Develop the Will to Survive
Physical fitness is something almost everyone takes for granted when they are young and the loss of it is also taken for granted as we age. It is something that happens very slowly and imperceptibly as time passes - and then all of a sudden we look at ourselves and we are old, fat and decrepit. Sometimes I will look at an older person shuffling along and wonder if they had done things differently would they be more sprightly. It’s impossible to know yet the loss of capability in most cases must have occurred gradually. It’s the same with very fat people, they gradually become larger and larger.
Of course disease often plays a large role in the degradation of human performance. As one ages it becomes harder and harder to stay fit. Young people often never need to worry about their health. They feel immortal and they can practically eat anything. Yet the Active Survivalist will not have this advantage and staying trim and fit will become a challenge for the rest of their lives. Disease may well come rearing its ugly head so it’s important to stay in peak physical fitness for as long as possible. It makes sense to me that you need to keep your body strong and flexible and that the only way to do that is to regularly exercise. Not only exercise but to push yourself just that little bit harder. It’s not going to be easy because your body is not what it was and training for the rest of your life is, hopefully, going to be a very long time.
So equally as important as physical fitness is a strong will to survive. This should be a no brainer because if you are approaching fifty or beyond you are running out of time. This is the last chance to get your body back into shape and ready for the rigors that lay ahead. You want to give yourself the best possible chance at it so embrace diet and exercise with one hundred percent commitment.
Yet how to maintain that will to survive in the best possible shape? Forming an exercise habit through sheer dogged consistency would be a good start. Buy good gear to train in. Record your exercise progress and achievements. Overcome your natural laziness. Sometimes when you head out for your morning run you wont feel like doing it. Never take any notice of your first feelings in the morning. Sometimes I feel weak as I head out while everyone else is still asleep and I wonder if I should have a rest day, yet often this feeling passes and I feel terrific and finish my morning routines feeling better than ever. There have been times when the feeling of weakness hasn’t passed and I will listen to it then, but only after ignoring it for a while. A lot of people give up at the first sign of trouble and this is a mistake.
If you find yourself feeling absolutely and stunningly terrific and super strong this is a cause for concern. Usually it means that night you will come down with a cold or worse. Apparently this is a known medical phenomenon, possible something to do with the body going into hyper drive to combat the first wave of infection. The moral of this story is that the normal feeling is one of slight lousiness and not super terrificness so expect it to be a bit of a struggle.
Like getting fat and getting old physical fitness is a gradual process. Determine to get just a little better everyday. Think of it as a very long-term project – a lifestyle.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Some Thoughts on Cycling
Ever since primary school I have owned bicycles. They are probably the most efficient form of transport available and will become more popular as gas prices increase. Bicycles are becoming more popular for exercise as well with quite a resurgence in the racing style of bike. For quite a while I considered the mountain bike to be the ultimate bicycle because of its ruggedness. You can ride anywhere on a mountain bike, over curbs, off road, down steps and on lawns. But then I would ride my mountain bike around the park circuit and be passed by people riding the latest racing bikes and I began to feel a little old fashioned.
To have any street credibility I would have to get myself a cool new bike. So I went out and bought what could be described as an ‘entry level’ competitive bike. It has a 101 gear set and carbon fibre seat stem, forks and rear stay. Very lightweight and modern design with some mountain bike styling in its frame design.
A year later I find that I rarely ride it preferring instead to use my old converted mountain bike. I even sunk $600 into replacing the rear wheel, gears and chain. This bike is far more practical for my use than the road bike. As I ride to the park where I do my running I cross over curbs, lawns, cattle grates and roads, dodging traffic and pedestrians. The road bike is too fragile and unstable for this sort of activity.
The road bike is probably more useful for long distance riding where speed and efficiency are helpful and where the direction of travel remains fairly constant. I’m not sure that I favour this sort of riding now as you have to mix with a lot of fast traffic on a fragile and less stable machine. It may not be conducive to longevity.
What I really need to do is design an Active Survivalist bike. This bike’s focus would be durability and ruggedness with stability and good stopping power. It would handle all weather conditions and be able to carry equipment if desired. It would be designed for mostly road yet be quite capable off-road. It would need to be super reliable requiring the minimum of tweaking. I imagine it would have disk brakes, a flat handle bar, possibly internal hub type gearing with a steel frame and front suspension. It would have mudguards, strong wheels and wide smooth tyres. Extra mounting points for fitting accessories would be good too. All equipment would be of high quality and it would have to look cool, which is no mean feat. Built in rechargeable electrical equipment would be pretty neat as well for visibility and early morning night riding. The pedals would need to accommodate running shoes. This bike would be a sort of urban assault machine yet be quite capable of long distance riding too.
Maybe over the next year I will search for bits and pieces to build my own Active Survivalist bike.
Here is an amusing piece by P. J. O'Rourke on cycling.
Some Inspirational Poetry for Today
Therefore, go forth, companion: when you find
No highway more, no track, all being blind,
The way to go shall glimmer in the mind.
Though you have conquered Earth and Charted Sea
And planned the courses of all Stars that be,
Adventure on, more wonders are in Thee.
Adventure on, for from the littlest clue
Has come whatever worth man ever knew;
The next to lighten all men may be you . . .
JOHN MASEFIELD
I think I shall memorize this poem. It's just the thing for work when you're stuck on a problem.
Therefore, go forth, companion: when you find
No highway more, no track, all being blind,
The way to go shall glimmer in the mind.
Though you have conquered Earth and Charted Sea
And planned the courses of all Stars that be,
Adventure on, more wonders are in Thee.
Adventure on, for from the littlest clue
Has come whatever worth man ever knew;
The next to lighten all men may be you . . .
JOHN MASEFIELD
I think I shall memorize this poem. It's just the thing for work when you're stuck on a problem.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Evil that is Breakfast
The pernicious belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day has become thoroughly ingrained in our society. This myth has been created by the massive breakfast food cartels who purvey cereals to the unsuspecting masses. This multi-billion dollar industry is responsible for a large part of the obesity epidemic sweeping the world – did you know that there are now more overweight people than underweight people in the world? The cartels have been ably assisted by the fast food companies such as McDonalds who have also gotten heavily into the ‘must eat breakfast’ push.
Most people who arise reasonably early do not feel like breakfast. Many will force down slices of toast or high calorie cereal because they think or have been told they should. It’s madness to eat food when your body is telling you it’s not in the mood – unless you want to put on weight that is. The early morning is the best time to take advantage of fat burning. In the morning your stomach is empty and your blood depleted of sugars. Now is the time to do some cardio forcing the body to draw upon the fuel stored in the fat cells. Guzzle down two or three cups of sugar free coffee and get out there burning off the fat.
