S E N S O R Y
OVERLORD
The world will try and wear you down, fray your nerves, dull the senses, bring the pain and steal your sleep like a thief in the night.
THE PLAN
Adversity can make the strong even stronger. In this chapter we'll sharpen the senses, increase your pain threshold and defeat stress and sleeplessness – to overcome and become - SENSORY OVERLORD!
EYESIGHT: SUPER VISION
I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, through a healthy diet and vision training, normal vision can be enhanced into super vision. Even poor vision and medical conditions like myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism can be corrected either fully or in part (factors such as physical fitness and diet notwithstanding). But as I mentioned, there's also bad news. This “super vision” I speak of does not entail shooting laser-beams from your eyeballs or staring through peoples undergarments with x-ray vision. Sorry.
Sunglasses: Harm or Help?
There are two radically opposing viewpoints regarding exposure to sunlight and UV radiation. The more conventional viewpoint is that over-exposure to UV radiation without proper eyewear protection can lead to visual impairments ala retinal damage and cataracts. The less conventional school of thought supported by some highly-respected optometrists is that, in reality, directly staring into the sun improves eyesight and can assist the body in healing. Furthermore, they go on to say sunglasses that block the full spectrum of the sun and it's ultra violet rays deny the body precious alterative energy and is a contributing factor to the increasing number of people with eye disease and even blindness in North America. (Besides, dark sunglasses prompt the eyes to dilate and allow UV rays to enter anyway).
Perhaps it's not sunlight that we should shun, but rather the shiesty marketing propaganda from protective eyewear companies!
Tip: If you’re squinting and having a hard time gazing at the sun, close one eyelid tightly and you will be able to open the other eye normally.
Diet
Just as the brain is largely constituted of DHA omega 3 fatty acids, so are the cells of the eyes! With this knowledge in our view, we can plainly see supplementing with omega 3 is important as all heck. Fish like mackerel, sardines, Atlantic salmon (not the canned, fish-farmed stuff) and herring (my personal favorite) are excellent sources of DHA omega 3, but flaxseed and hemp seed oil supplementation is also adequate and can be converted to DHA if taken in ample quantity. Other foodstuffs and supplements important in preventing Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and other vision robbing diseases are as follows:
Carotenoids Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Green vegetables (raw kale is a significant source of lutein), eggs and corn.
Polyphenols Anthocyanins and Flavinoids: Berries and their purplish plant pigmentation, gingko, biberry and eyebright.
Pantothenic Acid (a B vitamin), Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (otherwise known as NADH, a coenzyme made from vitamin B2, or niacin) and the antioxidant Acetyl-l-carnitine are also reputed to improve eyesight.
Improve Visual Skillz? O Rly?
Being that 80% of all sensory input is visual, it would make sense to hone and amplify this most important perceptual power through which life is apprehended. Athletes and US Air force pilots know that to improve one's visual skills is to improve one's performance, just as poor visual skills correlates with poor performance. And studies prove it. Visual reaction time, eye/hand/body coordination, visual acuity and concentration (the ability to ignore extraneous visual stimuli otherwise known as “visual noise”) all can be improved with practice. How ? You may be surprised by the answer: video games. Research shows that playing action games one hour per day for 10 days can markedly improve important visual skills of non-gamers. However, not all games work, only those which demand attention to peripheral details and focus is distributed or switched from one area of a visual field to another (Medal of Honour was used in the study). Games where there is only one focal point at a time (in this case Tetris) had no improvement whatsoever of standard visual tests.
CYBERNETICS... ON THE CHEAP
Disposable implants and Open-Source Prosthetics are here, and it seems we're more plugged in, dependent on, and integrated into technological devices and systems than we even care to admit. Even mankind's collective consciousness has been coded into ones and zeros, in a self-supporting binary ecosystem where we log into our online personas with avatar faces and interface with other digital representations of self. Man created technology, and in turn technology has recreated us. Meanwhile, robots become more humanoid by the day, and even reality itself has stiff competition from today's computer graphics imaging. Is this the Cybernetic Age? Has mankind been assimilated?
