We can’t expect everyone to like lifting weights, biathlon, and shadowboxing ghosts.
If you’re looking for new ways to stay fit, this site’s worth the visit.
“Discover new ways to stay fit based on data science and your personality, in under 3 minutes.”
I got judo.
And considering that I’ve been thinking about starting some form of martial arts, I approve.
What did you get?
-J
Here are a few books I enjoyed this year. In case you’re looking for something to read during the holidays.
The Egyptian – This historical novel written in the 1940s is still one of the most accurate descriptions of Ancient Egypt. It’s 700-something pages, but well worth the effort.
Breakfast of Champions – Classic Vonnegut. In every possible sense.
Bandwidth – Dystopian novel or a prediction of the (very) near future? Not necessarily the type of book I would usually pick. But this was r-i-v-e-t-i-n-g.
Napoleon: A Life – In-depth adventure into Napoleon’s personality, life and legacy. After reading Churchill’s biography by Andrew Roberts, this felt like the next logical step.
Raising Boys – Blueprint to what boys need to grow up to be happy, confident grown-ups.
Gulag – As Russia’s leadership is a fucked up as it is, this one’s a timely read. Can we predict the future by looking into the past? I sure hope not.
As I am listing these, I realise that last year I mostly read books written by men. It’s a shame since women often offer insights that men miss (or don’t think of as relevant). Anne Applebaum’s Gulag is a great example.
So, my plan going into 2023 is to read more books written by women.
What books caught your attention this year? I’d love to hear your recommendations.
-J
Too much planning for the future reduces the joy we can feel in the present.
If you struggle to turn off your eating or exercise-planning brain, it often helps to acknowledge that you can’t fail. Every unplanned moment is an opportunity to learn. Those unplanned days are the best times to practice life’s non-trackable metrics.
Patience, satisfaction, grace, adaptability and resilience. We need all those skills to be and feel successful.
Your success for the next few days or weeks might look different to what you’re used to. And that’s what life’s all about.
-J
With a wide range of options and opinions about what’s best for you, it can be overwhelming to decide who to trust.
Here are a few positive signals to look for in an expert.
They agree with the majority of other experts in their field.
If someone’s going aggressively against the grain the chances of that person having some super-special knowledge are slim. It’s possible, but like a Slayer Christmas album, it’s unlikely.
What’s more likely is that they’re better at marketing. Or unethical. Or just batshit crazy.
They use previous experiences and the latest science as their base for their decisions.
Because science and knowledge. It’s ok to have personal opinions. But facts are facts.
They have a proven track record of solving the problems you’re dealing with.
Not only for themselves. But for a wide range of people.
-J
You have back pain.
The podiatrist says you need orthotics.
The physiotherapist says you need dry needling.
The chiropractor says your back needs releasing.
The personal trainer says you need to get stronger.
The therapist says you need to work on your mind.
The surgeon says you need a surgery.
The yoga teacher says you need to stretch.
The massage therapist says you need a massage.
And Tony says you need to eat more Frosted Flakes.
We can’t all be right.
But the fact that you’re getting wide-ranging opinions is a sign of a society with an over-specialisation problem.
And often, this can all occur within the same profession.
Which is a good enough reason to get a second opinion.
-J
Prolonged sitting (or any passive activity) is terrible news for the cardiovascular system, metabolism, strength and muscle mass. Regardless of how we boil it. Even if you hit the recommended weekly activity guidelines (2-5 hours of moderate intensity or 1.25-2.5 hours vigorous intensity).
So that kind of sucks. But here’s a thick slice of hope.
Brief periods of activity (1-2 minutes) every 20-30 minutes can undo most, if not all, of the negativity of sitting. And perhaps then some.
Is it convenient? Hell no.
I get it. If I am deep into work, the last thing I feel like doing is getting off my chair. But I honestly can’t think of a good reason not to do it.
-J
When setting goals, it’s the upside of reaching those goals that get most, if not all, the focus. The promise of a fitter, stronger, more energetic body understandably steals our attention.
But in doing so, we ignore the downsides of getting and maintaining the goals we’ve set.
