Friday, October 15, 2010
Squish your Eyes - and Relax
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A while ago over at iamgeekfit, i posted ten tips to destress - very much related to hormone responses and ph balance. Well, recently learned there's one more thing we can do to relax that's pretty durn neural: squish our eyes. With little circles.
How do it? As eric cobb puts it, imagine you're picking up a grape (using all your fingers). Take that position to the eye and press/massage for about 30seconds.
Yes, closing eyes and massaging around the eye, pushing gently on the eyeball through the lid, will help calm us down based on something called the "oculocadiac reflex"
In other words, the eyes, via a big nerve group in the head/face (the trigeminal nerve) are connected to this great big vagus nerve; the vagus nerve goes through touching our heart, our lungs and importantly our guts.
Doing a little eye squishing massage will help trigger the calming wonder that is the provinence of the valgus nerve.
If you dig these kind of tips there's way more eyeball wonderfulness covered in the Complete Athlete Vol 1 DVD. Turns out our eyes are important for more than vision.
Doing eye squishing daily - may make more of a difference than just feeling relaxed. If you give it a go for two weeks, daily, please let me know what you notice changes in your well being/performance.
Related
How do it? As eric cobb puts it, imagine you're picking up a grape (using all your fingers). Take that position to the eye and press/massage for about 30seconds.
In other words, the eyes, via a big nerve group in the head/face (the trigeminal nerve) are connected to this great big vagus nerve; the vagus nerve goes through touching our heart, our lungs and importantly our guts.
Doing a little eye squishing massage will help trigger the calming wonder that is the provinence of the valgus nerve.If you dig these kind of tips there's way more eyeball wonderfulness covered in the Complete Athlete Vol 1 DVD. Turns out our eyes are important for more than vision.
Doing eye squishing daily - may make more of a difference than just feeling relaxed. If you give it a go for two weeks, daily, please let me know what you notice changes in your well being/performance.
Related
- practicing on the other side of the weigth room: tuning visual vestibular and proprioceptive systems
- overview: the complete athlete, vol 1
PDF
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Caffeine makes us Crazy - or at least messes with our sleep
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i *love* good coffee. You? Do you know how you react to coffee? Do you find caffeine keeps you awake/alert? Yes? or maybe you find it doesn't affect your getting to sleep? We know that the magic in coffee is caffeine. Guess what? apparently whether or not we can fall asleep with caffeine is less of an issue than what it does to our sleep quality, in particular, our deep sleep state. That is, it screws it up.
So yes, we might be able to get to sleep (or not) with caffeine in our systems (caffeine genetics is cool), but once we are asleep - based on what's happening in our brain - we just mayn't have enough signaling in the presence of caffeine to tell us to get to DEEP sleep. Wild, eh?
So what's caffeine doing to us? There's a great detailed write up of the chemistry of caffeine and the brain (calmly titled "Is caffeine a health hazard?") by Ben Best. If i can summarise that article without wrecking it, here's the simplified version, and it's so cool, it just makes sense.
Energy. All or our systems require ATP to do work. Adenosine Triphosphate. Folks into performance are v. familiar with ATP in terms of energy system work, and how Fat for instance is our biggest but slowest generating source of ATP. ATP produces energy by being broken apart into two parts: adenosine and adenosinediphosphate. The work of energy production is a cycle of putting a and adp together again to from new ATP.
Fatigue. Fatigue is a really interesting process. All we're going to look at here is one tiny tiny bit. When we get fatigued and need rest, the adenosine that gets generated from ATP being broken down, rather than being reassembled into new ATP actually just builds up around the cells and doesn't get used. That's a really good thing. Adenosine on it's one is a brain signaller. As adenosine builds up in this fluid around the cells a bunch of things happen, including effectively signaling the brain to shift down, and when asleep to fasciliate deep, slow wave sleep. As the presence of adenosine goes up, brain wave activity goes down, deep sleep can happen.
Caffeine the Disruptor. An amazing property of caffiene is that it is a Master of Disguise. It connects with adenosine receptors (getting across the blood brain barrier) so that adenosine can't get to those receptors (A1 in particular), and effectively means that the brain doesn't perceive the degree of adenosine build up, and so the signaling to slow the heck down can't happen. All sorts of tests show that with caffeine folks do better in various kinds of tasks, and has been tested with soldiers and athletes rather a lot. But even more recently with soldiers, there's an effort to get away from "stimulants" and think more about scheduling.
Bottom line is that caffeine a way to fake out our system into believing its less tired than it is. There are costs. It's pretty easy to see that while coffee'ing up will give most of us a jolt, we're still actually fatigued, and we are artificially asking our bodies to work beyond what they require for optimal function.
