Tag: health

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I recently started using overcoming isometric exercises, and I’m thoroughly enjoying them. These are exercises where you try to move an immovable object. Last month, I made this DIY isometric trainer setup by Reddit user 16of16 and have been practicing these kinds of exercises since then. It has opened up heavy resistance training for me which has seemed out of reach for the past decade.

I haven’t consistently lifted weights since grad school. When I lifted back then, I really enjoyed it. I liked feeling stronger, and I even enjoyed the actual lifting itself. It’s great to be able to give maximum power without breaking anything or hurting myself. But I stopped.

Weight lifting stopped being fun. After grad school, I didn’t have friends to go to the gym with. I like lifting free-weights, but without a gym buddy spotting me, I couldn’t safely give maximum effort. I tried using the machines, but that wasn’t as fun for me. Also I was commuting into NYC from New Jersey. As anyone who has done it knows, it can be soul-draining. It became very hard to justify regularly going to the gym.

I had another option, calisthenics. I had started doing push-ups as a kid which started me on a life-long practice of calisthenics. I love that I can do these exercises anywhere. I’ve learned a variety of different exercises at this point that I can do until the point of failure. So although I tend to do more reps than I would with weight lifting, I still can challenge myself and get stronger.

But I missed exerting maximum effort and being under a heavy load. Especially with free weights, the whole body becomes a force chain. Every part needs to contribute in order for the weight to be lifted. It is exhilarating.

Recently, I learned about overcoming isometrics which is allowing me to exert maximum force without weights. Isometrics are exercises where you exert force while not moving, for example wall sits. Overcoming isometrics is a variation where you push or pull against something strong that won’t move. It could be pushing against a wall or trying to lift a weight that is much heavier than you can lift. It’s cool because you can exert as much or as little force, for as long as you want. Despite nothing moving it is very much real force, and in a lifting position I feel the same kind of heavy load that I would with free weights.

To try out this kind of exerciese, I built the DIY isometric trainer setup from Reddit user 16of16. The idea is simple: a plywood board that you stand on, a strong bar that you hold, and a strong cargo strap looped under the board and hooked onto either end of the bar. The cargo strap is adjustable, so you can use this for various lifting positions. The exercise involves your feet/body pressing against the board and your hands/legs/back trying to push the bar away from the board. The cargo strap prevents it from moving and provides the resistance force.

Here’s how I made it:

  • I got the following items:
  • I filed the edge of the plywood to make it more rounded so that it doesn’t rip the cargo strap.
  • I removed the carabiners from the small cargo loops, and attached the loops through the circular end of the hooks at the end of the cargo strap.
  • To use it, I lay the cargo strap flat on the floor, lay the plywood on top, insert one of the bars through the loops at then end of the cargo strap, then adjust the length of the cargo strap as desired. Then I am ready to exercise.
Man standing on plywood board and holding a 1 inch diameter metal bar against his chest. The bar has cargo straps looped over the ends, and the cargo straps loop under the plywood board. The man seems to be straining upward against the bar with slightly bent knees. In the background a wood paneled wall and a few pieces of exercise equipment.
Me demonstrating my overcoming isometrics setup

With weights the visible aspect is the motion of the weights. With overcoming isometrics there isn’t much that is visible, although I do notice the strap going taut and the plywood flexing slightly. So I need to focus on what is happening internally: the compression I’m feeling and the effort of my muscles. But when I do that it works; I can challenge myself. I have a similar physical response that I would have after lifting a heavy weight: raised heart rate and faster breathing.

One of the reasons, I looked into isometrics in the first place is that I’ve heard they are good for joints. I struggle with runner’s knee. It tends to flare up if I do things like squats or jumps, and I can usually get better with physical therapy type exercises. So I hoped that overcoming isometrics would allow me to do heavy exercise. Alas my knee pain came back, so it is not a silver bullet. But it does seem to be easier on the body in some ways. I don’t get sore after these exercises.

My current plan is to do a mix of exercises, overcoming isometrics, calisthenics, and physical therapy exercises. Hopefully that will keep the aches and pains at bay. I also plan on periodically tracking the force that I can generate on the isometric setup. I use a crane scale to measure the force. I think it will be fun to see progress. I’m optimistic about it.

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I keep on going back to the same sites for updates about coronavirus. Here are the ones that I like:

Update 5/5/2020

Also I like reviewing the IMHE predictions.

Update 5/26/2020

Update 7/29/2020

Nice dashboard of covid reproduction rates https://rt.live/

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From what I understand (non-expert), meat does not have any fiber. I know that some parts of plants are not digestible by humans such as soluble and insoluble fiber. Even though we can not use these molecules directly, they are eaten by gut bacteria and thus are important for a healthy gut microbiome. Having a vibrant gut microbiome has a variety of positive health effects from regular poops to less inflammation.

I am curious if the gut bacteria obtain nutrients from other molecules in food especially from meat. I know that meat doesn’t have fiber, but does it have other types of molecules that can not be digested by humans but that can be broken down and used by gut bacteria?

