Showing posts with label well being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label well being. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness - Can be a Big Issue predictor.
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Sleep is so important. Sleepiness during the day may likewise be a really critical health marker. Sleepiness itself is usually taken as a sign that we just didn't get enough kip. Sometimes figuring out why is easy, and we can fix it; sometimes figuring out why is a little more elusive, and getting some knowledgable help is a great idea. Note: if you're considering seeing a trainer or coach, find out from them what kind of HISTORY they take about your wellbeing. If there's nothing in there about the qualities of what i've been calling our H2 Ratio, you may want to have a chat with someone else.
We know that chronic sleepiness in"older adults", is a marker of potential heart issues and mortality risk. It also seems to show up some specific correlations around mental and physical well being too.
While doing some work on sleep in our lab project on personal wellbeing tracking, i came across the following studies on EDS (excessive daytime sleepiness). The first is EDS as a marker of risk for "older adults"
Why folks feel sleepy during the day we know may stem from multiple causes. Nutrition issues, pain, breathing difficulties, lack of movement during the day, medication, sleep disorders. But it seems one of the highlights from this article is that it's REALLY IMPORTANT that if one is chronically sleepy, it's more than a good idea to check in about what might be causing that sleepiness and get it addressed.
Likewise, a more recent study looked at quality of life responses across ethnic groups relative to sleep disturbances/EDS. Here's what they report.
So as with the "older adult" study, sleep issues may be showing up as a consequence of related factors. THat's not a particular surprise. What we do know, however, is that crappy sleep in itself - that can show up as excessive daytime sleepiness too - is not good for health. We need quality z's.
A recent survey of evaluation approaches shows there are LOTS of ways to check in with a person about possible causes and developing a strategy towards getting better sleep. And, if you're interested more generally in what sleep is, and what some known sleep issues are, there's a nice current overview - free paper - called simply "Overview of sleep & sleep disorders."
Sleep Practice Feedback. In my group, we're doing research looking at the role awareness may play in wellbeing, health, quality of life. One of the devices we're using as a feed for the data is the Zeo. I've written about this before with a two part interview with Stephen Fabregas, sleep researcher, at Zeo. I'm also in the throes of prepping a review of using the device.
[EDIT - 2013: unfortunately the following kit is no longer available as zeo has closed down. THere are simple sleep monitors in commercial hardware like FitBit and Jawbone UP and also free actigarphy monitors on many phone platforms: these at least give an indication of time in bed/asleep and time restless. it's all about trends...]
Early summary: i really like it, and yes it's helped modify my behaviour to get better quality sleep. Why? because i can *see* it - my sleep cycles - i want to understand why i had less deep sleep or what's going on with low REM compared to how i usually sleep. What's different? Pretty simply it gives me a way to help make more grounded sense of how i'm doing. And it's making a difference.
There's also a sleep coach program that i'm just getting into, so that's why the review is not out yet - i want to see what that does, too. But even without the sleep coach, this device, compared with all the sleep info on the site, has been making a real difference to my perceived well being.
If you're interested, Zeo is offering a 10dollar off/free shipping deal with a coupon (here's the link). As said, i like it. I'm learning a lot. And am using it more than i do a heart rate monitor right now perhaps because this is such a new area of investigation for me.
Now, getting a zeo is not a replacement at all if one is suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness or related sleep issues in sitting down with a health pro to find out what may be going on with one's sleep - if there is some disease or drug or related Big Deal happening that requires attention. And sleep, as stephan said in the interviews, is SO crucial, and as the above research shows it's critical to get on top of it.
What a zeo can do is reflect back, pretty clearly, if those strategies are working, and if so, how well. That wee display can also help keep us honest about our practice, and help us tune that practice. So it's no replacement for real counciling (nor is it designed to be) around a chronic issue, but it's a great way to help dial in and feedback the practice.
For instance, some of the quesitons i've had are: all things being equal, does timing of exercise in the evening REALLY effect my sleep quality? Does doing two split workouts a day do better than one? Can i really see any difference on fasting or better quality eating days? Very personal tuning to be sure, but it wasn't really possible to ask these quesitons previously as i had no real, clear way of correlating sleep with these practices. There's a section on the site "for health pros" that lists the research on this puppy.
Summary: Daytime sleepiness especially if it starts to become a pattern is NOT a good thing. It's associated with everything from poor mental health to, well, death. So, it's very much worth getting sleep quality up (and daytime sleepiness down). Sleepiness during the day, especially in older adults, seems to be a strong marker of a potential issue.
If general healthy sleep practices aren't working, checking in with a health professional like one's GP about what factors may be influencing it, and getting on top of it, are really important. It's awful to have health issues already where more will be amplified by poor sleep. A vicious cycle that needs to be broken. A sleep monitor tool in these cases to give good feedback on how well strategies, once they've been developed, are working.
Absolutely check with your GP; if you are not being physical yet, getting one with starting movement can be a HUGE boon. Here's an overview of getting some Time under Movement
If you are already moving and experiencing sleepiness, working with a qualified practitioner /coach who can look at your movement, nutrition, sleep and related is a Good Thing. I personally work with folks in consultation with their GP's assessments. They go great together.
But main takeaway: chronic daytime sleepiness - it's our bodies talking to us in a BIG WAY to say something needs to change. Seek help in figuring out what things to tune and how. You'll love how you feel.
Citations
Sleep is so important. Sleepiness during the day may likewise be a really critical health marker. Sleepiness itself is usually taken as a sign that we just didn't get enough kip. Sometimes figuring out why is easy, and we can fix it; sometimes figuring out why is a little more elusive, and getting some knowledgable help is a great idea. Note: if you're considering seeing a trainer or coach, find out from them what kind of HISTORY they take about your wellbeing. If there's nothing in there about the qualities of what i've been calling our H2 Ratio, you may want to have a chat with someone else.We know that chronic sleepiness in"older adults", is a marker of potential heart issues and mortality risk. It also seems to show up some specific correlations around mental and physical well being too.
While doing some work on sleep in our lab project on personal wellbeing tracking, i came across the following studies on EDS (excessive daytime sleepiness). The first is EDS as a marker of risk for "older adults"
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2000 Feb;48(2):115-23.
Daytime sleepiness predicts mortality and cardiovascular disease in older adults. The Cardiovascular Health Study Research Group.
Newman AB, Spiekerman CF, Enright P, Lefkowitz D, Manolio T, Reynolds CF, Robbins J. University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
INTRODUCTION: As part of the baseline examination in the Cardiovascular Health Study, sleep disturbance symptoms including snoring and daytime sleepiness, were assessed as potential risk factors or precipitants of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Because of the association of sleep disturbance with poorer health and the possible associations of sleep apnea with CVD, we hypothesized that those with poorer sleep or daytime sleepiness may be at increased risk of mortality or incident CVD. SETTING: Participants (n = 5888) were recruited in 1989, with an additional minority cohort recruited in 1993, in four US communities for a cohort study designed to evaluate risk factors for cardiovascular disease. METHODS: An interview-administered questionnaire regarding health and sleep habits with ongoing ascertainment of total mortality and cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality, including total CVD morbidity and mortality, incident myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. RESULTS: Daytime sleepiness was the only sleep symptom that was significantly associated with mortality in both men and women. The unadjusted hazard ratio was 2.12 (1.66, 2.72) in women and 1.40 (1.12, 1.73) in men. Men who reported difficulty falling asleep also had an increased mortality rate (HR = 1.43 (1.14, 1.80)) which was not seen in women. The risks were attenuated with adjustment for age but remained significant for daytime sleepiness in women (HR = 1.82 (1.42, 2.34)) and for difficulty falling asleep in men. (HR = 1.29 (1.03, 1.63)). Frequent awakenings, early morning awakening, and snoring were not associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality in these older men and women. Crude event rates were evaluated for total incident cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, incident myocardial infarction, and incident congestive heart failure (CHF). Incident CVD rates were higher in both men and women with daytime sleepiness. The aged adjusted HR was 1.35 (95% CI = 1.03, 1.76) in men and was 1.66 (95% CI = 1.28, 2.16) in women. Incident CVD was not higher in those with any other sleep disturbance including snoring. The risk of CVD events associated with daytime sleepiness was attenuated but remained significant in women after adjustment for age. Incident myocardial infarction (MI) rates were also higher in women with daytime sleepiness but were not significantly higher in men. Incident CHF rates were increased in both men and women with daytime sleepiness. In men, the age adjusted HR was 1.49 (95% CI, 1.12- 1.98) and in women, was 2.21 (95% CI, 1.64-2.98). Women reporting both daytime sleepiness and frequent awakening had a hazard ratio of 2.34 (95% CI, 1.66-3.29) for incident CHF compared with those with daytime sleepiness but without frequent awakening. This interaction was not found in men. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, daytime sleepiness was the only sleep disturbance symptom that was associated with mortality, incident CVD morbidity and mortality, MI, and CHF. These findings were stronger in women than men, i.e., the associations persisted for mortality, CVD, and CHF in women after adjustment for age and other factors. Thus, a report of daytime sleepiness identifies older adults at increased risk for total and cardiovascular mortality, and is an independent risk factor in women.The big deal here is the end of this abstract - the signs being described have much the ring of metabolic syndrome to them, don't they?
