On The Water

"The unexamined life is not worth living" ~ Socrates [The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom through questioning, logical argument, examining and thinking] Lately,  I have been observing how people, including my own self, react to criticism, disagreement and challenging expressions. There is always an embedded instinct that drives a strong defend to our beliefs as those beliefs are attached somehow to our egos, self-worth and self-existence. When these beliefs get occasionally challenged, we feel exposed and vulnerable. Being wrong is scary. And it is our reaction to vulnerability and fear that drives our forces to either accept criticism - even if that seems to us fundamentally wrong - or reject criticism - even if that seems to us fundamentally right. Learning something from scratch at a later age can be exciting but also challenging. When considering learning a new sport as a former athlete coming from a different sport, things can get more complicated. We are not talking her...

Have you tried to run immediately after a tough weight lifting session? Or, have you tried to lift heavy after a long run? It's pretty tough when you do it for the first time, whether you are a runner or a weight lifter or just a fitness pal. There is more to it than just being a difficult workout and there is a reason why weight lifters do not enjoy "cardio" workouts or why runners do not enjoy spending much time in the weight room. This is because our muscles utilize different metabolic systems to produce energy during an activity depending on the duration and the intensity of the activity. Jumping from one system to another is not a smooth transition. During a workout, our muscles utilize a various avenues to seek energy and do the job we are asking them to do. Depending on how hard or how long we ask them to perform, they tap into the following three energy paths: ATP-phosphocreatine (ATP-PC), glycolysis and aerobic metabolism or a combination of those. Typically, for...