<ul><li>One must have a good sleep, which should be not less than six hours a day. </li><li>One must do regular exercise. This keeps our body active. </li><li>One must have a comfortable home. A comfortable surrounding results in a decluttered mind, thus letting you focus properly. </li><li>One must have a calm mind. A calm and relaxing mind is an abode of awesome ideas!</li></ul>

To Achieve Peak Performance 

One must declutter their mind when things start being overwhelming, and while doing so, they should work on overcoming their doubts. This helps you get out of the mental block and lets you gain more clarity and depth of the problems in your life.

Overcoming Doubts

Remember, no one has been forced to work for the betterment of the society when they have been spoonfed every ideas in the world. One only feels the need to innovate something new only when the existing system holds them back. Failure becomes an integral part in driving us to innovation, thus resulting in success.

Failure Is Very Important 

Money once gone can be earned back. Time, on the other hand, is non-fungible. Use it wisely.

Time Is Everything 

It's important to care for ourselves, especially in the times of adversity, because no one else will. 

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

timemanagement

Time Management

How to peak in your life.

You need contractile tissue to move weight. The consensus is that hypertrophy matters for strength training. The more muscle you have the more weight you will be able to lift.  Bodybuilding is a much more forgiving sport. If you don’t want to hack squat you can change it up and do a split squat. However, bodybuilding is more mentally demanding. Bodybuilders that want to be insanely shredded will go through immense levels of hunger and low energy.

Looking muscular

When we look at diet studies, we see how much lean body mass gets lost versus fat mass.  A lot of this depends on how much body fat you’re starting with. People who are overweight or obese don’t need to worry about losing too much lean body mass because they have a reservoir of energy to pull from. If you need to lose, for example, from 15% body fat to 7% body fat, it’s very easy, but from 15 - 5 %, you’ll probably lose 20 - 30% lean body mass.

Losing lean body mass

Individuals have a relatively tight range of homeostatic body fat that their bodies will defend. Once you drop below that range, Your body might pull more energy from lean tissue. You will start to feel the effects of caloric restriction in terms of hunger, your bar drops, and your non-exercise activity drops.  You can lessen the loss of body mass with resistance training. Lean body mass is not the same thing as muscle mass. Lean body mass is non-fat tissues, such as skin, bone, organ weight and body water. Water gut tissue and liver tissue will shrink in response to caloric restriction.

How to cut weight without losing body mass

<ul><li>A calorie is energy stored in the chemical bonds of food. </li><li>Energy balance is calories in vs calories out. It is not linear within your body. You don’t lose one pound if you cut 3,500 calories. It depends from person to person. </li></ul>

Calories & energy balance

During the first six weeks of resistance training, you don’t see much hypertrophy in people. You see strength improvements.  At first, you have a considerable increase in muscle protein synthesis and protein degradation. When you do resistance training for the first time, for example, a leg workout, you may hardly be able to walk for a few days after. This is because your muscles seem to completely remodel those proteins. After six weeks, the increase in degradation goes down.

The first six weeks of resistance training

<ul><li>People confuse hunger with appetite. Instead, people eat for reasons such as boredom, stress, trauma and social cues.</li><li>Individuals are usually poor estimators of caloric intake. It is not an issue in isolation, but in accumulation, it adds up - some nuts here or a little extra dressing on the salad. </li><li>To lose weight, pick the form of restriction that feels the least restrictive to you, such as time-restricted or calorie-restricted. </li><li>If you can eliminate snacks, most people will improve weight loss, definition and biomarkers.</li></ul>

Weight management

People experience more discomfort when they are sedentary than if they are active.  Older people think cardio is the best way to get active as they don’t walk to look bulky. But it is really hard to look bulky. Lower body strength is more important in terms of falls. Accidental death in older people is usually because of an accidental fall. After 65, you can link most deaths to a lack of muscular strength or muscle.

