INCREASE LEARNING EFFICIENCY

Desirable difficulties in learning makes learning more challenging but also more effective and this is taken by article by Annie Brookman-Byrne.

The corkers for me were:

- There are ways of learning that may feel effective and even lead to more errors during the actual learning process by that also leads to better performance over the long term.

- "Spacing" aims to increase the amount of information that is learnt so rather than revisiting the same information in succession, you would spread it out over time.

- Instead of studying information on a topic 3 times in a row, trey studying for the same amount of time overall but split up into 3 smaller sessions in a 24 hour period (30mins v 3 x 10mins).

- "Interweaving" refers to switching between topics rather than staying on 1 specific topic so switch from maths to geography to French than back to maths again.

- The "testing effect" refers to the act of trying to remember information which can improve learning of that material later on.

- Multiple choice encourages you to think about each answer which seems to help recall untested but related information.

- When things feel at their toughest than that's often when the real learning is taking place.

You can read the full article here.

RECURRING PAIN (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT)

I haven't done a pain post for a while so here's a quick reminder of how recurrent pain works via the work of Nick Efthimmiou:

#1 - Pain is a protective output of the brain

#2 - The pain loop is the onset of pain - brain takes action to reduce symptoms - symptoms reduce - stops action - no meaningful or lasting change

#3 - What's MISSING is CHANGE

#4 - Resiliency is about being able to withstand a variety of stressors

#5 - Adaptability is about being able to respond to a variety of stressors

#6 - Desensitise your body to pain through graded exposure which is putting your positions to scare you in a manner that allows you to control your fear

#7 - Optimise your senses by putting more positive input into your system than negative input

So using the squat movement as an example you might have a pain experience after a squatting motion and now you avoid that movement like the plague.

That might reduce symptoms in the very short term but you can't avoid squatting your entire life and like medication, avoiding 1 issue will result in another 3 new one's popping up over time.

So you're starting point would be a movement resembling squatting that you're comfortable with doing and you'd perform that for low volume but with moderate to high frequency.

We're talking 3 - 5 sets of 5 of getting up and down in a chair throughout the day here, not a 10 x 10 GVT weights session.

It's important that you nail the initial training because starting at too high a level will place too much demand on the area too quickly, the slower the better here.

Once you've worked through that little sequence your symptoms will have reduced as you're body starts to desensitise from pain as positive input and put in to the system at a slow, but consistent rate.

This will take disciple, consistency and patience and most people will stop doing the work once it's manageable but you've really only managed the bleeding at that point, the band aid still needs to stay on so full repair can occur.

Do you have recurrent pain? Let me know and maybe I can help.

TIRED BRAINS SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY - IS YOURS 1 OF THEM?

Why Do We Sleep is a Ted Talk by circadian neuroscientist Russell Foster but this is taken from an article of his called "Tired Brains See the World Differently".

I've dabbled on about sleep before in these blogs but it bares repeating because there's a lot of you that see sleep as the enemy so here we go:

- Those who regularly have less then 7 hours of sleep per night are more likely to develop mood and mental health problems

- By depriving your brain of sleep, you impair essential processes in the brain and reduce overall cognition

- What happens to the brain when we sleep defines how effective we’ll be when we're awake

- You lay down memories, consolidate information gathered from the previous day and the brain also comes up with solutions to complex problems

- A tired brain remembers negative experiences and negative facts and forgets the positive experiences

- Tired brains see the world a very different way

- Beta-amyloid, a pre-cursor to dementia and Alzheimers is partially cleared while we sleep and then there's the rebuilding of metabolic pathways/energy reserves throughout the body

- Growth and repair happens at night

- Short term sleep loss effects include being more impulsive, lacking empathy, not being able to lay down memory, lack problem solving, will see a decrease in cognitive function and also a loss of humor

- Long term effects include long term stress, increased cortisol, suppressed immune system leading to infection, cancer, coronary heart disease, metabolic abdormalities, type 2 diabetes and getting hooked on stimulants to stay energised

- You’ll release more gherlin which is a hunger hormone, leading to the ingestion of more carbs/sugars which can lead to weight gain

- You can be more vulnerable to mental health problems ranging from depression to biplor and schizophrenia

- The best indicator of a slide into depression is a change in the pattern of your sleep beforehand

- A newborn needs to 14 – 17 hours of sleep per day, an infant 12 – 16, a toddler 13 – 14, pre-schoolers 10 – 15, school age 9 – 12, teenagers 8 – 10, adults 7+, middle age 7 – 9 and the elderly 7 – 8

- If you have a bad experience then don’t go to bed for 6 – 8 hours so that it doesn’t instill itself in your memories too much

TOORAK ROAD FITNESS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

What - Semi Private Personal Training so you'll train within a group setting but with YOUR OWN program detailed to YOU and not anybody else.

Availability - AM and PM spots available but there is no set time but rather a block of 6 - 9am and 6 - 8pm.

Frequency - Up to you so currently I have clients ranging from 1/week to 3/week and whatever option you choose, feel free to change when you need/want to

Best Bits:

- Your own program

- Progress at the rate you want to

- New/clean facility

- Casual atmosphere

- Great people

- Networking

- Time flexibility

- No lock in contracts or sign up fee's

Payment Options - I offer a free trial session so you can see how all of the best bits from above work and if you'd like to continue (each session is $43) then you'll purchase a block of sessions depending on your training frequency (5 or 10 usually) and we simply renew those when needed at the end of the month.