The effects are at least in two ways:
The other thing is that caffeine can actually take awhile to flush from our systems. Yesterday in talking about the value of darkness at night for sleep quality, i mentioned zeo as a tool to see how one's sleep quality changes. We use zeo in our lab for "self-monitoring." We can see that deep sleep quality seems to stay effected for days after even with single doses of caffeine. Bummer.
As zeo sleep researcher Stephan Fabregas has said previously at b2d, using caffeine in extremis for the occaision we need it, it can be great and useful. As a regular practice, maybe not so good. Bummer again. But that turns out to be the same for athletes using caffeine to help perk performance too.
The worst part of caffeine apparently is coming off it. Get through that, and sleep gets better, and we need caffeine less. How about that?
Break the cycle (of dependence); improve sleep quality, improve recovery and quality of life.
If you are a big starbucks mega coffee drinker, and you try going from Really Big to Not Quite So Big to maybe one less a day, let me know if you notice a difference over time of being on less or none of the stuff.
Good luck on your caffeine control mission.
Quick Ref
i *love* good coffee. You? Do you know how you react to coffee? Do you find caffeine keeps you awake/alert? Yes? or maybe you find it doesn't affect your getting to sleep? We know that the magic in coffee is caffeine. Guess what? apparently whether or not we can fall asleep with caffeine is less of an issue than what it does to our sleep quality, in particular, our deep sleep state. That is, it screws it up.So what's caffeine doing to us? There's a great detailed write up of the chemistry of caffeine and the brain (calmly titled "Is caffeine a health hazard?") by Ben Best. If i can summarise that article without wrecking it, here's the simplified version, and it's so cool, it just makes sense.
Energy. All or our systems require ATP to do work. Adenosine Triphosphate. Folks into performance are v. familiar with ATP in terms of energy system work, and how Fat for instance is our biggest but slowest generating source of ATP. ATP produces energy by being broken apart into two parts: adenosine and adenosinediphosphate. The work of energy production is a cycle of putting a and adp together again to from new ATP.
Bottom line is that caffeine a way to fake out our system into believing its less tired than it is. There are costs. It's pretty easy to see that while coffee'ing up will give most of us a jolt, we're still actually fatigued, and we are artificially asking our bodies to work beyond what they require for optimal function.
The effects are at least in two ways:
- compromised deep sleep quality means our recovery is compromised, and if as athletes we're trying to build physical function, deep sleep is where that building takes place, so we've just screwed the efficacy of our build phase;
- because we're actually still fatigued, and not getting sleep, sleep deprivation effects kick in. Stress goes up, fucntion goes down, ability even to process food, have sex, do anything gets screwed up. Irony eh? we take caffeine to perk up and it ends up actually screwing up our sleep recovery.
As zeo sleep researcher Stephan Fabregas has said previously at b2d, using caffeine in extremis for the occaision we need it, it can be great and useful. As a regular practice, maybe not so good. Bummer again. But that turns out to be the same for athletes using caffeine to help perk performance too.
The worst part of caffeine apparently is coming off it. Get through that, and sleep gets better, and we need caffeine less. How about that?
Break the cycle (of dependence); improve sleep quality, improve recovery and quality of life.
If you are a big starbucks mega coffee drinker, and you try going from Really Big to Not Quite So Big to maybe one less a day, let me know if you notice a difference over time of being on less or none of the stuff.
Good luck on your caffeine control mission.
Quick Ref
Gore RK, Webb TS, & Hermes ED (2010). Fatigue and stimulant use in military fighter aircrew during combat operations. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 81 (8), 719-27 PMID: 20681231Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Ferré S (2010). Role of the central ascending neurotransmitter systems in the psychostimulant effects of caffeine. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 20 Suppl 1 PMID: 20182056
Yang, A., Palmer, A., & Wit, H. (2010). Genetics of caffeine consumption and responses to caffeine Psychopharmacology, 211 (3), 245-257 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-010-1900-1
Cover your eyes - better sleep in one night
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Here's a very very simple thing you can do to get a better night's sleep. Really. Seriously: eye covers.
If you do not have a totally dark, pitch black room to sleep in - and i mean any fricking electrical light - then consider giving eye covers a go. You may *think* you have a dark room, but if you can see your hand easily when the lights are off, maybe not.
Why is total darkness important? My understanding from Zeo Sleep Research Stephan Fabregas is it's hormonal: darkness triggers melatonin to come on which helps put us nighty night. Any light starts to tell melotonin to turn off the hormonal pipe to la la land and that means we start to wake up.