It’s never too late to get active

<ul><li>With resistance training, train close to failure without going into failure.</li><li>If you’re sore all the time, you’re probably training incorrectly. If you’re never sore, you’re also probably training incorrectly.</li><li>Variation is vital.</li><li>The sweet spot for hypertrophy is 6 - 10 sets per body part per session.</li><li>The majority of stimulus you get for muscle growth is in the last five reps before failure.</li><li>Keep protein intake high: 1-1.5 protein per pound of bodyweight.</li><li>Play the long game.</li></ul>

Resistance training

<ul><li>Consume 1.6 - 2.6g protein/ kilogram of lean body mass.</li><li>Start your day with protein. Consider a protein shake instead of milk in cereal.</li><li>Make small changes to increase protein in meals. The less you can change, the better.</li><li>Low fat can impair testosterone levels, which may impact levels of lean body mass. </li><li>There is no perfect diet; there are tradeoffs for everything. For example, a Keto diet is acceptable if you’re training at 65% of VO2 max, but you’ll have lower strength accrual if it's higher.</li><li>Supplementing for hypertrophy training: whey tends to be most digestible.</li></ul>

Diet and protein intake for muscle synthesis

podcasts

Podcasts

videos

Videos

sports

Sports

health

Health

How To Build Muscle

Layne Norton, Ph.D. is a physique coach and natural professional bodybuilder and powerlifter. He holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition Science and is a world-renowned expert on fat loss and maintaining muscle while losing fat.

 Layne Norton is a physique coach, a natural professional bodybuilder and powerlifter, and holds a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences. In this episode, Layne explains how he became interested in weightlifting and fitness both professional and academically. He provides insights into preventing and managing injuries while using consistency and determination to boost his professional success in bodybuilding and powerlifting. Peter and Layne also review the science of body composition and what’s really driving muscle growth, including the role of nutrition, supplements, and a number of important and misunderstood hormones important to muscle protein synthesis. Furthermore, Layne stresses the importance of maintaining muscle mass even while losing fat for improving metabolic health and longevity and provides the keys to developing healthy habits.        We discuss:  Layne’s childhood and why he gravitated towards weightlifting and bodybuilding [2:45]; Layne’s academic path, overcoming ADHD, and kicking Adderall [11:45]; Paradoxical observations about expertise, and Layne’s career transition to health and fitness [22:00]; The power of persistence and resilience in the face of setbacks [32:15]; Battling injuries, managing back pain, and setting lifting records [43:00]; Bodybuilding vs. powerlifting: comparing and contrasting the training approaches [57:15]; Cutting weight without losing muscle mass: exercise and dietary protocols, fasting, and a look at the literature [1:06:00]; Muscle protein synthesis and the importance of leucine [1:25:30]; Nitrogen balance and muscle protein synthesis, and the regulatory role of hormones for fat flux and muscle growth [1:37:00]; What’s really driving muscle growth: intrinsic vs. systemic factors, IGF, and hormone signaling [1:46:30]; The role of protein, carbohydrates and insulin on muscle growth and preservation, and the importance of context when interpreting study results [1:55:30]; Clarifying the role of cortisol—a misunderstood hormone [2:07:45]; The problem with studies trying to isolate one nutrient [2:15:00]; The important role of inflammation from exercise [2:19:25]; Keys to preserving muscle, and the value of habits, consistency, and resilience [2:23:30]; and More.  Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/  Show notes page for this episode: https://peterattiamd.com/LayneNorton    Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/   Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/   Connect with Peter on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.  

food

Food

Expert insight on health, performance, longevity, critical thinking, and pursuing excellence. Dr. Peter Attia (Stanford/Hopkins/NIH-trained MD) talks with leaders in their fields.

The Peter Attia Drive

#163 - Layne Norton, Ph.D.: Building muscle, losing fat, and the importance of resistance training

You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.

Some people enjoy running marathons. We often can’t understand why they seem to run long stretches with ease. At the same time, we struggle just to run a few miles. Maybe you think these people are crazy and have superhuman abilities. But what if I told you that you are capable of running long distances also?As wild as it sounds, you are physiologically built to run great lengths. The human body has gifted you with the tools you need to be able to run for hours. All you need to do is dedicate the time and patience to train.

Our Bodies Are Highly Flexible

<ul><li>We were made to run long distances.</li><li>Our bodies are built to run barefoot, and it’s better for our feet.</li><li>The key to long-distance running is having good form and pacing yourself.</li></ul>

Three Key Ideas

Compared to animals like horses, you might think your human body is pretty slow. But did you know those two legs of yours are capable of outrunning any animal on the planet?When talking about sheer speed, many animals will win over a short distance. But where homo sapiens wins is endurance. On a hot day, someone who is fit can outrun a horse in a marathon. This is because human bodies are efficient.

