Rethinking Exercise as a Source of Immediate Rewards

I was going to skip my daily swim the other morning. I had already walked three miles with a friend and taken my dog to the park for his exercise. I was really tired, my back was sore, I had a column to write and lots to do around the house.

But I knew from past experience that I would feel much better after 40 minutes of swimming laps. So in I went. And, yes, I did feel better — not just refreshed, but more energetic, clearheaded and better prepared than I would have been otherwise to tackle the day’s essentials.

Michelle Segar, who directs the Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center at the University of Michigan, would say I had reframed my exercise experience, making it ever more likely that I would continue to swim — even on days when I didn’t feel like doing it — because I viewed it as a positive, restorative activity. Indeed, exercise is something I do, not because I have to or was told to, but because I know it makes me feel better.

Dr. Segar, a psychologist who specializes in helping people adopt and maintain regular exercise habits, is the author of “No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness.” Her research has shown that even people who say they hate to exercise or have repeatedly fallen off the exercise wagon can learn to enjoy it and stick with it.

Three years ago, I wrote about research by Dr. Segar and others showing that promoting physical activity to prevent or control disease, lose weight or sculpt one’s body, and prescribing doses as if exercise were medicine, wouldn’t get most people to do it and keep doing it.

“Health is not an optimal way to make physical activity relevant and compelling enough for most people to prioritize in their hectic lives,” Dr. Segar said in an interview.

Though it seems counterintuitive, studies have shown that people whose goals are weight loss and better health tend to spend the least amount of time exercising. That is true even for older adults, a study of 335 men and women ages 60 to 95 showed.

Rather, immediate rewards that enhance daily life — more energy, a better mood, less stress and more opportunity to connect with friends and family — offer far more motivation, Dr. Segar and others have found.

“I like to think of physical activity as a way to revitalize and renew ourselves, as fuel to better enjoy and succeed at what matters most,” she said.

In her new book, she describes strategies to get even the most sedentary people off their duffs, starting with ways to overcome past failures and negative feelings about exercise that make it feel more like punishment than pleasure.

Instead of the recommended half hour a day or 10-minute doses of moderate exercise three times a day on most days, Dr. Segar suggests focusing on the idea that “everything counts” — taking the stairs instead of the elevator, weeding the garden, dancing, even walking to the water cooler.

“We should count any and every opportunity to move that exists in the space of our lives as valid movement worth doing,” she wrote. She advocates adopting a food marketer’s approach to workouts: Enjoy “snacks” of exercise that can entice gradual increases in how much is “consumed.” And like the calories in food snacks, it all adds up.

Dr. Segar likens the choices to Baskin-Robbins’s 31 flavors: “There are so many options — ‘What do I feel like doing today?’ — then picking the ‘flavor’ of physical activity that feels right for that day and moment.” The neuroscience of reward has shown that this approach can foster and reinforce positive feelings about being active.

Also important is giving oneself permission to make self-care through physical activity a priority. Dr. Segar wrote: “When we do not prioritize our own self-care because we are busy serving others, our energy is not replenished. Instead, we are exhausted, and our ability to be there for anyone or anything else is compromised.”

People who make physical activity a priority don’t necessarily have more time than others. Rather, they make sure to schedule time for it because they know it enhances their performance and the quality of their daily lives. It has been shown, for example, that schoolchildren who are given exercise breaks are better able to to pay attention and learn.

Citing a “paradox of self-care,” Dr. Segar wrote, “The more energy you give to caring for yourself, the more energy you have for everything else.” She suggests viewing physical activity as a power source for everything else you want to accomplish. “What sustains us, we sustain,” she wrote.

To those who feel they are neglecting family to fit in exercise, she suggests taking them along. The routine can help foster a culture of physical activity at an early age. When my brother and I were young, my father took us on his weekend walks. He taught us to swim as preschoolers and launched a lifetime of enjoyment in the water. Now in our 70s, both of us continue to appreciate what physical activity brings to everything else in our lives. We feel like slugs when we can’t exercise.

Even those with the best intentions often set themselves up for failure by establishing rigid exercise goals. They try to do too much, and when they can’t keep it up they give up and chalk it up as another exercise failure. In place of a performance goal, Dr. Segar suggests setting a “learning goal” — learning to be flexible and cutting yourself some slack when needed.

Consistency trumps quantity when trying to establish a lifetime of fitness. When a last-minute task cuts into a planned workout, you should not skip the session altogether. Even 10 or 20 minutes of activity is better than none.