There is a danger of over-eating at mid-morning when the appetite starts to return. The Active Survivalist needs to ensure that at this time ‘clean’ foods such as fruit and nuts are eaten in moderation. If you have performed a workout in the morning think of the next meal as a recovery meal and ingest foods that are beneficial to recovery such as protein drinks or anything that is high in protein such as meat and dairy products. If you can, just eat a banana and an orange and hold out until lunchtime. Again don’t over do it at lunchtime either. It’s not going to be easy at first to fight the mid-morning hunger pangs but soon it will become a habit.
In short, breakfast – don’t do it.
Here is a link to an article that discusses things a little more scientifically.
The pernicious belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day has become thoroughly ingrained in our society. This myth has been created by the massive breakfast food cartels who purvey cereals to the unsuspecting masses. This multi-billion dollar industry is responsible for a large part of the obesity epidemic sweeping the world – did you know that there are now more overweight people than underweight people in the world? The cartels have been ably assisted by the fast food companies such as McDonalds who have also gotten heavily into the ‘must eat breakfast’ push.
Most people who arise reasonably early do not feel like breakfast. Many will force down slices of toast or high calorie cereal because they think or have been told they should. It’s madness to eat food when your body is telling you it’s not in the mood – unless you want to put on weight that is. The early morning is the best time to take advantage of fat burning. In the morning your stomach is empty and your blood depleted of sugars. Now is the time to do some cardio forcing the body to draw upon the fuel stored in the fat cells. Guzzle down two or three cups of sugar free coffee and get out there burning off the fat.
There is a danger of over-eating at mid-morning when the appetite starts to return. The Active Survivalist needs to ensure that at this time ‘clean’ foods such as fruit and nuts are eaten in moderation. If you have performed a workout in the morning think of the next meal as a recovery meal and ingest foods that are beneficial to recovery such as protein drinks or anything that is high in protein such as meat and dairy products. If you can, just eat a banana and an orange and hold out until lunchtime. Again don’t over do it at lunchtime either. It’s not going to be easy at first to fight the mid-morning hunger pangs but soon it will become a habit.
In short, breakfast – don’t do it.
Here is a link to an article that discusses things a little more scientifically.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Product Trial
With the onset of cooler weather and winter looming I have purchased some new training clothing. Specifically compression clothing. This is all the rage at the moment with athletes who seek to improve performance and post exercise recovery. As always those that are interested in physical fitness watch closely what is happening in the sports world and follow the trends. Now everyone can wear super high tech gear while they work out.
There do appear to be some good reasons for following this trend. Compression clothing has been shown to improve post exercise recovery although apparently it works best if you wear it after the exercise as well as during the exercise. Compression clothing holds the muscles a bit tighter and stops them jiggling about as you run reducing overall stress. It also aids with cooling as well as keeping the chill off on those cold winter morning jogs. And lastly but by no means least it makes you look cool - like a super hero minus the cape although being a self conscious sort of chap I do wear some clothing over the top of it. I might just wear the compression clothing for a bike ride as you can get away with a full body lycra suit while cycling. The world is probably not ready to see me running around with full body skin tight clothing leaving little to the imagination.
Go here to read a good summary of the benefits of compression clothing. And here to read an article on the research that has been done on it.
I have purchased a Skins long sleeve top packed with BioAcceleration Technology – oooh yeah. As well as a pair of Adidas leggings.
With the onset of cooler weather and winter looming I have purchased some new training clothing. Specifically compression clothing. This is all the rage at the moment with athletes who seek to improve performance and post exercise recovery. As always those that are interested in physical fitness watch closely what is happening in the sports world and follow the trends. Now everyone can wear super high tech gear while they work out.
There do appear to be some good reasons for following this trend. Compression clothing has been shown to improve post exercise recovery although apparently it works best if you wear it after the exercise as well as during the exercise. Compression clothing holds the muscles a bit tighter and stops them jiggling about as you run reducing overall stress. It also aids with cooling as well as keeping the chill off on those cold winter morning jogs. And lastly but by no means least it makes you look cool - like a super hero minus the cape although being a self conscious sort of chap I do wear some clothing over the top of it. I might just wear the compression clothing for a bike ride as you can get away with a full body lycra suit while cycling. The world is probably not ready to see me running around with full body skin tight clothing leaving little to the imagination.
Go here to read a good summary of the benefits of compression clothing. And here to read an article on the research that has been done on it.
I have purchased a Skins long sleeve top packed with BioAcceleration Technology – oooh yeah. As well as a pair of Adidas leggings.
I will try it out and report on its effectiveness. I might even post a photo of myself wearing it if I can get a good shot.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Fitness Tests
When I turned 47 I decided to spend a good part of the next three years improving myself physically. The plan was to be stronger at 50 then I was at 25. I had let myself get out of shape and was once about 12kg overweight. Aches and pains were starting to beset me and I caught myself thinking that this was all part of the normal aging process. Before this fitness regimes were all a bit open ended with no particular goal in mind except general physical fitness. I remember once taking out a gym membership for $300 and only going twice.
Now I am 15 months into the program. This is the longest period of sustained exercise and weight control that I have done in my life and hopefully it is now an ingrained habit. One thing that I have noticed is that my aches and pains have disappeared. I used to get quite a sore left knee, clicking and sore Achillies tendons, groin pain and a little back pain from time to time but not anymore although I am careful not to injure myself. It seems that strengthening the muscles around the joints protects them from wear and tear and joint deterioration can be reversed.
I’m thinking that now is the time to set some goals that would define what being in good shape means.
This is my first draft of tests of physical fitness:
Running - One mile in under 7 minutes
Push Ups - 50+ without pause
Chin Ups - 15
Plank - 3 minutes
Side Plank - 2 minutes
Jogging - 10 KM
Cycling - 150 KM
I haven’t included any weight lifting tests here as I don’t own enough weights or do very heavy lifting. I imagine lifting half your body weight in a military press might be a good test – I’ll have to think about it.
I wont do all the tests in one go. Soon I will attempt to run a mile as fast as I can and post the results.
The Active Survivalist Anthem
DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
DYLAN THOMAS
DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
DYLAN THOMAS
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Road Rage
Quite simply, rage or anger is to be avoided at all cost. The most common form of public anger we see exhibited today is road rage. Almost all drivers seem prone to it and all have seen it in others. It’s understandable yet ugly and quite stupid.
The Active Survivalist needs to remain calm at all times in order to maximize the chances of long term survival. The burst of adrenalin that accompanies an attack of road rage is probably not good for your heart either although I'll have to research that. You’re not thinking straight when you are angry and you will do foolish, self-destructive things. Remember the last time you saw someone losing their temper and how foolish it looked? Are you impressed with such behavior? I doubt it.