Why folks feel sleepy during the day we know may stem from multiple causes. Nutrition issues, pain, breathing difficulties, lack of movement during the day, medication, sleep disorders. But it seems one of the highlights from this article is that it's REALLY IMPORTANT that if one is chronically sleepy, it's more than a good idea to check in about what might be causing that sleepiness and get it addressed.
Likewise, a more recent study looked at quality of life responses across ethnic groups relative to sleep disturbances/EDS. Here's what they report.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2010 Apr 15;6(2):176-83.What the study suggests is that sleep disturbances and results like excessive daytime sleepiness (25% of the total cohort of over 5000 participants) seem to correlate with different effects on mental/physical health relative to (a) US Norms and (b) ethnicity. A key conclusion, however, is that, while these results are indicative, they may be part of "comorbid health conditions" - in other words, the sleep related problems and their associated responses may be part of a package of issues.
Sleep disturbances, quality of life, and ethnicity: the Sleep Heart Health Study.
Baldwin CM, Ervin AM, Mays MZ, Robbins J, Shafazand S, Walsleben J, Weaver T.
Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA. carol.baldwin@asu.edu
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) across subgroups defined by sleep disturbances and ethnicity. METHODS: Men (47%) and women (53%) Sleep Heart Health Study participants age 40 and older (N = 5237) underwent overnight polysomnography and completed self-report questionnaires on symptoms of sleep disturbances. The physical and mental composite scales (PCS and MCS) of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form survey assessed HR-QOL and were compared to sleep data. RESULTS: Participants self-identified as Caucasian/White (n = 4482, 86%), African American/Black (n = 490, 9%), or Hispanic/Mexican American (n = 265, 5%). The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was 17%, frequent snoring was 34%, difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep (DIMS; insomnia symptoms) was 30%, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) was 25%. African American participants with frequent snoring, insomnia symptoms, or EDS had significantly poorer physical health compared to Caucasians (p < 0.001). Hispanics with frequent snoring, insomnia symptoms, or EDS had significantly poorer mental health than Caucasian participants (p <0.001). Neither PCS nor MCS scores differed significantly across ethnic subgroups for participants with moderate to severe OSA (respiratory disturbance index > 15, 4% desaturation). CONCLUSIONS: Across ethnic/racial subgroups, sleep disturbances are associated with worse physical and better mental HR-QOL than the U.S. norm, but this relationship may be moderated by comorbid health conditions. This study replicates and extends prior research indicating differences among minority and non-minority participants and highlights the need for future studies of sleep disturbances with larger samples of minorities that control for comorbid health conditions.
So as with the "older adult" study, sleep issues may be showing up as a consequence of related factors. THat's not a particular surprise. What we do know, however, is that crappy sleep in itself - that can show up as excessive daytime sleepiness too - is not good for health. We need quality z's.
A recent survey of evaluation approaches shows there are LOTS of ways to check in with a person about possible causes and developing a strategy towards getting better sleep. And, if you're interested more generally in what sleep is, and what some known sleep issues are, there's a nice current overview - free paper - called simply "Overview of sleep & sleep disorders."
Sleep Practice Feedback. In my group, we're doing research looking at the role awareness may play in wellbeing, health, quality of life. One of the devices we're using as a feed for the data is the Zeo. I've written about this before with a two part interview with Stephen Fabregas, sleep researcher, at Zeo. I'm also in the throes of prepping a review of using the device.
[EDIT - 2013: unfortunately the following kit is no longer available as zeo has closed down. THere are simple sleep monitors in commercial hardware like FitBit and Jawbone UP and also free actigarphy monitors on many phone platforms: these at least give an indication of time in bed/asleep and time restless. it's all about trends...]
Early summary: i really like it, and yes it's helped modify my behaviour to get better quality sleep. Why? because i can *see* it - my sleep cycles - i want to understand why i had less deep sleep or what's going on with low REM compared to how i usually sleep. What's different? Pretty simply it gives me a way to help make more grounded sense of how i'm doing. And it's making a difference.
There's also a sleep coach program that i'm just getting into, so that's why the review is not out yet - i want to see what that does, too. But even without the sleep coach, this device, compared with all the sleep info on the site, has been making a real difference to my perceived well being.
If you're interested, Zeo is offering a 10dollar off/free shipping deal with a coupon (here's the link). As said, i like it. I'm learning a lot. And am using it more than i do a heart rate monitor right now perhaps because this is such a new area of investigation for me.
Now, getting a zeo is not a replacement at all if one is suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness or related sleep issues in sitting down with a health pro to find out what may be going on with one's sleep - if there is some disease or drug or related Big Deal happening that requires attention. And sleep, as stephan said in the interviews, is SO crucial, and as the above research shows it's critical to get on top of it.What a zeo can do is reflect back, pretty clearly, if those strategies are working, and if so, how well. That wee display can also help keep us honest about our practice, and help us tune that practice. So it's no replacement for real counciling (nor is it designed to be) around a chronic issue, but it's a great way to help dial in and feedback the practice.
For instance, some of the quesitons i've had are: all things being equal, does timing of exercise in the evening REALLY effect my sleep quality? Does doing two split workouts a day do better than one? Can i really see any difference on fasting or better quality eating days? Very personal tuning to be sure, but it wasn't really possible to ask these quesitons previously as i had no real, clear way of correlating sleep with these practices. There's a section on the site "for health pros" that lists the research on this puppy.
Summary: Daytime sleepiness especially if it starts to become a pattern is NOT a good thing. It's associated with everything from poor mental health to, well, death. So, it's very much worth getting sleep quality up (and daytime sleepiness down). Sleepiness during the day, especially in older adults, seems to be a strong marker of a potential issue.
If general healthy sleep practices aren't working, checking in with a health professional like one's GP about what factors may be influencing it, and getting on top of it, are really important. It's awful to have health issues already where more will be amplified by poor sleep. A vicious cycle that needs to be broken. A sleep monitor tool in these cases to give good feedback on how well strategies, once they've been developed, are working.
Absolutely check with your GP; if you are not being physical yet, getting one with starting movement can be a HUGE boon. Here's an overview of getting some Time under Movement
If you are already moving and experiencing sleepiness, working with a qualified practitioner /coach who can look at your movement, nutrition, sleep and related is a Good Thing. I personally work with folks in consultation with their GP's assessments. They go great together.
But main takeaway: chronic daytime sleepiness - it's our bodies talking to us in a BIG WAY to say something needs to change. Seek help in figuring out what things to tune and how. You'll love how you feel.
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Citations
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Newman AB, Spiekerman CF, Enright P, Lefkowitz D, Manolio T, Reynolds CF, & Robbins J (2000). Daytime sleepiness predicts mortality and cardiovascular disease in older adults. The Cardiovascular Health Study Research Group. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 48 (2), 115-23 PMID: 10682939
Baldwin CM, Ervin AM, Mays MZ, Robbins J, Shafazand S, Walsleben J, & Weaver T (2010). Sleep disturbances, quality of life, and ethnicity: the Sleep Heart Health Study. Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 6 (2), 176-83 PMID: 20411696
Boulos MI, & Murray BJ (2010). Current evaluation and management of excessive daytime sleepiness. The Canadian journal of neurological sciences. Le journal canadien des sciences neurologiques, 37 (2), 167-76 PMID: 20437926
Chokroverty S (2010). Overview of sleep & sleep disorders. The Indian journal of medical research, 131, 126-40 PMID: 20308738
PDF
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Real People Losing Real Weight in Real Time: Update
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Back in december i did two short pieces about real world fat loss. The first one is about what real world, consistent, effective, sane, healthful and nutritionally appropriate fat loss and strength gain looks like. The second one is about how important some kind of support system is for optimizing success in getting a handle on consistent weight loss.
6 months. These pieces were inspired by the folks who had just finished Precision Nutritions 6 month program called the Lean Eating Challenge. 6 months. Not 12 weeks, not 16 weeks, but 6 months. Half a year to develop and practice nutrition and strength habits to achieve one's body comp, health and fitness goals sanely, safely, with habits to last a life time.
So i thought b2d readers might be interested to see both the winners of this real world challenge, and see the runners up as well. Here ya go: Lean Eating Challenge Results
Congratulations to all.
If you're interested in the Lean Eating challenge, it's a great great program. Folks get so much daily guidance and support in such a reasonable, effective way, it's awesome - i'll detail it more in a future post. In the meantime, here's a previous discussion (check the comments). Right now (Feb 2010) you may want to put your name on the list for the next time the program will be run (June 2010).
In the meantime, if you're looking for a similarly sane foundation to develop your own nutrition/fitness/body comp, please do take a look at Precision Nutrition (here's a detailed review, too).