Location - 145A Surrey Road North, South Yarra (out of another PT studio)

Contact - 0411 091 978

WHAT 15MINS OF FREE PLAY CAN DO FOR YOUR KIDS

I get it.

I have a 7 and half year old boy.

I know it's easier to just let him sit with his eyes glued to the iPad for hours at a time.

We can get work done, household chores done or even get some free time to be a bum but it's hurting him.

Don't forget that us as parents have all the control and we must maintain it, even in the face of adversity.

And you know what?

All it takes is 15mins a day.

* In 35 countries around the world and in 3600 primary schools, there is  a program being run called the Daily Mile.

* Children are taken outside during normal lesson time to run or walk laps of the playground for 15mins.

* The one's who run cover about 1 mile each day, hence the name of the program.

* The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that children get at least 60mins of moderate to vigorous exercise each day - the type that gets them out of breath.

* They also recommend some resistance training in there too to strengthen their muscles.

* The 2 biggest hurdles in developing the program was to find something that the children will keep doing and it needed to be good for their health bit children actually decided on the activity themselves.

* Children do the Daily Mile at whatever time of the day their teacher chooses and can do a mixture of running and walking and are free to talk to talk to other pupils and teachers as they go

* Researchers compared 391 children aged 4 - 12 in 2 schools over a full academic year where q school did the Daily Mile and the other did not.

* Each child was measured before the program in fitness, physical activity levels and sedentary time and body fat.

* The Daily Mile school increased moderate to vigorous activity by 9mins per day and cut their sedentary time by 18mins per day.

* They saw a 40m increase in how far they could run

* Skin folds also reduced by 4%

* Some query te impact of the Daily Mile on lesson time but a single bout of similar exercise makes more children more awake, improves attention span, improves verbal memory, feelings of well-being and there were also reports of better sleep and diet

You know what?

Why not make this some all important Parent-Child time and get in on the magic of the magic mile yourself!

You can read the full article here.

STAY ON TOP OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH WITH STRENGTH TRAINING

In maybe the study of all studies, strength training has once again been crowned the king for maintaining body and mind, as found by a new review of more then 30 previously published studies consisting of over 2000 people on the topic.

I'm not sure we needed another study on that but maybe you an never confirm these all-important things too much hey?

It specifically found:

* Resistance training is associated with a significant reduction in depressive symptoms

* On top if that is brings with it the usual positives of stronger bones and the prevention of many chronic conditions.

* This is not to say that strength training is a cure for depression, that's too simple a solution for such a complicated and layered condition, but the findings are still compelling especially since strength training is accessible, affordable and possible to do at home.

* Seems to work as well as front line treatments for depression such as antidepressants and behavioral therapies.

* I theory is that by increasing blood flow to the brain, exercise can easily change the structure and function of the brain, creating new brain cells and triggering the release of mood enhancing chemicals like endorphins.

* Strength training was found to improve such things as low mood, an increase of interest in activities and feelings of self-worth and regardless of age, sex, health status, improvements in physical strength.

* Interestingly larger improvements were found in adults with depressive symptoms indicative of mild to moderate depression compared to adults without such scores suggesting strength training can be particularly more effective for those with greater depression symptoms.

* As researchers saw improvements across a wide range of activities, no specific activity can be nailed down as "the best" but there was some evidence to support the effects of supervised routines running for less then 45mins

* Aim to do 2 sessions per week using 8 - 12 reps for 8 - 10 different exercises each session

* Researches also found other modes of activity to be of benefit such as aerobic exercise, cardio and yoga but as in any situation, the best activity is the one you WANT to do and thus will have more chances of sticking to consistently and for the long term.

What are you waiting for - let me know when you're ready to train!

THE DAY I DISCOVERED EGGS (FAR OVERDUE BY THE WAY)

Look at that image.

The king of all eggs, poached, with yolk dripping everywhere.

Scrum-diddly-umptious!

While I was growing up I was a very fussy eater - way too fussy.

As usual for children it easy for no good reason at all but it meant that I probably didn't eat as much as I should have been which is why Archie at 7 years of age is already as tall and almost as heavy as I was in grade 6.

Eggs was on my no-go list, and stayed there for far too long.

In my early 30's I decided to try eggs while we were away at Sorrento for the weekend - opting fr the poached variety.

Good god what was I missing?

Ever since then I would have had on average 15 eggs a week ever since.

My regular egg meal is 4 eggs, 2 - 4 slices of short cut bacon (size dependent), 2 pieces of toast and a bowl of mixed veggies.

I'll have this for lunch and/or dinner 3 times a week at a minimum.

I'll sometimes opt for a omelet looking thing too which is 3 - 4 eggs at a time.

At times I have been aware of my out of control egg-loving and with what I probably think is hereditary high-ish cholesterol readings, thought maybe I should cut back every now and then - but never do.

The article below provides us with a solid recommendation for our egg consuming tenancies:

* People should not hold off on eating eggs in fear of developing heart disease (yay!)

** Eating up to 12 eggs a week does not increase cardiovascular risk factors, even for people with type 2 diabetes.

*** It's more likely that foods high in saturated fat that are often served with eggs, such as butter or bacon, are more harmful (Diggin on bacon? Poor form experts...)

I'm poached egg it up today for sure and I suggest you do too.

You can read the full article here.