The Way Out Is Through
As I write this we in the United Kingdom getting ready to commence our fifth week of lockdown.
For others in Europe it’s week six or beyond, and countries such as China are now coming out of their lockdown.
Wherever you are the inescapable reality is that for some the threat of Covid-19 has passed and for some it still persists. Even if you are on the other side of it, loved ones may not be.
I am writing this article because it appears that current thinking is that this coronavirus will ultimately transmit through all of the population, in that way it has been likened to seasonal flu. Meaning we might all expect to get it or have had it at some point.
In the UK that needs to not all happen at once, hence the lockdown.
In case you are wondering, I checked already and the timeline of a vaccine, (if it all goes exactly to plan) is around eighteen months…
Regardless of your views on the strategy this does present us with an interesting thinking point. We might all (or at least significant numbers) be expected to one day get this virus.
We are faced with the realistic possibility of not IF but WHEN.
And so unless you’re the proud owner of a former Cold war era nuclear grade subterranean bunker, any way you roll these dice you’ll see the way out of this thing is to go through it.
It’s time to stack the deck in your favour
Going outside into the proximity of strangers represents a gamble of sorts. Every time I leave the house to go food shopping, which is approximately once every five to seven days, it feels more like I am entering into a casino arrangement.
A health lottery with a probability of me coming back home having picked up more than just the meat and veggies I had planned for.
I’m not a cheater by nature, I like honesty and integrity, but the invisibility of this virus makes me want to stack the deck of cards at the casino of health in my favour.
I choose to manipulate the deck and keep my best playing cards close to hand.
I’ll bet you’re wondering, so let me talk you through what I’ve cut to the top of the deck.
The Queen Of Hearts
A healthy cardiovascular system
Cardiovascular disease is still a leading cause of mortality in the UK. I discussed the paths to a healthy heart in 2019 with cardiologist Dr Zarrin Shaikh on the podcast as they are multifactorial.
The essence of the point I wish to make here is that through our lifestyle choices we can affect positive changes on our heart health with specific types of physical activity and more.
To that end I have increased my aerobic capacity this past few weeks. In addition to my resistance training I have now ramped up my aerobic conditioning. I now do 2 x sessions / week of aerobic conditioning where I do bursts of running in my local woods. You could also do home aerobic circuits, rowing, cycling and such.
My objective here is to elevate my heart rate and respiration and build endurance. The timeline for fighting off Coronavirus seems to be measured in days and weeks meaning it is itself an endurance event.
And, because it affects respiration I now choose to enhance my ability to breathe under stress, this is the purpose of my aerobic conditioning.
*To be clear I don’t believe that my system was previously not healthy with what I was doing, I am now training to elevate my capacity here. I believe that for every metric I can control it’s worth doing so to exceed the level of health and fitness I need to be in going up against this sickness.
The King Of Hearts
A robust immune system
I recently listened to Dr Darin Deaton and Registered Dietitian Robert Santana on the 40 Fit Radio Podcast discussing the path to developing a strong immune system.
As Dr Deaton explained there is a genetic component to immune function. Some people just have great immune system function and rarely get sick and others are not as lucky.
However, the point of interest of the podcast was how we can positively affect our immune system with what we consume.
You can play the King of Hearts card by steering away from foods of low nutrient quality that are also pro-inflammatory, and instead select to eat mostly foods that have good nutritional content.
These unprocessed whole foods are rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals and help to lower inflammation. They also help to support recovery from training (gym and outdoor).
Select fruits, vegetables (varied in their colour), organic, grass fed meats/dairy, good quality fish, seeds and nuts to be the staples of your diet.
Cook from single ingredients rather than meals from factories that come in plastic boxes. Go after whole grains and unrefined carbs.
The benefits of healthy eating take a while to accrue in the body, and require consistent healthy eating over time.
It doesn’t mean you can never look at the sweet trolley again or have a glass of wine, but if you work to the 80% healthy rule you can leave the remaining room for treats.
The Jack of Clubs
With around 12% body fat
Body Composition
Put out of your mind that you need to have razor abs, become a bodybuilder or bikini model pro to play this card.
I’ve specifically loaded in a photo of me in good shape but without a sub 10% body fat percentage. You don’t need to lose all your body fat to be within a healthy body composition range, you just need to have lost enough.
A healthy body fat percentage is a range not an exact spot.
Excessive fat stored around the visceral organs combined with a body fat percentage of 25% or greater is a known health marker for negative outcomes. Very low body fat percentages (sub 8-10%) are hard to achieve and going very beyond that low is uncomfortable and potentially harmful.
When dieting down I don’t tell people to worry about moving towards a desirable 10% beach body, I begin by saying our goal is to move away from the region of risk.