Our Bodies Were Constructed to Run Far

Your body can regulate temperature much more efficiently than other animals through sweating. Most other mammals can’t sweat, so they are forced to release heat through breathing.  When four-legged animals run, they break into a gallop. It’s quick, but the movement of galloping legs compresses the animal’s lungs. When these animals run fast, they can only breathe one breath per stride, which they are unable to keep up after too long.Our ability to run on two legs, though slower, allows our chest to expand and thus enables us to increase air capacity. We can breathe at whatever rate we need.

The Running Features In Our Bodies

Our specialized Achilles tendon also gives us a leg up on the competition. As it stretches, the Achilles stores energy. When that power is released, it propels us forward. This allows us to use less energy per step than other animals.

The Achilles Tendon

Learning to pace yourself is also an art. The trick is to run just below your aerobic threshold, or the place where you start to breathe heavily. When you do this, you will use fat stores rather than depleting your limited sugar stores. The average body has plenty of fat stored for long distances, and if you use this as a source rather than sugar, you can run much longer.

Learning Good Form and Pacing Yourself Are Essential Distance Running Skills

You don't have to be fast. But you'd better be fearless.

The Tarahumara Indians can run up to 300 miles at a time without stopping. Also known as the Rarámuri or running people, they have honed the ability to run over treacherous terrain without sophisticated running shoes. A champion runner once ran 435 miles nonstop.The legend of this isolated tribe is shrouded in mystery because they live in solitude. The Tarahumara live deep within the Copper Canyons in Mexico, and are intensely secretive and wary of strangers. They stay away from the outside world, and lead independent and simple lives

A Glimpse at the Tarahumara

As the world's best runners, the Tarahumara Indians leave no tracks. They're light footed, run over invisible trails, and leave almost nothing by way of carbon footprint. They're a peaceful community with no sense of hatred, no depression, virtually disease-free, and have no incidence of cancer.The crime rate is non-existent. However, they aren't exactly moderate. The Tarahumara like to party, and their economy not only runs on doing favors for one another, but on beer.

Leaving No Tracks

At the heart of this ethos around running is the high-intensity and fast-paced game Rarájipari. The game consists of two balls and two teams, and the idea is to kick and chase your team's ball over the vast terrain. Games can last up to 48 hours and are part of the social fabric of the tribe. The game is a metaphor for life and endurance running, 'You never know how hard it will be. You never know how it will end. You can't control it. You can only adjust.'

The Endurance Game

Advertising and shoe companies will have you believe that it's all about the running gear, particularly the shoes. Here's the thing, this isn't under-researched.There have been loads of peer-reviewed studies on running shoes, and none of them can prove that high-tech shoes decrease injuries or increase performance. In fact, as running shoe technology is expanding, injuries are not coming down one iota. Running-related injuries remain exceedingly high. Every year 65%-80% of runners suffer from injuries, and it's not just beginners, but seasoned athletes.

Better Shoes But More Injuries

For most runners, wearing a shoe is not unlike wearing a plaster cast around the foot. Like a cast, a shoe inhibits movement and causes the muscles in the foot to lose strength. Because of this imbalance, the rest of the body has extra stress on other muscles and joints, and the risk of injury increases.Shoes also harm your good form. Because they are so cushioned, runners can’t feel the discomfort from harmful impacts on the ground as they run. This may cause them to adopt poor running gait, making them more prone to injury. Running barefoot allows the body to adapt to a better running gait.

Those Nike Shoes Are Bad For You

Some of the best conditioned runners in the best shoes that money can buy are suffering from everything from shin splints, to Achilles heels, to plantar fasciitis. Runners wearing top-of-the-range shoes are 123% more likely to get injured.  We have a greater sense of foot control with less cushioning. This is because our feet naturally seek out stability, so if we expect a cushioned landing, we preempt this and overcompensate. Instead of creating thicker shoes with more cushioning, we need to be making them thinner.

