⭑ A sleep-deprived brain is not a smart brain ✔ here's why All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, Tendons. I've recently been paying a lot more attention to the tendons associated with running. Regular readers will know how, in a sudden urge for social connection, I joined the local Masters Athletics club. They encouraged me to enter some State competitions, and I was surprisingly competitive. Now I consistently do box jumps, bounding, and sprint drills for sprint training, and tempo runs and interval training for long distance training. These exercises, which have been a game-changer in my running journey, are not just about improving tendon stiffness, strength, and flexibility. They also enhance the load distribution of running across my knee joints, boost shock absorption, and align and stabilise my knee joints. Tendon exercises can also help you avoid or reduce knee pain - see item #3. A less strenuous way to improve your health span is to include Brewer's yeast in your diet. I found out by chance, but it has scientific backing—see item #2. If you are not getting enough sleep and trying to catch up with short recovery naps, then you may be chasing your tail. Research finds that napping can't compensate for the degradation of brain functioning caused by persistent sleep loss—see item #1 below. // 01 Sleep Loss Leads to Decreased Cognitive Performance Not Restored by Recovery Sleep If you regularly don't get enough sleep, it's essential to know that naps and weekend recovery sleep don’t compensate for chronic sleep loss. Chronic sleep loss is known as "sleep debt"—it is sleep that you owe your body and mind. Research shows a correlation between chronic sleep debt and sustained cognitive deficits, such as loss of attention and poor cognitive performance. Surprisingly, taking variable short sleep at different times and of different periods has been found to worsen the sleep deficit effect on your brain, not improve it. ⇒ Learning and memory are particularly affected, with sleep deprivation impairing the formation of new memories. This is attributed to structural changes in the hippocampus that are not completely restored by recovery sleep. The fundamental reason that short recovery sleep does not work is that our brain requires both deep NREM* sleep (slow-wave sleep) and REM sleep to recover, e.g., replenish energy stores, clear metabolic waste from the brain, and restore hormonal balance. Brain health relies on our sleep reaching the deepest stages of NREM sleep when Delta waves - a type of slow brainwave (0.5–4 Hz) - are initiated. It's during the Delta wave period that neurotoxins are cleared and neural circuits are repaired. *REM = Rapid Eye Movement sleep. NREM = Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. What this means for you: Although we are all different, on average, we need 7 to 9 hours of sleep for our brain to fully recover. We need this amount of time because for each sleep cycle, typically about 90 minutes, we only enter the NREM deep sleep period for a relatively short time. So, we need multiple cycles to get enough REM and NREM sleep to recover and restore our brain each night.
Sleep tight! Related: How To Sleep Better And Recover Like Elite Soccer Players // 02 Dry Yeast - Brewing Up a Storm of Benefits I mix brewer's yeast in a daily shake. Research confirms that it has multiple benefits for our healthspan, and a heaped teaspoon a day (~10 g) goes a long way:
⇒ I accidentally discovered Brewer's yeast, but it appears to be a hidden gem of a supplement. What does this mean for you? Add 10 grams of brewer's yeast powder to smoothies and juices or sprinkle over food - daily. I often use NOW Brewer's Yeast - this one - link to Amazon (I'm not an affiliate). Tip: If you can afford it, use non-roller-dried yeast, as the heat degrades the potency of some components. For the same reason, you are better off NOT using instant or fast-serve grains such as oats. ⇒ I buy NOW because it is nutritionally OK and not too expensive. FYI: The "NOW Brewer's Yeast" product, being roller dried and debittered, retains many of its beneficial components, though there may be some loss in the potency of heat-sensitive nutrients like B-vitamins and certain proteins. Despite these potential reductions, the product remains a rich source of essential nutrients, including proteins, β-glucans, and minerals, making it a valuable dietary supplement. Related: The Surprising Benefits of Black Tea Daily @Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life // 03 Why Stiff Tendons Are A Good Thing For Your Knees When we think of stiffness in our joints, it's not a good feeling. But stiff tendons, perhaps ironically, are a good thing—as long as they are also flexible and strong. I read during the week that old-time strongmen and weightlifters strengthened their tendons with high-rep bodyweight exercises. This was because, quote: "Unlike muscles – which can get stronger easily due to the blood flow to them – tendons and ligaments