Folks who read b2d know that i find PN to be a great program to learn about nutrition and how to get a handle on it for oneself. Most particularly, i think access to the forum alone is worth the price of admission. If you want to learn about nutrition and how to tune that knowledge for your body comp/health goals, i've yet to discover or be introduced to a better resource.
Related Posts
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6 months. These pieces were inspired by the folks who had just finished Precision Nutritions 6 month program called the Lean Eating Challenge. 6 months. Not 12 weeks, not 16 weeks, but 6 months. Half a year to develop and practice nutrition and strength habits to achieve one's body comp, health and fitness goals sanely, safely, with habits to last a life time.
So i thought b2d readers might be interested to see both the winners of this real world challenge, and see the runners up as well. Here ya go: Lean Eating Challenge Results
If you're interested in the Lean Eating challenge, it's a great great program. Folks get so much daily guidance and support in such a reasonable, effective way, it's awesome - i'll detail it more in a future post. In the meantime, here's a previous discussion (check the comments). Right now (Feb 2010) you may want to put your name on the list for the next time the program will be run (June 2010).
In the meantime, if you're looking for a similarly sane foundation to develop your own nutrition/fitness/body comp, please do take a look at Precision Nutrition (here's a detailed review, too).
Folks who read b2d know that i find PN to be a great program to learn about nutrition and how to get a handle on it for oneself. Most particularly, i think access to the forum alone is worth the price of admission. If you want to learn about nutrition and how to tune that knowledge for your body comp/health goals, i've yet to discover or be introduced to a better resource.
Related Posts
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Sunday, October 4, 2009
B2D General Fitness Practice Article Index
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Thinking about general fitness from mobility work to 
deadlifting to how freeing your feet is one of the best things we can do for our well being. What does the research tell us about dealing with DOMS, or about optimizing the mitochondrial benefits of cardio, or about warm ups (and whether we need one). This index will stay current with these and other topics touched on in b2d.
The idea is just to have a page that makes it easy to scan through headers of articles b2d has covered in this space.
One on nutrition will be coming soon to complement the others listed below on
If you have a question about general physical well being and training practice not discussed here, and you think it might be good for a b2d article, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Muscle Building, Hypertrophy and THE PUMP - what is it?
How many reps for hypertrophy: why that's the wrong question.
Z Health: What is It
Atheletic Body Type: Check Your Goal Which one is yours? The day this article was posted it became the most hit page ever in one day on b2d. I'm not sure why.
Respect the Fat - a quick review of how fat gets used for fuel in the body.
The P90X critique and alternatives series.
Really my goal in this was less about a critique of P90X than how to think about whether or not a particular program will match one's goals. And how to assess if what's on the label is what's in the tin
"The Pump" - what is it, how to get one and what does it/might it do?
DOMS part 1 - what is delayed onset muscle soreness and what doesn't work (you may be surprised.
DOMS part 2 - what works to offset what parts of DOMS
Warm Ups: what are they and (why) do we need one?
Arthrokinetic Reflex: the eyes have if for fast strength improvements.
Rannoch's 100's - it's always possible to find 100.
Lance Armstrong Dynamic Simple Strength Training.
Bones and Pistols
Lance Armstrong training
6mins to fitness 1 - research
6mins to fitness 2 - application
Icing - safe and effective for what?
Running Shoe types - any effect on injury? how bout no?
Occlusion training - benefits for strength training - but super for rehab?
Electrical Magnetic Stimulation - for rehab and muscle adaptation
Elite Fitness Rings - gymnastic rings make pull ups FUN
Stand up or Lie down to work out
Plastic vs Elastic - two different attributes that support human performance
Renegade Rows - awesome excercise
How and Why to FREE YOUR FEET!!
Pull Ups, how to do One or 101
Does Cardio interfere with strength? how 'bout "no"?
Colds - Dealing with one before and after it starts
Sunscreen Will Kill You - and other single factor myths.
Rest and Recovery Periods: How Long and What For?
Exercise Doesn't Work Without Diet - Really
Deadlift Resources
Yoga for Back Care, References
Warrior Diet: Reviewing its Science Claims
Myth Busting: Women are afraid of Bulking Up.
Related Posts
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
deadlifting to how freeing your feet is one of the best things we can do for our well being. What does the research tell us about dealing with DOMS, or about optimizing the mitochondrial benefits of cardio, or about warm ups (and whether we need one). This index will stay current with these and other topics touched on in b2d.The idea is just to have a page that makes it easy to scan through headers of articles b2d has covered in this space.
One on nutrition will be coming soon to complement the others listed below on
- kettlebells
- vibram fivefingers (what can i say?)
- z-health neurological mobility training
If you have a question about general physical well being and training practice not discussed here, and you think it might be good for a b2d article, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Muscle Building, Hypertrophy and THE PUMP - what is it?
How many reps for hypertrophy: why that's the wrong question.
Z Health: What is It
Atheletic Body Type: Check Your Goal Which one is yours? The day this article was posted it became the most hit page ever in one day on b2d. I'm not sure why.
Respect the Fat - a quick review of how fat gets used for fuel in the body.
The P90X critique and alternatives series.
Really my goal in this was less about a critique of P90X than how to think about whether or not a particular program will match one's goals. And how to assess if what's on the label is what's in the tin
- part 1: considers muscle confusion and the various X workouts - should they be X'd? do their names really mean what's under the label?
- part 2: getting ripped and what that means in terms of 1) getting lean and 2) getting defined. We also consider who can "get ripped" when following the p90x and does one really need P90X's 7 hours a week+ to achieve that goal?
- part 3: alternatives to p90x (a) diet & p90x (b) workouts.
"The Pump" - what is it, how to get one and what does it/might it do?
DOMS part 1 - what is delayed onset muscle soreness and what doesn't work (you may be surprised.
DOMS part 2 - what works to offset what parts of DOMS
Warm Ups: what are they and (why) do we need one?
Arthrokinetic Reflex: the eyes have if for fast strength improvements.
Rannoch's 100's - it's always possible to find 100.
Lance Armstrong Dynamic Simple Strength Training.
Bones and Pistols
How to develop bones and pistols - both inspired by Adam T. GlassMovement Assessment: what it is and why have one
This one's looking at an assessment to help address movement-related pain, but can equally apply to checking movement for general performance benefitWhat if we were no longer how we defined ourselves - like strong?
Lance Armstrong training
6mins to fitness 1 - research
6mins to fitness 2 - application
Icing - safe and effective for what?
Running Shoe types - any effect on injury? how bout no?
Occlusion training - benefits for strength training - but super for rehab?
Electrical Magnetic Stimulation - for rehab and muscle adaptation
Elite Fitness Rings - gymnastic rings make pull ups FUN
Stand up or Lie down to work out
Plastic vs Elastic - two different attributes that support human performance
Renegade Rows - awesome excercise
How and Why to FREE YOUR FEET!!
One of the most important things i've found about health improvement. Considering a quarter of the bones of our body are in our feet, letting them move turns out to be a good idea.
Pull Ups, how to do One or 101
This article looks at the muscles in pull ups as well as the various approaches that have been used to help people get their first or multiple pull ups - there's bound to be an approach that will work for you.
Does Cardio interfere with strength? how 'bout "no"?
Colds - Dealing with one before and after it starts
Sunscreen Will Kill You - and other single factor myths.
Rest and Recovery Periods: How Long and What For?
This is an article i did for Dragon Door on how rest periods relate to the type of strength one wants to develop - or the type of muscular adaptation one wants to foreground - as much as reps or load do.Complexity is Not Evil
Exercise Doesn't Work Without Diet - Really
Deadlift Resources
Yoga for Back Care, References
Warrior Diet: Reviewing its Science Claims
Myth Busting: Women are afraid of Bulking Up.
Related Posts
- b2d VFF article index for experience fitting and wearing Vibram FiveFingers
- b2d Z-Health article index relating to Z-Health from R-phase to 9S:Sustenance and in between
- b2d Kettlebell article index from lat firing to the perfect rep to double kb work
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
Why I? Loading for the Real - an Overview/Review Z-Health I-Phase
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In life we have physical things that we do that we'd like to do better. It may be as complicated as getting a technique down for a wicked lick on a guitar or as simple as getting off the steep stairs of a bus with a little more grace. Our goals may be a little more serious: we'd like to move more smoothly, and perhaps take fewer falls when going for a run or even walking about the house. Z-health's i-phase approach provides a suite of strategies to help with these real life movement goals. Before we get into i-phase a bit of z-health context
In an overview i did of Z-Health, focusing on R-phase, i wrote about how Z-Health (Zed for short in this article) focuses on communicating with the nervous system, and why that's important for improved well being, whether that's getting out of pain, or moving better for daily life or an athletic pursuit. For a quick review, R-phase focuses on moving each joint in the body through its range of motion. It does this not just because moving joints about is good for the health of the joint, but because joints have a TON of two particular kinds of receptors in them: noci- (detecting noxious stimulus - not just pain) receptors and mechano- receptors (excellent article overviewing joint mechanoreceptor types).