In my personal experience with the eye covers - especially in the summer when i have not wanted to get up with the sun - i have found that using these covers means that i sleep longer, better, deeper with less wakeful states. How do i know this? besides how i feel, i do use a Zeo to track my sleep (discussed here and here with Stephan), so i know. Yes i'm the type of person that if someone asks "how did you sleep" - i check the zeo.
ANYWAY cheap experiment: try a few nights without; a few nights (give yourself a chance to get used to the eye patches), and see if you feel more rested avec le mask. Let me know how it goes. Expecially travelling, this thing is a life saver.
Here's to your better night's sleep, fast. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Why is total darkness important? My understanding from Zeo Sleep Research Stephan Fabregas is it's hormonal: darkness triggers melatonin to come on which helps put us nighty night. Any light starts to tell melotonin to turn off the hormonal pipe to la la land and that means we start to wake up.
ANYWAY cheap experiment: try a few nights without; a few nights (give yourself a chance to get used to the eye patches), and see if you feel more rested avec le mask. Let me know how it goes. Expecially travelling, this thing is a life saver.
Here's to your better night's sleep, fast. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Vibram FiveFingers Smartwool Classic for Warmer Winter Toes (preview)
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My feet turn blue even on summer evenings. Doesn't bother me. Much. I like going barefoot, and socks just mean slipping on wood and tile floors in the house. But it would be nice to be less blue of foot. I think vibram may have developed a solution: make their classic slipper like version with smartwool upper and felt liner. Voila, the smartwool classic. So here's a wee preview of this new vff, with a few notes on fit.
Wool: it's lovely Now i dig smartwool as a company. It uses marino wool for everything from toques to socks. I love my smartwool toque that i got in Santa Fe nearing on 10 years ago. Durable without looking aged (ie, ratty) and very cozy. The shoes have the same sort of feel. In fact the feel very soothing just stepping into them. Performance, but with an emphasis on the kind of comfort only wool brings.
Recycled Sole Another thing about the shoe that's interesting is that the sole is 50% recycled rubber. That's nice.
Pull Tab. And i dunno why but i can actually use the pull tab elastic on this version of the classic and not feel it biting into my ankle. Many folks actually cut the cord as it were when using classics because of this. For some reason, - maybe the back rubber behind the pull is a bit thicker - it's a functional device on these ones.
Testing Fit. I'm happy to trial these out - i had hoped for a similar result with the performa, but that shoe and i just haven't been a strong and happy mix. Not that that driver's glove for one's feet that the performa/moc is, is not a lovely shoe; the fit just didn't come together perfectly for me. But my cousin now loves me even more for having passed them on to her. So i'm hoping the smartwools that i have on right now will work - the toasty feeling in this cool room is just what i've been seeking.
The Longer Toe Issue: Where's the hesitancy in my voice? Fit. The smartwool is the same sizing as the the classics. That said it's not the exact same fit. Speaking with the kind folks at City Sports in Boston about the differences, Alison said "It's the big toe, isn't it?" yes, i said, exactly. The big toe (sorta like the performas were). You may find that where you usually have some extra room on a regular classic, ya just don't in the smartwool - especially if you are sizing from a longer than big toe toe. If you order these online, be sure to check your vendor's return policy as you might want to get your usual classic and one up to make sure. These are wool uppers: they're going to stretch, that's true. But they'll stretch wide, not long.
Now when i one upped the size with the performa for the toes to fit better, the rest of the foot was just too loose. Hence the gift to cousin. For those of us with longer than big toe toes - this shoe (like the performa) *may not work* But that may depend as well on just how much longer the toe is: the one on my left is not as much longer than the one on the right, and the left feels perfect, beautiful, lovely. But the right foot is likely bigger than the left, too along with the longer toe, and it is both the big toe and the longer toe where - all i can say is i'm "aware" of those toes. Will this sensation go away? i don't know.
With no other VFF to date have i had any issues with toe sizing. The bikilas (my huge concrete running, good looking fave) are just awesome. KSO's same thing. Sprints, yes. Standard classics fine, flow, fine. What's with the revised classics (performan/smartwools) that the toes feel a little - well - something.
It was a show stopper on the performa; don't know if it will be here.
And here's the other weirdness: i have put the soles of these smartwools right up against the standard classics and matched them groove against groove. THey are - as far as i can tell - exactly the same length on everything. So how weird is that?? I just know when i put on the regular classics i have no toe awarenes on the right - indeed i can squish the big toe cap a bit - there's room at the top of the toe; put on the smartwools - no squish and toe awareness. Will it go away?? Or will these shoes just go back?
