You Don’t Need a Mountain to Get the Benefit of Walking on One, and Try New Creative Things
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Compromise to optimize. Sometimes you just need to get going on things and be okay not doing them perfectly to get the snowball rolling. A little momentum goes a long way.
Go for a Walk in the Mountains. If you don’t have a mountain nearby, you can simulate the positive effects on your lungs by changing how you breathe.
Try new things. Be creative. Feed that inner part of you that’s craving to come out and play. Allow yourself time to do things that make you happy.
Starter Mindset Tip: Compromise to Optimize
There is an axiom that if you ask a sprinter to run at 80% speed, they can run as fast or faster than if you told them to run flat out at 100. They are looser, more relaxed, and seem to find that elusive ‘flow state’. Although this may not be entirely true, the sentiment is insightful. We need to get better at squeezing new things into those tight corners of our schedules, and being okay to do them at ~80% (or less). One of the biggest impediments to introducing activities and habits for our health, happiness, and fulfillment—beyond how busy we are—is the perception that we need to do them at 100% from the get-go. Introducing a new habit like a 5-minute walk in nature may not sound like much, but if it gets you out there and creates some momentum, that is a bigger win than you may think. What you may find, beyond solely the enjoyment of getting outside, is that you begin to save more time to do it again, and the next time you stay out for ten minutes, and so on. The introduction of one new thing makes it easier to introduce the next, and the cycle feeds off itself. Try new things, and be okay not doing them all out at first.
Health Recipe: Go for a Walk in the Mountains
Timing: 3–10 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium–hard
Serving Size: Give it a shot on a normal walk or run
Spice Level: This will be spicy!
INGREDIENTS
Just you and your breath
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Sadly, not all of us have the luxury of having a mountaintop at our disposal. The benefits of high-altitude training have been used for centuries to improve cardiovascular health and the body's oxygen delivery. Fortunately, there is an easier way that can be used at any altitude to simulate high-altitude training. The essence of this type of training is to slightly restrict your body of the normal levels of oxygen it wants during exercise. It is best to start slow with this one and build your way up to longer levels of breath holding. Some of the benefits include improved lung capacity, strengthened breathing muscles, improved carbon dioxide tolerance, stress reduction, enhanced breath control and breath awareness.
INSTRUCTIONS
While walking or running, breathe normally through your nose.
When you feel ready to start the high-altitude exercise, pinch your nose while maintaining the same pace.
When you feel moderate air hunger, release your nose.
Breathe gently, about half of what it seems your body wants, for 10 to 15 seconds.
Resume normal breathing again (through your nose) for 30 seconds.
Repeat the process five to ten times.
PRO TIP: These breath holds are going to be hard work, no sugar coating here, but the benefits can be huge. Start getting used to the air hunger, and enjoy the benefits!
*This is also a great workout for your diaphragm.
**Start with light walking and don’t push yourself too hard until you get a sense of what your body can handle.
***Breath holding can be one of the only ways to simulate low oxygen environments and tap into the body's ability to adapt. If you don’t stress your body in this way, it will have no need to learn to enhance its oxygen utilization, which has a long list of benefits.
Dessert Quote:
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” Mary Oliver, Upstream
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources
Learn more about the mind-body connection and athletic performance in:
Mumford, G. (2015) The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to pure performance.
Learn more about the powers of breath with these amazing books:
Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art. Penguin.
McKeown, P. (2015). The Oxygen Advantage: The simple, scientifically proven breathing technique that will revolutionise your health and fitness. Hachette UK.