Comfortable, Cushioned Shoes Are The Cause Of Injury

Running barefoot is much better for your feet. Our bodies have many evolutionary traits that help us run. Your feet also have natural gifts that are hindered by running shoes.Modern running shoes stabilize the foot too well. When we run, our foot rolls inward, which is called pronation. This acts as a shock absorber for our lower leg. Unfortunately, we blamed pronation for a common ailment called runner’s knee. Because of this, pronation-alleviation shoes flooded the market, though only 3% of people have a medical need for such shoes.

Dumping the Running Shoes and Running Barefoot 

People hate running, because they've lost the sense of freedom, joy, and glee that it brings. If we look towards children for inspiration, we see this mindset in action. Children run all the time; we tell them to slow down and to take it easy. We reign them in. The Tarahumara never slow down or take it easy; they run because they're inspired and love it. They run with a sense of wonder and ecstasy.

Be Like Children

Ultrarunning is a pretty pure sport because there's no money or real fame in it. Hence, people who run long distances do it because they can't help themselves.There are two goddesses in your heart. There's The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, give her all your love and attention, and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you.Ask nothing from your running.

Running Without A Cause

When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever.

The beginner's guide to running, with some simple steps and advice for sticking to your running routine

books

Books

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

How To Start a Running Habit

Our bodies can run forever. But Science won't tell you that.

Recounts the author's experiences with the reclusive Tarahumara Indians, whose techniques allow them to run long distances with ease, and describes his training for a fifty-mile race with the tribe and a number of ultramarathoners.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The astonishing and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run. An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? “Equal parts quest, physiology treatise, and running history.... The climactic race reads like a sprint.... It simply makes you want to run.” —Outside Magazine Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. Look for Born to Run 2, coming in December!

Christopher McDougall is an American author and journalist best known for his 2009 best-selling book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. He has also written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men's Journal, and New York, and was a contributing editor for Men's Health.McDougall is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University. He spent three years as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, covering civil wars in Rwanda and Angola.

Christopher McDougall

Born to Run

A new term, “exercise guilt,” has cropped up in the past few years to capture the disappointment we feel when our fitness goals go unmet. When we fall short, we get dispirited and are less likely to exercise at all, putting us at risk for a host of destructive physical and psychic effects, which compromise high performance. Like any unmet goal we set for ourselves, it’s helpful to ask, is this guilt the result of falling short or shooting too long?

Exercise Guilt: When We Could Not Work Out And Feel Guilty About It

Many people have failed to distinguish the difference between “movement” and that dreaded word “exercise.”“Movement,” is an all-encompassing term that includes both fitness and the general physical activity we participate in day-to-day whereas “exercise” is is planned and structured training.

Movement Vs Exercise

The American Heart Association now advocates for 10 minutes — yes, only 10 minutes — of movement a day. When we break the term down in this way, it becomes clear that most of us may be closer to our goals than we think.The transition into the post-pandemic world is a perfect time for young professionals — and anyone, really — to rethink their health habits and shed the “exercise guilt” they may be feeling. It’s time to recalibrate our routines to a moderate pace and place.

Just 10 Minutes

Sedentary: This inactive lifestyle is categorized by too little movement due to excessive physical lethargy. Sedentary comes with health risks like obesity, type II diabetes, and heart disease. Sensible: The science says that this space is the best place, and it’s not that hard to get here. We don’t have to exercise obsessively to be healthy. Sometimes “sensible” is the best you should do.Superfluous: As opposed to excessive lethargy, this is excessive activity. Too much exercise can lead to depression, injury, and compromised immunity.

The Movement Curve: Don't Be Sedentary

A new term, “exercise guilt,” has cropped up in the past few years to capture the disappointment we feel when our fitness goals go unmet. When we fall short, we get dispirited and are less likely to exercise at all, putting us at risk for a host of destructive physical and psychic effects, which compromise high performance. Like any unmet goal we set for ourselves, it’s helpful to ask, is this guilt the result of falling short or shooting too long? A part of the problem is that many people have failed to distinguish the difference between “movement” and that dreaded word “exercise.” “Movement,” is an all-encompassing term that includes both fitness and the general physical activity we participate in day-to-day whereas “exercise” is is planned and structured training. The American Heart Association now advocates for 10 minutes — yes, only 10 minutes — of movement a day. When we break the term down in this way, it becomes clear that most of us may be closer to our goals than we think. The transition into the post-pandemic world is a perfect time for young professionals — and anyone, really — to rethink their health habits and shed the “exercise guilt” they may be feeling. It’s time to recalibrate our routines to a moderate pace and place.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

“Exercise Guilt” Is Real — But It Shouldn’t Be

Being "outdoorsy" can stir up images of big beautiful national parks, snowy slopes or lush, green forests. But smaller moments in nature, like walking my dog around the neighbourhood or even listening to rain sounds playlist while falling asleep, have been just as valuable — and don't require the time, money or physical mobility of a big trip.Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people "including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.