And here's the funny thing: wearing socks feels pretty good too! Dunno what's going on. These are wild and crazy shoes.
UPDATE - le recherche: well, after wearing them back and forth indoors for hours, testing with and without socks, alas that right foot shoe feels like it's just not making happy with both the big toe and the long toe, so i've had to return them. Sigh. Just like the performa. I'll try to find out why these fit differerntly than the other classics.
Recommendation: for folks with no toe issues looking for a cozier shoe for kicking back at home - or just something kinda funkier for dress wear - these are a goodie.
Also tried on a TrekSport today. Maybe it was the black, but i just didn't go for it. Here's why: it has a KSO'ish upper (tho different material - still mesh) and the trek's sole. That may be perfect for hiking about in the summer - the mesh is really really nice on these - but coming into the fall, i'm not sure they'd be a much used shoe.
Here's the thing. The bikila's (discussed here) have become my fave running-on-concrete/frisbee playing/looking fine shoe. I really LOVE these shoes (tho they sure pick up a stink more than any of the other VFFs. Wow).
Compared with the KSO, the kso have a 2mm insole and a 3.5 mm outsole. The Bikilas have just a wee bit more sculted love with a 3mm insole and 4mm "anatomical pod" outsole. That's just about as thick as i want to go for what i do in the city and on the grass. The advantage of the slight treading on the grass is that unlike the standard vff soles, these do not slip about. Nice effect for stop and start movement.
Now the TrekSport has a 4mm eva midsole and a 4mm outsole with the nobly tread. I feel like i noticed that extra thickness. And again, for what i do, not needed. If i were living close to a trail and running in the woods in warm/hot weather, these would likely ROCK.
In the interim, i am still keen to try a woman's KSO Trek for fall/winter - just for foot warmth - to extend outdoor season. And the lovely thin SportTrek Uppers just won't do that.
Aren't all these new models wild?
Anyway there's new good stuff (and familiar stuff) at Vibram FiveFingers. Hope you'll check it out.
FIT in general
And if you're keen to learn how to fit these things, and what they fit like with sock, here's an overview, and here's a way to test any shoes for foot health. PLUS a whole lot more articules on the VFF experience over - gosh - approaching two years of living in VFF's.
If you try the smartwools, please stop by to share your experience. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
 |
| UPPER - SmartWool Cozy with 67% Merino Wool, 33% Nylon SOLE- EcoStep 2 rubber with 50% recycled content FOOTBED- SmartWool Felt 2mm with 95% Merino Wool, 5%Polyester |
Wool: it's lovely Now i dig smartwool as a company. It uses marino wool for everything from toques to socks. I love my smartwool toque that i got in Santa Fe nearing on 10 years ago. Durable without looking aged (ie, ratty) and very cozy. The shoes have the same sort of feel. In fact the feel very soothing just stepping into them. Performance, but with an emphasis on the kind of comfort only wool brings.
Recycled Sole Another thing about the shoe that's interesting is that the sole is 50% recycled rubber. That's nice.
Pull Tab. And i dunno why but i can actually use the pull tab elastic on this version of the classic and not feel it biting into my ankle. Many folks actually cut the cord as it were when using classics because of this. For some reason, - maybe the back rubber behind the pull is a bit thicker - it's a functional device on these ones.
Testing Fit. I'm happy to trial these out - i had hoped for a similar result with the performa, but that shoe and i just haven't been a strong and happy mix. Not that that driver's glove for one's feet that the performa/moc is, is not a lovely shoe; the fit just didn't come together perfectly for me. But my cousin now loves me even more for having passed them on to her. So i'm hoping the smartwools that i have on right now will work - the toasty feeling in this cool room is just what i've been seeking.
The Longer Toe Issue: Where's the hesitancy in my voice? Fit. The smartwool is the same sizing as the the classics. That said it's not the exact same fit. Speaking with the kind folks at City Sports in Boston about the differences, Alison said "It's the big toe, isn't it?" yes, i said, exactly. The big toe (sorta like the performas were). You may find that where you usually have some extra room on a regular classic, ya just don't in the smartwool - especially if you are sizing from a longer than big toe toe. If you order these online, be sure to check your vendor's return policy as you might want to get your usual classic and one up to make sure. These are wool uppers: they're going to stretch, that's true. But they'll stretch wide, not long.
Now when i one upped the size with the performa for the toes to fit better, the rest of the foot was just too loose. Hence the gift to cousin. For those of us with longer than big toe toes - this shoe (like the performa) *may not work* But that may depend as well on just how much longer the toe is: the one on my left is not as much longer than the one on the right, and the left feels perfect, beautiful, lovely. But the right foot is likely bigger than the left, too along with the longer toe, and it is both the big toe and the longer toe where - all i can say is i'm "aware" of those toes. Will this sensation go away? i don't know.
