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This post was originally written for and shared through my Kinsei-Do Fitness Nuggets newsletter in February 2022.
Not everybody may have the desire to live well into their 80s or 90s - I sure do! - but I can't imagine anybody would not want to be healthy and well until kicking the bucket. And thus we keep looking for the secret weapon, the magic pill or whatever, that will keep us healthy into old age. Well, guess what, this secret weapon already exists, and it's so simple that it's dismissed or ignored by many, especially in the "modern" world: It's called walking. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers observed a representative sample of American adults over 40, and found that those who took an average of 8000 steps a day had a 51% lower risk of all cause mortality compared to those who only got 4000 steps a day! Hiking that number up even further to 12000 steps further decreased the mortality risk, but not in a proportionate amount. And as someone who usually gets 7000 to 8000 steps a day quite easily, and 10000 steps with a bit more deliberate effort, I can tell you that getting those additional 4000 steps a day regularly and consistently will - if you work a typical desk job - be quite challenging! The good news however is that the pace of these steps doesn't seem to matter very much, so you don't need to be jogging or going on strenuous hikes if that's not your cup of tea. What counts is that you move it, move it! And if that's not enough reason for you, or you're wondering when you should squeeze a 20-30 minute walk per day into your busy schedule, how about right after lunch? Not only will doing so help you to get to your 8000 steps, but there's also a host of other benefits:
Happy walking, my friends! Would you like to receive more health and performance tips like these? Put your email in the form at the top of the page and you'll get the very next one!
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Let's take a lead from good old Cristiano Ronaldo today, and let's talk about hydration, specifically water.
Most of the time when people (and coaches) discuss nutrition and the importance of a healthy, balanced diet, we are thinking about calories and macronutrients (carbs, proteins and fats). And that, of course, makes sense, because your brain and your muscles need energy (typically derived from the carbs and fats you consume) to do what they do. However, there is another important factor in our body's ability to perform - water. Although water has no energy, it is essential for our body to function properly. What's the big deal? Our bodies' cells consist mostly of water, and thus having too little of it will have an immediate and significant impact on your performance and health. If you are even mildly dehydrated, problems arise such as:
Tell me what to do, Coach! To avoid these impacts and hydrate optimally, aim to drink about 2 to 2.5 liters of water during the first 10 hours of your day, which comes out to about one glass per hour. Personally, I like (and feel as if I need) to get two or even three big glasses of water in my system immediately after waking up, as I always feel very thirsty after not drinking anything for the 8+ hours of time in bed, but you may have different preferences, so as long as you aim for getting in 2 or more liters by mid to late afternoon, you should be fine. Why the first 10 hours? Why not anytime in the day? During the first 10 hours after waking, the kidneys filter fluids efficiently, whereas later in the day the output is reduced, so you might find yourself waking up in the middle of the night to…you know. If this is a frequent occurrence, try to hydrate during the day, limit fluid intake 2-3 hours before sleep, and if drinking at night, sip slowly. The rate and amount of fluid can influence the need to urinate. Do you need to drink more when exercising and/or in hot weather? The obvious answer is: yes. But how much more exactly? In addition to the 2+ liters mentioned earlier, as a guideline while exercising, use the Galpin Equation: Consume your body weight (in kg) × 2 in mL every 15-20 mins. In hot temperatures or while sweating, increase the amount by 50-100%. So a 75kg man (e.g. me) should consume about 150ml for every 15-20 minutes of exercising, or about 500ml per hour. Are there any other factors that impact hydration needs? There certainly are plenty, but one that is probably relevant to a lot of people out there is caffeine intake. Caffeine is a diuretic, so rather than aid in your hydration, it dehydrates your body. Thus, aim to drink 2x the amount of water (if possible with electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium) as caffeine you consume to prevent dehydration. For example, for every cup of coffee, drink two glasses of water with low/no-sugar electrolytes, or add a pinch of salt. And so, while the debate over whether Ronaldo or Messi is the greatest football player in the world may rage on, there really should be no debate about throwing out the Coca Cola and reaching for the Agua!