The Active Survivalist is also getting on in years and long past the time when tests of manhood are needed or appropriate. Road rage could easily transform into actual physical combat which should only be resorted to in extreme cases of personal survival, preferably with superior weapons which are not usually readily at hand while driving to work. Remember that a small percentage of the population are psychotic criminals and there is no way you want to interact with them. That guy that cut you off maybe one of them or under the influence of something or other or both.
If you are reading this blog your intelligence is likely to be rated in the top 10% of the general population. This means that 90% of drivers are of lesser intelligence than you. There’s no way you want to be interacting with these dumbos! Just get to your destination with everyone in one piece and with no rushes of adrenalin.
Try to think the best of everyone. That guy who ran the red light might be rushing to work having been told the day before by his boss that if he was late one more time he will be fired. Or that woman pulled out in front of you so you are angry now because like you never, ever, pulled out in front of someone in your entire life – yeah right.
My theory about road rage is that people project their own intentions onto others and so get angry because they think they know the reasoning behind the bad driving. Often this reasoning is flawed and the bad driver simply made a mistake or misjudged. Even if they did it deliberately you yourself have been known to do such things as well so it’s hypocritical to get so angry.
Quite simply, rage or anger is to be avoided at all cost. The most common form of public anger we see exhibited today is road rage. Almost all drivers seem prone to it and all have seen it in others. It’s understandable yet ugly and quite stupid.
The Active Survivalist needs to remain calm at all times in order to maximize the chances of long term survival. The burst of adrenalin that accompanies an attack of road rage is probably not good for your heart either although I'll have to research that. You’re not thinking straight when you are angry and you will do foolish, self-destructive things. Remember the last time you saw someone losing their temper and how foolish it looked? Are you impressed with such behavior? I doubt it.
The Active Survivalist is also getting on in years and long past the time when tests of manhood are needed or appropriate. Road rage could easily transform into actual physical combat which should only be resorted to in extreme cases of personal survival, preferably with superior weapons which are not usually readily at hand while driving to work. Remember that a small percentage of the population are psychotic criminals and there is no way you want to interact with them. That guy that cut you off maybe one of them or under the influence of something or other or both.
If you are reading this blog your intelligence is likely to be rated in the top 10% of the general population. This means that 90% of drivers are of lesser intelligence than you. There’s no way you want to be interacting with these dumbos! Just get to your destination with everyone in one piece and with no rushes of adrenalin.
Try to think the best of everyone. That guy who ran the red light might be rushing to work having been told the day before by his boss that if he was late one more time he will be fired. Or that woman pulled out in front of you so you are angry now because like you never, ever, pulled out in front of someone in your entire life – yeah right.
My theory about road rage is that people project their own intentions onto others and so get angry because they think they know the reasoning behind the bad driving. Often this reasoning is flawed and the bad driver simply made a mistake or misjudged. Even if they did it deliberately you yourself have been known to do such things as well so it’s hypocritical to get so angry.
Some people try to educate other road users through rage. It’s probably ok to educate other people but utilizing rage is not the way to go about it. You have to be subtle or educate by being a good example yourself. If you are not the police then it’s best to mind your own business especially when it comes to driving. I remember someone once wrote a letter of complaint to my boss about how I was driving 115kmh in 100kmh zone – we all had a bit of a laugh about that. Complaining just makes you look like a grumpy old man with no sense of humour.
You might find it helpful to adopt techniques to avoid rage. Pretend all other drivers are your mates or family – you’d let them in wouldn’t you? Pretend you are a secret agent attempting to traverse the city with as much discretion as possible – an incident will only call attention to yourself.
And finally why not relish the opportunity of a road incident to test your self-control? To not sound the horn or tail gate a person even under severe provocation should be seen as a personal victory. A victory that might see you living another day and train you for other incidents.
Extend this thinking into all aspects of your life and avoid anger altogether giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. It's for the sake of your own survival.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Product Endorsement
Ever since turning fourteen I have been plagued with a bad complexion. Not full-blown acne, just prone to break outs that I find quite embarrassing, especially now that I have reached middle-age. I thought it was only supposed to last a few years not thirty-five years! Anyway, a significant percentage of the population does suffer from bad skin for a very long time and I have often wondered why. Is it hormonal? As the onset of pimply skin comes with puberty I always believed it was but then maybe it is just the change in the composition of the skin - it becomes oilier once reaching maturity and pores get clogged.
A few years ago I went to the doctor prior to traveling to New Caledonia for a singles week at Club Med and I asked if there was anything that would help give me clear skin. She prescribed a mild anti-biotic that worked really well, almost over night, returning my confidence. It was called mino-tabs I think. However it's effectiveness seemed to wear off over time and I wasn’t too keen on taking anti-biotic for a long time anyway.
Exercise and mainstream healthy eating didn’t seem to have any effect except perhaps to make it worse. The sweating associated with exercise probably doesn’t help. Then I began to think about why the anti-biotics worked. The reason must be because the problem is bacterial. Sweating feeds the bacteria or gives it a nice, warm, damp place to live. I often noticed that patches of bad skin would spread and frequent washing seemed to only make it worse.
The answer is to kill the bacteria. Now there is a readily available product that does just that. It’s a miracle and I urge anyone who has a problem like this to seriously consider using it. The product is Johnson & Johnson’s Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser.
I used it twice daily for two or three weeks and then just daily in the morning. Now my skin is perfectly clear – it’s amazing. The active ingredient is Benzoyl Peroxide. It gives a nice cool-burning sensation and you can just feel those nasty little bugs dying by the millions. Some chemical remains on the skin after rinsing and this continues to work during the day.
Ever since turning fourteen I have been plagued with a bad complexion. Not full-blown acne, just prone to break outs that I find quite embarrassing, especially now that I have reached middle-age. I thought it was only supposed to last a few years not thirty-five years! Anyway, a significant percentage of the population does suffer from bad skin for a very long time and I have often wondered why. Is it hormonal? As the onset of pimply skin comes with puberty I always believed it was but then maybe it is just the change in the composition of the skin - it becomes oilier once reaching maturity and pores get clogged.
A few years ago I went to the doctor prior to traveling to New Caledonia for a singles week at Club Med and I asked if there was anything that would help give me clear skin. She prescribed a mild anti-biotic that worked really well, almost over night, returning my confidence. It was called mino-tabs I think. However it's effectiveness seemed to wear off over time and I wasn’t too keen on taking anti-biotic for a long time anyway.
Exercise and mainstream healthy eating didn’t seem to have any effect except perhaps to make it worse. The sweating associated with exercise probably doesn’t help. Then I began to think about why the anti-biotics worked. The reason must be because the problem is bacterial. Sweating feeds the bacteria or gives it a nice, warm, damp place to live. I often noticed that patches of bad skin would spread and frequent washing seemed to only make it worse.
