Sunday, July 19, 2009

Productivity Bit - Fatigue: It's Only Your Imagination

I'd believe it (NYT). This is something that goes beyond "the placebo effect" that's been questioned in recent years (NYT). According to the NYT:

“Training is no longer simply an act of getting the muscles used to lactate or teaching the lungs how to breathe harder.” It’s also about getting your brain to accept new limits by pushing yourself, safely. “Once your brain recognizes that you’re not going to damage yourself,” Foster says, “it’ll be happy to let you go.”
A friend has been a personal trainer of mine over the past few years. I'm pleased to say that it's worked. She may be one of the craziest/intense people I know (at least when it comes to fitness), but one of the things she's been able to do is help me to find and (safely) push my limits. In doing so, according to my tailor in HK, I've lost over 2" off my waist and over 15 lbs to a healthier 160 lbs.

My trainer was right though. Even though there were times I wanted to die, by pushing forward, pushing my mental limits it's a conditioning that's extended beyond working out. I'm hopeful we'll see some fruits of those efforts soon despite the economic mess we collectively find ourselves in.

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