It also helps to anticipate challenges to your exercise routine, using an “if-then” exercise tool. If, for example, you are too tired after work to go to the gym, think about a replacement activity you might enjoy, like taking a sunset walk alone or with a partner, friend, child, dog or even a neighbor’s dog.

Or, in the future, go to sleep and get up a half hour earlier to fit in physical activity before life’s demands get in the way.

Article Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/rethinking-exercise-as-a-source-of-immediate-rewards/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

One Big Problem with the Hustle Mentality

If you are a hard-working hustler, you may find yourself hustling in the wrong direction.

“The trouble with men today is that they simply don’t think.”

This quote, from the Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer, really resonates with me. After all, it’s easy to distract ourselves from pain, boredom, or important questions. With mobile phones and tablets, we can stay connected 24/7 and consume information non-stop. The scary part is that the late great Dr. Schweitzer passed away in 1965, long before the personal computer and iPhone were invented. If the truth of this quote was evident in 1965, I wonder what the good Doctor would say about us now.

I’m as guilty as anyone. When I’m having trouble solving a problem, I find myself checking email again, subconsciously hoping that a distraction will pop up that prevents me from getting any real work done. Or I’ll open Facebook, and scroll mindlessly through the newsfeed. There are tons of tools and techniques that can help avoid this sort of behavior, all beyond the scope of this article.

Similarly, having a “hustle, hustle, go, go, move forward” mentality can be dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that work ethic separates great from good. Some of my greatest personal achievements can be credited to pure hard work and grit. But the assumption the people who are touting the “hustle” mentality often fail to mention is that you have to be doing something worthwhile, or on your best path to success. While my greatest accomplishments can be credited to hard work and determination, my biggest blunders and time-wasting episodes were the result of a strategic mistake. These screw-ups and failures I’m referring to were not a result of poor execution, but failure to choose the best strategic path from the beginning.

For example, when I launched full speed into the development (and marketing) phase of a software program geared toward Personal Trainers, I failed to realize that there was already a very low-cost, non-industry specific application that was popular with my target market. Apparently I didn’t do a good job of vetting the competition. This is an obvious blunder, but the same types of mistakes in strategy and prioritization can creep into everyday life. If you aren’t careful, you may find yourself executing on tasks and “hustling” like a mad man while ignoring your highest priority goals.

I’m not saying hustle is a bad word.  What I’m advocating is spending at least as much time and energy on strategy as you do on “hustling.” When I reflect on the time and money wasted on terrible ideas or secondary priorities, I realize that there is no referee tallying up my “hustle points.” The hustle only has value if it breeds results — a fact so obvious that it gets forgotten.

The best way to ensure you are on the right path, and that your actions line up with your priorities, is to regularly zoom out. Other than an extended trip into the wilderness with no access to the internet, the best method I’ve tried is the Daily Priority Review.

If you are a hustler, you probably love To-Do Lists. Instead of launching into your list of tasks first thing each morning, review an attached Priority List first. The Priority List should be comprised of the top five most important things in your life, ranked from one to five in order of importance. Go as broad and obvious as you like. You’ll need to periodically reconstruct your list over time as priorities shift, and will find that you get better at articulating actionable priorities that align with your core values the more you do it. Try jotting your priorities down on a note card, and keep it next to (or attached to) the medium you use for task management (this works whether you use a digital device or good ol’ fashioned Sticky Notes.)

The point is to force yourself to become cognizant of the values, goals, and aspects of life that are most important to you and ensure that your daily “To-Do” list falls in line. I’ll stop there and leave the rest up to interpretation, because only you know what daily reminders will keep you focused on what is important. Otherwise, you are at risk for falling prey to the “hustle” mentality and hustling in exactly the wrong direction.

Article Source: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/one-big-problem-with-the-hustle-mentality-dg-2/

Caffeine Factor: The Ultimate Guide To Caffeine – Written By Elliot Reimers

Caffeine is one of the most commonplace stimulatory drugs ingested in everyday society, and with that often comes misuse and misinformation. Not surprisingly, when you walk into most any grocery or convenience store you’ll come across a plethora of “energy drinks” infused with copious amounts of caffeine. Many individuals just sort of nonchalantly sip on caffeine throughout the day, since coffee is pretty much the beverage of choice in everyday society.

That being said, if you use caffeine prudently and methodically it can be one of the most beneficial compounds to help you reach your performance and physique goals.