The mechano's in the joints are in large part communicating about where that joint is in space, as well as how fast it's moving. The brain processes all the inputs coming in from these joints to create a microsecond by microsecond map of where we are in the environment. Help all the joints move through their whole range of motion, and at least two key things happen:
(ok you too may have wondered why he didn't just step aside, but heh, that means there were a few options rather than just one).
The pay off here is that the more ways we can move the more choices we have to avoid a crisis. The more we practice moving, the more we work our balance and visual system to connect to those movements, the better our coordinated responses, or reflexes have in a given situation. This range of options and heightened reflexes that comes from such agility/balance work has been shown to be an important component as a strategy for people at risk of hip fractures, for instance. Enhance the signals as to where one is in space, practice using them, we give the body more options to adapt and remain vertical, lessen the chance of a fall.
It's a Map - a Map of the World. Eric Cobb talks about what our bodies do in space as Navigation. "And navigation is an action." The better information coming in from the body about position in space, the better off we are. When joints can move, they're sending off more points of information.
Think about the "light bulbs" that people wear on motion capture rigs for computer graphics. Only a few points are needed around the major limbs to be applied to a model of a human form in order for the computer to integrate those points and model to render a pretty convincing motion (movie, 275kb). But look closely at the foot. How "mobile" does it seem in the model?
Thus, entire strips of sensors have to be used to map finer joint movements accurately, like those of the fingers (movie 2.6mg). Way more sensors to give finer detail of movement - but check out how well or not even here, the fingers unscrewing the cap are mirrored in the computer model of same.
In other words, a few points certainly give a general sense of movement, but more points of information are necessary to get a truer picture of the movement. And that's just for a computer trying to render a passable realistic sketch of a anthropomorphic character. My fave work in this space is Mike Chat's from Discovery's Extreme Martial Arts, and mapping the skeleton onto the form (check about a minute into the clip).
Very convincing approximation from gross motor movements.But notice that the light suit to get that degree of movement detail has many more points (the white dots on the skin suits in the image below)
It's these multiple points of information of course that feed into why Zed heads talk about freeing your feet, getting out of non-bendable, twistable, overly squishy shoes: their "support" stops your joints from moving as they're designed, and hence lessens the signal back to the body about the foot's location in space.
It's no wonder that so many runners get sprained ankles: the shoe wear designed to "support" their foot deadens its natural ability to communicate, hobbling the body's ability to respond and get it out of trouble. R-phase therefore is about openning up all the communication channels of the joints to enable a better map, better signal to noise ratio for letting the body respond to the envirnoment. I-phase is training the body to put that new information to work.
Building on the Information Flow: Putting the Map to Work
Eric Cobb talks about R-Phase as learning the vocabulary of movement; IPhase is getting into the grammar - building sentences. What does that mean, practically?
In R-Phase, by learning the drills that move each joint of the body through its range of motion (with the exception of the sutures in the skull - that's T-Phase), we learn about those ranges of motion. Speaking for myself, i started unable to move my thoracic spine in any meaningful, mobile way. Thought it was impossible for me. Turns out not. Lots of practice, et voila: thoracic circles like no one's business. Standing still.
So R-Phase we learn how to move these joints to send off that information with very little load on the joints themselves. Great for learning, and teaching the body to create new patterns of movement. The benefits of this practice alone are legion. I could write idyls of joy to how much R-Phase (with a little T mixed in) has helped my back. Likewise, in working with clients, R-phase drills have wrought out and out remarkable benefits for many clients, helping them either into better performance or out of pain or both.
Once that practice/knowledge is in place to perform perfectly in "neutral" posture and load, I-phase adds load. With lunges. And foot positions. A simple pelvic circle in neutral stance suddenly has a plethora of combinations from 6 lunge positions and 3 foot positions for each of 2 feet. Nice.
Train for the Sprain; the Kobioshi Maru of Movement
So why add all these positions to a given neutral stance posture? Cobb argues that this puts the body in positions that are closer to real life. Get used to working in these postures (80% load on the front leg, feet neutral; shift to 80% load on the back leg, feet turned out), the body is more ready to respond to unusual circumstances, ie, life. This is the magic of practice, or the learning effect of making reaction reflexive rather than cognitive.
We see this practice effect all the time. One of the greatest examples of it was in the early Space program, where astronauts rehearsed and rehearsed multiple variations of space maneuvers in the earliest simulators in order to have that vocabulary of options at their finger tips, but in order to be able to call on them in a variety of less than optimal conditions. Like going for a run on a muddy chip trail (in vibram fivefingers of course. no stupid squishy trail shoes that kill the proprioception here) and starting to slide, but being able to recover.
There is no Spoon: I-Phase as a Template
Another aspect of I-phase work is that "it's a
template." Unlike R-Phase, while the I-Phase and Neural WarmUp II DVDs take one through a variety of combinations of the I-Phase movements, and while they introduce some moves not in R-Phase at all (like the powerful peg board drill), the DVDs are by no means exhaustive. Right elbow circles in a left lateral lunge with neutral foot position are demonstrated. But all the other lunge positions and foot positions are available, too.
To add even more dimensions, head and eye positions can also be part of the mix. How about practicing the elbow circles with a left anterior lunge, head titled left, eyes looking right (up). Sounds like a slightly wacky combination until perhaps looking at the picture on the right.
By following the guidance in the I-phase manual on how to learn and practice these loaded positions, one is not only working mobility, but adding strength/muscle work. The advantages are the same as in R-phase: signal is increased.
Adaptation for the Unexpected or the Fairly Usual.
If you've ever tried to hold a position that's new, you may feel your muscles shaking. That's a neurological adaptation happening: you may be entirely strong enough to hold the move but the muscles/nervous system are figuring out optimal firing patterns to adapt the muscles to that move. There can be quite a bit of initial shake in I-phase. But as the positions become practiced, neural paths are developed to get used to these positions.
What happens at the same time is again, more signaling information is brought to the body's central processor; better mapping happens. The muscles, like the joints have tons of mechanoreceptors too telling the body about limb position and the stretch position of the muscles. The more patterns practiced, the more the brain gets used to those new positions, the better it can navigate by putting just the right resources there (no more shaking) and having more available for elsewhere. Go from clutz in learning a move to grace in practice of a move; from conscious effort to unconscious response.
Faster Learning?
Another benefit to the I-Phase template approach is enhancing the rapidity of being able to learn new moves/adapt to new situations. Cobb talks about this kind of learning as that of the "natural athlete" - someone who has such unconscious body awareness that they can readily move their bodies into the forms demanded of that work. With I-phase practice in its varied positions, the body habits of natural athleticism can be learned.
One might protest, but i am a desk jockey, not an athlete.
Phooey!
If one has to walk stairs, open a car door in a rainy oil slicked parking lot, shovel snow or sweep a floor, reach for something rolled under the couch, stay vertical on a moving British bus, then one needs these I-phase teachable athletic skills for simple survival (especially in the case of the British bus. sheesh!).
I've personally noticed that my reflexes have improved without consciously working on them - when i can catch a bottle that's coming off the counter towards the floor, grab my hat 2 feet in front of me as the wind's whipped it off my head, or beat my cousin at a video driving game without ever having played the game, something's funny here. Especially when my previous image of myself was always of the person who was lucky if the lid to the jam landed sticky side up.
So when do I do I?
Some folks ask "when should i do I-phase?" I've also heard some people say, after a year or more of focusing on R, "i'm not ready for I; i still haven't mastered R."
My view? based on my experience and working with folks? Really being grounded in R is a very good idea. Doing the 12 week program that's in R-Phase to learn R-Phase is a very good idea. I worked on R-phase for about 6 months before really getting into I. I also did the R phase certification 3 months into that cycle, so i got a lot of attention on how to do R properly (get a coach; it's worth it). This is not to say all that time was necessary; it's just what i did. Your mileage may vary, as a colleague says. What i would say is if and as you've been practicing R-phase, do connect with a Z-health coach to check your form. As with anything, getting the form right makes huge difference in performance/experience. Those simple toe pulls go from "oh ya, ok" to "ahhh. wow" when you really get 'em. And that's what you want every time.
That said, R-phase is not a martial art; it's not yoga. It's learning how to hit particular targets cleanly and effectively to recover function and "clear the map." While one can do R forever fruitfully, getting into I, as i hope has been shown above, is doing your body a favour to take that knowledge and get into some Astronaut Training Time. That is, I-Phase's addition of load and position challenge is prepping the body for Life; it's the simulator to train for the sprain. My opinion? based on my experience and working with folks? If you've been doing R for awhile, have gone through the 12 week programs, have met with a coach to optimize your target hitting, you owe it to your body to get into I-phase.
We can Work it Out
And if you'd like to work with me on some of that Zed mojo, either in person or online (yes that too is possible), please feel free to contact me. My email's in my profile, and there's some feedback here, mainly from other trainers with whom i've had the pleasure to work. Otherwise, hope you'll check out the I-phase Neural /WarmUpII package. As with R-Phase, the I-Phase DVD goes through the suite of I-phase Drills in some of the lunge/foot combinations. The Neural Warm Up II is a power boost subset version of I drills and is more of a work out. It also has several new (and intense) super chargers, body openers and eye drills.
