I'm excited to continue to learn more and more about reading and interpreting blood work. From a personal curiosity for my own health questions to taking the Apex Mastering Functional Blood Chemistry and a bunch of books in between. It's been an exciting chance to delve back into pure learning mode. I've already started to work with a few patients on the lifestyle, food and supplementation strategies to start changing their health.
One of the most fun and aha moments I have is when two somewhat separate events/ideas cross over and you are able to see the connection. I've been on a year long mission to understand the aspects of breathing and performance. It started a few years ago in taking the PRI courses and realizing the importance of the diaphragm. It escalated with Wim Hoff and continues with some more of the acute training affects with books like "The Oxygen Advantage," by Patrick McKeown. Delving into the Buteyko breathing and hearing the CO2 and breath hold techniques from Kasper van der Meulen for increasing athletic ability.
From this information you learn how Co2 can have an effect on something called the Anion Gap. Anion Gap is the difference in the measurement of cations Sodium/potassium (+) and the anions Chloride and bicarbonate (-) in your body. Learning about the importance of the anion gap from the blood work perspective and having functional medicine say that brain injuries have a much harder time healing when the gap is 22 or larger. For the healthy, you would want to be under 15. With simple strategies to decrease this from breath holding and from nutrition/supplementation.
Young practitioners or students, start your day and finish your day with patients that you truly love working with. It can change the whole outlook of your day or the next day, when you start and finish with someone that is truly fun to work with. If you have ever been the first or last patient of mine...congrats...haha.
I was asked what are the biggest changes in my thought patterns for strength and conditioning I've had in the last few years.
1. Aerobic training is highly beneficial when you are not an aerobic athlete and it has immediate effects on your health and isn't a downfall for pure strength. Smart programming can keep your "gains." Alex Viada from the Hybrid Athlete was the first to start to change my thinking. I do recommend his eBook. Biggest takeaway for me, I recover faster from training and from things like the common cold.
2. Maximal strength isn't worth chasing at the expense of other strength choices. I just don't see the payoff anymore in sports unless you are a powerlifter/oly lifter. For track/field, field sports, health/performance I'm not seeing the carryover after a certain amount of strength. Which leads to #3.
3. Learning to integrate movements is more important. Coordination. Isometrics.
4. Hypertrophy as you age is important. Don't knock machines or single joint activities. Bodybuilding has a place. My former self would have said they are useless.
5. Abdominal work should have a direct place. Deadlifts and squats are not enough.
I've been playing around with a few things in terms of nutrition and products the last 4-5 months. I gave the nose pieces from Turbine a very fair go. My wife said the sleep ones didn't help my snoring. Fail on that. The yellow performance ones, I didn't notice an improvement in performance with a stated 38% increase in air flow. Anyone that has been on a bike understands the term snot rocket. With these in, it's impossible to do. So you lose the 10 dollars nose piece. Not worth it for me.
This has been my preride/ride/post ride combo.
I really enjoy the Organo Gold mushroom coffee before I ride. It gets a bad rap for being MLM, but I like it before riding and definitely with traveling. UCAN is just legit. Developed for people that have diabetes, this is an outstanding product that has trickled down into the endurance world. It's built for sustained energy and stable blood glucose levels. I haven't bonked, just sustained energy. No stomach issues. The craziest thing post ride is normally I'd finish a big ride and have the appetite to crush a whole pizza, now I finish and I'm not famished. Caloric intake after a big exertion is just normal.
The hard thing about business is knowing when to spend money and when to just wait and figuring out which leads to growth and what and when to invest in the business. They don't teach that in school. Sometimes decisions are just as weird as I need two more parking spots. Not something your thinking about studying for board exams.
Health>Time>Money: This has been an ongoing debate for sometime on Facebook with a friend of mine. Which 3 do you value most. The thinking is that if you had money you could have all the time in the world, but this just states you value time the most. If you value time more then health, well you could be to sick to actually enjoy it. If your sick you could be forced out of work, money. Time is meaningless. If your healthy, you have the ability to still enjoy everything. So take the time and money and invest in your health. By default you create time and money.
Had my first DNA tests done. Was pleasantly surprised how accurate it really seemed to be. I was pretty much 70% fast twitch 30% slow twitch and advised me into sports like American football and weight lifting. I'm glad I figured that out when I was like 10. haha.
Some more of the interesting was the lack of folic acid and poor absorption of B vitamins. The B vitamins I had figured out in the last few months from blood work. An interesting aside was that I lack a certain variant that helps you process alcohol. (Bummer as I like craft beer and live in Beer City USA.)
I started to read stuff that has nothing to do with health, training or business again. It always surprises me why I get out of that habit as I enjoy it so much. It makes you wonder what else you forget to do for enjoyment simply because it doesn't fit into your work or practical column.
2 comments:
Beautiful thoughts, loved the way you write it. Going to share it with others as well. Thank you for sharing it here with us
Any lab you recommend for blood testing? I'm in Chicago.
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