Category: Daily

When I was in the prime of my youth, a twenty-something whippersnapper, my approach to training was a steam train running on obsessive-compulsive behaviour. I had my training days set and would jump through any steam train-sized hoops to not have to miss a workout.

And whenever the inevitable would happen and I couldn’t do a workout, I’d bathe in misery. Obsessing over how missing a workout would put a major chip on my overall progress.

Fast forward to today, and I still carry part of that attitude with me. I still cast my training times in stone. But I no longer shower myself with guilt when I miss a workout.

If I would, unhappiness would be my constant companion in life. With kids and other grownup-sounding things that come with trying to be an adult, it’s impossible to tick all three weekly workout boxes every single week.

Honestly, it’s a miracle if I get in three weeks of consistent training each month. Two and a bit seems to be the standard for now.

And as annoying as it is, after a certain point I realised that no matter how much I hate having to miss workouts, it’s going to keep happening. I had to lower my expectations. To move away from perfection.

On the upside, all of this made me realise how little those missed workouts or even a week matter. As long as I am being consistent when I can.

I might not be the strongest or fittest version of myself right now. But considering how often I have to miss workouts, I’m doing alright. And I’m still happy with what I see in the mirror.

That’s a characteristically long-winded way of saying that good enough is enough. Especially if striving for perfection stops you from showing up.

-J

Here’s the first post in this series on over-breathing / low carbon dioxide tolerance.

And here’s the second.

Reducing, and eventually getting rid of over-breathing, is all about teaching your body to tolerate more carbon dioxide.

First, if you’re currently mouth-breathing, it’s time to stop.

Done? Swe’heet. You win.

Then, here are two other breathing exercises that’ll help. Courtesy of Patrick McKeown of the Oxygen Advantage fame. I’ve listed them here with the easiest first.

With both exercises, start by doing them when you’re sitting or lying down. Once you feel ready, practice them when moving around. And eventually try doing them while exercising.

1. Try taking in less air with each breath. A tad shorter inhales, while still keeping exhales normal.
2. Breath pauses. Breathe normal, pitch nose for 5 seconds, breathe normal for 15 seconds, repeat.

I recommend tracking your progress with McKeown’s BOLT screen. Unlike the name, the screen itself isn’t baked with intensity. It’s quick and simple for anyone to do. Even me.

Obvious warning here. Breathing exercises are money for most people. But if you have a serious health condition, or happen to be in the first trimester of pregnancy (go you!), they’re not for you. Talk to your doctor. They know.

Even more obvious warning. Don’t mess around with the breath when driving, swimming, having a bath, controlling a hot air balloon or handling a chainsaw, etc. I know you know this. But some people…

-J

Here’s the previous post for some context.

About those downsides of over-breathing.

When the muscles, joints and stuff are not getting enough oxygen they’ll have a lower stress tolerance. Which is not great for resiliency.

This same lack of oxygen reduces how much energy you have available for demanding physical and cognitive tasks. Making it harder to keep up on the tango floor (it’s about the body and the mind).

Over-breathing also leads to a continuous loop where your body thinks it’s in constant danger. Heightening the sense of anxiety and reducing psychological stress tolerance.

It’s no surprise then that there’s an established link between eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive behaviour and over-breathing.

How to not over-breathe? That’s coming up tomorrow.

-J

Our carbon dioxide levels, not oxygen, regulate our breathing. We need a certain level of Co2 in our body to release oxygen from the blood and into the cell. Where it’s then used for creating energy for both physical and mental tasks.

For this system to work well, we need to tolerate a certain amount of Co2 in the body. When our Co2 tolerance is low, it leads to over-breathing and a feeling of breathlessness. Simply because we can’t release the oxygen we’re inhaling.

This can have all kinds of yucky mental and physical reverberations. From anxiety to low energy in training. And everything in between.

More on this next week.

– J

There is no true end goal for our strength and fitness. As much as we’d like to think otherwise.

There are stops and milestones along the way. But we never get to that place.

At times, we mistake a stop or a milestone as a sign we’ve arrived. But then, we get older. The body changes.

And what worked before now needs tweaking. Recalibrating. We need to unlearn old habits to make room for strategies and tactics that work with this new version of us.

It’s a continuous, unescapable cycle that keeps repeating until we’re all pushing daisies.

Here’s the good news. When you build a strong foundation of training and health principles that work for you, the heavier you can rely on those throughout the changes you face.

-J

The higher your training stress tolerance, the more you’ll get out of the time you put into your workouts. But it’s not the training that makes you fitter and stronger. It’s how your body responds to the training.

You want the stress from training to be high, but within the limits of what the body can handle.

Two great ways to increase your training stress tolerance: improve your work capacity (or in less dickish terms, improve your aerobic conditioning), prioritise sleep, eat real food, and stay cool. As in, find ways to manage your life stress.

Your overall health mirrors the progress you’ll see.

-J

There are days that, despite our best intentions, don’t turn out the way we planned.

We might feel frustrated. Disappointed. Even angry.

Or we can accept it as an inevitable part of life.

And know that our acceptance of it is a sign of progress.

– J

Casual walking, especially on flat ground, isn’t challenging enough to get the Zone 2 heart and health benefits. It isn’t enough to get and keep the heart rate at 60-70% of its max. For most people.

To get around it, you could find a place with more hills. But that’s not always convenient. Especially if you live in the Netherlands. Or in any of the other flat countries I can’t think of right now.

The easiest workaround is to put on a light backpack.

Sure, you could also just pick up the pace.

Personally, I rather wear a backpack so I don’t have to obsess over the pace.

– J

Jobs that require a high level of physical potential, require stricter training methods. Because that’s what allows you to be at your absolute best when the phone rings.

The same goes for most sports. Even darts. And yes, curling.

But if you’re training for health, longevity, and the summer when the clothes come off? You have way more wriggle room to choose what you do in your training.

-J

It’s easy to get caught up in chasing the numbers. Adding more weight or squeezing in a few more reps.

It’s only once you get injured that you realise how you’ve pushed a bit too hard. Went a bit too far. Took your training more seriously than it deserves.

So you rest and recover. Begin to feel better. You start again. You get caught up in it. Add more weight and squeeze a few more reps. And get injured again.

Some people live their whole lives in this cycle. A chase for the number, for the sake of the number.

But there’s a point of enough. A point of diminishing returns. The numbers only matter as long they correlate with your health and performance outside of the gym.

Otherwise, the numbers have zero value.

-J