I think Amplitude and Frequency are the secret sauce of Health and Fitness.
In other words - how much and how often.
This is extremely important because it highlights the space in the middle - The Rest.
And just like fasting, it is the rest… the break, the recovery, that does most of the work.
[[ Remember your workout is the signal… it starts the processes, but the processes, the benefits happen afterwards, when you are resting ]]
This is why ‘how much’ and ‘how often’ is so highly personal.
It is based your own unique recovery ability, your level of fitness, your stresses in life, your age etc etc.
And these factors are ALWAYS changing.
So you have to constantly adjust, you have to prioritize Rest, and this also means resting properly…
Research tells us that on average we rest for roughly 10 hours a day, not including sleep time.
What I find interesting about this statistic is it is the same amount of time our hunter gatherer friends the Hadza rest in a day.
It’s also the amount of daily rest found in chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans.
Yet, the Hadza, and our Ape friends do not suffer from Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease or Cancer nearly to the same extent we do.
Now, we’ve been told that the difference is HOW we rest, specifically the positions.
We rest is chairs and couches which is bad.
They rest in squatted and kneeling positions which is good.
But I think there is much more to it.
I want you to picture an Orangutan, just… chilling. Sitting back, arm over its head, looking around, but really…. Chill.
This Orangutan isn’t worrying about a mortgage, or politics, or air pollution. The argument with the boss, or significant other isn’t replaying in their head.
No, they’re just relaxing.
Here’s the thing about rest - it’s defined as a condition in which the body is in a decreased state of activity WITHOUT physical emotional stress and freedom from anxiety. When you are resting you are untroubled…
By definition then, if you’re troubled… you’re not resting.
You see I think many of us have lost the art of relaxing and replaced it with ‘Rest and Stress’
Yet, proper rest is essential to our health. And importantly it helps balance out our exercise.
The harder you pushed, the more you challenged your body, the more you went outside your comfort zone, the more recovery you need.
When you exercise it’s OK to exercise HARD. When you play, play HARD, but when you rest, rest EASY.
The amount of rest required depends on your individual needs. If you didn't sleep well, feel angry, or stressed, you may require more frequent breaks, and longer breaks in between your workouts.
And, if you’re not good at resting, you may need even longer.
Rest has to be a true break. Brain Off (or at least thinking about something other than what you’re resting from) and Body Relaxed, it can still be moving, but the activity has to be low… walking, gardening, light swimming, housework that level of activity.
Resting activates the parasympathetic nervous system—the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system, which is the flight-or-fight response.
Meditation, breath work, being in nature, reading, drawing, listening to music, playing, getting a massage; these are all effective ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Part of the problem is some people are bad at rest but the other part of the problem is many people feel guilty or anxious about taking a rest - because it feels like they’re not doing ANYTHING. But I like to draw the parallel to fasting - it’s when you’re not doing anything that you’re also actively doing good things.
A great example is heart medication - Many of these genes that are turned on by rest are also are biomarkers of human heart disease, in other words by resting, you benefit from genes important for cardiac repair.
The bottom line it that your body is capable of amazing things, and sometimes all you have to do is get out of its way.
Fasting allows your body to use fat as a fuel. You don’t have to teach it how to do this, it already knows how.
Rest allows your body to heal and recuperate. Again you don’t have to teach it how to do this it already knows how.
.
I think Amplitude and Frequency are the secret sauce of Health and Fitness.
In other words - how much and how often.
This is extremely important because it highlights the space in the middle - The Rest.
And just like fasting, it is the rest… the break, the recovery, that does most of the work.
[[ Remember your workout is the signal… it starts the processes, but the processes, the benefits happen afterwards, when you are resting ]]
This is why ‘how much’ and ‘how often’ is so highly personal.
It is based your own unique recovery ability, your level of fitness, your stresses in life, your age etc etc.
And these factors are ALWAYS changing.
So you have to constantly adjust, you have to prioritize Rest, and this also means resting properly…
Research tells us that on average we rest for roughly 10 hours a day, not including sleep time.
What I find interesting about this statistic is it is the same amount of time our hunter gatherer friends the Hadza rest in a day.
It’s also the amount of daily rest found in chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans.
Yet, the Hadza, and our Ape friends do not suffer from Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease or Cancer nearly to the same extent we do.
Now, we’ve been told that the difference is HOW we rest, specifically the positions.
We rest is chairs and couches which is bad.
They rest in squatted and kneeling positions which is good.
But I think there is much more to it.
I want you to picture an Orangutan, just… chilling. Sitting back, arm over its head, looking around, but really…. Chill.
This Orangutan isn’t worrying about a mortgage, or politics, or air pollution. The argument with the boss, or significant other isn’t replaying in their head.
No, they’re just relaxing.
Here’s the thing about rest - it’s defined as a condition in which the body is in a decreased state of activity WITHOUT physical emotional stress and freedom from anxiety. When you are resting you are untroubled…
By definition then, if you’re troubled… you’re not resting.
You see I think many of us have lost the art of relaxing and replaced it with ‘Rest and Stress’
Yet, proper rest is essential to our health. And importantly it helps balance out our exercise.
The harder you pushed, the more you challenged your body, the more you went outside your comfort zone, the more recovery you need.
When you exercise it’s OK to exercise HARD. When you play, play HARD, but when you rest, rest EASY.
The amount of rest required depends on your individual needs. If you didn't sleep well, feel angry, or stressed, you may require more frequent breaks, and longer breaks in between your workouts.
And, if you’re not good at resting, you may need even longer.
Rest has to be a true break. Brain Off (or at least thinking about something other than what you’re resting from) and Body Relaxed, it can still be moving, but the activity has to be low… walking, gardening, light swimming, housework that level of activity.
Resting activates the parasympathetic nervous system—the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system, which is the flight-or-fight response.
Meditation, breath work, being in nature, reading, drawing, listening to music, playing, getting a massage; these are all effective ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Part of the problem is some people are bad at rest but the other part of the problem is many people feel guilty or anxious about taking a rest - because it feels like they’re not doing ANYTHING. But I like to draw the parallel to fasting - it’s when you’re not doing anything that you’re also actively doing good things.
A great example is heart medication - Many of these genes that are turned on by rest are also are biomarkers of human heart disease, in other words by resting, you benefit from genes important for cardiac repair.
The bottom line it that your body is capable of amazing things, and sometimes all you have to do is get out of its way.
Fasting allows your body to use fat as a fuel. You don’t have to teach it how to do this, it already knows how.
Rest allows your body to heal and recuperate. Again you don’t have to teach it how to do this it already knows how.
.