Easy 3 Steps to a guaranteed better day!

First off, if you’ve decided to read this blog you already know your maximum energy and performance throughout the day is going to require some actual movement.  Get sunlight, get stretched, get your heart rate slightly elevated and you’ll be getting a cocktail much more potent that the passive list i’ve assembled.   For now, lets keep things simple and focus on the points from the post.  

Step 1:  Hydrate

Coming off a full night's sleep is more than just an unconscious fasting window.  You also haven’t had water for a long duration of time.  While you were sleeping your body was repairing itself:  removing inflammation, removing toxins, etc.  This requires energy and…water!   This might be the lowest hanging fruit on the ‘make my life better’ check-list.  90% of people just don’t drink enough water.  The recommended amounts vary depending on your source but a good rule of thumb is to get 10 ounces each hour after you wake up for 10 hours.  Scale accordingly based on body size, climate you live in, and types of foods you eat.  Your body can live for long periods of time without food but it absolutely cannot live without water.  That alone should underscore how important this is.   

I am willing to concede this isn’t glamorous.  There isn’t any special product you need to buy.  Nobody will follow you on instagram for drinking water.  But that does nothing to diminish how useful this is.  

Step 2:  Caffeinate

This is much more of a personal decision.  Caffeine is a widely studied compound and it has been proven that people respond to caffeine in vastly different ways.  The measurable dose of caffeine to generate a sports performance improvement has varied from 300mg to 900mg based on the individual. That’s a massive number!   Caffeine works much more efficiently after cortisol has been removed from your system.  So, wait 90 minutes (on average) before having your first cup for maximum effect!   For a mental boost or a normal work day you can start with something as small as 50mg (1 cup of coffee). If you don’t believe me try drinking a cup of coffee right when you wake up then the next day wait 90 minutes (drink water during that 90 minutes) and drink the same cup of coffee. Guarnateed you will notice a difference. As a natural diuretic you’ll find this effect is again amplified if you hydrate beforehand.  It extends beyond the scope of this brief blog post but there is fascinating biochemistry that is well documented regarding caffeine’s effects.  For a very well put together summary I would recommend checking out Huberman Lab’s episode on caffeine for more detail.   

Step 3:  Dominate 

Ok this is mainly intended to underscore how much better you’ll feel if you complete steps 1 and 2 BUT…this is also an action based concept.  While steps 1 and 2 are passively preparing your body and mind for optimum function you need to willfully engage in pursuit of your goals once you have your body primed.  Routine by its very nature breeds a sense of complacency.  It has been inspiring to me personally to quickly glance at my 1 or 5 year goals list to remember why I’m getting up and going to work today.  Some of you may need zero additional inspiration but for the others; move forward with intention!  Even if you aren’t immediately successful in your daily goals (generating more income, completing a job, or making a connection) you will have taken a big picture step forward towards your long term goals!

Inflammation Management Starter Pack

This has been coming up a lot lately and the initial treatment is something everyone should be able to do without going to a healthcare professional.  When you’re dealing with inflammation you really only have one goal; let the body heal itself.   This seemingly obvious statement is amazingly ignored by most patients as soon as an area of their body starts to hurt.  

Your body has a natural healing response that triggers after injury which often will cause a normal amount of swelling, heat, redness, and reduction in function.  Just imagine an exceptionally hard lifting workout.  That delayed onset muscle soreness is exactly that.  Damaged muscle tissue, loss of capacity to perform, heat, and some mild swelling.   While a lot of these principles would apply to a lesser degree the inflammation response I'm referring to in this post is one following injury that results in an inability to complete the task and severely damaged or strained tissue.   In this case you’ll want to hit these important steps to allow your body natural time to heal. 

1. Remove the hammer - Give the body a chance to actually heal itself without you constantly re-aggravating the tissue.  In athletics this may mean sitting out from sport for a bit.  For most adults it can be modifying your work posture, hobby, or lifting regime to avoid anything that continues to exacerbate the inflammation response.  

2. Ice - Hilariously, this has come under fire on instagram a lot with people suggesting ice is bad for you.  I can’t stress enough how incomplete and inaccurate this statement is.  Ice itself has not been shown to have nearly any effect on muscle temperature in the muscle.  The main positive effect is a reduction in blood flow (helpful for an area with massive blood flow stimulus following an injury), immobilization of the painful area (because you have to while icing) and some systemic hormone release triggered to counteract the cold your body is being exposed to.  All very positive.   If you stick to icing 10-15 minutes at a time several times a day you have nothing to worry about.   

3. Unloaded Movements - The implementation of this should be regulated by your therapist or athletic trainer who is seeing you for your acute injury. But for chronic injuries this is a must.  This will bring non-inflammation causing blood flow to the area (because you aren’t loading it and because you’re moving it through a range that doesn’t hurt).  Super helpful.  Seemingly contradictory to ice but it’s quite helpful if done before icing or any other part of the day.   No warm up required.  

4. Sleep - A good argument could be made that this list should start and stop with sleep.  There is nothing that currently exists which is more effective and naturally healthier than sleep for removing inflammation.   There is massive literature out there on the benefits of sleep so I'd encourage you to dive into that if you aren’t willing to take my statement as fact.  

Once you’ve done these you can start to introduce progressive load and functional activity.  That will be the biggest variance between chronic conditions and acute conditions (and acute conditions with actual severe damage vs strains).  Inflammation is normal and often healthy so don’t be afraid of the word or the concept.  But understanding what it does and in which cases to manage it are key for any successful recovery! 

The picture isn’t intended to be misleading. Coffee has some nice inflammatory properties. Nutrition will play a massive role in long term inflammation which exceeds the scope of this post.