The real aim is to not only have body fat in a desirable range but also develop a healthy amount of lean body mass.
The healthiest way to do that is to combine strength training with intelligent eating. Your body will respond by developing a healthy amount of muscle mass and improved bone density.
Along the way you can increase weight if you are underweight or lose fat mass if you are overweight
The Ace Of Hearts
Deep Restful Sleep
The body is not idle during sleep. It uses that time for restoring energy, cellular repair, boosting the immune system and hormonal functions.
Sleep makes a big deal to being able to exercise intensely, focus on tasks and be productive. I also find my mood is much better when I am well rested.
Most of all people have experienced a bad few nights sleep and know how much performance can decline as a result.
It’s worth checking out episode 12 on the podcast I did on getting a good night’s sleep.
The King of Clubs
The Barbell, Building A Strong Body
This card isn’t just a method it’s the single most effective tool to achieve it, the barbell.
This entire site is dedicated to the practice of training for strength with barbells. But, if you’re not an Olympic Weightlifter or an active athlete you may well question why strength training would be of interest.
Props to my friend Danny Buckler for introducing me to the phrase, the way out is through.
Almost all doctors can agree that they’d like you to get some exercise. Many of the non communicable diseases of our time are arriving in our lives in part because of a more sedentary lifestyle. So we all know we need to move more, be active and develop a level of fitness. That’s not just for high level athletes, it’s also for their mum and dad and little brother and well.. everyone.
The barbell comes in because it is uniquely well placed to help us exercise with a simple set of tools, all year round, in a way that can be modified to anyones starting ability level.
There is no real need for an expansive 3000 sq/ft of gym floor of equipment. Just a few items, most of which can be stored in the corner of a room or garage. The barbell being at the heart of our equipment list enables you to select how much weight we would like to move on an exercise. We can precisely load the barbell like no other piece of gym equipment and then use it to move through ranges of motion, working them out, getting them stronger.
Training like this maintains our range of movement (mobility/flexibility), it elevates our heart rate, causes us to build stronger bones and develop more muscle mass as well as improve the health of connective tissues. As strength increases so does health, and in response, mortality trends downwards (reduction).
As we age we start to lose a percentage of our muscle mass as the decades pass, this is onset of frailty with which comes many health issues and is of itself a reason to train for strength. I’ve written about it in my article healthy ageing is strong ageing.
Strength training is the only thing that will help you build healthy lean body mass over time in a safe controlled manner, and the single most effective tool for this is the barbell.
The Queen Of Clubs
Mental Fortitude.
You don’t just need to survive the actual Coronavirus, but also the situation around it.
The Coronavirus situation seems to have two fronts.
1) The challenge of overcoming the actual physical sickness combined with 2) Dealing with the socio economic baggage that it comes with.
The Q of C card is all about mental fortitude which is easy to type out in a line of text, but harder to accumulate in reality.
The best way I can describe this attribute is to say that it is about finding stillness and calm and putting yourself in a position to make the best decision you can despite media wailing and liberty curtailing.
I wrote about this in my last article https://www.strengthrevolution.org/articles/a-new-kind-of-evolution .
It is beyond the scope of this article to give enough information on all that you need to know to cultivate this mindset. In my last article I spoke of my approach which centres around meditation, and engaging with walks in nature. You might prefer yoga, prayer or even taking a tuitional course in something like a therapy or counselling.
The Open University is currently offering courses for free which include ones on anxiety, depression and mental wellbeing. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue
Developing mental fortitude builds compassion and understanding for the situation we are in. Many of us, myself included, are having to learn patience to new levels.
Although this card doesn’t directly build your bank balance, it will help you be subject to less stress and anxiety whatever you bank balance currently is.
The Joker
Comedy. Humour. Staying positive of mind.
Whereas the Q of C was a practical management tool, the Joker is about investing in happiness.
I mean actual comedy and humour. That which resonates on a frequency that makes you smile and chuckle and however briefly occupies the space worry once did.
That’s important because whereas woodland walks can seem like the gentle turn of a loose bolt for cheering ourselves up, I view comedy as the sledgehammer for doing so.
Humour of course is subjective, so I’ve chosen to give no pointers here other than to say that my Instagram feed has a tab for what I’ve called gym funnies, there you can see how humour exists in the mind of a strength coach…
The Time Will Pass Anyway
There you have it.
In the run up to whenever I get the virus or the antidote I’m going in with this hand of cards.
It’s all a choice ultimately.
So do you want to be strong and healthy and have a great sense of humour and get sick?
Or do you want to be weak, unhealthy, less well equipped to manage stress and then get a lethal virus, because you can choose.
Either/or, the time will pass anyway and the way out is through.