high-quality, durable clothing, packs, and accessories. It recently dropped its largest weather-resistant duffle to date, which can carry 100L of gear. (Check it out)

Today’s newsletter was brought to you by Ash Read and Melanie Ehrenkranz.

P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Send us your favorite gear, personal health stack, or feedback on the newsletter.