Later, let's talk about S, too?
:)
(update 1: review of S-Phase DVD, the Complete Athlete, vol.1, posted) Tweet Follow @begin2dig
In an overview i did of Z-Health, focusing on R-phase, i wrote about how Z-Health (Zed for short in this article) focuses on communicating with the nervous system, and why that's important for improved well being, whether that's getting out of pain, or moving better for daily life or an athletic pursuit. For a quick review, R-phase focuses on moving each joint in the body through its range of motion. It does this not just because moving joints about is good for the health of the joint, but because joints have a TON of two particular kinds of receptors in them: noci- (detecting noxious stimulus - not just pain) receptors and mechano- receptors (excellent article overviewing joint mechanoreceptor types).
The mechano's in the joints are in large part communicating about where that joint is in space, as well as how fast it's moving. The brain processes all the inputs coming in from these joints to create a microsecond by microsecond map of where we are in the environment. Help all the joints move through their whole range of motion, and at least two key things happen:
- more options to respond to the environment because there's more mobility;
- the brain gets a better picture or "map," as Z-Health founder Eric Cobb puts it,of where we are because more signals are firing;
(ok you too may have wondered why he didn't just step aside, but heh, that means there were a few options rather than just one).
The pay off here is that the more ways we can move the more choices we have to avoid a crisis. The more we practice moving, the more we work our balance and visual system to connect to those movements, the better our coordinated responses, or reflexes have in a given situation. This range of options and heightened reflexes that comes from such agility/balance work has been shown to be an important component as a strategy for people at risk of hip fractures, for instance. Enhance the signals as to where one is in space, practice using them, we give the body more options to adapt and remain vertical, lessen the chance of a fall.
It's a Map - a Map of the World. Eric Cobb talks about what our bodies do in space as Navigation. "And navigation is an action." The better information coming in from the body about position in space, the better off we are. When joints can move, they're sending off more points of information.
Think about the "light bulbs" that people wear on motion capture rigs for computer graphics. Only a few points are needed around the major limbs to be applied to a model of a human form in order for the computer to integrate those points and model to render a pretty convincing motion (movie, 275kb). But look closely at the foot. How "mobile" does it seem in the model?Thus, entire strips of sensors have to be used to map finer joint movements accurately, like those of the fingers (movie 2.6mg). Way more sensors to give finer detail of movement - but check out how well or not even here, the fingers unscrewing the cap are mirrored in the computer model of same.In other words, a few points certainly give a general sense of movement, but more points of information are necessary to get a truer picture of the movement. And that's just for a computer trying to render a passable realistic sketch of a anthropomorphic character. My fave work in this space is Mike Chat's from Discovery's Extreme Martial Arts, and mapping the skeleton onto the form (check about a minute into the clip).
Very convincing approximation from gross motor movements.But notice that the light suit to get that degree of movement detail has many more points (the white dots on the skin suits in the image below)
It's these multiple points of information of course that feed into why Zed heads talk about freeing your feet, getting out of non-bendable, twistable, overly squishy shoes: their "support" stops your joints from moving as they're designed, and hence lessens the signal back to the body about the foot's location in space.
It's no wonder that so many runners get sprained ankles: the shoe wear designed to "support" their foot deadens its natural ability to communicate, hobbling the body's ability to respond and get it out of trouble. R-phase therefore is about openning up all the communication channels of the joints to enable a better map, better signal to noise ratio for letting the body respond to the envirnoment. I-phase is training the body to put that new information to work.
Building on the Information Flow: Putting the Map to Work
Eric Cobb talks about R-Phase as learning the vocabulary of movement; IPhase is getting into the grammar - building sentences. What does that mean, practically?
In R-Phase, by learning the drills that move each joint of the body through its range of motion (with the exception of the sutures in the skull - that's T-Phase), we learn about those ranges of motion. Speaking for myself, i started unable to move my thoracic spine in any meaningful, mobile way. Thought it was impossible for me. Turns out not. Lots of practice, et voila: thoracic circles like no one's business. Standing still.
So R-Phase we learn how to move these joints to send off that information with very little load on the joints themselves. Great for learning, and teaching the body to create new patterns of movement. The benefits of this practice alone are legion. I could write idyls of joy to how much R-Phase (with a little T mixed in) has helped my back. Likewise, in working with clients, R-phase drills have wrought out and out remarkable benefits for many clients, helping them either into better performance or out of pain or both.
Once that practice/knowledge is in place to perform perfectly in "neutral" posture and load, I-phase adds load. With lunges. And foot positions. A simple pelvic circle in neutral stance suddenly has a plethora of combinations from 6 lunge positions and 3 foot positions for each of 2 feet. Nice.
Train for the Sprain; the Kobioshi Maru of Movement
So why add all these positions to a given neutral stance posture? Cobb argues that this puts the body in positions that are closer to real life. Get used to working in these postures (80% load on the front leg, feet neutral; shift to 80% load on the back leg, feet turned out), the body is more ready to respond to unusual circumstances, ie, life. This is the magic of practice, or the learning effect of making reaction reflexive rather than cognitive.
We see this practice effect all the time. One of the greatest examples of it was in the early Space program, where astronauts rehearsed and rehearsed multiple variations of space maneuvers in the earliest simulators in order to have that vocabulary of options at their finger tips, but in order to be able to call on them in a variety of less than optimal conditions. Like going for a run on a muddy chip trail (in vibram fivefingers of course. no stupid squishy trail shoes that kill the proprioception here) and starting to slide, but being able to recover.
There is no Spoon: I-Phase as a Template
Another aspect of I-phase work is that "it's a
template." Unlike R-Phase, while the I-Phase and Neural WarmUp II DVDs take one through a variety of combinations of the I-Phase movements, and while they introduce some moves not in R-Phase at all (like the powerful peg board drill), the DVDs are by no means exhaustive. Right elbow circles in a left lateral lunge with neutral foot position are demonstrated. But all the other lunge positions and foot positions are available, too.To add even more dimensions, head and eye positions can also be part of the mix. How about practicing the elbow circles with a left anterior lunge, head titled left, eyes looking right (up). Sounds like a slightly wacky combination until perhaps looking at the picture on the right.
By following the guidance in the I-phase manual on how to learn and practice these loaded positions, one is not only working mobility, but adding strength/muscle work. The advantages are the same as in R-phase: signal is increased.
Adaptation for the Unexpected or the Fairly Usual.
If you've ever tried to hold a position that's new, you may feel your muscles shaking. That's a neurological adaptation happening: you may be entirely strong enough to hold the move but the muscles/nervous system are figuring out optimal firing patterns to adapt the muscles to that move. There can be quite a bit of initial shake in I-phase. But as the positions become practiced, neural paths are developed to get used to these positions.
What happens at the same time is again, more signaling information is brought to the body's central processor; better mapping happens. The muscles, like the joints have tons of mechanoreceptors too telling the body about limb position and the stretch position of the muscles. The more patterns practiced, the more the brain gets used to those new positions, the better it can navigate by putting just the right resources there (no more shaking) and having more available for elsewhere. Go from clutz in learning a move to grace in practice of a move; from conscious effort to unconscious response.
Faster Learning?
Another benefit to the I-Phase template approach is enhancing the rapidity of being able to learn new moves/adapt to new situations. Cobb talks about this kind of learning as that of the "natural athlete" - someone who has such unconscious body awareness that they can readily move their bodies into the forms demanded of that work. With I-phase practice in its varied positions, the body habits of natural athleticism can be learned.
One might protest, but i am a desk jockey, not an athlete.Phooey!
If one has to walk stairs, open a car door in a rainy oil slicked parking lot, shovel snow or sweep a floor, reach for something rolled under the couch, stay vertical on a moving British bus, then one needs these I-phase teachable athletic skills for simple survival (especially in the case of the British bus. sheesh!).
I've personally noticed that my reflexes have improved without consciously working on them - when i can catch a bottle that's coming off the counter towards the floor, grab my hat 2 feet in front of me as the wind's whipped it off my head, or beat my cousin at a video driving game without ever having played the game, something's funny here. Especially when my previous image of myself was always of the person who was lucky if the lid to the jam landed sticky side up.
So when do I do I?
Some folks ask "when should i do I-phase?" I've also heard some people say, after a year or more of focusing on R, "i'm not ready for I; i still haven't mastered R."
My view? based on my experience and working with folks? Really being grounded in R is a very good idea. Doing the 12 week program that's in R-Phase to learn R-Phase is a very good idea. I worked on R-phase for about 6 months before really getting into I. I also did the R phase certification 3 months into that cycle, so i got a lot of attention on how to do R properly (get a coach; it's worth it). This is not to say all that time was necessary; it's just what i did. Your mileage may vary, as a colleague says. What i would say is if and as you've been practicing R-phase, do connect with a Z-health coach to check your form. As with anything, getting the form right makes huge difference in performance/experience. Those simple toe pulls go from "oh ya, ok" to "ahhh. wow" when you really get 'em. And that's what you want every time.