require lots and lots of movement in order to get stronger; movements such as high-rep callisthenics moves, like pushups, rows, squats, lunges, and more." I immediately thought this proposition made sense because kettlebell champions have tendons like steel cables and perform many repetitions with loads much lighter than, say, competitive powerlifters with barbells. Then, I researched it. It turns out that there is an ongoing debate about whether low-load high-frequency (LLHF) resistance training or high-load low-frequency (HLLF) training is more effective for improving tendon health, particularly for over-50s. For example, there is reliable research showing that heavy loads and low reps build strong, flexible and stiff tendons. ⇒ Tendon stiffness relates to resistance to stretching, strength relates to the ability to withstand high forces, and flexibility to return to its original shape without damage. Tendons, particularly those of your quadriceps and hamstrings, play a crucial role in stabilising your knee joint. Strong and stiff tendons ensure that the knee joint remains stable during dynamic activities, reducing the risk of misalignment and injury, which are common causes of knee pain. ⇒ Flexible tendons improve proprioception, your body’s ability to sense its position and movement in space. Better proprioception aids in coordinating movements and avoiding positions that could strain your knee joint and cause pain. (This is also especially true of the tendons supporting your ankles). What this means for you: You can have the best of both worlds at home by doing both high-load low-frequency exercises and low-load high-frequency exercises, even at home with no equipment. See the next item - #4. ⇒ At the gym, do low reps with a barbell or weighted bodyweight exercises, and high reps low load in a class such as Powerhour and keep your bar lightly loaded. Related: Keep Your Tendons Healthy And Your Balance Will Look After Itself // 04 At-Home Bodyweight Exercises for Knee Tendon Health Our exercise of the week is... two for knee tendon health. These two exercises will effectively target and improve the health of your knee tendons, promoting better mobility and reducing the risk of pain and injury. What this means for you: Consistently do these, and your knees will thank you - they take about 5 minutes each:
1. Wall Sits High Load Low Repetition (HLLR)
Level-Up Suggestions:
Tips for Correct Form and Posture:
2. Seated Leg Extensions Low Load High Frequency (LLHF)
Level-Up Suggestions:
Tips for Correct Form and Posture:
Related: How to Break Through Your Exercise Plateaus Thanks for reading! P.S. If you are not yet subscribed to my free exercise app, try now ↓↓↓ Free forever. Opt-out any time. Opt-in by CLICKING HERE PLEASE SEND ME THE EXERCISES. NOTE: YOU ONLY NEED TO SUBSCRIBE ONE TIME. >> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@bodyagebuster.com '4 Most Valuable' is a weekly newsletter from Walter Adamson. If you like it, please forward to a like-minded soul. Someone forward this to you? You can subscribe from this page. Each of these weekly emails has 4MV in the subject line to help you filter them and search for previous ones. |
"I empower mid-life men and women to make the choice to live as actively and as independently as they can, for as long as they can", Walter Adamson Get access to my weekly research that I don’t share elsewhere. “My wife and I both read your articles each week, and I have to say there is so much confusing data out there, but yours is a great source, well researched, scientific and always relevant.” — Steve Ridgway, subscriber.
⭑ Doing to much too soon will derail your exercise program ✔ Take a step back⭑ Skipping warm-up and cool-down stresses your joints ✔ Allow time⭑ Plateaus are natural, longer when you're older ✔ Learn to love them⭑ Good posture and controlled movements get you the best return on exercise ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and staying active. The newsletter is a different format today, just one item, with 10 hints to avoid mistakes that can reduce your gains...
⭑ Maintaining muscle health is one key to healthspan ✔ Three tips⭑ Inflammaging - what is it and how to tame it ✔ Gets worse as we age⭑ You can track your body's capacity to resolve stress ✔ I find it interesting⭑ Healthier back shoulders and biceps with the dumbbell row ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Summer's here down under. We’ve had some weird nights with the highest temperature for the day at 5 am! Perhaps that's why my...
⭑ These doctors will fact-check your medical queries ✔ For free⭑ How walnuts improve your brain health and your blood pressure ✔ Research⭑ Regular bad dreams? Talk to your doctor about it, here's why ✔⭑ The squat-calf raise combo is a fabulous muscle builder - not difficult ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Ouch! Running for the train last Wednesday I tore my nearly repaired hamstring again - set me back a few months. The irony was that...