The answer is to kill the bacteria. Now there is a readily available product that does just that. It’s a miracle and I urge anyone who has a problem like this to seriously consider using it. The product is Johnson & Johnson’s Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser.
I used it twice daily for two or three weeks and then just daily in the morning. Now my skin is perfectly clear – it’s amazing. The active ingredient is Benzoyl Peroxide. It gives a nice cool-burning sensation and you can just feel those nasty little bugs dying by the millions. Some chemical remains on the skin after rinsing and this continues to work during the day.
Most Active Survivalists wont have a requirement for this product but their children or even grandchildren might.
Highly Recommended!
Update: I still use this product at least five times a week however I am starting to wonder if my change to a more paleolithic diet and intermittent fasting has brought about a cure. The only way to prove this, sort of, is to stop using it - I am afraid to do that though because my skin is so good now.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Magic 200 Minutes
After much thought and practical experimentation I have come up with the figure of 200 minutes as the ideal total time per week to perform reasonably rigorous exercise. That's exercise like running, fast cycling, weights and other gym type exercises - exercises that leave you puffed and sweating. This equates to about four hours per week which is actually 240 minutes but then it takes into account periods of resting during the routines.
Four sessions of one hour each per week, say on Tesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday should suffice. This is actually not all that much although it is enough to reshape muscles and ward off weight gain and probably not enough to risk over-training. Any more than this and one runs the risk of over-exercising and experiencing a bit of metabolic breakdown resulting in a forced rest period of several days to a weeks duration.
This advice is for the middle-aged and above as I am sure a younger person could safely do more. However I see no benefit in doing more for the Active Survivalist unless they are training for a specific event. This level of exercise should be able to be maintained indefinetly forming an exercise habit.
If more exercise is required my advice would be to increase the intensity of the exercise rather than increase the time it takes to exercise. Run faster, lift heavier in carefully adjusted stages so that you move the joints the same amount of times but do more work. This will build strength and reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries. You should also go hard on occasion so that training routines are not stale old slogs. After all when you are out there pushing hard, heart pounding, sweat dripping and gasping for breath you are truly alive. To be able to do this is what being an Active Survivalist is all about - it is Active Survivalist heaven.
After much thought and practical experimentation I have come up with the figure of 200 minutes as the ideal total time per week to perform reasonably rigorous exercise. That's exercise like running, fast cycling, weights and other gym type exercises - exercises that leave you puffed and sweating. This equates to about four hours per week which is actually 240 minutes but then it takes into account periods of resting during the routines.
Four sessions of one hour each per week, say on Tesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday should suffice. This is actually not all that much although it is enough to reshape muscles and ward off weight gain and probably not enough to risk over-training. Any more than this and one runs the risk of over-exercising and experiencing a bit of metabolic breakdown resulting in a forced rest period of several days to a weeks duration.
This advice is for the middle-aged and above as I am sure a younger person could safely do more. However I see no benefit in doing more for the Active Survivalist unless they are training for a specific event. This level of exercise should be able to be maintained indefinetly forming an exercise habit.
If more exercise is required my advice would be to increase the intensity of the exercise rather than increase the time it takes to exercise. Run faster, lift heavier in carefully adjusted stages so that you move the joints the same amount of times but do more work. This will build strength and reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries. You should also go hard on occasion so that training routines are not stale old slogs. After all when you are out there pushing hard, heart pounding, sweat dripping and gasping for breath you are truly alive. To be able to do this is what being an Active Survivalist is all about - it is Active Survivalist heaven.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Actively Turning Back the Clock
"A sedentary lifestyle increases the propensity to aging-related disease and premature death. Inactivity may diminish life expectancy not only by predisposing to aging-related diseases but also because it may influence the aging process itself,"
The above quote is from a recent study done at Kings College, London. You could title this, "inactively speeding up the clock." One thing is for sure and that is staying active is not going to do you any harm as long as you are careful. It becomes more and more essential as you age. Eventually aging will get get a stranglehold on you but you can delay its onset considerably so why grow old before your time? People don't seem to realise that by being inactive and overeating you are accelerating yourself toward an early grave
"A sedentary lifestyle increases the propensity to aging-related disease and premature death. Inactivity may diminish life expectancy not only by predisposing to aging-related diseases but also because it may influence the aging process itself,"
The above quote is from a recent study done at Kings College, London. You could title this, "inactively speeding up the clock." One thing is for sure and that is staying active is not going to do you any harm as long as you are careful. It becomes more and more essential as you age. Eventually aging will get get a stranglehold on you but you can delay its onset considerably so why grow old before your time? People don't seem to realise that by being inactive and overeating you are accelerating yourself toward an early grave
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A Sad Week
From TheTimesOnline April 16:
Six students and a teacher were killed when they were swept down a flooded river during an adventure course in rugged New Zealand bushland yesterday
The 16 and 17-year-old students were part of a group of 40 from Elim Christian College in Auckland who were attending a week-long course with the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi, 320km (200 miles) north of Wellington.
So young with so much to look forward to and now no more. I believe these children were let down by adults and by a culture that believes that outdoor adventure sports are essential for young people. They were barely more than children and they were canyoning in the mountains of New Zealand during stormy weather. Adventures are risky and are really the realm of expendible young men who know and take the risks. We shouldn’t expose children to such dangers.
Why am I writing about this on my Active Survival blog? Well, if we manage to prolong life dramatically it will be interesting to see how we approach adventurous activities. Let’s say they manage to prolong life indefinitely. Do you think people would still race motorbikes or sky dive? If your body regenerated itself forever how long would you expect to live for? It seems a strange question but regeneration will not guarantee immortality. A fatal accident could still occur and while I don’t have a reference I read somewhere that Insurance company data predicts that we will have a fatal accident every 1600 years on average. If your body never aged eventually your plane is going to crash and burn.
The Active Survivalist needs to stay sharp, stay alert and not take undue risks.
Advice to parents: Don’t let your children get involved with anything to do with rivers – they’re fukkin dangerous. I’m quite angry about it actually.
From TheTimesOnline April 16:
Six students and a teacher were killed when they were swept down a flooded river during an adventure course in rugged New Zealand bushland yesterday
The 16 and 17-year-old students were part of a group of 40 from Elim Christian College in Auckland who were attending a week-long course with the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi, 320km (200 miles) north of Wellington.
So young with so much to look forward to and now no more. I believe these children were let down by adults and by a culture that believes that outdoor adventure sports are essential for young people. They were barely more than children and they were canyoning in the mountains of New Zealand during stormy weather. Adventures are risky and are really the realm of expendible young men who know and take the risks. We shouldn’t expose children to such dangers.