Time for a deep breath. Inhale in through the nose, exhale out the mouth. That’s better. Even if humanity has reached version 2.0, it can’t be all bad. Here are three cybernetic devices under $40 and five under $500 that suggests anyone - regardless of economic status or geography – can benefit from the advances of medical science.
Lucky for us, biotechnology saves the day. Prosthetics and interface technologies have gone a long way, producing implants that give many a second chance at hearing, seeing and even moving again. In fact, technological advances and manufacturing processes are being streamlined so fast, a disposable implants industry is arising. I list three cybernetic devices under $40 and five under $500 to prove my point and suggest soon anyone - regardless of economic status or geography – can benefit from the advances of medical science.
For Your Eyes Only: Implanted Intraocular Lenses – This small-incision, suture less surgery, developed by eye surgeon and philanthropist Sanduk Ruit, can be done quickly and outside a hospital, giving sight to the poor and blind for only $4
It's a Gut Feeling: Electronic SmartPill – Once swallowed, this vitamin-shaped wireless sensor radio's back information on the patient's stomach pressure and acidity and is dismissed out the bung hole several days later. The cost: $500
Rest Assured: Snore Guard Dental Appliance – A small dental appliance, not unlike an athletic mouthpiece, can be worn at night and prevents the jaw and tongue from dropping back and obstructing the wind pipes. Only $27
Music to Your Ears: Songbird Disposable Hearing Aids – No need for repairs or battery purchases, these disposable in-the-canal hearing aids come in one size, last 40 days and cost $40
Put a Smile On: Mini Dental Implants – These non-invasive implants made of surgical-grade, bio-compatible titanium are quick and easy to install and cost less than half the price of full-sized dental implant. Starting at $500
Look Ma, No Hands: Dragon NaturallySpeaking - Tendonitis sufferers rejoice! Voice recognition software has come long way. Soon we will look at a keyboard and mouse in horror and wonder how we ever suffered such an indignity. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 - the best of the bunch - sells for a reasonable $199
BE THE KING OF PAIN
A sprain or a strain, a cut or broken bone, overuse of a particular tendon or joint, your mother-in-law. All can be a sources of pain. Pain is warning and a deterrent, and even the possibility of it's affliction (pain, not the mother-in-law) can strike fear and doubt into the heart of man. Put pain in it's place with these insights and strategies to increase your pain threshold, and you'll be able to achieve more and greater things!
High Fitness = High Pain Tolerance
The higher your fitness level, the higher your pain threshold. In fact, as you become more fit, the signals sent via the nervous system to indicate pain become muted. What was once a stabbing pain to an unconditioned individual becomes a dull ache to the same individual after training and conditioning.
Chemical and Psychological Factors
Underlying psychological/emotional problems like depression may be worsening your pain (or even the cause of it). In a study by Kurt Kroenke, a professor at the Indiana School of Medicine, more than half of depressed patients surveyed said they suffered from chronic pain, in either the back, head, neck or stomach. Depression is a psychological state, but it's also chemical in the sense that neuroactive peptides, serotonin and norepinephrine, regulate both mood and transmit pain signals. This means you're bound to get a two-for-one deal when you're already feeling down and out, and explains why 30% of people experiencing pain also suffer depression. If feelings of gloominess burden you and manifest in negative physical ways, you need to see your doctor. A doctor can (if he/she deems appropriate) prescribe medication for temporary relief and refer you to therapists for long term healing and resolution. On the other hand, if chronic pain is causing you to be depressed, don't overly emotionalize or personalize the experience.
Lactic Acid Threshold
The arch-villain of cyclists, bodybuilders and Flash Gordon is what's known as the Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation (OBLA). A build-up of lactic acid is ultimately what brings on that crazy burn (perceived as pain by the body) when running up a flight of stairs or repping out on weights, and said culprit is also largely responsible for the soreness felt days afterward. It's also believed the presence of lactic acid in muscle cells inhibits aerobic fat burning, so you can understand why improving our Lactic Threshold (LT) is so critical to progressing beyond our current physical limitations.
