Black Friday ŌURA Sale - 20% good through Midnight on Monday, November 28, 2016

The ŌURA ring is by far the best wearable on the market in terms of providing high quality sleep metrics and spot of recovery recommendations.  I encourage you to give ŌURA a try.  The below deal cannot be beat. Just cruise over to ŌURA and enter the code "BlackFriday" during checkout.

Enjoy!

What causes you to wake up in the middle of the night?

The below Time post details some of the common reasons which cause certain people to wake up in the middle of the night.  It is a good read.

You Asked: Why Do I Always Wake Up at 3 A.M.?


Cheers,


Chuck

More on sleep

I know, I have been a tad overboard on posting articles about sleep.  I do this, as I do not believe the mainstream recognizes just how important sleep is. So here we go.


Sleep Well this National Employee Health & Wellness Day

Enjoy!


Chuck

It is not uncommon for athletes to experience poor sleep quality

The below Finish study was based on tracking the sleep quality of 107 professional athletes.  I highly encourage everyone, athlete or not, to get a better handle on the quantity and quality of their sleep.

There are lots of sleep trackers on the market such as the wearables made by Fitbit, Withings, and Jawbone.  There are also bed-based systems such as Beddit and Eight.  My current favorite due to the form factor, accuracy, and the meaningfulness of the feedback is the Oura Ring.

Sleep disorders common in athletes, but easily fixable

So start tracking.  Your health with thank you.


Enjoy!



Chuck

It is OK to kick off your shoes and relax

We live in exciting times with exponential technology advances.  The downside is we are inundated with digital content which floods our senses and often revs up our fight or flight response (aka spikes your cortisol).  This wreaks havoc on your health and well being.  So work on taking naps, turning off your electronic devices and just relax. Relaxing is not something you should be ashamed of.

See the below article for yet another reason why you should focus more on getting high quality sleep.

In our busy world, take time to do absolutely nothing

Enjoy!


Chuck

Sleep is so darn important

Sleep has one of the most important impacts on one's quality of life. Despite this, most people fail to understand its importance.  Below is a short but good article which touches on some of the reasons why you should try to obtain adequate sleep from a duration and quality standpoint.

Evolution Of: Understanding Sleep


Enjoy!


Chuck

The science of nutrition is complicated

A good read on why you should not believe every headline which purports to reveal the latest breakthrough in nutrition. Nearly all are based on seriously flawed science. 

I asked 8 researchers why the science of nutrition is so messy. Here’s what they said.

Enjoy!

Chuck

Fat is your friend

I realize the below is one of those n=1 experiments, but notice this 96 year old super athlete is high on fat and not following one of those silly diets which are based on the half-baked theory that saturated fats cause heart disease.

The Healthiest Old Person on the Planet Explains How to Stay in Shape

Enjoy!


Chuck

The Oura Ring and Sleep Cycles

I had planned to do an extensive writeup on the Oura Ring, but was waiting until I had at least two weeks of use under my belt.  I will get there, but in the interim, Ben Greenfield did a thorough job of providing an overview of the Oura's capabilities and the nitty gritty of sleep stages. It is a long read but contains a lot of great information.

   Everything You Need To Know About Sleep Cycles (And Four Ways To Hack Your Sleep Cycles)


Enjoy!


Chuck

Exercise pays dividends as you age

There have been a lot of articles which expound on the benefits of exercise as you age.  Below is yet another with a focus on muscle health. So no more excuses.....get the burn on.

Exercise Makes Your Muscles Work Better With Age

Cheers,


Chuck

The true value of wearables

It is estimated that about half of the users of wearables stop using them after six months or less.  Despite this, there are still a huge number of users contributing to a flood of data.  This data is highly valuable to third parties, aka observational studies. These studies should yield insights into which human behaviors are the biggest drivers of health.

Below is a good piece which touches on this concept.

How a Fitbit might make you a bit fit

Burning the candle at both ends

I know quite a few people who are burning the candle at both ends.  They feel they have to work harder and harder with each passing day and quite often, do not get adequate sleep.

Some recent research, as outlined in the below Fast Company article, shows that six hours of sleep is no better than zero sleep. Everyone is different, but sleeping for eight hours per night is a good target.

Why Six Hours Of Sleep Is As Bad As None At All

I personally need between 7.5 and 8 hours of sleep per night. I also feel strongly that the quality of sleep matters. A decent activity tracker such as the Oura Ring or mattress-based system such as Eight can help quantify the quality of your sleep.

Enjoy!


Chuck

Want more brain cells?

