Your Monthly Dose – June 2019
Health comes in many forms. By understanding what matters most and engaging in your health I believe you can live a full life.
Exercise: It seems obvious as I write this but my bias and work in exercise probably shrouded my ability to recognize it. If you have a long term goal of losing and maintaining weight it's important to pick habits you can maintain over the long-term. I have had no trouble discouraging diets as they are hard to maintain and cause a yo-yo effect on a person's weight. This principle applies to exercise as well. Strength training and high intensity exercise are great for your health and, although diet has the largest effect on weight, exercise still exerts a force. Try your best to choose an exercise mix you can sustain over the long run so that your food intake and net calories can be maintained. No crash exercise programs:)
Myth Buster: I loved this article on circulation and massage for numerous reasons. This particular author has refined his writing over the years to make it more impervious to special interest groups who don’t like him questioning treatment modalities. In this particular article he looks at the long hold assumption that massage improves circulation. He makes it clear he isn’t out to bash massage, he instead questions our reasoning and provides rational explanations for what we see, feel and hear.
Mental health: it's not the first and it won't be the last discussion on how cell phones affect our mental well being. I particularly like the note in a Google report, “mobile devices loaded with social media, email and news apps” create “a constant sense of obligation, generating unintended personal stress.” We probably bemoaned the telephone and TV for the same reasons but this doesn't mean we shouldn't reflect on our usage and how it makes us feel. Checkout the takeaways at the end of the NYT article.
Sleep: I have probably linked to Daniel Gotenburg's Ted talk once before but he also has an app...perhaps smart phones do offer some good:). I downloaded the app and used the alarm. I can’t see how the yearly purchase is worth it but the tips on good sleep hygiene are worthwhile. If you are interested in sleep knowledge check it out, but if you want a good alarm the function I love is the simple bedtime app on iPhones. It reminds you to go to bed and helps get you on schedule. Personally it has worked really well.
Thanks as always!
Dave
Articles:
1. Put down your phone NYT
2. Circulation and massage
3. Bedtime app
Recent Blog Posts
1. Nutrition Challenge Summary - lots of good information
2. My thoughts on improving flexibility for your sport
3. Do you need core training for squash
4. 2019 Learning plan
5. Acupuncture in physiotherapy
Books I am currently reading
1. In her words, Eleanor Roosevelt - loved it. Her own memoirs, articles, and letters from 1920-1960.
2. Traitor to his class. The privileged life and radical presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His life story. Enjoying the history lesson thus far:)