Part of the reason why I think this may be possible is that human breast milk contains oligosaccharides, which are not digestible but that are important for the gut health of new born babies. Does meat contain any molecules such as these that are not digestible by humans? What are these molecules?

I think there must be some molecules in meat that are not digestible because animals on a purely carnivore diets still have gut bacteria (see this paper for example). These bacteria have to eat something.

I also posted a version of this question on Biology Stack Exchange.

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I have been thinking of pasta, and the wheat it is made from, as a commodity. In my mind, it is all pretty much the same, a convenient and tasty source of energy. Recently, I came across organic pasta, and I am curious to know if there is a real difference between the organic and regular. If there is a difference, what are the benefits of organic?

I do not have first hand knowledge about how food gets to the grocery store. From what I’ve read, organic food certified by the USDA follows strict standards including restrictions on herbicides and pesticides and requiring plants be non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). See for example this post by the USDA. I learned recently that some organic farmers even use fire to kill weeds. In contrast, regular farming of commodity crops like wheat involves heavy use of herbicides like RoundUp and GMO crops.

Here are some ideas about ways the organic food could be better:

  1. Less pesticide/herbicide residue.
  2. Happier, healthier plants leading to better tasting food.
  3. Maybe the non-GMO plants are better in some way.

The first reason seems plausible to me. If some substance is so deadly for weeds or for bugs can it be that great for me? But on the other hand, humans may not be affected because our biology is different than bugs or weeds or we may not be affected if the dose is too small.

The second reason, happier, healthier plants, also seems reasonable even though it is more subjective. I think of the difference in taste between food grown in home gardens and food we buy in the store. It seems reasonable that plants will thrive in an environment designed for them, instead of in a chemical warfare battleground.

The third reason, GMO, I’m not worried about except with how it plays into the first two reasons. Selective breeding has been used for ages, and breeding modifies plant genes. From what I have read, genetic modification really seems to be fine. The only concern I have is that farmers might drench the hardy GMO crops in herbicide and pesticide to make it easier to handle weeds and bugs. It seems like that could lead to more pesticide residue and it might be rough on the plants as well.

Are these ideas about benefits of organic food accurate? Are there other benefits to organic food? What are reliable sources for answering these questions?

How does the organic food affect our health? It seems that more people have trouble digesting wheat than they used to. Could farming practices be partially to blame, and could organic wheat help?

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Diarrhea is definitely unpleasant, but how does it work physiologically?

What causes food and drink to pass through the system more quickly? Is the motion caused by mechanical action of the intestines, or could it be that the intestines somehow stop absorbing fluid? If they can turn absorption on and off, how does that happen?

The BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast) is often recommended as a home remedy to diarrhea. The idea is that these bland foods are “easier” to digest than foods with a lot of fat, protein, or fiber. Why are some foods easier to digest than others? Is it related to the size of the food molecules, with small molecules more easily diffusing into the bloodstream?

Is diarrhea a response to fight against infection? Is it effective? How does it work?

Does diarrhea cause damage to the intestines? I could imagine that if stomach acid goes down into the intestines that it could damage all the little intestinal villi that are important in absorbing nutrients. I wonder if diarrhea could upset the microbiome as well.

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I’m hearing more and more that good posture is important for health and wellness. Doing a quick search I found several articles including one from Harvard Health touting the benefits of good posture. This article suggests exercises that are supposed to help with improving posture.

How realistic is the expectation that people can change their posture on their own? I see some people with excellent posture, and lots of others with their head hunched forward. Do some people just naturally have good posture? Are their people who have gone from terrible posture to good posture? How did they do it? What is their stories?

I am a believer that it is possible to improve posture through exercise and stretching. I think about people who do ballet, and they all seem to have extraordinary posture. Their training and exercises must play a role.

I also think about posture in terms of the structure of our bodies. There are ligaments holding the spine together and these ligaments actually support the loads on the back (the spine is a tensegrity structure). If the length of those ligaments changes then the curve of the spine will change. I think that exercises could slowly change the lengths of these ligaments and strengthen them so that the spine has the optimal curvature.

Still even if it is possible theoretically to improve your posture, how difficult will it be? Should we leave good posture to the dancers and figure skaters, or can we take on the task of aligning our bodies?

 

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I looked up the growth charts from the WHO which show how kids (boys in the figure below) grow from birth to 19 years of age. The curves are nice and smooth so it seems like you might be able to predict adult height based on the height as a 1 year old. But the charts only show the averages. How often do children change height percentiles? How common is it for kids to grow early and end up short? Or vice versa how common is it for kids to grow late but to end up on the tall end?

cht_lhfa_boys_z_0_5

Source: https://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_lhfa_boys_z_0_5.pdf?ua=1

cht_hfa_boys_z_5_19years

Source: https://www.who.int/growthref/cht_hfa_boys_z_5_19years.pdf?ua=1