Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4/7/8 Breathing Method

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Dr Andrew Weil’ 4/7/8 breathing method. Read this. Zoom in. In fact, do a screen grab THEN zoom in on your phone. This page gives the details straight from the source. Use it. I hope it helps. I use it regularly. #bssbbooks #drandrewweil #478breathing #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining #stressmanagement #relaxationtechniques #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 30, 2019 at 11:52am PDT

Use the 4/7/8 to win the war against Stress.

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LEARN TO BALANCE OUT STRESS WITH THE 4/7/8 BREATHING METHOD. This is borrowed from Dr. Andrew Weil MD. He recommended this as a way to relax both the mind and the body. If practiced regularly it may do much more. Modern living can be very stressful and busy. Add to that something like regular intense exercise (also a form of stress even though it’s considered good), the body may need focused relaxation to balance out everything. This is where breathing/relaxation techniques can be helpful. The 4/7/8 method is easy. Get into a relaxed position. Place the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, just behind the top front teeth. Keep it there the entire time. Next, inhale 4 seconds through the nose. It’s ok if this is challenged. Do what you can. After the inhale try to hold that breath for 7 seconds. Again, do what you can. Finally, exhale very slowly through pursed lips for 8 seconds. Repeat 4 times total. The main idea is exhale longer than you inhale and to relax while doing it. This is great to do upon waking or to help you relax before sleep. It could be done anytime. I prefer to do it after a workout or if I wake up restless during the night. For you science-minded individuals, this is said to help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and quiet down the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response). It takes less than 90 seconds. I I think it’s worth trying. I will also post a photo in my very next post from the book I first found this in. #bssbbooks #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining #stressmanagement #drandrewweil #478breathing #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 30, 2019 at 11:44am PDT

A LEGIT CONCERN WITH AN “ALL or NOTHING” LIFESTYLE.

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A LEGIT CONCERN WITH AN “ALL or NOTHING” LIFESTYLE. This is especially true with regards to Fitness & Health. I also call this “Feast or Famine”. High Intensity exercise is very popular but not necessarily a great fit for the average American. The average fitness enthusiast in the USA exercises primarily to lose body fat. High Intensity would surely seem like the best choice since it burns the most calories right? Yes & No. A lesser talked about issue is this: The average American is EXTREMELY Sedentary. This may invite injury if not careful. Even if someone exercises 2 hours each day but sits most of the rest, they are still considered Sedentary. Contrast the all-day sitting with intense exercise and hopefully you’ll see where I’m going with all this. I love high intensity. I also love heavy weights. These things have their place when programmed appropriately. And Yes, some people do tolerate them well (however, I would argue that most do not). My key point is this: It is important to move and expand your body’s range of motion throughout the entire day, every day. Don’t just do nothing all day then go completely crazy if/when you exercise. Realize the body benefits from frequent movement and a wide variety of motion. Not all exercise needs to be High Intensity. Learn to move more OFTEN throughout each day and not just when or while exercising. Make sure to properly warm-up before exercise as well, especially High Intensity Exercise. Prevent injury by not inviting it. Injuries stall progress. So yes, we may burn a lot of calories with some intense exercise but it might all come to a screeching halt if we are forced to stop exercising altogether because of some avoidable injury. Use that beautiful brain! I highly recommend learning to create a personalized 5min daily “Yoga” Flow for yourself to help with body maintenance, overall health, flexibility and mental focus. More on that later… #blueskystrongbox #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining #highintensityworkout #injuryprevention

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 9, 2019 at 11:27am PDT

Part 2: Injuries, Pain, Soreness

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PART 2 : INJURIES-PAIN-SORENESS. Just because a medical professional “cleared” you does not mean all problems are over. At some point, all medical/therapy roads come to an end. When they do, then what? Ask a lot of questions. Anything you can think of. Most importantly, find out what things you should probably limit, avoid or NOT DO in the future. But after that, most likely, you’ll be on your own. Discomfort, pain and things-in-general “not feeling the same” might be a reality. Do everything you can not to take pain killers unless you really need them or your doctor has had a long conversation with you about the option. The most important thing now is to get back to as normal of a life as possible. With regards to movement and exercise, you will need to start VERY slow and experiment with everything. You may be surprised at what you CAN do but also what you CAN’T do, at least not yet. Remember, first make sure there aren’t things you shouldn’t be doing. Besides that, always listen to your body. Start LIGHT, SIMPLE AND SLOW. Learn to move well using only your bodyweight. If using some form of external/manual resistance, start with very light weights, simple movements (that you understand), and can perform near-perfect form. Lastly, make sure to start by moving SLOW. If something hurts, see if you can safely modify or maybe try doing something different. There might very well be some things that you won’t be able to do. It’s ok. Learn to work around them. There are many options. Research. Explore. Don’t be too cautious but also don’t be reckless. Use that beautiful brain! #blueskystrongbox #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Sep 2, 2019 at 8:46am PDT