With no other VFF to date have i had any issues with toe sizing. The bikilas (my huge concrete running, good looking fave) are just awesome. KSO's same thing. Sprints, yes. Standard classics fine, flow, fine. What's with the revised classics (performan/smartwools) that the toes feel a little - well - something.
It was a show stopper on the performa; don't know if it will be here.
And here's the other weirdness: i have put the soles of these smartwools right up against the standard classics and matched them groove against groove. THey are - as far as i can tell - exactly the same length on everything. So how weird is that?? I just know when i put on the regular classics i have no toe awarenes on the right - indeed i can squish the big toe cap a bit - there's room at the top of the toe; put on the smartwools - no squish and toe awareness. Will it go away?? Or will these shoes just go back?
And here's the funny thing: wearing socks feels pretty good too! Dunno what's going on. These are wild and crazy shoes.
UPDATE - le recherche: well, after wearing them back and forth indoors for hours, testing with and without socks, alas that right foot shoe feels like it's just not making happy with both the big toe and the long toe, so i've had to return them. Sigh. Just like the performa. I'll try to find out why these fit differerntly than the other classics.
Recommendation: for folks with no toe issues looking for a cozier shoe for kicking back at home - or just something kinda funkier for dress wear - these are a goodie.
PS - the Sport Trek - quick overivew
Here's the thing. The bikila's (discussed here) have become my fave running-on-concrete/frisbee playing/looking fine shoe. I really LOVE these shoes (tho they sure pick up a stink more than any of the other VFFs. Wow).
Compared with the KSO, the kso have a 2mm insole and a 3.5 mm outsole. The Bikilas have just a wee bit more sculted love with a 3mm insole and 4mm "anatomical pod" outsole. That's just about as thick as i want to go for what i do in the city and on the grass. The advantage of the slight treading on the grass is that unlike the standard vff soles, these do not slip about. Nice effect for stop and start movement.
Now the TrekSport has a 4mm eva midsole and a 4mm outsole with the nobly tread. I feel like i noticed that extra thickness. And again, for what i do, not needed. If i were living close to a trail and running in the woods in warm/hot weather, these would likely ROCK.
In the interim, i am still keen to try a woman's KSO Trek for fall/winter - just for foot warmth - to extend outdoor season. And the lovely thin SportTrek Uppers just won't do that.
Aren't all these new models wild?
Anyway there's new good stuff (and familiar stuff) at Vibram FiveFingers. Hope you'll check it out.
FIT in general
And if you're keen to learn how to fit these things, and what they fit like with sock, here's an overview, and here's a way to test any shoes for foot health. PLUS a whole lot more articules on the VFF experience over - gosh - approaching two years of living in VFF's.
If you try the smartwools, please stop by to share your experience. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The fine art of the Nudge - optimizing exercise to support body comp change - the more of less
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Have you heard this one or perhaps felt this way "I work out and then i feel so sore the next day, i just don't feel like doing it again." I've heard this response frequently this past week when putting together some research strategies with tech experts on the subject of wellbeing.
It's interesting to explore why most of us who don't currently work out or do so infrequently feel we have to work until we need a bucket for the experience to have value. The weird thing is that when asked, we don't necessarily have a reply. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Turn on the TV and see ads for 6 or 12 week programs where the goal is by the end of the workout to collapse in a puddle, one might think that that was indeed the case (i've written before about some issues with these approaches).
All we need is (a) Nudge Dan John talks about just needing to "nudge" our workouts to get exceptional returns in strength . I'd suggest that we see value in applying that approach across the board for well being. Why? It turns out that the way we're wired, nudging our progress may be more effective and beneficial for the long haul that anything else - body comp changes included. So let's look a little bit at this exercise myth of working out "hard" vs working out "well"
UnFit Myth #1 for Body Comp Change: Non Stop Intensity
1) Have to work out "really hard" - to the point of collapse from fatigue to get results (but i hate how i feel the next day).
Let's assume results mean burning fat, dropping fat mass. What does all this frenetic activity mean? If we're just getting into working out, fatigue comes from a lot of places. First of all, our bodies haven't adapted to the demands of working out. We get "gassed" or "winded" No kidding. We just don't have the capacity in our bodies - yet - to work out either long or hard. We run out of available energy. Literally.
