Where to look? Lift up your head, and turn to smell the roses. Habit of the week

Let's take our gorgeous upright posture out for a spin. 

About 6 year ago, I did some safety and self-defence training with a policeman, Phillipe.  This is his safety perspective.

When you walk take into account the long distance view, the middle distance and the immediate view -  all three.  You can do all that if you look into the longer distance, and use the peripheral vision for the rest.
He was an observation savant. His focus was incredible. He would,for example tell me to look around. I would notice that there was someone across the road, bravo me,  but then he wonder if I had seen what was in the person's left hand.
Did I not see that?  Me? no sorry. 
Just like when a bird flicks by, Don says "Did you see the golden eye on that bower bird?"  I say "oh, Birdie".

Anyway, keeping your line-of-sight up, not down, keeps you safer.  You notice more. 
So I tried it on my morning walk.  I can report that I definitely remembered my posture  I hadn't realised that when I am deep in thought or listening carefully, my head drops down. Then having lifted my head up, glided my chin in correctly, I noticed a lot more of my morning walk surroundings. In fact,  I felt secure enough to turn my head a few degrees from side to side as I walked.  A positive result. 

Swing your arms - Habit of the Week

Even though it is cold, let's uncross our arms and start revving up by actually using our arms. There are lots of benefits.

I have been experimenting on my morning walk.. I  have been purposefully moving my arms when I go up that dreaded hill, and the hill seemed easier.  Then.at the top of the hill, using more arm movement, once again, a bonus - I recovered better.

But why?

Circulation is improved.  The moving of the arm muscles assists the "venous return" - the flow of blood back to the heart relies on the pump of muscles, not thebeat of the heart.  So moving the arms is a way of ensuring more blood returns to the heart and the brain.

Posture is improved, especially if you allow your arms to swing towards the back, as well as the front. Remember, the wind changes and you stay that way. Better to have your arms gently behind than hanging in front like a gorilla.

This effort of swinging your arms requires very little of our energy. 

Curious?  Well, what is the energy-cost of swinging our arms? 

I had a hunch. So I looked it up.  Very exciting news, indeed.

"Researchers found that normal arm swinging actually doesn't use much energy from the arm muscles. Simply walking causes the body to sway in a way that makes the arms move naturally, like a pendulum."

"So when you walk, your arms begin to swing naturally without much effort from your arm muscles. The natural movement of your arms also helps to offset a part of the force caused by your legs hitting the ground, keeping your torso and hips from wobbling and twisting too much. This results in your legs using less energy"

The article also says that keeping the arms still while you walk costs 12% extra energy.

I found a fun website Wonderopolis.     These quotes are from Wonder of the day #1538.

Here is the link;-  wonderopolis.org 

Fun and games from your 11 year-old-self

Thinking back to what has brought me to where I am today, reminds me of an article that I read and subsequently lost.  Sorry there is no attribution this time. 
The article said that the sort of games you played when you were around 11years old  points to the way to finding the joy in your life right now.

Type of Play

What did you do for fun when you were young?  What was your inclination?

• Did you enjoy building things?
• Were you a maker, a craft person?
• Were you an explorer?
• A nature lover? A hunter
• Were you creative?
• Did you sing and/or dance 
• What about painting?
• If you were into stories, did you read them, or tell them?
• Dress ups - was your imagination grand?.

Is It True? Are you still doing some variation of your childhood fun?

What do you think? I have been thinking back to what we loved to do in our backyard. Tree climbing, cubby houses, the obstacle courses we made ourselves.  Lots of singing. 

Over to you.   

Good Bladder Habits - Really, reprised from a 2013 post

Good Bladder Habits

"Habit of the Week"  this week comes with a warning.  You may want to go to the toilet just reading about it.  Don't forget to post a comment, if you have something to say on the matter

GOOD BLADDER HABITS

 1.       Drink two litres of fluid per day; include water, juices, and milk. 

         Restrict caffeine to 3 cups per day, if no urge symptoms; Try and eliminate caffeine if urgency and frequency are problems.

 

2.    For that two litres go to the toilet 5 – 7 times to pass urine from when you get up to when you go to bed. Daytimes, in other words.

 

3.      Cut out ‘just in case’ visits to the toilet.

 

4.    Go to the toilet when you have a bouncy full  bladder sensation rather than the urethral sensation

 

5.    All you life have good bowel function

6.   Never hover or strain to pass urine.

 

       Makes you think about the habits of a lifetime and all those times mum said to go "Just in case".