Resting Heart Rate is important…

 

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RESTING HEART RATE. This number can say quite a bit about health and fitness. Keep in mind, it doesn’t say everything. It is pretty easy to check. You can download a free app and check it using your phone. The best time to check it is obviously while RESTING. Lol. So first thing in the morning is best (before sitting up) or lie down for 2-5 minutes then check it. Check it for a few days, or even a week. Just get an average. Don’t overthink it. The goal is to get this number under 60. It’s ok if it’s not. The average person is in the 70’s. You could be higher. How do you get this number down? Get better rest. Exercise regularly but not too hard or too long. For most folks, I recommend daily walks for 30minutes. 1-2 weekly resistance training sessions (45min max). Get a minimum of 7 hours each night of quality rest. Avoid unnecessary stress whenever possible (this one may be the most challenging but worth the effort.) PS if you want to do intense HIIT exercise, i highly recommend getting that number down as quickly as possible by doing lower intensity work for a while. #bssbbooks #restingheartrate #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Aug 5, 2019 at 7:25am PDT

Fat Loss Tips 2019

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Fat loss. Don’t over think it. I know that’s easier said than done. I also know that there’s a lot of information out there on the subject, some good, some bad, some misleading. Keep it as simple as possible. Understand, you must eventually learn to eat healthier foods in amounts (portions) that are also healthy. As Americans, we don’t do this well. We over-eat and over-drink much of the time. What’s worse is most of our food is highly processed with added sugar and salt. It might as well be poison. Add to that all the sitting we do. Add to that overworking and undersleeping. Add to that caffeine addiction. Add to that the stress of modern living. Add to that chronic dehydration. Add to that little or no exercise. It’s no wonder there are such serious health problems with obesity constantly on the rise. Its so bad now that children are being affected as early as grade school. The medical, insurance and pharmaceutical companies profit from it. Its unlikely that things will improve anytime soon. It’s up to each of us to take ownership over the things we can control, which is actually quite a lot. Above is just a quick list that I jotted down earlier to give examples of a few healthy habits that I believe work. What are you waiting for? Death & disease? Please don’t. Take back your health. #nutrition #healthylifestyle #bssbbooks #personaltrainer #austinpersonaltrainer #austinpersonaltraining #blueskystrongbox

A post shared by Blue Sky Strongbox (@blue_sky_strongbox) on Jun 26, 2019 at 10:55am PDT

New Weekly Health & Fitness Tips! “No pain, no gain” has always had limitations. You don’t have to be in constant pain to make progress. This week i talk briefly about soreness due to exercise. Some soreness is normal, unavoidable and typical ok. Some is not. Normal soreness should be infrequent and bi-lateral. In other words, if one arm or leg is sore, the other side should be equally sore. This kind of soreness is mostly due to microscopic tears in the muscles, which sounds bad but is actual very normal, due to them having to work against incoming resistance. But there are other kinds of soreness, which affects areas in a way that is not productive and may even be harmful. They may even seem similar to the good kind but are more intense and shouldn’t be frequent, or chronic. Don’t seek out soreness. Instead, gradually disrupt your homeostasis. Too much damage done too often is to be avoided. “Stimulate, don’t annihilate”. Progress can be made without killing yourself in the gym. So my questions is always this, When is it really ok to be really sore on a regular basis? The answer is, it’s not ok. Say what you want, do what you will but trust me, being sore on a regular basis, to the point of altering the way you were meant to move, is almost always gonna be wrong, especially if done intentially.

New weekly Health & Fitness Tipz! This week my video is shorter (less than 3 minutes). I talk briefly about the benefits of starting each day off on the “good foot”, regardless of what time of day we get up or how well we wake up. I do have a concern for caffeine addiction, especially if that caffeine must contain cream &/or sugar. Sorry but that sh*t ain’t good for you. That’s just a dessert drink that is probably doing nothing but making you fatter, unhealthier and less likely to sleep better each day. Many of the “energy” drinks also have similar issues. I’d recommend drinking a full glass of clean water first thing in the morning and then maybe one cup of black coffee or one sugar-free energy drink if you must. Beyond that, i’d highly recommend getting better rest each night. Moving more if you sit down most of your day. Possibly moving less if you exercise and work “hard” every day. Eat healthier foods. Manage stress daily. Write down (in your mind or on paper) a plan for each day. Don’t just be a robot, a slave. Be an arrow aimed at the bullseye of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. This starts by setting the tone as soon as you wake :)