A Nudge is All that's Required
SO what's the point of exercise? It's to engage and extend a process of change; it's all the words ending in "-er." Like go fast-er, lift strong-er, run long-er, jump high-er. Exercise is literally *changing* us as our bodies adapt to the new loads. Let's consider a few of the changes that occur
Breathing For instance, when we're out for a light run and our hearts are at about 60% of whatever their 100% capacity to beat in a minute is, but we still feel initially like that's pretty taxing - we can only do it for a few minutes at a time - here's part of what our bodies are doing: they're creating MORE of a particular part of our cell - the mitochondria - that chews fat and turns it into energy. More mitochondria means that we can take more fat in and convert it into energy so we can keep going. That's great.
Muscle Likewise when we lift weights - also really great for body comp - if the load is even a bit of a challenge for us - we do even a few reps, regularly, our very muscles change. The theory (sliding filament) goes that they have components that almost like a tug of war that grab onto each other and pull to contract or the muscle. This growth is part of why, over time, we get stronger; the once heavy weight feels lighter.
Learning/Nervous system One more really critical change is in our wiring. When we do anything physically, we are learning how to do it; our muscles are likewise learning how to perform a particular technique. When we feel ourselves shaking when we hold a new posture that's usually our nervous system rapidly trying to figure out in this new move what muscles need to fire when to support this movement. Repetitions are really important for that.
Enter the Nudge
Some of us think we exercise to lose weight. Fair enough. That's almost another myth though. Exercise isn't really about weight loss. It's actually a secondary component to diet - how much that component contributes to fat burning really depends on how much we do, and somewhat on what kind of work we do when we're doing it.
The primary effect of exercise is to help us become more robust, and, as i've pointed to before, become smarter (another "-er) as well. Seriously. This bullet proofing occurs by pushing our system to adapt, to make those changes described above, to support what we're doing while being less taxing.
That's an important point for us to get: we need to do something in such a way that our bodies need to change to support that demand physiologically and neurologically.
Just Enough.
So our bodies can only change so much physiologically at once. Figuring out that amount is part of an ongoing debate, but one of the toughest things for many people to get is that usually what we actually need to do to promote an adaptation is a lot less than we think. A. Lot. Less.
But what does less mean? Less can happen over
Some workouts focus on taking a long time to lift heavy loads (intensity) 2 or 3 times (volume), taking a long time (5 minutes or more) between doing maybe five sets (volume) .
Each of these approaches does different things to the body and each has particular costs. From the long, intense, multi-set workout, people feel fatigued and also often sore. Intriguingly the heavy workouts with few reps, few sets and long rest breaks can have very similar effects without inducing fatigue.
What's going on? Muscle Fibers and Oxidative capacity
Without going into a lot of detai, there's two things at least at play in getting body comp change without killing oneself
- aerobic adaptation - more mitochondria
- muscle fiber type - hitting the sweet spot for muscle response
Aerobic Adaptation By doing ANYTHING that will elevate our hearts above 60% of max - the classic working hard but can still carry on a conversation - we are causing a performance related adapatation to take place in our bodies - we are causing more mitochondria to get built so that more fat can be utilized to produce more energy to keep us going longer and harder without putting us in the ground.
Muscular Adaptation The main thing about adaptation is that we need to keep nudging our current state. That may mean one day if out for a run, going a few seconds longer or a wee bit harder for a little bit, a few times throughout the run. That means in lifting we might use waves of loads so that in a week we have a lighter, medium and heavy day with what we're doing - doing the same lifts each day. As long as there's a *bit* of a challenge, and adaptation occurs. There are many ways to do this kind of waving of loads, but the main thing is that by waving the loads we challenge our muscle fibers to have to respond to get stronger so that we can do more - and doing more also requires more energy, which means more fuel gets burned.
Recovery - the Sweet Spot of Adaptation. If we are fatigued and can't rest, our efforts can go for not because our recovery sucks. So, one way to ensure great adapatation is to go just to the place of getting that adaptation demand - the nudge on our current level - and getting good rest since it's in the recovery that the adaptation occurs - while our bodies figure out what they need to do to support loads like we've given them
Food - optimizing fuel intake
Another aspect of suppoprting exercise is fuel. Just because we have fat to burn for fuel, doesn't mean that we don't need to eat. There's stuff we need every day in our bodies to be efficient. In fact it's sometimes harder to burn fuel without the presence of food. But again what we need is usually less than we think - but less of the right stuff. Precision Nutrition makes figuring out what when very easy with its habits based approaches. Here's a free overview.
Take Away: Less of the Right Work = More of the Right results
So the point of exercise is to create an adaptation in the body: to help it become progressively more robust, and a better burner of fuel (fat in particular) to become that lean mean machine.