Why am I writing about this on my Active Survival blog? Well, if we manage to prolong life dramatically it will be interesting to see how we approach adventurous activities. Let’s say they manage to prolong life indefinitely. Do you think people would still race motorbikes or sky dive? If your body regenerated itself forever how long would you expect to live for? It seems a strange question but regeneration will not guarantee immortality. A fatal accident could still occur and while I don’t have a reference I read somewhere that Insurance company data predicts that we will have a fatal accident every 1600 years on average. If your body never aged eventually your plane is going to crash and burn.
The Active Survivalist needs to stay sharp, stay alert and not take undue risks.
Advice to parents: Don’t let your children get involved with anything to do with rivers – they’re fukkin dangerous. I’m quite angry about it actually.
Overeating
It may be overeating and not obesity that causes health problems. When you think about it obesity is generally a result of overeating and weight gain is probably a healthy sign. After all the body is processing the extra calories and storing them for use at another time. The ability to gain weight is a healthy sign in an individual whereas unexplained weight loss while one is eating plenty would be an unhealthy sign.
When the fat starts to build up in places where it shouldn’t then severe health issues are to be expected. Fat in and around the heart and liver and inside the cardio-vascular system are potentially fatal.
Experiments with mice have shown that limiting calorie intake has greatly increased life expectancy and this may not be because the mice have stayed slim but that their vital organs have remained free of clogging fat.
Metabolic Syndrome Triggered by Overeating, Not Obesity – This article is about research that has shown Metabolic Syndrome is a result of too much food sloshing around the system and not simply weight gain.
I would think that the way to avoid this syndrome is to take my advice and go for long periods without food while doing at least four hours a week of decent exercise, ie more than just walking.
It may be overeating and not obesity that causes health problems. When you think about it obesity is generally a result of overeating and weight gain is probably a healthy sign. After all the body is processing the extra calories and storing them for use at another time. The ability to gain weight is a healthy sign in an individual whereas unexplained weight loss while one is eating plenty would be an unhealthy sign.
When the fat starts to build up in places where it shouldn’t then severe health issues are to be expected. Fat in and around the heart and liver and inside the cardio-vascular system are potentially fatal.
Experiments with mice have shown that limiting calorie intake has greatly increased life expectancy and this may not be because the mice have stayed slim but that their vital organs have remained free of clogging fat.
Metabolic Syndrome Triggered by Overeating, Not Obesity – This article is about research that has shown Metabolic Syndrome is a result of too much food sloshing around the system and not simply weight gain.
I would think that the way to avoid this syndrome is to take my advice and go for long periods without food while doing at least four hours a week of decent exercise, ie more than just walking.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Animal Fat – Is it bad for you?
A lot of people have bought into the idea that eating animal fat makes you fat. I guess it seems logical that fat = fat. Yet is this true? The success of the Atkins Diet seems to defy this simple logic.
I wonder if the pathway from ingested food to fat cells has been well studied. I’m sure it has and I will endeavour to find out. Does food enter the stomach, get digested, enter the bloodstream and then get deposited into the fat cells? Or is it a bit more complicated? The muscles have their own store of energy in the form of sugars for immediate use and this store can weigh up to two kilograms. Once this store is topped up I imagine that excess food is stored as fat. It is possible that fat is transported directly to the fat cells and bypasses the muscle stores however Atkins Diet which can be high in fat seems to prove that this is not the case.
Are carbs converted into fat? Certainly people on high carb low fat diets can get fat. What about people on high fat diets? Well there aren’t too many of those around but there are some. Inuit people traditionally lived on whale blubber and certain Indian tribes ate almost exclusively fresh meat. These people did not get fat. Western people who lived with the Inuit for extended periods of time found that they had to eat animal fat rather than just the lean meat in order to stay healthy.
The fact is that people are getting fatter and eating less fat. Many products in food stores are labelled as low fat but you only find out that they are high in sugars if you read the fine print. A sure way to gaining excess weight is to eat a lot of carbohydrate.
The next argument is that eating fat can clog your arteries. This may be true but my feeling is that you would need to eat quite a lot and be sedentary and have other bad habits for this to be a problem. If you ate a moderate amount of fat and exercised hard for at least four hours a week my guess is you would be ok and probably more than ok. Your body needs fat and cholesterol to function probably much more than it does carbohydrates.
Of course everything in moderation but don’t be afraid to enjoy meat with a bit of fat or eggs fried in dripping. Roast potatoes done in dripping are great also. Stay focused on keeping fit and eating natural, minimally processed foods that your body has to work on to digest. Meat and fat is natural, far more natural for human consumption than bread or rice for instance.
A lot of people have bought into the idea that eating animal fat makes you fat. I guess it seems logical that fat = fat. Yet is this true? The success of the Atkins Diet seems to defy this simple logic.
I wonder if the pathway from ingested food to fat cells has been well studied. I’m sure it has and I will endeavour to find out. Does food enter the stomach, get digested, enter the bloodstream and then get deposited into the fat cells? Or is it a bit more complicated? The muscles have their own store of energy in the form of sugars for immediate use and this store can weigh up to two kilograms. Once this store is topped up I imagine that excess food is stored as fat. It is possible that fat is transported directly to the fat cells and bypasses the muscle stores however Atkins Diet which can be high in fat seems to prove that this is not the case.
Are carbs converted into fat? Certainly people on high carb low fat diets can get fat. What about people on high fat diets? Well there aren’t too many of those around but there are some. Inuit people traditionally lived on whale blubber and certain Indian tribes ate almost exclusively fresh meat. These people did not get fat. Western people who lived with the Inuit for extended periods of time found that they had to eat animal fat rather than just the lean meat in order to stay healthy.
The fact is that people are getting fatter and eating less fat. Many products in food stores are labelled as low fat but you only find out that they are high in sugars if you read the fine print. A sure way to gaining excess weight is to eat a lot of carbohydrate.
The next argument is that eating fat can clog your arteries. This may be true but my feeling is that you would need to eat quite a lot and be sedentary and have other bad habits for this to be a problem. If you ate a moderate amount of fat and exercised hard for at least four hours a week my guess is you would be ok and probably more than ok. Your body needs fat and cholesterol to function probably much more than it does carbohydrates.
Of course everything in moderation but don’t be afraid to enjoy meat with a bit of fat or eggs fried in dripping. Roast potatoes done in dripping are great also. Stay focused on keeping fit and eating natural, minimally processed foods that your body has to work on to digest. Meat and fat is natural, far more natural for human consumption than bread or rice for instance.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Dieting
I was reading in the news the other day that dieting is going out of fashion and that the diet industry is making less money today. It seems that people are starting to think that exercise is the most important factor in the quest for weight control. I believe this is a common misconception and that people should focus on diet first and exercise next if their objective is to trim down. In the park where I do most of my cardio exercise I have noticed the same people year after year performing their exercise, which is usually just walking, yet not getting any lighter and maybe getting even larger.