Read on as this guide will bring you everything you need to know about caffeine: What it is, how it works, the benefits and risks of it, and how to use it optimally.

What exactly is caffeine?

On a molecular level, caffeine is an alkaline, organic (i.e. carbon-based) compound that belongs to a class of substances called methylxanthines . Methylxanthines serve to stimulate the central nervous system (CNS) and heart, and they are naturally occurring in coffee beans, tea leaves, some fruits and other foods/plants.

The chemical nomenclature for caffeine is “1,3,7-trimethylxanthine” so some companies may use that on their ingredient label instead.

Physiologically speaking, methylxanthines serve as acetylcholinesterase and phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme inhibitors–the latter of which is where we derive most of the performance benefits from. PDE enzymes are responsible for the breakdown of key cell messengers called cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP).

Therefore, when PDE enzymes are inhibited, cAMP and cGMP levels increase and the metabolic processes in the cell are more rapid, and thus you feel stimulated.

Overview of the effects from stimulating the CNS

Many readers may recall that the CNS is comprised of the spinal cord and brain in humans, and it is the route to send and receive signals between every part of the body. Upon ingestion of PDE inhibitors/CNS stimulants, such as caffeine, degradation of cAMP and cGMP is decreased and the body is sent into a sort of “overdrive” mode.

The primary short-term effects of this are:

• Increased heart rate
• Psychostimulation
• Vasoconstriction
• Increased (albeit not significantly) metabolic rate
• Increased urination/excretion

The half-life of caffeine is rather short (about 3-6 hours) so it needs to be properly timed (which will be discussed further later on).

Some of these above effects are desirable, while others may not be very beneficial for performance enhancement (specifically vasoconstriction and frequent urination).

How caffeine can enhance athletic performance

Studies suggest that many of the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine come from its arousing effects via increases in catecholamine production and bronchodilation. (1, 2) In turn, this leads users to “feel” more amped up when they train and their rate of perceived exertion (RPE) decreases. (3, 4)

Essentially, you feel more able to work harder, longer and thus performance increases.  Obviously this is great for gym-goers as this often results in training improvements, such as more total weight lifted and increased calorie expenditure. On a more physiological (as opposed to psychological) level, caffeine may promote the thermic effect of meals and enhance carbohydrate and fatty-acid metabolism during exercise, however the literature on this is a bit underwhelming at this point. (5, 6)

That being said, caffeine does certainly appear to benefit those looking to shed off fat due to its aforementioned performance-enhancing benefits and a greater capacity to perform work.

Summary of benefits and drawbacks of using caffeine pre-workout

Caffeine is undoubtedly a worthwhile addition to your pre-workout supplement regimen, but it behooves you to use it according to your goals and specific training plans. For example, recreational and competitive bodybuilders have much to gain from caffeine usage, whether they’re looking to build muscle or shed fat. However, certain sport-specific skills require use of precise motor coordination, so for athletes caffeine may hamper performance during a competition.

Be cautious with your caffeine usage prior to sporting events if you tend to be jittery and/or anxious after taking it.

The main ergogenic benefits of caffeine appear to be mediated by:

• Increased catecholamine (especially adrenaline) production
• Bronchodilation
• Increased exogenous carbohydrate metabolism/utilisation
• Increased fatty acid oxidation

Possible side effects

Like any other drug, there are side effects/undesirable effects to be had from using caffeine, which may include:

• Dehydration and cramping
• Jitteriness, Nervousness, Irritability, Anxiety, etc.
• Increased plasma cortisol levels (this effect is reduced in healthy individuals) (7)

Now don’t think that you will experience all of those side effects just because you use caffeine. Most individuals will not experience a significant amount of these side effects if they’re smart and methodical about their usage. Moreover, these side effects are generally dose-dependent; if you don’t abuse caffeine, you will avoid most of them altogether. Like most any chemical, the difference between medicine and poison is in the dose.

This is good segue into the next section which will discuss just how much caffeine individuals should take and when they should take it.

Proper caffeine dosing

Do to its stimulatory nature, caffeine is a bit more complex than most supplements in regards to maximizing benefits while limiting side effects. Research contends that there is no significant dose-response relation when caffeine is ingested prior to exercise. [8] In essence, taking an excessive amount of caffeine doesn’t confer more benefits and may actually lead to more side effects.

The prudent thing to do is find the “sweet spot” dosage for yourself and cycle your use of caffeine so you don’t become dependent on it.