Going Out In Nature Is Great

<ul><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being.</li><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being, says Ming Kuo, who runs the Landscape and Human Health Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</li><li>Nature helps our mental muscles relax and recover, and our immune systems need it, too.</li></ul>

Think of Time in Nature As A "Multivitamin" — It's Best to Take It Every Day

<ul><li>Find a crew who enjoys the same activities you do. This helps you stay safe in more remote areas. There are numerous online events and groups to check and start your hiking trips with like-minded people.</li><li>You don't have to be outdoors to experience nature's wonder.</li><li>Enjoy natural scents with an aromatherapy diffuser or open a window to get some fresh air. Enjoy a game like #FindThatLizard on Twitter and Instagram to see a camouflaged lizard in its natural environment.</li></ul>

How To Start

Enjoying the outdoors can look like anything from walking the dog to celebrating Indigenous culture — you don't have to hike the tallest mountain peaks or go camping to love nature. Learn how to find your footing in nature in a way that works best for you.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

There's no one way to enjoy nature. How to find what works for you and get outside : Life Kit

People have been practising mindfulness for thousands of years. Mindfulness was popularised in the East by religious and spiritual institutions. The popularity of mindfulness in the West is rooted in Buddhist and Hindu traditions and can be traced to particular people and secular institutions.

The History of Mindfulness

Hinduism is widely considered to be the oldest religion in the world. It initially arose as a synthesis of many religious traditions around the historical region that now makes up India. Then, in the 1800s, British writers started calling Vedic traditions Hinduism. The earliest traditions, which have since been incorporated into Hinduism, arose more than 4,000 years ago in the Indus Valley- now Pakistan. These religious traditions continued to develop in Vedic writings 2,500-3,500 years ago, including rituals and the worship of gods common to modern-day Hinduism.

A Brief History of Hinduism

Buddhism was founded around 400-500 B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama, who became referred to as the Buddha. Since the Buddha's lifetime, it has split into several different traditions, including Theravada Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. Buddhism and Hinduism share many commonalities. One is they're both concerned with the concept of dharma - a way of life that is in harmony with the universe's natural order. Mindfulness (Sati) is considered to be the first step towards enlightenment.

A Short History of Buddhism

Some mindfulness meditation practices, such as the body scan, are very similar to yoga as they both involve awareness of one’s body. The origin of yoga coincides with the origin of Hinduism, and the recent rise of yoga’s popularity in the West coincides with the rise of mindfulness. This underscores the intertwined nature of Buddhism, Hinduism, mindfulness, and yoga.

How Mindfulness Relates to Yoga

Jon Kabat-Zinn was the biggest influence on bringing mindfulness from the East to the West. Kabat-Zinn founded the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Oasis Institute for Mindfulness-Based Professional Education and Training. Here, he developed his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. Kabat-Zinn learned about and studied mindfulness under several Buddhist teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh, which gave him an Eastern foundation in mindfulness that he integrated with Western science.

How Mindfulness Moved From East to West

Mindfulness plays an important role in the greater field of psychology and positive psychology. Mindfulness has become a tool for any practitioner’s toolbox. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) are used to treat a variety of patients. Mindfulness meditation is also used to increase an individual's level of well-being.

Mindfulness’ Role in (Positive) Psychology

<ul><li>Mindfulness could be a yoga practice that involves mindfulness</li><li>It might involve setting aside time for mindfulness meditation sessions</li><li>It could involve practising mindfulness during everyday activities, such as washing dishes.</li></ul> Very few mindfulness traditions are based on restricting their teachings to an exclusive group. Therefore the versatility of mindfulness is the key part of the philosophy of mindfulness, whether it is practised religiously or in a secular matter.

