By
on Friday, April 10th, 2009 |
No CommentsIf you are a zebra grazing on the savannah, and you see the shadow of a lion on the grass. Your sympathetic nervous system kicks into gear, taking the blood away from the digestive system and sending it to the muscles so that you can run fast. This is the flight-or-fight reaction.
Very important for survival.
But not so important when we are cut off in traffic, or in an argument with somebody. So when our sympathetic nervous system is engaged, and we are ready to fight or run, our muscles tense.
See the connection with back pain?
We react to stress by tensing, and we stay tense keeping our back in spasm, which leads to chronic back pain.
Stress has all sorts of other bad effects, for example, suppressing our immune system, which lowers our defense against diseases.
Read a few sample pages from the book on Amazon here:
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Third Edition
It is very interesting. I will write more about how to reduce stress later.
By
on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 |
No CommentsI am embarrassed to tell you this. But I have good excuses.
I moved to Brooklyn ten months ago. Since then I have not done any real cardiovascular workout until this morning.
Pretty bad.
Anyway, I have started again and that is the important thing.
It takes just a few minutes to do, but is supposed to be better for you than long slow cardio.
The argument is that our ancestors on the savannah would run in bursts chasing some animal, so that is the way we should run.
The other side of the argument is that they only lived to about 35, while we, sitting around watching TV live into our 70s.
Anyway, I do it because it makes me feel much more awake and strong throughout the day. So I would say that it is worth doing. Also, it does engage the core to help support the spine. And it is much easier on the joints to sprint a little compared to running for miles. And it takes much less time.
This is what I do.
I go down the hill on 14th Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, a block away from where I live. I run up the hill to the end of the block, then walk back down to the bottom of the hill.
Repeat a few times.
It is enough if at first you walk briskly up the hill and then more slowly down to the bottom of the hill to catch your breath. The idea is to get deep into your lungs.
What if you don’t have a hill nearby?
Just sprint for half a minute and then walk for two or three minutes and repeat that a few times. The hill just makes it a little more challenging.