Before you carve your goals in marble, ask yourself:
What are the downsides you have to endure to get to your goals? Are you willing to take on those downsides?
If you are, excellent, go forth. Carve the marble.
If not, still excellent. You now have the freedom to explore new goals. Goals with hardships you’re more willing to accept.
It’s easier to put up with the downsides when you know what to expect.
-J
When dealing with chronic pain, it might be tempting to stop physical activity, especially when exercise increases the pain. But on the scale of best to worst ideas, stopping physical activity altogether is somewhere just below communism. As in, not excellent.
Being physically active contributes to both physical and psychological well-being. Both of these are important for managing and overcoming chronic pain. So instead of stopping altogether, the goal is to find a level of physical activity you can tolerate
Reintroduce exercise at a level you feel comfortable doing without fear. Where you sit in this fear meter depends on your psychological makeup. Some of us are naturally more anxious and fearful and need a gentle start. While others are more like Fonzie, aaayyy.
The same rule goes for pain. As we established in the previous blog, chronic pain rarely equates to physical damage. Find the level of pain you can tolerate during exercise without lighting up your nervous system like Nakatomi Plaza.
For most people staying below 5 out of 10 is a good starting point. But some have to go as low as 1, whereas Fonzie could go higher. As with fear, there’s no hard and fast rule, as it really depends on you.
-J
In 2012 I did, what I’d now call, a stupid, ego-fueled workout. In the middle of it, I felt a twinge in my low back, freaked the shit out and went home. The following day I woke up with nagging back pain.
That morning I had this heavy sinking feeling of “nothing will ever be the same.” As if I’d just been told that I’d been randomly chosen to sit in a live electric chair that afternoon. Looking back at it now with the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years, it was a proper overreaction if there ever was one. But I didn’t know any better.
The first physiotherapist I saw couldn’t help me (understandably because all my back needed was time to heal). So after a few appointments, he sent me for a scan with an urgency as if I was about to give birth to an asteroid.
According to the scan, I had three or four (I forget) disc bulges in my low back. Reading that felt like I had now been chosen to sit in two live electric chairs simultaneously. While being forced to parent a growing asteroid.
Those experiences and the years that followed all contributed to the back pain story I was telling myself. Unrepairable, broken and forever doomed.
I stopped training for a while. I tried Pilates, stretching, movement work, core strength, eastern medicine… If it was at least borderline legal, I probably tried it.
Then, in 2018 I saw a chiropractor. Not because he was a chiropractor but because he was the only clinician within a 25km radius with the strength training qualifications I was looking for. I was done being poked on the table.
He was the first person to say that there was nothing wrong with my back. Unlike others, he didn’t tell me to stop doing anything.
That interaction and the other two that followed changed the back pain story I was telling myself. My back was resilient and strong. It wasn’t broken. I started feeling better. I was more confident doing exercises and movements I had been scared of for years because he helped me to change my pain story.
Here’s where it’s at.
The stories we tell about our pain and injuries affect our pain. The circumstances around the time of our injury can leave long-lasting, debilitating mental scars. We must consciously work to change the stories we tell ourselves about our pain and ourselves.
Anyways. Matt works in Sydney, hit him up. It sounds like hyperbole, but he changed my life. And I’ve referred countless Sydney-based clients his way ever since.
-J
How you eat plays a big part in your immune system. When you have an injury (or illness, for that matter), your immune system doses you up with some good ol’ inflammation to help the healing process. Once the injury’s healed, the immune system takes its foot off the inflammation pump.
Most of the time.
Living like Winston can mess up the immune system, so it doesn’t know which way is east. Like an old friend oblivious to social cues, inflammation hangs around long after the (healing) party’s finished. This contributes to ongoing low-grade inflammation, which can make the nervous system more sensitive to pain.
A poor diet also negatively affects mental health and reduces stress tolerance. Which then further contributes to a sensitive nervous system and reduced pain tolerance. It’s a vicious cycle.
Now I could harp on forever about which specific foods are the best for reducing chronic pain. Instead, I rather leave that to the experts who study these things.
But, focusing mostly on the principles of the Mediterranean diet would do a lot of good in our fight against chronic pain.