For the obese person exercise can be rather inhibiting and off-putting and indeed it can be dangerous. For those carrying many pounds of excess weight the act of exercising will put an extra strain on joints and muscles that the lean person would not experience. This could lead to extensive damage of key areas like knees and ankles that could result in being practically crippled. The obese person should approach exercise with caution and develop an exercise routine that has the least joint and tendon impact as possible. Cycling and swimming come to mind as exercises that would be good at least until a normal weight has been achieved.
That said, exercise will have little impact on controlling weight. The key is calorie restriction. It is extremely difficult to work off an up-sized McDonalds meal yet it is very easy to forgo the meal altogether and eat an apple or a banana. You would probably have to run for twenty miles or more to burn off the excess calories consumed in a McDonalds combo.
Exercise is more important for controlling weight gain once the ideal weight has been achieved.
So back to dieting. I have devised all sorts of diets for reducing weight and I think that nearly all of them would work well which brings us back to the concept of the effectiveness of calorie restriction. The key is to avoid high-energy foods. Foods that are packed with easily accessible calories like processed foods high in sugar. These foods are digested almost immediately and saturate the blood with food that cannot be burned off quickly and so is converted to fat. If you avoid all processed food and that includes bread and rice and just stick to fruit, meat and vegetables you cannot go wrong. Forget about the totally wrong food pyramid above where you are advised to eat six to eleven servings or more a day of bread – have they completely lost their minds? Think about bread as a food developed by the masters to feed the slaves that build pyramids. The food pyramid is for active children or very fit and active adults.
It is true that exercise for many people is a bit of an appetite suppressant yet you could use other tricks like suppressing the appetite by drinking lots of water or even coffee. Exercise is great but don’t damage yourself by going at it too hard and making the mistake that exercise will make you thin.
I was reading in the news the other day that dieting is going out of fashion and that the diet industry is making less money today. It seems that people are starting to think that exercise is the most important factor in the quest for weight control. I believe this is a common misconception and that people should focus on diet first and exercise next if their objective is to trim down. In the park where I do most of my cardio exercise I have noticed the same people year after year performing their exercise, which is usually just walking, yet not getting any lighter and maybe getting even larger.
For the obese person exercise can be rather inhibiting and off-putting and indeed it can be dangerous. For those carrying many pounds of excess weight the act of exercising will put an extra strain on joints and muscles that the lean person would not experience. This could lead to extensive damage of key areas like knees and ankles that could result in being practically crippled. The obese person should approach exercise with caution and develop an exercise routine that has the least joint and tendon impact as possible. Cycling and swimming come to mind as exercises that would be good at least until a normal weight has been achieved.
That said, exercise will have little impact on controlling weight. The key is calorie restriction. It is extremely difficult to work off an up-sized McDonalds meal yet it is very easy to forgo the meal altogether and eat an apple or a banana. You would probably have to run for twenty miles or more to burn off the excess calories consumed in a McDonalds combo.
Exercise is more important for controlling weight gain once the ideal weight has been achieved.
So back to dieting. I have devised all sorts of diets for reducing weight and I think that nearly all of them would work well which brings us back to the concept of the effectiveness of calorie restriction. The key is to avoid high-energy foods. Foods that are packed with easily accessible calories like processed foods high in sugar. These foods are digested almost immediately and saturate the blood with food that cannot be burned off quickly and so is converted to fat. If you avoid all processed food and that includes bread and rice and just stick to fruit, meat and vegetables you cannot go wrong. Forget about the totally wrong food pyramid above where you are advised to eat six to eleven servings or more a day of bread – have they completely lost their minds? Think about bread as a food developed by the masters to feed the slaves that build pyramids. The food pyramid is for active children or very fit and active adults.
It is true that exercise for many people is a bit of an appetite suppressant yet you could use other tricks like suppressing the appetite by drinking lots of water or even coffee. Exercise is great but don’t damage yourself by going at it too hard and making the mistake that exercise will make you thin.
The key is healthy eating in moderation with long gaps of five hours or so when you eat nothing at all. Avoid all snacks and try to have long periods where your blood supply is not saturated with food. Forget about breakfast being the most important meal of the day and take advantage of periods when appetite is low to fast - just don't over do it mid-morning when craving for food returns. Eat fruit instead of bread and never eat biscuits, candy or cakes.
Once you have brought your weight down you can then focus on exercise. You will notice that you will be more motivated to do exercise due to the increased energy and feeling of wellness that healthy eating brings about.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Rest, Nutrition and Exercise
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the relationship between rest, nutrition and exercise. Getting the balance just right between these important components of a healthy lifestyle is more difficult than it first appears. The balance is even more difficult for those advancing in years as younger bodies have considerably more flexibility and bounce back than older bodies do. The story is further complicated if your intention is to lose weight simultaneously with gaining strength and stamina.
There is considerable risk of doing some damage by over-doing the dieting and exercise that could lead to the complete opposite result of what was intended. Yet how to tell if one has done too much or eaten too little?
Listen to your body is what I recommend. If you exercise hard one morning and during the following hours you feel energized and slightly euphoric and possibly a little smug that everything is going well you have the mix just right. Post exercise feelings are the most important indicators of overall health and fitness. If on the other hand you found it difficult to complete your routine and the routine was just a normal routine for you then your body is telling you something. Either you are not getting enough nutrition or more rest between exercise intervals is required or both. During the day you may feel tired and a little sore. If this happens step up the eating a little with more healthy and energy giving foods. Take a two or three day break from exercise or just do a bit of mild exercise like walking or easy cycling.
Ignoring this advice may lead to feelings similar to flu where the body temperature rises, heart beat increase and you generally feel lousy. This is not a good place for the Active Survivalist to be. Full marks for pushing yourself to the limit but it is important to recognise that the limit has been reached and the time has come to back off. Now is the time to focus on getting enough sleep and possibly over eating a little on the best and most nutritious food you can lay your hands on. Take the opportunity to exercise the mind a little instead of doing that cardio. Reflect on your exercise routine and try to restore the balance.
The objective is to get that feeling back of post exercise energisation. Staying in this zone is all-important because it feels great and your body is getting the most benefit. It will also encourage you to stay fit and well. It will be almost impossible to stay in this zone and over doing it will be inevitable if you are dedicated to the program. The good news is that your body will tell you when things have gone too far. You just have to listen.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the relationship between rest, nutrition and exercise. Getting the balance just right between these important components of a healthy lifestyle is more difficult than it first appears. The balance is even more difficult for those advancing in years as younger bodies have considerably more flexibility and bounce back than older bodies do. The story is further complicated if your intention is to lose weight simultaneously with gaining strength and stamina.
There is considerable risk of doing some damage by over-doing the dieting and exercise that could lead to the complete opposite result of what was intended. Yet how to tell if one has done too much or eaten too little?