From Habit Stacking to Head Stacking to Tall Standing

All week long, I have been trying to stack my "head block" directly over my "body block".
You already know what that means. If we imagine our body is composed of a stack of blocks. Our feet block at the base, our leg blocks are stacked on top of our feet, etc all the way up to our head being right on top of our shoulders.

This week, I have noticed that when I concentrate on something, my head tips forward. So, when I notice that, I try to straighten up, especially on my morning walk.

A good trick 

Meanwhile at the computer, in order to switch on the core muscles of my neck, I imagine that I am carrying a small heavy pillow right on top of my head.  I push upwards against that load.  This action lengthens my neck and switches on the deep muscles that safely stabilize. This means I can effortlessly carry my head around in the correct alignment AND with my neck "long at the back" and chin angled slightly down - it is goodbye to neck and shoulder pain.

Atomic Habits - a book by James Clear

This week instead of working on Habit of the Week, let's  take a look at habits themselves. The formation of a habit relies on establishing a regular pattern of behaviour. For our usual postural  Habit of The Week, I rely on my memory when I wish to perform the habit, hopefully, 100 times a day. - so, little and often is an easy and safe way to make a small improvement.    The idea is that these small  lead to adaptation without the risk of injury. However, my memory is unreliable, so I appreciate James Clear's hacks which take  memory out of the equation. Here are two ideas from James Clear. 1.  Habit Stacking The habit stack means put two actions together... for the first action choose something you do every day, at a regular time is ideal.  Then simply pair that action with some behaviour that you want to do. For example, when you put the kettle on in the morning practice balancing  on one leg.  I sweep the kitchen while the kettle is boiling. 2.  Make good habits easy, make bad habits hard. While habit stacking is about clever timetabling, This topic involves organizing your environment.  Here is an example to illustrate- If I set out my clothes and walking shoes in the evening, it is easy to go for a walk the next morning. I made it easy, a no-brainer. Alternatively, James Clear says he wants to drink less beer, he puts the cans in the back of the fridge instead of the fridge door. I imagine we are all doing some form of these strategies right now.  I would love to hear your ideas.  You can comment or email.  ReplyForward

The Recovery Phase 12 seconds slow

We follow the intense 8 seconds fast with 12 seconds slow.by way of recovery

During the recovery period of high intensity interval training HIIT, an amazing thing happens the  lactic acid, the burning unpleasant feeling in tired muscles, is allowed back into the system.  It can then be available for energy. So during the rest rest periods – the 12 seconds slow -  lactic acid gets mopped up. Everyone has felt this.  Your muscles start burn, so you slow down for a while, then you are able go again as the burn eases. Now we know why.  

         

The Power of High Intensity Interval Training - Words of Wisdom

The power of High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT  8 seconds fast 12 seconds slow

During our class we do 8 seconds fast, 12 seconds slow.  However, in some exercise programs, the high intensity phase can go for up to 30 seconds – which feels like eternity.

Remember a calorie* is a unit of energy, so the calories we take in, as food, is the energy we burn….by the way, when a food is advertised High in Energy...It is high in calories.

The way our body uses energy is complex.  It follows a strict molecular pathway, like a flow chart.  Of course, we are constantly using energy – even sitting still or sleeping. Every blink of the eye, every breath you take.

The Aerobic side of the equation… from our regular living up to a brisk walk.

When we exercise more fuel is required.  In the presence of oxygen, glucose is the fuel – the first fuel at our disposal is glucose.  At first 2 units of energy are quickly made accessible. Then there is a slower event where the pathway make 36 units of energy.

However, when we may take in more calories than we burn, these extra units of energy are stored as glycogen in the muscles and the liver.  The liver can convert this to fat, if it is not needed

The Anaerobic equation - High intensity

During our high-intensity phase -8 seconds fast -the body uses the stored glycogen for energy.

Keep going with HIIT through to the second cycle of high intensity - 8 seconds fast,again and third cycle and fourth etc

As the body runs out of fuel, first glucose is gone then stored glycogen is used up. The pituitary gland comes to the rescue and releases Human Growth Hormone. (yes even though we have stopped growing)

Human Growth Hormone does amazing things

          It activates Hormone sensitive lipase – the body start burning fat.

          Diverts blood to the skin

          Optimizes the use of the protein

          Effects can last 24 hours

          Mitochondria – the power house of the cell.

HIIT improves the number and quality of the cell’s mitochondria.

It is the fountain of Youth

* Yes I know the term "calories" is the old money - It should be kilojoules.  I know