The main thing is - and this is what's really hard to get - is that adaptation can be, to use Dan John's phrasing "nudged" - in fact it's better for us to nudge the adaptation than to try to crush ourselves. Why? our nervous system can get really stressed if every workout is super intense. Ironically, working out like that can make us sick.
This doesn't mean we can't work out hard. It means we don't have to workout THAT hard ALL the time. That means deliberately backing off in order to gain more strength, gain more adapatation.
We'll come back another time to examples of such approaches, but the point is that gains will happen consistently effectively and too easily for anyone to believe in terms of strength and aerobic capacity.
DIET: Combine this nudging approach with good nutrition practices, like Precision Nutrition, and you're away.
TIME
One thing that seems to have the best effect is daily practice: find a way to do something every day.
The people who are most happy with their body comp it seems, seem to be doing something that is causing an adaptation for at least 5 hours a week. This 5 hour approache includes anything that is getting the heart rate up for five hours a week.
We can Play frisbee or five a side football (rated most effective for ex-coach potatoes) with our pals for a couple hours a week; lift some weights (go ligher than you think - half the load you can lift once); push some weights; pull some weights; swing some weights pretty much every day when it's something that's not going to kill us. THere are loads of great programs available. Sources i trust and have written about here are by Pavel Tsatsouline and Dan John because on the weights side, they are masters of the Nudge. Indeed take a look at the record setting results Dan got with Pavel's 40 day way less is way more approach. Look as well at how Asha Wagner got tremendous strength PR's practicing with half the loads she would use in competition.
On the cardio/endurance side, i like a mix of steady state, play, and intervals. There's nice research on how to optimize fat burning outside intervals and within intervals.But again, these can all be achieved in a huge variety of ways that enhance well being, sense of joy and more robust us-ness.
Summing Up
Adaptation. That's what exercise is about. So we really do need to be kind to ourselves. We adapt readily; it's how we're wired. We adapt to change best and for the long haul it seems by Nudging. So do something that gets the heart up more of the time; super intensity being valuable, but less of the time. This way we can always urge the nudge on. Last month the nudge meant i lifted X; this month it's X+y. THat y might be more sets; more load; more time.
Killing ourselves to feel better? Not on. In fact, it's counter productive. Sure we can do it for three months but the cost on day 91 isn't often pretty. And then what on day 92?
Good Exercise Practice is about sustained adaptation towards a better, stronger, leaner us. That better is better when it's a Nudge: progressive, allows for excellent recovery and is accompanied by good nutrition habits. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
It's interesting to explore why most of us who don't currently work out or do so infrequently feel we have to work until we need a bucket for the experience to have value. The weird thing is that when asked, we don't necessarily have a reply. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Turn on the TV and see ads for 6 or 12 week programs where the goal is by the end of the workout to collapse in a puddle, one might think that that was indeed the case (i've written before about some issues with these approaches).
All we need is (a) Nudge Dan John talks about just needing to "nudge" our workouts to get exceptional returns in strength . I'd suggest that we see value in applying that approach across the board for well being. Why? It turns out that the way we're wired, nudging our progress may be more effective and beneficial for the long haul that anything else - body comp changes included. So let's look a little bit at this exercise myth of working out "hard" vs working out "well"
UnFit Myth #1 for Body Comp Change: Non Stop Intensity
Let's assume results mean burning fat, dropping fat mass. What does all this frenetic activity mean? If we're just getting into working out, fatigue comes from a lot of places. First of all, our bodies haven't adapted to the demands of working out. We get "gassed" or "winded" No kidding. We just don't have the capacity in our bodies - yet - to work out either long or hard. We run out of available energy. Literally.
SO what's the point of exercise? It's to engage and extend a process of change; it's all the words ending in "-er." Like go fast-er, lift strong-er, run long-er, jump high-er. Exercise is literally *changing* us as our bodies adapt to the new loads. Let's consider a few of the changes that occur
Breathing For instance, when we're out for a light run and our hearts are at about 60% of whatever their 100% capacity to beat in a minute is, but we still feel initially like that's pretty taxing - we can only do it for a few minutes at a time - here's part of what our bodies are doing: they're creating MORE of a particular part of our cell - the mitochondria - that chews fat and turns it into energy. More mitochondria means that we can take more fat in and convert it into energy so we can keep going. That's great.
Muscle Likewise when we lift weights - also really great for body comp - if the load is even a bit of a challenge for us - we do even a few reps, regularly, our very muscles change. The theory (sliding filament) goes that they have components that almost like a tug of war that grab onto each other and pull to contract or the muscle. This growth is part of why, over time, we get stronger; the once heavy weight feels lighter.