Listen to your body is what I recommend. If you exercise hard one morning and during the following hours you feel energized and slightly euphoric and possibly a little smug that everything is going well you have the mix just right. Post exercise feelings are the most important indicators of overall health and fitness. If on the other hand you found it difficult to complete your routine and the routine was just a normal routine for you then your body is telling you something. Either you are not getting enough nutrition or more rest between exercise intervals is required or both. During the day you may feel tired and a little sore. If this happens step up the eating a little with more healthy and energy giving foods. Take a two or three day break from exercise or just do a bit of mild exercise like walking or easy cycling.
Ignoring this advice may lead to feelings similar to flu where the body temperature rises, heart beat increase and you generally feel lousy. This is not a good place for the Active Survivalist to be. Full marks for pushing yourself to the limit but it is important to recognise that the limit has been reached and the time has come to back off. Now is the time to focus on getting enough sleep and possibly over eating a little on the best and most nutritious food you can lay your hands on. Take the opportunity to exercise the mind a little instead of doing that cardio. Reflect on your exercise routine and try to restore the balance.
The objective is to get that feeling back of post exercise energisation. Staying in this zone is all-important because it feels great and your body is getting the most benefit. It will also encourage you to stay fit and well. It will be almost impossible to stay in this zone and over doing it will be inevitable if you are dedicated to the program. The good news is that your body will tell you when things have gone too far. You just have to listen.
Friday, March 28, 2008
A Fat Gut and Dementia?
A new study published in the journal Neurology reveals the following:
The study involved 6,583 men and women who were ages 40 to 45 when they had checkups between 1964 and 1973. As part of the exam, their belly size was measured by using a caliper to find the distance between their backs and the surface of their upper abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches or more was considered high.
The researchers checked medical records to see who had developed Alzheimer's or another form of dementia by an average of 36 years later. At that point the participants were ages 73 to 87. There were 1,049 cases.
Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:
_ Participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to have dementia.
_ Overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement.
_ Obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement.
It's not conclusive but why look silly and take the risk of being demented as well?
Just for the record, I am 48 with a measurement of seven inches. At my largest I would guess I was around 11 inches. A fat belly can be reduced. One thing to remember about a fat belly is that a lot of fat can build up under the abdominal muscle layer. This is the strangling fat I have mentioned before that pushes the abdomen out and envelops the vital organs.
What shocked me the most about this study was the high number of people as a percentage of the group that suffered from dementia. It's made me think that I will have to concentrate more on mental exercises and other things to keep myself functional. It seems that staving off dementia may be more challenging than just keeping physically fit and will require a multi-disciplined approach.
A new study published in the journal Neurology reveals the following:
The study involved 6,583 men and women who were ages 40 to 45 when they had checkups between 1964 and 1973. As part of the exam, their belly size was measured by using a caliper to find the distance between their backs and the surface of their upper abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches or more was considered high.
The researchers checked medical records to see who had developed Alzheimer's or another form of dementia by an average of 36 years later. At that point the participants were ages 73 to 87. There were 1,049 cases.
Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:
_ Participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to have dementia.
_ Overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement.
_ Obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement.
It's not conclusive but why look silly and take the risk of being demented as well?
Just for the record, I am 48 with a measurement of seven inches. At my largest I would guess I was around 11 inches. A fat belly can be reduced. One thing to remember about a fat belly is that a lot of fat can build up under the abdominal muscle layer. This is the strangling fat I have mentioned before that pushes the abdomen out and envelops the vital organs.
What shocked me the most about this study was the high number of people as a percentage of the group that suffered from dementia. It's made me think that I will have to concentrate more on mental exercises and other things to keep myself functional. It seems that staving off dementia may be more challenging than just keeping physically fit and will require a multi-disciplined approach.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Active Survival – What is it?
I was talking to a morbidly obese man at work one day about diets and he mentioned a diet called the Warrior Diet. It sounded interesting so I decided to research it a little. The designer of the Warrior Diet, Ori Hofmekler wrote,” Not actively surviving is passively dying” and this statement impressed me. Exercising and eating well is actively doing something about the state of your health. If you don’t exercise, your muscles are wasting away and your cardio-vascular system is deteriorating. Fat is building up, trying to strangle your internal organs – you are passively dying. You are lying about doing nothing to stop it. The challenge is on to fight back and actually improve the body and mind as we age.
I was talking to a morbidly obese man at work one day about diets and he mentioned a diet called the Warrior Diet. It sounded interesting so I decided to research it a little. The designer of the Warrior Diet, Ori Hofmekler wrote,” Not actively surviving is passively dying” and this statement impressed me. Exercising and eating well is actively doing something about the state of your health. If you don’t exercise, your muscles are wasting away and your cardio-vascular system is deteriorating. Fat is building up, trying to strangle your internal organs – you are passively dying. You are lying about doing nothing to stop it. The challenge is on to fight back and actually improve the body and mind as we age.
I decided to take the concept a little further and develop the idea of the Active Survivalist. This is someone who is interested in surviving as long as possible and in the best condition as possible. The last part is important as no one particularly wants to live a very long time in a decrepit and miserable state. So the intention is to expand the middle years – basically have middle age extend beyond the sixties and into the eighties and nineties. It will be no good to enter the eighties in an overweight and feeble state. If that happens you may well live to be a hundred but you are just passively making it through with a considerable loss of enjoyment of life and prone to more disease and discomfort. You will also be more reliant on those around you to nurse and care for you. People have successfully got to their eighties and nineties and managed to remain independent and active - the Active Survivalist consciously aims to achieve this.
The Active Survivalist is also interested in any technology that prolongs the human life beyond the natural. Why not remain active well beyond a hundred? Currently it seems a difficult challenge yet new discoveries that enhance longevity may be just around the corner. The Active Survivalist is training for the day when some genetic engineering marvel arrives on the scene and saves the day. You will have a much better chance of taking advantage of these discoveries and inventions if you are in good shape. Imagine a new ‘elixir of youth’ drug becoming available yet you are no longer in a position to benefit from it because your body has gone beyond repair? How sad that would be.
Aside from the possibility of living forever it feels good to be fit and slim no matter what age you are. Largely it is a matter of developing the right habits and over time it becomes very easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle. There really is no excuse for someone to let himself or herself go and become a burden on all those around them.
Your body and mind are the most precious things you possess. A healthy body is worth an incalculable amount and it is a true under statement to say that it is worth preserving. Preserve it at all costs.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Caffeine and Other Drugs
A while ago someone told me that if you stopped drinking coffee you would find that you had more energy and that your life would be transformed. I took this onboard and gave up coffee and any other caffeinated drinks. My abstinence lasted about a year and I can faithfully report that my general well-being was unaffected which was quite disappointing. I was eagerly awaiting transformation - maybe it was a bit like the time I took St John's Wort hoping for a miracle when a colleague pointed out that you actually have to be suffering from depression for an anti-depressant to show results. What I can report is that first coffee after a year had a terrific enlivening effect – I wondered why I had gone without for so long. Whoever suggested that coffee was bad for you was a complete party pooper. Indeed I can’t think of another readily available drug that is so useful for the Active Survivalist.