Mindfulness Practice and Philosophy

Mindfulness' roots reach deep into Buddhism, religion, psychology, and philosophy. Here you'll find a complete history of mindfulness.

philosophy

Philosophy

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

meditation

Meditation

History of Mindfulness: From East to West and Religion to Science

Many men don't even want ot work hard. They will return home after 9-5 job and sit before the TV and waste their whole night.

Why men are unattractive?

Men look their best when they are at 10% body fat. At 10% body fat males are at their peak attractiveness. Also I am not talking about being skinny. I am talking about having a fit body and 10% body fat. Having 10% body fat also has many other benefits

Suitable body fat % for men

Men store fat in their belly, chin, face, love handles. Exactly where it is not needed. And since majority men are fat so most men are unattractive.

Fat storage

Men now sit on their desks all day, eat shit food, do not exercise, watch netflix all day. All these reasons have led to increase in estrogen levels in men and decrease in testosterone levels in men which have made modern men unattractive to women.

Estrogen levels going up in males

Beautiful women even have higher standards for dating since they sit on the top of the social hierarchy. That's why they only chase after the high value guys. Since most men are not high value guys so elite girls don't even think of them

Beautiful women  actually find only 1% men attractive 

The dating world is a fierce competition. Only the top level guys survive. Your information about this sort of stuff should be high so you must check out the website for more information. It will even tell you what you should do to get to that top 10% of men whom women chase.<a href="https://selfdevelopmentfreak.blogspot.com/2022/04/90-of-men-are-unattractive-learn-why.html">Learn more</a>

The dating world is a fierce competition 

The dating world is fierce. Learn what you should do in order to win that competition 

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

90% of men are unattractive: learn why

A slimmer physique, improved cardiovascular health, maybe even the ability to turn heads in that bathing suit you’ve been dying to get into?But have you thought about what exercise is doing for your brain?Numerous studies have proven that exercise, particularly the kind that gets your heart pumping, has a whole host of positive effects on the brain, even to the point of enhancing its structure. Here are just five of the ways exercise improves your already miraculous brain.

When you think of exercising more, what trade-offs come to mind?

Exercise stimulates a rich concoction of feel-good chemicals in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, endocannabinoids, and norepinephrine, according to the American Psychological Association (apa.org), each of which has different roles in managing stress, enhancing feelings of wellbeing, and promoting an active interest in life. If that wasn’t enough, exercise increases the number of dopamine receptors in the brain, meaning not only is your brain producing more of these happy chemicals, but it’s also better at enjoying them.

Exercise Turns Your Brain into a Pleasure Powerhouse

According to the Greater Good Science Center (greatergood.berkeley.edu), exercise is so good at delivering pleasure to the brain that it’s successfully used to help patients suffering from the ravaging aftereffects of drug abuse. Additionally, it’s estimated that we all lose approximately 13 percent of our dopamine receptors each decade, says Greater Good, causing us to experience diminishing pleasure in everyday life as we age. Exercise can reverse this.

Harvard Health Publishing (health.harvard.edu) reports that exercise sparks neurogenesis, or the formation of new neurons, in the brain. We’re all born with approximately 100 billion neurons in the brain, which regenerate at a fast rate in our childhoods but slow as we mature. It was once thought that this eventually stopped completely, but it’s since been proven that neurogenesis can last a lifetime.

Exercise Stimulates Neurogenesis

In a study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (massgeneral.org), doctors experimented with lab rats to see if medicine could ignite neurogenesis. While it could, the neurons died before they had any potential. But when the rats were put through courses of exercises, not only did neurogenesis take place, the neurons were healthy and strong enough to last.

Speaking of neurogenesis, the hippocampus is one area of the brain that continues to create new neurons throughout our lifetimes, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). The hippocampus is integral to learning and memory formation. Multiple studies have shown that adults who exercise perform better on memory, learning, and decision-making tasks than their counterparts who don’t exercise.

Exercise Improves Memory and Learning

Exercise is one of the leading forms of therapy for people suffering from age-related dementia and Alzheimer’s, says the APA, because of its documented boost to memory function. In fact, studies have shown that the hippocampus can increase in volume by 1 percent after a year of regular exercise.

The cerebral cortex is the outer covering of the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum. The cerebral cortex is associated with high-level, conscious thought patterns, including emotion, evaluation, reasoning, and language. And according to Johns Hopkins Medicine (hopkinsmedicine.org), exercise can thicken the cerebral cortex.