Source: Huberman Labs
This post was originally written for and shared through my monthly newsletter, the Kinsei-Do Fitness Nuggets, in January 2022.
I'm sure you're familiar with the phenomenon of jetlag, and have sure experienced its annoying effects before. But did you know you don't have to leave your time zone or travel anywhere to be hit by jetlag? In fact, more likely than not, you are experiencing jetlag symptoms far more often than you think, and not only that, you're voluntarily causing your body to have them! "Social jetlag" occurs when you sleep and wake up on a (very) different schedule on weekends compared to regular weekdays - or when you engage in shift-work - and it can really mess your body and brain up! Let's say you typically go to bed around 10pm and wake around 6am to go to work or school, but on Friday and Saturday nights, you "live it up" and instead go to bed at 1am or 2am, and then sleep in until 10am the next morning... well, you're essentially putting your body through a four hour time zone shift (as much as if you were to travel from Indonesia to the Middle East, or from the West Coast of the US to the East Coast!). Needless to say, this can be detrimental to your health, with sleep disorders and digestive issues some of the first problems to show up. So what can you do about that? Ideally, you try to avoid putting your body through this shift as much as possible, by sleeping and waking on a relatively consistent schedule, regardless of whether it's a working day or a weekend. But if that sounds utterly uncool and "what's the point of having a weekend"-ish to you, there are still things you can do to help your body deal with the adjustment better: 1) See and avoid light at the right times: expose yourself to (natural, if possible) light in the morning as soon as you can after waking up (on a Saturday and Sunday). But also avoid looking at bright lights (including screens) late in the evening, thus trying to keep your body clock to remain in its "weekday time zone". 2) Eat and exercise at the same times as you would on weekdays, so that means taking your breakfast soon after waking up on Saturday and Sunday, and not having your dinner (much) later than you would on a regular weekday. Give it a try and you should find that Monday mornings will perhaps get a little bit easier! We've probably all been there before: you start a well structured, progressive training plan (either given to you by a coach, or an app, magazine, etc), you stick to it for a couple of sessions, but then...
So you abandon your well structured plan (and ignore your coach), and go back to "program hopping". Sounds familiar? Don't feel too bad or guilty about it, because - in spite of knowing better - I too am guilty of such "chase the new shiny thing" behavior. Which is why I'm tell you that, for the past six weeks, I've been able to beat this urge and stick to my "boring" and repetitive (read: well structured) training plan, and it's paying off nicely! I've been focusing primarily on getting stronger in a very small number of movements, namely squats, deadlifts, pullups and overhead presses, and am starting to move loads that would have made me pretty nervous a few months ago with confidence! I've set myself the goal of hitting a 100kg back squat by mid of next year - I have never achieved more than 90kg before - and I feel I'm on a good way. My Training Plan I chose an 8 week training block duration as an appropriate mesocycle length, something that would allow me to incorporate progressive overloading, while at the same time not being too long so as not to lose sight of the end. With the goal being to increase my absolute strength, I broke that down into 4 blocks of 2 weeks each, with 2 training days per movement as follows:
Next I planned out the approximate loads I would use for all the movements except pullups in each of the 4 blocks:
And finally, using my best guess current 1 Rep Max (1RM) numbers, I converted the percentages to actual kilogram values, so I wouldn't need to think or break out the calculator once I hit the gym. Week 1-2: Foundation
Week 3-4: Building Strength
Week 5-6: Strength Development
Week 7-8: Peak Strength
And voila, I've stuck to this plan pretty closely - of course I have missed a session here and there occasionally, life happens after all! - and as of the time of writing this, I am in Week 6 and hitting all of the numbers with confidence and consistency! Can't wait for a "test week" at the end of Week 8 to see how my strength has developed, but I'm quite confident there will be new PRs (personal records) in at least 2, if not 3 or even all 4, of these lifts! |
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