I always drink a couple of cups of coffee before exercise and recommend that others do so as well. It appears that there are no bad things to say about coffee. It increases endurance, may fight cancer, may delay Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and tastes good too. Sure you can drink too much coffee and feel a bit jittery. I tried this just the other day as an experiment, drinking about eight cups in a morning and can report that this is probably not a good idea. There’s no sense in over doing it as caffeine will reduce in effectiveness if too much is taken. The connection to Parkinson’s seems quite compelling and this alone seems enough reason to imbibe regularly.
The all good news about coffee has led me to think more about the possibility of other drugs being beneficial to the Active Survivalist. Resveratrol and Glucosamine look like promising substances too. Possibly green tea too which I have started to take daily.
The links in red above are worth the time to follow - who'd have thought that mice get Alzheimer's? Transgenic mice, half mouse half man...coool. Active Survivalists should have a bit of mad scientist in them. After all there is only so much healthy eating and exercise can acheive. To push the human life span beyond what it is now will require some extreme measures.
A while ago someone told me that if you stopped drinking coffee you would find that you had more energy and that your life would be transformed. I took this onboard and gave up coffee and any other caffeinated drinks. My abstinence lasted about a year and I can faithfully report that my general well-being was unaffected which was quite disappointing. I was eagerly awaiting transformation - maybe it was a bit like the time I took St John's Wort hoping for a miracle when a colleague pointed out that you actually have to be suffering from depression for an anti-depressant to show results. What I can report is that first coffee after a year had a terrific enlivening effect – I wondered why I had gone without for so long. Whoever suggested that coffee was bad for you was a complete party pooper. Indeed I can’t think of another readily available drug that is so useful for the Active Survivalist.
I always drink a couple of cups of coffee before exercise and recommend that others do so as well. It appears that there are no bad things to say about coffee. It increases endurance, may fight cancer, may delay Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and tastes good too. Sure you can drink too much coffee and feel a bit jittery. I tried this just the other day as an experiment, drinking about eight cups in a morning and can report that this is probably not a good idea. There’s no sense in over doing it as caffeine will reduce in effectiveness if too much is taken. The connection to Parkinson’s seems quite compelling and this alone seems enough reason to imbibe regularly.
The all good news about coffee has led me to think more about the possibility of other drugs being beneficial to the Active Survivalist. Resveratrol and Glucosamine look like promising substances too. Possibly green tea too which I have started to take daily.
The links in red above are worth the time to follow - who'd have thought that mice get Alzheimer's? Transgenic mice, half mouse half man...coool. Active Survivalists should have a bit of mad scientist in them. After all there is only so much healthy eating and exercise can acheive. To push the human life span beyond what it is now will require some extreme measures.
In case you were wondering the above brain images are those of a healthy patient and one suffering from Alzheimer's.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Mental Fitness
As one ages it is often perceived that the mind becomes less sharp. Concentration is not as good and reaction times have reduced. I suspect that we become a little hard on ourselves, interpreting a momentary lapse in memory as early onset Alzheimer’s or dementia. What good would a fine body be if the brain was totally shot? So we fear the breakdown of mental faculties more than we fear the aging of our bodies. Yet I remember making an awful lot of dumb mistakes when I was younger – the most spectacular being while on a first date, thinking that the play, Fiddler on the Roof, was finished when it was only half time. Needless to say that was the first and only date with that particular young lady. I saw her a few years later and she had put on a spectacular amount of weight on her thighs making her look extremely odd. It was a super dumb mistake but then maybe it was for the best - I am just sooo shallow. Yet I didn’t put this faux pas down to mental illness or even think it was that bad a mistake at the time – I remember thinking for a short time that I still had a chance with her – how retarded is that? I’m sure I would not make this mistake today so people probably improve with age. The older brain does have some advantages over the younger one. It might not be as quick but it is generally wiser and mellower. It is not so susceptible to boredom as it doesn’t perceive the passing of time quite the same. In some ways this is an advantage because it makes tedious cardio workouts quite a bit more bearable. I remember when I first started jogging when I was in my early twenties that the first mile was almost unbearably long yet now it seems very little and is over in no time. These days I have to think about reducing my cardio workouts.
Nevertheless it seems that the brain should be exercised along with the body. It makes sense that mental faculties could diminish with lack of use much like every other part of our bodies. When I started studying for exams again a good fifteen years after having sat the last one it seemed impossible. My mind was just useless for any sort of learning. Yet after a bit of perseverance and especially after a successful exam pass I soon got back into it and succeeded spectacularly. I noticed that my alertness improved. I could remember things a lot more easily and found study to be a useful exercise for many other aspects of my life.
As one ages it is often perceived that the mind becomes less sharp. Concentration is not as good and reaction times have reduced. I suspect that we become a little hard on ourselves, interpreting a momentary lapse in memory as early onset Alzheimer’s or dementia. What good would a fine body be if the brain was totally shot? So we fear the breakdown of mental faculties more than we fear the aging of our bodies. Yet I remember making an awful lot of dumb mistakes when I was younger – the most spectacular being while on a first date, thinking that the play, Fiddler on the Roof, was finished when it was only half time. Needless to say that was the first and only date with that particular young lady. I saw her a few years later and she had put on a spectacular amount of weight on her thighs making her look extremely odd. It was a super dumb mistake but then maybe it was for the best - I am just sooo shallow. Yet I didn’t put this faux pas down to mental illness or even think it was that bad a mistake at the time – I remember thinking for a short time that I still had a chance with her – how retarded is that? I’m sure I would not make this mistake today so people probably improve with age. The older brain does have some advantages over the younger one. It might not be as quick but it is generally wiser and mellower. It is not so susceptible to boredom as it doesn’t perceive the passing of time quite the same. In some ways this is an advantage because it makes tedious cardio workouts quite a bit more bearable. I remember when I first started jogging when I was in my early twenties that the first mile was almost unbearably long yet now it seems very little and is over in no time. These days I have to think about reducing my cardio workouts.
Nevertheless it seems that the brain should be exercised along with the body. It makes sense that mental faculties could diminish with lack of use much like every other part of our bodies. When I started studying for exams again a good fifteen years after having sat the last one it seemed impossible. My mind was just useless for any sort of learning. Yet after a bit of perseverance and especially after a successful exam pass I soon got back into it and succeeded spectacularly. I noticed that my alertness improved. I could remember things a lot more easily and found study to be a useful exercise for many other aspects of my life.
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