So just what is that “sweet spot” dosage you ask?

Research corroborates that, depending on the individuals own sensitivity to caffeine, the best doses range from 1-3mg per kilogram (kg) of bodyweight. [9] For those using the imperial system, a kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds. Therefore, a 220lb athlete (100kg) would use around 100-300mg of caffeine prior to exercise/competition. You may notice that the range for the recommended dose is rather wide, and this is why everyone will need to use some trial-and-error assessment of their own reaction to caffeine.

Start by using the minimum recommended dose based on your bodyweight and simply increase the dose if you don’t notice much performance enhancement.

Timing caffeine intake

Recall from earlier that caffeine has a half-life of 3-6 hours, so it is advised that you take your pre-workout dose of caffeine about 30-45 minutes beforehand. If you are training on a n empty stomach/fasted you could notice the effects even as quickly as 10-15 minutes after taking it. Most trainees/athletes like to eat a pre-workout meal, and in that case it will likely be best to take caffeine about an hour or two after you’ve eaten.

This should allow enough time for your pre-workout meal to digest and minimize any acute gastrointestinal upset that may occur from caffeine. Again, trial and error is a crucial component to optimizing your intake of caffeine.

Does source matter?

Caffeine is a discrete chemical, so whether it comes from natural (i.e. coffee, tea, chocolate, etc) or synthetic sources (pill/powder form, energy drinks, supplements, soda, etc) it won’t make much of a difference. The most common form of supplemental caffeine is caffeine anhydrous and can be purchased from most any health supplement store. For the idealist, supplemental caffeine powder may be best since you can manipulate exactly how much caffeine you take in by using specific amounts.

However, most energy drinks and pre-workout products will include the caffeine content on their label. For coffee lovers, the general rule of thumb is that a “strong” cup of black coffee contains about 200mg of caffeine.

How to overcome desensitization

Caffeine has a caveat in that the more you use it, the less sensitive you become to its effects. This in turn gradually increases the amount of caffeine needed to achieve performance benefits. It’s not uncommon to come across habitual coffee drinkers that don’t feel a thing after drinking an entire pot, or they get a short-lived burst of energy and crash about 30 minutes later. It’s safe to say that if you’re at the point where you can guzzle down a few shots of espresso and not notice much, you probably need to back off the caffeine for awhile. Another cue that it’s time to cut your caffeine intake is when the side effects start to outweigh the benefits.

There are a medley of variables that come into play when figuring out how to properly cycle caffeine use to avoid becoming “stimmed out,” but a baseline recommendation is that for every 8-12 weeks of using caffeine you should aim to take 1 to 2 weeks off of it (and most any other stimulants).

Some individuals may notice they tolerate caffeine rather well for months on end, in which case I would say don’t fret too much about cycling off if you’re achieving great results. On the contrary, certain people may need to cycle off caffeine every 3-4 weeks or they become rather dependent on it (i.e. daily functioning becomes daunting without caffeine). If you are only taking caffeine a couple times per week, you could likely keep it in your regimen indefinitely without cycling off at all. Again, it’s wise to listen to your body and experiment.

Once you learn how you respond to caffeine’s effects the process of fine-tuning your dose and usage will be much easier.

Should you use caffeine?

The research on caffeine is rather positive so it is hard to argue against the postulation that most athletic and physique endeavors can be enhanced by using it. For the majority of trainees/athletes though, caffeine needs to be assessed by the user through anecdotal experience to see whether the effects will help them achieve their goals or not. At the end of the day it will be up to the user to decide if they like the way it affects them.

Furthermore, like with most any other supplement or drug, it is best to consult with a licensed physician prior to beginning your usage of such products, especially those with pre-existing medical conditions. Caffeine at sufficiently high doses (>5g) can be lethal, so please be cautious with your use of it.

Summing it up

Hopefully this guide has given you a greater grasp on how to optimize your usage of this popular drug. It’s hard not to recommend caffeine to most any gym-goer, even if you’re just a weekend warrior looking for a little extra pep in your step after a hard week at the office. Then again, you are reading this article on Simplyshredded, so I’d surmise you’re a bit more serious than the average Joe. Now go drink some caffeine and get your sweat on!

Article Source:http://www.simplyshredded.com/caffeine.html
 

The ultimate guide to caffeine!

The Difference between GOOD and GREAT

Article Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8FQQUHYJvY


‘What’s Your Definition Of ‘Great’?

How Bad Do You Want It?

So..how bad do YOU want it?