Hippie Green Beret

The Path to Freedom & Unconventional Wealth

Leg Day??!! Naw Man, Let’s Bench Press…

by HippieGreenBeret

If you wanted a base of physical strength, to be tough and strong and fit and balanced, and only had one olympic lift in your arsenal, what would it be?? Well, it wouldn’t be curls. Or forearm curls. Most folks chose bench press.

Build the Base

If you want to be a beast, you’d want an efficient exercise that would recruit the most muscle fibers throughout your body to maximize growth, strength, and resilience. Something simple, efficient, and balanced (where muscles provide equal levels of strength and tension surrounding a joint).

I’d offer the Olympic Clean – lift a heavily loaded barbell off the floor to your shoulders. This builds:

  • Hamstrings.
  • Lower back and spinal erectors.
  • Quadriceps.
  • Trapezius.
  • Abdominals, obliques, and transverse abdominals.
  • Shoulders and scapular stabilizers.
  • Triceps, biceps, forearms.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/training-while-deployed

So, how does this relate to money?

If you had to pick only one Fund, what would it be? You’d want a fund that that would utilize companies to ensure maximize growth, strength, and resilience. Something diversified, low cost, and tax efficient. Something that captures the entire US equity market and all 10 major economic sectors.

Your Financial Power Base

I would offer the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX) or ETF (VFI). This fund has ~3,600 different holdings. That means you own little pieces of all 3,600 different companies. And every single one of them are working all the time to get better at what they do, all in your favor. Oh yeah, and VTSAX is self cleaning.*

Do yourself a favor. Build your base. Go load up on VTSAX. And then go crush out some Olympic Cleans.

*Self-cleaning means that when a company goes out of business, another comes in and takes its place. And when one does really well, it stays in the fund and you benefit. Owning just one company (one stock) is risky because they can go out of business or make it big (sounds like Vegas, except you get free drinks in Vegas).