That said, R-phase is not a martial art; it's not yoga. It's learning how to hit particular targets cleanly and effectively to recover function and "clear the map." While one can do R forever fruitfully, getting into I, as i hope has been shown above, is doing your body a favour to take that knowledge and get into some Astronaut Training Time. That is, I-Phase's addition of load and position challenge is prepping the body for Life; it's the simulator to train for the sprain. My opinion? based on my experience and working with folks? If you've been doing R for awhile, have gone through the 12 week programs, have met with a coach to optimize your target hitting, you owe it to your body to get into I-phase.
We can Work it Out
And if you'd like to work with me on some of that Zed mojo, either in person or online (yes that too is possible), please feel free to contact me. My email's in my profile, and there's some feedback here, mainly from other trainers with whom i've had the pleasure to work. Otherwise, hope you'll check out the I-phase Neural /WarmUpII package. As with R-Phase, the I-Phase DVD goes through the suite of I-phase Drills in some of the lunge/foot combinations. The Neural Warm Up II is a power boost subset version of I drills and is more of a work out. It also has several new (and intense) super chargers, body openers and eye drills.
Later, let's talk about S, too?
:)
(update 1: review of S-Phase DVD, the Complete Athlete, vol.1, posted) Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Preliminary Review: the Sedona Method, getting rid of crap around goals
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We all set goals; we don't always achieve them. What's with that? It may not be because we don't have a great plan; it may be because we have a whole lot of beliefs and related crap around those goals that keep us from achieving them. Likewise sometimes we feel flat, stuck, and can't imagine getting to a new place of success.
Recently, i've been experimenting with an approach called the Sedona Method to check out issues around goals, and i've been surprised both by what i've been finding, and what's been coming back. The following is a very preliminary review/overview.
[UPDATE: overview detailing more specifically what's in the tin and experiences five months on now posted - Aug 09] [UPDATE AUG 2014 - there are NO affiliate links in this post unless indicated - and yup, five years i can't believe it - i'm still finding this approach incredibly valuable]
Overview:
The Sedona Method kinda kicks the can of Positive Thinking and/or Visualization (or something called "The Secret" (!) which is aka "the law of attraction" - if you just think about it and "draw it in" you can have it).
The reason this challenge to "positive thinking" is intriguing from a health/athletic perspective is that sport psychology is infused with visualizing the goal; wanting the goal; tasting the goal. Wanting it badly enough. Perhaps these are folks who also think no pain, no gain?
To be fair, we've heard the great stories of lance armstrong and other cancer patients visualizing their cancer getting smaller; going into remission; going away. So there's likely much to be said for visualizing a goal. But the Sedona method suggests that we "bank in the bank, not in the head" - that we can get so into a visualization that we avoid what it frames as Right Actions. So how do we get to Right Actions?
Here's the surprise: we actually need to let go of the goal first and foremost. And that seems totally at odds with positive thinking's "draw it in."
Let go of the goal? Isn't the whole point of having a goal to achieve a goal?
The intriguing thing here, at least to me, is that letting go of the goal is a process of checking out what comes up around the expression of a goal.
Indeed, the whole way of expressing the goal is critical. For instance, the sedona approach is particular about avoiding framing a goal as "i want" rather than "i allow myself to." Why? "want" actually means "to lack" and to express a goal in terms of a lack apparently just assures that lack. Would you rather have the goal or want the goal, asks Hale Dwoskin who leads this process. Gotta give props on that one.
SO letting go...
Once you have a goal either as general as "i allow myself to have incredible health all the time" or as specific as "i allow myself to press the 24kg this term" the next step in the process is to check out FEELINGS around this goal - maybe it's disbelief; maybe it's fear; maybe it's a desire to fit in. A big (albeit simple) part of the process is just to get those sometimes uncomfortable feelings (lusts, fears, whatevers) sufficiently in view to be able to do something about them so they stop clogging the pipes.
So once those feelings are honestly identified, they can be addressed. And in the sedona method, being addressed doesn't mean figuring out WHY they're there. It means letting go of them, and letting them in and looking at them until they can be let go of, dropped.
That makes it sound so simple: dropping feelings as easily as one drops a KB after kenneth's vo2max workout. Right. Imagine someone saying "i'm really afraid of failing to make this lift by this date" or "i'm really afraid of not getting this contract" and someone says "can you allow yourself to have those feelings? and just for now, can you let go of that feeling as best you can?"
That's it?
Dwoskin's approach is that feelings are just that: feelings. Beliefs likewise are things that we choose to have. And they can get in the way of us being in the world and achieving our potential. Our success. Even *good* feelings, if we try to hang onto them, can be problematic, and reflect a kind of desperation that comes of a "scarcity rather than an abundance mentality."
To get back to the positive visualization thing for a sec: suppose we want to achieve that lift and we see ourselves making that lift, but in the background of our mind are feelings of fear, failure and all sorts of crap that gets in the way of our Right Action (in this case, rest, recovery, sensible practice). Imagine how much better our efforts would be if we got out of our own way.
Part of getting out of our own way in a goal process may also be to find too that the particular goal we had was not *our* goal, but came from somewhere else. That for us there may well be some other health goal we feel better about, but haven't let ourselves go for it, because it's not what we thought we should be doing.
Preliminary Review
Over the past month, i've been going through the Sedona Method 4 part course that promises to help with effortless wealth, health and relationships. This is not an overnight thing: there are 20CDs in the course and that's a lot of listening, pausing to work further on stuff, coming back to parts and so on. So a month is barely time to get through it all when i can only come back to it in the evenings. That's why this is such a preliminary review.
Intriguingly, the place that so far has had the biggest impact from this practice is relationships - at home and especially at work. This has been an unlooked-for bonus (despite being part of the package). When there's crap up at work, there are bound to be LOTS of feelings - lots of wants especially and wishing things were different, wanting people to be different. blah blah blah. How useful is that? where's the right action in that? SO being able to work through some of this (that is, "let go" of a lot of stuff) has been grand.
As for the wealth, well i really like the abundance instead of scarcity mentality. For one thing, that perspective takes the stress level way down - and what good has stressing out about a deadline ever done to get the thing done? And lots of good stuff has been coming in from surprising and unlooked for places.
As for health, well, i'm just getting over the worst cold of my life, but after not being able to move for days, and about 2 weeks away from serious kettlebelling, i came home to press the 20k twice yesterday. That's a record. And heck i wasn't even trying :)
I haven't had the knowledge/time to apply the approach to a specific goal, but i'll come back to this topic as stuff emerges. So far, the benefits in the little time i've spent with the program are really positive.
I'm keen to look at this approach with respect to staying with healthy living, and how it may help my clients who have an on and off the wagon approach to health and fitness.
Flake Alert
I'm really glad that this approach is not just "draw it in and the universe will provide." Maybe it will; maybe it won't, but in my experience there's a ton of combinations of the right place and the right time, and that fate favours the prepared mind, and so on and so on. So what i like about this approach is especially the notion that we have stuff, and that that stuff can be insidious in getting in the way of our achieving our success. Here's a simple simple process that can help surface and chuck that stuff; that helps us operate on the stuff where we have absolute choice about what we do. And that helps us take Right Action - another concept i like. It's not about pushing or forcing or begging. It's about getting with the Right Actions to achieve the goal once the stuff is out of the way. How simple, clear and sensible is that? Why would it need to be harder than that? We love our drama?
Getting Started on the Cheap with Letting Go
If any of what i'm saying is resonating with you, and you'd like to check out this approach, there are a bunch of ways to do it. You can dive right in and get the 4 course package, or you can get a sampler.
There are some free downloads, and examples on the website. There's also the book version (amazon us affiliate link || uk amazon affiliate link)- for me i found listening to the course more effective, but different learning styles
REQUEST: If you got to the end of this post, i'd really appreciate hearing from you about what you think - too - if you're interested in giving this approach a go. That would be a boon to thinking about incorporating this into training with others.
If you do get the CD or the course, let me know what you find. Or if you're already using this approach, please post a comment on how it's going. And all the best with your success.
-------------
Follow up Review: Sedona Method 5 Months on - more detailed review of what's in the package, including overviews of the Sedona Method Course, Effortless Wealth and SUccess, Effortless Relationships, Effortless HEalth and Well Being, , how it's laid out, and experiences/progress with the courses. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
We all set goals; we don't always achieve them. What's with that? It may not be because we don't have a great plan; it may be because we have a whole lot of beliefs and related crap around those goals that keep us from achieving them. Likewise sometimes we feel flat, stuck, and can't imagine getting to a new place of success.Recently, i've been experimenting with an approach called the Sedona Method to check out issues around goals, and i've been surprised both by what i've been finding, and what's been coming back. The following is a very preliminary review/overview.