Exercise Increases the Thickness of the Cerebral Cortex

Researchers speculate that some of the reason for this is that exercise, particularly aerobic, involves continually making split-second decisions. If you’re running, you’re always managing your environment so you don’t twist your ankle or tangle with a car. If you’re at the gym, you’re keeping your balance and monitoring your levels of exhaustion and thirst. In other words, your mind is working just as hard as your body is and the result is a thicker, stronger cerebral cortex.

Neuroplasticity is a big word to describe how adaptable the brain is. From birth, the brain is malleable, says Scientific American (scientificamerican.com), able to change both physically and functionally in response to events like learning, new environments, injury, and disease. The greater its neuroplasticity, the better the brain can adjust to life events, from acquiring new job skills to relearning how to walk after an accident.

Exercise Improves Neuroplasticity

Even just one workout session can elevate your brain’s neuroplasticity, according to PsyPost (psypost.org). The reasons are currently believed to be because exercise encourages the growth of new neural connections in the brain, and that exercise has a suppressant effect on gamma-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, which inhibits certain types of neurotransmitters.

The CDC recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise, or a combination of both. This should be spread out evenly over the course of the week. Talk with your doctor first to eliminate any concerns and to help create a plan that works best for you.

Ready to jump into an exercise program

This would tell you the correlation of mental and physical well-being.

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

5 Incredible Ways Exercise Improves Brain Function

A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

What is a habit?

Habits actually give results. If you have a habit of cleaning your teeth after every meal then surely you will have clean teeth.

Why should you build habits?

Start doing a task consistently and remember to start small. Then your brain will slowly subconsciously perform that activity.

How to build habits?

That's the simple no bullshit way to build habits.If you want to learn more then check out this website. It actually has some good information for you!<a href="https://selfdevelopmentfreak.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-best-way-to-start-building-habits.html">How to build habits</a>

That's it!

It's important for you to learn how to build habits because habits create results 

The best way to start building habits

Research suggests four leading indicators that together assess our fitness:
<ol>
<li>aerobic health</li>
<li>muscular strength and endurance</li>
<li>flexibility</li>
<li>body composition</li>
</ol>
Being skinny is not the same as being healthy. A 2008 study suggests you can be fat and fit and thin and unhealthy. A 2015 report indicates that many people with a seemingly normal BMI (body mass index) have a significantly higher risk of metabolic problems and death.

Your Level of Fitness

First, find your resting heart rate. The typical healthy adult's resting heart rate should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Then test your heart rate while doing aerobic activity. The numbers are different depending on your age. For example, a 25-year-old's target heart rate falls between 98 and 16, while a 55 year old's should be between 83 and 140.

Aerobic Health

There are two types of muscular fitness assessments:<ol><li>Muscular-endurance tests assess the ability to resist fatigue.</li><li>Muscular-strength tests assess the maximum amount of force an individual can produce in a specified number of repetitions.</li></ol> Test your muscular endurance with a push-up and sit-up test.<ul><li>Count how many push-ups you can do. Your chin should touch the floor. A 35-year-old woman should be able to do 19 push-ups without stopping or 30 sit-ups (or crunches).</li><li>For muscular strength, a personal trainer can help to assess your muscle strength.</li></ul>

Muscular Strength and Endurance

Flexibility demonstrates an individual’s overall health profile because it tells the story of joint, muscle and tissue health. Regular stretching can help lessen the natural decrease in flexibility. Check how flexible you are: Sit down with your legs out; line up the bottom of your feet with the 15-inch line on the yardstick. Then, reach forward three times for at least one second and record your farthest distance. A 65-plus should be able to reach from the 17.5- to 15.5-inch mark. A 25-year-old should reach the 19.5- to 21.5-mark.

Flexibility

Measure your waist just above the hipbones. According to the Mayo Clinic, women with a waist circumference of 35 inches or more and men with waist circumferences of 40 inches or greater are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. Another way is to use a BMI calculator that uses your gender, age, height and weight and the circumference of your waist. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Body Composition

A proper fitness assessment considers aerobic health, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Here's how to test these variables in yourself.

Health Is Not Defined by Fat and Skinny. Test These Metrics Instead.

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