Learning/Nervous system One more really critical change is in our wiring. When we do anything physically, we are learning how to do it; our muscles are likewise learning how to perform a particular technique. When we feel ourselves shaking when we hold a new posture that's usually our nervous system rapidly trying to figure out in this new move what muscles need to fire when to support this movement. Repetitions are really important for that.
Enter the Nudge
What Do We Need For Adaptation?
The primary effect of exercise is to help us become more robust, and, as i've pointed to before, become smarter (another "-er) as well. Seriously. This bullet proofing occurs by pushing our system to adapt, to make those changes described above, to support what we're doing while being less taxing.
That's an important point for us to get: we need to do something in such a way that our bodies need to change to support that demand physiologically and neurologically.
Just Enough.
So our bodies can only change so much physiologically at once. Figuring out that amount is part of an ongoing debate, but one of the toughest things for many people to get is that usually what we actually need to do to promote an adaptation is a lot less than we think. A. Lot. Less.
But what does less mean? Less can happen over
- time: how long an action is carried out - like the length of a workout
- volume how much work is done within that time - volume of something
- intensity how much effort the work takes, or how heavy a load is relative to how much one can lift once
Some workouts focus on taking a long time to lift heavy loads (intensity) 2 or 3 times (volume), taking a long time (5 minutes or more) between doing maybe five sets (volume) .
Each of these approaches does different things to the body and each has particular costs. From the long, intense, multi-set workout, people feel fatigued and also often sore. Intriguingly the heavy workouts with few reps, few sets and long rest breaks can have very similar effects without inducing fatigue.
What's going on? Muscle Fibers and Oxidative capacity
Without going into a lot of detai, there's two things at least at play in getting body comp change without killing oneself
- aerobic adaptation - more mitochondria
- muscle fiber type - hitting the sweet spot for muscle response
Aerobic Adaptation By doing ANYTHING that will elevate our hearts above 60% of max - the classic working hard but can still carry on a conversation - we are causing a performance related adapatation to take place in our bodies - we are causing more mitochondria to get built so that more fat can be utilized to produce more energy to keep us going longer and harder without putting us in the ground.
Another aspect of suppoprting exercise is fuel. Just because we have fat to burn for fuel, doesn't mean that we don't need to eat. There's stuff we need every day in our bodies to be efficient. In fact it's sometimes harder to burn fuel without the presence of food. But again what we need is usually less than we think - but less of the right stuff. Precision Nutrition makes figuring out what when very easy with its habits based approaches. Here's a free overview.
Take Away: Less of the Right Work = More of the Right results
So the point of exercise is to create an adaptation in the body: to help it become progressively more robust, and a better burner of fuel (fat in particular) to become that lean mean machine.
The main thing is - and this is what's really hard to get - is that adaptation can be, to use Dan John's phrasing "nudged" - in fact it's better for us to nudge the adaptation than to try to crush ourselves. Why? our nervous system can get really stressed if every workout is super intense. Ironically, working out like that can make us sick.
This doesn't mean we can't work out hard. It means we don't have to workout THAT hard ALL the time. That means deliberately backing off in order to gain more strength, gain more adapatation.
We'll come back another time to examples of such approaches, but the point is that gains will happen consistently effectively and too easily for anyone to believe in terms of strength and aerobic capacity.
DIET: Combine this nudging approach with good nutrition practices, like Precision Nutrition, and you're away.
TIME
One thing that seems to have the best effect is daily practice: find a way to do something every day.
The people who are most happy with their body comp it seems, seem to be doing something that is causing an adaptation for at least 5 hours a week. This 5 hour approache includes anything that is getting the heart rate up for five hours a week.
On the cardio/endurance side, i like a mix of steady state, play, and intervals. There's nice research on how to optimize fat burning outside intervals and within intervals.But again, these can all be achieved in a huge variety of ways that enhance well being, sense of joy and more robust us-ness.
Summing Up
Adaptation. That's what exercise is about. So we really do need to be kind to ourselves. We adapt readily; it's how we're wired. We adapt to change best and for the long haul it seems by Nudging. So do something that gets the heart up more of the time; super intensity being valuable, but less of the time. This way we can always urge the nudge on. Last month the nudge meant i lifted X; this month it's X+y. THat y might be more sets; more load; more time.
Killing ourselves to feel better? Not on. In fact, it's counter productive. Sure we can do it for three months but the cost on day 91 isn't often pretty. And then what on day 92?
Good Exercise Practice is about sustained adaptation towards a better, stronger, leaner us. That better is better when it's a Nudge: progressive, allows for excellent recovery and is accompanied by good nutrition habits. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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