[UPDATE: overview detailing more specifically what's in the tin and experiences five months on now posted - Aug 09] [UPDATE AUG 2014 - there are NO affiliate links in this post unless indicated - and yup, five years i can't believe it - i'm still finding this approach incredibly valuable]
Overview:
The Sedona Method kinda kicks the can of Positive Thinking and/or Visualization (or something called "The Secret" (!) which is aka "the law of attraction" - if you just think about it and "draw it in" you can have it).
The reason this challenge to "positive thinking" is intriguing from a health/athletic perspective is that sport psychology is infused with visualizing the goal; wanting the goal; tasting the goal. Wanting it badly enough. Perhaps these are folks who also think no pain, no gain?
To be fair, we've heard the great stories of lance armstrong and other cancer patients visualizing their cancer getting smaller; going into remission; going away. So there's likely much to be said for visualizing a goal. But the Sedona method suggests that we "bank in the bank, not in the head" - that we can get so into a visualization that we avoid what it frames as Right Actions. So how do we get to Right Actions?
Here's the surprise: we actually need to let go of the goal first and foremost. And that seems totally at odds with positive thinking's "draw it in."
Let go of the goal? Isn't the whole point of having a goal to achieve a goal?
The intriguing thing here, at least to me, is that letting go of the goal is a process of checking out what comes up around the expression of a goal.
Indeed, the whole way of expressing the goal is critical. For instance, the sedona approach is particular about avoiding framing a goal as "i want" rather than "i allow myself to." Why? "want" actually means "to lack" and to express a goal in terms of a lack apparently just assures that lack. Would you rather have the goal or want the goal, asks Hale Dwoskin who leads this process. Gotta give props on that one.
SO letting go...
Once you have a goal either as general as "i allow myself to have incredible health all the time" or as specific as "i allow myself to press the 24kg this term" the next step in the process is to check out FEELINGS around this goal - maybe it's disbelief; maybe it's fear; maybe it's a desire to fit in. A big (albeit simple) part of the process is just to get those sometimes uncomfortable feelings (lusts, fears, whatevers) sufficiently in view to be able to do something about them so they stop clogging the pipes.
So once those feelings are honestly identified, they can be addressed. And in the sedona method, being addressed doesn't mean figuring out WHY they're there. It means letting go of them, and letting them in and looking at them until they can be let go of, dropped.
That makes it sound so simple: dropping feelings as easily as one drops a KB after kenneth's vo2max workout. Right. Imagine someone saying "i'm really afraid of failing to make this lift by this date" or "i'm really afraid of not getting this contract" and someone says "can you allow yourself to have those feelings? and just for now, can you let go of that feeling as best you can?"
That's it?
Dwoskin's approach is that feelings are just that: feelings. Beliefs likewise are things that we choose to have. And they can get in the way of us being in the world and achieving our potential. Our success. Even *good* feelings, if we try to hang onto them, can be problematic, and reflect a kind of desperation that comes of a "scarcity rather than an abundance mentality."
To get back to the positive visualization thing for a sec: suppose we want to achieve that lift and we see ourselves making that lift, but in the background of our mind are feelings of fear, failure and all sorts of crap that gets in the way of our Right Action (in this case, rest, recovery, sensible practice). Imagine how much better our efforts would be if we got out of our own way.
Part of getting out of our own way in a goal process may also be to find too that the particular goal we had was not *our* goal, but came from somewhere else. That for us there may well be some other health goal we feel better about, but haven't let ourselves go for it, because it's not what we thought we should be doing.
Preliminary Review
Over the past month, i've been going through the Sedona Method 4 part course that promises to help with effortless wealth, health and relationships. This is not an overnight thing: there are 20CDs in the course and that's a lot of listening, pausing to work further on stuff, coming back to parts and so on. So a month is barely time to get through it all when i can only come back to it in the evenings. That's why this is such a preliminary review.
Intriguingly, the place that so far has had the biggest impact from this practice is relationships - at home and especially at work. This has been an unlooked-for bonus (despite being part of the package). When there's crap up at work, there are bound to be LOTS of feelings - lots of wants especially and wishing things were different, wanting people to be different. blah blah blah. How useful is that? where's the right action in that? SO being able to work through some of this (that is, "let go" of a lot of stuff) has been grand.
As for the wealth, well i really like the abundance instead of scarcity mentality. For one thing, that perspective takes the stress level way down - and what good has stressing out about a deadline ever done to get the thing done? And lots of good stuff has been coming in from surprising and unlooked for places.
As for health, well, i'm just getting over the worst cold of my life, but after not being able to move for days, and about 2 weeks away from serious kettlebelling, i came home to press the 20k twice yesterday. That's a record. And heck i wasn't even trying :)
I haven't had the knowledge/time to apply the approach to a specific goal, but i'll come back to this topic as stuff emerges. So far, the benefits in the little time i've spent with the program are really positive.
I'm keen to look at this approach with respect to staying with healthy living, and how it may help my clients who have an on and off the wagon approach to health and fitness.
Flake Alert
I'm really glad that this approach is not just "draw it in and the universe will provide." Maybe it will; maybe it won't, but in my experience there's a ton of combinations of the right place and the right time, and that fate favours the prepared mind, and so on and so on. So what i like about this approach is especially the notion that we have stuff, and that that stuff can be insidious in getting in the way of our achieving our success. Here's a simple simple process that can help surface and chuck that stuff; that helps us operate on the stuff where we have absolute choice about what we do. And that helps us take Right Action - another concept i like. It's not about pushing or forcing or begging. It's about getting with the Right Actions to achieve the goal once the stuff is out of the way. How simple, clear and sensible is that? Why would it need to be harder than that? We love our drama?
Getting Started on the Cheap with Letting Go
If any of what i'm saying is resonating with you, and you'd like to check out this approach, there are a bunch of ways to do it. You can dive right in and get the 4 course package, or you can get a sampler.
There are some free downloads, and examples on the website. There's also the book version (amazon us affiliate link || uk amazon affiliate link)- for me i found listening to the course more effective, but different learning styles
REQUEST: If you got to the end of this post, i'd really appreciate hearing from you about what you think - too - if you're interested in giving this approach a go. That would be a boon to thinking about incorporating this into training with others.
If you do get the CD or the course, let me know what you find. Or if you're already using this approach, please post a comment on how it's going. And all the best with your success.
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Follow up Review: Sedona Method 5 Months on - more detailed review of what's in the package, including overviews of the Sedona Method Course, Effortless Wealth and SUccess, Effortless Relationships, Effortless HEalth and Well Being, , how it's laid out, and experiences/progress with the courses. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Friday, July 18, 2008
Balancing Focus with Diversity with Humility
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There's a great heuristic in nutrition that says to know if we're eating right, get lots of colour on the plate. If it's all monotone shades of white to yellow, then we know there's something - possibly a lot - missing. If it's vibrant in colour and texture, happy days, we're likely hitting all the bases.
In nature, we observe the same thing: we talk about rich ecosystems vs monocultures. Where diversity exists in the system, the ecosystem thrives. Monocultures on the other hand, are far more vulnerable, less able to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity.
In fitness we also apply a kind of diversity towards progress, whether this is swapping around a variety of compound exercises throughout the week, or periodizing the intensity of the day's efforts, variety is important to stave off plateaus or injuries from overuse, etc.
To go back to the nutrition analogy, it seems this same principle of diversity would apply to food for thought: lots of colour on plate means a healthy, nutritious, well balanced diet. That if our intellectual diet is monotonous, singular, lacking diversity, then we are ill nourished. As with monocultures, we are less adaptable; more vulnerable.
And yet while many folks know about nutritional diversity or diversity in their fitness programs, intellecutal diversity seems a foreign concept. I've been struck of late by the number of people who have read either just one book on a topic, or just one author on a subject and speak ex cathedra, as if because of this one book, one author, they now know the field and can proffer opinion. They will defend their corner vigorously, adamantly on the basis of this monoculture of information.
This phenomenon, it seems, is the opposite side of the coin of what sifu mark cheng recently described about RKC's who after the certification, instead of focusing on the basics themselves, and teaching them in strict form, become diversified too quickly, try to bring in too many moves. The consequence that recently manifested itself at an RKCII cert, apparently being that many instructors were not competent to perform the core curriculum.
In this case, we are seeking to master a skill in order to teach it, and so focus and practice practice practice are critical. Rannoch and i have disccused this too: the movement from the repetition of the skill so many times that it's into the bone where its expression becomes art. Will Williams performance of the kettlebell front squat, i've written about, is just so.
In the Tao is the Ten Thousand Things
How resolve on the one hand diversity is critical for health and well being and on the other a singular focus is critical for mastery?
It seems, again to go back to Mark's post, that humility is critical in each case. If we are humble before a topic, we will know that we are pretty ignorant, and need more than one book, one lecture, one web page, to come to grips with area of interest. IF we have read just one thing on a topic, we acknolwedge the source: according to x, this is what's happening, rather than stating "this is what's happening" Why? i teach my students this as basic scholarship: unless you are a recognized expert in a domain, your opinion is just that; an opinion. Why should your readers trust your opinion?