How is Lactate Acid produced? Lactate acid is a biochemical bi-product of energy consumption and movement. When we're engaged in intense physical activities ala weight training, sprinting for more than 10 seconds and stop starts sports like hockey, the body is forced to produces energy without ample amounts of oxygen. The key molecule responsible for the releasing of energy and the currency for most metabolic systems in the body is ATP (otherwise referred to as adenosine triphosphate by know-it-all personal trainers). ATP, and another important chemical compound called pyruvate (the ionized form of pyruvic acid) is gleaned from glucose and metabolized in cellular “power plants” called the mitochondria, where they're converted to energy with the help of oxygen. When the workload increases and oxygen becomes insufficient - as is typical of full contact chess and other high-intensity sports – the pyruvic acid converts to lactic acid and hydrogen ions. Lactate acid congregates in the blood, accumulating faster than the body can get rid of it (or be resynthesized into glucose in what's called the Cori Cycle), and the hydrogen ion concentrations create the acidity in the blood, throwing the bloods pH balance out of whack. Nerve endings are irritated and soon the nervous system as a whole is registering significant pain. Muscles become so jammed with lactic acid they can no longer move. This when you've hit your lactic threshold, or Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation (OBLA).
If we can delay the onset of lactic acid, we can train harder for longer, and better training equals better results. Let's explore methods to improve your lactate threshold.
Oxidative Energy Systems
The most obvious strategy to increasing your lactate threshold is to improve the “oxidative energy systems” described above, so that your body utilizes oxygen more efficiently. At 70-80% of a trained athlete’s maximum heart rate (MHR) and 50-60% in untrained athletes, these oxidative energy systems become oxygen deprived and lactic acid begins to accumulate. However, these numbers are in no way absolute, as there are a bazillion factors in play, and they aren't important because increasing your lactate threshold boils down to consistently training beyond your comfort level. Professional athletes who hit a
plateau and want to shave a half second off their best time need more detailed and systematic approaches, but for you and Bob down the street, training at a higher level of perceived effort will work. Bring on the lactate acid and the body will acclimatize in time. It will learn to buffer the lactic acid concentration in the bloodstream so the Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation (OBLA) doesn't stop you in your tracks.
Make More Mitochondria
If you suspect your lactate threshold is lower than another person of the same physical conditioning, it could be an insufficient amount of mitochondria in your muscle cells. Similarly, fast twitch Type IIb muscle fibers - the muscles used for sprinting and powerlifting – accumulate lactic acid quickly because they've inherently less mitochondria and myoglobin and aren't nearly as efficient at utilizing oxygen. Even so, there's evidence you can change muscle fiber types. The bodybuilders favorite Type IIb muscle fibers (that specialize in hypertrophy and are white in appearance) can be converted to a long distance runner's Type I muscle fiber (which are rich in blood and red). How? With a lot of endurance training. It works the other way too. By employing explosive movements and tempo changes in a a regular training program - say for example sprinting or fartleks - yyou can make the quad muscles as “hypertrophic” as heck. Ever look at an Olympic sprinters legs?!
Sodium Bicarbonate Buffering
Use prescription drugs or cellular trickery to delay the onset of blood lactate accumulation? Naw! A club soda might be all you need to keep the lactic acid burn at bay. It's because of the sodium bicarbonate inside, which acts as an alkalizing agent and reduces acidity in the blood. Try drinking a can a half hour before training legs and see if it works for you.
STRAP YOURSELVES IN KIDS... THERE'S MORE INSIDE!
From hushed whispers within the inner sanctums of science and roaring out of the Zero to Superhero ebook: It's 'sound' advice about hearing health
There's even more inside on improving pain tolerance and how to unleash your body's own pain killing capabilities
Also, ease anxiety and defeat depression with a surprisingly simple trick, get the mental edge and boost your memory, and find out how you can sleep better than ever, all for the 'super' low price of $3.00(USD)!
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