I first encountered the paradox of relaxation in years of martial arts training:
The more relaxed you are, the faster you will be
If I come to a kung-fu class tensed, I would inevitably get my ass kicked @#$$!
However, if I am relaxed, I am able to have a higher reaction time, discern attacks and be able counter-attack with speed.
This is counter-intuitive. Instinctively, our muscles and body tense when face to danger. Why should we learn to be relaxed instead?
The term stress was borrowed from physics by the first stress researcher Hans Selye. In physics, stress describes the force that produces strain on a physical body (i.e.: bending a piece of metal until it snaps occurs because of the force, or stress, exerted on it).
Hans Selye noticed that all his patients, regardless of disease, all looked under duress. He decided to name “stress”.
In a previous post, resting heart rate was shown to reflect physical and mental condition. A low resting heart rate correlates with good health compared to a high resting heart rate.
It becomes complex when you consider age. Older people have lower resting heart rate. And individuals with the same age, nutrition and overall fitness level can have vastly different heart rates. For instance, my maximum heart rate when running is around 172bpm while a friend has 200bpm, with the same heart rate sensor. It does not mean however that I am more or less fit than others.
Continue reading “Managing Your Physical Condition with Heart Rate Variability”
One of my training goal is to be able to run 5 km in less than 20 minutes before the end of 2016.
I like a lot the idea of this goal. During the day, I would already imagine my legs powering me forward, the wind flowing, and the constant battle against the watch. I was already eager on sharing my success everywhere.
Recently, it started snowing. Sidewalks become a sliding game, shoes become soggy and fingers are frozen. And what was once beautiful green trails become cold, dark and snow paths like above. Result: I loose half of my speed!
The picture above shows iron rust. Oxygen reacts with steel, in a process called oxidation. It gives a grey and red color, and soon, steel disintegrate. The process can be accelerated with air or water moisture.
Oxidation can also been seen in food, turning rancid cooking oils or transforming nice apples into sad brown food. This process of oxidation creates free radicals.
Burnout manifests itself with underperformance, mood disturbance, reduced motivation, stomach problems, as well as fatigue, anxiety and depression.
It is seen in serious athletes training with high volumes and intensity with little recovery aka overtraining. It’s also experienced by various workers going through chronic life stresses and monotony: stressful job, divorce, kids, bills, nerve-wracking projects, little sense of self-worth etc.
What seemed like an easy task previously requires enormous efforts. Often, there’s psychological breakdown.
Recognizing burnout lets you stay away from injuries or pass the tipping point. This can mean extended years enjoying your work, exercise and family. A well-balanced person wants to recognize early symptoms, which lead to the question:
In my personal opinion, cancer is the worst type of disease.
I remember a friend who was diagnosed cancer. She was your typical urban geek : front-end programmer at a popular tech startup, lover of yoga, non-smoker, vegan and commuting by bike to work.
She is the kind of hip person you see around the latest bio-vegan-gluten-free coffee shop. You think they’d keep forever their slim waists and healthy composure.
Yet the worst came.
In the past year, I have dramatically decreased my social media and smartphone usage.
When I used to check the facebook frontpage multiple times per hour, I haven’t see it in four months. I used to post “interesting articles” on Twitter at least three times per day. As you can see, the only posts are automated links to this site. I used to like dozens of Instagram pics every day, going from hashtag to hashtag, in the hope of boosting my profile.
This is the same for WhatsApp, WeChat, emails and phone calls. Text me, and I would send a witty reply in seconds.
Having moved frequently in the past ten years, I never had any plants at home. I always feared the weight as well as potential damage during moving out. And to be honest, my disposable income was spent in electronics, beer, restaurants, video games and fatty foods like any average North American 🙂
I now have plants at home. My outlook has changed. Less fatty foods, more exercise, more home cooking, and now plants. And I feel better now!
One of the plants is a Japanese Peace Lily. What benefits does this indoor plant bring?
Did you ever had challenging situations where you felt being personally attacked but couldn’t respond back?
Or maybe that everyone was conspiring against you?
I’ve had several. Sometimes you can defuse or go past the attack. In others times, I could not do anything because the attack came from a boss or a client. The situation becomes a crisis for me when there are other people around. There’s feeling of shame, anger, and then thoughts of violence or revenge come to mind.
Daily Health Points 