At least if all you have is one source, and you provide your readers that source, they can go check it out for themselves, where they might get more information. what will they get if they come back to you, assuming this is your knowledge, rather than the re-presentation of someone else's? But if all you have is one source, and you engage with someone else who may well have more expertise than you, know more (having read broader and deeper; practiced further and longer), then at least listen, and maybe learn something.
As Mark states in his post:
It's not just that the brown/black belts know more than the blue belt; they have greater mastery of the same things the blue belt knows. The best have worked with many teachers; have studied broadly. Not all at once, but over time.
This still feels like i'm talking about a contradiction:
on the one hand, focus on mastery which means practice on a limited set of things rather than a vast array; on the other hand i'm talking about diversity of knowledge. What keeps coming to my mind is to know when to shut up.
Progress is most often linear.
In school, we learn the basics of math, then of geometry before getting to calculus. The basics are needed before getting to more advanced forms of expression. Once those basics are mastered, conversations can begin with other mathematicians about how problems may be solved. Techniques are shared, new techniques are built upon these; innovations happen. A mathematician interested in one particular problem will read a wide range of papers related to just that one topic. There is the diversity around the singularity, and there is growing expertise.
As another example, in computation, artificial intelligence work is informed by biological systems research, complexity theory and more recently gaming theory from economics. One problem to solve, influenced by multiple perspectives/disciplines.
Likewise, a martial artist who has a devastating punch will likely have studied many techniques from many masters on the punch to distill it into one perfect practice.
In these domains, if we do not have that rich expertise, whether practical or intellectual or both, we would not presume to tell someone else who knew as little or less than ourselves either how to do something or, with confidence, how something works. Our experience is thin; our practice shallow.
What's my point?
I guess that we might do well to own our own limitations better and speak/walk with more humility about our own knowledge/accomplishments. This is perahps why many of us put our credentials on our blogs/sig files, so that people can judge our statements and practice on their merits. Not that these credentials are a guarantee of excellence - hence why most have ongoing renewal/rectification processes. And where certifications do not exist, all the more reason to acknowledge sources and walk with humility, till our work speaks for us.
Clarence Bass is an excellent example of someone who is not a certified expert in health or nutrition: he is an intelligent person who has made his reputation by carefully presenting research in plain language, and checking out findings in one source against those of another; of talking with multiple experts, and from this putting together exceptionally valuable syntheses of this material. It's based on the demonstration of his analyses and syntheses of others' work, and the demonstration of his own practice and insights that has made him a respected expert in the community. He's my hero & inspiration in this regard.
This post all started as a rant about people who seem to have read one book or article and then speak on a topic as if they were experts.
My main point was that knowledge is not so thinnly founded.
Science and Wisdom both demand repetition across diversity before asserting a General Case or Accepted Practice. Do multiple respected sources agree with this position? Where is the disagreement? What are the conditions in which this is true vs where it is not?
My secondary point is that we need to feel unsatisfied with our intellectual fodder if we're interested in a topic and stop at one source - whether that's one book, one author, one site, one monoculture. We need to challenge ourselves to be open to multiple sources on our one topic.
The gift of a good teacher of course is to help chart the progress from the one to the other. The gift of a good student is rich curiosity, with respectful, humble, delightful engagement. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
There's a great heuristic in nutrition that says to know if we're eating right, get lots of colour on the plate. If it's all monotone shades of white to yellow, then we know there's something - possibly a lot - missing. If it's vibrant in colour and texture, happy days, we're likely hitting all the bases.
In nature, we observe the same thing: we talk about rich ecosystems vs monocultures. Where diversity exists in the system, the ecosystem thrives. Monocultures on the other hand, are far more vulnerable, less able to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity.
In fitness we also apply a kind of diversity towards progress, whether this is swapping around a variety of compound exercises throughout the week, or periodizing the intensity of the day's efforts, variety is important to stave off plateaus or injuries from overuse, etc.
To go back to the nutrition analogy, it seems this same principle of diversity would apply to food for thought: lots of colour on plate means a healthy, nutritious, well balanced diet. That if our intellectual diet is monotonous, singular, lacking diversity, then we are ill nourished. As with monocultures, we are less adaptable; more vulnerable.
And yet while many folks know about nutritional diversity or diversity in their fitness programs, intellecutal diversity seems a foreign concept. I've been struck of late by the number of people who have read either just one book on a topic, or just one author on a subject and speak ex cathedra, as if because of this one book, one author, they now know the field and can proffer opinion. They will defend their corner vigorously, adamantly on the basis of this monoculture of information.
This phenomenon, it seems, is the opposite side of the coin of what sifu mark cheng recently described about RKC's who after the certification, instead of focusing on the basics themselves, and teaching them in strict form, become diversified too quickly, try to bring in too many moves. The consequence that recently manifested itself at an RKCII cert, apparently being that many instructors were not competent to perform the core curriculum.
In this case, we are seeking to master a skill in order to teach it, and so focus and practice practice practice are critical. Rannoch and i have disccused this too: the movement from the repetition of the skill so many times that it's into the bone where its expression becomes art. Will Williams performance of the kettlebell front squat, i've written about, is just so.
In the Tao is the Ten Thousand Things
How resolve on the one hand diversity is critical for health and well being and on the other a singular focus is critical for mastery?
It seems, again to go back to Mark's post, that humility is critical in each case. If we are humble before a topic, we will know that we are pretty ignorant, and need more than one book, one lecture, one web page, to come to grips with area of interest. IF we have read just one thing on a topic, we acknolwedge the source: according to x, this is what's happening, rather than stating "this is what's happening" Why? i teach my students this as basic scholarship: unless you are a recognized expert in a domain, your opinion is just that; an opinion. Why should your readers trust your opinion?
At least if all you have is one source, and you provide your readers that source, they can go check it out for themselves, where they might get more information. what will they get if they come back to you, assuming this is your knowledge, rather than the re-presentation of someone else's? But if all you have is one source, and you engage with someone else who may well have more expertise than you, know more (having read broader and deeper; practiced further and longer), then at least listen, and maybe learn something.
As Mark states in his post:
To use a martial arts analogy, it's as if a relatively new blue belt suddenly decides that his bollocks are too big for his belt and he decides to go & pick a fight with a bunch of brown and black belts. The smackdown is comin'.
It's not just that the brown/black belts know more than the blue belt; they have greater mastery of the same things the blue belt knows. The best have worked with many teachers; have studied broadly. Not all at once, but over time.
This still feels like i'm talking about a contradiction:
on the one hand, focus on mastery which means practice on a limited set of things rather than a vast array; on the other hand i'm talking about diversity of knowledge. What keeps coming to my mind is to know when to shut up.
Progress is most often linear.
In school, we learn the basics of math, then of geometry before getting to calculus. The basics are needed before getting to more advanced forms of expression. Once those basics are mastered, conversations can begin with other mathematicians about how problems may be solved. Techniques are shared, new techniques are built upon these; innovations happen. A mathematician interested in one particular problem will read a wide range of papers related to just that one topic. There is the diversity around the singularity, and there is growing expertise.
As another example, in computation, artificial intelligence work is informed by biological systems research, complexity theory and more recently gaming theory from economics. One problem to solve, influenced by multiple perspectives/disciplines.
Likewise, a martial artist who has a devastating punch will likely have studied many techniques from many masters on the punch to distill it into one perfect practice.
In these domains, if we do not have that rich expertise, whether practical or intellectual or both, we would not presume to tell someone else who knew as little or less than ourselves either how to do something or, with confidence, how something works. Our experience is thin; our practice shallow.
What's my point?
I guess that we might do well to own our own limitations better and speak/walk with more humility about our own knowledge/accomplishments. This is perahps why many of us put our credentials on our blogs/sig files, so that people can judge our statements and practice on their merits. Not that these credentials are a guarantee of excellence - hence why most have ongoing renewal/rectification processes. And where certifications do not exist, all the more reason to acknowledge sources and walk with humility, till our work speaks for us.
Clarence Bass is an excellent example of someone who is not a certified expert in health or nutrition: he is an intelligent person who has made his reputation by carefully presenting research in plain language, and checking out findings in one source against those of another; of talking with multiple experts, and from this putting together exceptionally valuable syntheses of this material. It's based on the demonstration of his analyses and syntheses of others' work, and the demonstration of his own practice and insights that has made him a respected expert in the community. He's my hero & inspiration in this regard.
This post all started as a rant about people who seem to have read one book or article and then speak on a topic as if they were experts.
My main point was that knowledge is not so thinnly founded.
Science and Wisdom both demand repetition across diversity before asserting a General Case or Accepted Practice. Do multiple respected sources agree with this position? Where is the disagreement? What are the conditions in which this is true vs where it is not?
My secondary point is that we need to feel unsatisfied with our intellectual fodder if we're interested in a topic and stop at one source - whether that's one book, one author, one site, one monoculture. We need to challenge ourselves to be open to multiple sources on our one topic.
The gift of a good teacher of course is to help chart the progress from the one to the other. The gift of a good student is rich curiosity, with respectful, humble, delightful engagement. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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