It would appear that you should skip the gym and head out for a run if you want more brain cells.  At least that is what recent study suggests. Either way, runners should engage in strength training, especially if you want to make sure you are in tip top shape for endurance events.

Exercise Makes You Grow New Brain Cells—But Only The Right Kind Of Exercise

Enjoy!


Chuck

Saturated Fat Is Actually Good For You

There are numerous diets which expound the belief that saturated fats are evil and will certainly lead to heart disease.  Examples are the Dean Ornish Spectrum and Engine 2 diets.  The issue is there is no scientific basis for their arguments that saturated fat are bad.

Below is a fairly recent article which discusses why fat is your friend.

The truth about fat and sugar: Cardiologist explains why FAT is the best medicine - and why it's so crucial to our health

I also highly recommend books such as Nina Teicholz's, The Big Fat Surprise.

As always, it is an experiment of one.  I would recommend that you run frequent blood tests (optimally once every three months) to track how any dietary and/or other lifestyle change effect your health.

Enjoy!


Chuck

The Ins and Outs of Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)

The fine folks at Inside Tracker published the below blog post last summer.  It is a good read on OTS and which biomarkers are key to a proper diagnosis.

How Looking Inside Helps You Deal with Overtraining

Enjoy!


Chuck

Exercising your way out of a bad diet diet

Many believe that you can lose weight by increasing your calorie burn beyond your calorie intake.  Unfortunately, not all calories are created equal and will have vastly different effects on your metabolic system.  Furthermore and as the below article points out, your body will adapt over time to an increased exercise load. And finally, the calorie calculations generated by fitness watches, trackers and gym equipment are very inaccurate.

Why You Can't Exercise Yourself To Weight Loss

Health is based on more than just calories in/calories out. You need to look at the bigger picture.

Diet - Just eat real food.
Recovery - You need to get high quality sleep and not overdo it on the exercise front.
Exercise - This is dose dependent, so determine your dose to avoid over training.
Stress - This, compounded with excessive exercise, can lead to many negative health outcomes. Stress includes environmental influences such as pesticides in food, chemicals contained in body products, and poor air and water quality.
Supplements - No diet is perfect. Get a periodic blood chemistry to determine which vitamins and minerals you need to augment your diet and support your lifestyle.

Enjoy!


Chuck

Are endurance sports bad for your heart health?

There have been numerous articles focused on the potential negative effects endurance sports have on heart health.  This is hard to believe given exercise is believed to be a significant contributor to good health.  

Although there is no conclusive scientific data, I truly believe that exercise is like a drug, in that it is dose dependent and can become highly addictive for some.  Too much exercise
may in fact result in long term negative health outcomes, such as heart disease.

Below is a link to an NPR piece about one cardiologists plan to learn more about the role endurance sports play in heart health. I look forward to keeping up with this long range experiment of one.

Can Extreme Exercise Hurt Your Heart? Swim The Pacific To Find Out

Enjoy!



Chuck

How blue light from your electronic devices effects your health

This is a somewhat dated, but is a good article on the havoc electronic devices unleash on your brain when used at night. Thus the reason I have used F.Lux on my Mac and try to not use any other devices at night.

To further help stoke our melatonin, I have Philips Hue lights which automatically turn to deep red at 9pm using IFTTT.  We also use Good Night bulbs, by Lighting Science, in our bedside lamps.


How smartphone light affects your brain and body


Enjoy!


Chuck

The 3-Word Diet That Can Lead to a Better Life

Below is another article which focuses on the importance of the quality of food.  It was written by Joe De Sena, the founder of the Spartan series.

The 3-Word Diet That Can Lead to a Better Life

Enjoy!


Chuck

Not all calories are the same

Increasing calories burned beyond calories consumed is an all too common misconception regarding weight loss.  This simplified calculation does not take into consideration the source of these calories.  Different foods result in different metabolic effects.  So eating all of your calories at McDonalds is not the same as eating the same number of calories from real, non-processed, food.

Similarly, dieters often rely on activity trackers or other fitness devices to determine their calorie burn.  This is an imperfect science and often leads to over eating.

Below is a good article on this topic.

Rethinking the Calorie

Enjoy!


Chuck

A comical look at the WHO red meat scare

This is somewhat dated, but still a funny read. The author makes fun of the World Health Organization's conclusion that red meat consumption increasing one's risk of colon rectal cancer.

Sex, Lies and Cheeseburgers

Enjoy!


Chuck

What does it mean to hit the wall?

ABC News just posted a news story focused on what it means to hit the wall (including a high intensity treadmill test).  There is also a story on ultra running.

Pushing the Limits: Lessons From Ultra-Endurance Athletes

Enjoy!


Chuck