The "Over"-Stimulus Plan
by Dennis Gibbons, LMT
With January 1st behind us and most of our New Year’s resolutions quietly put to sleep I felt this was a great time to address this issue. Over the past few months we have heard about the economic stimulus plan, over and over until we have almost become immune to it. There are few who really understand the stimulus bill and there are very few individuals who understand that by working out or exercising too much that there is an “over” stimulus to their structure.
The following is an excerpt from a Newsletter recently sent out from Overload Fitness:
“We've heard time and time again that people should be active almost daily to stave off weight gain and disease. But busy people want to know: What's the least amount of exercise I can get away with and still stay healthy? The answer will shock you...
What number did you guess? An hour a week? A half hour? Try seven minutes.
According to British researchers, just seven minutes of exercise weekly may prevent diabetes by controlling your blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 246 million adults worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths. People with this condition gradually lose the ability to use insulin to convert food to energy.
Here's the catch: The exercise has to be vigorous. (We're talking on the level of an all-out sprint.) But at seven minutes a pop, anyone can deal with that! And you don't even have to do those seven minutes all at once, either. In the study, volunteers rode exercise bikes four times a day in 30-second spurts twice a week. After two weeks, subjects had a 23 percent improvement in how effectively their body cleared blood sugar from their bodies.
The following is an excerpt from the book “The Wharton’s Stretch Book”: …When a muscle is stretched with bouncing and pulling, it has a natural tendency to protect itself from this violence, however well-intentioned. It quickly contracts back to the range it considers to be normal. Only a relaxed muscle will allow itself to be stretched.
Research has shown that 9 to 10 miles of jogging per week is enough of a cardio vascular workout to stimulate and strengthen the heart muscle. Dr. Rozien, M.D. states, “that 30 minutes of walking per day, doesn’t have to be all at once, is enough to increase the metabolic rate of the human body. “
The “Cost” of overdoing it….
As a Massage Therapist for the past 23 years I have worked with many elite athletes who have and still do specifically train to perform specific movements. They too are victims of the “no pain, no gain” mentality. I have treated many individuals that come to me with multiple maladies and issues and in many cases they are overuse traumas from just doing too much.
So what is enough and what happens when I go to extremes? When exercising most people think they are just working their muscular system, well this is only a small portion of what is really happening. In order for the muscles to fire there is a multitude of happenings that take place. First of all the thought process of what you want to do takes place and there is a spot in the brain that visualizes and rehearses the movement prior to us performing it. Next, there has to be a nerve stimulus to the central nervous system to properly position in space the apparatus that is going to move. The brain sends a motor response to the appropriate muscles so that it will move. Now that it has the stimulus to move the next step, it sends a message back to the brain so that it will have the ability to load the proper muscles to move the restriction sensed and the process continues. In many instances the weight or restriction sensed is more than the proper muscles are able to tolerate, so the brain in its desire to please will incorporate many other muscles to complete the process. Oftentimes these are muscles of compensation and that in itself presents a whole other issue. Just think we often do this repetitively 3 times for 10 to 12 repetitions because we think it is good for ourselves.
Next, we add in the body’s metabolism, or all of the chemical reactions of the body. The body’s metabolism may be thought of as an energy-balancing act between catabolic reactions, which provide energy, and anabolic reactions, which require energy. The rate at which heat is produced in the body is called the metabolic rate, which is also measured in Calories. There are four factors that will affect the body’s metabolic rate, and they are:
1. Exercise – during vigorous exercise, the metabolic rate may increase as much as 50 times the normal rate.
2. Nervous system – in a stress situation, the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated and the nerves release norepinephrine, which increases the metabolic rate of body cells. Strong sympathetic stimulation may increase the metabolic rate by 160 times, but only for a few minutes.
3. Hormones – in addition to norepinephrine, two other hormones affect metabolic rate: epinephrine produced by the adrenal glands and thyroid hormones produced by the thyroid gland. Epinephrine is secreted in stress situations. Increased secretions of thyroid hormones increase the metabolic rate.
4. Body temperature – the higher the body temperature, the higher the metabolic rate. Each 1°C rise in temperature increases the biochemical reactions by about 10 percent.
As body temperature increases the Hypothalamus gland becomes active to regulate the body’s temperature. This gland also contains a thirst center. Certain cells are stimulated when the extracellular fluid volume is reduced. The stimulated cells produce the sensation of thirst.
“Taxing our system”…….
As you can see there are many body systems that are working as we exercise, and this is what needs to recover more than the muscle tissue. These systems work continuously whether we are exercising or not, as they help maintain the body’s homeostasis or equilibrium of the internal environment of the body. When we constantly tax these systems we become “over” stimulated. Being “over” stimulated will weaken the body’s immune systems and create havoc within. So whether we are working out or not all of these systems are a go and need adequate time to rest and be revived.
I often refer to the muscles as plow horses that pull the plow through the field, feed them some oats and water and let them rest over night and they are ready to go the next day. What will weaken with the constant stress are the harness and the plow. Chronic stress will “over” stimulate the brain. Turning down the figurative volume helps repair damage done to brain and nerve cells.
Take it easy! Or “Don’t Spend” so much……
What this article is attempting to relay to the reader is that most of us overdo our exercise and over stimulate our internal environment so much so that we ultimately weaken our immune systems. Unless you are specifically training for a particular event or occasion it is better that we optimize what we are attempting to do and learn to enjoy life a bit more.
Most injuries I treat with Muscle Release Therapy, MRTh® are often overuse injuries or improper technique when exercising or performing day to day activities. Over the past few months we have had classes on “Are you too strong for yourself”, “Optimizing your workouts”, and this upcoming month CVWC will be offering a class on the art of stretching and what really takes place. These classes are not meant to criticize what you are doing but to inform you about how not to injure yourself. The classes are in collaboration with Josh Trentine from Overload Fitness to give a more broad base view.
What we do with Fundamental Movement Pilates℠ is to re-program the movement patterns that have been altered for one reason or another. It is this re-programming that stresses the body, not so much the movement. Every time we move we engage all of these aforementioned aspects of the internal environment and create a distress to the body that needs time to recover.
So next time you are feeling a little “over” stimulated by all of the “stuff” going on, it is time to give your body a little rest and relaxation and not go for another run or another workout. Let your body recover properly and you will feel much better and be able to perform at a much higher level.
I will look forward to seeing many of you at the March 10th class on stretching as part of your workout regime. There will a demonstration by Chef Kevin Perry on the “Art of Stretching” your muscles. See the CVWI section of this newsletter for more information on attending this class.
Happy Spring,
Dennis
references:
* Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, Tortora & Anagnostakos
* The Whartons' Stretch Book, Jim & Phil Wharton